"I'm a Nobody"
"Hi my Name is Mahnoor Ali" the girl stumbled with her words as the bright light shone towards her making her the center of everyones attention. If these people had an attention span of a 5 year girl she would have been fine with it, but they were watching her like an eagle, every flinch of movement, every breath, every sound, every little detail seemed to be registering within their minds while she sat there looking down at hands struggling to maintain her courage and not run out of this room right this second. If only her brother was not struggling in school, if only her father had not lost his job and if only her mother was not sick, she would have not been even sitting here in this chair being stared down at by five men who were mere strangers to her. Their life had become such, that she had to restort to working along with finishing off her last year of Business management course. Her father had always told her, that he would never allow his daughter to work for she was his pride, and today that same pride had to bow down to the cruel circumstances of life. Yes she had a brother, but he was also struggling, his job barely paid the bills and him getting another job was not an option due to the fact he was still in school. He needed the degree to get somewhere in life.
Her mother always told her, education is the key to your tommorrow but she always turned a deaf ear to it, today realizing she had no degree in hand and walking from one interveiw to another suddenly that statement started making much more sense.
"can we please see your dregree" the man sitting in the second position from the left asked finally after alot of whispered passed around the five men she was seated before. Suddenly it felt as if the society was judging her, suddenly it felt like she was a nobody because she didn't have a piece of paper in her hand that told people what she was capable of doing. A paper which can be torn apart, burned and then be made again, No the paper held more value than a person. And why wouldn't it after all it was the key to ones tommorrow, it had to be given some importance. The same paper that only pertains to ones ability, but not their values, morals, beliefs suddenly they hold no important infront of a paper.
She struggled with her words shifting uncomfortably in her chair, " sir, i have not graduated yet" suddenly it seemed as if something had exploded in the room as their eyes widened in shock and their whispering began again. One tossed something to the other.and the other passed it back. They often gazed up to take a look at her and then went back to discussing. Only if she had graduated and had the degree in her hand, she would have slammed it upon their faces and told them the real value of this paper, which in reality is nothing because it really does not define a person, it is a mere piece of paper.
The man sitting in the middle grumbled something while clearing his throat, " why are you intrested in this job?"
Pushing a strand of hair behind her ear, she played around with her hand, " I want this job because i know i'm the best, I know i can be a great secretary. I'm responsible and always own up to my mistakes. I never take anything for granted and I know when given the chance i can really show i'm the best candidate for this job" the man in the middle coughed and signaled something to other person who shook his head. they seemed to be playing a tennis match, their signals being the ball and their eyes being the racket. She knew her chances for this job were very low, because to say the truth she was a nobody with a that degree. But what would her parents say, and her brother who was also on the verge of breaking down. Her parents who had always strived to make sure their kids were educated because they knew that without education, you were a nobody in todays world. But its was not like, she and her brother were not doing their best in school or not keeping up with their studies but rather the circumstances had become such that while studying she needed a job to keep her family off the streets. her father was fired due to his age, as his boss felt it was time he rested at home and enjoyed his pension, but what his boss didn't know was that same pension only provided them with food, what about the bills? rent?. The same bill and rent led to her walking out to find herself a decent job, which was rare to find in this times. With the economy in crisis and many jobs being taken off the markets, one would be lucky if he just found a job.
Finally after they were done with their tennis match, the same middle man with a bald head, which looked to shiny to be a head that was not polished everyday. He probably plastered oil on it to give it some shine. People these days, " Ms. Ali thank you very much for coming in today. We had a look at your file and we would get back to you very soon" which meant, you are not getting the job. She got up and grabbed her file off the table for the 4th time in the same day. She turned around and started to walk towards the door, when she heard them sigh in relaxation.
Her nails screeched on the file, turning around furiously she walked to the table and slammed the file. " you know what i don't give a damn if you hire me or not, because you know what I would never take a job here anyways. A place which judges people based on a piece of paper and not as a human being, is not the place i want to work in. Let me tell you,that degree does not define me, tommorrow when i have that piece of paper in my hand, it will not define me Mahnoor Ali, it will only give you a 0.1% part of me, because the rest you will never know. And you know why you would never know? Because you guys only want to see what degree i have, a bachlor, a masters, or whatever. That degree is not Mahnoor Ali, I'm Mahnoor and today standing here, I will tell you Mahnoor cannot be judged by a piece of paper, she is not a thing that can be passsed back and forth, neither is she an instrument that only will play when played because I'm a human, a human that is in dire need of a job yet she knows what she is capable and does not need a piece of paper to tell others what she can do or not do" there was pin drop slience in the room, as she picked up her file and made her way towards the door.
"Ms. Ali, you might be right a paper does not define you as a human, but this same piece of paper gives you a status in this society, this same piece of paper makes you a somebody in this world and this same piece of paper could have gotten you this job today. This paper is not a mere paper, it is your name and identity and when you have this piece of paper in your hand, you will surely realize what i meant by it" She opened the door and walked out with the words ringing in her mind. her mother was right, if you don't have a degree in your hand, the world will eat you alive. If you need to survive, You need that degree ...because without it, " I'm a nobody"
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Do share your veiws guys,
I know its not a typical story , but it is the truth of world today.
Education is the key to our tommorrow!
Sajjal
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