Careers, Cooking and a Food Cart

I have loved cooking. Especially on Saturday evenings. It was especially fun when my kids were home. After they left for their higher studies, Amrita and I found ourselves as empty nesters.

I still like to try new things in the kitchen from time to time. I really enjoy it. I have often thought about opening a food cart and serving some off-the-mill dishes. I have had a menu in my mind! But that’s where it stayed. In my imagination.

Today, as I was cooking, I started to wonder what my career might have been if I had another option. It made me think.

But then, as they say, things happen by design and not by accident.

Still, when I look back at my life, I sometimes wonder how much of it was actually planned!

In high school, I studied Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics, and Biology. Back then, the choices seemed simple: medicine or engineering. But life took me in a different direction. I ended up graduating in Agriculture and later got a management degree in Marketing.

My career path also had its surprises. I worked in management consulting, training, helped set up schools, and eventually found my place working with people and organizations.

It’s been quite a journey from where I thought I had started. Somewhere along the way, I grew to love what I do, and I still enjoy it to the core.

Would I have been just as happy as a doctor, an engineer, or running that little food cart? I can’t say for sure. Maybe I would have been. Maybe not.

Thinking about all this made me realize something.

We tend to define ourselves by the careers we have built and the roles we play. Over time, they become such a large part of our identity that we sometimes forget we have other sides. Other interests, curiosities, and possibilities that never quite found their way into our professional lives.

And that’s completely okay.

Not everything we love has to turn into a career. Not every passion needs a business plan. Some things can just bring us joy, without any pressure to achieve something.

Life isn’t about planning everything. It’s more about finding what we love as we move forward.

As for my food cart, it can remain in my imagination for now. And Saturday evenings can keep being my little playground for experimenting with ingredients, flavors, and the occasional disaster!

Who knows? Maybe one day I’ll actually set up that food cart!