The Road Not Taken

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,

And sorry I could not travel both

And be one traveler, long I stood

And looked down one as far as I could

To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,

And having perhaps the better claim

Because it was grassy and wanted wear,

Though as for that the passing there

Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay

In leaves no step had trodden black.

Oh, I marked the first for another day!

Yet knowing how way leads on to way

I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh

Somewhere ages and ages hence:

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I,

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference.

'The Road Not Taken' by Robert Frost (American Poet, 1874-1963)

I think I first came across this poem when I was in 8th or 9th standard in school. I remember going back home and reading it again and again, trying to figure out the things written between the lines of this poem. I was a kid and yet this poem had a great impact on me in the way I started approaching things in life ever since then. I was no longer afraid to try out things in my own way. In fact, I was curious to experiment with my life and the need to achieve 'something different' if not great in my life started to grow in me. And so I dropped out of my Engineering Degree, three semesters through the course and pursued English Literature. My kiths and kins were aghast at my decision. What I was doing in their eyes was leaving a professional course that would have fetched me a good job and salary and taking to arts which did not promise me anything great, least secured. And here I'm, working as a Copy Writer with an Advertising Agency for one third of a salary that my other friends are earning now. Worst even, it's I who come from a weaker financial background than most of my other friends. But... Do I have any complaints? Absolutely not. Yet I'm bothered about the pittance of a salary that I draw at the end of each month and I keep looking at my pay-check for the numerals on it to change by some miracle. It never has (Obviously!). But it wouldn't be too long when I start earning my pocketful and I know that for a fact.

Did I make a wrong choice in my past? I don't think so. I was very conscious about my decision and I did anticipate my chosen path to wind and spiral just like in the poem - "Yet knowing how way leads on to way".