Dear Awakened Aunty, 

I really don’t want to be an engineer. How do I break my love of women’s studies, creative playwriting and billiards to my parents?

- Breaking bad news

Dear Beta,

Do you know what year we’re living in? 2024. 

It’s 2024 and people are becoming millionaires by shaking their bottoms on TikTok. Their bottoms! Opting for women's studies and playwriting isn't so bad. 

My daughter studied Fine Art and Media Communication and now she is working in New York! 

Yes, you’ll forfeit the validation that Sharma Ji's son gets for being an engineer and maybe the stability of a 9-5 income. You’ll also be signing up for a lot of rejection, setbacks and aunties asking you "But what about your future?". 

You know what you’ll need to get through all of that? Resilience. 

Good news is that fighting with your overbearing, know-it-all South Asian parents, for what you want will give you that in spades. We’re predictable like that. 

We’re also very, very good at taking things personally. We’ve won multiple gold medals at this sport. 

This means you’ll need to start the conversation by explaining the problem isn’t you or them, it's engineering. 

Once you’ve cleared that hurdle, bring up your love of women's studies and playwriting. Be prepared. There will be a storm. 

Witness it. 

Hold space for it. 

Let it pass. 

When it does, take them to your favourite play like the award-winning Counting and Cracking, or show them all the acclaim Dev Patel’s Monkey Man got after being ten years in the making and create a bar graph of your earning potential. Show them you’ve got a game plan.

There are so many communities and groups who can support you on your creative endeavors, you just have to find them, or build them like my daughter did when she moved to New York. Look at me beta, I wanted to write and share my wisdom, then SAARI hired me! Me! 

There is always a way, sometimes many ways, to bring your dreams alive beta. 

Keep your eyes open and you’ll see them.

-Aunty 

Awakened Aunty is SAARI's Advice Columnist. Written by a real person, with all the wit and relatable wisdom of the Aunty you wished you always had.