Speaking tree

I was just coming out of a restaurant after my dinner, a middle aged gentleman, who looked like the HOD of my dept. back in college, accosted me, saying,” Excuse me!".
Me : Yes!
Gentleman : I think I have met you before! Do you work for XYZ computers?
Me : (What the heck?)
Me : No sir ! I do not!.. I work for Dilbert software services in electronic city!
Gentleman : Ahh!.. but then I remember I have seen you somewhere! Were you in that management seminar in Leela palace ?
Me : (Oh yeah !!?? Lol! Must be my previous life!)
Me : (A gentle smile)Nooo!..
Gentleman : Anyway! pleased to meet you, I am "Mr. socialiser"
Me : Pleased to meet you sir! I am "Mr. dumb"
Gentleman : Here is my card! I will get in touch with you
Me : (Thinking why someone would simply give their card to a stranger)Oh thanks!
Here is my card too!
I was thinking like, Wait a minute! This guy says he works for a s/w co. and looks like
a senior. Is he trying to poach me?..:-00 Wow.! Am I worth so much? <:-)))))
I was blushing all over! . As I walked home, I was getting all prepared for the interview call from
this s/w co. And yes I did get a call the next day ....
Gentleman : Is this Dumbo!?
Me: Yeaaaaa!
Gentleman : This is Mr. poacher . Remember ? we met last night.
Me : (Heeeeehoooo) Ya ya! (How can I not?)
Gentleman : Dumbo, we are a small group of people working together for a globally recognised company,
with interesting business prospects.
Me: (Start up?!!)
Gentleman(continues) : We work in our free time and make extra money which gives us
financial freedom!
Me : (I started smelling what all this was about)Ook Ook!
Gentleman : So dumbo, would you like to join us and work in your free time and earn
extra income and be financially free ?
Me : (How could someone repeat something so precisely?)
Me : No! Is this something like selling soaps and detergents? and making more people under you to sell the same ?
Gentleman : (Stutters)Amm..! not quite...
and goes onto blabber!..
I said, I have already had such presentations and would not be interested and hung up on this Mr. networker.
Now I was faced with a different kind of scene a few months before this incident. I was having my breakfast quietly at office food court and on the same table, was a gentleman having his. He was in a senior position too which I learnt later. I was reading the book "The monk who sold his Ferrari" and it was resting beside my plate. This man picked up a topic on the book and started conversing. It was good talking to him. We became friends over a couple of meetings. But he ended up coming to a group of people and the same thing again. But since this "Illuminati" was unknown and unheard by me hitherto,
I got interested, thinking that these might be some high thinking individuals engaged in some motivational workshops. I, infact went with him to a seminar to a far away place, cutting across the hosur road traffic on his bike, inhaling all the dust and smoke.
There, it was nothing less than a mass conversion gathering. People were crazy, cheering someone who had made a lot of money, by the virtue of having joined the business earlier and had found a larger pool of wannabes. I came out of the seminar without even informing my friend. I do not have anything personal against these ambitious networkers.
But I cannot stop myself from questioning the authenticity and sustainability of such business plans and organizations. The surprise part of it is even I have become a member of one of these businesses. I am now on one of the branches of a huge tree. And I am wondering why? did I really have a burning passion to make it big?.
All these companies irrespective of their marketing plan, binary or multilevel, have one mantra in common "Financial freedom and freedom from your boss".
Now, going by the mental state of almost all of the working class public, it is evident that hardly anyone is 100% happy with their job. Everyone is in need of something which will pay them more for working less. And thus these organizations cash in on this factor.
They promise you to enable you take an early retirement from your job and lots of free time and a constant source of income for the rest of your life. And in addition they have these smart men/women who know how to deliver a piece of information in an awe inspiring manner, with all their impeccable body language and other public speaking know hows. So these are here to stay for a while and are one of the societal landmarks of our times if you can call it so. But, what if all the job holders ended up in this business and there will be no one left to do the jobs ? How will you travel? if no one drove your bus,train or flew your plane. What will you eat?if no one got their hands dirty in the field. Such questions pop up and I end up saying "Lets hold!". I do not want to start networking unless I am totally convinced, both on the ethical and legal front( The chances appear bleak!) . When it comes to job satisfaction, I have realised that, "You do what you love or love what you do. If you have not found what you love, go find it!". I have no offences meant to any person or organization or its strategy. It is just my personal opinion and random musings about one more trap I walked into :(. And my suggestion to anyone getting into this is, be passionate and dream for big, else this is surely going to become one more deadweight on your back and no less painful than your job.
So, the next time when I call you to meet up for lunch, please do not avoid me for the fear that I might hang you onto one of those branches. :)
Cheers to life!