I have always admired people who go against the flow, against the norms, against the usual and do something different, something unconventional and devote their life to a purpose. They blindly follow their passion. One of the reasons I admire them so much is that may be I would have liked to, but could not really find my passion and don't really have the strong principles to abide by and devote my life to. I am like many others, the majority, who go with the flow and gets shaped by the consequences of life.... May be that's why I admire such gutsy people so deeply as I know what it takes to follow your dream, something I don't have....
I recently met one such guy on my Coorg trip, Abhishek. A botanist, wild life photographer, an environmentalist, working towards wild life and nature conservation and what not! I consider myself very fortunate to have him as guide on a rain forest trail and a hike. The moment I saw him, I felt a strange serenity and peace on his face, I knew this guy is not abiding by the laws of material world. There was something earthy about him....
As we conversed with him, we realized his in-depth knowledge of his field, his passion towards nature. It was only when we asked that he told us that he is from a rich Jain family where he is supposed to become a money making machine but chose otherwise. The way he handled leeches, spiders, flowers...you can feel his deep and true love for it...the unconditional one. He has a set of principles he followed and was very relaxed about it and respected other's way of life too. It was indeed an experience meeting him, being with him for whatever few hours I could.
And that's when I met Megha, my pottery session instructor, the very next day in Coorg. If I am to describe her in one word, it would be butterfly. An arty kind of person (ouch!) in comfortable cotton clothes and an unconventional nose ring. She believed in giving space to the creativity in the person and didn't really nag me while I was playing with clay. But a thought kept bothering me, what could make a person choose a career in pottery and with that inquisitiveness, I started a conversation with her.
Megha has always been the person to whom nothing could interest for more than a while but that didn't stop her from trying to find her passion. As she fondly told me, "currently" she felt connected to pottery and that this gives her solace. She had recently left her well earning job for "pottery". Before pottery it was painting, dancing etc. She confided in me how her mother feels worried about her because of her nature and then she said "If you are following your passion, then nature would provide you."
Megha taught me its never too late, I should keep trying, I should keep exploring and doing things I like and maybe, just maybe someday I will find that one thing I can devote my life to, or maybe I will not. But I should not shy away or stop that exploration. As exploration itself is also a beautiful process. You know what, maybe all my life I won't find that "one" thing. But in that pursuit, I would have tried and explored so many things! Or maybe learning is my thing, learning is my passion, that's something time will tell... For now, salute to all those unconventional ones, those brave ones, those gutsy ones. Mucho respecto!
I recently met one such guy on my Coorg trip, Abhishek. A botanist, wild life photographer, an environmentalist, working towards wild life and nature conservation and what not! I consider myself very fortunate to have him as guide on a rain forest trail and a hike. The moment I saw him, I felt a strange serenity and peace on his face, I knew this guy is not abiding by the laws of material world. There was something earthy about him....
As we conversed with him, we realized his in-depth knowledge of his field, his passion towards nature. It was only when we asked that he told us that he is from a rich Jain family where he is supposed to become a money making machine but chose otherwise. The way he handled leeches, spiders, flowers...you can feel his deep and true love for it...the unconditional one. He has a set of principles he followed and was very relaxed about it and respected other's way of life too. It was indeed an experience meeting him, being with him for whatever few hours I could.
Meeting Abhishek was a humbling experience but at the same time it showed me mirror, it showed me what I could not be. It made me realize what a life it could be following your passion, living your passion. It would not be as "comfortable" as my life currently is but would indeed be a satisfactory one. I also felt so jealous of how Abhishek could identify his passion, his purpose at such an early age i.e. in school itself.... I just kept feeling why I could not and why I still cannot. I felt its too late since I dont have that "one passion" I could gamble my life for, I better stop dreaming about it...
And that's when I met Megha, my pottery session instructor, the very next day in Coorg. If I am to describe her in one word, it would be butterfly. An arty kind of person (ouch!) in comfortable cotton clothes and an unconventional nose ring. She believed in giving space to the creativity in the person and didn't really nag me while I was playing with clay. But a thought kept bothering me, what could make a person choose a career in pottery and with that inquisitiveness, I started a conversation with her.
Megha has always been the person to whom nothing could interest for more than a while but that didn't stop her from trying to find her passion. As she fondly told me, "currently" she felt connected to pottery and that this gives her solace. She had recently left her well earning job for "pottery". Before pottery it was painting, dancing etc. She confided in me how her mother feels worried about her because of her nature and then she said "If you are following your passion, then nature would provide you."
Megha taught me its never too late, I should keep trying, I should keep exploring and doing things I like and maybe, just maybe someday I will find that one thing I can devote my life to, or maybe I will not. But I should not shy away or stop that exploration. As exploration itself is also a beautiful process. You know what, maybe all my life I won't find that "one" thing. But in that pursuit, I would have tried and explored so many things! Or maybe learning is my thing, learning is my passion, that's something time will tell... For now, salute to all those unconventional ones, those brave ones, those gutsy ones. Mucho respecto!
Wow you've touched a raw nerve there. These days no doubt countless people (read youngsters) are facing these true happiness kind of thoughts. The crowd's been growing day by day. I mean other than real straight forward reason the thing that's more bothering me is why only present generation wants to do something about this as every other thing in our life is supposedly more convenient , more accessible.
ReplyDeleteI guess this all boils down to our search for real happiness.
There are certain hints to be taken from developed world here. As you rightly noticed that calm on Abhishek's face is what everybody should go after. Mere comparison between kind of carrier choices chaps in developed countries are able to make with those in developing world, will yield some awesome analysis. The fact is earlier you are able to find that "one" thing, happier the life would be. Wouldn't be great if we could have something like Passion schools with only motto of finding one's passion.
Sadly the materialistic world is what stops people from going after their dreams. But results are out there for everyone to see. I mean every truly successful (can be considered as materialistic success as well) person on earth in past or present have had that "one" thing discovered.
Hello,
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with you where you said that we need such school which wont tell students to do, but would spend energies to help identify the individual what he/she wants to do. Abhishek was fortunate to have such schooling and he himself attributed his school for contributing immensely in his life. I like the name "Passion School" too :)