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Sudhindra's writes a fortnightly column in Deccan Chronicle / Asian Age in the Business - Technomics section. This column 'Tech-Sutra', will appear every alternate Monday starting 15th Jun 2009.
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Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, London
Monday, 1st February 2010
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:: Business / Technomics
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Pragmatic idiots
1st February 2010
Sudhindra Mokhasi
If I were to Tweet my take away from the movie 3 Idiots it would be `Make your passion your profession / job early in lyfe and Aal will be Vell ever aftr'. And I would still have 55 characters remaining!
Wow! whatta movie, inspiring, life changing were descriptors I heard. But the non-contextual reactions...Yaar, this engineering is not for me, enough of this job -- time to do something else etc., etc., worried me. Don't get me wrong, 3i is a great movie, and like other Raju Hirani fare, I thoroughly enjoyed it and came out feeling very good about myself and the world in general.
Krishnan N. is a serious, bespectacled, fit looking man in his early forties. He is a crack software architect and programmer -- the kind of you would want hire for your business.
Behind his geeky demeanour Krishnan is a passionate rock climber and outdoors fanatic from his college days. Hampi, Ramanagaram, you name it and chances are Krishnan has done it. Krishnan used to wake up at 3 AM to do rock-climbing in the outskirts of Bangalore before attending a full day's work in IT.
Krishnan met a girl, also an outdoors person, during an excursion and they got married. They took off for Ranikhet in Uttarakhand when she was carrying their first child and stayed until his son was 15 months old. In Krishnan's words -"A gift of clean air and environment to his son."
Now, and another baby later, his passion continues -- with his family accompanying him.
Ask Krishnan about turning rock climbing into a profession, he replies, "Not immediately, its present commercial potential is low ...probably when I move on from my other love -- software."
Nandini Gollapalli is in her early twenties and with her striking looks can be easily mistaken for an air hostess or a model. An engineer and an MBA graduate, she is a business analyst with an IT firm and travels to customer sites around the world. Does Nandini enjoy IT? Yes, she says, "because I can apply my education to real life problems". Around a year ago, and before the 3i movie, Nandini realised that she was neglecting her personal passion -- pottery. Fascinated with clay work from her childhood she is now taking classes in Bangalore. I asked Nandini whether she would want to quit IT to do pottery full time? She said she loves her job and is investing in pottery as a stress buster and intends to pursue it when she becomes a homemaker.
Get Shankar Kulkarni to wear a kurta pyjama and he will seamlessly fit into any Hindustani classical concert, both for his skills and looks.
Shankar is a married man in his late forties, with a peace-at-oneself expression; the only giveaway is his tendency to rhythmically drum his fingers when in heavy thought. Shankar comes from the small town of Badami, and was born in a music loving family and started training in tabla at a very early age. Shankar was clear that his passion would remain a hobby and has structured his life accordingly -- monthy baithaks with musician friends and occasional public performances.
Today his son is learning tabla and daughter Bharatnatyam. Shankar says, "I will let them choose their trade in life."
Or take my case, I have always loved computers and writing. I worked for fifteen years in well paying IT jobs, which also allowed me to fulfill my financial and other duties to my family and travel the world.
When I was financially secure and mentally clearer about my literary aspirations, I chose to focus on writing.
So would any of the above have achieved greatness if they had pursued their passion full time?
Probably yes, probably not.
After all, not all of us are as prodigiously gifted like 3i's Rancho. But by pursuing a well paying career we have been able to fulfill our duties and pursue our passion.
The choice is ours -- to be the fourth idiot or a pragmatic one.
Sudhindra Mokhasi is CEO of a technology firm and author of ‘BPO-Sutra: True stories from India’s BPO & Call Centers’
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