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Doing what you like and Getting paid for it


It is one thing for people to say 'do what you like and get paid for it, so that every day at office will feel like a vacation'. It is quite another to actually find a profession that you are passionate about. Most of us spend our lives in writing software, or sending invoices - or most likely - writing software for sending invoices. In effect, we usually spend days in writing emails, making phone calls, and attending meetings. There are reasons for this.

Firstly, most people do not know what they are passionate about most of the time. Ask any person, especially the one who is preparing for a job interview or for an MBA entrance exam, and pat comes the grammatically incorrect reply: "listening music". Whoever invented this phrase deserves to be in the list of Nobel laurets. This is the most you can get without giving any real information or even any real thought to the question - what do you like to do? I mean, what kind of music? -- Any kind! -- Any specific genre -- nope, whatever comes through the pipe --- Any specific artist? -- Justin T or B (depending on the age, disposition etc.) -- Ka-boom! No more! End of line! ... Next question please!

Secondly, at least for me, my passion - i.e. what I like - changes every now and then. First it was painting, which later became photography for a while. Earlier it was trekking, then it became motorbike riding. Hell, I do not even know what I like - mountains or the sea. It depends on the season, on the day. The same goes with tea - with milk or without. Depends on the tea. Sometimes I read one thing, sometimes another. Well, it is rather superfluous to change career that fast and that often, right?

And thirdly, if everyone does what they are passionate about, like writing poetry, paragliding, and watching Star Trek movies on Sunday afternoons, who does the mundane work of oiling the parts and cleaning the valves that are necessary to keep the world's machine going - like stapling the photocopied papers at the printing office?

I am quite fortunate as of now that I have a job that lets me do what I like to do, and get paid. What I like to do is this -- I like to speak. More than that, I like for people to listen. I get a plenty of opportunities to be in just that situation - either in the capacity of an auditor or a consultant or a teacher. I like to read. I have got myself an arrangement by which I am able to use a good library regularly.

I also like to play with data, make nice charts. I like to find solutions to problems usually found difficult to solve. I like to do this by finding things that people usually miss. I like to take those things seriously that people of the world take lightly, and take those things lightly that people of the world take seriously (I also like to borrow quotes - and this one is from a very old Chinese philosopher).

I like to narrate. I like to weave stories. I get to do that now. Of course, after a point of time, people will usually listen to whatever you have to say anyway. But I tend to believe that I make things simple and easy to comprehend for others. So that gives me the advantage in narrating something. I can usually break down complex chunky concepts into smaller bite-size and chewable pieces and then again piece them together. The technical term for this is 'analysis' and 'synthesis' - two processes that govern almost all of science. You first break it down, then you build it up.

I like to write. I tend to believe that there are some people too, who actually read what I write. But writing is not the easiest endeavors. If you write - I mean apart from emails and memos - you would know that the brightest of the flashes of creativity come to you at the hour that is most unsuited. By the time you try to find a net to cast for that brillant and exquisite mermaid of a thought, she is long and gone, and all you are left with are a few scattered shiny stones and seashells.

Don't get me wrong. I have tried all sorts of things. I have tried keeping a pen and paper at hand by the bedside. But it is too much to ask to get up in the middle of the night for this. I have carried spare pencils and notepads during long flights, but the sparks don't come when you are too sleepy and tired. I have even tried a dictaphone. But it has its own practical difficulties around the wetness of the toilette, where the brightest sparks usually arrive. But I am digressing. All said and done, I always find that what gets written and finally published is only a tiny unfinished fragment -- a 'Kubla Khan'. In that respect, we are all Colridge.

Moreover, and this is the last point that I have, is that when someone pays, you will notice that the joy you typically derive from the thing that you like slowly dimishes to the point that it does not remain 'what you like to do' anymore but becomes just another transaction. I know this for a fact. It takes exceptional and inhuman efforts for me in the current situation to ensure that the teaching assignments that I get both for corporate and for institutes do not take away the joy I get in teaching. If you will pay me to write, I may cease enjoying writing altogether (If you have reached thus far with me in this post and have a strong opinion against my writing style, here is your chance - wink! wink!) ...

People who do travel shows - I am told - hate to travel. People in media usually hate the things we mortals find glamorous. I know a professional DJ who has started disliking music now that he has to 'play it for the others'. Maybe this is not true if you make potloads of money - like a movie or a cricket superstar. But we are talking about you and I, not them.

When I was studying art, I used to go to Jahangir Art Gallery in Mumbai every Saturday to see the work of contemporary artists. I would get all worked up by seeing some flimsy work pegged for crores of rupees. I would return all upset and ramble on and on about how it is unfair that such non-art fetches such top dollar. My guru heard it for some time, and then told me - "Why are you bothered? Are you an art dealer? Or are you going to buy that trash? You are training to be an artist. Your job is to observe and paint. Let the art dealers choose what it costs. Don't just see, OBSERVE!!!" .... Very few moments in life are this clear and this still in the mind's eye - like deep blue clear waters in an unperturbed pond.

All in all, I believe that it is rather rare to find someone who will pay you for what you like to do and for you to continue liking it. So it may not be wise to go searching for it, and waiting for that perfect fitment in vain. Not saying that the fitment will not occur at all. But I like to play my odds straight. If I know that the chances are rare, I would rather work with Plan B - which is to just continue to do what you like to do - without worrying if someone is paying for it.

You like to write poetry, go ahead and do it. Don't wait for a publisher. You like to travel, keep your bag-pack ready and take the next train out of the city for the weekend. You like outdoor sports, join the marathon run. (You like to "listen music" - go get yourself a 'Wren and Martin' first!) ... If you are enjoying, it must be good. Someday others will also share your enthusiasm about it, and you might end up benefitting professionally - as a by-product of the process.

Best,
Shreekant
Kolkata, Vijayadashami
6th October 2011

Comments

  1. I admire how you have managed to practice what you preach. I was one of your students and enjoyed how practical you made learning. I am hoping I can venture on my path of choice too...just a matter of time. Keep the advice flowing. What you teach outside the classroom is as important as what is taught within the four walls.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks, I am glad you liked my classes. Was that at MDI? Your profile does not give your identity.

    ReplyDelete

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