Passion

PASSION


Anyone who lives in India knows the five common features of  the Indian roads: Potholes, unruly truck drivers, cattle, jaywalkers and marriage processions. In short, it's a massacre if you're an amateur driver.However, these factors can provide some very insightful  sights if searched for. 


  Recently, I took a trip to a hill station with my friends. We stopped for our daily dose of tea at a kiosk on our way, as it was quite early in the morning and  none of us is what anyone would describe as an "Early Bird ". We were right next to a temple, where a marriage procession had arrived with the bride and the groom. The musicians, though quite exuberant  a few minutes ago, had settled down. 


I love to observe people, unnoticed. People are natural when they think no one's watching them. So I closely watched the people assembled. However, the humble musicians were the ones who caught my attention. They had a content smile on their faces, a twinkle in their eyes. They were SERENE.


Frankly, I couldn't understand why were they so happy. It was obvious their job didn't pay well. They had limited means; that's just a polite way of saying they were poor, and their job couldn't do much to their income. I wondered, "How can they be so happy?"


The answer evaded  me for many days. However, my brother  answered that question without him knowing it. During a conversation, he mentioned that he was tired of his IT sector job and wanted to work with publishing houses, as literature was always his first  priority. Although his job paid him obscene amount of money, he wasn't  getting any joy from his work. It lacked job satisfaction.


It was the eureka moment; the moment of revelation. I understood  the reason behind the serene smile of the musicians. They were happy and  loved their job. They ENJOYED their work. 


As a child, I never took the proverb "Work is Worship" too seriously. Now that I've matured a bit, I can finally understand what it means. And yes, it IS the best worship, better than spending a couple of hours reading religious scriptures each week and asking god to bring happiness in our lives.


It is the work itself and not the money that makes people happy. How many of us students (Indians, anyway) really get to do what we want? Many of  us never even realise what we want from our work, we only treat it as a way of paying the bills. When we realise what we always wanted to do, it's too late. That's the biggest regret. Ask yourself. isn't it true??
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The writer is an engineering student studying at the Pune University. You can contact him personally on facebook(http://www.facebook.com/ninad.jane) and this blog.