The books in my living room micro-library have always tempted me, but I hardly found time to read them. It was on innumerable occasions that while passing through the room, I halt, slide the glass doors of the rack, pick up a random book and end up reading only the blurb. I wish I could have read the entire book. If only lack of time wasn’t my hindrance. Pathetic isn’t it? On one of such usual occasions, I picked up a book titled ‘Know Thyself’. It is actually a book describing the code of conduct for my Dad’s organization. The first page had the title and below were some words of enlightenment. They said:
There are four kinds of men:
One who knows not and knows not that he knows not – He is a fool. Shun him.
One who knows not and knows that he knows not – He is simple. Teach him.
One who knows and knows not that he knows – He is asleep. Wake him.
One who knows and knows that he knows – He is wise. Follow him.
Apropos, this book is not at all related to me. But these lines affected an impetus deep inside me. Only a few people, by themselves, recognize that they have an inborn talent before someone else does that for them. Luckily sometimes talents are obvious and people utilize them in their life and work, but more often than not, talent is lost because it is difficult to recognize. Recognition or realization, whatever we call it, shall render benevolently if occurred at the right time. So what do we do when we find we are good at something worthwhile doing? We make it our hobby. Some actually work towards making their hobby their career while some others pursue that just as a hobby. For the latter set of people, it doesn’t necessarily imply that they aren’t confident enough that their hobby is going to earn them their bread.
It is not always possible to choose a career that you love, particularly in countries like India, where in your parents, relatives and annoyingly your neighbors and even family friends make inadmissible decisions in your life, like about your career, marriage etc. Unlike what the BlackBerry commercial said “Do what you love. Love what you do.” , it can be manipulated for the better as: “If you cannot do what you love, you can always love what you’re doing.” Mind you that doing something is better than doing nothing and that doing that something with love is a way better than regretting your past about your incapacity in doing what you loved. You can always pursue your long-cherished avocation in your free time, isn’t it? You have got to move on with what you still have, right?
