Over the past few days, I've often been coming across people in their twenties, early or late, who are trying hard to carve a niche for themselves in the profesional and the corporate worlds.
Well, today the world is full of these people.
Almost everyone you meet in that particular age-group falls in a smilar category, trying to prove themselves in their chosen respective segments of the corporate circus. These people that I have met, have been Analysts, Engineers, Marketing professionals, Investment Bankers, Financial advisors and the like.
Peculiarly, very peculiarly indeed, I have found a common thread running through them, all of them. Almost all of these passionately driven, smartly dressed and appropriately conducted young people, have had a history of artistic inclination. All of them, yes. And this comes out of them accidentally almost.
Something being talked about, or a song on the radio, or some place they visited, or any such nostalgia-evoking occurrence takes them down the memory lane, and the reminiscing of the good old college or school days begins, which does not, nearly ever, stop immediately. A few pegs down, and you can't rule out a full-fledged performance out of them. A few more, and the nostalgia might just become too strong to handle, often making people break down, or at least romantically muse over the days of beautiful art gone by.
And more often than not, in good measure, these people hardly carry many regrets about not being able to visit their respective revered arts more frequently. It is almost as if they are happy saving their best performances for such drunken moments, or moments of nostalgic gatherings, and once the reminiscing session is over, they're back to chasing their professional goals passionately and cheerily.
Such encounters have, lately, left me wondering. Are these people better off than the ones who recognize their love for the arts early on and direct all their energies towards their chosen and accepted calling? Because clearly, the former are the ones enjoying the best of both worlds. Okay well, not the 'best' of the other world, but still...you know what I mean !
These people, who tread the socially acceptable and respectable professional paths, do good for themselves monetarily, and still manage to keep bits of their art alive within them, which shows up at social gatherings, have earned my respect of late.
So, a singer who could've outdone the likes of Kailash Kher had he chosen to, is today proud of outperforming his colleagues in a professional assignment, inching closer to that promotion. An actor who was once slapped by Naseeruddeen Shah (the hand of God, Midas touch?!) during a theatre rehearsal, today finds rushes of energy surging through his veins as he works twenty hours a day, making things look easier for his corporate clients, and dealing from his suite in the city's swankiest luxury hotel. A painter creates wonderful creations every Sunday after working hard in the University all week, while a poet gathers applause from his colleagues over cups of coffee and cigarette puffs at work.
I can't say this about everyone else in this context, but I, for one, sometimes do miss the academic competitiveness I possessed as a student. The urge to learn more and more and to display the power of the intellect in academically inclined circles, the proving of superiority through meaningless scorecards, the primness and the decor of corporate social behaviour. This makes me wonder, isn't this other breed enjoying more, being able to live both lives alternately.
The vella dimag, as is its convention, plays games with the self.
