There are similarities and differences between talent and spiritual gift. Both are gifts from God. Both grow in effectiveness with use. Both are intended to be used on behalf of others, not for  selfish purposes. Is this some kind of a sermon or statement? Neither… few decades ago when one was under the burden of academics, playing a piano or a mouth-organ, or singing or dancing acted as a breather, to relieve one from the ‘stress’ gathered through endless hours of pouring over the books.

While some wanted to shake a leg, some wanted to let out the steam through singing, some preferred snuggling into the warmth of the bed and just read and relaxed. Some turned into poets and poetesses, whilst the energetic and fit ones chose to play. Weird are the ways of the mind and palate. Imagine if you never knew how to unwind or how to completely step out of the ‘regular’ routine. How to break out from this cocoon at least once in a while and fly out like a joyful butterfly? You would either be bored to death, or turned into a psyche, because your intuitive mind needs to exercise too, to stay fit.

With this obsession to unwind, many geniuses (and mediocre minds too) started tapping inner potential not just on an intellectual level but intuitive levels too. Before we go into the actual mechanics of this, lets take a quick look at ‘where talent originates’. The famous left & right brain theory says People who rely more heavily on the right half of their brain tend to be more maginative and intuitive. They see things as a whole and are interested in patterns, shapes and sizes.

The right brain is associated with artistic ability like singing, painting, writing poetry, etc. Leftbrain dominated people may find their thought processes vague and difficult to follow, for they are quite opposite in the way they think. Leftbrain dominated people tend to be more logical and analytical in their thinking and usually excel at mathematics and word skills. But this does not mean that a person who is left or right brain dominated does not use the other part of his brain. For most people, the two parts of the brain work in tandem to enable them to function as well-rounded personalities. If we go by this, talented people tend to use their left brain a bit more, they generally throw rules out of the window, and usually have artistic abilities and most importantly not too strong in academics. Surprisingly, though they detest long study hours they enjoy exhibiting and exploring their talents.

Mrs. Rajani, a primary school teacher in an international school dealing closely with the students in their co-curricular activities along with teaching other subjects, puts forth her interesting observations about the left and right brain dominated students. She says those who are meticulous about their work, books, things etc are usually good at studies and like to ‘try’ other things which are natural for a child to be interested in, like painting, dancing and playing, but those having a special talent become more expressive and we can actually see their talent bloom! This becomes stronger as days pass by.

Again it is not necessary that all students who are strong in academics are not good in cocurricular activities, there are some who are brilliant on both fronts, these are the ones who become ‘all-rounders’. These are the ones who are naturally ‘blessed’ to see their potential without much outside guidance or help. So what has this to do with the passion and profession? A lot! Because when passion and profession merge there is an explosion of joy, talent, productivity and creativity. Take the examples of many professionals who have scaled dizzy heights just because they fought against all odds to make their passion a profession. While some are blessed with clarity and have conducive atmosphere too, both at home and college to support this, some not-so-lucky ones go through the grit and grind of life to realize that they have to make their talent a career.

Says singer Nihal who shot into fame with his playback singing for films “I learnt the hard way” that it isn’t enough if even you have immense talent. It’s more important for you to plan your career well. Otherwise by the time one grows out of his or her prime time, and when he looks back there is hardly any financial backup he can see. Talking about his childhood, Nihal says he is from a family steeped in music and grew up breathing it. Though he had the natural inclination to sing well even without a formal training, he sang for sheer pleasure. It was only when he received an award from none other than S P Balasubramaniam did he realize that there was something worthy in him apart from singing as a hobby. During his MBA days, at the age of 22, he felt snubbed by his teacher, when she advised him not to discontinue studies, as she saw a streak of taking-things-for granted in him. Though it was said in his welfare, he felt humiliated and started his sadhana (practice) for almost 14 hours a day. Just singing and singing. This, he recounts now, took him to a totally different dimension within himself. He says he never enjoyed music this much as he felt drowned in an ocean of nectar. This was a turning point where he decided to turn his passion into profession. This wasn’t so easy, as young Nihal went through a roller coaster ride where harsh realities started hitting him in the face. Though he had many feathers in the cap, none helped him to become a ‘successful’ singer.

Having gone through this and now settled in life, Nihal says had he been able to plan his career well, which his contemporaries like Geeta Madhuri, Sri Krishna did, he would had the best of both the worlds. What would he suggest to youngsters who want to make it big in singing especially with idols and role models like Sreeram and Hemachandra? Planning career well, patience, practice and perseverance are the key components to prove yourself. Apart from this, he says looking for able mentor, like he fell into the hands of RP Patnaik and Mani Sharma, who gave him a foothold in the second coming, is also very important. One unique quality of this versatile singer is that he trains students/singers to be launched on prestigious platforms like ‘Paadutaa Teeyagaa’. He also trains students in ‘voice culture’, which improves the quality of voice, in both speaking and singing, breath control and various other techniques. Nihal is a singer unmatched who won over Pt. Jasraj’s able disciple during his hey days. Voice mellows with time, so does persona, to wrap it up in one line, his voice is like his song--gala gala paaruthunna godaarilaa.

For singers like Smitha it’s a different story altogether. She says to describe herself in one line, she would say, ‘She is passionate about her profession, singing and does not know anything apart from that!’ What did it take to be here? Usually people find it difficult to marry talent to career... but you have done that successfully... how? Singing was my hobby and passion, very unexpectedly became my profession. I was really young, about 16 years when I first started singing and had no exposure to the real and reel world outside my little world which is why I have to admit that it was only with my parents support and my passion that brought me so far.

I had never initially planned to take this up as my career but once I did it I was prepared to work towards making it a successful one. Like most people say ‘it is not easy’, for me also it was never easy. It took a lot of hard work and determination. In a way, my profession taught me how to become strong and smart enough to face any challenges even in regular life. My key mantra has always been, ‘Dare to Dream and Care to Achieve’. What would you advise to all those who wish to make quick buck out of this ‘talent’... To me singing was a passion that became my profession which probably still makes me do it passionately and selectively as I want to be in love with what I am doing. I have never been able to see my career to make quick buck and I don’t think this is the right profession for the ones who want to make quick buck as the chances would be one in a million. You really got to be in love with what you are doing to sustain in this career.

How to deal with obstacles and despondency in this path? Like I said, especially in this kind of a career one should be ready to face any challenges. To me in any kind of situation it is important to keep respect and Never Give Up. Some of us think that one is lucky if one is born in a business family so that after graduating one can straightaway take over the family business. That is not always the case as the following examples show:-:One of the most interesting vocation stories are with respect to Henri Ford. Ford’s father was a farmer who wanted his son to follow him in his own footsteps. However, young Hernri’s heart was with the motor engine and similar things with which he tinkered. After furious arguments with his father, he left to chart his own course to create history by becoming one of the world’s richest entrepreneurs. The lesson to learn here is that one has to see where one’s spontaneous inclination lies and then have the courage and conviction to back it up.

Much later in life, Henri Ford brought into Ford a person who could concentrate on all other areas except for manufacturing which was Henri’s forte. Henri Ford was regarded as a business genius in his time. This shows that even geniuses have to indulge in complimentary synergies- supplement their own strength and complement their weaknesses. The other example is that of Akio Morita who became Sony’s Chairman .Though he did not have any arguments with his father, being the eldest in the family, he was expected to take over the family business of brewing sake, a Japanese drink. However, Morita’s interest lay in electronics which is where he went. He created one of the world’s biggest companies in partnership with another person.

In one of Dale Carnegie’s books there is the example of one person whose father has a laundry business. His father was ashamed of his son because he had no interest in work and was lazy and indifferent. However, the son wanted to become a mechanic and used to do that work endlessly. He pursued his heart and went on to become chairman of Boeing. Thomas Edison had no father’s business but he used to work 18 hours a day and yet say that he didn’t work in his life as it was all fun. The best example in recent times is the richest man in the world, Mr Bill Gates who left his Harvard studies midway to follow his heart and that is what made him the richest man in the world. This would obviously not happen with everyone but what one has to learn is to know exactly what one wants to do. Sometime back, Bill Gates made Steve Ballamer CEO and designated himself Chief Software Architect to focus on his real love, software design. This is similar to what Henri Ford did. Another example is Michael Dell who had passion for selling computers and competing with IBM which led to the formation of Dell Corporation while he was only 19.

It would not be out of place to mention an Indian story. Alyque Padamsee, the former chairman of Lintas has written a book called “The double life”. In that he describes how he used to do advertisements for money which used to fund his real passion which was theatre. He had to sacrifice a lot of social life for this “double life” but this story clearly shows that one has to follow one’s heart more than one’s head for the choice of one’s career.

Sachin Tendulkar, the cricket world wonder, recognized his passion for the game at an early age pursued it and there he rules the cricket world. William Shakespeare wrote to quench his passion and the whole world rhymes his famous quotes today. And who can avoid ethereal voice of veteran Indian singer Lata Mangeshker who pursued her passion regardless of not being able to pay for the professional training. However, it may not be possible or even practical for most people to pursue passion as their career, but they still keep it ignited to lead a happy and contented life. Speak to Saif Ali khan, the famous Bollywood actor and he loves quoting- “Over time, I think I’ve just matured as a guitarist as my passion has only got the better of me. I am a huge fan of guitar virtuoso Joe Satriani. And no, I don’t plan to turn this in to a career choice, as it is much more inspiring as a hobby.” Perizaad Zorabian, the Bollywood starlet loves ballet dancing and says- “It’s the best medium of joy for me, the most liberating. The drumbeats give me  such a high that I find it tough to shake off the stupor.” The famous comic actor Jaspal Bhatti was inspired by famous cartoonist R.K.Laxman and pursued a career that would keep his passion of being meaningfully funny alive in spite of being professionally qualified to be an electronics engineer.

Most people have a notion that passion is for the rich, as it requires a good amount of money and time. Wrong! Passion is all about great dedication, optimism, planning, living your dream & most importantly, recognizing what interests you the most. Once you recognize what gives you a high after a hard day’s work, all you have to concentrate on pursuing it for a short time & do it with best of your abilities. It is easy looking for excuses for not pursuing a hobby, as many would shirk away saying, “Hey, I had a late evening at work.” So how about trying gardening in the mornings or keeping a “to-do” list at work to prioritize better.

So if you are interested in standing out in the crowd, believe in what the wise say- “All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.” It can be concluded that passion alone determines what one should or should not be doing because it enables one to overcome all obstacles.