One has grown up hearing parents chiding their children to study hard and achieve something in life. ‘Achievement’ typically signified becoming a doctor, an engineer or a chartered accountant. Parents were usually seen to be reluctant to allow the children to follow passions like singing, dancing, painting, writing, sport etc because these pursuits were seen as the shenanigans of the offspring of rich and famous people since they provided no guarantee of future employment.
It was in the last decade or so, when Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Virender Sehwag and M. S. Dhoni became high-grossing and much sought-after stars that parents actually started pushing their children, who showed even an iota of interest in the game to pursue cricket on a serious note, often accompanying them to pre-dawn coaching camps run by ex-cricketers. The children were eyeing a fulfillment of their passion and the parents were guided by the possibility of greater financial accomplishment than previously thought possible.
This pursuit of cricketing passion, for whatever reasons, resulted in creating a full bench of serious contenders for the Indian test and ODI cap and brought about a situation where even the erstwhile star cricketers could not take their place in the national team for granted. It generated a wave of young stars from the smaller towns of India, who struck it rich. This caught the imagination of an even larger number of youngsters in the country who have started to believe that if these guys from Allahabad, Barielly, Baroda, Hissar etc could make it so can they. This crop of young talent, fired by self-belief, has done India proud at the junior level. The young stars inside the team can never become complacent, as they have an even larger number of equally talented players breathing down their necks, eagerly waiting for them to fail.
What has happened in cricket is slowly beginning to happen in other walks of life as well, be it other sports like tennis, billiards, squash or badminton, painting and other crafts like sculpture, poetry, theatre or films, hospitality business or event management. Parents’ desire to see their children settled and financially secure in life and the options offered by these seemingly unusual vocations has gradually brought about a greater acceptance of the fact that one need not be a doctor, engineer, chartered accountant to be deemed successful. The irony of the situation is that these unusual pursuits usually offer greater earning potential and a superior lifestyle to its proponents, I guess primarily because these kids are chasing their dream and when your heart and soul is in something, you always do a damn good jo of it. One would rather be a top-notch chef than a mediocre engineer.
The films of the time also amply portray this changing reality. I chanced to see Rock On! yesterday. It is a film starring Arjun Rampal, as Joe, the lead guitarist and debutantes Farhan Akhtar, as Aditya, the singer, Luke Kenny, as Rob, the keyboardist and Purab Kohli, as KD, the killer drummer who form the rock band called Magic. It has been written and directed by Abhishek Kapoor and produced by Farhan Akhtar and Ritesh Sidhwani. It is a story of this young group splitting apart, when ego clashes arise upon getting the first album contract but re-uniting years later after leading miserable lives doing other things. Of the four, two continue pursuing music with nothing great happening in their lives. The other two are shown pursuing other vocations and are seen to have achieved great financial success. Yet their passion brings them together to create Magic on stage, in the end of the movie. I thought the names and situations were rather symbolic.
It was in the last decade or so, when Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Virender Sehwag and M. S. Dhoni became high-grossing and much sought-after stars that parents actually started pushing their children, who showed even an iota of interest in the game to pursue cricket on a serious note, often accompanying them to pre-dawn coaching camps run by ex-cricketers. The children were eyeing a fulfillment of their passion and the parents were guided by the possibility of greater financial accomplishment than previously thought possible.
This pursuit of cricketing passion, for whatever reasons, resulted in creating a full bench of serious contenders for the Indian test and ODI cap and brought about a situation where even the erstwhile star cricketers could not take their place in the national team for granted. It generated a wave of young stars from the smaller towns of India, who struck it rich. This caught the imagination of an even larger number of youngsters in the country who have started to believe that if these guys from Allahabad, Barielly, Baroda, Hissar etc could make it so can they. This crop of young talent, fired by self-belief, has done India proud at the junior level. The young stars inside the team can never become complacent, as they have an even larger number of equally talented players breathing down their necks, eagerly waiting for them to fail.
What has happened in cricket is slowly beginning to happen in other walks of life as well, be it other sports like tennis, billiards, squash or badminton, painting and other crafts like sculpture, poetry, theatre or films, hospitality business or event management. Parents’ desire to see their children settled and financially secure in life and the options offered by these seemingly unusual vocations has gradually brought about a greater acceptance of the fact that one need not be a doctor, engineer, chartered accountant to be deemed successful. The irony of the situation is that these unusual pursuits usually offer greater earning potential and a superior lifestyle to its proponents, I guess primarily because these kids are chasing their dream and when your heart and soul is in something, you always do a damn good jo of it. One would rather be a top-notch chef than a mediocre engineer.
The films of the time also amply portray this changing reality. I chanced to see Rock On! yesterday. It is a film starring Arjun Rampal, as Joe, the lead guitarist and debutantes Farhan Akhtar, as Aditya, the singer, Luke Kenny, as Rob, the keyboardist and Purab Kohli, as KD, the killer drummer who form the rock band called Magic. It has been written and directed by Abhishek Kapoor and produced by Farhan Akhtar and Ritesh Sidhwani. It is a story of this young group splitting apart, when ego clashes arise upon getting the first album contract but re-uniting years later after leading miserable lives doing other things. Of the four, two continue pursuing music with nothing great happening in their lives. The other two are shown pursuing other vocations and are seen to have achieved great financial success. Yet their passion brings them together to create Magic on stage, in the end of the movie. I thought the names and situations were rather symbolic.
While you can achieve name and fame and material success doing anything else it is only when you pursue your passion and chase your dream that the end result becomes meaningless. The pursuit itself becomes so fulfilling that attain Self Actualization. You continue and try harder and struggle to attain perfection and that is when Magic is created.
The above image is the poster design of Rock On. I am sure the producers of the film wouldn't mind my using it.
1 comment:
Would like to add to what mr.sud has alrady explained in detail...
'It's never too late to be what u wanted to be'...
The movie adds life to the above statement. A must see for people of today's generation, who in pursuit of clinical excellence..end up losing their core identity.
You just have ONE LIFE...So why put it to waste...! Be game to trying out your ideas...and the process of trying is a bigger learing experience than the ACTUAL RESULT.
ROCK ON......
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