This is a tale of two young brothers (the eldest was 12 years old) whom I met at least two decades back (yeah, me too was quite young at that point of time !!). These two - astonished me with a very different kind of specialization that made me think a lot.....!!
Only quite recently I got reminded of these two boys when I learnt the importance of their specialization...lemme come to that later.....!!
Well, these two lads were the cousins of my close friend and donned the role of entertainers when ever our friends circle gathered. Being youngest in the group, none of us took these brothers seriously except making fun of them and enjoying their humour sense. On a historic day, it was really a discovery for me to know the serious side of their personalities. I was indeed quite thrilled at my own "discovery" potential when I learnt that my friend (who was their own cousin) was not aware of their serious passion until that point of time....!!
Well, these two brothers - out of their sheer passion - has gathered so much knowledge about Train Engines (Locomotives). They had so much information in their possession as they kept our group enthralled for close to three hours. They seem to have got into some intricate calculations about the capacity of engines by adding up the tonnage of each of the compartments of goods trains as it passes by (yes, they wait close to the railway track which was half kilometre away from our residences - for their observations). At such an young age, they were able to explain the evolution of technology - from loco engine to electric engine.....AND were update on the engines that ply close to our area.
At such young age, they had read lot of articles on their pet subject and were following up few magazines to keep updated. They also had interesting experience of travelling in couple of trains along with the Drivers - who were compassionate enough to teach them seeing the level of curiosity and inquisitive-ness {mind you.... these boys approached the drivers on their own and were not introduced by any adults !! and they had the necessary will and courage to return back from the next station after the lessons.....!! and we are talking about young boys who are just around 10 years old....!!}
Well, quite recently, I had an interesting discussion with a colleague of mine who seems to be a member of an association which consist of people who have interest in locomotives. With the advent of latest technologies, they have their own discussion forums AND websites. As a part of the association, they have opportunities to join the Engine Drivers in a structured manner and my colleague proudly told that he had experience of driving few trains for a specific distance (of course in the company of the driver beside him).
As this colleague was speaking about his passion (he is a chartered accountant by qualification),I got reminded of those two young boys whom I met long time back. I heard from my old friend (cousin of these two boys) that these two did not settle down in life properly....AND were victims of the typical lower middle class problems. If only they had right type of patronage to ensure a career in mechanical engineering / related stuff, perhaps they would have flowered as wonderful professionals.
It is indeed quite rare to pick up a keen interest and passion on any subject at an early age....and its quite a fortune / divine blessing to have a career that is fully aligned to one's passion......{What ever our culture names as "swadharma"}.
Dedicating this post to all those brooding minds which are subjected to so much of self torture due to non alignment of their interest / passion and their profession. Though one can keep arguing about lack of guts or clarity to pursue one's passion, there are invisible / uncontrollable factors in all our lives which deny us this alignment.....!!
Love // Suren
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