Sketches in silence

Silence - the companion who walks with us through the most intimate moments of truth.This poem offers glimpses of how  our deepest feelings find expression in silence rather than eloquence-whether it be love, loss, helplessness,fear,solitude, tranquility or the final slumber..

A place of our own, once we had ,

ln the heart of  distant woods;

Where silence was a veil of mist

Thrown upon the moonlit night;

Where fireflies , like fallen stars

Twinkled in the dark groves;

Where we often lost ourselves

And  discovered each other.

It could have been mind’s play

Or a  dream, who could say?

As the summer sun went up,

The misty veil was lifted up;

Silence rose up  as  a wall

How I wished it would fall!

Every query hit the wall

And  rebounded unresolved.

Ah! My love, how we played,

Against the wall everyday!

The darkest hour came next

Caught up in a reign of hate,

Our life became a babe lost;

Terror marched up the streets,

Devil knocked upon the doors,

In silence did we hide  our dreams

Everytime we heard the screams.

On the  wings of   time  I fly

knowing not the how or why-

Breaking against peaks tall,

Seeping into woods in fall,

Twilight spreads its golden wings

In the stillness of my soul,

Silence ,like an  autumn  leaf

Gently glides in the  breeze.

Then I feel the sun go down,

An inky darkness seeping in;

Shall I close my weary  eye

And become one with the night?

Oh!  my love, bid me goodbye,

As silence hums her lullaby.

                                   Lathika Rajesh

 

Passion and Profession-Some compelling questions.

   Passion and profession-some compelling questions.

The other day I happened to hear one of the doyens of current medical practice echo an oft repeated dictum on a talk show-'if you work with passion you will need neither coffee nor breaks  nor sleep".Great, truly great man that one! But ,seriously what of ordinary mortals like me who happen to be on the medical scene too? Does this mean that my work ethics is an absolute mess simply because I have a  coffee break,love regular working hours and enjoy a good night's restful sleep whenever I can grab it..what sort of hell lies in wait for me !?

Thus started the confusions of job vs passion.A hailstorm of questions further pelted  one after the other on my startled mind.

 Passion-' a very powerful and barely controllable emotion' said the lexicon trying to help out.As against the word passion  being increasingly overused in the professional world just to denote an increased work productivity as gauged by measurable targets achieved by the employee. This article  intends to highlight why passion cannot be pegged into a slot meant as a prerequisite for professional success. Ofcourse I am never against people doing passionate jobs.it is practical and possible in select professional worlds.But the word should not be just another way to flag employees on to meet corporate goals.

They say-don't just do it,do it with passion.It is the new politically correct mantra. Appealing as it sounds,can all jobs be really done with passion? Should we really complicate things by dragging this' strong and barely controllable 'something into the practical controlled environment of a routine job?

Can an employer or anyone outside of yourself for that matter  call for passion in your job-like you call for precision, punctuality or neatness?Or may be order for a masala omelette!!-Ifeel definitely not. Passion like love has to happen. It falls in the emotional domain of an individual. As long as we differ in our emotional timbre,our potential for passion will too.So, once you make sure you deliver the objective end points of your job ,do not let others gauge your passion levels by the number of coffe breaks you may or may not take. Passion is an individual's private space -his own heaven. It would be so nice if the proponents of ideal work ethics had the etiquette not to intrude.

Do all jobs really need a passionate approach? I feel it could even be distracting or depressing to expect such an emotional experience in many jobs where technicalities and ledgers rule.Not to forget the many menial jobs that get done just because people need to earn a living. Don't some jobs like let us say vacuum cleaning even require a switch off of the passion centre?

Passion and the employee-.In a job the prerequisites for success are definite-put in scoopfuls of dedication, discipline and hardwork  in the couldron of hours and burn your ATPs diligently-Voila!you are a success story with concrete credentials and proportionate affluence. So here, climbing the success ladder is totally a controlled game. The reigns are in your hands. It can be so, only because there is no overpowering uncontrollable impulse here that defines passion .So you can trace and make success follow your predetermined footsteps.Your head rules,not the heart. Whereas, if your job is your passion too, you almost become a slave to it. You have no choice but to follow the heart and throw prudence to the wind if at all it comes to that.Your decisions will stem from hot headed emotion not cold reason.

Passion and the employer-A passion lures out your very being and in return may reward you occassionally with abstract joys largely incomprehensible even to your near and dear.A passionate person can be unpredictable, moody and self indulgent.He may not take lightly to scorns even of the implied kind from anyone including seniors.. So human resource managers, think again-Do you really need so many passionate people around?Aren't the worker bees better on the whole?I guess your answer would be'- A tame passionate employee is actually what we are looking for.. ".Good luck!

Now coming to the current concept of making your passion your vocation. Sounds great, but the hitch is how many of us are really passionate about anything at all? Whether we like it or not the majority of human race never crosses the sensitivity threshold needed to understand and experience a passion. The world is largely made of likes,not burning dreams and passions. So expecting every teen to identify his or her passion and go for it as a career choice would indeed be a tall order.

Even if one does come up with a passion- clay modelling,writing,dancing,whatever, and take up a job in any of those, from day one ,the pressure will be on to mould  instincts into set forms according to market demands. Then, what would come of that innate desire for free expression  in one's own time ,pace and space that every passionate person craves for? What is passion with out the freedom to be yourself. So , When you make your passion your job it is almost like pawning it for a comfortable living.You may have to settle for dreams made to another's order.

Finally, is it possible to bring on passion in a job that doesn't really excite you? We can perhaps try to do it  in a passionate way-but is it the same as it being your passion?

This article in no way intends  to downplay the achievements and efforts of all the passionate professionals out there. Ofcourse being able to strike the perfect balance of heart and head,and make a delicious job -passion cocktail is something great.But it may not be every one's game at every point of time.The constraints of heirarchial thinking and lack of freedom in a professional environment can lead to emotional setbacks that can kill a passionate appproach.To really follow a passion you should be left with absolute freedom of thought and action -with no questions asked. For the majority of humanity, who cannot hope for such a work environment,  a job well done is a job good enough -a few coffee breaks would definitely not make them lesser professionals.
                                                                                                                                          Dr Lathika Rajesh