Sage speak: Trigger your passion Life after VRS

RAMASWAMY PRASAD, former MD of Creative Wires at Pasadena Cal., remembers the massive retrenchments of the '80s vividly. He was asked by his board to reduce his staff from 50 to 20. This was tantamount to cutting off his right arm, so he chose the golden handshake and put in his papers. He was forty-five, with atleast 15 years to go and felt it was the best decision of his career.

Often when a job comes to an end people are at a loss for what to do. On the other hand there are few who have their future all mapped out. They seem to know exactly what to do and they get right down to doing it. In Prasad's mind there was a golden dream to do what he always wanted to do. Despite his twenty-five years in the US he never missed an opportunity to return to India and what he always thought of as ``Home''. He had also, developed, over the years a fondness for Indian objects d'art which had become for him a near obsession.

His tastes ranged from Kushan artefacts to colonial memorabilia. Every trip to India meant the collection of some items for his hoard. He found he had enough to start a shop/museum that he named `Dak Bungalow Gothic' which within weeks of opening became the one-stop shop for everyone's interest in Indian art, culture and dicor. It became necessary for him to make frequent trips to India to re-stock and before long he was in big business, doing exactly what he always wanted. Some work, plenty of money, lots of fun and frequent trips to India! His avocation paid off.

Turning one's avocation into a profitable and enjoyable business works! There is no rule that you must not enjoy what you work at, even if it is not on any list of `normal' careers.

Creative earning

Shalini Theodora always loved to tell stories. She worked in a petrochemical multinational as a senior executive. Then, in 1990 she discovered computers and the joys of word processing. She acquired a 286 and began to put down on screen the stories she used to recount for all her nephews and nieces. Her sister suggested she send them in for publication but Shalini balked at the prospect, intent only on her recording her stories for future members of the family. Besides she also had a job from which she earned enough for herself and her family. In fact she had far more than she could spend. Her sister Sapna, on the other hand secretly sent a collection of her stories to a publisher friend who liked them so much, he put them on the market. The collection was into its third edition before the ink on the contract was dry. Shalini had found her niche and fame that would not have come with petrochemicals! Her `hobby' became a career. She loved it!

Reach for the sky

Cannot think, brain numb, inspiration won't come? Wake up! You can never be certain when creativity will hit you between the eyes! When Arundati Acharya was twenty- nine, working as a middle manager in a actuarial organisation in the UK, one Christmas she was asked by her boss to put up a small dramatic production for the board of directors who were for the first time coming for the Christmas party. In a week, she drew upon her childhood skill of dramatics, wrote a script, cast the play and put on a half hour play on office politics. One of the directors was a theatre enthusiast and asked her if she had had any formal training. He was surprised when she said she hadn't. She began to think about how much she enjoyed herself and today, at 31 she is a popular playwright/director on the professional stage. She makes more money than she would have had she become a director on the board of her company! The bonus? She hasn't enjoyed herself as much as she is now!

A job in hand is worth two in the bush

Prasad, Shalini and Arundati were all in mainline businesses before they broke free and began what they enjoyed doing. It is also inaccurate to say by implication that they did not enjoy the careers they were in, on the contrary they were all good at their jobs and had earned kudos for their work. They just had a passion for an activity that kept them occupied and they cashed in on that. In Arundati's case it was not even an active passion, it lay dormant till that fortuitous Christmas party. They all had choices and they were fortunate to choose well. When they came in the fork in their career paths they were fortunate to be able to see the end of both paths and make an informed choice. It is wise to have a choice, an alternative, so that when you come to the fork in the road you have a clear road ahead of you.

Pass ``Go'' and collect....

*If you have an alternate, encashable pastime, fly to ``GO'', collect the bonus and move to the next bullet below. If not start developing one. In our country philately, numismatics and sundry collection are popular but always encashable. On the other hand `creative' arts like painting, clay modelling and sculpture are certainly encashable. Collection of antiques and memorabilia is becoming popular and is most certainly remunerative if you are able to judge your collection with a connoisseur's eye. India is a tremendous storehouse of items like vintage cars, neo- classical paintings and some fairly grotesque but antique timepieces. These are items that coming back into fashion around the world. It is hardly surprising that Sotheby's and Christie's the famous art auctioneers have established themselves in the country. Don't take up a hobby with a view of making money on it later, just get your teeth into it and enjoy it! That's all you need do at this stage.

*Once you are on your way, that is have something you find you like doing see if there are other people who are interested in the by- product (keeping in mind always that the main product is enjoyment). The people who are interested should be interested enough to buy.

You could try at:

* The web, which is a great repository of information on most things. Find out what people are looking for and what niches you can help fill.

* Professional and social associations. These are ideal places to trawl. You will be amazed at the interest that people evince in sculpture, paintings or objects d'art. See if your hobby can cater to any of these interests. Remember, what you are doing is a little pre-launch market survey!

* Books are available in libraries and interest-specific magazines are indicative of the demand for various items.

* If you are fond of dogs, there is a huge potential for running breeding kennels. Today the pet dog business in India is a multi- million rupee industry with some professional business houses getting into the act. There is a sideline in the import of highly bred dogs but I must warn against this as the losses in transport fatalities will break any true dog- lovers heart.

* An interest in gardening can be converted into big business opportunities with the fad for rooftop gardens and patio gardens in flats gaining ground.

*If you happen to be a wilderness freak with yen for the great outdoors, you can encash your passion by becoming a corporate trainer in outbound management development programmes for which there is a growing demand.

The final game plan drawn up you can take the plunge, but don't let go of the traditional lifeline. Stay with your job till you feel secure enough to strike out on your own, and, if you have done your research well, you will have transformed your hobby, your passion into a job that is both satisfying andlucrative!

S. RAMANUJACHARYA

professor@webbox.com