What's a passion if it does not bloom, oblivious to the maddening pace of work and never-ending deadlines?  City-based techie Hari Shenoy works for 13 to 14 hours a day, but when it comes to his passions — music and writing — he is never short of time. After having played for various small bands since he was in college, he now plays for a newly constituted up-and-coming Hindi band named ‘Arth’.

“My work and my hobbies don't overlap. Practice with the band has set times, and I make it a point to show up for the sessions and hence plan my work for the day in accordance with that," explains Hari, who has his hands firmly into writing as well.

Hari is also the Bangalore correspondent for an international journal for more than a year now. "I began writing in 2006, through blogging randomly, minus ideas and structure, purely for self-entertainment, hoping to get an audience to like what I wrote," says Hari, who has never looked back since.

In fact, passions can be separated from hobbies like grains from chaff. Hobbies die a natural death as soon as one gets into work. But passions survive as they are backed by determination and commitment.

Nitin Mascreen, a die-hard techie working with a BPO, started making fish tanks along with a friend four months ago and has made six tanks till date. He says he finds time in between work, deadlines and shifting assignments.
"Mostly weekends hold the solution to balance work and his hobby. The satisfaction of seeing a tank set up from scratch is very fulfiling," Nitin says and adds, "there are moments when I've admired how gracefully the fishes move which is a good way to destress after the computer screen."

Nitin says he got hooked on to it by chance. He observes "that an average tank with the raw material ready could be mounted in anything between 15 minutes to an hour. If you enjoy what you are doing, you will make time for it," he says.

Salsa freak Sultan Kasim, a software professional with SAP labs, who was bitten by the bug in 2003, confesses that managing work and hobby is quite a challenge. "To make it simpler I have restricted my multitude of hobbies to salsa and motorcycle riding," says Sultan and adds "there are times when I am unable to manage work and hobby, but my passion for it has only grown over the years."

Sultan admits that salsa is an obsession and is always on the back of his mind. “I have to rein in myself sometimes to concentrate on work," says Sultan.

It's a battle to keep alive one’s hobbies amidst heavy work but it’s a challenge a lot of young professionals are willing to take.