JOIN USThere are superheroes who save the world. Then there are superheroes who hold regular jobs, meet deadlines and still save the world! Superman’s Clark Kent is a journalist, Daredevil’s Matt Murdock is a lawyer and Batman’s Bruce Wayne runs a million-dollar company.
We have a fair share of such multi-taskers in the real world too — people who have normal jobs but moonlight as artistes, comedians, trainers and so on.
For instance, Dr Jagdish Chaturvedi has an unlikely combination of careers — that of an ENT specialist and a standup comedian. And he does not subscribe to the philosophy of quitting one thing for another. “I think both my professions benefit each other. I interact with a lot of people in my capacity as a doctor and I derive humour from these experiences. If I had quit my job to become a full time comic, I would have been sitting at home and hunting for new material.”
Asked about the concept of giving up everything else for one’s true calling, Jagdish laughs, “If not doing anything else is the key, then unemployed people should have no trouble finding their calling. It doesn’t work like that. Maybe you find your calling because you are engaged in something else.”
Darshana Nahata too belongs to this club of multi-taskers. The graphic designer is also an entrepreneur who runs a health studio in partnership with her cousin.
“I was an artist so taking to graphic designing was a natural choice. Apart from that, running a cafe was one of my childhood dreams since my father is also a hotelier. And thus ‘Enerjuvate’ happened, which is a space for fitness activities and healthy food.”
Darshana is vocal about the advantages of her twin careers. “My designing skills helped me cut costs on interior decor, social media promotion and so on at the cafe. It also helps in the food presentation, I know how to work around with colours and textures for maximum visual impact. On the other hand, I keep meeting a lot of people at the cafe and that has increased my prospects as a graphic designer.”
There are also others who quit plush corporate careers after a long stint to follow their heart’s calling.
Like Sanjay Balsavar, who left his job as a graphic designer to become a clown doctor, involved in therapeutic or hospital clowning.
“I was quite scared but I felt it was time to do what I really liked.”
One of the three professional clowns in India now, Sanjay is happy his gamble paid off.
“It’s not the recognition and rewards that prove that. There have been instances where seriously ill children have been so cheered up by my visits that they showed a great improvement in their health. Things like that prove that my choice was right,” he says.
Bhandavya Gowda agrees. Once a MNC professional, she is now a chef. “I started cooking while living in a rented house with friends and that’s when it all started. Now I have done a pâtisserie course and am training as a chef, enjoying every bit of the exhausting work. I was never a desktop person and this field requires me to put in almost 12 hours of physical work, doing exactly what I like.”