I have heard from elders that there exists 64 types of arts (kala) and knowledge streams (vidya). A person who masters them all is often called an all rounder (sarva gunn sampann).
Then, is it possible that we all are born with innate potential for these talents. I mean not everyone is born with all the talents, but may have the potential to master them in various degrees. What then sets some apart from the others? When I was pregnant with my first born, I had read a Marathi book called Gharoghari Dnyaneshwar Janmati ( A learned born in every household). The crux of the book was with the right environment, right nutrition and right training, every child can achieve greatness.
This ideology is very popular these days and all of us try to give the best of the World we can to our kids. We tame each of the talents and push them into arenas that were unknown to us in our childhood.. Everybody knows the coding mania by White hat Jr and Byjus of the World...where kids as young as 5 years were readily admitted to coding class tutorials. I have also heard of 4 year olds training for Tennis..a game that requires immense arm strength even for an adult!
Catch them young and train them...seems to be the new mantra... May be it works for many..but does this give a fair opportunity for underlying strong talent potential to rise naturally? Or it pushes the not so potentially high but yet underlying skills up the ladder due to immense practice and parental or peer pressure. What then becomes of the naturally strong potentials? Do they die their own natural deaths, or resurface some fine day after many many decades...
May be these are the ones that still emerge out of a mid life crisis or a burn out or a sabatical and the subsequent career shift! I have read of all amazing stories of people starting late in life..an Indian lady who started running at 60 and ran her first Marathon 2-3 years later, or an 90 year old who started her own business, corporate junkies who quit the mainstream and became yoga and lifestyle gurus.
Well, I cant speak for others...but I can speak for myself. I remember as a teenager, I liked to experiment with food. Sometime later, I also played with the idea of joining catering as a vocation. However, no one really cared about vocation and interest around me. All we knew is scoring good marks in SSC board exams and admission in a reputed college. Well, by the time I graduated, MBA was the bandwagon and everyone caught that bus. Ten plus years in the corporate life and I still lamented on my botched up career path. Finally at 40, I found my state of solace in that icing cone that creams the cake! How many times I wish today that I had taken that frail thought in my teenage years
Well, I too caught the bus and seems like got down somewhere far from the intended stop..Looks like I am still navigating my way!
How about you?
