May the Force leave you be

During a conversation with a friend of mine, the kind who smashes quizzes all over the countryside in his sleep and accumulates a fortune in cash/bikes/accolades/whatever, I casually asked him if he ever considered making it (quizzing) a career. You know, conduct quizzes and quiz based events for a living, a la Avinash Mudaliar or Derek O'Brien. The Indian Corporate and academic world being what it is, you would never be out of business and there's good money in it too. "No", he replied, "The moment it stops being a hobby and becomes work, there's no fun in it."

This sentiment seems to agree with one of my (hardly original) pet theories that as soon as you are under compulsion to do something, or if you have someone pressing you to do a piece of work (and enjoy it), it becomes a chore and out goes the enjoyment. When it involves something that should be a leisurely activity, things get especially bewildering. Fine, if you're a helpless creature like me who's incapable of surviving alone in the jungle, you do need to seek advice and instructions quite often. However, a hobby is what it is because you don't have people telling you what to do. For example, I renewed my interest in books halfway through college primarily because I discovered a lot of good stuff on my own or by accident. Hitherto I was being told by everyone to cultivate a 'reading habit'(what a disgusting term!), and it was a bit of a turn off from printed matter which I'm happy to say is well behind me.

Rules, however are a part of life so you have to live with them right from the start. Call me a cynic, but I still think loving your school, studies or work is overrated. In one Calvin and Hobbes strip, Calvin is shown dreaming about blowing up his school on the way to it, then he snaps out of it with a sigh when he reaches there. Bill Watterson adds a footnote saying he got a lot of flack for that cartoon, and those readers (who apparently took him very seriously) had obviously never been to school before! If you're like Suzie Derkins, oh so excited about the first day of school and looking at it as a chance to meet new people and teachers and learn new stuff, all I can say is you better watch out for that snowball heading your way. I think a lot of us got along better with Faculty in college than in school, probably because our opinions and expectations of each other were much more transparent. Once they accepted that we turned up for class just for the attendance and our aspirations leaned more towards clearing exams than enriching our knowledge with the finer points they had to offer, whatever tension there was in the air gradually vanished and both parties could slip into a comfort zone. We, in turn, understood their point of view and difficulties with the system and were on largely good terms with them. School with its blind protocol was a different story, and I still find the notion that school should be fun quite amusing. On the subject of studies, everyone loves talking about their 'academic interests'. Who are they kidding? The term is an oxymoron.

'Job satisfaction' is another overrated term. Liking your job and office is one thing, but can you really be crazy about whatever it is you're doing? This is work after all. Like studies, it's not something that's meant to be enjoyed. It's all very well to proudly declare that your dream job may be that of a reviewer of DVDs or a cricket commentator, but would you be able to live your passion on your own terms?

Since I don't use 'labels' on this blog, or categorise my posts, I should probably insert the word RANT (using oversized capitals) in the title. I have three assignments thrust upon me, so go figure. Maybe it's time I outgrew these pet theories and turn to one of my hobbies on the side for immediate relief. I've gotten hooked to Scott Adams' Dilbert books of late. The next book in the series I plan to purchase is called The Joy of Work.