Passion is the key

Prannoy Roy in his keynote address delivered at the Sanskriti School on the 19th of this month talked real sense. It was neither a speech, nor a eulogy, it was an advice to the students, an advice that struck a emotional chord with all those present in the hall, young or old.

Passion is the key he said. Passion in whatever one does is the key to success he stressed. So either one has to find his true calling that ignites passion or find passion in whatever one is doing. Any job done passionately leads to success as well as contentment and performed dispassionately is a sure shot failure.

Ashok Pradhan a retired senior IAS officer whom I met today is perhaps a very fine example of what Prannoy stressed upon. Ashok Pradhan was as bubbly and as full of enthusiasm today, as he was over thirteen years back in the hallowed precincts of the Transport Bhawan. It was his enthusiasm and passion for work while working as the director general of tourism that pleasently struck me on my first day in my first job outside the rails. That he still almost looks the same as he was thirteen years ago and still has the same level of enthusiasm reaffirms what Prannoy told the students.

All great men, almost all of whom have achieved greatness by dint of sheer hard work and perseverence have one thing is common and that is passion for whatever they are doing, Sreedharan, Pachauri and Amitabh Kant are other exemplary cases of passionate people at work, that readily come to mind. With passion, one can move mountains and cross frontiers generally considered invincible, even in the sarkari sector where excuses for failure are generally the order of the day.