Rethinking Passion: Why Pursuing Practicality Can Be Your Path to Success

In pursuit of dreams, we often encounter crossroads that force us to make tough decisions.

In the case of one individual, the allure of a cricketing career clashed with the practicality of pursuing engineering.

Inspired by the legendary Sachin Tendulkar, this person had to confront the reality that not everyone can become a sports icon. His story highlights the importance of acknowledging the true depths of one's passion and understanding the sacrifices it demands.

This article showcases the power of passion, the significance of embracing different paths, and the potential for extraordinary achievements in unexpected domains.

Once upon a time, I used to dream of becoming a cricketer (though my cricketing skills were pretty average).

Especially in my engineering days, every time the grunt of the studies would get high, I would wonder. This is such a waste of time. I should have actually pursued my dream and tried to be a cricketer.

This was the 90s. The idol and role model, of course, at that time was the Master Blaster Sachin Tendulkar.

I used to crib about this to my father, and finally, one day, he said to me,

Look, For every Sachin Tendulkar who makes it to the top and lives an envious life we all dream of, and there are hundreds of Sachin Tendulkar wannabes that sell “vada pav” (street food) outside the railway stations of Mumbai when their dreams are crushed.

For good or bad, that really hit me hard, and I decided to focus on engineering, and cricket eventually vaporised from my life. I don’t regret it at all.

Life has been kind, and on the professional front, I have done amazing stuff in terms of technology, travelled to many places in the world and, met some really awesome people, even managed to get a letter of appreciation from the government !!

Being passionate is good. You have just to acknowledge there is a price you have to pay. If your passion consumes you, then you won’t care about the risks and the price to be paid for that, then plunge right in.

These are the kind of people who make a dent in our world and change things for the better. Sachin Tendulkar loved cricket far more than being rich and famous. Being rich and famous is a by-product that happens.

But if your passion is not that overpowering, you are just enamoured by the jazzy life; you may be better off with a job or something more mundane. You could still live a pretty awesome life and be happy.