XAVIER INSTITUTE OF COMMUNICATION HOSTS JOBS V/S PASSION
24-February-2012
On 24th February, 2012, Xavier Institute of Communication in association with Birla Sun Life hosted the seminar Jobs v/s Passion. The purpose of the discussion was to enlighten students (and their parents) that one does not have to give up on their passion in order to make a living.
The wide variety of panellists includes:
- Fr. Lawrence Ferraro, the director of XIC
- TJ Ravishankar, researcher with Tata Consultancy Services and lecturer at XIC
- Ajay Kakar, Chief Marketing Officer, Birla Sun Life
- Rajit Kapoor, famous theatre and cinema personality
- Jehangir Jehangir (JJ), band member of Something Relevant
- Agnello Diaz, managing director, Tap Root India, and winner of Communicator of Decade award. The varied panel discussed their personal stories - some had followed their dreams, while some took up jobs and then either learned to love it or switched to something they love. The main theme to arrive out of the discussion is that passion is extremely important for any job - and it is possible to do well for yourself (both financially and otherwise) by choosing to follow your passion and not falling into a regular job.
It was an interesting and enlightening discussion which provided food for thought for many of the students and parents present in the audience.
QUOTES
TJ Ravishankar: "The most important thing today is not acquiring a qualification - it is acquiring a skill. Age is an irrelevant factor.”
Rajit Kapoor: "There has to be a struggle. The youth these days want too many things too soon.”
Ajay Kakar: ‘I went the conventional way because I did not have any passion. After flowing with the tide, I read one article in the Business India magazine that changed my whole life - about an industry called PR. It was an interview with someone from Oglivy - I didn’t know what Oglivy was at that time, but the article changed my life enough that I cold-called the CEO and spoke to him. Now I can’t imagine doing anything but where my heart lies.”
Agnello Diaz: "If from a very young age you are absolutely sure of what you want to do, there is something wrong with you. All good things arrive out of confusion.”
Fr. Lawrie: "Everyone says you should follow your passion, but what is passion? Is it wanting a better cell phone than someone else? That is not passion. Passion is when you are confused about a particular thing, but still something is pulling you towards it.”
Jehangir Jehangir: "I used to ask everyone for advice - parents, friends, counsellors. I got so confused. At the end of the day, you have to take your own decision.”