Chase your dreams

When we look around us, we see a host of successful men and women. But how many of these people really continued their professional life in their line of study?

It's surprising to find that many success stories were scripted only after the author realised hi true passion after a wrong start! As children, we have dreams and passions, and as we grow older these passions either change completely or evolve subtly. And when it is time to decide our course of study, we're usually unprepared and end up selecting either what our parents force us to or what our peers choose- only to realise that we're in the wrong place! However, there seems to be an encouraging trend of people branching off from their courses of study to pursue their passions.

there are a host of stars who have in the past pursued one course in college and ended up choosing careers in completely different fields. Believe it or not, Amitabh Bachchan started off as a medical representative!

Singer Sumangaly says, "I took up my course in economics only because that was the best option i had then. I've now realised that is only when you get in to something that you find out whether it is what you're meant to be doing. However late you realise it, you should always follow your heart and do what you love doing." Everyone is on a quest to find their true passion but some never find it. And there are the lucky few for whom passion become profession. For Ramesh, a popular choreographer who went from almost joining the army to starting this own dance school, this was the case. "Dance was always my passion, but I didn't seriously consider it as a profession. A senior once told me to capitalise on my talent after seeing my performance at a function. The next day, I made up my mind to pusue dancing. I feel blessed and have no regrets!" he pipes.

There are students who're still not out of college but have already realised that they want to change tracks. Shruthi Mohan, a final year student at Madras Christian College, says, "I took up microbiology, but I now realise that this is not what I want. I've now decided to pursue management studies once I leave college."

Speaking about this trend, Prakash, a career counsellor, says, "While it is important for the person to follow his interests, he should also be very smart.