In an old interview, Shahrukh Khan uses a word for himself that would have made a buzz if media was as strong as today, he calls himself a Masochist - A person who takes pleasure when he gets hurt or abused! He said this in reference to his dedication to work.
Dev Anand in Rendezvous with Simmi Grewal says I am a creative person and i am not much into family, I like to work and so I work even at 80!
Steve Jobs tells - It was for 10 long years me and Bill (Gates) worked for 18 hours all the 7 days, so having a company is hard and i dont know how can a married person do it!
Imagine working late a night and then asked to run up and down a ground in day and when you sit on your bed waiting to dive into sleep, somebody arrives - Theres a Problem and we need you! So you couldnt sleep this night and had to work another day and then when you go to bed another night you realize sleeping is difficult coz you cant stop thinking about the problem you have been working for 3 days now! And a life, seriously dedicated to creating something that doesnt really exist, there are 100s of such problems. so thrice as many sleepless nights! MANN... Its insane!
You need alot of insanity of a grand success, no sane person would leave the 'beach of balance' and why would he? Why would he offer more to an idea rather than looking after his wife, kids and parents. Specially here in India, where people are greater than any idea, any revolution and we are programmed to feel our parents need us and we have their responsibility unlike in America where after being an adult, neither they have a say in our lives nor we own any place in their home.
Insanity as a word might seem negative so a new phrase was coined by Joe Nocera of Esquire Magazine - 'Monk among Priests'. A monk has left his home renunciating living in self-discipline to achieve something greater than what meets our eye whereas a priest is someone who takes worshipping god as a job keeping strings attached with his family, worldly affairs and even sex.
Look around, be symbolic and answer - who do you find in abundance around you - monks or priests? Surely Priests. We take up a job after our education, getting married as soon as we can and then starts the whole journey to accumulate - now the stress is not to be better but to retain and keep accumulating. Soon, priest retire passing all his hopes and aspirations to his kids.
A monk is different. He doesnt change characters with respect to places or which time of his life it is! He is equal however there is a restlessness around him until he hasnt found his walk but when he does, the idea to contribute to work comes over any other idea, there people start from a 0 bank balance and end up at Billions in pocket being extraordinarily same. They get fame and lust and attention yet they like loneliness and a happily married life with one woman, all of the three examples I quoted above are special in ending up with one wife for life, now thats special!
If you are my age, Its a good time. The vector arrow of your life can still be moved 1 or 2 degrees but over a long period of time, this slight movement here will make all the difference when the gap widens over time. Be a priest like your dad or be a monk, know that life isnt just being confined among the walls but hitting them and moving them, its about contribution and your role in the history of this planet. Now since stakes are high, why to expect easy or free lunches? There arent free lunches as they say.
Personally speaking, I got a rare chance to drop out for an year and sit at home without going out for months sometimes. I saw something strange, all the pampering, care and love my family ones showered on me faded and was taken over by an uncomfortable frustration in them everytime they saw me. Try visiting some people and overstaying, you will see some changes! I said this coz you might feel monks have no good relationships, this cant be any close to truth because the real good relationships come when meaning come in ones life, people like to befriend and stay close to such people.
Monk among the priests and at last Joe Nocera adds -
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