If you see a colleague flying out the office door for their capoeira class or your neighbour who has enrolled to learn to paint murals, you aren’t the only person witness to this change in the urban working scene.

24-year-old marketing executive, Reena Iyer’s Kathak dance classes have never been so vibrant. She thinks there are dynamic people everywhere going through their work days, fulfilling duties and attaining goals diligently along with accomplishing the task of finding a niche in their lives. Yet, unlike the older generation who find things to occupy them after they are retired, we see more and more that people are trying to find the other thing that defines them at an early age.

And even though the rat race takes a toll on all our lives, leaving little time for reflection and self discovery, there are still many who manage to do that. Be it students, professionals or the older generation, life is now about also having an added aspect to your personality. A banker for instance could be a poet by dusk, a mother an entrepreneur. What motivates these people is the yearning for something different, for that something extra to spice up and satisfy their faculties.

Changing Track
Take for example the unique pursuit of Somanth Pal Das, a 35-year-old who found his happiness in the flights of fancy of light-winged butterflies. Or Mumbai based Pushkar Vaidya’s passion of scientific research that was fuelled by his interaction with Sir Arthur C Clarke, one of the most famous science fiction writers of our times, who he met in Sri Lanka, where he lived for a few years after his schooling.

But both Pushkar and Somnath took years to realise their path of interest and then found a way to introduce it into their already existing role and responsibilities of life. “If you want to make life worth living for; you must find something worth dying for,” is Pushkar’s opinion. But how do you fit things in?

This dilemma prompted Pushkar to join a BPO which would earn him some money and leave his weekends free. He could have taken up another job but he grew fond of the call centre culture.

This is essentially the hallmark of people who attempt to seek a purpose or that other spark that is separate from their dharma. While the older generation gravitates to spiritual and charitable causes, the younger generation search for activities that give them an added dimension in terms of who they are and what they do. Photography, diving, painting, dancing and even archery are some of the options that are being explored enthusiastically.

“It started with watching the news, and grumbling to myself as most of us do. On one such occasion, my mother yelled and asked me not to be a typical Khasi male and to do something about it instead of whining.” said 25-year-old Rupert Lyndoh who is now a manager at a resto-bar in Shillong.

Rupert found himself drawn to any type of action that would lead to change after that dressing down. He involved himself with programmes involving the local community. And he eventually realised that to initiate change, he would have to take an active part in politics.

So although the main struggle is finding that spark, that action that will lead to happiness and actually get to get you off the couch, which for many people is the hardest task. Once you do find that, it doesn’t get much easier. You still have to find a balance, the time and the biggest deterrent, money and the will.

Turning Point
Somanth being in the manufacturing industry was well travelled. But his travels took on another dimension. While travelling, he started collecting species of butterflies, the time and place and put down everything into an excel sheet. Gradually, it became a thing of passion for him. His turning point came in 1997 on a visit to the Alipur Zoo (Kolkata) he saw around 200 to 300 butterflies flying together. Reaching for his camera, he clicked several images and the sight stayed with him long after that day. Some years later, he returned to find only a picnic spot, and the butterflies all gone.

His motivation was to preserve the habitat and knowledge for his satisfaction but it gradually became more inclusive and grew. “Youngsters have a mechanical and robotic life. They do not care much about nature.  If they find some time and keep their competitive lives aside to dedicate themselves in such pursuits, more can be done,” says Somnath.

Somnath’s words couldn’t be truer in the case of Pushkar, who at 19, wrote his first book called In search of Aliens. After he finished the book, Sir Clarke directed him to Nehru Center (Mumbai). The director then was Dr JJ Rawal whom he requested to write an introduction to the book who obliged, and he self published in 1997. That’s how Vaidya entered the world of Science. The book earned him some money but he had to do this without any distributor.

More often than not, that’s how it works. You put in your time, money and resources which come from a more stable day job. Somnath started making notes about butterflies and began observing the life cycle of butterflies and documented it meticulously. He now has a butterfly consultancy service (Color Wings Butterfly Gardening Consultancy Service) in India. People from various parts of the country contact him to learn more about butterflies and how to start a butterfly garden, the kind of flowers that attract them, the ideal conditions for a garden.

For Rupert, things were more dependent on external factors.  He looked for ways to enter politics but Rupert thinks that is always the difficult part – the beginning point. He eventually formed a sports and social club at the village level. He got together with a few close friends from his locality and their small sports club officially started on the 26 June, 2004. The organisation was named Rising Youngsters Sports Club (RYSC), Laitkor Rngi.

For Pushkar who works in a BPO, he did the next best thing he could. Pushkar uses his workplace as a study after his shift. He feels there is a particular ambience at a call centre that reminds him of a research institute.

Currently Pushkar is heading India’s first Olympiad in Environment with IARC in official partnership with UN (UNDB). Unlike other Olympiads, this program is specially designed on forest and environment related issues and is for school students. It is specially designed each year and consists of books, CD’s with videos and power point presentations and online or written exams.

Pursuit of Happiness
More and more, we see people around us address the vacuum in their lives. It could be anything. The desire to change, learn, grow or just add a lighter element to a tedious life of deadlines. Rakesh Mathur, Margot Bigg and Anisa Nariman, founders of the Delhi Drum Circle (DDC) talking about the phenomenon of drum circles feel, “Music stirs the soul, the location is ideal and the surroundings pristine, we make new friends and discover hidden talents. It’s a pure form of entertainment, which is free, over the weekend, and is fun both to participate and watch as well as to de-stress”, adds Rakesh. They kicked off in December 2009 with just five members and today stand at 5,000 plus. “These days people are getting more and more involved in such activities to spice up their monotonous life,” says Rakesh.

Definitely the world is getting more adventurous and unlike our parents, we are not risk averse. Something that truly reflects this is the advertisement for the “Best Job in the World.” It emphasised two things that people are looking to combine their jobs and passions and that they would be adventurous enough to live on a remote island, put their money where their mouth is, to quote a cliché. Radio Jockey Anjan, a 28-year-old from Bangalore became the only Indian to make it to this shortlist of 15 people from millions of applications from around the globe. The job involved spending six months as caretaker of a tropical island in Australia feeding the fish, collecting the mail and uploading his experience on a blog and through multimedia.

 You only need to read the bios on Twitter to come across thousands of bright young men and women who seldom mention their day jobs but have very interesting soliloquies of a 140 character limit.

“The urge to meet like minded people and the zeal to learn photography motivated photo enthusiasts to start Delhi Photo Enthusiast Guild (DPEG),” says Gaurav Lovey Arora (founder of DPEG). The administrators and members of DPEG have created a couple of other groups like DMEG- Delhi Movie Enthusiasts group, where 20 to 30 people go for a movie once a month and also conduct an indoor discussion of a classical movie. Delhi Food Enthusiasts Group (DFEG) came about after some tiring photo walks when the group realised that they love to eat so they made a group for food enthusiasts. Now they also conduct food walks in the city.

What Matters
Be it Somanth who today has a first of its kind Caterpillar Rehab and Rescue Centre to his credit. He collects caterpillars and cares for them in his garden till they turn into butterflies. He, his wife and friends have rescued many caterpillars till date.

Or Rupert, who contested for elections in July 2011 and was elected as Vice President for the Seng Samla Shnong, Laitkor Rngi after he returned to his hometown on finishing his Hotel Management Course and working in Bangalore for a few years. He has also interviewed with the Skill for Employment in Service sector (SESS) project, a project under the Govt. of India which helps rural children who belong to families below the poverty line, to learn skills and gain employment in the service sectors. Rupert will be working for the same as a faculty.

Or Pushkar, who with permission from the UN, along with his team, launched a course for college students. The year 2011 was declared as the International Year of Forest by the UN. He soon found himself heading a national certification program for schools in association with UNIYF 2011.  The college programme called ‘special edition course’ is offered at R999. It involves successful submission of research essay to be eligible for exams. A simpler version of this course is now offered to corporations as a part of the Rio 2012 Earth Summit India Program in association with UN (UNCSD). 

Pushkar, Rupert, Somnath and others like them live different lives but the one thing that is common is that they live their passion. And so do many youngsters across the country who along with a day job, also follow their hearts and take up trekking, photography, art, writing, crafts, running and many such activities with a passion that takes them beyond being hobbies. They give harried lifestyles and hectic schedules a new meaning.