Beating City Stress with Music
It’s important to set aside one hour each day to a hobby in order to beat stress. Bystronic India’s Rohit Deo has Hindustani Classical music. We need to find ours, writes Primafila correspondent Swati Prasad.
When I was in a regular job, it was an unwritten rule that professional growth comes with some amount of personal sacrifices. A colleague even told me once: “In a fast-growing economy, personal lives are bound to take a backseat.” Both these statements seem loaded. And I would like to believe that they are untrue. But when I look around and try to gauge the amount of stress an average office-goer deals with daily, I stop short of dismissing them.
Striking the work-life balance is something that’s easier said than done. Especially in these times when our circumstances change every day. When a simple thing like not getting enough ‘likes’ for a Facebook post can cause stress for some. Even if you are above such inanities, there are umpteen reasons to feel stressed – inflation, illness of a dear one, unruly traffic on roads, the new bloke at the office, an irritating client, appraisals…there is really no dearth of pressures that modern-day life thrusts on us.
Second Faces – a section in the BystronicPeople magazine, which is implemented by Primafila – looks at the other side of Bystronic employees. Primafila asked me to meet up with Rohit Deo, Bystronic Laser India’s Regional Sales Manager and a committed Hindustani classic music singer, for this section.
Deo lives in Pune – a fast-growing city in the state of Maharashtra. Just a week back, a friend who once lived there called to tell me how she wept the last time she visited the city. Pune is nothing like what it used to be in the 1990s. In her words, “the romance is gone.” The hillocks have been shaved off to build multi-storey apartments. As a result, average temperatures have soared. It’s like any other chaotic city, losing its character each day. Traffic is heavy and unruly, and people appear stressed out.
To cut a long story short – Deo lives amongst all the circumstances that cause everyday stress. Yet, he comes across as happy and content. Immersed in his music, Deo seemed oblivious of all the noise and honking on the roads, the pollution in Pune’s air and the rising heat.
Whether your economy is going through an upturn or a downturn, and whether you live in stable or volatile times…there is every reason for each one of us to pursue a hobby. In an economic upturn, perhaps it’s a little more difficult to find the time to do so. But every professional who gives 100 percent to his or her job needs to set aside one hour every day for something he or she really enjoys – be it music, sports, yoga, art or craft. It’s these small things we tend to forget as we climb our career ladders. And if a company does not respect your need to devote time to your passion and your personal life – it’s probably not worth your 100 percent.
