Beyond 9 to 5

While many get confused in the war of thoughts between the head and the heart,many use it to add another dimension to their personality.

While many get confused in the war of thoughts between the head and the heart,many use it to add another dimension to their personality. They can fulfill their duties as passionately as they pursue their hobbies. Sanyogita Pendharkars profile as a product knowledge management practice head at a reputed design firm might not speak of her talent,but her home is sure to spill the beans. Like any other youth,Pendharkar too thought of following her heart and went in for an interior decoration course at JJ School of Applied Arts in Mumbai. But it seems,the future had something else in store for her and she landed up with a job that required her to design manual for automobiles,mobile phones and many other products. However,keeping her profession and passion on two different tracks,Pendharkar decided to take up interior decoration to satisfy her creative urge. And 10 years down the line,she is taking up assignments for interior decoration,while doing full justice to her profile at her office.

I always had an inclination towards creatively decorating my house. And the space crunch in Mumbai only aggravated it. We had a small one-room apartment and to beautify it,I did terrace gardening under the guidance of my mother. Since then,there has been no looking back,as I kept practicing the art and also took formal coaching in interior decoration. Though its not my business per se,I help my friends and acquaintances in decorating their house, says Pendharkar.

Apart from interior decoration,Pendharkar is also a trained beautician and was the official make-up artiste for many Marathi plays and movies; she has also assisted Micky Contractor,a well-known make-up artiste in the Hindi film industry. While Pendharkars creative urge took her to new heights of success,Deepak Manocha,general manager at Courtyard by Marriot,literally followed his heart to the zenith. Apart from an illustrious career at the Marriot,he also boasts of being a certified glider pilot. When asked about his stint with gliding,Manocha says,I grew up in the midst of Air Force officers,as my school was in the cantonment area in Kota district in Rajasthan. Given my passion to work for armed forces,I joined NCC and was selected during a glider pilot test. While I took it to be fun,my first flight with my coach left me breathless,when he took me into a loop and I was right in air hanging upside down. Though I could not make it to armed forces and had to take up hotel management,I could not forget the thrill that gliding promised. And I kept practicing gliding till I was posted in a city where there was no gliding facility. However,now that I am back in Pune,I am going to revive my passion.

A firm believer in the fact that humans are a masterpiece of God,Supreet Deshpande says that a human can manage to excel in at least two things. Personal life is the base that acts like a support system,while one can explore their capabilities, says Deshpande,who runs two companies and is also an acclaimed tabla player. Music runs in our family; my great-grand father,grandfather and father were all renowned tabla players. My father was even a performing artiste. So,music came naturally to me. However,I chose to study and make my career in other fields,as I was also a good student. So with an mechanical engineering degree I started a career in the automobile sector and gradually moved on to business.

Deshpande begins his day with music when he does his riyaz and after office,he devotes his time to family and music. I learnt tabla from my father and Pandit Suresh Talwalkar. All it needed was time management and will power. Now I get the best of both worlds art and business. However,later in life,I would like to dedicate more time to music as that is my passion.

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