Today, June 21, is World Music Day.
In a world where we have days for every thing, relationship and symbol we want to commemorate and celebrate, this one holds a special place in my heart.
Not because I do anything special on this day. On the contrary, it’s because I feel that all of my life is already like a World Music Day celebration.
Isn’t that the perfect success metric for days like this?
After wrapping up my startup, I was in Mumbai for the Mahindra Blues festival in February this year. I took the time out to meet a friend.
Less a friend, and more like an elder brother and mentor. And he told me a very interesting story.
He knew a car garage guy whose dream was to run a textile factory some day. Saving up for years, he shut down his garage after he decided to take the plunge. Bought a factory with a partner, and started manufacturing and selling jeans.
Things went well for a short while before they went south. Don’t know the details, but he had to shut down the factory after suffering some losses.
He came back to restart the garage, trying to regain his old customers. (And he did. How do I know? My friend was one of them).
Now, he was saving up again. Because he feels so strongly about textiles, that he doesn’t want to let go of the dream just yet.
After the story, my friend asked me, and I paraphrase –
What do YOU feel so strongly about, that you are going to wake up with the same zeal? Irrespective of the setbacks or the frustrations you see?
I thought B2B startups looked cool. I had the skillset, the experience. And the promise of a small, smartly run B2B SaaS is a draw hard to resist.
I wanted to do that.
He took a deep breath, and asked me.
Are you confusing what you are good at with what you are passionate about?
His point was – entrepreneurship is HARD. Any business is hard.
If you are doing something that will occupy your days, nights and your mindspace, pick something that you feel passionate about.
A market, or a cause, or something, that you believe in so much, that you’re willing to wake up every day with the same enthusiasm, no matter the setback.
When I thought hard about that, the only thing that came to mind was music.
I am one of maybe two or three people I know who would go to a music gig alone. Just for the sake of music. Sometimes even travel to a different city for the gig. Like this amazing Mahindra Blues concert.
Over the last few days, and especially jolted into action by Neer Sharma’s fantastic post on music monetization, I have been trying to read up books and other material to come up with my own ideas for what I might want to do in music.
I don’t know if my love for music will ever materialize in a startup of my own, or even a career that would pay my bills.
But I do know that there isn’t a thing in my life that matches the enjoyment I derive out of learning and playing guitar. I hope I hold on to this for the next 5, 10 and 20 years of my life.
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