Dharma Sankata
January 9, 2012 in Uncategorized
I have been put in a weird situation since yesterday.
Yogaraj everyday has many young visitors who want to assist him. They all come with big dreams and most of the times we don’t know how to turn them down because we are already full with many people working with us since many projects. The most difficult thing for me is to tell someone I cant have them in the team. And we both have many times thrown this difficult task on each other. Sometimes the applicant makes it easy for us, he would be wanting to work with us for the glamour more than the art itself! So in such cases it is pretty easy to say NO!
One boy has been coming to the office for the last two weeks and I haven’t been going there for more than a month bcoz I am writing Lucia sitting at home. Yesterday I had been there for a short while and then the others introduced me to this young boy, who looks like he is 14 or 15, short and super skinny with braces. I was wondering why I had to to meet him. Then I got to know that he has been coming to office everyday asking for me bcoz he wants to work with me. And apparently he would just come and wait there in the office thinking I’d turn up sometime. Though others had told him that I wont be coming, this boy wouldn’t listen to them. So we finally met yesterday!
His story – He is 19 years old. Has scored 88 in SSLC and 82 in PUC, he is from a village in Bijapur. And after doing 1 year of engineering he decided to quit to pursue film making and now wants to work with me to become a director someday! And yes he has left his home in Bijapur and come to Bangalore with a small bag of clothes.
This guy is a tough one. I have no idea how to deal with this case. And the main reason is because he reminds me of my own life. 10 years ago I was 19 and I had quit engineering with the same dreams. I was in someones office the same way asking them to teach me stuff!
A part of me wants to say NO. So that he could get back to college and finish studying, have a good job, and take care of his father who is a farmer, earn his money and have a decent comfortable life. But then how am I different from all those people who had said a NO to me when I was 19! Looking back, was their intention the same? Did they also not want me to go through this really difficult journey of instability and insecurities. I want to say NO to this guy so that he doesn’t have to endure the hardships.
Another part of me wants to take him. He is one of those few people I have met who is filled with innocence. And how much ever I tried scarring him about the journey so that he goes back to college, he would answer back with lot of smartness. He is stubborn. I was a stubborn too! So I want to take him so that he doesn’t have to roam around knocking other doors. He looks like someone who will learn and do something of it. But what about his farmer dad! What about the mother and the sister back there in the village. Will I be responsible if he doesn’t make it? Unlike other professions, he will be so helpless in this industry. And cant go back and get some job bcoz he’d have no education to show. If this guy was from Bangalore and had something to fall back on, I wouldn’t be worried. Its funny how all these things didn’t come to my head when I was 19, but it surely did to the people around me who were as old as I am now. Its true that when we are young we are blind to many things and sometimes that blindness is what makes us take the wrong step and makes us discover a whole new path! At this point in my life I am glad I was blind then, but something holds me back in this guy’s case.
Since I have met him, this whole thing is running in my head all the time. And now I feel like forgiving a lot of people who had said NO to me, may be they weren’t really bad, they thought they were helping me by saying – NO.
I guess I am gonna give this boy a few tests and then take a call on this. But, god never again put me in this situation. 
One thing seems evident – the boy is stubborn about working with you and seems to have no intention of going back to his hometown. So if you refuse him, I guess he’ll only go knock on another director’s door rather than go home. So I think you should go ahead and give him a chance (provided of course, other logistics work out for you) without having any guilt about whether you might be indirectly responsible if he doesnt click. Whether you say yes or no, he’s gonna stick to what he’s got in his mind. So I think if you give him a shot and he clicks, you’ll only have given him his break, if not, you tried to help!
Good luck to him!
So, go ahead and forgive the people who said ‘No’ to you. When will you get an opportunity like that again?
About the boy – don’t do him any favours. Don’t give him a job out of pity. Don’t pay him extra if you hire him just because he reminds you of you. If you can get detached, and want to hire him because he’ll add something to your team, do it. Otherwise don’t. If you don’t hire him, its ok to keep in touch with him. If you allow yourself to be forced to comprise professionally and hire him, you’ll be hurting him, yourself and the project. Maybe he’ll get a chance to come and work with you later on as well… Life is funny, and his story may not necessarily be your story.
If you can’t make a detached decision, let it go.
Remember the other skinny guy with braces who started this way? We all know him as “UPPI” today.
You MUST give this guy a chance. You would be sinning otherwise
ATB to him and you as well.
I have very limited habit to read anything…..but here your blog’s title makes me to read ….’Dharma Sankata’…nice title. It can be a great movie title too… After reading this my opinion is …you can grab him if he got positive attitude. And if you think he is not fit after your test doesn’t feel bad. But he is success in making you to share some of your hidden feelings….Without seeing him i feel like that guy got some positive energy
I don’t know about this guy, but even I have met around 50 members like this who were came to meet you/yogaraj sir, 2-3 of them were acceptable and rest of them were horrible. One of them was very interesting, he said that he has worked for many super hit telugu film scripts like Kick, Khaleja and etc but now he is interested to work in yogaraj’s team. I read his synopsis, it was too bad., then I told him ‘it will not works on kannada screen’, he said “saar nanage kannata paache chennaag kotthu saar, B.C center-lo movie chenaag, odthadhe.. oku chance kott nodi saar..!” Then I forgot my kannada..!
Pawan,
I foresee birth of “Yograj Bhat Film Academy”, it is a good idea for talented people like Yograj Bhat, yourself and many others in the group to train others, who are interested in film making passionately. Also something like “Amazon Studio” would give opportunity to many people who can try their hand in the films whilst they continue their regular education or their jobs.
There are many others like this boy who want to follow their dreams and passion of film making, out of which 98% will fail but only 2% will succeed, however one shouldn’t stop dreaming and “if you stop dreaming, you stop living”.
You should definitely give a him chance and check his caliber.
- Ravi Kashyap
I go through your “Dharmasankata”,if u think like that it is but you are very lucky you got a dedicated student.so please take him immediately I think he is having full knowledge what to do so there is no question of Dharmasankata .i wish that boy a very good future.
must appreciate your work nd the way you use the internet to burst out your feelings….very interesting read this one….
Yes, you give 2-3 tests and if you feel 100% satisfied then only take him other wise, just ask him to continue his studies and at least complete the engineering degree. why I am telling this
1) If you are not 100% statisfied with the test results, still you offer him him to assist then your doing wrong for his career. He may not last long in the industry and may be out in couple of movies, he ( Indirectly you) will be spoiling his life.
2)The reason I asked to continue his studies is, because even he fails in the industry he can atleast make his life with his degree.
Guruve …. Kindly help him in u r industry … i thing Kannada film Industry should be grow in all direction … new idea will generate from new plants … like you …. what i feel is you have to give him a chance ….. atleast an year then later …. by his performance you can guide him… whether he can do in this industry or not, and he can understand so he can go back to studied, if he has not performed well … all the best hope he will success in u r test ………….
Interesting situation.. difficult decision..
My suggestion: Ask him to get back to studies. I (being an engineer) would say engg. is a course where you get ample time for extra curricular activities as well. Any art aspirant for that matter, needs a platform first and colleges are the best places for it. While he pursues his studies he can arrange for plays in intra/inter college fests which will give good exposure to his interests. There he gets around 2 months of vacation in a year as well. Meanwhile he can be a co-ordinator for you in case if you want to conduct workshops (this can make him earn little income as well). Once he finishes his studies he’d've grown up enough to decide what he wants and follow his decision accordingly. One has to take risks in life to succeed but it should be “calculated”.
Good that you are taking so much time to think about one guy.. Ask him to take a transfer to some college in Banaglore.. ask him to try and study parallely.. BE is no big deal.. if he really smart he will pass.. so it would help him secure in case he fails in films..
Pawan,
Tests are the best way to decide whether he is determined to stick to his conviction of quitting college and pursue his dream. Education is must but if he is so interested in working with you he can take a transfer to any college in Bangalore and simultaneously pursue both. Be judicious in your decision so that it is beneficial to both of you.
Ask him to come back after degree.
If he cant give importance to his family, he wont give importance to anything else, not even your films.
U should Give him chance…Please
Please give him a chance.
Well written Pawan, very few will have the courage to take a U-turn to the age of stubbordness…
Waiting to hear the rest of the story.. where is the boy now?
@pawan kumar Brother , first of all am vry glad to be a big fan of u and ur ideas.., once again u proved dat u r unique and extremely creative.., ur postings says hw simple,humble u r.., and thanks a lot for these kind of postings .., U showed me d way hw to be.., yes am stubborn dreamer . for me art is everything whether it is a cinema r music .., i love movies becuz it s one of d strong media to convey our ideas, feelings nd even d realities of our lyf.., nw am one of d dreamer with my unique ideas.., c everyone on dis earth differs 4m one another.., i hope u r toooo different .., many tyms i texted u bt u’d nt replied me so at dat tym i thought u r busy with ur stuffs othws u could hav replied me.., bt nw by dis article i came to knw wts d real thing.., and wts going on with u(DHARMASANKATA)? nw u r in critical position.., and finally i wanna tel u one thing , i hope u hear me myself a dreamer of stories,movies,a dream merchant,a 19 year old guy with lots of dream,ideas nd plans , presently am pursuing medical degree 4m rguhs 4m davanagere.., before reading ur article i wz ready to quit my education nd intended to join ur team to get into my drm work. but knw realized wt to do . am very thankful to you for such a grt advice to many of d dreamers lyk me.., and one thing I’ll be der with u aft finishing my degree…, i hope u understand d feelings of dreamers lyk me., and u’ve nt forgotten dat once up on a tym u r also a dreamer lyk us…, and again i wish to thank u …, 4m a dreamer ,hatavadhi ..,
Looks like very interesting
Now u r the best judge to decide on this.See his potential and give him a chance if he deserves. Ppl come to ur offz looking at ur success…..
But according to me. Let him pursue his degree, parallel u keep in touch with him. Don’t let him to get out of that spark. I have seen ppl in my college who use to
exhibit their talent in one or the other way.
U know tat success doesn’t come over night, and if this guy is hunting for success without real talent then everything will b a FUSS . Take ur cal Pawan
dreams may take our lives,determination holds our heart to reach the goal..judge his capability and take the decision ask him to continue his education through other methods
[...] Loni – Well, about this guy… you better read this Blog post called Dharmasankata. You will know who he is and why he made it [...]
Hi Pawan,
You are sensible enough for thinking abt his studies and his family.
Ask him to finish his degree., which is jst 3 years away.
He wud hav gained lot o maturity by tat tym.., n in case he doesn make it big in movies , he ll get a job easily in IT industry.!
Hi, I am Mahesh Loni.
The stupid boy, who dropped his education. I think only one thing I made good in my i.e., dropping B.E. Think now colleges are being wheather Kknowledge center or buissness center? I confidently telling now colleges are not knowledge centers. Remember Shakespeare not studied English M.A. Edison, our Bassavanna, sarwadnya, Swammy Vivekanand, never studied in college. I am also that type of guy. Life is the best college in the world. I will be never belived college gives knowledge or any kind of life.
Hi, I am Mahesh Loni
I have lot of confusion about the college. Now lot of colleges are becoming buisiness centers rather than knowledge centers. I think college are wasting lot of time of the people. I hadn’t left the college for my film dream. I left college, Because I did not want to waste my valuable time. According to me college will not give life settle formula. My life is best college for me. Remember Shakespear hadn’t passed M.A. in English, Edison, our Basavanna, Swamy vivekanand, had not taken degree of any University. But University student must study about these people. Knowledge depends only what we make. Am right?
Pawan,
Eager to know what happened in this scenario. I remember/ mention your story a lot in so many scenarios. So it would be interesting to hear what you did and what he is doing now?
Thinking back you had just 2 more semesters to go. May be that one year was critical for your career as a director or may be not. You can only say it in the hindsight. The engineering degree wouldn’t have hurt you that bad either but leaving that has forced you to be successful as you rebelled, now you had to prove or may be the fear of failure in the initial days..
Only the crazy ones can do the impossible. Even now you are doing something phenomenal with Lucia Project. I guess there are a few like you.
just the story of engineering, 19 yr old wouldn’t suffice. I would say check his talent, background & connections. I think there was a difference in you. You were already doing a lot of direction – even if they were just the street plays & drama. Did yograj bhat bet on you that early?