Work
We are born, we are tended to by our parents, we go to school, spend years getting educated without having the faintest idea of what exactly education means, and the day we truly understand it our education would have been finished. We only realize the value of the so-called education when we are given a position to apply it in a practical sense and most of us would be pretty much lost. That is because the emphasis our parents put on us was to get marks and never on education.
So to get marks we, by heart, we copy, or study specifically towards questions what we think will be asked or study studiously so as to get distinction but not even having a thought or an idea in hell, how and where we would be applying most of what we study. It amazes me that throughout my growing years not once did my parents or teachers tell me that the purpose of education is to get knowledge and marks are just a proof to an outside world that you do have that knowledge. Due to their insecurity and also their own ignorance or over looking of the purpose, the thrust they put on us was always to get marks which hopefully could result in better jobs.
And then when we get a job the thrust on us will be to work hard in pretty much the same way as how they thrust education. My grandfather who was a Civil Engineer used to hammer into me to work hard both in my studies and when I was doing a job in the construction of Krishna Oberoi Hotel in Hyderabad. He told me that he used to wake up by 4.00am everyday throughout his life. When I asked him how come some guys who wake up at 10.00am are more successful than him, he used to get angry.
I wanted to tell him that it’s not about 4.00am or 10.00am and it’s also not about what you do in the time that you are awake but it is about how you are feeling when you are doing that is what the point of life is all about, but for fear of being slapped I resisted that as he was a pretty aggressive man. I believe that if you are constantly doing what you are doing just because you are told to do or because of your fear of tomorrow or because of commitments and responsibilities you would have truly lost the whole purpose of being alive.
Life is but a cycle of, we are born, we grow up, we get married, we have children, we make them grow up, we make them get married, we get old and then we die. God or nature or whichever thing, gave us life is only to surely take it away and as long as it is ultimately only that, why not just make the best of it.
My people keep telling me that I work too hard. In reality I never worked in my life. Work is something I define as what you have to do. But if you want to do it, it becomes a pleasure and I always did in my life only what I wanted to do. The trap of programming society puts us in and religion and morality create in us a guilt for whatever we love, and a fear of rejection and failure and the constant pressure of raising to expectations.
As long as death is inevitable there is no question of any of us having a state of permanent success. Life in itself is a process, for example in my college days I used to sometimes have problems with raising 40 rupees and today sometimes I have a problem in raising 4 crores, but what I feel about it in that particular state of mind is exactly the same. Everybody thought I made a bad film in Drohi but it’s only because of Drohi I met Urmila and it’s only because of Urmila I made Rangeela. It’s only because of Sanjay Dutt’s arrest Nayak got shelved and everybody either sympathized or gloated depending on their relationship with me over the misfortune without realizing that it will resurface as Sarkar. So in effect everything in life is connected. A present day success can be the start of an impending failure or vice-versa. So as long as everything is so uncertain, why worry about it and just do what you feel like doing at every single moment of your life.
‘Forget yesterday, live today and fantasize tomorrow’ is the motto of my life and it has always been that ever since I was an unruly kid, and a so-called irresponsible youngster and an erratic and eccentric adult.
With the first money of about 2 lakhs I got for my first movie, my grandfather was after me to buy a piece of land in Jubilee Hills to secure my future and I went ahead and spent it on the interior decoration of a rented office which I anyway was supposed to vacate in a few months time. My grandfather predicted to everyone that I will be a massive failure because of this attitude of mine. Throughout his life he worked very hard without once thinking what exactly he is working towards. I failed to explain to him that the few months’ pleasure I would get in staying in that office with a décor of what I want to experience was much more than my fear of what will happen in the future if I become a failure.
If all your work is geared towards securing yourself against failure and death why live at all?
Tagged as drohi, education, failure, films, rangeela, sanjay dutt, sarkar, success, urmila, work + Categorized as My Life
Hi Ramu! You say that you do what you want to do. There must be times when while making a movie, just in the mid of it you would want to leave it. But still you will have to make that movie due to all the pressures as you have taken star’s dates, your producer, your distributor and all others have put things at stake etc.. At such times, you must have had to make some movies this way. How do you explain that?
hello…..
well…its sounds u r inspired from geeta philosophy?”that live in preset and don tense for 2moro…well jus a q to ask u if u always wanted to do filmakin then why did u join engineering and still after that went as an engineer @ some hotel construction in ur early dayz….so u also wantd to join engineerng too or it was just bcoz of ur parents??
This is simply the best piece you wrote till now.I loved how simply you made us understand the silly yet complex system that we are living in.Something like the movie Taare Zameen Par
I certainly understand your stance based on the facts of your own experiences in life. Being rebellious to live life your way did work for you. Now let me give you an example of my cousin from Rajahmundry who is an ace Painter / Cartoonist / Artist. Let me assure you that he was the best in what he did with his art. He was also never interested in this so called system of education and really had the passion to do something big with his favorite skill set. He tried hard for years but only ran out of all the money that he was given by his parents (of course reluctantly). He was neither able to support himself, nor his parents in their old age (which is one of the basic duties towards parents for any one for the simple reason that they do tend to your needs when they are young and able instead of enjoying their own lives). We do see such people many a times around us.
Now, given this scenario of a real life example, How would you explain the fact that not everyone in this world can survive with this attitude towards life ?
Preaching Bastard!
O.K Rebellious Ramgopal Varma Why did you finish engineering even though it took 5 years? What prevented you from quitting Engineering college and to live on your own in your own way???
Did you ever realize the role of chance/luck played in your life????
are philosopher’s extremists / confused guys? my gut is that whatever they speak, think, determine, analyze are based on probability theorem, so if that is true, then, am one stand up philosopher in the block…haha!
Each article you write, there’s a new insight and its all true. You have been quite brave or rather true to yourself. Congratulations.
After each article, I feel, so awrite! wow! What RGV says is right. I was thinking/living this part so wrong, etc. Or if I already know it, its experience helping to understand what you have written. But never knew, that each time I would be amazed. After this work article, its like there’s soooooo much to learn, even simple things (yet so important) in life like Work.
When I wuz in school, I used to observe an elder brother of a friend. He was content with playing football every morning and hanging out with friends in the evening. I used to think of him as a loser. But well maybe thats what he wants to do in life, maybe he’s content and doesnt need to take on all the baggage like a job or marriage, if he is not able to do justice to it.
In fact I now believe that conditioning is meant to put people into a habit, which becomes hard to break. More importantly, I think it stunts our minds to “think” about it.
Why everyone looks for preachers because we are not so content..?May be in our childhood we like to be preached or knowledge to be out of box lacks.I don’t like to generalize but i have seen so many.In adolscence we look for something different like to explore and some use it constructively.??????????????????
hi..
loved this piece of urs. You have talked about the concept of NOW or LIVING IN PRESENT in various posts of urs. But this has turned out to be a nice piece, enuff to make one think.
I have been a great fan of Steve Jobs, Bll Watterson, Dr. Kalam, Narayana MUrthy and you for the sheer reason of the ability to DO WHAT YOU WANT TO DO.
JObs once said ” The only way to do great work is to love what you do and do what you love”
Similar to what you have said here.
But somewhere Knowing this funda and applying this funda becomes different things for someone like me. May be for the reasons that you have already mentioned here. But somewhere theres one more reason that is lurking : When the attempts of following ones instincts or following ones dream or doing what makes one happy; if all of these has not translated into economies, then somewhere the persistence slows down and one gradually subscribes to the routine normal, wordly pursuits.
Yes, theres nothing stronger than WILL they say, but then ders an amalgamation of forces acting upon an individual which would either make him/her instinctive or jus plain redundant.
must say, ur thoughts are worth emulating.
I agree, but not everyone is as capable as you or I are… there are always ppl who dont have what it takes to just sail through their life let alone enjoy or have fun like you and I do.
it’s just compassion i have for them….. it’s okay yaar… some ppl just can’t….
As Woody Allen once said ” Whatever Works…….”
Vodka’s on me – cheers!
Kapil
whats the budget of shiva(1989)????
“That is MY good, that do I love, thus doth it please me entirely, thus only do I desire the good.
Not as the law of a God do I desire it, not as a human law or a human need do I desire it; it is not to be a guide–post for me to superearths and paradises.
An earthly virtue is it which I love” – Thus spake zarathustra
Your concept of work is to do the good as Neitzsche mentioned, but what if a person hasn’t found that good which pleases him entirely, like architecture for Howard Roard, writing for Ayn Rand, music for Rehaman and films for you?
In such case, not as the law of a God or as a human law or as a guide post for heavens but one has to do something or other as a human need to earn his living since survival is important for the possibility of happy survival.
What about earning your livelyhood if you haven’t had films which also served as a means for it. What were you doing for bread and butter before you earn from films? ( maybe you were living on your parents’ shoulders); you were doing some job ofcourse with a dislike and a compromise or a hope that you would make it to the films and you were on the track of it was working on your will to live, right?
And I guess your concept of work is definitely not a hedonism provided you understood Ayn Rand.
Now listen to my situation : –
I have not found any passion, forget about productive passion, not even any thing interesting to do.
My desire for happiness and the hope of it is greater than my boredom and despair so my idea of quitting life is not gaining enough strength to be executed.
So to live, which preceds the happy living, I have to do some work albeit I don’t love it, but to do any work my will is not cooperating because it is highly dictated by my interest rather than intelligence.
I tried to find the cause for this interest and found : one is interested in something means he looses the sense of time when he is doing it viz he forgets himself succumbed by that work; we call it his passion, love, interest, or his virtue as Neitzsche called.
Two possible solutions I arrived at are : either to find something that’s interesting and making it productive (atleast to the extent of earning subsistence), or making my work (as for now is education) interesting which is impossible.
And let me mention another posibility (mystical), by meditation (being aware of nothing) which results in enlightenment (a state where there is no thinking hense no sense of time) but to do meditation also I need to make effort which is not possible because it is not interesting and paradoxically meditation is making effort to achieve effortlessness.
And now can your intelligence show any possible way out for this problem?
Either give a solution out of your intelligence if you can or cast a quip if you can’t but don’t be indifferent, do react.
“Either love me or hate me but for fuck’s sake don’t ignore me” – kmk.
Exactly I told my parent when I was studying +2 Intermediate they dint listen to me.
Then I went Hyderabad with out saying any thing to them looked for work in movies spend one week after that I realized that is not easy to be in this field with out knowing any one. I realized my parents are right I finished my education. After that I worked for 4years for a MNC as ASM.
I am not satisfied with what I am doing. My dream is not this I decided to join film school Whistling woods. (I do what I wanted to) I am completely with these words.
You said in one of your media interviews that one of your fav films is Aag. The film is only an adaptation of Sholay in a different settings. Whats so great about Aag that you included it with the likes of Sholay, sound of wind and Exorcist! Or is it just a whim of yours so that you can claim that most of your flop films are your favourites!
While reading fiction stuff like Da Vinci Code and Angels & Demons, apart from the descriptions of buildings and some background profile of characters, one can totally visualize the events being unfolded. So much so in many cases that there appears no modifications required to be done if the book is adapted for a film, leave for smart editing. In such cases, does the director’s contribution remain confined to execution?
You said in one of your media interviews that one of your fav films is Aag.
And also heard u want to remake this.
I want to work with you on this project (if you give me a chance)
definitely this is a good subject & challenging too
Even I have a similar dream to make Sholay. One day I will make it.
Dear Vinay Joshi,
When he said AAG IS HIS FAV MOVIE, HE IS SIMPLY JOKING – MAKING FUN OF HIMSELF….
if you still think he is serious then he is serious because Aag is his “biggest failure” and only failure gives more in experince thaa all of your successes put tohether ….
hence “FAILURE IS THE REAL SUCCESS” (Likewise Aag is the only successful movie he made!)
Corollary to above theorom : “SUCCESS IS THE ONLY FAILURE”
Now, Vinay Joshi – you need to SUCK it up deep and slow understand what RGV and I mean –
Would you like living in a world where everyone thinks likes you?
REKHA!
I have seen some of her films but in ‘Bhoot’ she suited the role to the T!
How did you approach her as I hear she is rarely available wants to be with herself…
Hi … This message is for the guyz and gals responding to writing. This becomes casual that whenever some popular guy writes a blog, people start saying do you think what you are saying is right and start talking in way that you are here to change the guy who is already enjoying success. Guyz who asked you to follow RGV ?? No body asked you to be RGV in life. Check out what interests you in life. Make a list of it and follow the ones that fit in your life. He has taken risk and done it. We should appreciate it and congratulate him.He told us what he believes in. That’s great he has spoken and he is very clear of what he wants in life. Apart from personal attacks, what he has written about is the most perfect thing, we need to change Indian System of Primary Education which is of very less use in practical life.
Hi buddy(Ram gopal Varama) why aren’t you optimist?
Your blog is as messy as your life and films
I have been a supporter of your all movies (Even if you belive it or not) irrespective of them being good and bad. Many of your views have influenced me . And I am afraid these days that my life is taking a similar path as yours just the difference being that you are in Movies and I am in a corporate job. Kya Karen Mr Adrishya Shakti
the whole idea of fearing for tomorrow has eminated from man’s realiztion that the chance of life tomorow is generally high than the chance of death today. Irrespective af the system in which he is in man irrespective of his wish has to fear tomorrows bread and butter. Added to that he also realised that the % of successful people will never go up beyond 0.000000000000000000001% (it may be less than that i gave it just for example) hence the system of education-job-marriage.
who doesnt likes to fuck every girl he came across. If every one does this because he likes it very much …….???????? …hello rgv r u there!
would U like to make film on a transfemoral amputee….
Hi Varma gaaru
I am a biotechnologist working in MNC bangalore, Plz give me a chance to work with you, i need no pay,
Plz dont miss me,
director2711@gmail.com
Uhh..
I think like this some times.
Well Said.
‘Forget yesterday, live today and fantasize tomorrow’
Superuu..
Beleive it or not, I think exactly same as u. I am called insane most of the times my friends.