KATHMANDU, Aug 10: You probably remember, how as a child, you were advised on the disadvantages of being a Jack of all trades and master of none. Your parents and even your teachers might have, at some point in your life, asked you to focus on one thing you want to do the most and excel at it. But time has definitely changed. At least in the sense that the youth today want to do a lot more than stick to one thing; more and more youths, despite time constraints, want to explore their potentials in a variety of fields. Today’s generation, in a way, want to try to become the Jack of all trades, and master some.
Take 18-year-old Shreya Dhital for example. An ace swimmer who made it to the headlines by grabbing 11 gold medals in the 11th Galaxy Cup Swimming Championship in 2011 and represented Nepal at the 2012 Summer Olympics, she also stood as one of the five winners of the QC Awards: The Poetry Slam 2013. “Poetry was a very random thing for me. My English teacher told me about the competition and I decided to give it a try,” she says, adding, “I love listening to rap and that’s how I’ve always been interested in expressing myself through words.”[break]
And Shreya is not alone in the race. Abeeral Thapa, 30, is another proactive young man diligently doing more than one thing. He is the Director of Polygon College, Baber Mahal, runs Bubbles International Pvt Ltd – an import-export company and is the Managing Director of Nepal Sanjiwani Herbal Industry. And that’s not all. An avid lover of literature, poetry in particular, he has already debuted as a lyricist for the Nepali movie ‘Saanghuro’, and has an anthology of poetry ‘Mera Sukha Sukha Haru’ to his credit, published way back in 2000. Abeeral also holds two postgraduate degrees – Masters in Journalism and Mass Communication from Purbanchal University and Masters in Sociology from Tribhuvan University.
Similar is the story of 29-year-old Shankar Byanjankar who works as a fulltime photographer for Sportsplus magazine and puts on his football shoes whenever he has the opportunity. “I used to play as a defender and midfielder for Three Star Club back in 2004, but had to quit the club to pursue photography professionally. However, football has always been my first love and despite time constraints, I manage to play football matches for Chyasal Youth Club,” he explains.
While many youths tend to complain that 24 hours in a day is never enough to do the things they’d love to do, these multitaskers prove otherwise. Juggling studies, work and hobbies while getting constantly distracted by social media and internet is definitely not a cake walk. And then there are friends and family to take care of. But these youths are testament to the fact that it’s not entirely impossible either.
Abeeral offers, “It’s all about effectively prioritizing things. Although it looks like I’m involved in a lot of things, I see myself doing only two things. On the one hand, I’m making money, and on the other hand, I am doing what I’ve always loved doing – writing. I make preplans as to what should be done the next day and make sure that I stick to the plans.”
As for Shreya, enjoying whatever she does is the trick. “I don’t take poetry or swimming as a task. They’re things I love doing. And I don’t think writing poems takes that much time. I practice swimming 3-4 hours every day, while I haven’t allotted any specific time to writing my verses. I tend to note down lines as and when it pops up in my head. I think being organized and giving up procrastination and being patient with yourself really help,” she shares.
Shankar simply quips, “Where there is a will, there is a way.”
And don’t mistake these youths as confused individuals who are not sure about what they want to do in life. While Shreya is soon heading to study Business Economics at Columbia University, New York in the US, Abeeral is focused on releasing his first album by the end of this year. Shankar wants to continue working as a professional photographer, learn newer things and explore better avenues on the same field.
One may still argue that the old phrase holds true as narrow specialization is essential in order to master in a field. But one cannot deny the importance of various skills in the unpredictable market scenario where there is cut-throat competition and everyone is striving for the competitive edge.
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