The value of dumb ideas

There was an interesting phase in my life when I wanted to become a newscaster. These were the days when local/ city cable networks were all the rage. It's just that in my case, we are talking about a slightly dodgy and decidedly uninspiring cable network that had a weird name.

Back then this was a way out ambition, but Dad being the man he was rooted for his daughter to become the next big thing on TV. (Irrespective of what teenagers think, I always knew there was a higher purpose God gave us parents. Really.)

To my shock, the channel took me on. I had the world at my feet....that is, until I laid eyes on the news content. So we had cows creating a traffic jam on one of our arterial roads up against the amount of pot holes that were threatening to become craters. The animated debate was about which news was headline worthy. Mercifully, we hadn't been introduced to 'breaking news' back then - or I might have quit on day one.

I was disappointed that we didn't have a rotten scam or a sensational jail break to report - and that cows weren't quite my thing. I read some news anyway, while they showed random mucky footage of the city. Next day, Dad asked me to be better dressed if I wanted to enter the media industry and learn from our Door Darshan (India's beloved national channel) newscasters who were spiffy at all times. Hmm....he had a point. So, I got decked up the next day and read some more irrelevant stuff. My father's bravado lasted longer than me at the TV channel.

As I walked out on my short-lived media stint I realized something tremendous that has permanently stayed with me. I guess Dad always knew the fate of this particular idea. Yet he saw how much I believed in it, and supported me without a moment's hesitation. In his wisdom he knew it wasn't the idea that was important, but my passion was worth protecting.

So when someone tells me about an uninspiring brain wave, I choose to support their passion. Ideas come and go. Passion is rare.