Flip-side of a creative job :/

I have often came across friends/colleagues who crib about having a routine job or not having much creative space to do in their daily errands. So here's a newsflash for you - 'It's sometime difficult to have a creative job too!'. Not sure if I can call my job 'Creative' - as I am not a columnist, graphic designer, or a commercial jingle maker but writing research notes is far more creative than what I was before - a technology consultant/software engineer.

1. Monday blues - If your job profile is creative then it is up to you to drive your own projects, push the boundaries, create your work - yes! you heard it right! No one is going to log a defect and ask you work on it. You gotta come up with your own agenda.

Sometimes, this is difficult; Especially on a Monday or a bad hair day :( . Where it's difficult to get yourself started on an interesting yet abstract topic.

2. Deadlines - Don't think a creative profile won't have deadlines at work. Sometimes it even more stringent than usual.

3. Review - When you CREATE something (..and not an algorithm or program) it's quite difficult to accept peer review suggestions and change your thoughts. Also, don't assume you will escape the 'Performance appraisal' trap :) Your idea will be judged based on market acceptance- number readers/number of clicks/number of feedback received.

Phew! End of rant. Anyway my point is, a job should have the ideal mix of creativity and routine. There are plenty of chances of you working on a presentation, writing a case study or a white paper.

Aashish Gupta's Demons in My Mind: Review

It's been ages since I had read an emotionally compelling dark novel. My diminishing reading habit only allowed me an occasional Robert Galbraith or a Robert Ludlum. So, when I started reading 'Demons in My Mind' it took me a bit of time to sink my teeth into the allegorical tone.

The book starts almost like a fable. Like a lull before the storm, we are introduced to a moribund man named Dakshesh who has given up on life and whose only hope for cure are three mythical monks considered to be panacea by his fellow villagers. When he wakes up he meets Rizwan, a professional killer, Murli, a disgraced artist and Joseph, a tortured soul mystified in his own misery.

Each one of them tells his backstories and the tone shifts from magical realism to more of a suspense thriller. Rizwan blames the world for robbing his innocence and turning him into a monster. Murli feels betrayed that he spent all his artistic life glorifying women only to be repudiated by one. And then there is Joseph, his story of loss and another character named 'Alia', who acts like a metaphor of the monks' collective conscience and how all the individual stories are intertwined. Few events are gruesome in details but they serve the purpose of shaking the reader out of his comfort zone. The book drives home the point 'The problems that often cloud our minds - are the real or creation of our own mind?'.

Not that it does not have its flaws. It takes a pretty strong stomach to go through few of the torture scenes. Few of the side characters are not fleshed out to last a strong imprint.

All in all I felt emotionally drenched when I finished the final page. It might have been a nerve-wrecking ride but the final message makes the journey worth its disquiet.

PS: Author is a friend. Still I have tried to keep it unbiased.