STP Fixations: Ved, Are You Burnout From Storytelling Too?

STP Fixations is a series dedicated to anything and everything that captures our attention - a scene, anecdote, dialogue, character or a trivial, random bizarreness. A fixation over a memory that sometimes makes sense (or sometimes doesn’t) but is stuck in our hearts and minds long after the moment is over.

When I first saw the movie Tamasha, starring Ranbir Kapoor I was in college. I couldn't quite grasp why it received so much praise. To me, it seemed like just another average romantic film where a boy and girl meet on vacation in a foreign country, fall in love, and ultimately stay together. I have a whole list of such movies in mind—like Jab Harry Met Sejal, Tu Jhoothi Main Makkar, Kushi.

Recently, I rewatched it after graduating from college and working full-time for a year now. This time around, I found the movie's concept intriguing, especially how it blends Bollywood romance with a theme that resonates deeply with many of us. However, I still felt something was missing and there are still a few thoughts that keep lingering in my mind.

Let's begin with the beginning: Ved, as a young boy fascinated with stories and storytelling, spends his pocket money just to hear stories, viewing everything through the lens of a narrative. Fast forward to his adulthood. Ved, as an adult boy, gives up his passion and wrestles with engineering studies, struggling with concepts he doesn't understand. 

Finally, Ved, as a young man, abandons his passion and starts a 9-5 corporate job, the only life his father approves of. He's unhappy, feeling like a machine, living most of his life in a strict routine, doing what he hates. But on vacations, he comes alive again. He dances, sings, mimics, tells stories, and even drinks straight from waterfalls by dipping his mouth in them.

Now, leading a double life, Ved knows deep down that his true self emerges during vacations, while his corporate self is a lie. Yet, it's not until a girl leaves him, confronting him about his facade life and facade personality, that he begins to confront his dual existence. In the climax, Ved finds himself again, quits his 9-5 job that felt like slavery and chooses his passion for storytelling. He becomes a successful storyteller and dedicates all this to the girl. 

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But I still wasn’t convinced that this was the perfect ending. I couldn't get rid of the feeling that Ved might not be truly happy, even after choosing his passion. While noting again that the concept is great, it doesn't quite satisfy me as a complete package. It remains an unfinished story in my mind.

If you're passionate about something, that passion never truly leaves you. Plus, you can never fully detach yourself from it. It stays inside, even if you don't let it take over. That’s what happened to Ved in Tamasha, and to me as well.

Young me loved to listen to my grandparents' love stories, which my grandmother used to narrate to me. When I grew up, I was pushed into studying science and engineering. Even then, I managed to find moments to read or watch love stories, sneaking novels and mobiles into a strict hostel where they were seized if caught. After a few years of struggling with math, physics, and chemistry, I realised I wasn’t meant to be an engineer. I somehow convinced my father, changed my path, and today I am a writer who loves to write about all the stories I have heard, read, and watched over the years.

Passion Too Burns Out Eventually

But unlike Ved, whose story concluded positively, mine hasn't. Sometimes, my passion overwhelms me—not every day, but definitely on some days. I don't feel the same fulfilment that Ved did when he embraced his passion. I often wonder what might have happened to Ved in his storytelling career. Did storytelling also become repetitive for him? Did the enjoyment fade away? Did he not feel burnt out or trapped in a routine, again?

I often think about what might have transpired if I had continued with engineering. Perhaps my life would have followed a similar pattern—just different projects instead of articles. I'm uncertain about my own journey, much like I am about Ved's. How did his storytelling career progress? Was it one show after another, akin to one presentation after another? Maybe ten shows in a month, just like ten presentations a month? Both paths would have had their share of repetition, struggles, or burnouts, or maybe I'm mistaken or overlooking something.

Ved believed "It's his own ending, he could change it," and he changed his ending once and for all. However, here we are, trying to change or at least improve it every week. What are your thoughts?

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