Confucius, the great Chinese thinker and philosopher, put emphasis on choosing a job we love, so we will never have to work a day in our lives. In the same vein, Oprah popularized “Do what you love and the money will follow.”

But how many of us really follow this advice? We’d say few and far between. Given the choice between a corporate life with prosperous lifestyle, passions are often side-lined.

These people were stuck in their rewarding, but impersonal careers. They were following the conventional path of success and were quite good at that too, but then their life took a turn. They paid heed to their heart’s calling and made a mark.

Here’s how four people turned their passions into paychecks.

1. Virendra Kaith, percussionist

Virendra found inspiration at a very young age when he saw his uncle play drums in a classical band. He let the flames of his passion for music burn all through college years, which failed to subside even after he took up a cushy job in a call centre after graduating.

Virendra’s keen interest in programming and sound engineering guided him to work as a recording/mix engineer for several years before finally starting to tour as a musician in 2010. That’s when he performed at international festivals like Sonisphere (UK), Wacken Open Air (Germany), Bloodstock Open Air (U.K.), Lest-Fest (Scotland), Metaldays (Slovenia) and more recently in Nepal, Sri Lanka and Czech Republic.

Virendra’s versatility as a drummer and musician led to unique collaborations with many artists in different genres of music. He even won the best drummer award at the Rolling Stone (India) Metal Awards 2015 and at the Annual Jack Daniels Rock Award, 2010.

His craze for drums can be comprehended from his Twitter profile bio, which says, “I am a drummer who just wants to keep drumming all the time.” Major passion goals spotted!

Image: Arunabh Kumar

Arunabh’s Facebook description reads, “Running India's Premium Youth Entertainment Network- TVF. I am currently at a risky position of leading insane experiments @TVF , where my job is to innovate with Entertainment Solutions which more often than not end with Unpredictable results. But it does feel like wearing a 'Boredom Diffusing Suit' everyday to work.”

Arunabh’s story is one solid example of inspiration and passion personified. Having completed his Masters in electrical engineering from IIT Kharagpur, Arunabh started working as a research consultant for a U.S. Air Force project in Bombay. Due to his increased level of discomfort and mental turmoil, he quit his job and started making short films and shows.

His first show was rejected by a lot of youth channels, including MTV, and this rejection got Arunabh to start The Viral Fever in 2010. Within a couple of days, it got a few thousand likes. He accrued so many followers that this passion project could pay his bills. And the rest, as they say, is history.

3. Pankaj Bhadouria, chef, Winner of MasterChef, India

Another great example of self-belief and passion is Chef Pankaj Bhadouria, who rose from a position as a schoolteacher to a popular celebrity.

Pankaj served as an English teacher for 16 successful years before participating and winning India's first Master Chef, and her journey thereafter has been an eventful one. Her bestselling first book, titled, "MasterChef Cook Book" is dedicated to women who want to experiment with their culinary skills.

She hosts cookery shows across various TV channels and has even launched The Pankaj Bhadouria Culinary Academy — her dream project, where she shares her love for culinary arts with cooking enthusiasts by doing something she is very used to: teaching!

Before he was acclaimed as a new-age sensation of Indian cinema, Nila Madhab lived a childhood on his beam-ends and studied entrepreneurship at India’s premier institute, IIM Ahmadabad.

His first feature film, the highly acclaimed I Am Kalam, was a result of his passion for filmmaking, and has already won various national and international awards.

He has founded Eleeanora Images and International Screen-writers Lab, which have proven to be path breaking for the Indian film industry.

As it turns out, there is no shortage of people who turned their passion into paycheck . All you need is faith in your dreams and the courage to take that big leap. Fortune would invariably follow.

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