“Creativity is just connecting things. When you ask creative people how they did something, they feel a little guilty because they didn’t really do it, they just saw something. It seemed obvious to them after a while.”― Steve Jobs

The world looks very different when we’re children. To a child’s imagination, everything is a million times more interesting; be it the star patterns in the night sky, our families cheering for their favorite sports team, movies played out on the silver screen or the habits of the local cat who gets to lounge and sleep all day. We wanted to grow up to be many things, an astronaut, sportsperson to a movie star or a veterinarian. Sometimes we end up deserting our childhood passions to pursue more “practical” goals. This week’s story is about a person who passionately worked on his childhood interest to spread his message of love to the world – Gurudutt Badiger, a UI/UX designer at Torry Harris.

Guru, as he’s often fondly called by his friends and colleagues, discovered his love for music at a very young age. Inspired by his music teacher from school, he started learning guitar to familiarize himself with his passion. Driven by his desire to learn, he formed a music group, collaborated with his peers, and regularly visited cyber centers to learn from national and international icons and expand his palate. Guru has since come a long way, having performed in multiple music festivals and produced music for local Kannada artists. It’s not like he hasn’t faced his fair share of hardships along the way; however, in his typical optimistic style, he says, “Failures are stepping stones to success. I’ve always known that I must share my music with the world, and I’ve never lost sight of that.”

Guru brings a similar DIY attitude to UI/UX design as well, being completely self-taught. When asked if his pursuit of excellence in design ever interferes with his musical aspirations, he said, “To me, they are two sides of the same coin. When I create design, I look for ways to give our users an experience that’s going to redefine their expectations. When I create music, my approach is the same. My role as a creative artist is to make people happy.”

Guru believes his creative pursuits have taught him a lot about understanding fellow human beings, and he wants to use it to share his message of love and compassion with his audience. As an independent artist, he has created multiple tracks, including Quit, Aagalla Madesha and Nenapina Payana. In addition, he has produced music videos, short films and promotional material for the Kannada film industry.

“Music is a universal language, and it’s my medium of choice to communicate my message of love and unity to my audience.” When we asked him if it ever gets tiring to be in a constant creative loop, he says, “I don’t work with deadlines. I don’t have to separate my work life from my personal life since design brings me to music and music brings me back to design.”

As to his long-term goals, Guru says he’s happy and content with where he is right now — composing songs and producing music while creating outstanding designs and artwork. “If my music touches the souls of even 0.1% of my audience, I’ll feel blessed. Of course, it feels good to hear the audience cheer during shows and read positive comments for my tracks, but the real reward is in spreading love and happiness in the world.”

Guru is a reminder that the pursuit of passion doesn’t need to be separate from our daily lives. Sometimes, it may seem difficult to connect our hobbies and other interests with our professional lives, and this very reason can slowly take its toll on our happiness and peace of mind. At Torry Harris though, we believe everyone should have the freedom to develop and pursue their individual passions beyond work; only then will their work take on more meaning and remain fulfilling. It's never too late to reconnect and explore interests you may have once lost.