Though corporate life was interesting it was getting mundane for Maneppali Vinay Babu, former senior vice president at Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd. The banker felt that he wasn’t contributing anything that’s constructive to the society or to himself. He decided to quit his high profile job and follow his childhood passion — carpentry.

“During my stint in the corporate world for three decades, I have handled six roles in various head offices. I quit my job when I was at the peak of my career because I wanted to create a name as an individual and not as an employee of any organisation. Carpentry is something I loved since my childhood. So I decided to take it up as a full-time profession,” he says.

  

The self-taught artisan has set up a carpentry unit, Maney’s — Creations in the Wood, which has delivered 225 customised wooden creations. Vinay wanted to create a niche for himself and in the process, he wanted to convey that skilled labours create a lot of value. “These are jobs everybody can do but no one wants to take up for various reasons. Even though a skilled labourer is unable to make a fixed amount of salary every month, he/she is no way lesser than any other person pursuing a different profession. They have the same amount of conviction and passion,” says the functional carpenter.

  

The world today is about cut-throat competition and everyone is striving hard to build a better life. “What we can see around is a mad rush — be it in everyone’s personal life or respective professions. You need to be successful and happy; but at the same time, you need to add value to the life. Age shouldn’t be a barrier for a person to follow his/her dream — one should follow their passion and dreams and get out of the rat race,” he muses.

Vinay says that youngsters shouldn’t consider any job too small. “Sadly, the new generation considers skilled works as something not worth taking up. This mindset and attitude should change. Even the way a few parents teach children about our education system is wrong. They say, “If you are not going to score good marks, you’ll become a dairy farmer!” The kid gets scared after hearing this and it leads to unnecessary tensions in his/her life. There should be proper guidance. That said, a lot of parents have started thinking differently and are encouraging their children to take up some off-beat professions,” says Vinay.

 

If not busy at his carpentry unit, Vinay goes for cycling expeditions across the country. “I have cycled from Kashmir to Kanniyakumari for a fundraising campaign. Cycling and carpentry are the two things that keep me alive and active,” he sums up.