I met Aidil a good thirteen years ago. We didn't really sit down and chat; that was me and another buddy of his, but we knew each other by reputation, mostly. And one reputation I remember him for quite vividly, was his love and later, his talent for music. Over the years, through mutual friends and contacts we've kept in touch; shared a table over a tomyam or three and the like... and it was a very excited Aidil who buzzed me via instant messenger last week, to point me to his band's latest achievement: they now have a record distribution deal with an independent American label, and if they raise the moolah, they get to go on tour. In the US. For a US label.

Aidil fronts the band Couple, which you may or may not have heard on the indie scene in KL. That is, by night, or on weekends. By day, he is a lawyer for a law firm in the City, and from what I'm told, he's doing okay at that job too. So yes, lawyer by day, rock star by night a unique combination perhaps, although not the only one.

Rock and roll

Another friend, Kudo, is organising a gig in Sheffield. He is very much your music aficionado, and strums a mean bass line but by day he is a histopathologist. That is, some sort of a medical doctor, in plebeian language meant for us of the non-medical persuasion. John is an engineer working in Johor (he does have a less glamorous Malay name) and to that name he has published two novels, available at your local bookstore: Kinokuniya or Smart. Which reminds me a bit of Khaled Hosseini, the author of the Kite Runner. His day job: a doctor.

More and more I see my friends (okay Khaled Hosseini isn't a friend, he's just an example) pursuing their loves as an aside and yes, this may well be the path I shall take one day too. I refer to it as moonlighting. In fact, writing this column is part of moonlighting for me: yes, I am studying for a doctorate in accounting and finance, but I once harboured ambitions of a more artistic nature, too.

I've always enjoyed writing from an early age, in fact, but I chose not to pursue becoming a writer as a career path for two reasons: one, someone once told me that you should never make your hobby your work, because once it becomes work, you lose your passion for it. And secondly, it doesn't pay well, and which parent wants their child (firstborn some more) living from paycheck to paycheck that could be potentially as infrequent as rain in the Sahara? (Or in other words, ayah saya suruh saya jadi warga berkerjaya professional -My dad wanted me to have a professional career.) But those are just my excuses, I think..

My dad, he too has ambitions of being a writer. Family nights of watching Cerekarama when I was young was often punctuated by discussions of plot weaknesses and the dimensions of the characters in the story. But my dad always said, being a writer was his masterplan after he retires. For now, he has to work; feed the family, make ends meet. Dreams take their place on the 'perhaps maybe' shelf.

Late bloomers

At Lancaster University this week, a photo exhibition by Ms. Christine Dawson, an undergraduate studying Art begins. She has already retired, although I never ventured to ask her what how old she was. She spent her adult life bringing up her family, working as a social worker; and now she's doing what she's always been interested in. She chose to take up a degree in art. Space and time for everything, she told me once in her beautiful Scottish lilt.

Maybe we're more greedy, as the younger generation. Maybe we want it all now. We don't want to wait until we're 60 to start our third lease of life; to do what we want to do instead of what is expected of us. Or perhaps realistically we know that maybe we won't live to be 60. Or in the case of musicians, you can't really be much of a rockstar post-retirement. Never mind how much like Mawi you are. But maybe, maybe.. it's just because we have the chance. We see the window of opportunity, and fools are those who choose to not jump through it.

The dynamics of the era my parents lived in, though, was different. Malaysia was still very much a growing country. People worked to literally earn a living. It was a job, not a career and young adults in the 1980's were offspring of a generation of plantation workers, rubber tappers, day labourers and contract workers. Having a professional for a parent, in my dad's university days, was a rarity. Different realities to be faced with, to be dealt with, effectively pushing out dreams from the forseeable horizon. Only the lucky (and very talented) few managed to do what they wished as opposed to what was practical; and often money was an issue.

Because money is always an issue. At the end of the day, you have to eat. Have a roof over your head. Sometimes you have to support more than just you yourself. Which is why we mostly have dayjobs. Nothing can beat the predictability of a constant paycheck.

Still, it doesn't mean that the achievements of Aidil and his band or John the writer is no mean feat. At our age, we're at the level of our careers where there is a lot of need to prove ourselves. 12 hour days are not uncommon, and most of the time, the minute we arrive home, there is scant energy for anything more than a shower, a meal and bed. To be able to fit in hobbies and passions and to be able to do them well, is definitely a laudable effort.

We'll get there...

But it gives us hope, this. Hope that dreams are not meant to be forgotten; that passion can co-exist alongside professional careers, at the lack of the detriment of neither. Not all of us are lucky enough to make our passions earn enough money for us to live comfortably. But with the right balance and good time management, they are still within reach. Or at least, I'd like to think so.

Steve Jobs, of Apple, talked about hanging on to a dream, believing in it and following one's gut feel in his commencement address at Stanford in 2005. The most often quoted phrase from his address was a caption to a picture he fell in love with: it read, "Stay Hungry, Stay Foolish." But he also talked about connecting the dots. Or rather, how things happen for a reason. You might think that life throws you more curveballs than you imagined, dramatically leaving you on your knees crying to the sky, "Why, God, why?"

But, as Jobs said, it is only in retrospect that you can connect the dots, so in the here and now, go with your gut feel. Dreams are not for the faint of heart. So yeah, this may be the dots of our lives becoming connected. We can't quite see the forest for the dense, dense trees; but maybe dreams have a way of working itself into our lives. Even with a dayjob in tow.

IDLAN ZAKARIA was very happy when she managed to answer all the general knowledge questions on Mastermind last Sunday only to realise they were really for 12 year olds. Proper questions can be asked at idlan@idlanzakaria.com.