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Woman who quit corporate career for art after watching Tamasha now restarting career in her 30s: 'Economy is brutal'
The woman had landed a campus placement job and spent 6 years working in the corporate sector before deciding to leave it all behind.
A viral post on X has triggered a discussion about passion, financial security, and the risks of leaving stable jobs after a man shared the story of a woman who quit her corporate career to pursue painting after watching the Bollywood film Tamasha.
The discussion began after an X user named Harsh recounted meeting a woman in her 30s during a job interview. He said that the woman had landed a campus placement job and spent 6 years working in the corporate sector before deciding to leave it all behind.
“Met a woman in her 30s interviewing after a 2 year gap. She said she got campus placed, worked in corporate for 6 years, then watched Tamasha and realised she wanted to be an artist and pursue painting full time. So she quit and did a diploma in arts,” he wrote.
Harsh further shared that after completing the course, the woman tried to build a career through exhibitions and selling paintings. “She loved doing it, but eventually the money ran out and reality caught up. Now she’s trying to return to corporate life for stability,” he wrote.
He added, “The good part is she’ll never live with the regret of not trying. The bad part is she’s almost restarting her corporate career from scratch in her 30s. Moral of the story: follow your passion at your own risk. The economy is brutal.”
(Also Read: NRI woman in US compares India and America’s corporate work culture: ‘Nobody questions you for personal work’)
How did social media react?
The post quickly went viral and drew mixed reactions online, with many users debating whether passion alone is enough to sustain a livelihood.
“Honestly it takes a lot of courage to walk away from stability and start over in your 30s just to follow something you genuinely love. Most people only dream about doing that,” one user wrote.
Another person shared a similar experience, commenting, “Same story with me, now I am 50% down in salary. But I do not feel the regret.”
Some users, however, pointed to the financial realities involved in pursuing creative careers.
“Following your passion and making it as bread and butter for living is only for ppl who have financial independence and backing, not for working middle class,” one comment read.
Others argued that balancing a stable job with creative ambitions may have been a safer route.
“The fact that she didn't think she could do both her corporate job and an arts diploma shows lack of risk assessment and a lack of work life balance. I've seen people kill it at their corporate job and fund their passions through it. She could do the same moving forward,” another user wrote.
One user also revealed they had gone through something similar but eventually returned to corporate life. “I did something similar but i gave up in 6 months..i realised i will never be able to make the same kind of money in artistic fields as i made in corporate,” the comment read.
