Day in and day out,
Throughout the year,
Till retirement,
Or the last breath,
Everyone pursues an activity,
Walks in a chosen path,
Works in a job,
Practises a profession-
Bating the pressures,
Braving the odds,
Bearing the yoke,
Brooking resistance.

Not for money,
Not for passing time,
Not out of compulsion,
Not with aversion;
With involvement,
With dedication,
With satisfaction,
With perseverance.
That is vocation-
A soulful mission,
A sincere employment,
A creative career.

A doctor feeling for the patient,
An engineer adoring the construction,
A carpenter loving the woodcraft,
A teacher relishing literacy mission,
A Florence Nightingale carrying the lamp,
An Abraham Lincoln abolishing slavery,
A Mahatma Gandhi wielding ahimsa,
A Mother Theresa lifting up the miserable,
Not only the history-makers,
Even the ordinary workers,
Plod through all gruelling,
Ever poised and smiling.

Led by love,
Propelled by conviction,
Unafraid of opposition,
Not affected by drudgery-
That is vocation:
The vigour to trudge on
When the seas are rough
And the steering is tough.
A calling they find wonderful
Making life purposeful.
The job remains meaningful,
Showing the world as beautiful.