Belated Happy New Year !
Hi All
On new year I received following meaningful message, it’s worth to share hence here it is with few of my inputs 
:
On 1st Jan 2012, we have opened up new book. Its pages are blank. We are going to put words on them ourselves. The book is called “Opportunity” and its first chapter is New Year’s Day.
A happy New Year! Grant that I
May bring no tear to any eye
When this New Year in time shall end
Let it be said I’ve played the friend,
Have lived and loved and labored here,
And made of it a happy year.
“The secret of success is in turning this diary into the best story you possibly can drive from….”
- Write it on your heart that every day is the best day in the year
- Make each day your masterpiece
- Fall seven times, stand up eight!
- Remember Success and rest don’t sleep together
Have a Bright, Happy and Prosperous 2012 and diary full of best stories ever written in your life.
Best Wishes
Deval
Don’t Be Serious, Be Sincere
I received an email containing few lines of Chetan Bhagat’s speech at the orientation programme of Symbiosis, Pune. I found those line very energetic hence I took Google Guru’s assistance and found the whole speech, here I am sharing the verbatim speech of Chetan Bhagat (I have just highlighted few things which strike me) :
“Good Morning everyone and thank you for giving me this chance to speak to you. This day is about you. You, who have come to this college, leaving the comfort of your homes (or in some cases discomfort), to become something in your life. I am sure you are excited. There are few days in human life when one is truly elated. The first day in college is one of them. When you were getting ready today, you felt a tingling in your stomach. What would the auditorium be like, what would the teachers be like, who are my new classmates – there is so much to be curious about. I call this excitement, the spark within you that makes you feel truly alive today. Today I am going to talk about keeping the spark shining. Or to put it another way, how to be happy most, if not all the time.
Where do these sparks start? I think we are born with them. My 3-year old twin boys have a million sparks. A little Spiderman toy can make them jump on the bed. They get thrills from creaky swings in the park. A story from daddy gets them excited. They do a daily countdown for birthday party – several months in advance – just for the day they will cut their own birthday cake.
I see students like you, and I still see some sparks. But when I see older people, the spark is difficult to find. That means as we age, the spark fades. People whose spark has faded too much are dull, dejected, aimless and bitter. Remember Kareena in the first half of Jab We Met vs the second half? That is what happens when the spark is lost. So how to save the spark?
Imagine the spark to be a lamp’s flame. The first aspect is nurturing – to give your spark the fuel, continuously. The second is to guard against storms.
To nurture, always have goals. It is human nature to strive, improve and achieve full potential. In fact, that is success. It is what is possible for you. It isn’t any external measure – a certain cost to company pay package, a particular car or house.
Most of us are from middle class families. To us, having material landmarks is success and rightly so. When you have grown up where money constraints force everyday choices, financial freedom is a big achievement. But it isn’t the purpose of life. If that was the case, Mr. Ambani would not show up for work. Shah Rukh Khan would stay at home and not dance anymore. Steve Jobs won’t be working hard to make a better iPhone, as he sold Pixar for billions of dollars already. Why do they do it? What makes them come to work everyday? They do it because it makes them happy. They do it because it makes them feel alive, Just getting better from current levels feels good. If you study hard, you can improve your rank. If you make an effort to interact with people, you will do better in interviews. If you practice, your cricket will get better. You may also know that you cannot become Tendulkar, yet. But you can get to the next level. Striving for that next level is important.
Nature designed with a random set of genes and circumstances in which we were born. To be happy, we have to accept it and make the most of nature’s design. Are you? Goals will help you do that. I must add, don’t just have career or academic goals. Set goals to give you a balanced, successful life. I use the word balanced before successful. Balanced means ensuring your health, relationships, mental peace are all in good order.
There is no point of getting a promotion on the day of your breakup. There is no fun in driving a car if your back hurts. Shopping is not enjoyable if your mind is full of tensions.
You must have read some quotes – Life is a tough race, it is a marathon or whatever. No, from what I have seen so far, life is one of those races in nursery school, where you have to run with a marble in a spoon kept in your mouth. If the marble falls, there is no point coming first. Same with life, where health and relationships are the marble. Your striving is only worth it if there is harmony in your life. Else, you may achieve the success, but this spark, this feeling of being excited and alive, will start to die.
One last thing about nurturing the spark – don’t take life seriously. One of my yoga teachers used to make students laugh during classes. One student asked him if these jokes would take away something from the yoga practice. The teacher said – don’t be serious, be sincere. This quote has defined my work ever since. Whether its my writing, my job, my relationships or any of my goals. I get thousands of opinions on my writing everyday. There is heaps of praise, there is intense criticism. If I take it all seriously, how will I write? Or rather, how will I live? Life is not to be taken seriously, as we are really temporary here. We are like a pre-paid card with limited validity. If we are lucky, we may last another 50 years. And 50 years is just 2,500 weekends. Do we really need to get so worked up? It’s ok, bunk a few classes, goof up a few interviews, fall in love. We are people, not programmed devices.
I’ve told you three things – reasonable goals, balance and not taking it too seriously that will nurture the spark. However, there are four storms in life that will threaten to completely put out the flame. These must be guarded against. These are disappointment, frustration, unfairness and loneliness of purpose.
Disappointment will come when your effort does not give you the expected return. If things don’t go as planned or if you face failure. Failure is extremely difficult to handle, but those that do come out stronger. What did this failure teach me? is the question you will need to ask. You will feel miserable. You will want to quit, like I wanted to when nine publishers rejected my first book. Some IITians kill themselves over low grades – how silly is that? But that is how much failure can hurt you. But it’s life. If challenges could always be overcome, they would cease to be a challenge. And remember – if you are failing at something, that means you are at your limit or potential. And that’s where you want to be.
Disappointment’ s cousin is Frustration, the second storm. Have you ever been frustrated? It happens when things are stuck. This is especially relevant in India. From traffic jams to getting that job you deserve, sometimes things take so long that you don’t know if you chose the right goal. After books, I set the goal of writing for Bollywood, as I thought they needed writers. I am called extremely lucky, but it took me five years to get close to a release. Frustration saps excitement, and turns your initial energy into something negative, making you a bitter person. How did I deal with it? A realistic assessment of the time involved – movies take a long time to make even though they are watched quickly, seeking a certain enjoyment in the process rather than the end result – at least I was learning how to write scripts, having a side plan – I had my third book to write and even something as simple as pleasurable distractions in your life – friends, food, travel can help you overcome it. Remember, nothing is to be taken seriously. Frustration is a sign somewhere, you took it too seriously.
Unfairness – this is hardest to deal with, but unfortunately that is how our country works. People with connections, rich dads, beautiful faces, pedigree find it easier to make it – not just in Bollywood, but everywhere. And sometimes it is just plain luck. There are so few opportunities in India, so many stars need to be aligned for you to make it happen. Merit and hard work is not always linked to achievement in the short term, but the long term correlation is high, and ultimately things do work out. But realize, there will be some people luckier than you. In fact, to have an opportunity to go to college and understand this speech in English means you are pretty damm lucky by Indian standards. Let’s be grateful for what we have and get the strength to accept what we don’t. I have so much love from my readers that other writers cannot even imagine it. However, I don’t get literary praise. It’s ok. I don’t look like Aishwarya Rai, but I have two boys who I think are more beautiful than her. It’s ok. Don’t let unfairness kill your spark.
Finally, the last point that can kill your spark is Isolation. As you grow older you will realize you are unique. When you are little, all kids want Ice cream and Spiderman. As you grow older to college, you still are a lot like your friends. But ten years later and you realize you are unique. What you want, what you believe in, what makes you feel, may be different from even the people closest to you. This can create conflict as your goals may not match with others. And you may drop some of them. Basketball captains in college invariably stop playing basketball by the time they have their second child. They give up something that meant so much to them. They do it for their family. But in doing that, the spark dies. Never, ever make that compromise. Love yourself first, and then others.
There you go. I’ve told you the four thunderstorms – disappointment, frustration, unfairness and isolation. You cannot avoid them, as like the monsoon they will come into your life at regular intervals. You just need to keep the raincoat handy to not let the spark die.
I welcome you again to the most wonderful years of your life. If someone gave me the choice to go back in time, I will surely choose college. But I also hope that ten years later as well, your eyes will shine the same way as they do today. That you will Keep the Spark alive, not only through college, but through the next 2,500 weekends. And I hope not just you, but my whole country will keep that spark alive, as we really need it now more than any moment in history. And there is something cool about saying – I come from the land of a billion sparks.
Thank You”
What a simple and realistic approach ! I like it….
“Out of the Box” Thinking
Many hundreds of years ago in a small town, a merchant had the misfortune of owing a large sum of money to the moneylender. The moneylender, who was old and ugly, fancied the merchant’s beautiful daughter so he proposed a bargain. He said he would forgo the merchant’s debt if he could marry the daughter. Both the merchant and his daughter were horrified by the proposal.
The moneylender told them that he would put a black pebble and a white pebble into an empty bag. The girl would then have to pick one pebble from the bag. If she picked the black pebble, she would become the moneylender’s wife and her father’s debt would be forgiven. If she picked the white pebble she need not marry him and her father’s debt would still be forgiven. But if she refused to pick a pebble, her father would be thrown into jail.
They were standing on a pebble strewn path in the merchant’s garden. As they talked, the moneylender bent over to pick up two pebbles. As he picked them up, the sharp-eyed girl noticed that he had picked up two black pebbles and put them into the bag. He then asked the girl to pick her pebble from the bag.
What would you have done if you were the girl? If you had to advise her, what would you have told her? Careful analysis would produce three possibilities:
1. The girl should refuse to take a pebble.
2. The girl should show that there were two black pebbles in the bag and expose the moneylender as a cheat.
3. The girl should pick a black pebble and sacrifice herself in order to save her father from his debt and imprisonment.
The above story is used with the hope that it will make us appreciate the difference between lateral and logical thinking.
The girl put her hand into the moneybag and drew out a pebble. Without looking at it, she fumbled and let it fall onto the pebble-strewn path where it immediately became lost among all the other pebbles.
“Oh, how clumsy of me,” she said. “But never mind, if you look into the bag for the one that is left, you will be able to tell which pebble I picked.” Since the remaining pebble is black, it must be assumed that she had picked the white one. And since the moneylender dared not admit his dishonesty, the girl changed what seemed an impossible situation into an advantageous one.
MORAL OF THE STORY: Most complex problems do have a solution, sometimes we have to think about them in a different way.
Reference : Gems of Wisdom
Lesson To Learn !
Few days back I heard a story of Giraffe, story was all about the survival of new born baby giraffe.
An astonishing but a true part of their life !
The birth of a baby giraffe is quite an earth-shattering event. The baby falls from its mother’s womb, some eight feet above the ground. It shrivels up and too weak to move. The mother giraffe lovingly lowers her neck to smooch the baby giraffe and then something unbelievable happens. She lifts her long leg and kicks the baby giraffe, sending it flying up in the air and tumbling down on the ground.
As the baby lies curled up, the mother kicks the baby again and again until the baby giraffe push its-self hard to stand up. After receiving few gentle kicks from mother, baby first time learns to stand on its feet. Happy to see the baby standing on its own feet, the mother giraffe comes over and gives it yet another kick. The baby giraffe falls one more time, but now quickly recovers and stands up.
Mother Giraffe is delighted. She knows that her baby has learnt an important lesson: “Never mind how hard you fall, always remember to pick yourself up and get back on your feet”
One question which should arise in our mind – Why does the mother giraffe do this?
Because, she knows that lions and leopards love giraffe meat. So unless the baby giraffe quickly learns to stand and run with the pack – it will have no chance of survival. To give a real life to her lovable new-born, mother giraffe has to hit her new born.
Most of us are not as lucky as baby giraffes. No one teaches us to stand up every time we fall. When we fail, when we are down – we just give up. No one kicks us out of our comfort zone and remind us that to survive and succeed, we have to learn to get back on our feet. On the contrary, if in case someone step forward and kick us – Do we take that kick in a right passion !
All of us did not born with the silver spoon in our mouth. For a layman, the road to success is never an easy one. There are several obstacles and we are bound to fall sooner or later. We will taste failure, however, to achieve our final goal, we have to learn to get up every time we fall.
Learning to achieve our goal is pretty much like learning to ride a bicycle. As we start to ride, we might fall and get injured. It does not matter. To achieve our goal, we need to get up and continue to ride. Fall one more time? Get back up again. That is all it takes. Learn to get back up every time we fall.
Main lesson which I learn from this story is – Next time when we find a friend or parent kicking us, we should not get upset with them. Like the mother giraffe, they may only be trying to teach us one of life’s most important lessons.
It does not matter howmany times we fall. What matters is our ability to pick ourselves up and stand on our feet once again.
Animals never go to school, even they never attend lectures like personality development, attitude development etc. However, they teach us important lessons.
Strange But True ! 
Reference : Citehr & Nobleteachers
Half Day @ RTO
Ahhh…. Visited RTO ( Road Transport Office) Today as I wanted to take learning license.
I do not know at what time RTO personnel start their work. Usually other Govt. offices start dealing with customers latest by 10:00 AM.
At RTO they start their operation earliest by 11:00 AM with the gloomy face as if they are obliging us by opening a door. I reached RTO office at 9:00 AM as I came to know that by that time they start their work and eagerly waited till 11:00 AM.
At 11:00 AM, I was the First person in ladies queue, when I entered in the room lady officer asked for original License I did not bring that, I accept that I was my fault. But with my all wonder RTO lady officer put my form aside with unreadable remark, I asked her TWO – THREE times that Madam What Is This Remark All About, Madam Where Should I Go – And what I received in revert – Scary Look Only. After asking her firmly she just said One Word – ‘Original’ and showed me way to go out. Wow What An Attitude !
After this incidence I was too sure that Now I will not apply for license anymore. However, kind and gentle people around me, made me understand that ગવર્મેન્ટ મા આવુ જ થાય (Government people work like this only). So we have to be gentle and patience when we are dealing with them, because at the end we need them !
Narendra Modiji wants Gujarat to become vibrate and we can see that his vision is fulfilling. However, it would be great if Government Personnel can develop professionalism and customer service approach.
During my 2 hours waiting at RTO, came to know that From March 2011 RTO is getting Online. Thanks to Modiji as he will save Time, Temper and Energy of a lot many people.
RTO visit learning :
- Be Patience
- Be Positive
- Be Ready To Take Half Day Or Full Day Leave when visiting RTO (with no guarantee of work accomplishment)
One More Year Passed…. !
For me year passed in Two Ways – Just celebrated my birth day on 29th Dec. and 2010 is about to come to an end.
One more year passed and I became one more year elder on paper
I was thinking what I learn in last 1 year ? Is there anything which I learn or year just passed away ! Suddenly, I realized that last year was one of the important years of my life – I got married and as a marriage gift received a lot many new relations, new thinking, new people, new life style and so on.
Last year was full of surprises, love, positivity, learning … I might require pages and pages, if I start narrating my last year. Hence, let me summarize it.
Last Year Learning:
- Every now and then life love to examine us and our goal should be to Score 100% in that exam.
- Accept change – it is hard to accept change but it is worth to accept it.
- People do not change – circumstances and their mind set change.
- Think positive & stay calm when situation is not in our favour. Simple thing is “Keep Your Mouth Shut and Keep Your Mind Busy”.
- Move out from comfort zone. It is difficult to move out from the comfort zone and accept the changes with smile. Remember, it is Difficult but not Impossible, it just require some more conscious efforts.
- As soon as we will move out from our comfort zone, we can see real world which is important to see and worth to evaluate.
- Start Writing whenever you are angry. Rather than throwing words on other it is better and simple to write. It does not matter where we write, it can be on paper, computer, mobile or whatever. Once we pulled out our feelings, we feel relaxed. It works – try it !
- Belief : Jo Hota He Vo Achhe Ke Lie Hi Hota He ! (Whatever Happens, Happens For Good)
I would like to end up with a SMS quote which I received today morning :
In last year :
Thanks to those who loved me, they made my heart bigger.
Thanks to those who hated me, they made me a stronger person.
Thanks to those who envied me, they made my self-esteem grown stronger.
Thanks to those who cared, you made me feel important.
Thanks to those who left me, they made me realized that nothing lasts forever.
Thanks to those who stayed, they showed me the true meaning of friendship.
Thanks to those who entered into my life, they made me who I am today.
Just what to thank you all for being there in my life whatsoever I might have meant to you.
Thank you !
Bill Gates’ Speech At High School
Bill Gates gave a speech at a High School about 10 Things We Do Not Learn in School.
Speech is bit old however I found it interesting, hence sharing !
Rule 1: Life is not fair – get used to it!
Rule 2: The world will not care about your self-esteem. The world will expect you to accomplish something BEFORE you feel good about yourself.
Rule 3: You will NOT make $60,000 a year right out of high school. You will not be a vice-president with a car phone until you earn both.
Rule 4: If you think your teacher is tough, wait till you get a BOSS.
Rule 5: Flipping burgers is not beneath your dignity. Your Grandparents had a different word for burger flipping – they called it opportunity.
Rule 6: If you mess up, it’s not your parents’ fault, so don’t whine about your mistakes, learn from them.
Rule 7: Before you were born, your parents were not as boring as they are now. They got that way from paying your bills, cleaning your clothes and listening to you talk about how cool you thought you are. So before you save the rain forest from the parasites of your parents’ generation, try delousing the closet in your own room.
Rule 8 : Life is not divided into semesters. You don’t get summers off and very few employers are interested in helping you FIND YOURSELF. Do that on your own time.
Rule 9: Television is NOT real life. In real life people actually have to leave the coffee shop and go to job. 
Rule 10: Be nice to nerds. Chances are you’ll end up working for one.
What a practically true suggestions provided by Mr. Gates !
Hope you found it interesting as well as practically true !
Reference : urbanlegends
Anxious About The Future !
Once two friends were sitting under a tree and watching the sunset. They were very close friends. After sitting quietly for some time, one asked the other, “What are you thinking?”
“I am planning to buy five acres of land, a garden.” The other friend immediately said, “Don’t buy the garden!”
The first one was surprised. He asked “why”? The second one replied, “I am planning to buy a buffalo. Then, my buffalo will enter into your garden and we will fight, will have misunderstandings and lose our friendship. I do not want to lose our friendship.”
The first one said, “Then, you cancel your plan of buying a buffalo. I am going to buy my garden.” The second one said, “No, no, no. I have already decided to buy a buffalo.” The first one said, “How will your buffalo enter into my garden? I will fence it thoroughly.”
The second one said, “No, you see it can just enter; a buffalo is a buffalo. Who can stop it? It can do anything.”
They started fighting. The fight went to such an extent that they broke their limbs! Neither has bought buffalo nor any land.
Nothing has happened. Just the mind’s race and both of them broke their limbs over it!
Our fears are also like that. The future has not yet come but we still just think, “Oh! What will happen? This will happen. That will happen. If this will happen I will react in this way etc…
Many times our minds are filled with anxiety about the future! In this run, the mind gets into such a mess.
Let us learn something from above story !
Don’t be over anxious about the future.
Keep rocking !
Reference : Gems of Wisdom
