Bhupesh Dhawan

Got a solution?

2013-09-07T15:16:00.000+05:30

A lot of times we experience in our personal lives, mostly what we have read in our books, on facebook walls & twitter. Though we seldom realise them, here am I presenting my latest life lessons learnt first-hand!

It so happened that during one of the hot summer nights, I was woken up by the clattering of the falling utensils in the kitchen. It was 1:30 am in the morning! O Boy, was I scared….was that a thief trying to break into our house! Somehow, I mustered enough courage to go out of my room to see what was happening. To make this inspection easier, I told myself that it could have been just a stray cat who somehow sneaked into the kitchen and now was unable to find its way out.

I was surprised at what I saw!! Thankfully there were no thieves !!! But not even a cat was in sight…then what was that thing which had woken me up in the middle of the night ?

My wife was also awake by now and she asked me what happened? I was unable to comprehend the situation, so it was difficult for me to put into words what was happening. Feeling bolder now, by the absence of any external life forms, I went inside the kitchen. Couple of more utensils fell off the stand meanwhile. Things were starting to get clearer…it was that the shelf on which the utensils were placed was coming apart from the hooks. It was tilted and that was making the utensils fall apart. I quickly pulled out the remaining utensils and placed them on the slab, making as little noise as possible. I sneaked back to my room to resume my broken slumber. In the morning, it was revealed that the kitchen shelf had been infected with “TERMITES” . So what looked fine from the outside was infact majorly infected and made hollow from inside. Now the solution was not as easy to just fix the shelf and move ahead in life. The presence of termite in one part of the house raised alarms that similar damage would be there in the other part of the rooms as well. So we decided to get the entire house pest controlled as leaving any part of the house unattended could meant inviting the termites AGAIN !!

Lesson Learnt: If you want to fix a problem, you need to find the cause and do a deep dive analysis to fix it from the root!

A couple of days later, there was no water in the taps. Did someone leave a running tap, I wondered. I recalled that there was some problem in the boring well a fortnight back and the motor had recently been fixed. Initially it was working fine but there was lot of mud in the water. However, strangely though, the pressure of the pump was good outside but inside the house it was oozing out in drops! What could have been the problem. So learning from the termite problem, I decided to do a deep dive analysis and tried to figure out the exact cause. Probable reasons which came out where – Motor not working again, or the pipe system had some blockage etc etc.. Possible solutions looked like getting a new motor pump and relaying the water pipes again. So with a sure shot conviction that this was going to leave a dent in my pocket, we called for the plumber. He came and switched on the motor and checked the rooms where water flow was not there. Within a minute, he calmly pulled out the nozzle of the tap where a net had been placed. It was blocked due to mud particles and hence the water flow was squeezed!

Lesson Learnt: – There cannot be one solution to all problems and we need to do the basic checks as well before presuming the problem to bigger than it actually is!!!

The visit of the plumber did leave me short changed by Rs 200/- but, I guess, wiser in many ways!!

At all stages of our lives, we will be surrounded by problems. It is not easy as it seems to know of all the solutions, that too EVERYTIME! So keep an open mind to solve the problem. Just like the parachute, it also works when OPEN!!

A special thanks to my friends who reminded me either through FB, Whatsapp or call that it was almost an year that I hadnt shared a new blog..

Hope you enjoyed reading this and I would love to hear your comments on this.

Have a great day and thanks for taking out time to read this!!

The Bigger Picture

2012-08-07T11:11:00.001+05:30

Has it ever occurred to you that what you believed, to the best of your knowledge, to be the correct picture eventually turned out to be very different? Yes, I am sure would have been your answer. I was reading the newspaper yesterday when I stumbled upon this picture of the elephant and the six blind men.
(While this article was about the National Pension Scheme and what the general investors thought about it, I took the opportunity to pen down some of my thoughts around this)
While each one describes what he felt about the elephant the complete picture turns out to be only partially correct. Slight extrapolation of the story here, would it be possible to imagine how different their answer would have been if they could speak within themselves sharing their experiences (remember they were only blind). The answer would have been different if only they were able to accept the bigger picture than what they personally experienced. That is what my blog is about today.

I am sure some of us would have heard this following joke.

There was an old couple happily married. Every time the husband would ask his wife what was for dinner, his wife wouldn't reply. The husband realised that his wife had developed some hearing problem and as a good husband decided to take her to the doctor. When the doctor examined the wife, he found her hearing powers in good condition. It was the husband who required the treatment...!

Though we might have had a good laugh at this joke but there's a bigger message in it. Is it that the problem is with someone else only? Are we willing to even explore the possibility of something else? At times we feel we know everything until something shocking hits us on the face.

Ever felt that in a relationship that the other person never understood you or listened to you? I am sure you would have understood what I am hinting at.

I am not saying that all of us might be feeling the same way and if we tried just enough, we would get the clues from our own surroundings to figure it out before it blows out of proportion. What we make out of this blog depends entirely on us.

I leave you all with one of the best forwarded messages (thanks to Aniket Acharekar from Mumbai) I came across so far..

A group of highly educated students visited their old university professor.
Conversation soon turned into complaints about stress in work and life.
Offering them coffee, Professor returned from kitchen with a pot of coffee and an assortment of cups- porcelain, glass, crystal, some plain looking, some expensive, some exquisite - telling them to help themselves to hot coffee. When all had a cup of coffee in hand,
The professor said: "If U noticed, all the nice looking expensive cups were taken up, leaving behind the plain ones. While it's but normal for U to want only the best, that's also the source of Ur stress. What U really wanted was coffee, not the cup, But U still went for the best cups nd were eyeing each other's cups!"

If life is coffee, Then jobs, money and status in society are the cups. They are just tools to hold and contain Life.
Don't let the cups drive U..

Enjoy the coffee...!

Hope you enjoyed reading this one and would love you to know your views / comments on this one. Also do check out my earlier blog Big Picture I wrote in Dec2010.

What is a Problem?

2012-08-02T13:14:00.000+05:30

"What is darkness? Darkness does not exist but is really the absence of light…"

A powerful thought, I was reminded of during this week's power grid failures. That too not just once, but twice.

However, the first time it happened on a Monday morning before most of us were awake and the second time in the afternoon when the sun was still few hours before setting out the nadir. So actually we were not reeling quite so literally in the darkness. The very thought of it happening in the evening gives me shivers.

For a moment everyone felt so hapless for this impacted not just a part of the city but more than 50% population of the country. I read that this was probably the worst outage in the world impacting almost 10% of the world population. Everything is so dependent on electricity. This fact was evident when railways, Metro, traffic lights, offices went off. Airports were least affected as they were managed by their back-up.

When asked about this situation, our minister said that we need to appreciate that this was restored in the shortest possible time. He quoted that when a similar thing happened in the U.S they took just about 4 DAYS to restore the situation.

Can you imagine how life would be without electricity? Well to sum it up in one word, it would be DIFFICULT…not that we would not be able to survive it.

Well, to set the right perspective of this blog, this is not about the Power Grid Collapse. This is more to do with the lessons it reminded me during that period.

Lessons learnt

1) Don’t take anything for granted.
2) Respect it and use it judiciously.

3) Don’t depend on one thing only and ensure that you have all possible back-up plans.

4) Remember that things could and would go wrong when you least expect them too.

I would like to share one of the many jokes that did rounds while we were enduring the outage.

Power Grid Failure: India is the first country to invent a time-machine. It was tested successfully for 2 days. The North Indians were the privileged ones to travel twice to "Dark Ages" and back.

I leave you all with the second part of the opening quote….Problem is nothing but just the absence of a Solution.

Do remember to leave your thoughts / comments on this one on my blog.

Have you got your Plan B yet?

2012-06-21T13:44:00.003+05:30

When life is going as per plan, seldom do we stop and check for Plan B. It is when we are hit with a sudden crisis, that we look for alternatives plans. This blog is my attempt to figure out the when, why and how of Plan B. Maybe its called “B” because of two plausible reasons …firstly it comes after A, representing the next option & secondly maybe because Back-up begins with ‘B’

I take the example of you getting stranded on the road with a flat tyre, no mobile, no money and an important meeting. (incase you haven’t read it already, I urge you to read my blog “ can you handle this?” ( <-----just click here)

Preventive actions for above scenario could be some of these – Spare money kept somewhere in the car’s dashboard, car charger, registration with car break-down helpline etc etc.

This would be incomplete, not exhaustive and hence my request to all readers to add their thoughts in the comments section.

Some of the more extreme situations were handled by the protagonists in Mel Gibson’s “Apocalypto” & Danny Boyles’ “127 hours”. I am sure most of you would have already seen either of them.

There would be many such stories but allow me to share with you a story I had read earlier. I am unable to remember where I had read it, hence there might be a slight change in the story. Here it goes…

Once there used to be an oasis in the middle of a big, vast desert. In it was a kingdom where they had quite a peculiar way to elect the king. After the end of 4 years, the king had to be either executed in the palace or left somewhere in the desert to die. However, for the 4 years when he was the king, he had everything under his control. It had been quite some time now that the kingdom was sans a king. One day, a young man approached the ministers to claim the king’s throne. Everyone was quite surprised by this move of the young man. Soon, he was a crowned the king of that kingdom. He was a very able king and within months he was able to win the confidence of the people. Under his regime, the kingdom’s wealth had increased manifolds. Everyone loved the king. He was a very just ruler. He lowered the taxes for the common man and provided all necessary support to his people. Time was just passing by too quickly. Already 3 years had passed; suddenly the thought had 4 years been soon to be over crossed everyone’s mind.

Rule was rule, after all. Was there any way that this rule could be changed….it was the first time everyone was praying for that…..the meeting of the minister’s was called for. It was decided not to change the rule and the king could only rule for the next 1 year. The king took the decision in his stride.

The ministers were curious to see the calm with which the king was ruling the kingdom, until the second last day of his rule. The prosperity the kingdom had seen under his regime was simply unparalleled. One night they decided to spy on the king and see what he was up to. To their utmost surprise they found out from the sentry of the kingdom, that every night ever since he became the king, some of his men would travel in the middle of the night, seated on camels. They carried some luggage stuffed with them. When they used to come back, mostly after 3 days, they came empty handed. The ministers smelled a rat. They called for an important meeting early next morning.

It was a beautiful morning, the last day of the king’s rule as the stipulated 4 years had come to an end. As per the rule, the king was to step down and choose between the desert and the executioner. The ministers accused the king of theft of royal jewellery and gold. The king kept his calm and responded stating that the wealth of the kingdom had increased manifold under his regime. He was correct. The ministers didn’t have any further question to ask. The king spoke to his folks from the throne for the very last time. He said that he was indeed proud to have been a king of such a wonderful kingdom. He wished everyone happiness and success in their lives and announced his decision to sent to exile for the rest of his life.

There was a wave of sadness between the folks to hear this announcement. So it was the end of the 4 years of his kingdom and probably his death in the next 2 days. The deserts would not be able to give life to the king any further.

As he was about to leave the boundary of the kingdom, one of the ministers asked him to tell what was he smuggling out of the kingdom every night for the last 4 years. The king smiled back and responded that during the first 1 year he took the bulls and heavy equipments for levelling out the barren land about 2 days walking distance away from the kingdom. The next year he took the best diggers to dig wells and water the grounds. The next year he took seeds and cattle stock to build up a huge poultry farm. In his last year he took the best craftsmen to build for him a magnificent palace having the best facilities. Also, during these years he had been regularly practising to walk in the desert for 2 days at a stretch and had familiarised his way from the kingdom to his new “OASIS”. With that, he moved out of the kingdom with a big smile on his face.

So, my friends this is what I wanted to share with you…PLAN B

I hope you enjoyed reading this short story which has indeed been insightful. Do remember to share your comments if you like to share them with me.

I leave you all with this thought:-

Rome was not built in one day. Every journey, no matter how long it is, starts with the first step!

Where's your remote?

2012-06-13T19:42:00.002+05:30

Life is beautiful ( and short too!)….I was surrounded by a number of situations highlighting the same. Apparently, all in one day.

I am sure some of you would have read my last blog “Serendipity” which was around how uncertain things are at times and we don’t always end up getting what we want. What is more important is what we make out of what we get.

Earlier in the morning, I picked up this book by the same name and read this quote.

“For a long time it seemed to me that real life was about to begin, but there was always some obstacle in the way. Something had to be got through first, some unfinished business; time still to be served, a debt to be paid. Then life would begin. At last it dawned to me that these obstacles were my life.” ~ Bette Howland.

Later in the day, I got this beautiful message from my colleague Santosh

2^nd Week of June

It is the time when few years back the most exciting thing used to happen...
The school used to re-open...the excitement of new bag, new books,

smell from the pages of new books, new subjects, new sitting positions in the class...
welcome our best friends in d class..
and the best moment is to c ur crush ur sweetheart back in front of ur eyes and the pouring rains outside,

everything around us freshened up, lush green, cold and pleasant...
all dis is lost somewhere...just close ur eyes and revive it for d moment.. Soo miss it!
Miss my school days ...

Then in the evening, I got a message from my colleague and uber cool Ankur Kapoor to share a blog around this. I was driving on my way back and I try to put these things together in this blog.

Just when I got home, I was informed by my wife that a close relative of her friend expired at the age of 30 today. She was suffering from cancer which got undetected till last month. I pray for her soul to rest in peace.

Moving on, I remembered watching this movie “Click” in which the protagonist Adam Sandler stumbles upon a remote control by which he can fast forward , rewind his life at the click of a button. What had started off as a fun movie, by the end of it, there was a very deep message to it. I seriously recommend everyone to watch it once. Also, it wouldn’t change life much but surely would make you think once about where you are in your life today. We need to enjoy every moment of life with our near and dear ones because who everyone knows there’s a tomorrow but you might not be in it! We do sometimes need to sit back and take a fresh look at life. Do the small things you always wanted to do, share it with the ones you love. Fact is that we get only one life. You can’t wait for tomorrow to start living.

I leave you all with this thought –

The real question is not whether life exists after death. The real question is - Whether you are alive before death. ~ Osho

P.S – What you draw from this blog is entirely upto your own imagination. Life would continue to exist as it was before reading this blog or any other thing…don’t forget the remote of your life is in your hands. Take the right decision NOW!. And as a matter of fact, so is the keyboard of the blackberry or the laptop on which you are reading this. Do share your comments on this! (else I would never know how or what you felt reading this)

Serendipity

2012-06-07T07:39:00.005+05:30

Considering the lucrative tariffs and freebies on your mobile phone, it is virtually impossible to imagine that anybody would have been spared from the reach of the forwarded message through SMS, Facebook or BBM. It could be a short quote or a joke which brings a smile on your face. I, for one, am definitely one of the senders of such messages on numerous occasions. We like some of them more than the others and feel this urge to share it with our friends.

Why is it that at times we feel good by reading such messages? This thought reminded me of the word "Serendipity" Simply put its either the accidental discovery of something pleasant, valuable, or useful or a natural gift for making pleasant, valuable, or useful discoveries by accident.

There was a movie with a same name released more than a decade ago about a couple who decide to part ways to see if destiny had any plans for them to meet again. Well I don't think I need to tell what happened in the end...hmmm.

Coming back to the subject of this blog, the very fact that I am blogging is an example of the subject. Well to some of you, who accidentally clicked on the link I forwarded you....well how this experience turns out, I leave that to you. Actually, the remaining who chose to click, my endeavor would be to make this worthwhile of your precious time and effort. For all the readers who read till the end, I promise to share the secret of how you could double your money without any risk. This is 100% fool proof given the uncertain economic state of affairs. So do stick on till the end.

I am sure I would have shared this story of how I ended up where I am today with most of you.

This is how it went...

During my last years at school, I wanted to be a doctor. I had in fact joined some prestigious coaching institute for improving my chances of making it through the entrance exams. However, unable to clear it in my first attempt I landed up in Hindu College to at least save a year and complete my graduation. After the first six months, the thought of being a doctor had already deserted me. I never attempted the entrance exam again. I joined NIS Sparta for a part time diploma in Sales & Marketing to try out my chances in the field of Sales. I wasn't too happy with the course content and dropped out mid way. Two years into college, nothing really great to look forward to and I was stuck doing Botany Honours. I joined the RAT race..oops CAT race for being a MBA from a premier institute. So again I joined another prestigious institute for coaching.

Well, I did get as far as an interview call to XLRI Bhuvanshwar. Well, as things would have it, I completed my graduation with First Division (only I know those sleepless nights I had just before the exam day) with nothing concrete yet in sight. Immediately after graduation, I applied Law School through an entrance exam and yes I cleared it in my first attempt. So was I going to be a lawyer now? Meanwhile before my law results were out, I took up the first job I got in a small internet start up company as a Business Development Executive. I was in two minds in what to continue and what to leave. I decided to carry on both simultaneously for some time. As luck would have it, this company I had joined decided to close down after four months of joining. And there I was with just one option of completing my Law course.

Come December 2001, my ex-colleague at NIS and a very good friend of mine, Rajesh Kandari told me about a campus interview by a MNC Bank at NIS. I was not interested in the same initially and politely declined the offer. At his insistence, I agreed to accompany him and in the process got short listed for another interview next day. Sadly though my colleague wasn't to come next day, and I came all decked up for my final interview. And yes, I did get an offer letter to join immediately.

And here I am till today in the banking line after changing three jobs. I just ensure that I do my best in whatever role I get. I have got this important breakthrough by serendipity so I always try and back it up with my efforts. The one thing which mattered most, according to me, was the fact that I love to talk to lot of people, make new friends and was a good listener. Probably something this job required the most.

So that's my story so far....from not being a doctor, lawyer, sales guy to be heading the collections support unit and yet nowhere near half way of my professional career, I am sure to find myself at cross roads very soon where nothing seems to be concrete. I too have sleepless nights at timely pondering what would be the best thing to happen in the future. But, it is just these small forwarded messages at times which re-iterates my belief in myself that I will overcome whatever the situation might be tomorrow. And yes while I look forward to what future has in store for me, I strive to accomplish the current given task to the best of my ability.

Moral of the story - When opportunity knocks at your door, make the most

of it !!! :)

I leave you all with one such forwarded message which I had stumbled upon yesterday....

If you want something you never had, do something you have never done.

Don't go the way life takes you; take life the way you go.

Remember you are born to live & not living because you were born..

Do share your comments on this....

P.S – As promised, I share this secret of doubling your money. Here it comes..

“The quickest way to double your money is to fold it over and put it back in your pocket.” ;)

Howzzat - 2

2012-05-28T17:06:00.001+05:30

I start from where I had stopped on my last blog “Howzzat” about my IPL experience of watching the game live at the stadium. (You can click on hyperlinks to read my previous blog)

Finally the IPL 5 frenzy came to an end last night with SRK’s Kolkata Knight Riders thwarting Chennai Super Kings chances of making it thrice in a row for the top spot. This was the maiden victory for KKR in the five years of playing for the IPL trophy.‪Though there have been numerous rumours of match fixing, the match was worthy of being a grand Final. There were twists and turns of a typical Bollywood thriller with the match going down to the wire. The tension and pressure was evident on everyone’s faces during the dying overs of the match.

‪I was up till well past midnight watching the live presentation ceremony. There were a few things which I really liked and thought of sharing the same with you.

‪Just a couple of overs left in the match, the video zoomed in on SRK’s daughter clinging to him, there was too much pressure of the match which was evident on the little girl’s face. Harsha Bhogle, who was doing the commentary at the time, he said that no matter what the result, it is just a game after all. She would definitely remember this night and would share it with her kids when she grows up.

‪How true! After all, this is just a cricket match with only two possible results – either victory or a loss. Life will continue to go on irrespective of the result. The levels of commitment are phenomenally high and passion to win brings out the very best of the player.

‪MSD was cool as a cucumber even in the face of a defeat. They had come heart-breakingly close to within sniffing distance from victory. He taught us...even if you loose, loose gracefully. He really tried his level best to do everything possible to win. He had won quite a few close nail biters on previous nights. However, the opponent were a better playing team on that night and they deserved to win. Once the match is over, its over. Get ready for the next match!

Similiarly in life, we do come across situations where everything seems to be going our way but then doesn't. Live each day as it comes and take your failures in your stride. If yesterday wasn't good, it doesnt mean your tomorrow would be bad. We need to try and give our 100% in our efforts to achieve success.

‪At the prize distribution, the winning team was awarded the prize money cheque of 10 Crore. Such was the excitement in the team to be able to win this so unpredictable format of the game that this huge sum of money actually seemed inconsequential. There is nothing sweeter than the taste of victory.

The feeling of victory is pure adreline rush in the body which money can't replace. You should have seen the body language of the winning team. They were beaming with joy and excitement. I am sure a lot of you reading wouldn't agree because even the players get a lot of money for playing those matches. Infact they get 'auctioned' at the start of the season.

‪SRK came for a post match interview where he said that he was a successful film star and he had made this team to teach the young people how to win. The fact that it took him 5 years to do that taught him something more. He talked about "Patience & Resilience”. Those to me are very powerful words. It does make a difference if your team owner is a successful man but the team still has to perform on the field to make it really count. His presence does boost the morale of the guys. You got to stick to your beliefs when things aren't going right and make the hard decisions and carry on...only then can you be successful. Life is full of possibilities but after something happens it is in hindsight that we realise what went behind the scenes. Any team could have won the match but still only one team does...that team is the Champion.

‪When it was the winning captain Gautam Gambhir’s turn for the interview, he said the first 2 words which came to his mind were “Mission Accomplished”. The in-form captain was modest enough to admit that the captain is as good as team and not that the team was as good as the captain. He emphasised that the team was bigger than any individual player and it was the joint effort of the team to win the cup this season.

I simply loved the passion with which he spoke about how they had come together as a team and everyone performed at the right time for this fantastic victory. He sure looks ready for leading the country in the Test Matches.

Do share your feelings about this and remember to post your comments below. Would be looking forward to them...

Thanks for taking out time to read this! :)

‪P.S – I had got my talking clock (click on link if you haven’t read the story yet) to office today, my colleague Vinay fixed the issue of changing the display of temp from degress F to degress C in just 5 minutes, something I took over 2 years to do.

‪Moral of the story: Sometimes when you get stuck while doing something, don’t hesitate to go to your friends / relatives / elders for suggestions.

Howzzat!

2012-05-22T19:08:00.001+05:30

The last few weeks have been quite so filled with IPL that it is imperative for me to pen down a couple of thoughts I had on this. It so happened that I went to see it live at the Ferozshah Stadium, Kotla, Delhi on three occasions this season.

This was the first time I had got the experience of watching the players live from the stadium instead of seeing them on the idiot box. To begin with, thirty seven thousand other people to watch the same match...loud & peppy hits on the stadium's audio systems to pump up the atmosphere...cheering & making noise to cheer the players...not to forget the cheer leaders dancing away to glory.....the stadium made to believe it is still day under the huge floodlights...beaming with so much energy that it is almost impossible for 2 people to have any kind of conversations...

Seats aren't too homely, but who cares. In fact, on all three occasions I saw a lot of people watching the match standing only. Fortunately for them, it’s only a three and half hour affair.

Soon enough (actually after 2 hours, as we were in the stadium way before the start of the match to get the seats with the best view) the match begins...

LIGHTS, MUSIC…CRICKET….!!!

It is a treat for the spectators when the batsmen start playing the big shots and score boundaries...even the levels of fielding were truly international.

Its while watching this, this thought came in my mind...

The weight of the expectations of the team members, management and crowd is so much on the players that they have to perform under whatever be the given situations. While I haven't played too much cricket and have no experience of the same at any level of playing (state level or higher), I still understand that it requires a lot of mental strength and you need to push yourself aggressively to mentally demolish the opposition. I am sure you all agree (considering Indians are a cricket crazy nation and each Indian is a born commentator). Stares, harsh words all flow on both sides in the heat of the moment.

Look at Viru (Virender Sehwag). Come what may, he doesn't change his natural aggressive style of playing..whether is a T20, one day or a test match. He misses out on almost 50% of the occasions but to me he is a hero. His mere presence rocks the confidence of the opposition. He plays his natural game not to be bogged down by any kind of pressure of failure. Now that is ability and attitude. Some of us might feel that he needs to change (we all are living in a democratic country and are free to express our opinion)

I am not going into too many examples but look at Sachin Tendulkar..he is the epitome of endurance and discipline. He’s been playing for 23 years…sometimes his co-players are younger than his experience! Every time he comes to bat, the country prays for him to score another cricketing feat. Will someone ever be able to break his records….ONLY TIME WILL TELL!

And I happen to witness the ‘Gayle” storm hit Delhi with 14 Sixes…it was phenomenal. It just blew away the bowlers. Gosh, cant imagine what would have been going through the fielding captain’s team. He had only two options….either to curse his luck or to enjoy this wonderful batting by the Carribean Maestro. Ironically, this Orange Cap wearer doesn’t play for his national team in West Indies. Irony of sorts….I am sure that this would be a big loss to West Indian Cricket team. He's a true ambassador of the IPL...their motto...when Talent meets Opportunity!

I leave you all this message…i am sure a lot of us would have already read it earlier but it's worth going through again.

Imagine life as a game in which you are juggling some five balls in the air. You name them – work, family, health, friends and spirit and you’re keeping all of these in the air. You will soon understand that work is a rubber ball. If you drop it, it will bounce back. But the other four balls – family, health, friends and spirit are made of glass. If you drop one of these, they will be irrevocably scuffed, marked, nicked, damaged or even shattered. They will never be the same. You must understand that and strive for balance in your life.

· Don’t undermine your worth by comparing yourself with others. It is because we are different that each of us is special.· Don’t set your goals by what other people deem important. Only you know what is best for you.· Don’t take for granted the things closest to your heart. Cling to them as you would your life, for without them, life is meaningless.

Howzzat!!!

Can you handle this?

2012-05-16T13:35:00.002+05:30

Hello everyone…

I am really glad to read the wonderful comments you all have posted on my previous blogs…that’s the only way I get to know your reactions. I request everyone reading my blog to post their comments as it adds value to the blog and the bigger truth that without readers there would be no writers. This is especially true for a novice blogger like me. Your encouragement, suggestions & views are truly solicited.

This blog is about something everyone would have faced once in a while when driving on your way to office. I would not be disclosing any further on this and without much ado urge you to read this at one stretch…..

Imagine a sultry Monday morning, you are on the way to office in your car. Apparently the a/c seems to be non-operational due to the extreme temperature outside.The newspaper said today was going to be the hottest day of the month. You check your fuel gauge, happy to see that it is well above the half way mark… the radio plays your favourite song by Shaggy “in the summer time”....so far so good.

There’s a meeting with an important client at 10.30 am in your office but the traffic seems to have taken a vow to not let you reach even an hour after that. Still, slow and steady you continue to wriggle through the jam…You are running out of time and cannot afford to be late for this meeting for which your client has agreed after for after six months of continuous follow up. The traffic isn't opening up yet...Can anything worse happen than this?

You are mentally preparing for the important meeting…suddenly you see your car wobbling vigorously. Oops, the front tyre on the driver’s side has gone flat.

You are in the middle of the road blocking the traffic. People have already started honking and staring at you intensely for a crime you haven’t really intended to commit. You finally reached to one side of the road by pushing the car alone in the sweltering heat. Your clothes are already in a mess and truly unworthy of being worn for any meeting. You are sweating profusely in the humid Delhi Summer cursing your luck thinking can anything worse than this happen?

No sign of shade, still in the sun, you try and fix the flat tyre yourself…half way through, the last of the 4 nuts refuses to give way…palms greased, forehead sweating..stuck in the middle of nowhere....can something worse than this happen?

You search for your mobile to find the number of the car breakdown helpline. The line happens to be continuously engaged…and then, without any warning, your mobile goes off….You had forgotten to charge your mobile last evening and now the battery is dead….hello, you still haven’t called your client to tell him regarding the delay of your arrival. Can anything worse than this happen?

Your agony doesn’t seem to be ending…you left your wallet at home today. You were in a hurry to reach office and in the rush forget to pick it up. Can anything worse than this happen?

You tell yourself to “keep cool’….how is it possible? Nothing seems to be going your way…what to do now?

You try and get your thoughts together….you go through your laptop bag to find your mobile charger. Fortunately your laptop is charged today….so first things first…you put your mobile on charging and call up your client to postpone the meeting.

One headache less, but still you have a flat tyre to deal with. You rummage through your coat pockets and find some loose change in your coat pockets….Now your mind has started working….you remember crossing a petrol pump just 100m behind…so you lock your car, walk to the petrol pump, get hold of a helper to change the flat tyre..

Ten minutes later, you are back on your own….the traffic is nowhere to be found. You quickly take an U-turn to rush back home to change your attire into something cleaner.

Even after all these roadblocks, you manage to reach office 1 hour late…..considering what you underwent to reach office today, things look pretty much on track and you are ready to handle the next big problem…

I am sure by the time you are reading this, there would be hundred questions in your mind…what if the charger wasn’t there, what if you didn’t have some money in your coat pocket…what if the client didn’t agree to postpone the meeting….I don’t know how but I am sure we would have still managed from that situation somehow…I leave those options for your imagination…

I leave you with this beautiful short story shared with me by my dear friend Amitesh Arun. This one’s titled “Life is like a cup of coffee”. You are drinking coffee and there’s nobody at home…you find the coffee bitter and out of sheer laziness continue sipping into your bitter coffee…..while you are about to take the last sip, you see a lump of sugar nicely settled at the base of the cup….how do you feel then? The sugar was always there in the cup….That’s how life is sometimes…all it requires is to just stir it enough once.

Do share your thoughts, comments, reactions on this....

Sharing links of some of my earlier blogs, incase your would like to read them as well

Is it hot enough yet? The Talking Clock The Big Picture

Is it hot enough yet?

2012-05-09T10:05:00.003+05:30

It is an eerie feeling to board a flight just a fortnight after watching the movie 'Final Destination'...friends who have seen the first part of the pentalogy series would appreciate what I felt like...!! I wouldn't be disclosing any further on this subject..

The second movie I was reminded of was "Up in the air" starring George Clooney...not that I had been assigned any such job, atleast not on today's flight. But by observing people who seemed so much at home for those 2 hours in the aeroplane. Monday mornings...most of the passengers seemed to be travelling for work purposes...the not-too-happy-to-be-there look gave it all away.
I too learned a trick or two regarding keeping the luggage handy for quick check in and check outs...web check-ins to beat the queue and to take a seat which is closed to the exit so that you are the first one to get down off the plane..

I was an early bird today ...so I still had around 40 minutes before we actually took off....I was looking out of the window and there was the right span of the wings...beautiful they looked...

Then, this thought passed my mind...its the same set of wings but they perform almost the opposite functions while taking off against while landing.

Since speed is of essence during a take off, the wings don't provide any resistance and are aligned for aerodynamics flow. However, when it comes to landing, slowing down requires them to open up and offer such tremendous resistance which brings down the speed from a few hundred km per hour to a standstill...

We too sometimes are like those pair of wings when it comes to our kids..just like holding the back of the cycle of my daughter while she pedals and then release it ever so suddenly to see her pedal on her own...

It's just quarter past 8'o clock in the morning...the temperature is sweltering 38 degrees C...fortunately I am writing this blog at 34000 ft up in the sky (as annouced by the flight captain shortly after take off.) where the temperature was a pleasant 24 degrees C...I am off to Mumbai for a couple of days...

My thanks to all the wonderful people who took out time to read my last blog and more so for people who shared their comments with me. I did get a few calls which were only due to my blogs.

It was during one such call that this blog was born....Professionally, where I work, we are hard hit by recession and on the verge of a business ramp down. Things aren't too bright and motivation levels are not really where they were used to be.

My colleague Joydip called me to say that I was not meant to be doing the work I was doing. Of course, he didn't mean I was not fit for my job but that I should focus more on my blogging skills as an alternate career option.

During our conversation, we chatted that we were like the elephant with the chain (as mentioned in blog "The Talking Clock"). All of us had given up on trying something new professionally. Industry trends weren't too encouraging but more importantly we weren't trying as much so.

I referred to the story about how the frog would react if thrown in the pot of boiling water (something I recall having read in the book 'The Alchemist' by Paulo Coelho.) At the very instant of touching the hot water, the frog would leap out from the boiling pot and be saved yet scarred. However, if the same frog was put in cold water and then the fire would be lit, the frog would at first start feeling cosier when the water temperature changing from cold to warm. Even, when the it turned from warm to hot...the frog would stay there hoping it would change for better...and finally it dies there without a struggle...

Some moral of the story it had....the bigger question life is asking us everyday...is it hot enough yet? Maybe it is already or maybe it is not. The answer would be unique and to each one his own...Whatever stage we are in life, we need to ask ourselves this question regularly to avoid having the frog's fate of dying without a struggle.

I leave you with this thought...no matter how cloudy or dark it may seem in your part of the world, always remember that the sun is still out there somewhere...

Have a great time...you only live once, make the most of it!

Just sharing the links of a few earlier blogs, incase you would like to read them too....

Where's your compass? The law of the garbage truck Its ok to fail sometimes

Talking Clock - 2

2012-05-04T08:43:00.001+05:30

Hello everyone,

My last blog “The Talking Clock” brought me back to the world of blogging something I was really missing for the last one year. I am thankful to everyone who took out time to read my blog and share their views with me. Would like to have a special word of appreciation for Gaurav Narula who just opened a totally new paradigm with his practical approach on this subject. This blog is in continuation to the last blog (incase you haven't read it already, I urge you to click on the link to read it first) and an attempt to answer Gaurav’s query. I would appreciate if you posted your comments for everyone’s viewing.

Would like to share the story about the big elephant being chained by the small iron chain. A gentle shrug from the giant beast would be enough to be free him forever. Why doesn’t he try…..not because he cant but because he’s given up.. !!! Ever wondered why he gave up? Because no matter how hard he tried to break the chain when he was small, it wouldn't break. This is the best example of a mind-set I have come across so far. So believe in yourself and just give it one real try before you finally give it up.

So why in the first place did I feel being able to fix the clock was so important to share with you all. Here’s some background to it. I am an avid electronic freak...you give me anything and I would want to know what all options are there etc etc... Day one when I got the clock, I tried really hard and long to figure out the way to change the display...it was such a trivial thing that I didn't feel like going to the shop keeper to seek how it functions....so this urge began from that day....it grew over time as I saw it every day for almost 2 years... . It was an over story for me, I had been used to watching the temp in degrees F for 2 years...so why even try to change it...but yesterday my inner urge still wanted me to try. So I tried again and fixed it in 2 minutes this time.

So what I I was trying to do for such a long time was achieved in such a short period of only 2 minutes. Where was the difference? Attitude for persistence, a brush of luck and the willingness to try one more chance. That's what my blog was all about...the inner urge should never be ignored. I knew it was possible and I solved the puzzle or war as I mentioned in my first blog. This happiness was heart felt...sometimes they refresh your own belief in yourself...maybe its the little spark you require sometimes...the small sense of victory ...sense of achievement...it may mean nothing to anybody but you feel great and emphatic about it...that was the underlying emphasis of my blog.

"...CUT TO REALITY, & BANG - with the ever changing scenarios of today is it really worth banging your head on the same thing over and over again. In this fast paced world full of options and opportunities should one really be looking at attempting things again and again. Is this achievement really worth the efforts..." (excerpt from Gaurav's comment)

Life will always be fast and full of choices…..The point raised by Gaurav was that is it really worth for someone to really bang his head on the same thing again . My answer is yes till the time he believes he can achieve it. I am talking of personal confidence of achieving the given target. For eg. you dont study for an exam and keep sitting in the examination every year, that wouldn't help at all. Preparation and dedication are essential ingredients for success. I am only talking about things that you really want to achieve, that badly that you are willing to put your everything into ensuring you achieve it.There cannot be options for people who don’t know what they want or want everything they can think of. What if there was no option and getting it was the only option.....we should try to give it our best! Nobody can guarantee success and we can only attempt with confidence. I did earlier write a blog on the Luck factor. Do take out time to go through it as well.

Also by not sticking to what we originally wanted, we should ensure that we don’t regret the decision later on thinking that sticking on would have been much better.

Changing the clock (as suggested by Gaurav) was never an option for me because I never thought about it. Maybe all talking clock don't have same the simple option for changing display. ..Fixing the clock was just a symbolic expression of victory of mind over matter. Maybe that was my FOOD FOR THOUGHT!

A problem once solved always looks easier. There would be some many other incomplete jobs I would have left...is it worth giving them a fresh try....I will only know if I try

Thanks for actually reading the article and sharing your views...blogging is meant for that...it takes the subject to newer heights and brings out the difference in opinions beautifully

I leave you all with this thought ... few lines from Don’t Quit poem. I am sure if you read them aloud in your mind, you are going to like it even better!)

Success is failure turned inside out

The silver tint of the clouds of doubt

And you never can tell how close you are

It may be near when it seems so far:

So stick to the fight when you are hardest hit

It’s when things seem worst that you must not quit.

P.S - Gaurav, thanks once again and hope you find your answer somewhere in the above blog...Regards, Bhupesh

The Talking Clock

2012-05-01T10:37:00.007+05:30

Well...hi...I start this blog as abruptly as I had stopped writing them almost an year back. This one is about a personal victory over a very trivial matter but what was more important was the learning it gave me.

This battle, if I may pronounce it, started almost 2 years ago when my daughter insisted me on buying her a talking clock. So, a good father with the intent of teaching her time, I went to the shop and as instructed by my daughter picked up this talking digital clock. By default, the temperature was been shown in degrees Fahrenheit. I tried out all permutations and combinations by fiddling with all the buttons on the clock. No matter how hard I tried, I wasn't able to change it into degrees Celsius. I had a couple of other digital clocks in which there was a seperate button for display change of temperature. This was critically missing here. I went to the extent of literally opening a few screws but Alas to no avail..

The thing with the digital clock is that when you put the battery in it, it displays all the fields...and yes indeed it had the now all important degrees Celsius sign on it as well. Time moved on...everyday I used to see the clock and think what would be the way to convert the display of the temperature...

Fast forward to 9.30 am today morning...I just picked up the clock again...my mind told me that every time I pressed the 'mode' button, there as a corresponding action and so this time I went very slowly..one by one...and Bingo!!! There it was...the battle had been won...it now proudly displays the temperature in degrees Celsius. I was so excited that I even took a picture of it ( have attached it, just see the temperature, it was getting hot already!)

What this small incident taught me was that I knew what I wanted was always right in front of me and all it required was the right frame of mind to solve it....

That's what life has in store for all of us...if you know it is achievable and it is a matter of the right attitude, victory is just a matter of time..

Moral of the story: Even if you fail in your attempts, don't fail to attempt again..

Well, if you liked it, then I would be happy to know your comments...(Well, in case you didn't, then more so)

I leave you all with a small quote by legendary Bruce Lee...Do not pray for an easy life, pray for the strength to endure a difficult one..

click on below link to read ---> Talking Clock 2

The Next Page

2011-05-14T09:06:00.003+05:30

Hello Friends, it is great to be back after a long interval. Special thanks to some of my dear friends who reminded me of this in their casual question “What’s your next blog gonna be on?”.

I first want to share a fine thought I read sometime back.

“Life is a book. To turn the next page or to put it down, the choice is yours.”

I might not be the best person to comment on this, but am still trying to share my thoughts on this quote. A lot of times we are puzzled, enthralled while reading our future forecast and start anticipating what’s going to happen next. Sometimes nothing seems to be going our way and seems to be the end of the world. We loose our confidence and self esteem. I feel we should live each day at a time and not worry too much on what is happening at the moment too much. There are two reasons behind it. The first, nothing would change for better if you worry too much. The second, after the major event (how we think it is at that time) is history, we look back only to realize that it wasn’t that great or important. My thought is that we need to understand that in what ever situation we are in, we should not give up hope.

I was chatting up with a colleague regarding the same subject and he asked till how long one can try to be positive if everything around him remains negative. My answer was infinity. I know it is easier said than done, but believe you me it works. Sometimes, all it takes to overcome failure is that last try which we thought would be useless. I am firm believer that if we don’t stop believing in our own abilities and are ready to put our 100% efforts in whatever we do, we would find success sooner or later. The important thing is to hold on to your nerves in those questioning moments of life. Tell yourself that you would not allow anyone to tell you how you think about yourself, and that in spite of all odds you will take control of your life and move ahead.

We would have our UP’s & Down’s in life. The best time for making a plan is when you think you don’t need a plan. Also, it is very important that don’t hold fate / destiny responsible for whatever situation we are in. We have been the decision maker and which is why you are where you are today. The flip side to this theory is that leaving everything on fate would make matters worse most of the times.

I know a lot of friends who have undergone a very tough time and my sincere message to all is that it is just a passing phase. Keep your head high, pull your thoughts together and get ready to turn the next page of your wonderful life.

As I said earlier, the decision is……….YOURS!

Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards.

P.S – Do share it anyone whom you think might require this magical dust of hope!

Theory of Relativity

2011-04-20T20:09:00.003+05:30

Well friends, just to set the perspective right, this blog is not a physics article but surely based on great Einstein's theory of relativity. Considering that I am from banking background, most of my friends (readers) would be from a commerce background (unlike me, 'cause I am a Science graduate!) hence the disclaimer.

Today, I stepped out of my home at 6am for travelling to Chandigarh for some official work.While on the way this thought came into my mind. For eg. if you are in a rush to reach office it is most likely that you would find a lot of traffic on the road. However, the other day if you have relatively less urgency the roads seemed to be clearer and you reach way ahead of normal time. To put it in perspective, the difference in these 2 situations would be around 10 minutes. The point I am making here is that it is not always the outside situation which affects us but moreso the way we react to it. The example I gave would be true for most of you reading this. While we discuss this in hindsight, those 10 minutes seem like years for us then. Such stress creates a lot of negative energy which erodes our efficiency and focus. Whatever has to happen will happen, but the best I can do is to do whatever best I can to prevent such a scenario. Like in this case, rather than praying for clear traffic, I should rather leave for my destination with some additional time in hand. There's no harm in reaching 10 minutes earlier, I guess.

It is very important to take a break from the regular routine and understand this phenomenon while it is still underway.

I am not sure how many of you would have undergone this feeling of looking back in time and realising that a lot of the unpleasant / unhappy / disturbing times of our lives were infact the most important shaping moments of our lives. The risk of moving into the unknown, the defeat and the fall , the struggle and most importantly the will to win. I quote the most apt quotation " it is not in falling that we fail, but in not trying to rise.". Each experience exposes us to our weaknesses and strengths. Moving back to the theory of relativity, a lot of times we feel helpless or in a state of despair and expect somebody to come and help us. The truth is that if there is somebody who would come to help us, it is we ourselves. We need to believe in our own abilities and determination to wade ourselves out of difficult times. History proves that not all would survive the pressure and the make themselves champions. The most important key, according to me, is to keep moving ahead and ensure that even though we fail in our attempts numerous times, we must not fail to attempt again.
While times would keep changing, it is we who have to have to hold on to our nerves and just believe in ourselves in totallity and not relatively to the situation.

Do share your views on this....

P.S- I did manage to reach the destination on time ! :)

The Unexpected

2011-03-24T10:01:00.000+05:30

Cricket is the air and “Holi” colours haven’t been gone completely. There are still traces of the colours on our hands, faces and scalp suggesting that we have had a wonderful Holi celebration. I am sure you all had a great time too. If you are a nature lover, I am sure you would be enjoying the flowers in full bloom welcoming the Spring.

However the topic I chose to write today is something which falls under the “IMPORTANT BUT NOT URGENT” category. It is “What to do if a crisis happens?” I send it today so that we plan and prepare ourselves should such a crisis ever happen in our lives. The best time to plan is when we think there’s no need for a plan.

Crisis never comes with an appointment…..I am sure that a lot of you reading this would agree to this but would vary on different aspects of this line. I quote this with reference to the tragic tsunami which shook the coast of

Japan

almost a fortnight back. Though the city has been built on a tectonic plate, this kind of nature’s fury wasn’t expected to be. Had this been some other city, the casualty list would have been many times higher. The video footages of the Tsunami are very disturbing and have an eerie resemblance to a lot of the Hollywood disaster movies. To add to the woes and suffering, there has been confirmed news of the leakage of the nuclear plants. May god give strength to the kin of the effected people. Life surely would never be the same for those people.

Sometimes, no amount of preparation can help us tide the unexpected. However, the least we can do is to be prepared for the worst.

On the office front, we are often flooded with emails on what to do in event of fire, earthquake, business disruption (BCM) etc. Most of the times, we ignore these mails simply by telling ourselves that this would never happen to us or we know what we need to do in those circumstances. That’s what causes the major damage. Ignorance of safety standards causes the maximum damage to human life. It is imperative that we go through these “not-for-me” mails and know what do in special unseen circumstances.

I give you some of the basic scenarios and ask for your reaction under these situations.

- Someone gets injured in a road accident

- There’s a fire in the building

- Person has a Heart Attack

- There’s an earthquake

I am sure you would have an idea of the things to do and more importantly not to do under these situations. Still I would want you to take out 5-10 crucial minutes to visit some of the suggested links for a better understanding.

Incase of Earthquake

Incase of Fire

Incase of Heart Attack

This list is surely not exhaustive but I am sure they give us a sense of what to do. It’s the first few minutes which are most critical in these situations. Also would be great if we stored the emergency numbers on our handsets.

I leave you with this small thought. Do you know why we wear seat belts when we drive? It is not because it is not because it saves our life in event of an accident but because there is a challan for Rs 100/-. I am sure our lives are much precious than those hundred rupees..!!! Accidents don’t always happen for your fault. 50% of the times it’s the person on the other side who’s at fault. Yet, the damage would be ours as well. So drive safe and always remember to wear your seat belts while driving.

Last but not the least, share this with your friends…you never know who might need this vital information.

P.S – I just wish and pray that no one of us ever needs to use this information ever in our lives. But I still thought it was important to share this vital information. Life is priceless....!!

From a distance

2011-03-10T09:22:00.003+05:30

We are living a fast paced life. This has been very true for me, considering that my daughter just completed her 2 years of Montessori and is all set to move on to 1st Standard in the new academic session. It seems like yesterday only that she went to school for the first time and wouldn’t want to go inside. Two years later, we were invited to school for her first ‘on-stage’ cultural show performance. I surely had a few anxious moments before she actually came on stage to perform her “Chiddiya(Sparrow)” dance. It was surely a chirpy performance by all the kids of her class.

This blog is about how life takes its beautiful course while you watch your child grow up from an infant to a toddler to a young kid almost magically…from a distance. I am sure this feeling is echoed by a coach who can only watch his player fight out his battle while all he can do is watch. Ofcourse, we always share the feedback once the match is over so as to prepare him for the next big fight.

While this is more from a parent’s point of view, the applicability is not restricted to young kids as these principles hold true at any stage in life.

Before the start of the show, the Principal Mrs Goswami gave a short message to the parents. I have tried to pen down some of the things which I really liked.

Handling Pressure – The child has to learn to handle stress in their own ways and we, as parents should encourage our child to participate in all activities. We should be protective about our kid but need to ensure that the child understands that its okay even if they don’t win sometimes. We build a lot of pressure around us by setting our expectations but fail to provide the support system which the child requires to be able to give his best. There are instances where children go to the extent of committing suicides because they are unable to cope up with the pressures. Childhood is the time from which we need to support our child mentally to become strong and take things in his/her stride.

I am reminded of a wonderful story about the cocoon and the butterfly which I had read some time back. It is about a man that found a cocoon, and got it home to watch it turn into a butterfly. As the butterfly inside matured, it struggled to come out of its cocoon, but couldn't quite get free out of it. After a lot of patience, the man became tired of waiting and decided to help the butterfly. He removed the remaining bit of the cocoon. The butterfly was pleased, but it had a swollen body and small, wrinkled wings. As a result, the butterfly never succeeded in flying and spent its entire life crawling around. What the man didn't understand was that the struggle required for the butterfly to break out of its cocoon actually forced fluid from the body of the butterfly into its wings so that it would be ready for flight once it achieved its freedom. It is the struggle that causes the butterfly to develop its ability to fly. Moral of the story – Our own struggle gets the best out of us!

As I look around me, pressure is there on everyone. I guess, it does bring out the best in us only if it is up to a certain limit. What’s my mantra? “Take realistic stretched targets and leave no stone unturned to ensure that you achieve it”….I know its easier said than done. But trust me; our results will surely be more encouraging this way.

Do click on this link to read my earlier blog on this related topic “Pressure” as well.

Do drop in your comments as well on my blog and share it with your near and dear ones, incase you liked it.

P.S - Next time you find yourself in trouble and no one's coming to help you, remember that God wants to you come out of it yourself while he is watching you....from a distance!

Change

2011-02-26T19:40:00.000+05:30

Hope this blog finds you in good health and spirits. I thank you all who read my last blog “Shift the Gear” and shared their comments. It is indeed encouraging to know if you liked something I enjoy writing. So dont hold on to your comments and share it with me as well.

A brief update on last week follows-

- Completed reading “The Alchemist” by Paulo Coelho. In case you have not read it, I seriously recommend you to read it because it is a magical story of a shepherd who gave up everything to pursue his dreams, and also teaches us why it is important not to give up when we are so close to success. The book talks recurrent dreams, omens and signs which life hints us at while we are chasing our “treasures”. Every one of us is actually an alchemist who can turn convert their dreams into reality. I really liked the following quote from the book “I don’t live in either my past or my future. I’m interested only in the present. If you can concentrate always on the present, you’ll be a happy man. Life will be a party for you, a grand festival; because life is the moment we’re living now.”

- Watched Steven Spielberg’s “Back to the Future” Trilogy. The first thought that crossed my mind was that given a choice of going back in time and changing the past, what would I want to change. Also, would life be the same incase we knew what future had in store for us? Food for thought…

- At times, a natural calamity can change the lives of all those you are involved. One such sad incident happened in New Zealand last week where there was a major earthquake. Life is precious. It is sad to know that man is nothing against the fury of nature. May God give strength to those affected by disaster.

Change is the only constant thing. Look everywhere and you would see nothing remains the way it was earlier. Life is all about change. I have been here on this planet for more than 3 decades now and it surely has changed in between. Our lifestyle has taken the maximum toll.

- Inland Letters / Post cards to emails / video chats

- Landlines Telephones to I-Phones

- Typewriters to Blackberry

- Black & White Tv’s to Mobile Tv's

- Test matches to T-20

This list would surely be endless. These are some of the things I can think of immediately. However, it is difficult to notice change if you are not looking for it. I had shared the story of the frog in the boiling water in one of my earlier blogs 'Paradigm'. (You can click on the hyperlink to check that out)

Taking cue from my last blog on shifting gears, life would be monotonous if we kept doing the same thing over and over again. Also, it would be foolish to expect different results while doing the same thing. At times we need to look at the problem with a fresh perspective and that’s it. A lot of times, change is in mind. If we try and be thankful for whatever we have rather than focussing on what we don't have, we sure would find ourselves to be much happier! However, in the same breath, I would want to clarify that we sure need to have some realistic targets which are stretched, so as to move ahead in life. It is very important for us to understand what we really need in life. Most of the times, we might fail to realise that it was right there all the time, when we were looking all over the place for it. Complicated, but true!

At times, we try hard to bring around change in our own mindset and beliefs. I was reading somewhere that motivation always comes from within. Someone can inspire us but the change would come only if we persisted. Patience surely is a virtue in this situation.

Sometimes, on the contrary we need to ensure our basic values of life should never be compromised. We need to be the protectors of our values and ensure they don’t change due to external environment. I shared some basic values in my blog “My Compass”

I leave you with this thought which I read while flipping through the pages of “You can Win” by Shiv Khera. The article was about how they caught monkeys in India. The monkey hunters use a box with a opening on the top which is big enough for the monkey to put his hand in. Inside the box, nuts are kept as bait. The moment the monkey grabs the nuts, the hand becomes a fist. The fist is bigger than the hole and the monkey has 2 choices –either to drop the nuts and be free or keep holding to the nuts forever and be caught. Amazing but true, the monkeys choose the latter. Shiv Khera has beautifully described us also as the monkeys who don’t let go off the nuts and in the process hold ourselves back in life…So, it is essential to let go of some things which look important but actually hold us back in life.

Do share your views as well.....

Shift the Gear!

2011-02-14T19:25:00.001+05:30

It feels great to be back to writing my blog after a brief interval of more than a fortnight. With half the month already gone, love is in the air. I wish everyone and their loved ones a very “Happy Valentines Day”. It sure is a blessing to have someone to love and more so be loved by someone. Make the most of it and don’t delay your expression of love for someone and don’t make the mistake of taking someone’s love for granted.

A brief update on the last fortnight follows-

- It sure feels great, as a father, to see my daughter Kashikaa complete 5 years this month. She’s turning out to be a sharp and a very observant child. She’s got the knack of the laptop & ‘TATA SKY’ ages back. She sure knows a little more than her counterparts. A small birthday party was celebrated in the company of her close friends & their Papa’s & Mama’s.

- Also in the first week, I attended a full fledged Indian Marriage spread over 4 days out of town. There was dual joy, one that I was out of office and more importantly being able to spend time with the family. It was my wife’s cousin who was tying the knot. The events were all very well arranged and everything went off very smoothly.

- Office is going to be stretched this month considering the short month and the appraisal cycle getting closed. The most difficult job as a supervisor is to match everyone’s expectations and keeping it aligned to that of the organisation. On the office front, I completed 3 years of employment in Barclays. Every year the learning seems to be more than in the previous one.

- Last week an aged uncle in the neighbourhood left us for the heavenly abode in his late 90’s. I pray that his soul rests in peace. He was an active gentleman, always smiling and blessed me with lot of love every time we crossed paths. Life is precious and everyone is special. Lesson learnt…No person can replace the other. Another lesson…Life goes on.

- Completed reading the ‘Paths of Glory’ where the protagonist gave up the love of his life in an attempt to be the first man to conquer the heights of the great Mt. Everest. Started with ‘The Alchemist’ by Paulo Coelho…almost half-way through the book and it sure promises to be another great read!

- Saw ‘127 Hours’ by Danny Boyle…hard hitting performance based on a true life incidence about a man’s will to survive after getting stuck in the middle of nowhere on a mountaineering outing in the Grand Canyon….background score by A R Rahman was simply superb…

So many things happening at the same time, brings me to the subject on this blog ‘Shift the Gear’

Living in a metropolis comes with a price for most of us. The price is of travelling from home to workplace and back. This tiresome exercise eats up almost 3 hours of my day without fail everyday which is sometimes more than the time I spend awake at home on a working day. A lot of times while travelling I have tried to draw a comparison between life and a car. This blog is just an attempt to pen it down.

I remember reading the quote "Why do we have a bigger windscreen than a rear view mirror? It is because we should focus on what lies ahead and not what we left behind us.

Another co-relation is that we cannot drive the car in one speed and that is why we have different gears. We shift gears to match up with the driving conditions. If we drive in the wrong gear, we end up wasting fuel and cannot maximise the efficiency of the car.

Similarly in life we play multiple roles simultaneously. The sign of a successful person is one who shifts these gears smoothly with the change of audience.

I remember reading a short story where the father / husband was having a tough time at work. Every night when he returned from office, he would end up fighting with his wife and never gave time to their child. The man stopped enjoying anything at home or office. This was like a vicious cycle and one day he took advice from his close friend. Next day onwards, he would pretend to hang his imaginary office coat just outside the house before he stepped inside the house. He would promise to wear it again when he started for his work the next morning. This way he would change into a totally different family person and his family would never be able to guess what has happening at his office. He was able to work better and became a performer at his workplace.

This is very true and inspiring and we should try to keep ‘office’ out of the house and ‘house’ out of the office. A bad day in office doesn’t justify our stressed out behaviour with our family members especially our kids. The vice-versa is often called as “professionalism”.

The change of gear is not limited between Office and Home. Even while handling colleagues / friends / family members / strangers we change our behaviour as required by the situation. The idea is to not get stuck on a particular thing / job and loose the focus on the BIG PICTURE.

I leave you all with this thought – Life is not a destination but a journey. Don’t forget to enjoy the journey on the way!

Do share your views on this….

My Compass

2011-01-30T10:56:00.007+05:30

Thank you all of you for taking out time to share your comments on my last blog ‘Where’s your Compass?’ Since this blog is in continuation to that, hence my recommendation would be to first check that first in case you haven’t already done that.

The values of Benjamin Franklin ended up eating up all the space there was for that blog, that my good friend Jayanth sent me the following message “I cannot see your thoughts”. What he meant was that these were Franklin’s thoughts and not mine, and rightly so, this motivated me to write down this blog.

Thanks Jayanth / Neeraj / Rashid / Puneet / Vikas Katyal / Arun / Nitesh / Pooja / Ruchi / Jasmine for sharing your inputs / thoughts on this. Special thanks to Neeraj as well for pointing out that something was missing in my last blog.

A few driving values which I believe in most are shared below. These are not arranged in any particular order and may not be exhaustive in nature. These are inspirational and something I would want to incorporate in my life to the “T”

Family before self - I am responsible for my family.
‘Say what you mean and Mean what you say’ – Avoid sarcasm in speech.
Never say Die – Develop a positive Attitude & ‘Will to win’. Whenever you lose something, don’t forget the lesson.
Always Believe that I have scope for improvement – Learning never Ends and bring paradigm shift in my beliefs.
Respect others & their feelings – Be Polite & ‘Do unto others; what you want others to do to you.’
Trust and be trusted – ‘Honestly is the best policy.’ Don’t loose trust in others because one person misused your trust.
Social Responsibility – Do something, howsoever little it may be, constructive for the society. It makes you feel good.
Develop tolerance towards difficult people & avoid criticism. To smile when it is most difficult.
Think Before Speaking – Be Patient and remember ‘Patience always pays’
Always look at the ‘Big Picture’ in life and not loose focus in event of failure or accident.
Live in Moderation; maintain a healthy balance between ‘Work & Life’.
Setting Priorities Right – So that I am able to achieve all that I target for myself within the stipulated time.

(The words which are in BOLD are hyperlinks which will take to some of my earlier blogs I shared with you all. Do click on them to find out more..)

I might not be 100% compliant of these above mentioned values but I will strive to ensure that I come as close as possible when it comes to living these values.

Do share some of your guiding principles as well....

P.S – I would be taking a printout and putting it on my workstation.

Where's your Compass?

2011-01-25T10:45:00.005+05:30

Ever imagined a life before the compass was invented, it certainly would have been very different. Not only did people have to do without a reliable direction indicator, but they also had to do without street lights, torches, road maps and satellite navigation. This must have meant a lot of dark nights lost in the woods.

Did you know when people don't have signs or other external cues for direction, they will probably end up walking in circles. Somehow the same is also true in our busy lives that we often find ourselves in the middle of a whirlwind. We dont know what to do and where to go. So, we look inside for our own compass to help us guide the way.

The compass, I am referring to, is our Values (Guiding Principles). The word is self explanatory. What do we value in our lives? These should be assisting us on where we want to reach in life.

Let me share an interesting article with you about Values.

Benjamin Franklin (the same guy who features on a $100 bill) was one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. A noted polymath, Franklin was a leading author and printer, political theorist, politician, postmaster, scientist, inventor, satirist, civic activist, statesman, and diplomat. He listed down all his 13 values and divided into 2 categories.

Personal

The eight personal virtues relate to your attitudes toward activities and their challenges. Good personal character traits will better your chances of success in achieving your goals.
Temperance: Eat not to dullness; drink not to elevation.
Order: Let all your things have their places; let each part of your business have its time.
Resolution: Resolve to perform what you ought; perform without fail what you resolve.
Frugality: Make no expense but to do good to others or yourself; i.e., waste nothing.
Moderation: Avoid extremes; forbear resenting injuries so much as you think they deserve.
Industry: Lose no time; be always employed in something useful; cut off all unnecessary actions.
Cleanliness: Tolerate no uncleanliness in body, clothes, or habitation.
Tranquility: Be not disturbed at trifles, or at accidents common or unavoidable.

Social

These five social virtues that Franklin stated concern your attitudes toward people with whom you have dealings. Good social character traits result in other people wanting to do business with you or to have relationships with you.
Silence: Speak not but what may benefit others or yourself; avoid trifling conversation.
Sincerity: Use no hurtful deceit; think innocently and justly, and, if you speak, speak accordingly.
Justice: Wrong none by doing injuries, or omitting the benefits that are your duty.
Chastity: Rarely use venery but for health or offspring, never to dullness, weakness, or the injury of your own or another's peace or reputation.
Humility: Imitate Jesus and Socrates.

However, there's a story behind the 13th Value. This was not a part of the values originally noted by Benjamin Franklin. History has it that he never exhibited that trait. So the moral is that only you can decide which the values you choose for yourself are.

The values listed above are only suggestive and by no means exhaustive. It is very important for us to put a lot of thought before we decide what is going to be an integral part of our value system.

Once our goal is fixed, our values will act as a compass and would always help us remain focused and on track in however dire strait we are in.

So, where's your compass? Click here to read my next blog

http://bhupeshdhawan.blogspot.com/2011/01/my-compass.html

I leave you all with this thought: "It is the set of the sails, not the direction of the wind that determines which way we will go."

Law of the Garbage Truck

2011-01-17T10:34:00.003+05:30

How much are you affected by your external environment? How often have you let someone’s non-sense affect your mood?

I am reminded of a Franklin Covey workshop in which our facilitator asked us how we felt when he spoke good about us and likewise vice-versa. He pointed out that our reaction was directly linked to his actions and we indeed were letting him affect our emotions. Though this was a small example, there are a lot of other instances when we do indeed let others’ (and when I say others, I am referring to people who are not important to us) actions affect our equilibrium. Sometimes not even by their action, but their sheer presence we feel very insecure / frustrated / dejected.

He further went to share a story of a person travelling in taxi which just missed having an accident by a whisker due to the other driver’s fault. The errant driver instead of apologising hurled choicest of expletives at the taxi driver. The taxi driver just smiled and way bye much to the surprise of the passenger sitting inside. When inquired by him, the taxi driver explained.. "Many people are like garbage trucks. They run around full of garbage, full of frustration, full of anger, and full of disappointment. As their garbage piles up, they need a place to dump it. And if you let them, they'll dump it on you. When someone wants to dump on you, don't take it personally. You just smile, wave, wish them well, and move on. You'll be happy you did."

So this was it: The 'Law of the Garbage Truck.'

Just think how often do you let Garbage Trucks run right over you? And how often do you take their garbage and spread it to other people: at work, at home, on the streets?

However, the mark of a successful person is how quickly she/he can get back her/his focus on what's important. We need to focus our energies all around important things and should not let such instances ruin your day.

The bottom line is that successful people do not let Garbage Trucks take over their day.

I leave you all with this thought….

Life's too short to wake up in the morning with regrets, so love the people who treat you right. Pray for the ones who don't.
Believe that everything happens for a reason.
If you get a chance, TAKE IT! If it changes your life, LET IT! Nobody said it would be easy. They just promised it would be worth it!

First Time

2011-01-06T13:06:00.001+05:30

Though we are almost one week into the New Year, I sincerely wish all of you a Wonderful, Happy and Prosperous New Year 2011. It’s great to be back sharing my thoughts with you after a short break. My last blog brought out some divergent views on the controversial topic “Luck versus Ability”. A very warm ‘Thank You’ to all friends who posted their thoughts on my blog or sent reply to my message. I would be posting them under the comments sections with the acronym of their names.

New Year is the time for Resolutions. Well, for me, it is to continue to seek improvement in whatever I do and ensure that I learn from my everyday experiences. I know it sounds very bookish and boring but it is not as easy as it looks. I have shared my earlier blog on “Learning” (<----you can click here to read that blog) and this would be an extension to that.

First Time

When was the last time you did something for the first time? This is an innocuous looking question but its answer tells us a lot of things.

As I had mentioned in one of my earlier blog 'Learning', our experiences in day-to-day lives broadens our horizon and helps us understand things from a bigger perspective. We can learn from ours as well as other's experiences. Most of the learning has come during times when we are not at the helm of affair. Every time we come out of these difficult situations, we realise that we have become stronger and definitely we would respond to the same situation in a better way.

Let me share my experience of visiting the Police Station & Delhi Court for the first time in my life.

I happened to be dining at one of South Delhi's happening restaurant when one thief broke my car's window pane to steal my belongings kept on the rear seat. However, to his bad luck on a busy Saturday night, his act was stopped midway and he was apprehended red-handed. Police was called and this guy got arrested. So far, so good. But now I learnt that since my belongings were now case property I was required to file a complaint to get my stuff back. It's been 3 months now and till date I have visited the police station thrice and appeared in court once but the matter has still not been disposed. As luck would have it, the judge was on leave that day and now my next date is in second half of 2011.

Moral of the story - Don't leave stuff in your car while parking!!

I am reminded of the quote” It is better to protect your feet by wearing slippers rather than trying to carpet the whole world”

The second part of the learning is what we try to do proactively. It can be learning a new language / dance classes / increase your educational quotient by enrolling yourself for some new course / health regime etc.

The last time I did something for the first time was about 2 months back when I wrote my first blog.

Coming back to the golden question….what's your story? Do share it and post it in the comments section.

Luck By Chance

2010-12-23T16:55:00.002+05:30

Disclaimer: I have been thinking about this for almost the entire of last week. I am not the subject matter expert and would welcome my readers to please post their thoughts on this blog. This thought is more driven by my mind than my heart. I am not trying to demean anyone’s thoughts & beliefs.

Do you believe in a simple four letter word called LUCK? Are you one who would pick up the newspaper and skip the headlines to first check your daily astrological forecast? Or switch your television and check out what’s in store for today? Going by the no. of TV channels serials and newspapers columns in circulation, I am sure a lot of you would feature in that list (including me). Sometimes these forecasts are head on and sometimes they don’t. Logically and statistically speaking there are 6.9 billion people (click here for latest update) on this globe and divided by the 12 Zodiac signs, hence each forecast caters to an audience of 500 millions people of the same star sign.

When we look around us, we find that some people are more successful than others. We are living in this world of limited opportunity in which a lot of us claim not being so-called “lucky”. I guess that one of the biggest delusions of success is that successful people don’t fail while the truth is that they fail more times than other people.

One of my friend asked me how much weightage would you give to Luck against Ability? I am very confused and in split mind in my thought process. I would give it a 90%-10% in favour of ability. I am confident that a lot of people will not agree with me as stroke of luck definitely is also a factor which cannot be ignored. There can surely be a lot of instances like buying a lottery ticket, lucky draw, windfall gain where ability stands no chance. However in normal day to day living, I quote this very famous line- "Success is when Preparation meets Opportunity." Without ability we would not reach anywhere even if we are lucky.

Some of the factors which contributes to success more than luck

Meet
Opportunity Half Way
– People who have taken initiatives and have been more proactive have made more progress than people who kept waiting for the perfect time to come.

Consistency pays – Try, Try till you succeed. Success has often come to those who have been disciplined in their approach and not lost their path after failures.

“Fortune Favours the Brave” - We should not bank on chance to become lucky…rather we should continue our efforts to reach our target.

Diligence is the mother of good luck. ~ Benjamin Franklin.

This list is surely incomplete and I urge you to share your thoughts on this as this would bring out some more perspective on this.

I leave you all with this thought – “Destiny is no matter of chance. It is a matter of choice: It is not a thing to be waited for, it is a thing to be achieved.”

Regards

Bhupesh

Setting priorities Right!!

2010-12-13T15:21:00.000+05:30

Ever discovered your car insurance expired a week ago, just immediately after you had an accident? Ever happened that you wanted to follow some recreational vocation but never found time? Ever wished for 26 hours in a day than 24 as you always have so much to do? Ever happened to you that you were not hold on to your ‘new year resolutions’ for more than a week?

How many times have we pushed back a lot of important things because at that time we did not feel it was urgent? We are so busy in our lives that it is very difficult to decide between what was only urgent & not important and what was important but not urgent. Most likely, we are so engaged in our lives that we are left with no choice but to choose to do the urgent work first.

Dr Steven Covey’s “Seven habits of highly effective people” states “first thing first” as the third habit for being effective. “To live a more balanced existence, you have to recognize that not doing everything that comes along is okay. There's no need to overextend yourself. All it takes is realizing that it's all right to say no when necessary and then focus on your highest priorities. It is about life management as well as your purpose, values, roles, and priorities. What are "first things?" First things are those things you, personally, find of most worth. If you put first things first, you are organizing and managing time and events according to the personal priorities.” Pareto’s principle states that 20% of your activities will account for 80 percent of your success. When you have to choose among several tasks, there are several prioritization tools that we can use. The very basic of such a tool is dividing our activity into the four quadrants of important & urgent. However, to begin to do, that let’s quickly define ‘Important’ & ‘Urgent’.

Urgent – something that has to be attended “NOW” else we might have to face some consequences. Eg. Fire Alarm / medical emergency/ answering a ringing phone

Important – Having great value, influence or effect.

Now, we need to run our work on these filters and ensure that we focus majority of the time only on the important things. However, we can’t imagine ourselves in a situation where everything is going as per plan and we don’t need any fire-fighting!! Hence, we would definitely find fire-items taking away majority of our time.

Sometimes priorities will keep shifting with passing time. We would need to juggle between tasks. On balance, though, we need to ensure our priorities are consistent with our personal goals and the goals of our organizations. Doing this requires a periodic review, and a weekly planning session is ideal for this.

I am sure that most of the people reading this would already know whatever I am sharing with you today. But when it comes to application, it is very important to be able to determine what is important to us before we can use this tool.

To sum it up, a battle well planned is a battle half-won !!

The Big Picture

2010-12-04T10:35:00.000+05:30

Some of us would have seen those mammoth hoardings of a very popular insurance company with the tag line “YOU ARE THE BIG PICTURE”.

As individuals we come across lot of instances where we ask for directions, guidance help from our elders, seniors, friends because we get lost in doing a lot of micro things that we loose the big picture.

What is “BIG PICTURE”? To me, it’s like a road map which shows me where I am and the road I am going to take to reach to my destination.

I would like to share the story of the Six Blind Men who described one animal as snake, a wall, a tree, a spear, a fan and a rope. The animal in question turned out to be…………………….. A ELEPHANT? Each of the six blind men described what they felt by touching the elephant to each other. I am sure you can understand how difficult it would have been for them to see the complete picture.

This small story may be true for each one of us as well. The way we look at the world may just be a reflection of what people close to us think about and might not be the true or the complete picture.

A lot of times we are reminded by our good friends to stop looking at the finer details and utilise most of our times in search of perfection ending up loosing the big picture.

Have you ever tried the Google Earth software which lets you zoom out and lets you see the same place from higher altitude with a broader perspective? Can we have something like that for us as well? Wishful thinking…but the same is not available yet for us to use in our personal or professional lives.

Don’t see the world from the eyes of others and believe it, decide your goal, plan well towards it , take some calculated risks, be open for learning, read books and most importantly keep asking yourself the million dollar question regularly………….”What’s your BIG PICTURE and where am I fitting in that today?”

The “Big Picture” helps us in the following ways…(and it goes without saying that feel free to add to this list..)

1. See the vision beforehand,

2. Size up the situation, taking into consideration lot of variables,

3. Seize the moment, when the timing is right.

I am sure you would be amazed that your perceptions about your surrounding will undergo a paradigm shift.

I leave you with this thought “ People who are constantly looking at the whole
picture have the best chance of succeeding in any endeavor."- John Maxwell

Do share your thoughts on this and how you keep your tab on the BIG PICTURE.