The Unbreakable. Part 1

The auditorium with a seating capacity of four thousand attendees, located at the 18th floor of the India bulls sky Jungle, was occupied upto the last seat, mostly by the investors of the Ayesha Industries, eagerly waiting for the arrival of the MD and chairperson Miss Ayesha Siddique, the room was filled with friendly chatters of the attendees which include, apart form investors, journalists along with some of the top ranking employees and board members of the company, SEBI officials and officials of the state and central ministry of finance.

Chatter kept growing louder and then came the moment every one was waiting for, there was an absolute silence in the auditorium for a few seconds, only to be shattered by the sounds of camera shutters, every one rose to welcome the charismatic tycoon and the poster girl of women empowerment in the country,  Aaisha Siddique with an applause, she stood at the entrance for few seconds, glanced at the packed auditorium and then started walking towards the podium.

Ayesha was unlike any other business tycoon, at 38 she looked no more than 26 or 27, figure of an athlete, 5 feet 8 inches tall, pair of beautiful black eyes, sharp nose, thin lips, dusky complexion, sharp features, her personality was extremely over whelming. She was  a rags to riches story unlike any other, because of her lineage and her meteoric rise from a girl of impoverished background who couldn’t even afford the very basis education, to the tycoon who’s company is valued at around 10 Billion dollars, is loved by both the elite and the underprivileged.

She stepped on to the podium and sat on the boss chair placed at number 4 in the line of 7 chairs, six of the board members took there respective seats later, she glanced at all the board members with a smile, and then she turned on the mike placed on the table facing her.

“I want to thank all of you, for your valuable support and faith in Ayesha Industries, and we all are committed to deliver and excel on your expectations” Ayesha started the annual meet, in the meeting she spoke at length about the performance of the company in the previous year and announced her plans for the current financial year, the attendees were overjoyed to hear the aggressive expansion and CAPEX plan for the current FY and multifold growth projections.

Then came the QnA session, for which many investors and journalists were waiting for, wide range of questions ranging from outlook on textile industry, conduciveness of government policies, socio-economic situation of the country to the climate change and the upcoming US elections, were asked and as usual they got extremely satisfying and insightful replies from the MD.

After three hours, the marathon session came to an end, all the questions, no matter how irrelevant, were answered and as there were no further questions left, Ayesha rose from her chair, followed by all the board members and all the attendees, and started walking down from the podium towards the exit, the applause followed till she entered the lift and the doors of the lift were closed.

Ayesha took out her phone and unlocked it, it was filled with hundreds of unread what’s app messages , she opened the message of the contact named “Jurno Tanvi”, it read “Mam waiting for you in the parking” “coming ” replied Ayesha. Doors of the lift opened as it reached the basement, Ayesha came out of the lift along with her security guards and board members, she exchanged pleasantries with them as her Range Rover approached, she noticed a girl approaching her, “Good evening Ma’am, Tanvi from National Guardian” said the girl chirpily and extended her hand towards Ayesha for a hands shake, Ayesha reciprocated, “please come in” said Ayesha as she entered and sat on the back seta of her Range Rover, Tanvi followed, as the two ladies sat in the car, it started and came out of the parking lot on to the main road, adjacent to the India Bulls sky jungle.

“Mam, I am so excited to meet you today, I am big fan of yours”, said Tanvi seemingly excited, “I am so honoured to be chosen as the writer of your biography” she continued, Ayesha smiled while checking her phone, not looking at Tanvi, “wait for a while Tanvi, let me finish some urgent work” said Ayesha, typing something on her phone, Tanvi waited in anticipation of a response, about 15 minutes later the driver asked “Mam where should we go” “take us to the Angeles” replied Ayesha, driver nodded and then turned the car left, they were now on a narrow and curvy lane, the driver had slowed the car as the rode ahead was quite narrow, the road ended about a kilometre ahead at a large arched iron gate, with a big sign board “Fatima’s home for angles” car stopped at the gate, driver blew the horn and the gates opened automatically, and closed as it entered , it was a very large establishment, spread in acres and looking at its proximity to Mumbai, it must be worth hundreds of millions of dollars, thought Tanvi.

“This is my mother’s dream Tanvi” said Ayesha, Tanvi fully conscious and attentive, responded with a sincere smile, there were a series of rectangular buildings separated from each other by few meters, the space between them was covered by lawn and series of plantations, and then there was a large cylindrical building about 10 story tall, covered with diamond shaped reflecting violet coloured glasses placed in perfect symmetry, giving an illusion to the viewer as if the building is constantly revolving, the building was an aberration to the otherwise low-key structures spread across the premises.

That is FHA “Fatima’s home for Angeles”, we have built one of the most advanced paediatric hospital here, do you see that building, Ayesha pointed towards a 7 storied rectangular building, and behind that building you see that cylindrical building that’s the school and it has one of the best faculties in the country with best in class labs, and library for my angels, behind the school building we have a sports complex, followed by recreation facility with theatre, restaurant and a small amusement park, Tanvi was awestruck to see the infrastructure of that place, it took them about half an hour to reach Ayesha’s office, the building titled administrative block, a relatively sober building.

As the car stopped outside the administrative block, two guards rushed to open the gates of the car for Ayesha and Tanvi, Tanvi followed Ayesha as she entered her office, the office was quite large and airy but it wasn’t very “modern”, it rather had a very vintage appeal, antique paintings on the walls of the room, not a single screen apart from Ayesha’s MacBook placed on the large wooden desk at the far end of the room, in the middle of room there were two sofas facing each other and separated by a beautiful teek wood table, placed adjacent to the wall under a pair of small windows.

“Have a seat”, asked Ayesha, both of them sat on either sofas, Tanvi took the recorder out of her bag, “no recorder please” instructed Ayesha, Tanvi hesitated for a second, but then she put the recorder back in her bag and took out her writing pad and pen, “ok so shall we begin” asked Tanvi, “from where do you want me to start from” asked Ayesha “well  from the beginning” replied Tanvi. “Ok Tanvi, so as you know, my mother Fatima found me in a garbage can, she was a ragpicker and use to live on a footpath near the garbage can, one night she woke up hearing the cries of an infant , she rushed towards the garbage can, and  lifted me out, and immediately took me to a government hospital, I wasn’t well, I was barely a week old, wounded and shivering in fever”.

“The paediatrician of the government hospital was a very kind man, he admitted me and took great care of me, after 7 days I recovered, Fatima stayed with me in the hospital every single minute, and we left the hospital as mother and daughter.” with her savings, she rented a small shanty, and we started our new lives together in it, she named me Ayesha, Fatima then started working as domestic help in a near by residential society, she would leave me at home under the supervision of one of her friends”.

“When I was about three years old, Fatima started taking me along, she would wash the utensils while I would sit in a corner quietly, in one of the houses there was a child of my age, we use to play together and his mother would give me cookies to eat and at times she would teach me how to read and write, she noticed that I would learn alphabets and numbers very fast, she started teaching me, Fatima would leave me at her home in the morning, she would take care of me as if I was her own child, she would feed me, play with me and teach me, she insisted Fatima to admit me in a school, but poor illiterate Fatima, who never set her foot in a school before, was petrified by the idea, but she loved me so very much that she took me to a government school and admitted me in the first standard”.

“In the morning she would take me with her for work, we would eat whatever we get in those houses, in the afternoon she would take me to the school, my school timings were 2:00 to 5:00 PM, my mother would sit outside my class, on the stairs and would peek inside the classroom every now and then, just to be sure that I was ok”, there was spark in Ayesha’s eyes when ever she took her mother’s name, Tanvi could sense the bond of affection between them.

“I was about 14 years old and in 10th standard, one day I was waiting outside the school for Fatima to come, as she would always come beforetime and we would go together, I was surprised as she didn’t turned up that day, I was worried as I had this strange feeling that some thing isn’t right, so I started walking towards home, as I reached the alley near my home, I saw a small crowd gathered out side out shanty, I dropped my school bag and ran towards the home, Fatima was lying on the bad surrounded by women from the neighbourhood, I held her hand and asked her what happened, she was unconscious, neighbours told me that they found her unconscious lying on the floor about an hour back”.

“They had called an ambulance about an hour back but it hasn’t arrived yet, It came about 10 minutes later, the doctor checked her pulse and then the ambulance staff put her on a stretcher and got her into the ambulance, I was with her in the ambulance, doctor told me that Fatima has suffered a stroke, I was crestfallen didn’t know what to do, she was admitted in the ICU ward for about a week, and then shifted to a general word.

“We remained in the hospital for about two weeks and then she was discharged and I brought her home on a wheelchair, we were devastated, Fatima would cry day and night and I would console her, she couldn’t walk or do anything her self, she needed therapy and we desperately needed money, so I went to meet Prashant Ji, he was the owner of one of the homes where Fatima use to work as a maid, we went to the a factory where he use to work as floor supervisor, he introduced me to Mr. Paresh Nathan, manager in the accounts section, there was no vacancy in the factory which barely made any profits in the last 6 months, he however was looking for an assistant but I wasn’t qualified for that job, more over I was a minor, and it is against government norms to recruit a minor, but I insisted rather bagged him for that job at half the salary, because of Prashant Ji’s personal recommendation, I got the job in Roshan Textiles Industries as assistant to accounts manager.

My initial salary was six thousand rupees a month, that was about twice to what Fatima was earning, the first thing I did was that I hired a full time maid cum cook for Fatima, she would come to my house at around 7:30 in the morning and stay till 8 PM, I had instructed her, never to leave my mother alone.

“I was a quick learner and an avid reader, though I had to quit the school but the teachers were kind enough to lend me books on accounting from the school library, I learnt accounting by my self, I would come to the office at around 8:00 AM, an hour early, and would read all the newspapers, economic times, times of India even the regional papers, I was very curious and absolutely in awe of the machines in the factory, I read all the manuals available in the factory, would discuss with the technicians  about the functioning of the machines, would also discuss with them about what kind of machineries being used in other industries, or by our competitors”.

“By the time I was 17, I had earned a reputation of an allrounder, I would fill-in many shoes, an accounts manager in the absence of Mr.Nathan, production manager, logistics and even trainer for the new recruits, I loved my work, but I had the habit of asking too many questions, at times my questions would make my fellow workers uncomfortable”

Ayesha smiled and paused for a second, drank some water, and continued again, “Mr.Nathan resigned from the company and I became the accounts manager, now I had the access to most powerful tool in the world, the internet, my passion and love for machines was at a whole new level, I read, whatever I could find about the latest textile machinery and about the leaders in the textile space”.

“We were incurring losses not because of the market or anything beyond our control, but because of sheer incompetency and mismanagement”, said Ayesha, “I raised alarm many times but all in vain, MD won’t read my mails, neither he would give me time to meet him nor he would remotely try to mend the culture of the company”.

“Finally one day our MD asked us all to come in the common hall at around 8:00 PM, he had to make a very important announcement, we were all prepared for the worst and we were right in our anticipation, MD Mr.Rajesh Nathani introduced us to his son Mr.Niraj Nathani, he was a young man in his twenties, dapper and handsome, “Harvard” written all over his face”, Tanvi chuckled, Ayesha smiled and continued  “but I could clearly make out that he wasn’t happy being there, I still remember each and every word he said that evening,” Ayesha stood up and started strolling in the room “brothers, he then took a pause, and continued, you are my family, and I have immense respect and gratitude for all of you, you have given your sweat and blood to this company, he then took a pause again this time to clear his throat, and said in a trembling voice, as you all know that our company is making losses since last 2 years, we tried every thing in our control to sustain but now with great sorrow I have to convey to you, that we have no other option but to close the factory, I looked at the faces of the terrified workers around me, there fear gave me strength and I shouted  at the top of my voice “but we can save our company sir” “Mr.Nathani wasn’t prepared for that”, “who was that” he said looking at the audience, I rose my hand and started walking towards him, as I stood in front of him, I introduced my self and said “sir with all due respect, we can still save the company, “may I know how”, it was Niraj MD’s son, he had a big question mark on his face and hope in his eyes, sir I have prepared a presentation for you, and would like to show it to you, our MD was shellshocked, he wasn’t prepared for anything like this and he didn’t wanted to create a Scene in front of a very anxious audience, he simply said sure, so I started walking towards my cabin and MD and his son followed, there were 500 people mostly men in that place but there was pin drop silence, the only sound in that hall that time was the noise our shoes made while we crossed the crowd.”

“I explained them in detail what exactly was going wrong in the company and how it can be fixed, the MD was part surprised part abashed to realise how negligent he was, Niraj was asking questions, he was keen to know more about my ideas of revamping the company, at that time we were defaulting on the interest payments to the bank, our order book was empty, for the last six months we were without work and we weren’t even trying to get any business, as if we wanted the disaster to happen, now coming to the solution, I showed them the map of the factory, if we do the realignment of the factory by shifting the godown towards the main unit by 500 meters, we will unlock 650 square meters of land located right next to India’s largest upcoming residential projects, if we sell this land, we will have enough money, not only to clear our dues, but we can even replace these obsolete machines with the modern once! the father and son duo were spellbound, they went through the entire presentation, it was 1:00 AM in the night when I concluded the presentation, only a handful of employees were still in the factory waiting for us”.

“Niraj invited me to his home next day on breakfast, he sent his car to pick me up, I agreed, the car came to pick me at 8:30 AM, I reached there bungalow at 9:00,  we had a quite breakfast and then they offered me the position of CEO in the company, but I was clearly told that I have to walk the walk now, and I delivered more then what they anticipated, I renovated the building structure of the factory in a month, I shifted the godown and also reduced it in size, removed the pantry and also shrieked the main production unit because the new machinery which I had planned would need fewer space then the machines we were using then, I carved out a prime piece of real estate, about 700 square meters in area”.

“The land was sold at a record prise, we not only paid the overdue interest to the bank but also a sizeable principal also. That was not all, the same year central government, to promote the textile manufacturing, introduced the subsidy scheme, we were one of the first to to cease the opportunity, we imported the latest rapier looms from China, It was a double gain for us, as it was a bulk order, I negotiated hard on the prising and maintenance and enjoyed 20% subsidy on the final cost of the machinery”.

“We were back in the game, with new machines and capital, we restarted our company with new rigour and zeal, I was so excited with the success we got, I became famous in the fraternity, we had now shifted to a large flat located in a posh Mumbai locality, Fatima was showing signs of improvement, she could now communicate through signs and broken words”.

“I approached our erstwhile clients, initially they were very sceptical, some of them had burned there fingers wile working with us, but I was able to convince few of them to give us another chance, I convinced one of my former clients to visit the factory, and he was very impressed, the very next day he gave us the order with 30% advance. We delivered the goods before time and our quality was of a very different league, we made a paltry profit though but we knew that rebuilding the brand wouldn’t be easy. Soon my machines were running at 100% capacity, 24 hours a day in three shifts, we were making some serious money now,” Ayesha was smiling and then she continued “we first repaid the smaller unsecured business loans of higher rate of interest and then the loans of higher tenure.” “We were debt free in two years,” Ayesha smiled as if her mind dwelling in the past.

“I knew we were ready to take the next step, I flew to America and started chasing prospect clients, and I hit the jackpot, I secured an order worth 5 million USD, but we lacked the capacity to deliver it, so I proposed raising funds by listing our company in the stock market, but that was a lengthy process, so I proposed fund raising from strategic investors “parallelly” , our company was in profits, we had orders from US, investors lined up, we raised 7 million dollars by diluting 2% stack, I spearheaded the renovation, we removed the steel fabricated shed of our factory and added two more concrete floors, we did the same to our godown, we added new machines and ramped up the production capacity by 3 folds”.

“I was working like a possessed woman, I worked for 18-19 and some days 20 hours a day, Fatima was the only one genuinely proud of me and happy to see my growth” “Ayesha, ah sorry to interrupt, but there is one thing which I don’t understand, the name of the company was Roshan Industries, how dose it became Ayesha Industries”? asked Tanvi, “Patience princess” replied Ayesha, she smiled and continued “I became the de facto owner of the factory, much respected and much feared than the MD or his son, off late they felt and seemed miserable with the kind of pace and efficiency I was working with, look Tanvi Mr.Rajesh Nathani never built the factory or the company, it was his father who did, both him and his son were born with a silver spoon, they never had the capability nor the guts to take the company to newer heights, they were simply enjoying the fruits of the hard work of other people, they felt threatened by me, there hollow egos couldn’t bear my accomplishments, I pulled the company from the brink of dissolution, to become one of the best textile manufacturers in the country, so one day they called me to there office and fired me” “what ” Tanvi shouted in complete awe, “don’t be shocked my dear, the only thing constant in this world is irony” Ayesha got up and stood beside the window, she slides the curtain to face the evening breeze, there was absolute silence in the room, Ayesha seemed to have gone in a different time, Tanvi watching her intently, admiring Ayesha’s strength and her unbreakable resolve….

 

Advertisement

Be The Change

Last few months were very hard on all of us, but for some it was particularly hard as not only there health but there livelihood, there survival was at stake, some survived but some couldn’t, life was always hard but it was particularly hard on those who lost the battle without fighting it, COVID was a calamity for the small business owners, more then the disease it was the loss of business that made there survival difficult, one such business was the restaurant and catering business, many restaurants closed, they shut there shops never to open again, but there were few who diversified and adopted to the new reality, they curtailed there expenses, streamlined the business and changed there model to delivery based or parcel only, tide up with delivery apps and came up with aggressive pricing, they were determined to survive and waited till the tide turned, and then when the pandemic was over, they came out as victors and emerged as the dominant players.

This was a case for restaurant business but the same Rules applies every where in life, those who give up without giving a fight loose every thing including there dreams, those who try from the bottom of there hearts succeed, every situation is temporary, only the change is permanent, accept it, don’t be scared of it, fight for the survival, do not hope, but be assured that you will win.

Destiny challenges the brave, but the brave must live up to the occasion and fight to claim it.

Always remember, “Don’t be afraid of the change, be the change”

 

Your Choice

There was a man named Thomas, every evening he would come drunk, stinking and bleeding from the wounds he got from the bouts he started,  he was unemployable, had no friends, unfortunately he had a wife Jenny (Unfortunate for her) and 4 kids, his wife would work as domestic help in the city, she would earn meagre wages that could barely feed her and her kids, she would hide the money from her husband.

Every evening her nightmare begins as Thomas walks in and started beating his kids and then his wife, he would succeed in snatching the money from his wife, he would often leave them crying and go to a wine shop and would drink till he is completely out of his senses.

One day when Thomas was lying unconscious under a tree, a sage who was passing by, saw him, the sage had supernatural powers, he placed his palm on the forehead of the man and closed his eyes, the sage could see his entire life under his closed eyelids.

The sage pressed his palm on Thomas’s forehead, but with force this time, a shock went through Thomas’s body, as if some one lifted him high in the air and then smashed him back on the ground, he was awake, probably after many years, and saw the sage standing in front of him, he got up abruptly he was shocked to see his body still lying under the tree, “Am I dead” he asked “no, but you will, very soon, let me show you what you did in your life, and where you will go from here” the sage waved his hand and Thomas saw his life started unfolding in front of him like a movie, he saw his parents, they were so happy when he was born, his first day at school, the first time he tested alcohol with his friends, how he was thrown out of his school, his father tried so hard to make him quit drinking, but he chose to run away instead, only to came back few days later, his marriage, death of his father and mother few years later, he saw his first child being born, he was so happy, that day he decided to quit drinking, but he could only control the urge for couple of days, he saw his kids crying, his wife working so hard and taking care of the house and the kids, tears started flowing from his eyes, but it was all past, and then the story came to the present time.

He saw himself getting up, he faltered his way back to his house, he saw how his family is scared to see him, his wife was in tears and begged him not to ask for money as there youngest child was not well, and has to be shown to a doctor, but he didn’t budged, he started yelling and shouting again, he pushed his wife and snatched her purse, opened it and took all the money inside it, he then left the house walking towards the wine shop, he could barely walk but he was walking anyway, as he reached the crossroad, he heard a screeching sound, he turned around and saw an uncontrolled truck rushing towards him, he was scared and heavily intoxicated, he couldn’t move an inch and the truck smashed his frail body, seconds later he was dead.

His neighbours rushed to inform her wife about the accident, instead of sorrow, he saw a sense of relief on her face, his kids were silent they were too young to react, but he could sense that they were not going to miss him either, a moment later the wife regained her composure and said “Sir my child is not well, I can’t leave him, can you please inform the municipal corporation officials to arrange for his cremation, as I don’t have money to cremate him, her neighbour knew what kind of a person her husband was, they nodded and left the family alone.

His family was relieved as there tormentor was no more, “this will be your future if you follow the current course of action, “Choice is Yours”, said the sage, Thomas was awestruck, he looked at his right, in the direction of the voice, but there was no one, the sage had disappeared.

He woke up, still intoxicated, he sat under the tree, his whole body was aching in pain, he waited for hours under the tree, he cried for hours and then mustered courage to get up on his feet and started walking towards his home, as he reached his home he knocked the doors softly, Jenny opened the door and surprised to see Thomas, as he would usually bang the doors while abusing her, she was surprised to see a calm Thomas, still stinking and dirty but calm, his eyes lowered as if burdened by guilt, after silence of a few moments, he looked at Jenny and asked “how is Samantha” there youngest daughter, Jenny couldn’t believe her eyes, for the first time in many years, Thomas as asked for his kids, Jenny started sobbing and said “she is burning in fever” I am taking her to a doctor”, she said in a very heavy voice, Thomas was controlling his tears as he know now that what he saw wasn’t a dream, “give me a moment, I am coming with you” he said and rushed to the bathroom, he cleaned himself, changed his clothes and was at the door in 10 minutes.

Jenny couldn’t believe what she was seeing, they went to a doctor and brought medicines for Samantha, to their relief she was suffering from seasonal throat infection and she will be fine in couple of days. As they came back, Jenny and kids were still in a state of awe to see Thomas’s transformation, they had a quiet dinner and all of them except Thomas slept peacefully.

Next morning, when Jenny woke up, she saw Thomas sitting besides her with a cup of coffee and cookies, she wanted to ask Thomas the reason for his transformation, but she didn’t had the courage, it was like a dream come true for her, as she sipped coffee, Thomas said “Jenny what I did to you and to our kids, is beyond repentance, I will stay at house and won’t go out for next 30 days, I think I will be able to quit drinking if I control my self for a month, and then I will work while you will stay at home and look after the kids. Jenny couldn’t believe what she was hearing, her eyes filled with tears of Joy, she nodded.

This time Thomas did what he committed Jenny, it was very painful for him especially the first 7 days, he would read Bible for hours, and after a month he was a transformed man, he knew tailoring, so he joined a tailor shop as assistant, he worked very hard and earned respect from his employer who offered him a pay raise, Jenny and the kids were never happier, in the evening Thomas would take his kids and Jenny to the park and he would cook on Sundays, few years lated Thomas bought a shop and started his own tailoring business, he also bought a bigger house for him self and his family.

One day when he was working in his shop all alone, on a new catalogue of designs, he sensed a presence, he was surprised to see the sage standing in front of him, he got up from his chair and ran towards the sage and hugged him, tears flowing from his eyes, uttering only one word “thank you” he then bend on his knees, but the sage lifted him, and looked at him smiling at him, “I still don’t understand what really happened that day, please tell what really happened” he bagged the sage “Thomas all I can tell you is that a I showed you the possible outcome of your current course of journey, it was you who opted a different course, you chose this future” said the sage smiling “always remember Thomas Choice is yours to make” the sage left.

Near death experience can alter the course of life, but is it really essential to have a near death experience to check the course of life and correct it? while all we have to do is sit back and contemplate on our life, basic things like who are we treating our family and our own body.

We have the ability to choose the correct course of action, all we have to do is to muster our inner strength and opt for it, remember “Choice is Ours to make”.

Remember always! That ‘imbalance’ Says, I’m balance!

Sometimes when things are falling apart, they may actually be falling into place” – J. Lynn

It is important to find strength in redefining moments and come out stronger than before. When your life is out of balance.

In your quest for balance in life,

Juggling between the multiple tasks

At times torn apart by strife,

The you in you is often lost.

Reflect and introspect. Take a few steady steps,

Let not the you within you, wilt or wither at any cost,

The equilibrium you strive for Can’t be achieved when you are at war, With yourself.

Choose your battles, wisely, Let the you in you win calmly.

The pursuit for balance is perpetual,

Let the ‘you within you’ become a ritual.

Remember always! That ‘imbalance’ Says, I’m balance!

True Meaning of Education

What Does it Mean to Be Educated

Just like a passport is a pre-requisite to travel the world, similarly, a good education is a pre-requisite to lead a meaningful life confidently. Whom, then, do I call educated? The following is the definition of education given by Socrates approximately two thousand years ago.

First, those who manage well the circumstances which they encounter day by day; and those who can judge situations appropriately as they arise and rarely miss the suitable course of action.

Next, those who are honorable in their dealings with all men, bearing easily what is unpleasant or offensive in others and being as reasonable with their associates as is humanly possible.

Furthermore, those who hold their pleasures always under control and are not unduly overcome by their misfortunes, bearing up under them bravely and in a manner worthy of our common nature.

Most important of all, those who are not spoiled by their successes, who do not desert their true selves, but hold their ground steadfastly as wise and sober-minded men, rejoicing no more in the good things that have come to them through chance than in those which through their own nature and intelligence are theirs since birth.

Those who have a character which is in accord, not with one of these things, but with all of them, these are educated— possessed of all the virtues. – Socrates (470-399 B.C)

 

Acres Of Diamond

Hafiz was a farmer in Africa who was happy and content. He was happy because he was content. He was content because he was happy. One day a wise man came and told him about the glory of diamonds and the power that goes along with them. The wise man said, “If you had a diamond the size of your thumb, you could buy your own city. If you had a diamond the size of your fist, you could probably buy your own country.” And then the wise man left.

That night, Hafiz couldn’t sleep. He was unhappy and he was discontented. He was unhappy because he was discontented and discontented because he was unhappy. The next morning Hafiz made arrangements to sell his farm, took care of his family and went off in search of diamonds. He looked all over Africa and couldn’t find any. He looked all through Europe and couldn’t find any. By the time he got to Spain, he was emotionally, physically and financially broke. He was so disheartened that he threw himself into the Barcelona river and committed suicide.

Back home, the person who had bought his farm was watering the camels at the stream that ran through the farm. Across the stream, the rays of the morning sun hit a stone and made it sparkle like a rainbow. He thought the stone would look good in his living room. He picked up the stone and put it on his mantle piece. That afternoon, the wise man came and saw the stone sparkling. He asked, “Is Hafiz back?” The new owner said, “No, why do you ask?” The wise man said, “Because that is a diamond. I recognise one when I see one.” The man said, “No, that’s just a stone I picked up from the stream. Come I’ll show you. There are many more.” They went and picked some samples and sent them for analysis. Sure enough, the stones were diamonds. They found that the farm was indeed covered with acres and acres of diamonds.

What is the moral of this story? There are many morals:

1. When our attitude is right, we realise that we are all walking on acres of diamonds. Opportunities are always under our feet. We don’t have to go anywhere.

2. When we don’t know how to recognize opportunity, it could slap us on our face and we would still not be able to recognize it. All we need to do is to learn to recognize opportunities.

3. People, who don’t know how to recognise opportunities, complain of noise when they knock.

4. Lost opportunities are easier recognised when they are leaving rather than when they are coming.

5. An opportunity only knocks once. The next one may be better or worse, but never the same one. That is why it is so crucial to make the right decision at the right time. A right decision at the wrong time becomes a wrong decision.

6. The grass on the other side always looks greener. There are two dimensions to the greener grass: a. It may be possible that the other farmer is taking better care of his grass and it is actually greener. b. Most of the time, however, it is only an illusion. Many times in life, while chasing an illusion, we lose out the opportunity right under our own feet.

7. While we are eyeing the grass on the other side, there are others who are eyeing the grass on our side. They would be happy to trade places with us.

Subconscious Influence

The art of influence entails handling emotions effectively in other people. Star performers are artful in sending emotional signals, which make them powerful communicators, able to sway an audience — in short, leaders.

We influence each others moods or emotional state for batter or worse is perfectly normal; we do it constantly, catching emotions from one another like some kind of social virus. This emotional exchange constitutes an invisible interpersonal economy, part of every human interaction , but it is usually too subtle to notice.

Even so , the transmission of mood is remarkably powerful. When three strangers, all volunteers for a study of mood sat quietly in a circle for two minutes, the most emotionally expressive person transmitted his or her mood to the two others over the course of two minutes. In every such session the mood the most expressive person had going in was also the mood the other two felt coming out , whether happy, bored anxious or angry.

From the various studies, it has been established that emotions of the people effect the state of  any organisation or the economy of the country  In not so subtle ways. We all make each other feel a bit better or a lot more worse as part of any contact we have , every encounter can be weighted along a scale from emotionally toxic to nourishing.

Like wise the outcome of how people think shapes the future of society and the country!

 

Choose Your Friends wisely!

It is said that the people you spend maximum time with; your friends, colleagues, relatives etc, your personality, your ideology and even your life is a summation of the average qualities of all these people. Our friend circle which we build later influence our life to such an extent that it transforms us, it makes us like them (the friend circle)

At times I think what should be the basic qualities of my friend? how to choose friends, and who should I trust a person as a friend? the person whom I like and I would share the most precious thing in my life, “my time”.

The most important quality a friend should have, is likemindedness, you may have different aspirations or goals in life but your values should be same, please don’t get me wrong, you and your friends can and should have difference of opinion but your moral values should be same, that will be the foundation of your friendship.

Second important criterion is the trust, in one life time a person would be called very lucky if he or she has more than two real good friends, in real sense a person with whom you can trust your life with, is truly your friend.

Your friend can be someone who compliments you, or rather he may have qualities which you lack, for example you are an introvert wherein your friend can be a person who is quite outspoken.

Friendship has to pass the test of time, you may find people who would swear to be your friends but would chicken out on the first hint of you being in trouble, so as I said, time will tell who your real friend is.

The person with above qualities will be your true friend, he or she would be the one you can trust your secrets with, needless to say you must reciprocate, rest of the people are mob nothing more, you shouldn’t be paying any attention to them, but keep your true friend very close to you and stand by him/her as he/she would in the hour of need.

The Path

When I was a kid, my grandfather was the sun of our solar system, followed by my father, he was the most important person in and of our family, every one would look up to him for every important decision to be made, few years later he passed the baton to my father, and he assumed a rather supporting role, as the time passed he started detaching him self from all the responsibilities he use to carry, and one day he was no more with us, he became a memory in our hearts and minds, my father is now the head of the family.

Isn’t this  life cycle or phenomenon is supremely common every where in the world, and the same is being followed for generations, for centuries; point is what can we learn from it?

I think some of the facts are noteworthy:

• Each one of us is mortal, we walk the planet for a finite span of time, and the day of our departure although is most certain, nobody knows when exactly will it happen.
• The day of our departure could be today or it could be a day next year or decade, no body knows when and how he or she will have to pack up and leave.
• Now if in the end we all have to leave the show, then the question is what part should we choose to play till the time we are on stage.
• I have seen a lot of people who spend there entire life Judging others, dominating others, offending and being offended, they make there lives and the lives of people around them miserable, in the end there story is one full of regrets, and then I have seen few who live there life in full, they are filled with bliss, they focus on them self, they respect there life and the lives of others, they are so busy in self upliftment that they don’t have time to bother others, there life becomes a beautiful song, sung by many even after they are gone.

Now the question is what should be our priorities and is it possible to choose the correct path, which comes down to the very question, what is the correct path and how to ascertain one for ourself?  There are some very simple ways to follow the path:

Do not Impose your will: First of all for realising our infinite potential, one must avoid the urge to somehow control the lives of others, these others include siblings, spouse, children, friends, cousins etc, now what I mean by not trying to control there lives is that we must advice them as to what according to us is best for them, but we should happily accept and respect there decision even if its contrary to our advice, we must allow them to chart there on course of life as they are responsible for the decisions they’ve made and the outcomes of those decisions.

Attitude of Gratitude : This is the key to a happy and blissful life, please try this out, every day before going to sleep take a minute and thank God for all the things you have, health, house, spouse, kids etc, and see the magic it brings in your life.

Be a constant learner: the single most important trait that led to the evolution of Human mind and civilisation is Curiocity , learn at least one thing new every day and if possible write it somewhere.

Know The Trickster: Our mind does something very peculiar with us, it keep swinging us between past and future like a pendulum, it keep reminding us of the mistakes, unpleasant events or failures of our past which make us feel guilty and then it swings us to the future, basically it tries to scare us by painting a picture of a bleak future, this trick of our mind depletes our ability to create and do the best for ourself, how to control it? the best way to control it by occupying your self with a lot of work which you really love to do, when ever your mind tries to trick you, take a deep breath, hold it for six seconds and then release it slowly. Truest me this simple technique works like a charm!!.

Child is the father of man: Ever thought why a child a baby is always so happy, that’s because he lives in the present moment!

 

 

 

 

Divine Gift

Mothers are the most beautiful gift of life. They are full of affection, care and compassion. Mothers always believe in giving and in the act of giving, many times they forget their own desires and wishes.

Our mother is the very reason for our existence. They are a world in themselves, a world full of love. Mothers have been given status of God. They do everything for everyone but doesn’t expect anything in return. Even a little smile you bring on her face turns hundred folds to bless you in many ways.

Love your mother and do every possible thing to make her happy and proud of you