To
All My Lovely Siblings,
This
is something I always wanted to do and this is something I’ll continue doing as
long as I feel the need. I’m here to talk about thoughts and how inspiring and
powerful they are if channeled in the right direction. I’m here to discuss
intuition and how to develop the required confidence to trust them. Before I
start and discuss many of the above-said, I wanted to congratulate all of you
for where you are in your lives and for all the struggle and hard work you
underwent to accomplish the present standing.
Here
I go. I want to emphasize upon a lot of things that I feel are important and
I’m sure many of you would have felt the same at certain point of time during
your journey of life. I want you to be creative in your thought process and
stress hard in trying to get the message here. Please don’t blind yourself with
my thoughts because you have the power to think uniquely and in a much more
advance way. I have confidence in you and want you to develop more thoughts by
going through the following that I believe are important to survive in today’s
world.
1) Think
‘Global’
The
world global encompasses a lot of things. It brings in thoughts about different
people, different religions, different languages, different cultures, different
customs and practices, different countries, different….. But, if we start
thinking about all the different things and try to keep tabs at all the
different aspects of this world, it becomes overwhelming after a while. It’s
very difficult to learn all the differences between all the people and nations
of this world but much easier to find out about the commonalities between
‘successful people’ and ‘successful nations’.
I
personally never think about the differences even though I do talk on occasions
for the sake of it. I always thought the differences were meant for us to
appreciate more about other people, other cultures, and other nations but
realized I was wrong. I always thought that the differences were meant to
create more tolerance and the feeling of respect and love for other people,
other cultures, other religions and other nations but I found this was
incorrect too. If you look around you won’t have to try hard to see it’s the
differences that create ‘real’ problems in this world. People who encourage
them and nations who foster these people will degrade eventually. I believe I’m
becoming a little complex here. I don’t want to confuse you and make you
believe to stop taking pride in what you are, what religion you belong to and
what country you belong to. What I want to communicate is the fact that the
pride shouldn’t interfere with your love for other people, love for other
cultures and religions, and love for other nations. Please read the message I
wrote to all my friends sometime back when my mind was troubled to see what was
happening globally.
“I want to share what I've observed in these years. We are
living in a time that's changing at a dramatic pace. Technology is creeping
into our lives like never before. It's an era of knowledge that the world has
never seen before. Thoughts have crossed all the limitless boundaries in
pursuit of making things happen.
We have made progress beyond our wildest imagination. Why do you
think that it has been possible? Is it our strong belief and commitment in
religion that's leading us to progress? Or is it our blind belief in customs
and rituals that's leading us to victory? Please take time to clear your mind
with any pre-conceived thought and belief or anything that will hinder you to
be objective in making my effort somewhat understanding. I belong to a
generation where my religion is governed by the principles of freedom of
thoughts and expressions but not necessary being rebellious in achieving our
aims, love for all people and respect for people of all belief, faith and
religion.
According to me this world has made progress by being able to
combine talents from all religion, race, color and sex. Talent is not limited
to one particular religion or place. It's a beauty of one's own commitment in
making this "mother earth" a better place to live not only for
yourself but for many more generations to come. These people share the common
passion and incessant desire to work hard in bringing lives together to live
peacefully and be able to tolerate each other's views and opinions without
being too critical about them. On the other hand there are people who are just
trying to do the very opposite and repeat everything that has happened in the
past. Well, these people have definitely not learnt from the past that's full
of stories of people destroying the creation on the name of religion. These
people have been brainwashed so that they just believe in what they are told to
accomplish the most heinous crime on the name of religion.
I want you to think deeply as to what good these religion theories
have given us. They bring different traditions and beliefs that are good. But,
if people start thinking that they are the best and their religion is superior
to everyone else; that's where the doors start closing.”
The
other aspect of thinking global is to see and think as to what is happening
around you and not just your city or just your country. I want you all to focus
very hard on these for many more years to come:
·
Develop mastery and command over
the universal language English. It’s imperative for all of you to get into the habit of reading,
writing and discussing in English. Any person, organization, nation that will
not encourage the progress of English will meet its doom anytime in the coming
future. We are living in a world where English rules and we are in a better
position because the medium of instruction is in English. We have to make sure
we read, read and read. I’ll lay special emphasis on literature and encourage
reading poetry, short stories and novels. Reading the newspaper is equally
important and please develop a habit of discussing news and current events
amongst yourself and with your family just like you discuss any favorite
subject of yours with your friends.
·
Learn Economics. No matter what field you belong
to you have to learn economics. As time will pass by you’ll find yourself into
situations where that little knowledge acquired might prove to be beneficial.
Economics is after all how people deal with ‘scarcity’. It could be scarcity of
things, scarcity of resources, or scarcity of money. Please learn the subject
and you will start appreciating global events and their impact. Recently, you
would have noticed the news that America is already into a
recession. The entire world got affected. You are the future ‘global’ citizens
and it is very important to understand how the real world functions. I’m
learning and I would encourage all of you to take the lead. The subject will
influence probably all the major decisions of your life and I’m sure people already
affected will agree. It helps in better planning and management of your life
and you are the only commander of your life.
·
Be curious. Curiosity keeps a person going.
The world around us is amazing and a lot can be appreciated if we are curious. I
took an online course and found an interesting quote saying: ‘Study the art of
science and the science of art’. The curiosity factor plays a dominant role in
bringing out the real creative genius residing within. Always remember a
creative person has more solutions than a logical person. Creativity results
from curiosity and makes life interesting. That’s what I call living life to
its fullest.
·
Take good care of your health. The saying ‘Health is wealth’
will always be valid no matter what time of life you are in. Be very
disciplined with good health related practices. It’s never too late to learn
about human body and how it functions. Learn ways to develop better health of
yourself and your loved ones. Discuss new ways to tackle problems and get to
the roots to find causes related to the problems. Develop good oral hygiene. I
know for sure that nobody flosses and that’s so important. I learnt that
flossing helps preventing gums problems like gingivitis more than just brushing
twice a day. Make sure you learn flossing and don’t sleep without brushing and
flossing. Indulge yourself in any kind of physical activity you enjoy and
maintain the schedule. Regular exercise brings longevity and helps in reducing
stress. Learn Yoga and basic meditation. You will notice enhancement in your
concentration and improvement overall in your mental and physical health. Also,
I want you to eat healthy and not indulge in smoking, and drinking. Please
don’t develop these habits and resist the temptation as much as possible. Drink
socially but I will emphasize never to get into hard liquor habit. Hard liquor
is damaging and trust me it makes a man act like a dog. The question is do you
want to abuse yourself and be a ‘dog’ or enjoy socially. Red wine is a great
drink for your overall health, but sadly people lack the wisdom to acknowledge
it.
2)
Lessons learnt from Azim Premji,
Chairman of Wipro.
This
is from one of the speeches given by him. Enjoy it; it’s very powerful and I
enjoyed every bit of it and I’m sure you will appreciate it too.
“I
am very happy to be here with you. It is always wonderful to be with
young
people. The funny thing about life is that you realize the value of
something
only when it begins to leave you. As my hair turned from black,
to
salt and pepper and finally salt without the pepper, I have begun to
realize
the importance of youth. At the same time, I have begun to truly
appreciate
some of the lessons I have learnt along the way. I hope you will find them
useful when you plan your own career and life.
The
first thing I have learnt is that we must always begin with our
strengths.
From the earliest years of our schooling, everyone focuses on
what
is wrong with us. There is an imaginary story of a rabbit. The rabbit was enrolled
in a rabbit school. Like all rabbits, it could hop very well but could not
swim. At the end of the year, the rabbit got high marks in hopping but
failed in swimming. The parents were concerned. They said, "Forget
about hopping. You are anyway good at it. Concentrate on swimming." They sent
the rabbit for tuitions in swimming. And guess what happened? The rabbit forgot
how to hop! As for swimming, have you ever seen a rabbit swim? While it
is important for us to know what we are not good at, we must also
cherish what is good in us. That is because it is only our strengths that can
give us the energy to correct our weaknesses.
The
second lesson I have learnt is that a rupee earned is of far more value
than
five found. My friend was sharing me the story of his eight year-old niece.
She would always complain about the breakfast. The cook tried everything
possible, but the child remained unhappy. Finally, my friend took the child
to a supermarket and brought one of those ready-to-cook packets. The
child had to cut the packet and pour water in the dish. After that, it took
two minutes in the microwave to be ready. The child found the food to
be absolutely delicious? The difference was that she has cooked it!
In my own life, I have found that nothing gives as much satisfaction as earning
our rewards. In fact, what is gifted or inherited follows the old rule
of come easy, go easy. I guess we only know the value of what we have if
we have struggled to earn it.
The
third lesson I have learnt is no one bats a hundred every time.
Life
has many challenges. You win some and lose some. You must enjoy
winning.
But do not let it go to the head. The moment it does, you are
already
on your way to failure. And if you do encounter failure along the
way,
treat it as an equally natural phenomenon. Don't beat yourself for it
or
any one else for that matter! Accept it, look at your own share in the
problem,
learn from it and move on. The important thing is, when you lose,
do
not lose the lesson.
The
fourth lesson I have learnt is the importance of humility.
Sometimes,
when you get so much in life, you really start wondering whether
you
deserve all of it. This brings me to the value of gratitude. We have so
much
to be grateful for. Our parents, our teachers and our seniors have
done
so much for us that we can never repay them. Many people focus on the
shortcomings,
because obviously no one can be perfect. But it is important
to
first acknowledge what we have received. Nothing in life is permanent
but
when a relationship ends, rather than becoming bitter, we must learn to
savor
the memory of the good things while they lasted.
The
fifth lesson I learnt is that we must always strive for excellence.
One
way of achieving excellence is by looking at those better than
us.
Keep learning what they do differently. Emulate it. But
excellence
cannot be imposed from the outside. We must also feel the need
from
within. It must become an obsession. It must involve not only our mind
but
also our heart and soul. Excellence is not an act but a habit. I
remember
the inspiring lines of a poem, which says that your reach must
always
exceed your grasp. That is heaven on earth. Ultimately, your only
competition
is yourself.
The
sixth lesson I have learnt is never give up in the face of adversity.
It
comes on you suddenly without warning. One can succumb to
self-pity,
wring your hands in despair or decide to deal with the situation
with
courage and dignity. Always keep in mind that it is only the test of
fire
that makes fine steel. A friend of mine shared this incident with me.
His
eight-year old daughter was struggling away at a jigsaw puzzle. She
kept
at it for hours but could not succeed. Finally, it went beyond her
bedtime.
My friend told her, "Look, why don't you just give up? I don't
think
you will complete it tonight. Look at it another day." The daughter
looked
with a strange look in her eyes, "But, dad, why should I give up?
All
the pieces are there! I have just got to put them together!" If we
persevere
long enough, we can put any problem into its perspective.
The
seventh lesson I have learnt is that while you must be open to change,
do
not compromise on your values. Mahatma Gandhiji often said that you must open the
windows of your mind, but you must not be swept off your feet by the breeze. You must
define what your core values are and what you stand for. And these values are
not so difficult to define. Values like honesty, integrity, consideration
and humility have survived for generations. Values are not in the
words used to describe them as much as in the simple acts. At the end of the
day, it is values that define a person more than the achievements. Because it
is the means of achievement that decide how long the achievements will
sustain. Do not be tempted by short cuts. The short cut can make you lose your
way and end up becoming the longest way to the destination.
And
the final lesson I learnt is that we must have faith in our own ideas
even
if everyone tells us that we are wrong.
There
was once a newspaper vendor who had a rude customer. Every morning,
the
Customer would walk by, refuse to return the greeting, grab the paper
off
the shelf and throw the money at the vendor. The vendor would pick up
the
money, smile politely and say, "Thank you, Sir." One day, the
vendor's assistant asked him, "Why are you always so polite with him
when he is so rude to you? Why don't you throw the newspaper at him when he
comes back tomorrow?" The vendor smiled and replied, "He can't help
being rude and I can't help being polite. Why should I let his rude behavior
dictate my politeness?
In
my youth, I thought of myself as a rebel and was many times, a rebel
without
a cause. Today, I realize that my rebellion was another kind of
conformity.
We defied our elders to fall in line with our peers!
Ultimately,
we must learn to respond instead of reacting. When we respond,
we
evaluate with a calm mind and do whatever is most appropriate. We are in
control
of our actions. When we react, we are still doing what the other
person
wants us to do.
I
wish you all the best in your life and career. I hope you achieve success
in
whatever way you define it and what gives you the maximum happiness in
life.
Remember,
those who win are those who believe they can.”
Thank
you for finding out the time to read the thoughts and hopefully they will help
you in one way or the other. Enjoy life and please share some of your stories
with me that you think were life changing for you. If you are in a situation
where you need some help or guidance, please don’t hesitate to email me. I
cannot promise that I know all the solutions but I’ll try my best to direct you
in the right direction.
Yours
Lovingly,
Abhinav
Dada
