Small steps towards great world

I know this driver, at his 50s, who drives one of my Company’s vehicles; very humble, submissive and ever smiling, named Tajuddin. Apart from his gentle nature, I have noticed a unique feature in him. Whenever he passes by a Temple, he would salute the god or goddess there, with the same devotion as he does when he passes a Durgah . One day, I asked him about this and he, very humbly, uttered a simple sentence, “Ek hi hain na, sir”. What a matured statement, what a sign of endurance and respect for others ! I did never imagine this thought from a person, who has spent his life time in front of the steering wheel. This has provoked a serious thought process in me, as to whether we realize in our everyday’s life the value of this “oneness”!! If you concentrate in this festive season, the essence of “oneness” is very evident. The Dusserah festival, though known in many names across different provinces, speaks about one thread which keeps human being entangled. Be it Durga Puja in Ea...

I was facilitating a session for senior managers on Time Management. To being with, I have taken all of them through a hypothetical situation. I told them, God forbids, if all of them are told by their doctors, that they have only one month to live more, what all pending jobs they will try to finish before they are no more. This has taken a few minutes for everyone to consume. Once they internalized the scenario, there was pin drop silence in the hall and I have noticed everyone engrossed in deep thoughts. Around fifteen minutes passed, the silence was unbearable, and suddenly one middle aged person broke the silence in chocked voice, “I can’t complete all these in mere thirty days”. Then the second one said, “my daughter needs a Barbie house”, third one said, “I have to repay my home loan”…and so on and so forth. Though this exercise was only to establish the importance of time management and prioritizing in our life, but did we ever think about this? This may happen to any of us,...

I happen to work for a Company which has a massive production plant at the outskirt of Hyderabad. The plant has got huge open space with lush green surroundings, long grass, water bodies, tress, and lot of flowers. Sometime, you notice a shrill sound of some bird, and to your surprise you realize that it’s a peacock. Nice feelings being there. Few days back, when I was there, was taking a round of the plant, two gentlemen were accompanying me. Suddenly, I realized that someone is singing a hymn; it struck my ears from a far off place. First I thought that it may be an FM station, playing in some parked vehicles. Then slowly, I realized that it was a hymn not sung by one, but a chorus. Others, with me, also became surprised, as to who it could be inside a manufacturing plant ! And then, lo and behold, we notice a group of village ladies, involved in cutting those tall grasses, singing a very rhythmic hymn, in some unknown village language. The hymn was having typical nodes, ups an...

The whole world is in a celebration mood being “mother’s day” today. Consumerism is at its height, hosts of advertisements, reminders, memorabilia flaunting around. All these prompted me to just rethink about my mother. A mother of two children, me being the younger. A working mother, with whom, as a child, I used to go to her school and used to fall fast asleep on her desk in the teachers’ common room. A busy mother, who used to frantically look for her umbrella everywhere in the house, and used to be irritated not finding it while going to her school. A strict mother, who used to gift me a tight slap when I used to fall asleep on my study table. And, an anxious mother, who used to be awake night after night, when I was suffering from nephritis. But as a mother, she is an expert in hiding her feelings. Her philosophy is, ‘show your feeling and spoil the child’. I still remember the day, when I was coming out for joining higher studies. My father urged her to accompany us till r...

I was pondering over the term, “relationship”. May be, relationship plays a vital role in human existence. Human beings have a general desire to belong and that is usually satisfied with a relationship. From the early ages of human existence, people wanted to share their feelings and thus various forms of relationships started evolving. If we feel happy, we need someone to share with; if sad, someone is needed to render that supporting shoulder; if in love, someone is needed to express that emotion; if in anger, someone is needed to vent out. And all these need a relationship with another human being. Thus we need family, friends, lover and even an enemy (enemy is also a relation?). So, a relationship is a bridge between my existence and my emotional overflow. I exist, because I think and I feel. And a relationship exists, because I want to share that thinking or feeling with someone. When someone gives me a patience hearing or renders a helping hand or just a window for my feelings t...

Few days back, I was a part of an interview panel for fresh MBAs and I met this girl during the interview, who was an aspirant for the job. Very average looking, smiling, wearing a saree and finding it difficult to handle the Indian dress. Once she cleared the written round, it was time for a personal interaction. We, at the interview panel, started with her family background (I strongly feel the family background is an entirely personal domain and we should not ask about it). She was very candid saying that her father is a helper in a Hindu crematorium and mother works as a sweeper in municipality. She also narrated that all along she has been helped by local social organizations for her studies. Believe me, the occupation of her parents did not generate much enthusiasm in the group, but her pride in declaring the fact, did. She held her head up and replied to questions very confidently. I was wondering about the source of her confidence. It appeared that she is very honored to belon...

I was going through Wikipedia and the definition of Fear mentioned there is “a distressing negative sensation induced by a perceived threat”. The key words in this definition are very apt, “distressing”, “negative”, “induced” and “perceived”. Wiki also says that the most common fears include fears of rejection, intimacy, death and people. I was amazed to see that the list of common fears is mostly of human relations. I am afraid of rejection of someone whom I want to be intimate to, I am afraid of my interactions with people and overall, like many others, I am fearful of my death!! So, all fears are out of our perception of a situation? If I perceive that I am Shah Rukh Khan, let the world laugh at me, but for me, I am SRK. So, my perception is my reality and then my fear is also genuine. If the cause of such perceptions are analyzed, it may be deep rooted in my experience from childhood; may be I have been rejected from relations or I have seen people being rejected or I have seen so...