Motherhood is the Purest form of Love, Highest form of Education & Best form of Leadership

A baby asked God, "They tell me you are sending me to earth tomorrow, but how am I going to live there being so small and helpless?"

"Your angel will be waiting for you and will take care of you."

The child further inquired, "But tell me, here in heaven I don't have to do anything but sing and smile to be happy."

God said, "Your angel will sing for you and will also smile for you. You will feel your angel's love and be very happy."

Again the child asked, "How am I going to be able to understand when people talk to me if I don't know the language?"

God said, "Your angel will tell you the most beautiful and sweet words you will ever hear and with much patience and care, your angel will teach you how to speak."

"What am I going to do when I want to talk to you?"

God said, "Your angel will place your hands together and will teach you how to pray."

"Who will protect me?"

God said, "Your angel will defend you even if it means risking her life."

"But I will always be sad because I will not see you anymore."

God said, "Your angel will always talk to you about Me and will teach you the way to come back to Me, even though I will always be next to you."

At that moment there was much peace in Heaven but voices from Earth could be heard and the child hurriedly asked, "God, if I am to leave now, please tell me my angel's name."

"You will simply call her, 'Mom.'

Abraham Lincoln said, ‘All that I am or hope to be, I owe to my angel mother.’ I say the same. Mother is a word which means the world to me and I am sure it is true for everyone out there on this planet. I was born 29 years ago in a remote village of Rajasthan. I spent my first 16 years in that village where I did not have distractions of television, phones, newspapers, birthday parties, hobbies (not even reading) and going to gardens as there is still none. Hence all the time I had after school and homework, I spent observing my mother doing the house chores, taking care of us, three siblings and the cattle we had, interacting with family members, helping my father in his tailoring shop, handling the quarrels with my uncles & neighbors who perhaps were jealous of few materialistic haves to my parents and academic haves to me.

When I look back and reflect on that time; my family life has improved by few thousands of percentage points. People say it is all because of a worthy son. However, truth be told. I have just been a toy which has been designed in certain manner, programmed with some empowering beliefs and keyed in to perform; doer is my mother. She taught me some of the greatest lessons of life:

• Love is a subject of sacrifice and behavior: Her busyness of 19 hours a day and untiring efforts to make her kids’ life better was the exhibited behavior. She never had time for celebrations and sorrows. Her focus used to be making some sacrifice and then making some more. 
• Integrity is the best tool to influence and lead: She did cheat my father at times to save few extra bucks for my education yet she was epitome of honesty in making sure that the money is used only for the sake of education of her children, especially me. Honesty in thought, word & deed was also the spoken lesson. 
• Fun is subjective thing: She did not have a job instead she had work and hence holidayed all her life. Every work she did gave her more energy, happiness & fulfillment. She had fun in her work – what an approach! 
• Excellence is a function of promise, persistence & patience: ‘What you do may be insignificant still it is very important that you do that’, said Mahatma Gandhi. My mother lived this over and over again with undefined period of patience.
• Time is life: Wake up at 3:30 am and finish dozens of activities from cattle to kids and household chores to helping in family owned tailoring enterprise, family chores included getting 20 water pots from public tank which was equivalent to walking 40 kilometers on sand tunes. This went on not for a week but for 16 years, 19 Hrs of work every single day. She never lost any battle to the clock instead, used to beat the clock without any alarm. Guiding belief ‘waste of time is waste of life, as it is the stuff life is made of.' 
• Vision is a big differentiator: She is a dreamer. She dreamt of a life for me which I got to know much later. Her thinking is still at par or more forward than me. She saw a future for me and toiled day and night to help her son live the life of fulfillment. My village friends passed class X or XII and joined jobs and she strictly told me not compare with them, ‘big achievements take time just like mango tree takes time while weeds develop in less than a week’.   

I strongly believe in the Jewish Proverb ‘God could not be everywhere and therefore he made mothers.’  My mother’s strength and love has guided me and gave me wings to fly. I attribute all my success in life to the behavioral and character education I received from her.

My life has just begun, the best is yet to come and I am confident that I am cut out for big things in life – all because of the empowering beliefs my angel mother inculcated in me.

She extended the purest form of love to me, even before I dreamt of sleeping with a beautiful wife.

She gave the best form of education to me, even before I stepped into Indian Institute of Management.

She showed what true leadership is, even before I spelt Mahatma Gandhi. ‘Thanks my angel mother. I owe everything to you. On this mothers’ day, I commit to see tears of happiness & pride in your eyes, more often.’

Let me give you one more reason to love your mother or mother of your kids, ‘A human body can bear only upto 45 Del (unit of pain). But at the time of giving birth, a woman feels upto 57 Del of Pain. This is equal to 20 bones getting fractured at a time.’

Go home and love your mom (or mom of your kids)! If you are a mom, accept my regards & respect!

Three Mistakes of My Student Life

A life spent making mistakes is not only more honorable, but also more useful than a life spent doing nothing.                                               -- George Bernard Shaw

In the pursuit of happiness and success, we all make decisions to do few things and not to do few others. The decisions come from our experience which in turn is shaped by our judgments – good and bad. I was lucky for having made many mistakes and even luckier for learning lessons which have shaped my life the way it is today.  My belief is – everyone makes mistakes but only a person of integrity owns up to them. Integrity being one of my core values; let me publicly accept three most stoical mistakes of my student life which taught me greatest life lessons.

1. LISTENING TO FAILURES: I completed my schooling from government school in a remote village and headed to Kota for preparation of state level engineering entrance, Rajasthan Pre-Engineering Test (AIEEE came into existence later). I was all alone as no one accompanied me to this new place. To my amazement I got to know about the prestigious Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) for the first time. A dream of being an IITian was born in my heart. I approached few other students; who I got to know much later, happened to be seasoned failures in IIT entrance for 3 years. They came closer to me and acted like my biggest well-wishers in the world. They advised that, ‘you poor fellow, belong to a small village, can’t even speak proper Hindi, not able to speak a single sentence in English. This entrance requires preparation of three to four years which will put your parents in debts and sorrow.’ They further added that ‘if you prepare for IIT, you will be embracing sure shot failure as it is not your cup of tea. Think small, go for state level engineering entrance and forget IIT.’ What a murder of a dream! I am not sure shall I call it foeticide or infanticide? But yes, it definitely a murder.

When making a choice for Common Admission Test (CAT) for making it to IIMs, I was utterly cautious of these killers. The dream transformed into reality, I made it to the Indian Institutes of Management. My advice to you is: ‘Never listen to failures and reach out only to people who have already succeeded in the field where you want to start’. The biggest problem is – these dream killers exist in the form of our friends, family & familiars, though they may be doing this unknowingly. Make your own decisions; put your future in safest hands – your own.

        

2. BEING MISER: Coming from a lower class of society where my parents made Rs 6000/- a month to support a family of 5 members; the habit of being miser came in the package along with many other great gifts like hard work, good time management, patience, perseverance, values stronger than rocks and many others from my family.

It was the time of summers in the year 2001 when I was going to take Engineering entrance exam. I used to take shared auto to the exam center for the purpose of saving money. Unfortunately I did not find any shared auto on that day and personal autos asked for Rs 40/- as fare which was exorbitantly high for me and I refused to pay. Instead I walked three kilometers on foot and reached 7 minutes late in the test of Physics which was good enough to make me anxious and diminish my level of concentration. Two months later the results were announced and greed to save forty bucks had pushed me down by three ranks in the entrance. It matters a lot when those three ranks are the first ones.  

That day I decided not be kind to my parents when it comes to investment in myself. Truly, I have become extravagant in buying books, DVDs, getting trainings, joining gym, making a donation to needy school kids, attending spiritual discourses and in many other ways to develop myself physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually. My advice to you is, never hesitate making investments in yourself. You might make losses if you invest in properties, gold or stocks however investment in yourself will always leave you enriched and wise in more than one way.

3. NOT PLAYING SPORTS: I did not play sports in my student life. Sports inculcate many greatness traits in a person’s character which I missed during school days and am working hard to develop now. Just to list few of the qualities developed through sports are:

Discipline: It is the key to success in every project we do. Sports, practically teach that discipline is not a set of limitations rather it is the biggest form of freedom. For example follow the discipline of traffic rules and get freedom from fatalistic accidents, follow the discipline of eating well and be free from obesity and other food generated diseases, be disciplined in sleep and stay free from lethargy, be disciplined in exercise regimen and be full of energy.  

Teamwork:  This helps one learn working in teams. Great industrialists, politicians, saints, leaders – all work in teams. Working in teams is one of the ageless secrets for riches, fulfillment and happiness. Many miss out on this great quality just because of being deprived from sports.

Setting goals: focusing like a laser beam to realize the dreams and developing supportive habits which provide you the stimulus to reach your goals is fundamental to success in any field. Players set goal to win individually and in team for every game. Unknowingly this habit of goal setting makes its roots in our subconscious mind. It makes us walk extra miles and reach our other goals in life.

Leadership: Just imagine being captain of your cricket or volleyball team. You learn how to push people to greater heights for achieving a common goal.  One learns to deal with a variety of personalities and appreciate the talents of others.

Perseverance:  Training camps.  Long practices. Hot days. Wind sprints. Early mornings. Losing and bouncing. Winning and celebrating. They all teach perseverance.  

Let sports be as important as academics in life of students.

  
‘Wise is the one who learns from another´s mistakes. Less wise is the one who learns only from his own mistakes. The fool keeps making the same mistakes again and again and never learns from them.’ I believe my readers are among the wisest people on this planet and hence will learn from my mistakes only not to commit them.  On the other hand, you are free and as Gandhi said “Freedom is not worth having if it does not include the freedom to make mistakes”. Hence go and make some mistakes but never let them go without teaching you the valuable lessons. 

Remember, if you're heading in the wrong direction, God allows U-turns!

Want to fulfill dreams? – Be deaf!

"You will never reach your destination if you stop and throw stones at every dog that barks."  - Winston Churchill

There once was a bunch of tiny frogs who got together to organize a competition for reaching to the top of the highest tower in town.

As the date for the competition was announced, the news spread everywhere and crowd in large numbers gathered around the tower to see this interesting competition and cheer on the contestants. The crowd did not really believe any of these little frogs were going to make it to the top of the tower. Yet they were curious.

The big day arrived, the competition began, the frogs quickly started to ascend and the crowd cheered.

As a few moments passed, someone from the crowd shouted, "Not a chance that they will succeed! The tower is too high!"

Another spectator said, "Yes, they will never make it to the top. It's way too difficult!"

As the competition continued, some of the tiny frogs began collapsing. One by one, tired and exhausted.  But the race continued, as those who still had the fight left, passionately continued to climb higher and higher.

In the excitement and anxiety the crowd continued to yell, "It is too difficult. No one will make it!"

More tiny frogs got tired and gave up. They all continued to give up one by one, until there was only one little frog left in the competition who continued to climb higher and higher and higher.

This one wouldn’t give up!

This one tiny frog who, after persistent efforts was the only one who reached the top! This little soul was the winner! He made it to the top and got the glory!

Naturally, everyone wanted to know how this one tiny frog managed to pull it off when every other contestant gave up. Everybody wanted to know how this tiny frog had found the strength to reach this goal that everyone else thought was impossible. So, they asked questions.

It turned out that the winner was deaf.

Winners never pay attention to what other people’s opinions are when it comes to their dreams and goals. Focus on your goal and march in confidence. People who are not playing with you, people who are not helping you reach your destination, will always have opinions and generally – negative ones. Do not pay any attention to them. Just be deaf and keep walking else your dreams might get murdered anytime by so called free consultants, available out in the world. 

Here are few deaf people who blessed the world before and you can be the next.

 Had these people not been deaf to the world, they could have never made in their lives.

Be deaf when people tell you that you can’t fulfill your dreams and goals. Don’t let the cowards come in the way to your dreams they generally have opinions and no facts. Even if they have facts; remember ‘If your dreams are BIG enough, facts too do not count.’

If you liked this...you would love to read my poem on dreams: http://bit.ly/132Vctx

Fulfilling Our Dreams

I have always believed in the power of dreams and am truly fascinated with the impetus brought by clarity for fulfilling our dreams. The best tool to bring clarity on what we want is to – Write our dreams down on a piece of paper.

Though, the universe is aware of both the nebulous dreams, we have not yet begun to refine and the concrete goals we actively pursue. Neither our struggles nor the day dreams that inspire us are beyond the range of the universal perception. Yet, to manifest our aspirations, we not only need to know what it is we generally wish to achieve. We also need to clearly articulate these aims to ourselves and the universe. When we create a list of what we want citing as much detail as possible, our aspirations take on new substance. What was once a mere wish becomes real and achievable when put into words and given a timeline. Words bring clarity which gives power to our desires.  

List everything you ever wanted to be, to do, to have, to go to or to achieve; date each item when you enter it and indicate the area of life involved, also write the approximate time you want to get the goals by. As you pour the contents of your heart and soul into your list; your well defined ambitions become a part of you and the universe responds to your new determination by placing opportunities related to your objectives in your path. Whatever the nature of your desires, your list can help you channel your intellectual and emotional power into your efforts to realize them.

The list you create should not only be a record of your individual goals. Rather it should be a comprehensive, exhaustive catalog of each target you want to reach, your reasons for aiming those things and photographs cut from magazines, newspapers or printed specifically for your dream notebook. This may mean that your list will encompass many pages of text and art. When you write down and review your ambitions, you empower yourself to more accurately direct your goal realization efforts. You then also have a framework on place that helps you distinguish success from setbacks.

If you keep your list in a convenient spot and review it daily, you will inadvertently reaffirm your conviction about your aspirations demonstrating to the universe that you are truly devoted to your chosen path, while keeping your objectives fresh in your mind. If you have a special slab or stand to keep your decorated dreams list, this would be a great place for the list.

As you compose your list, try not to edit or judge what you have written. Some of what you want may seem bizarre when considered in the context of your current circumstances. Whether the items on the unique long-term agenda you create are destined to be fulfilled in 10 years or 20 years, if you are free with your ideas and understand that you may not bring these dreams into the realm of reality for some time, your list will attract the universe’s benevolence even as it energizes and inspires you. Believe that you are god’s own child and your wishes will be fulfilled just like the wishes of a prince or princess.  Of course the dreams have to be in tandem with the wellness of the world – there is a magnet in our hearts which attracts people and things of our thoughts to us. Your job is to remove the clutter from this most powerful magnet and rust from the things you want to attract; the magnet will start doing its work.

This article is inspired from:

The book, ‘DailyOM by Madisyn Taylor’

The book, ‘The Secret by Rhonda Byrne’

The Bollywood movie, ‘Dasvidhaniya’