As I moved from one phase of life to another, I’ve come across many leaders and inspirers that have taught me and inspired me – directly or indirectly. They are the ones that helped me become me who I am today.  

Through the course of my experience, the one aspect I’ve noticed in every single individual that has been successful in what they do – is that they are Courageous. Their definition of Courage, however, is different. Courage does not mean that you don’t get scared, rather that you will work relentlessly until you overcome that fear. I constantly hear from them that it is okay to be afraid. But it is not okay to give up and get scared. Plan on handling the situation that tries to intimidate you and succeed. If you do not succeed, learn from the failure. What could you’ve done better? Was it the timing that did not work? Execution? Delivery? Or was it the plan itself?

And the reason these successful people don’t give up is because they do what excites them. They choose to do what they do because they love it, it makes them happy and it gives them a reason to get out of the bed every morning. Once you find your “it”, you will realize that you feel the exact same way. 

Now you might ask me – what exactly is “success”? Success is not what others define for you. It is how you define for yourself. The activities that excite you and give you a feeling of extreme happiness when you do it – contribute to that successful feeling. Success can be defined differently at different stages of your life – the premise is to feel happy when you accomplish it. For me, I feel successful when I achieve that little extra in everything that I do. If it is exercising, then those few extra calories I burn make me feel successful. If it is about delivering a presentation, it is that extra amount of perfection, finesse and charm that I use to make it memorable. If it is having a conversation, it is that additional fun, life and happiness I bring into that conversation that makes me feel successful.  

PS: Thank you to every single one of those who’ve inspired me to write this piece. I can start listing out the names here, but I will run over time and space =D

Several months ago, I was pondering over something and felt that this drawing that I drew on my whiteboard was a perfect reflection of the state of mind I was in. 

And when I shared that on my facebook, I added a caption - "Going in different directions. Ending up nowhere." 

Today, months after that drawing, I still feel the exact same way I did then - like I'm being pulled in different directions, not knowing where I'm heading...or if I'm even heading *some*where. How do you respond to it when you are in such a state of mind? 

Change. A very strong and powerful word. It is also one of my most favorite, at the same time, most dreaded words. If you have been reading my not-so-often-updated blog, "change" has been a dear topic for my in the past (related post1 and post2).

Now you might ask me, why is that word so dear (and fearful) to me? It is because we, as humans, are so open and at the same time, so closed for 'change'! We like "change" only when we like to or when we want to. We also like "change" when it is thrusted on us with an outcome that we like. However, we do not like "change" when we do not want to change or when we do not get the preferred outcome. If I read between the lines, it all boils down to "Is your wish/desire/ego (depending on how strong the 'want' is) satisfied?" Do we really want to keep fueling our desires and ego? The more we do that, don't we fall into the misapprehension that not everything is under our control?

Can we change to our dream job when we want? Can we move to our dream house when we want? Most of the times, the answer would be a resounding "NO!". And then when the change doesn't happen when we want it to, we attribute it to destiny. Now, if we step back (apologize for my 'corporate talk'), aren't we a little illogical? We want the change to happen when we want it and we blame the destiny (oh, or fate!) when that doesn't happen? Who is to blame in reality? Nothing else, no one else, other than we ourselves.

As always, it is easy to say and hard to do, but we have to be more patient and wait for the change to happen, while working towards it diligently at the same time.

[The following content has been added on Jan 13, 2011, a day after the actual publish date]

Isn't it hilarious, ironic, weird or even simply outrageous that how "change" can just creep up on us? It might be something we have been expecting all along, but that one day when that change becomes pronounced or official - doesn't it just hit us hard? And if you are wondering why I wanted to edit my original post and add this content, THIS is the reason! Now what that link talks about is how the planets revolve, how their gravitational pull affects the alignment of stars, so on and so forth. In a nutshell, this planetary movement has simply bumped all the zodiac signs by a month! Here's a snapshot of what I see on the Washington Post:

Capricorn: Jan. 20-Feb. 16
Aquarius: Feb. 16-March 11
Pisces: March 11-April 18
Aries: April 18-May 13
Taurus: May 13-June 21
Gemini: June 21-July 20
Cancer: July 20-Aug. 10
Leo: Aug. 10-Sept. 16
Virgo: Sept. 16-Oct. 30
Libra: Oct. 30-Nov. 23
Scorpio: Nov. 23-Dec. 17
Sagittarius: Dec. 17-Jan. 20

For three decades (oops, did I just say that out loud?!), I have morphed myself into being a Capricorn, so why should I now have to try and migrate to being a Sagi?! Will I like becoming a Sagi? Do I still love being a Capri? How smooth will the transition be from an Earth sign to a Fire sign?

(Funny anecdote about this, courtesy of my colleague, "Will we, who were born in the earlier 'defined' zodiac signs, be 'grandfathered'?")

What do you think?

A couple of months after I graduated from my MBA, I decided to change jobs and focus on what I am passionate about: Product Marketing. And then I turned towards rekindling my another passion: reading.

With the advent of technology and the widely available options, I first thought of getting myself an e-reader. Would it be a perfect replacement for shelves of books? Would it be the easiest way to carry my personal library around? And if I did decide to go the electronic route, which one should it be? Kindle? iPad? Nook? Which one? A little more research helped me understand that I was not ready for the electronic ink yet. I love reading books the old-fashioned way. I still feel that there is nothing that can equal a warm, cozy evening on the couch, with a hot cup of tea in one hand and a book in the other. I, hence, deferred my e-purchase for later and started filling up my Amazon.com shopping cart!

Getting back into reading, especially after reading gazillions of academic books through the course of MBA, is not easy (or at least, it wasn't for me). Fiction got me back into the habit and I was finishing up murder stories and thrillers almost at the rate of a book per day!

Now that I am fully back into reading, I went through a second round of shopping on Amazon. (Yes, if you have been wondering why Amazon's stock price is up north, it is due to people like me :D ). I got myself some educational books such as "Slide:ology", "UnMarketing", "The Walmar Effect", "Presentation Zen" among a few other similar books.

And I let myself drift away into the world of reading....on paper, with some old-fashioned ink, not an e-reader (yet) with e-ink.

Happy Reading!

Nothing can beat watching an Indian movie on the first day of its release, in a Gandhi-class seating (now I don’t know how this term came into existence, but it means the first few rows in the theater where the view is not great and you end up hurting your neck real bad), a couple of days before Independence Day! One of the reasons we voted watching this movie was the famous “Mungeri Lal” (known as Raghubir Yadav in real life) from the DoorDarshan days’ “Mungeri Lal ke Haseen Sapne”!

Peepli [Live] is what could have been a very strong movie with a powerful message. If you’ve watched the movie, you will know why I say “could have been”. Peepli [Live] is about the woes of the drought- and debt-ridden farmers who eventually consider the path of suicide for two reasons: (a) Freedom from the woes and (b) Financial remuneration to the surviving family by the Government. Peepli [Live] is also about the power of media, journalism, reporters, and the level of influence they draw.

This satirical, yet a brilliant movie starts with two farmer brothers and their problems that arise from the bank’s decision of auctioning their land because they couldn’t repay the loan. They hear from the local leader that a farmer’s suicide fetches Rs. 1,00,000 (One Lakh Rupees) to the family that he leaves behind. These brothers decide to commit suicide and start arguing who should take that step. The younger brother, Natha, decides to be the ‘chosen one’. A local news reporter overhears this conversation and brings the core journalists’ team from the City. With that team come hordes of reporters swarming the tiny village. The village now starts breeding police (to provide security to Natha), reporters (to report the movement of Natha’s goat or describing how Natha used his hammer!!) to the public, the ‘backward caste’ leader donating Natha a TV (how, in the holy name of God, could a TV help Natha?!) and eventually the Chief Minister of the State visiting and convincing him to not die.

This movie has accurately described not only the power of the media and journalism, but also the way that power is now being exploited and abused by the News Reporters in India. Now don’t get me wrong, the journalists now do a fabulous job of bringing every tiny issue into limelight. But is there a solution that’s offered to that victim in the spotlight? NO! Does that kind of media coverage stop those incidents from repeating in future? NO! Then what in the world’s name are the journalists doing? Striving hard to bring the “ratings” higher for the channel that employs them! Now I know there is nothing wrong to work towards the success of your employer. However, the journalists and the reporters shouldn’t forget that the pen is mightier than a sword!! If journalism cannot accomplish eradication of the corruption in its society, what else can?

Some of the memorable characters that I liked are Hori Mahato, Rakesh and Budhiya.

So how does the movie end? Surprisingly and shockingly! As soon as the credits started at the end, my immediate reaction was “What the heck!!” (…and you know what I really meant ;-) )

Have you watched it? Let me know what YOU think about it…by posting a comment here J