समस्याओं से लड़ना क्यूँ?

 

एक बार की बात है जापान में एक बहुत बड़ा योद्धा था। उसकी तलवार चलाने की कला का कोई मुकाबला न था। पूरे इलाके में उसकी धाक थी। उसके नाम से लोग कांपते थे। बड़े-बड़े तलवार चलाने वाले उसके सामने क्षणों में धूल-धूसरित हो गए थे। 

एक रात ऐसा हुआ कि योद्धा घर लौटा, अपनी तलवार उसने टांगी खूंटी पर, तभी उसने देखा कि एक चूहा उसके बिस्तर पर बैठा है। वह बहुत नाराज हो गया। योद्धा आदमी! उसने गुस्से में तलवार निकाल ली, क्योंकि गुस्से में वह और कुछ करना जानता ही न था। न केवल चूहा बैठा रहा तलवार को देखता, बल्कि चूहे ने इस ढंग से देखा कि योद्धा अपने आपे के बाहर हो गया। चूहा और यह हिम्मत? और चूहे ने ऐसे देखा कि जा जा, तलवार निकालने से क्या होता है? मैं कोई आदमी थोड़े ही हूं जो डर जाऊं? उसने क्रोध में उठा कर तलवार चला दी। चूहा छलांग लगा कर बच गया। बिस्तर कट गया। अब तो क्रोध की कोई सीमा न रही। अब तो अंधाधुंध चलाने लगा तलवार वह जहां चूहा दिखाई पड़े। और चूहा भी गजब का था। वह उचके और बचे। पसीना-पसीना हो गया योद्धा और तलवार टूट कर टुकड़े-टुकड़े हो गई। और चूहा फिर भी बैठा था। वह तो घबड़ा गया; समझ गया कि यह कोई चूहा साधारण नहीं है, कोई प्रेत, कोई भूत। क्योंकि मुझसे बड़े-बड़े योद्धा हार चुके हैं और एक चूहा नहीं हार रहा!

अब योद्धा एक बात है और चूहा बिलकुल दूसरी बात है। वह घबड़ा कर बाहर आ गया। उसने जाकर अपने मित्रों को पूछा कि क्या करूं? उन्होंने कहा, तुम भी पागल हो! चूहे से कोई तलवार से लड़ता है? अरे, एक बिल्ली ले जाओ, निबटा देगी। हर चीज की औषधि है। और जहां सूई से काम चलता हो वहां तलवार चलाओगे, मुश्किल में पड़ जाओगे। बिल्ली ले जाओ।

लेकिन योद्धा की परेशानी और चूहे की तेजस्विता की कथा गांव भर में फैल चुकी। बिल्लियों को भी पता चल गई। बिल्लियां भी डरीं। क्योंकि उनका भी आत्मविश्वास खो गया। इतना बड़ा योद्धा हार गया जिस चूहे से! पकड़-पकड़ कर बिल्लियों को लाया जाए। बिल्लियां बड़ा मुश्किल से; दरवाजे के बाहर ही अपने को खींचने लगें; बामुश्किल उनको भीतर करें कि वे भीतर चूहे को देख कर बाहर आ जाएं। एक-दो बिल्लियों ने झपटने की भी कोशिश की, लेकिन उन्होंने पाया कि चूहा झपट्टा उन पर मारता है। यह चूहा अजीब था, क्योंकि चूहा कभी बिल्ली पर झपट्टा नहीं मारता जब तक कि उसको कोई शराब न पिला दी गई हो, जब तक वह होश के बाहर न हो जाए। और चूहा अगर बिल्ली पर झपटे तो बिल्ली का आत्मविश्वास खो जाता है।

तो सारी बिल्लियां इकट्ठी हो गईं। उन्होंने कहा, हमारी इज्जत का भी सवाल है। योद्धा तो एक तरफ रहा, हारे न हारे, हमें कुछ लेना-देना नहीं; ऐसे भी हमारा कोई मित्र न था; चूहे ने ठीक ही किया। मगर अब हमारी इज्जत दांव पर लगी है; अब हम क्या करें? एक दफा अगर हम हार गए और गांव के दूसरे चूहों को पता चल गया, तो यह सब  प्रतिष्ठा की ही बात होती है। एक दफा पोल खुल जाए तो बहुत मुश्किल हो जाती है। अगर दूसरे चूहे भी हमला करने लगे तो हम तो गए, कहीं के न रहे। इस योद्धा ने तो हमें ही डुबा दिया।

राजा के महल में एक बिल्लियों की गुरु थी, तो उन सब ने  उससे प्रार्थना की कि अब तुम्हीं कुछ करो। उसने कहा, तुम भी पागल हो। इसमें करने जैसा क्या है? मैं अभी आई। वह बिल्ली आई; वह भीतर गई; उसने चूहे को पकड़ा और बाहर ले आई। बिल्लियों ने पूछा कि तुमने किया क्या? उसने कहा, कुछ करने की जरूरत है? मैं बिल्ली हूं, वह चूहा है; बात खतम। इसमें तुमने करने का सोचा कि तुम मुश्किल में पड़ोगे। क्योंकि करने का मतलब हुआ कि डर समा गया। उसका स्वभाव चूहे का है और मेरा स्वभाव बिल्ली का है; बात खतम। हमारा काम पकड़ना है और उसका काम पकड़ा जाना है। यह तो स्वाभाविक है। इसमें कुछ लेना-देना नहीं है। इसमें कुछ करना नहीं है। न इसमें हम जीत रहे हैं, न इसमें वह हार रहा है। इसमें हार-जीत कहां? यह उसका स्वभाव है; यह हमारा स्वभाव है। दोनों का स्वभाव मेल खाता है; चूहा पकड़ा जाता है। तुमने स्वभाव के अतिरिक्त कुछ करने की कोशिश की। और चूहे से कहीं कोई लड़ कर जीता है? 

बिल्ली जिस दिन लड़े, समझना कि हार गई। लड़ने की शुरुआत ही हार की शुरुआत है।

समस्याओं से लड़ना क्यूँ ?  Zen  के जानकार कहते हैं, समस्याओं के साथ वही व्यवहार करना जो बिल्ली ने चूहे के साथ किया। चेतना का स्वभाव पर्याप्त है, होश काफी है। होश के मुंह में समस्या वैसे ही चली आती है जैसे बिल्ली के मुंह में चूहा चला आता है; इसमें कुछ करना नहीं पड़ता।

लेकिन तुम योद्धा बन कर तलवार लेकर खड़े हो जाते हो। दो कौड़ी की समस्या है; सूई की भी जरूरत न थी, तुम तलवार से लड़ने लगते हो। तो हारोगे ही।  

Treat Your Life as Your Own Project

Each of us is born with a unique story waiting to be written. Yet, most of us live according to scripts handed to us by society, family, or circumstances. We follow routines, make choices others expect, and lose sight of what truly matters to us. But life becomes meaningful only when we take ownership of it;  when we decide to treat our life as our own project.  

Do Not Live Someone Else’s Script  

Others may have opinions about what your life should look like, but only you can define its direction. Living by someone else’s script is like acting in a play you never auditioned for. Break free from that pattern. Ask yourself what truly excites, moves, and fulfills you - then start crafting that life intentionally.  

Begin With the End in Mind  

Stephen Covey said in his iconic book 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, “Begin with the end in mind.” Imagine yourself at the end of your life, looking back. What do you want to be able to say about your journey? What achievements, relationships, and experiences will make you feel that your life was well-lived? This vision becomes your compass - guiding daily decisions and long-term efforts.  

Work Toward What Truly Matters  

Once you know what kind of life you want to create, work purposefully to make it real. Set goals that align with your deeper values. Build habits that move you closer each day. Celebrate small progress. Life is not meant to be an accident that happens to you - it’s a creative project that evolves under your care and effort.  

Do Not Drift Through Life  

Drifting is easy - intentional living takes work. Without purpose, time slips by unnoticed, and dreams remain vague possibilities. Steer your life with awareness. Reflect often, adjust your path when needed, and stay focused on the bigger picture. Every action, no matter how small, should serve your life’s larger purpose.  

Treating your life as your own project is an act of courage and determination - one that replaces passivity with purpose. When you take charge of the narrative, you no longer just exist; you create, evolve, and inspire.  

चिड़िया का घोंसला: माता-पिता के लिए एक सीख

पिछले महीने एक दिन हमारे घर के दरवाजे के ऊपर एक चिड़िया ने अपना घोंसला बनाकर उसमें अंडे दे दिए। हमारा मन उत्सुकता से भर गया और चिड़िया की गतिविधियों पर नजर रखना हमारा रोज का नियम बन गया। समय के साथ, चिड़िया ने अंडों को सेया और घोंसले में दो नन्हे नन्हे बच्चे आ गए।

हमने देखा कि चिड़िया एक माँ की तरह अपने बच्चों की देखभाल कर रही थी—उनके लिए खाना जुटाना, उन्हें खिलाना, अपने शरीर की गर्मी से उन्हें गर्म रखना आदि। धीरे-धीरे बच्चे बड़े होने लगे।

करीब एक हफ्ते बाद मैंने एक अनोखी बात देखी; चिड़िया बच्चों के पंखों को अपनी चोंच से सहला रही थी और उन्हे ऊपर नीचे कर रही थी। शुरुआत में यह देखकर हम हैरान थे, लेकिन बाद में समझ आया कि वह अपने बच्चों को उड़ने के लिए तैयार कर रही थी। लग रहा था की वह अपने बच्चों को कह रही हो - समय आ गया है, अब तुम अपनी खुद की उड़ान भरने के लिए तैयार हो जाओ। 

कुछ दिनों तक यह सिलसिला चलता रहा, और फिर एक दिन दोनों बच्चे घोंसले से उड़ गए।

इस अनुभव मे मुझे सभी माता-पिताओ के लिए एक गहरी सीख दिखती है। अक्सर हम लोग अपने बच्चों को जरूरत से ज्यादा सुरक्षा और मदद देने लगते हैं, चाहे वो कितने ही बड़े न हो जाएँ। हमे लगता है कि हमारी मदद के बिना हमारा बच्चा कुछ नहीं कर पाएगा। माता-पिता को चाहिए कि वे बच्चों को अच्छी शिक्षा और संस्कार दें, ताकि वे स्वतंत्र बन सकें। और जब बच्चे आत्मनिर्भर हो जाएं, तो हमें उन्हें अपनी उड़ान भरने देना चाहिए और अत्यधिक सुरक्षा देना बंद करना चाहिए।

इसका मतलब यह नहीं कि हम उन्हें प्यार करना बंद कर दें या support ही न करें। बल्कि हमें over-protective नहीं होना चाहिए और उन्हें धीरे-धीरे Independent बनाने का प्रयास करना चाहिए, जैसे कि उनको अपने फैसले खुद लेने देना चाहिए और अपनी गलतियों से सीखने देना चाहिए। 

इससे हमारे बच्चे अधिक जिम्मेदार और परिपक्व वयस्क जीवन जी पाएंगे।

ज़िन्दगी के बाज़ार मे, न डरना कभी Crash से

मेरे परम मित्र अनुज भार्गव ने कितने सुंदर शब्दों मे ज़िंदगी की हकीकत बताई है:

आज फुर्सत थी,

तो कुछ लिख डाला

ज़िन्दगी एक बाज़ार है,

कभी bullish, कभी bear,

कभी ख़ुशी के dividends, 

कभी आँसुओं का share. 

IPO से शुरू होती है, 

सपनों के valuation के साथ,

पर हर दिन का index बदलता है, 

नए सवालों के साथ।

रिस्क भी है, रिवॉर्ड भी, 

SIP, diversification, patience का है बड़ा role,

लगातार, समय से, विविध investment 

से ही मिलता है goal.

कभी stop loss लगाना पड़ता है, 

कभी hold करना सही,

emotions के candlestick में, 

हर पल लिखी है कहानी वही।

तो portfolio संभाल के चलना, 

न डरना कभी crash से,

समझना इसे बस एक correction,

क्यूंकि ज़िन्दगी का long term graph तो,

आगे बढ़ता जाता है ऐश से! 

Good vs Evil & Relationships

 

Every year as we celebrate Dashahara or Vijay Dashmi as the triumph of Good over Evil, I get reminded of the way Lord Ram persisted in his fight for Truth against all odds and emerged victorious in the end. It tells me without doubt that like Ravan, people on the wrong path may appear prosperous, mighty and invincible for a while, but let us face them with courage and conviction, the Truth will prevail in the end. It convinces me that it is best to follow the path of Truth and right principles in life.

Incidentally, Dashahara and Gandhi Jayanti fell on the same day this year; and there is a common thread between the two.

Mahatma Gandhi, created history by mobilizing the masses in India’s freedom struggle against the tyrant British government without ever deviating from the path of Truth and principles,

He used to say, “There may be tyrants and murderers and for a time, they may seem invincible, but in the end, truth and love has always won”. 

In every situation, remember to follow this principle – do what is right, and stay on the side of truth. Even if appears to bring adversity in the short run, stay firmly on your path and things will eventually be alright. Whenever in doubt, recall the story of Lord Ram and the quote from Gandhi Ji to reinforce your resolve.

However very often, things are not Black or White, but are in a shade of grey. For example, if someone close to us, a friend or a family member is seen straying on the wrong path, what should we do? He may appear to have a good fortune as a result of his wrongdoing or may have hit a rough patch as an outcome of his decisions. What do we do in either case? You will agree that this situation is way more complex than an evil enemy. You can fight a war with an enemy, but what to do when its a friend?

• As a friend, I feel responsible for extending support through thick and thin as we have a strong relationship.
• As a well-wisher, I am also tempted to counsel him about the consequences and try to dissuade him from this path. Many times, he may just ignore my advice, specially when the going is good. 
• On the extreme side, I have the option of breaking the relationship and let him face the consequences of his actions.

This is a dilemma – what to do in such a situation. What is the right choice here? Relationship or Truth? Or is there a middle path to have both?

Recall that Ravan’s family faced a similar dilemma, and they chose different paths:

• Vibhishana tried to counsel Ravan and when it did not help, he chose to stay on the path of Truth with Lord Ram and severed his relationship with Ravan.
• Other brothers chose to stay with Ravan as a matter of solidarity. They had to pay the price of Ravan’s sins with their lives.

Keeping relationship in mind, providing support to the extent possible is essential. If our friend is in trouble, we need to be there for him without judging how he landed there. This is the true essence of any relationship. But we should ensure that we do it without getting involved in the mess ourselves. 

Always ensure that you do not get influenced and stray towards the path of evil yourself in the process of helping your friend. Very often, to wriggle out of a troublesome situation, people deploy the same evil methods that got them into it in the first place. This is a sure shot recipe of an endless downward spiral. Unfortunately, they fail to see this and may ask your help in such an attempt. Learn to recognize such a situation and avoid going that way. Use your own values and judgement to take this call; ask yourself, "Is it alright to do this?" In all situations, try to stay objective and do not get into excessive guilt or emotional pull. I agree that it is easier said than done, but who said life is easy?

These are really complex and unique situations that cannot have a boilerplate solution, but if you act with integrity and values, you have the best chance to do what is right while keeping the relationship intact. The person who is close to you does not become bad just because he has done something wrong. There is always a chance he learns from his mistakes and gets reformed. Continue to nurture your relationship without supporting his wrong actions, and pray that he realizes his follies.

Denominator लगाया क्या?

गुप्ता जी अपने बेटे रितेश की पढ़ाई को लेकर बड़े चिंतित थे। दो साल पहले रितेश जब 6th क्लास मे आया, तबसे उसके नंबर बस पास आने लायक ही आ रहे थे। गुप्ता जी ने उसे एक ट्यूशन भी लगाई, जिसके चलते उसके नंबर हर साल थोड़ा बेहतर होते गए, परंतु अब भी कालोनी के दूसरे सभी बच्चे उससे बहुत आगे रहते। गुप्ता जी चाहते थे कि उसका रिजल्ट और भी बेहतर हो। इसीलिए 9th क्लास की ट्यूशन के लिए गुप्ता जी ने एक दूसरे टीचर, अग्रवाल सर को संपर्क किया। 

अग्रवाल सर ने उनकी समस्या सुनी, 8th की marksheet देखी और फिर कुछ सोचने लगे। थोड़ी देर सोचने के बाद बोले,

"आपका बच्चा होनहार है, बस थोड़ी Guidance और मेहनत की जरूरत है, और ये कालोनी के top बच्चों मे शामिल हो सकता है।"

गुप्ता जी को अपने कानों पर विश्वास नहीं हुआ, 

"इसके लिए क्या करना होगा सर?"

"मेरा पहला सुझाव है कि आप इसका स्कूल बदलें, सिटी पब्लिक स्कूल (CPS) से निकाल कर इसे ग्लोबल पब्लिक स्कूल (GPS) में दाखिला दिलाएं।", सर ने जोर देकर कहा। 

सर का confidence देखकर उन्होंने रितेश को GPS मे दाखिला दिलाया और अग्रवाल सर की ट्यूशन लगा दी।  उन्हे उम्मीद बंध गई थी कि यह उनके बेटे के जीवन मे एक निर्णायक मोड है। 

9th के रिजल्ट आए तो वे बेहतर थे। शाम को जब अग्रवाल सर घर आए, वे बोले, "गुप्ता जी मुंह मीठा कराइए, आपके बेटे की मेहनत रंग लाई इसने इस साल बहुत अच्छे मार्क्स लाकर आपको गौरान्वित किया है । 8th मे इसके मार्क्स  280 थे जो इस साल बढ़कर 375 हो गए गए हैं।" 

गुप्ता जी खुशी के मारे फूले नहीं समाए। 

सर ने आगे कहा, "और एक खुशखबरी है, इस साल रितेश अपने मार्क्स के बल पर कालोनी के टॉप 3 बच्चों मे पहुँच गया हैं - ये देखिए टॉप 4 मार्क्स:

1. आरव - 380,   2. विहान - 376  3. रितेश - 375  4. अर्जुन - 370 

 मुझे यकीन है कि यदि ये ऐसे ही मेहनत करता रहा तो एक दिन इसके नंबर टॉप पर पहुँच सकते है।"

गुप्ता जी ने रितेश को प्यार से गले लगा लिया और मिठाई मँगवाकर सबको खिलाई। परंतु न जाने क्यूँ उन्हें ऐसा लग रहा था कि इसमे कुछ पेंच तो है। 

सर के जाने के बाद उन्होंने अपनी बेटी सोम्या को बुलाया जो 6th क्लास मे थी और Maths मे होशियार थी, उन्होंने उससे पूछा, 

"सोम्या, क्या यह सही है कि रितेश ने इस साल बहुत बेहतर मार्क्स लाकर अर्जुन को पीछे छोड़ दिया है?"

"हाँ पापा, रितेश भैया के मार्क्स इस बार पिछले साल से थोड़ा ज्यादा हैं, पर अर्जुन का रिजल्ट उनसे बेहतर है।", सौम्या बोली।  

"ये तुम क्या कह रही हो। 280 से बढ़कर 375 मार्क्स हो गए हैं, और रितेश के 370 ही हैं, क्या ये सही नहीं?", गुप्ता जी समझ नहीं पा रहे थे। 

"ये बिल्कुल सही है पापा, पर ये सिर्फ Numerator है Denominator तो लगाया ही नहीं।", सौम्या बोली। 

"मतलब?"

"मतलब ये कि आरव, विहान, और अर्जुन CPS स्कूल मे हैं, जहां Total Marks 400 हैं, रितेश भैया इस साल GPS स्कूल मे हैं जहां Total Marks 500 हैं. यदि हम Total Marks को Denominator मे डाल कर percentage निकालें तब सही तस्वीर सामने आएगी। 

पिछले साल भैया की Percentage 280/400 यानि 70% थी इस साल 375/500 यानि 75% है। 

अर्जुन की Percentage 370 / 400 यानि  93% है, इसलिए वो कालोनी मे 3rd है न कि भैया।"  

गुप्ता जी को अब थोड़ा थोड़ा समझ आ रहा था, वे रितेश की मेहनत और रिजल्ट पर अब और भी खुश थे, क्यूंकि अब ये सब वास्तविक लग रहा था। वैसे भी उनकी इच्छा थी कि उनका बेटा पढ़ाई मे तरक्की करे, पर इस बात की ज्यादा चिंता न थी कि और बच्चों का रिजल्ट उससे बेहतर है।  वे सोम्या की होशियारी से भी गदगद हो गए,

"शाबास सोम्या, इतनी Advanced Calculation तुमने कब और कहाँ सीखी?"

"पापा ये तो बड़ी बेसिक सी Fraction Arithmatic है जो  हमने 4th क्लास में पढ़ी थी। दो fractions की तुलना करनी हो तो Numerator और Denominator दोनों लगाने चाहिए, सिर्फ Numerator की तुलना करने से बड़े गलत नतीजे आ सकते हैं, 

जैसे कि 3/4  और 5/8 मे कौनसा नंबर बड़ा है?

यदि हम सिर्फ Numerator देखें तो सोचेंगे कि 5/8  बडा है जबकि वास्तव मे 3/4  बड़ा है।"  

गुप्ता जी को तो उस दिन अपनी बेटी की बात समझ आ गई, और हो सकता है कि ये प्रसंग आपको थोड़ा बचकाना लगे, पर अपने आस पास गौर से देखेंगे तो आपको आम जीवन मे कई ऐसे उदाहरण मिल जाएंगे जहां इस 4th क्लास की बेसिक Arithmatic का प्रयोग कर आप भ्रामक नतीजों से बच सकते हैं । 

जब भो आप ऐसा कोई इक तरफा Comparison होते देखें तो ये सवाल पूछें,

"Denominator लगाया क्या?"

Do It Yourself Data Analysis for Electoral Bonds

Electoral Bonds is my favorite hot topic these days and I have been following developments on this issue with keen interest. Early in March when Supreme Court asked SBI to provide the information about who donated to whom, SBI asked more than three months’ extra time to furnish the required details. It said that 22 thousand bonds had been issued to various political parties between April 2019 and February 15 this year and the data about the issued and redeemed bonds was in two silos. It needs time to correlate the information from these two silos.

However, the Supreme Court insisted that SBI releases the data in two separate silos as it is, without trying to correlate it. After a little push from SC, SBI finally provided this Electoral Bond data to EC yesterday and it was published as two PDFs on EC website:

• Bonds Issue details - 386 Pages
• Bonds Redemption details -  551 Pages

Anyone interested in Data analysis will be tempted by these large data sets to try this challenging exercise with a goal to determine who donated how much and to which party. 

I also tried my hand at it in Microsoft Excel with the following steps:

1. Process the Bonds Issue details PDF

• Load the data from the PDF file in a table in PowerQuery. 
• Each bond has a Prefix (eg TL) and a Bond Number (eg 11448). Create unique Bond id for each bond by combining these two columns.  eg TL-11448.
• Keep only the following columns in the Bonds Issue table, removing the rest:
• Bond id
• Name of the Purchaser
• Date of Purchase
• Denominations

2. Process the Bonds Redemption details PDF

• Load the data from the PDF file in a table in PowerQuery. 
• Each bond has a Prefix (eg TL) and a Bond Number (eg 11448). Create unique Bond id for each bond by combining these two columns.  eg TL-11448.
• Keep only the following columns in the Bonds Redemption Table, removing the rest:
• Bond id
• Name of the Political Party
• Date of Encashment
• Denominations

3. Merge the two Tables

Merge Bonds Redemption Table and Bonds Issue table with unique Bond id field. With this, you get a table with the following columns:

• Bond id
• Name of the Political Party
• Date of Encashment
• Denominations
• Name of the Purchaser
• Date of Purchase
• Issue.Denominations

This table has all the desired information we are looking for. It was really an interesting exercise, and just for record, it took about two hours to complete it. Last night most newspapers did similar exercise and published the results. 

I am still wondering what made SBI overestimate the effort involved by such a large factor.

The Daily Habit: Master Any Skill by Spending Time Every Day

 Very often I have experienced that when I pick up a new song for singing, it feels very difficult in the beginning, too high notes, of too fast pace, or no breathing space etc; however, if I spend a few minutes singing it every day, it gets manageable gradually, the hurdles slowly disappear, and in a few days, it starts to feel easy to sing it. 

I think there is an important learning here that can be applied to mastering any skill, whether it's learning a new language, mastering a musical instrument, or honing a professional skill, the key lies in dedicating time to practice it every single day. This is not just a theoretical principle; it's a tried and tested formula that I have seen working in multiple endeavors.

How does it work? Think of a sculptor chiseling away at a block of marble or a pianist practicing scales. At first glance, progress may seem incremental, but over time, these small, consistent efforts compound to produce remarkable results. I guess doing something every day ingrains the skill into our muscle memory, making it second nature. This is how it transforms difficult tasks into habits and routines.

For sure, the path to mastery and accomplishment is not going to be straightforward. There will be days when you will experience hurdles, setbacks, frustrations, and plateaus along the way. However, by focusing on the process rather than the end goal, we learn to embrace the journey. Enjoy each practice session and see it as an opportunity for growth, a chance to push past our limits and expand our capabilities. 

In today’s world of instant gratification, the idea of daily practice may seem too slow and impractical. However, mastering any skill is a marathon, not a sprint. It requires patience, dedication, and, above all, a willingness to put in the required effort. So, whether you're aspiring to become a singer, a proficient coder, or a fluent speaker, remember: the journey to mastery begins with a commitment to spend time on it on a daily basis.

How to Survive in Today's Fast-Changing World

 

A lot of what I learned in my Electronics engineering course at Roorkee became inadequate in next few years. Then I went to IIT Bombay to refresh my knowledge with an M. Tech course, but this was also useful only for a decade or so. I had to master very different skills and technology in the second half of my career. Gradually, I realized that in such rapidly evolving scenario, the only constant is change itself.

Today, the pace of  technological advancements and social shifts is even faster than what I went through. You run the risk of losing relevance if you do not master the art of negotiating these changes successfully. I can say from my experience that the key to survival lies in our ability to adapt and evolve continuously to stay ahead of the curve. Let's look into the secrets of thriving amidst uncertainty and rapid change. 

Accept Change

Change in inevitable, so we should anticipate it, accept it and embrace it wholeheartedly. Rather than resisting or fearing change, let us see change as a chance for growth and innovation. Remember that change brings with it new possibilities, challenges, and avenues for exploration. If you adopt a mindset of flexibility and resilience, you can navigate through transitions with greater ease and confidence.

Continue to Learn and Evolve

All knowledge and skills have the risk of becoming obsolete at an alarming rate today. To prepare for it, you should make learning a lifelong habit and invest time to acquire new skills, knowledge, and competencies regularly. It may be through formal classes, online courses, or hands-on experience, look for opportunities to expand your horizons and stay updated with the latest developments in your field. The time you spend in this learning process will make you better equipped to face the uncertainties of tomorrow.

Be Flexible

In a forest, the trees that are flexible have better chances of survival during a storm, Flexibility is the cornerstone of survival in a fast-changing world. Rigidity and inflexibility can hinder progress and leave you vulnerable to being left behind. Cultivate a mindset of flexibility and adaptability, willing to pivot and adjust course when necessary. As an example, if there is a change in your role at job, be willing to accept the change with open mind. Remain open to new ideas, perspectives, and ways of doing things. By being flexible in your approach, you can quickly respond to changing circumstances and seize emerging opportunities.

Innovation

Innovation is a key skill needed today above everything else. Stay curious and creative, constantly seeking out new ways to innovate and improve. Whether it's finding more efficient processes, developing groundbreaking technologies, or pioneering novel solutions to complex problems, innovation is key to staying relevant today. Encourage a culture of innovation within your team, fostering collaboration, exploration, and out-of-the-box thinking.

Build Resilience

Resilience is the ability to bounce back from setbacks and failures and emerge stronger. In an uncertain and volatile situation, resilience is a crucial trait for survival. Develop resilience by maintaining a positive outlook in the face of adversity, learning coping mechanisms, and building a strong support network of family, friends, and mentors. You may hit a roadblock or a setback, but every setback may be an opportunity for growth and learning, and a resilient mindset will help carry you through the toughest of times.

Things that do not Change with Time

Surviving in an ever-changing world requires a combination of adaptability, continuous learning, flexibility, innovation, and resilience. The secret to survival lies not in resisting change, but in embracing it and using it as a catalyst for growth and transformation.

In the midst of these changes, are there things or skills worth learning that do not become obsolete with time? Yes, these are the fundamental principles that have endured through the ages and have remained unchanged. Examples are hard work, taking responsibility for your life, time management, invest in self-development, empathy, working with others, etc. Take time to master these principles as these will help you evolve to face the challenges of future. 

Adipurush – Controversy or Confusion?

Adipurush is finally out in the theatres, and the controversy around the movie shows no sign of coming to rest. Despite a lot of negative publicity around its dialogs, the movie took a very good start on the Box Office over the weekend, but it seems to be coming down on Monday. Are the people opposing the movie without any reason or are they not watching it with an open mindset? I watched the movie today to find out for myself and here is what I felt about the film after watching it.

Somehow, the movie failed to impress me, and when I tried to pinpoint the reason, there were more than one. Overall, it seems to be a poorly made film, with bad storytelling, patchy effects, and feels like a khichdi with stuff blatantly copied from many movies and cartoon films.

But the key flaw in the movie is lack of clarity about the purpose of making this movie. It was not clear if the filmmakers wanted to tell the story of Rama or just wanted to make a blockbuster film like RRR or Bahubali with a fictional story. This lack of clarity resulted in the havoc that is making people angry about it.

Case 1 - Movie is depicting Ramayana

Let us first assume the case when the filmmakers are trying to tell the story of Rama. Before the release of the film, film makers also gave a statement that they have depicted Ramayana as it is, which supports the above assumption. However  people are already well familiar about all aspects the story and there are several blunders in the movie that offends and hurts the sentiments of the people:

• The offensive getup of characters, trying to modernize the look with haircuts, tattoos, no crown, etc
• Vaanar sena having monkeys of different looks, borrowed from western movies. 
• Tapori dialogs from the people who are worshipped as God
• Movie style fights in the name of war
• Ravan riding a Bat, feeding it red meat, repairing his own sword, getting a massage from Pythons
• Liberties taken with the plot at several places, depicting events that are not there in Ramayana, or showing them incorrectly.

These are some of the aspects that does not allow this film to qualify as a version of Ramayana. It is not  surprising that people who are watching the movie with this mindset are getting disappointed and offended.

Case 2 - Movie is not about Ramayana

Recently, the film makers changed their stand and made a claim that this is a fictional story of Raghav, loosely inspired by Ramayana, but it should be seen as a fresh story, not as a version of Ramayana. Let us review the film with this mindset. First of all this argument is not very convincing for many reasons:

• Chanting of Jai Shri Ram in the background
• All characters with 1-1 mapping with Ramayana, Ram, Sita, Lakshman, Ravan, Mandodari, Sugriv, Bali, Vibhishan, Shabri... there cannot be so many coincidences.
• All places mapped to Ramayana - Lanka, Ayodhya, Ashok vaatika
• A seat reserved for Hanuman ji in every show 

While watching the film, you do not get a feeling that the makers are trying to tell a fictional story not connected to Ramayana. The film needed much more effort in that direction to steer clear of any controversy. 

If you try to compare the film to a Bahubali or RRR, it is nowhere close to them in terms of the production quality, storytelling, or entertainment value. The writer-director takes no attempt to introduce and establish any of the characters in the film. Somehow they assume that people know the characters already, but if people are watching it with complete open mind, how can you expect them to apply their knowledge of Ramayana? Even Rama’s aura was not adequately established. There is no adequate explanation of the magical powers of different characters. The film’s plot is very basic, not able hold the viewer’s interest, and the unduly long fight sequence fails to get the audience involved and hold their interest. 

Overall, it seems that this is a poorly executed attempt to make a regular commercial movie, and the touch of Ramayana is added as a crutch to cover the poor execution, and a marketing gimmick.

Will the movie succeed in exploiting the religious faith of crores of people for commercial gains? Initial trends show that the attempt has boomeranged, but let us wait and watch as the saga unfolds. 

The Pilgrim - Inferno Redux - Four Point Review

I recently read this interesting book, available at Amazon in ebook and paperback formats. I will give 5 out of 5 stars to the book. Whether you like to read fiction or non-fiction, I would wholeheartedly recommend this book to you, as it has a bit of both.

Point1 - Book Summary

On the fateful day of 9/11, the protagonist Roy Aron had to take a long walk from ground zero to his home, due to the chaos and disruptions all around in the city. Lost in his thoughts during the walk, his mind wanders around and comes across nine sins: limbo, lust, gluttony, greed, wrath, heresy, violence, fraud and treachery. Each of these sins are visualized through its own story. 

After reaching home, he is a changed man who sees this as an indelible lesson for life about the folly of sins. To reinforce the learning, he takes this walk every year on the same day, with the spirit of a pilgrim going on a holy journey. 

 

Point 2 - Organization & Pace

The book gets to the central theme of the nine sins very quickly after the initial introduction. The story of each sin unfolds in its own chapter. The pace of the story is like a whodunit detective novel, with incidents keep unfolding at a regular pace.

Point 3 - Narration Style

The author has adopted an easy to read storytelling narration style for the book with the protagonist being involved in most of the stories in some way of other. At times there is a story inside story (recursive stories?) to make it more interesting. The language is kept free of unnecessary embellishments to give the book a contemporary feel. I felt hooked to the book after reading the first few pages and the interest was maintained throughout the book. 

Point 4 - What I Liked Most

The author has very effectively painted the picture of the grim situation and the mindset of the people after the 9/11 tragedy. I could relate to it as if I myself is in the midst of the situation. Several stories revolve around the life in campus and early job in India and it added a nostalgic touch for me. 

Above all, what makes this book compelling to me is its overarching but subtle message about turning even the extreme crisis to an opportunity for positive reflection and learning, and the wisdom of living a life based on principles, avoiding all sins.

How to Set Up Your Home Karaoke System for Best Sound

Are you using or planning to buy a Karaoke System like MagicSing ET23KH, Kortek Magic Mike, or Persang Karaoke New Dzire Plus, like the one shown above? These systems generally have the following features.

• Built in karaoke tracks with lyrics display
• Microphones with echo effect to sing

These are very convenient all-in one systems for creating an affordable Karaoke setup at home. Just connect it to a TV and your home karaoke setup is ready. Pick a song, and its background music is played on the TV along with the scrolling lyrics. Sing along the track using the microphone and your voice is also relayed to the TV speakers. Its very easy to setup, simple to use, and provides hours of fun at home.

However, setting up your karaoke system at home still needs careful steps, else you may encounter poor sound problems. For example, you may hear two distinct sounds for your own vocals, one what you sing and one from the TV speaker, and this creates an undesired echo effect that makes it difficult to sing and also results in a sound that is not very pleasant to hear. Let us go through some points to know while setting up your Karaoke System at home so that you get best sound from your system.

How Does a Karaoke System Work?
Let us first try to understand how a Karaoke machine works. The Karaoke system plays your selected background music tracks and outputs the scrolling lyrics as a video signal, and the music as audio signal. These audio / video signals need to be played on an external device. When you connect your TV to the Karaoke machine, the video is displayed on TV screen and the audio is played on the speaker built in the TV. As you You look at the lyrics on the screen, listen to the background music and sing along, the Karaoke machine takes the vocal sound picked up by the mic, mixes it with the music track and sends it out as audio signal. So you can hear the mixed song sound on TV speaker. 

Analog Audio/Video
These Karaoke systems were originally designed for older generation TVs that have Analog Video and Audio. The Analog Audio / Video from Karaoke system was connected to the TV using the RCA Audio/Video (3 connector) cable as shown below. This system has good sound quality as the delay in analog system is negligible. 

Digital Audio/Video
Later on as digital TVs came in the market, we started connecting the digital audio / video output from the Karaoke system to the TV via an HDMI cable. Please see the figure below. This causes a problem in the sound quality as the digital audio processing in the TV adds some delay to it. Hence the sound coming out of the TV speaker is delayed. When you sing, you will hear two sounds, your own voice and a delayed output from the TV. This results in a very poor quality sound experience from the Karaoke system.

Analog Audio / Digital Video
What can you do to restore sound quality? We cannot get analog TVs anymore in the market, but analog sound amplifiers and speakers are commonly available. Therefore, the solution requires adding a speaker with built in analog amplifier to your system. One possible choice is Persang Octane 9 Premium Trolley Speaker, available easily from Amazon. However, you can pick any speaker with a built-in amplifier that fits your budget. Just make sure it supports RCA aux audio inputs.

Recommended Home Karaoke Setup
Connect the digital video from Karaoke machine to your TV using HDMI cable and keep your TV on mute so that no sound comes from its speaker. Now use the RCA cable to connect the analog output from Karaoke machine to the external speaker. Usually white and red plugs are used for audio. Leave the yellow video plug unconnected. Check the manual of your Karaoke machine if in doubt. Go to settings on your Karaoke machine and select analog audio output. Your home karaoke system is ready now. Enjoy karaoke singing at home. 

One more thing, if you buy an speaker like Persang Octane 9 Premium Trolley Speaker, you will also get two wireless mics with it that have very good quality. You can use these mics also to sing along.

Try this setup for yourself and if you have any questions, let me know through comments on this post. And if you find this post helpful, remember to follow my blog.

मतदान - गणतंत्र का सर्वप्रथम त्यौहार

आज हमारे यहाँ चुनाव के लिए मतदान था। वोट डालते समय एक विचित्र सी सुखद अनुभूति हुई।  मन में ये विचार आया कि यही तो है हमारे गणतंत्र की शक्ति और इसका सबसे महत्वपूर्ण त्यौहार। 

कभी कभी हम अपने आस पास की स्थिति या घटनाओं से नाखुश होकर यह मान बैठते हैं कि कुछ नहीं सुधरने वाला यहाँ। परन्तु यदि विचार करके देखें तो ये सिस्टम ऐसा है कि जिसमे किसी भी सुधार करने का बटन हमारे ही हाथ में दिया हुआ है। ये सब वाकई बहुत सरल है और इसे भली भांति समझना हम सभी के लिए जरुरी है। 

आप पूछेंगे कि मेरे हाथ में कौन सा  बटन है भला? मेरी सड़क ख़राब है, मैं कौन से बटन को दबा कर इसे ठीक करवा सकता हूँ? 

यह बात बिलकुल सही है कि ये सब सुधार मेरे और आपके सीधे अधिकार क्षेत्र (Direct Circle of Influence) में नहीं आते हैं। परन्तु ये बात तो आप मानेंगे कि हमारे नेता जैसे पार्षद, मेयर, विधायक, सांसद, मंत्री, मुख्य मंत्री, प्रधान मंत्री के अधिकार क्षेत्र में वे सभी चीज़े आती हैं जो हमारे प्रतिदिन के जीवन को प्रभावित करती हैं। कहने का अर्थ यह कि सभी स्तरों पर सकारात्मक प्रगति लाने की क्षमता हमारे माननीय नेता गण की है, और यह एक जिम्मेदारी भी बनती है उनकी। 

और गणतंत्र हमें इस बात का अधिकार देता है की हम सभी प्रत्याशियों का अपने विवेक से आकलन कर उस प्रत्याशी को वोट दें जो हमें इस कार्य के लिए सबसे उचित लगे। नगर निकाय से लेकर संसद तक बड़े से बड़े पद के लिए व्यक्ति के चुनाव में हम अपना योगदान देते हैं जब हम वोटिंग मशीन का बटन दबाते हैं। 

तो है न ये powerful बटन हमारे पास जिसे दबा कर हम अपने क्षेत्र, राज्य, देश को मनमानी दिशा देने में सहयोग कर सकते हैं? ये कोई जरुरी नहीं की जो issue मेरे लिए महत्वपूर्ण है वह औरो के लिए भी हो। परन्तु मैं अपना वोट देते समय यह ध्यान रखूं कि मेरे issue का समाधान करने के लिए कौन सबसे योग्य है। इसके लिए यह भी जरुरी है कि मैं अपने क्षेत्र के प्रत्याशियों के बारे में जानकारी रखूं और उनसे बिलकुल अनजान न रहूँ। 

परन्तु याद रहे कि यदि यह एक अधिकार हमारे पास है, तो साथ ही एक जिम्मेदारी भी बनती है कि वोट जरुर करूँ। आज भी लगभग तीस प्रतिशत लोग वोट डालने नहीं आते हैं। इसका अर्थ है कि वे न सिर्फ अपने महत्वपूर्ण कर्तव्य को अनदेखा कर रहे हैं, बल्कि अपने पास जो अधिकार है उसका प्रयोग करने में भी उनकी कोई रूचि नहीं। ऐसा भला क्यूँ कर हो सकता है?

आज सुबह सुबह वोट डालकर मैंने तो अपनी मर्जी का बटन दबा दिया है। अब आप कब वोट डालने जा रहे हैं ? 

A beautiful Prayer

Take a look at the following beautiful shloka:

यं शैवा: समुपासते शिव इति ब्रह्मेति वेदान्तिनो

बौद्धा बुद्ध इति प्रमाणपटव: कर्तेति नैयायिका:।

अर्हन्नित्यथ जैनशासनरता: कर्मेति मीमांसका:

सोऽयं नो विदधातु वांछितफलं त्रैलोक्यनाथो हरि:।।

It means the following in Hindi and English:

हिंदी भावार्थ 

वे तीन लोक के नाथ श्री हरि हमें मनवांछित फल प्रदान करें जिनकी उपासना 

- शैव, 'शिव' मानकर करते हैं, 

- वेदांती 'ब्रह्म' मानकर उपासते हैं, 

- बौध्द 'बुध्द' की तरह 

- तर्क-पटु नैयायिक जिसकी 'कर्ता' मानकर आराधना करते हैं

- जैन लोग जिसे 'अर्हंत' मानते हैं

- मीमांसक जिसे 'कर्म' बताकर पूजते हैं

English Meaning

May the Lord of the universe grant us our wishes who is worshipped by  

- the Shaiva as Shiva,

- the Vedantins as Brahman

- the Buddhists as Buddha

- the Naiyaayikas who specialize in knowledge as 'Karta"

- the Jains as Arhant

- the ritualists of the Mimamsa school as Karma

There is a very powerful implication behind these simple words. This prayer holds the key to bridging the religious differences and the resultant problems. It implies that it is a myth that we worship different Gods; instead, we worship the same God in different forms, and give Him different names. Every religion says that God is all powerful being, present everywhere. How is it possible to have more than one instances of such an all powerful being? It has to be the same God for everyone. 

And when it is the same God for both of us, can there be a reason for any difference between you and me? 

Just think about it.

What is All This Stuff about God?

The choice of topic for this post may surprise you, what is there to discuss about it? We are already well versed with our God; what else can we possibly talk about in this post? The following lines inspired me to write this post:

हरी हरी वसुंधरा पे नीला नीला ये गगन

के जिसपे बादलो की पालकी उड़ा रहा पवन 

दिशाये देखो रंग भरी चमक रही उमंग भारी

ये किस ने फूल फूल पे किया श्रृंगार है

ये कौन चित्रकार है, ये कौन चित्रकार

Looking at the beauty of nature around us can make us wonder about the greatness of its creator, the Almighty God who has created the sky, clouds, stars, Sun, Moon, Earth, mountains, flowers, rivers, ocean, and everything we see around us. 

We have already learnt a few things about the God whom we worship from our religion, which is a different picture for each of us based on our religion. Some of us have learnt that He is an invisible being, while others believe that He has a form, and this form itself may be different for each of us. 

People worship God, give Him different names, or even deny His existence, but let us face it, no one can ignore Him. Does it not point to a strong possibility that such a mighty being is more likely to exist than not?

Most religions advocate that God in some form created the universe and looks after it. If you ask a scientist, he may give you an altogether different answer, talking about the big bang theory, evolution, and other scientific principles that govern the creation and running of the universe, denying the role of any supernatural being in the process.

Let us first look at this important question – did God create everything in the universe? Actually if we change our viewpoint a little, there is no conflict between the scientific view and the religious view on this subject. Imagine that a boy throws the ball in the air we can look at the ball going up and explain the phenomenon in different ways, not really in conflict with each other:

We can pay attention to the ball following the laws of motion. It went up in the air since it had a vertical velocity under the influence of a force and countered by gravitational force etc. 

We can also explain it simply as, "The boy threw the ball in the air, that is why the ball went up".

Similarly, the scientific view that Big Bang started the universe may be true, but it does not deny the possibility that God Himself started the Big Bang process, similar to the boy throwing the ball. 

The existence of God is established, but how do we reconcile different positions taken by different religions about Him?  Which one is correct? Are the Gods worshipped by people of different faith are really different? By the very definition of an Omnipotent God, it sounds logical that it is the same entity, who is given different name and form by different religions. Also, it seems that God Himself does not mind the diverse views people take about Him.

That brings another vital question, Did God create religions? This looks unlikely as why would He create so many different versions in that case? Religion seems to be an attempt by man to understand and explain the universe around him. God does not want people to follow any one particular faith only. The evidence for this is that even after thousands of years people following different faiths and beliefs still co-exist happily together.

How can one experience God? When you go out and see the beautiful nature around, think about its creator and you can begin experiencing Him. Prayer is another established way to experience Him. Taking time to pray as per your belief is the most direct way to experience God. When good things happens in life, remember to thank Him, and when you are in trouble, take your problems to Him in prayer.

Disclaimer: The discussion above is just my attempt to form a simple common view about this very complex topic. No disrespect is meant for any faith, religion, or belief. Advance apologies if anything in the post sounds offensive to you. 

Examination Stress - How to Beat it?

Going through the education process can be so much fun but the fear of examinations takes away all the enjoyment. The goal and the focus of students and teachers shifts from learning to ensuring good performance in the exams. Any chapter that is not important from the point of view of the exam is ignored, and the learning is mostly centered around the questions expected in the exam paper. Exams cause major stress in most students, and board exams cause even more stress. And these days there are exams throughout the year, keeping the students stressed all the time.

The education authorities have tried several changes to improve the situation. They did away with the board exams in class X to encourage learning at that level, but that increased the stress at XII level as the students had no prior experience of a board exam. They tried to do away with marks and switched to grades in class X, but that did not help the situation either. The National Curriculum Framework for School Education 2023 is another step towards rationalizing the education process. Let us see how it works out in the years to come.

Let us face it, exams are an essential part of the education process, we can not do away with them completely. But if we change the way we look at the exams, it will help reduce the stress associated with it. Currently we see our education as a race and the exams a hurdle in the middle. Our only goal is to win the race, hence we believe that we must crack each and every exam with outstanding marks. Failing an exam or scoring low in it is not at all an acceptable option.  

Now think about how you approach the situation when you go through a medical examination or health check in a hospital. What is your main concern? Is it to crack the medical test with flying colors or to find objective assessment of your health that may help your doctor take the necessary action? Why can’t we view the school exam also in the same way? 

First of all, change your focus to learning as much as you can in every subject you are taught in school. This itself will bring back the joy of learning back. Do it every day, bit by bit, build your true knowledge of the subject. 

Armed with this knowledge, take the test or exam, to assess how well you have learned the subject. It will provide you feedback about the strong areas you know well, and weak areas that needs more work. Use this feedback to work further and improve your knowledge. 

When you take this approach, the continuous evaluation schemes followed in school these days will no longer be a problem for you, and you will start looking forward to the tests, rather than feeling stressed about them.

You may be thinking, how will this approach help me prepare for an entrance exam competition in which I have to perform well to get selected? Well, competitive exams are cracked by students who have learned the subjects well, not just practiced answering a fixed set of questions. Hence, you may find that the shift of focus to learning will help you do better in competitions, and the knowledge you acquire today will come handy throughout your career in future. 

What is All This Stuff About Career Success?

If you are a student, you aspire to have a successful career as you grow up, hence a vital question popping up in your mind may be, “What are the essential ingredients of a successful career?” Choosing a direction for your career is probably one of the most important decisions of your life, and you may be unsure of which way to go. What line of study / career should you choose to ensure a successful career? A successful career depends on multiple factors such as Talent, Opportunity, Efforts, and Affirmation, and each of these play an important role. Let us discuss these factors one by one.

Talent

Talent is the key ingredient, the most important factor that contributes to success in any endeavor. If you possess a natural skill or ability to do something well, it is obvious you have a good chance to succeed. You can see numerous examples of talented people around who do well in different fields like music, arts, writing, finance, science, engineering, medicine, management, etc.
How can you find out if you are talented or not? Actually it’s a wrong question to ask. Each of us is unique and has our own unique talents. If you struggle with math, do not view this as a lack of talent. Your talent may lie in a different field, and you need to try and discover the fields where your special talents lie. These are the things that you can learn quickly, perform with ease, and enjoy doing.
While making the choice of career, give adequate weightage to your talents. This is why education today has so much emphasis on aptitude tests. Testing your aptitude for a field can help determine if it goes along with your inherent talents. However, do not view this as a limit on the choices you have. Even if aptitude test shows otherwise, you can still choose a field against your aptitude, as long as you are prepared to put in extra effort to learn and master it.

Opportunities

If Talent indicates what you have to offer, Opportunities are about what the world needs, and what you can be paid for. It plays an equally important role in a successful career, business, or profession. From a business viewpoint, this is the demand or market for your product. Opportunities vary with time and place. Disciplines like Engineering, CA, Medical, MBA, etc have been popular choices as they offered well-defined opportunities due to the demand. This is why we used to see lakhs of aspirants taking the JEE, NEET and CAT entrance tests every year to become a successful engineer, doctor, or manager.
However, the canvas is much bigger today, with more choices than ever. Today you have new age choices like Finance, Data Analytics, Journalism, Music, Arts, Dance, Graphic Design, Ethical Hacking, Fashion Designing, Content Writing, Blogging, Social Media Management, App Development, Film Making.. the list goes on and on. Take your time to understand the opportunities available in different areas and the ones that are relevant to your aptitude.
Try to choose a field that is aligned with your talent and has good opportunities, as it is the best of both worlds. If that’s not possible, try to strike a good balance between these two key aspects while making your choice. Finally, avoid the following two extremes at any cost:

• The field is very much in demand, but not at all aligned with your aptitude. You may find it difficult to cope with the demands, and the work may be too taxing and unpleasant for you.
• You are super talented in this area, but there is no demand for it. In such a case, you will shine in your chosen field, but it will not create an impact, hence will not result in a successful career. Probably this thought was behind the thinking of parents through the ages who discouraged their children from taking up the careers that were seen ‘unconventional’ at that time.

Efforts

Hard work is the fuel that powers the vehicle of your career. Be it in studies for learning, or preparations for competitive tests to get admission into the program of your choice, getting through the placement, or doing well at work.. you need to put adequate effort at every stage. In some way, your success is directly proportional to the efforts you put in.
A key point to remember is that your efforts contribute in two areas – to produce results and for your development. Examples of results are academic grades, score in competitive tests, contribution to your work etc. Equally important is to spend effort to develop yourself, which includes learning, gaining experience, developing expertise, etc. This is like a woodcutter taking time to sharpen his saw, which makes the task of sawing easier.
Another important point to keep in mind is that effective effort has to be sustained and regular. A sudden cramming of the books on the night of test can help you get good results, but the real learning will not happen. Almost all successful aspirants in any competitive test talk about working everyday towards their goal as the secret of their success.

Affirmation

This is one factor that can multiply the impact of all others. If Someone believes in your success and positively affirms you, it provides you the much needed encouragement and boosts the chances of your success. It does magic to your self-image, which makes you put in even greater effort. It has been established through studies that a child that receives affirmation performs better at studies.
The parents and teachers play a vital role in providing this affirmation. At work, this can be done by seniors, peers, or mentors. Finally, as a grown up, once you understand its importance, you can also use self-affirmation techniques.

Talent, Opportunities, Efforts, and Affirmation are four key components of a successful career. Understanding them well and keeping them in mind can help you make right choices throughout your career. It can also help you analyze where you need to apply more focus at any point.

Can Positive Mindset Influence Outcome?

Recently a friend asked me the following question:

Is there any concrete benefit of positive thinking? I tried to think positive, but still I found I have no control over what happens to me. It seems to me that a positive mindset is just a way to escape reality and console myself.

This question triggered my thinking. I agree with my friend, who made a valid point here. Any amount of positive thinking cannot guarantee that you will get the outcome you desire in any situation. Does it make any difference at all to the outcome?

From my own experience I am convinced that the way we think makes a huge difference to what we experience in our day-to-day life. Our thinking drives our actions and behavior, and by improving the thought process, we can improve our actions and the way we respond to each situation. The question raised from my friend was challenging my conviction.

Looking at it more closely, I came up with the following explanation. It’s a fact that not everything that happens to us is in our control. There are many factors beyond our reach that contribute to it, hence sometimes we come across desired situations, and at other times we face unpleasant situations. We need to develop a positive mindset to get the mental strength to deal with any situation, and help us in two ways:

1. Prepare us to accept adversity and face it calmly
2. Help us put our best foot forward in the situations over which we have influence

Let me illustrate the idea with the example of a cricket match. Imagine you are a fielder in a cricket match. Your team’s chances of winning the match are dependent on a large number of factors. As a fielder, you may think that whatever you do, you cannot make your team win the match.

However, on the very next ball, the star batsman hits the ball in the air and it comes towards you. At that moment, the power to influence the outcome of the game suddenly comes to you. If you take the catch, your team may build upon this big success and eventually win the game. Similarly if you drop the catch, it may prove to be a lifeline for the opponent team to build a huge score and snatch the game from you. It is also important to note that your team may lose the game even after you take the catch. Hence there is no guarantee of a specific outcome in this situation as well.

Whenever in doubt, think of the above situation and see yourself as a fielder. In fact in the game of life we get to play all the roles – fielder, batsman, bowler, and captain at different times. In any of these roles, we do not have full control on everything that happens in our life, but like the example of a catch, life gives us numerous opportunities to be in indirect control of our destiny, and a positive mindset helps us take the right decision and action on such occasions.

I remain convinced that we can determine the course of our life by the way we think.

Book Review - रेत समाधि (Tomb of Sand) by Geetanjali Shree

The Novel रेत समाधि - Tomb of Sand by Geetanjali Shree is in limelight as it became the first Hindi book to receive the International Booker Prize, a remarkable achievement indeed.

I just finished reading the original book in Hindi, and must say that I am in a spell, so I decided to write this review while it is fresh in mind.

This book starts slow, and takes its time to develop the plot, the characters, and your interest, you may also get impatient at times at this stage, but it starts to climax around page 250, after which you get hooked to it and can’t put it down. I will not reveal the story and be a spoiler. A very interesting aspect of the story is human like treatment accorded to birds, animals, and even static things at places, and very humorous tone adopted in the narration throughout. The language deployed is the one used in everyday conversations with an occasional English word thrown in as we usually do, hence it is easy to read.

As an avid Hindi novel reader, I believe this novel to be among the top ones, and fully deserving the award it received.

I have not read the English version, so cannot talk about it, but I would say go for the Hindi version if you can read Hindi. The book has beautiful play of words and language throughout that is really something to relish as you read along.

If you love reading fiction, this book is very highly recommended. 

UP Elections (Again) - शायर की नज़र में

After weeks of noisy cacophony of elections, it is time again to fill the quiet day with some shayari. However, the election fever refuses to go away so easily. So here is a collection of verses on politics (जम्हूरियत) re-interpreted in the context of recently concluded UP elections. I wrote them long back, and I am amazed to see that these verses are equally applicable in 2022 UP elections as they were in 2017 UP elections. Gives me a sense of déjà vu. Enjoy the poetic politics :) 

 Last month it was politics everywhere: 

अब तो मयखाना भी सुकूं नही देता 

जिक्र-ए-जम्हूरियत वहां भी होने लगा 

The state witnessed an unprecedented fight among parties and leaders: 

करेंगे वो किसी से दोस्ती क्या 

जो डरते हैं किसी की दुश्मनी से 

यही मक़सद है क्या जम्हूरियत का 

लडा दो आदमी को आदमी से (मधु भूषण) 

People woke up and turned up to vote in big numbers: 

कब तक़ जम्हूरियत के दलालो के आगे रोओगे 

देश भक्तों जागो अरे कब तक़ तुम सोओगे (मिलन कुमार) 

Irrespective of his status, everyone got to cast only one vote: 

जम्हूरियत वो तर्ज़-ए-हूकूमत है के जिसमें 

बन्दौ को गिना जाता है तौला नही जाता 

BJP after the unprecedented win: 

देखा है फिर एक बार वोटर की आँखों मे प्यार 

फिर अबकी बार योगी सरकार 

 Akhilesh after unexpected defeat: 

मैं समझा नहीं ऐ मेरे हमनशीं 

सज़ा ये मिली है मुझे किस लिये 

के साक़ी ने लब से मेरे छीन कर 

किसी और को जाम क्यों दे दिया 

BSP / Congress after massive election loss: 

आज उतनी भी मयस्सर नही मयखाने मे 

जितनी हम छोड दिया करते थे पैमाने मे