Sunrise

Due to laziness there is one routine which I couldn’t follow now, after joining in my job. It is reading every morning on the roof of my house.

I used to sit comfortably in a chair enjoying morning dew.

Listening to Rehman’s mesmerizing compositions

Insightful works of Seth Godin or simple but charming narrations of R K Narayan or captivating page turners by Jeffrey Archer in my hand.

Pigeons around me saying something in their own sweet language and trying to get my attention by flapping their wings.

This happened continuously, every morning, for months when I was at home.

Whenever I raised my head from the book I saw the Sun rising, gaining its strength and getting ready for the day’s work, for what it is there, irrespective of the sunset that happened the day before or that will happen after sometime. This view filled a strange kind of joy in me. For a moment I forget all my fears.

I feel these rays of sunlight as rays of hope. A hope that all my fears of defeat will be followed with smiles of victory. A hope that the fear of danger will be followed by the strength of an opportunity. Just like how sunrise follows every sunset.

Sunrise is a great inspiration to start our day to give our best, irrespective of yesterday’s failures or challenges in the future.

Fear To Die

What I like most in the movie 'The Dark Knight Rises' is the part when the Batman was in a prison, at the bottom of a well where prisoners die waiting with hope of coming out of it.

I felt, that is how most of us die, waiting to play the song we always wanted to.

Each one of us fits into a type of the prisoner as shown in the movie. And who you are depends on how you react to the situation.

You can be the one who died, waiting in the hope to see light, without ever trying to come out of the well.

You can be the prisoner adjusting with the surroundings, accepting the situation and forgetting the outside world, preaching philosophy like "happiness doesn't depend upon what we do but it is a matter of inner peace".

You can be the one who tried to get out of the prison, but couldn't because you stopped trying after just one failed attempt.

Or

You can be the Batman, who tried again and again, to come out of the prison, to come out of the forced conditions and succeeded.

What matters most is the WILL to come out, the STRENGTH to climb up though important, is secondary.

The difference between you living the life of a prisoner of the external conditions and living the life like a Batman is the fear, Fear to die in a prison, without taking an action, without following your calling. 

The choice is always yours. 

The question is not about which way is right. The question is which way do you want to spend the short time that you have.

Will you adjust with the surroundings and lead a happy/unhappy prisoner life, without doing what you believe you are here for?

Or

Will you take an action to be the Batman in your life ?

Why does 'The Secret' sell ?

"Why does the book 'The Secret' sell ?", I saw this question in some forum.

I answered, "Because it gives us HOPE."

If you ask..

Why does Robin Sharma Sell ??

Why does the Seth Godin sell ??

Why do the books like Magic Of Thinking Big, You Can Do It, etc sell in huge volumes ??

The answer is same, they all give us a hope.

Robin sharma says in all of his books that everyone of us can achieve whatever we want, that each one of us is incredible.

The core of the book The Secret says that all our desires will be fulfilled if only we truly believe that they will happen. In short it is, "Think. Believe. Receive"

The Magic Of Thinking Big says not to focus on small goals but to talk and think big, and that you can achieve big.

Seth Godin repeatedly says everyone of us is a genius, everyone of us can be a leader.

None of these sources offer a blue print to success but by the end of each article, by the end of each example they show, by the end of each story they tell us, our deep buried desire to do what we always wanted to do, and a hope that we will be successful in doing it, will surface.

Not just these but in general only the optimism, smile, support, will Sell, will always attract others.

This reminds me of a great line..

"There is no market for your sorrows in this world, so never advertise them."

This is absolutely true, the market is already occupied with the optimistic ones, with those who smile, who don't groan about their lives, with those who pat on our shoulders inspiring us to achieve big, with those who give us a HOPE.

Colonel Sanders

The person in the above picture is Colonel Sanders.

Sanders was left with only $105 in his account, as a Social Security Check, after auctioning his small restaurant, which was not making money.

It was then that he decided to build franchises by selling the secret chicken recipe which he developed i.e. to give away his recipe to the restaurants and to which they have to pay a part of the profit that they make on selling his chicken.

He travelled across his country, knocked every potential door to sell his idea, got rejected again and again. Finally got partners and later on has built a chain of restaurants across the world, which sells his chicken.

Can you guess who he is?

He is the one you see on every KFC logo, known through out the world for his Kentucky Fried Chicken.

When Sanders closed his restaurant and decided to experiment with his idea, he was at the age of 65!

Initially, his idea and recipe were rejected not once, twice or thrice but more than 1000 times!

He has made his mark on the fast food industry not by chance or under favourable conditions but by sticking to his idea, his secret recipe, which he believed in, and by handling criticism.

Do you have the Strength, to stick to your dreams despite of rejections, which Sanders has at the age of 65?

Moreover, do you have your own secret recipes, to stick to?

The Guide by R K Narayan

Author: R. K. Narayan

Price: 100/-

Pages: 247

My Rating: 5/5

Story:

This is narrated alternating between past and present of the protagonist, Raju.

Present:

After the release of the Raju from the jail after two years, because of few incidents the villagers consider him as a Swami and will start worshipping him. Though Raju couldn't bear the expectations of the villagers, he decides to take the Swami role to lead his life in comfort. 

Past:

Raju was born and brought up in Malgudi, is a popular tourist guide. One day a person visits the village along with his wife, Rosie, who is a Bharatha Natyam enthusiast but kept her interest aside because of her husband. Swami meets them at the railway station, and gets attracted towards Rosie from the moment he saw her. He arranges everything for their stay and guides the couple to various places. Meanwhile, the bond between Raju and Rosie strengthens.   

Did Raju get his dream girl, who was already married ?

Did Rosie pursue her interest in dance ?

How did the relation of Raju with Rosie turn into ?

What changes did their relation brought in both of their lives ? 

How did Rosie's husband react ?

Did Raju's interest in Rosie lasted till the end ?

Why did Raju land in jail ?

How did Raju's life as a Swami proceeded ?

My Opinion: 

This book will make us forget everything and take us through a mesmerising journey along with the story, filled with emotions, nail biting situations, leaving us in a trance even after reading the book. 

The way R. K. Narayan narrated the story, the way he formed the sentences, the way he infused the humour, the way he portrayed the emotions of the protagonist, the way he described situations and surroundings, the way he build the suspense till the end..everything is magical.

Conclusion:

Do not miss this book.

Things you should know about 'Starting Small'

A friend of mine wants to become a director, he has this interest from many years. He dreams about it, talks about it whenever we meet but never worked towards it saying that he is not in a position to quit his job.

When I suggested him to start with directing short videos during weekends continuing his daily job on weekdays he completely refused the idea to direct short movies saying his aim is to make a great, full length movie and short movies are not a right way to start.

WHY STARTING SMALL IS UNDER-ESTIMATED ?? 

Sir Richard Branson started his entrepreneurial race with a school magazine.

Aravind Eye Hospital, the worlds largest opthalmological institution, started with 11 beds.

Every great achievement starts small.

If you want to become a director and couldn't start your career with film institutes start with short videos..

If you have developed a product first test it on a small market..

If you wanted to become a writer start with a blog or short stories..

Starting small has great advantages…

•  It is easy to start and there wouldn’t be much risk attached to it. 
•  You are doing what you wanted to do, though not at the scale you dreamt of. This is a far better condition than not doing what you want to do at all. 
•  You can test how good your product or service is or could be.
•  You can practice the art and can get better at it by rectifying your mistakes.
•  You can develop a network which might be useful later.
•  And finally an important one…you will get the actual hands-on feel of the work from which you can decide whether it is the routine you wanted to follow for your rest of your life in full time.

Watching Sachin Tendulkar hitting a sixer is always fun and dreaming to play that way is quite obvious but getting in there, working hard daily, being consistent and staying out of the diversions is not everybody's cup of tea.

This reminds me of my interest during school days to be a part of Indian cricket team.

I irritated my parents for some time with my over-enthu about cricket till they joined me in a summer coaching. After the initial days of coaching the entire scenario was changed, I lost interest in the game which I once decided will be my career.

May be I was more attracted to the glamour around that sport than actually playing the game.

If you are not in a position in doing it in a big way…at least start small. Because you can always do what you wanted to do this way.

When I said start small I did not mean to be small. I am not talking about the end. What I am saying is about the beginning, the FIRST STEP.

"You don't have to be great to start, but you have to start to be great." ~ Zig Ziglar

There may be reasons for not to start big but there is no reason and no one to stop you from starting small...that is the beauty of it.

Thank you for reading.

Are you attracted to the fame or to the actual game?

Are you ready to the take a first step right now, though small. Or will you wait for a big start on a big day, which unfortunately may not  happen ?

Working hard ?

Hey, are you working hard? Yes? Very good.

But are you evaluating whether what you are doing is leading you to where you want to be? 

It is also about giving

What can we get from the companies we are working for?

What can we get from our jobs?

What can we get from our clients?

What can we get from our relationships?

What can we get from everyone around us?

We are always obsessed with this GETTING attitude that we often forget the other side of the coin...GIVING.

What are we giving to the jobs we are doing right now?

What are we giving back in our relationships?

What value are we adding to the people around us, and more importantly to ourselves.

When we focus on getting something from someone, we are dealing with something which is not under our control, which is out of our influence zone and which may not give us a sustainable happiness but when we focus on giving we are dealing with the only thing which is under our control in this world...OURSELVES.

It is not just about benefitting from the surroundings, it is not about running a never ending greedy race, it is also about giving, it is about leaving a legacy.

“Everyone must leave something behind when he dies, my grandfather said. A child or a book or a painting or a house or a wall built or a pair of shoes made. Or a garden planted. Something your hand touched some way so your soul has somewhere to go when you die, and when people look at that tree or that flower you planted, you're there." ~ Ray Bradbury


“If you would not be forgotten as soon as you are dead, either write something worth reading or do something worth writing.” ~ Benjamin Franklin

Thank you for reading.

How are you adding value to your life?

“How are you adding value to your life?”

I read this line somewhere.

Anything that we THINK will make us happier is a “value” to us. It is not the same for everyone.

It can be the savings in my bank account for me, the new places visited for you and the number of articles written for someone else.

How are you adding value to the days you are living?

Is it by ass-licking your boss for better promotion or for a better increment?

Is it by jumping from one job to another for a better pay?

Is it by adding latest gadgets to your shelf which will soon get outdated?

Is it by spending time with your loved ones?

Is it by visiting the places you dreamt of?

Is it by sharing your knowledge?

Is it by doing the things which you always wanted to do but couldn't because of the excuse not-enough-time?

Is it by trying to win a rat race where you will be still a rat even if you win or is it by running your own race?

How are you adding value to your life?

Is your capability matching your ambition ?

"Frustration without the capability to change the things is like a radioactive material burning inside you. Your frustration is the difference between your ambition and capability. Either improve your capability or lower your ambition. Do not just sit there with the radioactivity turned inward." - Subroto Bagchi, Go Kiss The World. 

Benchmarking

Benchmarking is comparing one thing with other.

In office, employees benchmark themselves with others and complain about their salaries.

Parents generally benchmark their children’s marksheet with that of the other kids and will say, “Next time perform better than them.”

Sportsmen will benchmark their present performance with their previous performance. It is benchmarking with oneself.

We cannot escape from this benchmarking.

Now the point is not whether to benchmark or not, it is inevitable, the focus is on the effect of your benchmarking on you.

We are surrounded by many people who spend their lives complaining about what they wanted to do but couldn’t or adjusting without working towards their goals.

We often hear the wise words, “Be happy with what you have. Compare with those who don’t. Feel lucky to have what you are having right now.”

This may soothe your ego but will it help you to grow ?

The benchmarking we do must help us in fuelling our passion. It should help us in going the extra mile. It should touch the deep desire which we have from a very long time. It should make you focus on what you want, leaving less important things.

It should give us a path, a goal, an enthusiasm.

I am not saying not be satisfied with your work, without satisfaction you cannot enjoy what you get, but that shouldn’t make you complacent not to move forward.

When you think someone is better at something than you and you want to reach that level, when you want to reach a height, there is no point in being satisfied with where you are now and what you are doing now. Because this is not what you want. Know what it takes to reach there. Know the skills you have to develop to make it. Learn them. Reach there.

You may benchmark with those above your level or below. But is your benchmarking sapping your energy level, is it weakening your desire, is it leading you to think, “This is enough. I cannot be better.” Is it stopping you from taking your next step towards your goal ? 

If yes, then think again and consciously change the effect.

Jump into the bowl you always wanted to. 

Just do it.

In anything we do, the motivation to do it and the desire to complete it are IMPORTANT for making it successful. We all know this. Right ??

If we are working on an innovative product or for a non-profit organizations or started teaching for the needy then you might have the kick on the butt always to make us feel that our work is WORTH spending your life on. And this motivates us to even go that extra mile.

Very few of us are involved in such activities, most of us are spending our lives in 9-5 jobs doing coding , trying to sell not-so-different products to the customers, preparing the sales reports to our managers, etc. These jobs may not give us a wow-I-am-making-a-difference kind of feeling. But if we don’t have that, how can continue to be consistent in giving our best ??

What will motivate us to go to our jobs daily(I don’t believe money is a true motivator) ?? How can we feel the work we do is important ?? How can you tune yourself ? How can we come out of this I-am-doing-stupid-stuff feeling.  

If you are expecting an answer these now then I am sorry. Even I am a victim of I-am-doing-stupid-stuff feeling.

Months back I decided to be consistent on my blog. From that time I regularly used to open word pad, write something, but they all ended up into my drafts as I felt they may not impress the readers. So my idea to be consistent on my blog ended into being consistently dumping things in my drafts folder.

Forget about what the reader will think after reading what I wrote. If I did not find my work worthy how can I even click the publish button ?? After all it is just a blog post. Even if I don’t get any good reviews it is not going to effect me in anyway. Right ?? But still I attached a more-than-needed attention on what the feedback can be.

If you are writing book and you find that your work is not worth writing..how can you even finish it?

If you have started a company and if you don’t believe in your product, how can you even think of making it successful.

In my company, we had a meeting few days back with our manager. He is a star in my company - as the youngest manager. So with the hype around him we are naturally interested to know more about him.

When we asked what motivated him to keep that extra effort in his work at the beginning of the journey. His reply was, “The fact we have to understand is that, there is no work that is perfect. Only some part of our work might be interesting and it is that on which we have to focus. The work which I did initially, years back, may not be an inspiring one but I did it with the same enthusiasm and alertness as how a CEO decides each of his decisions. I tuned myself to feel that what I did was IMPORTANT. That made my work interesting to me, because of which I excelled in it and that lead me now to this position. So finding your work interesting and motivating is the most important part of your career. If you do not find it interesting, you cannot excel at it. Use your own ways and make it interesting.”

This reminded me of what Robin Sharma always says about - “To Lead Without A Title.”

Do the work you wanted to do, from the place you are, with whatever available to you. 

Most of us do work hard just to get a better increment in the next appraisal or for a promotion. But not because we like what we are doing.

On one side I am trying hard to write on my blog at least once in a month but my friend Karthik Puvvada started a new blog and he is consistent on it ! 

Click on bethepurplecow to view his site and get inspired.

Influenced by Seth Godin’s works, he is contributing his 2 cents to inspire people to work better, be happier and achieve maximum in the short life span we have.

There is a clear Godin’s effect on his thoughts but he is presenting them in his own style.

When we say to write a new story or to give something new to the customer, it is not always about a whole new content, it is mostly about using the already existing resources in a new way. 

Do you have the skill to offer an old service in a new way ?? Do you have it in you to present an old story in an entirely new way giving a different impact to the reader ?? Can you offer an already existing product to an entirely new market ?? 

If yes. Start now. It is all about using the old resources in a new way.

When I asked Karthik on what is pushing him to write continuously, he said, “I believe that my thoughts will inspire the readers. Though I, sometimes, share things which many might be knowing already, I do it in my style with the motivation that I am the only person sharing it that at that particular point of time and that it will reach at least one who is not aware of it before reading my post..”

What a simple but great motivation !!

Sometimes it is not about how much difference you made but whether you made any.

Don’t wait to do the things which you want to do. There is not perfect time. There is nothing to loose. You are going to die in few years anyway. Don't attach a lot of value to others opinions.

If you want to share something share it. If you can add value to something, however small it might be, add it. Forget about what people will say. Do it for your satisfaction. 

Believe that your work will make a difference to someone, somewhere at sometime in some way. Nothing is a better motivator than this.

Good luck. 

Thank you for reading. 

"The Sense Of an Ending" by Julian Barnes

Author: Julian Barnes.

  

Publisher: Vintage Books.

  

Price: Rs.499 (Hard Cover) and Rs.299 (Paperback)

  

Pages: 150

My Rating: 5/5

Masterpiece – is the right word to describe this Booker Prize Winner “The Sense Of An Ending” by Julian Barnes.

Blurb:

Tony Webster and his clique first met Adrian Finn at school. Sex-hungry and book-hungry, they would navigate the girl-less sixth form together, trading in affectations, in-jokes, rumour and wit. Maybe Adrian was a little more serious than the others, certainly more intelligent, but they all swore to stay friends for life.

Now Tony is in middle age. He’s had a career and a single marriage, a calm divorce. He’s certainly never tried to hurt anybody. Memory, though, is imperfect. It can always throw up surprises, as a lawyer’s letter is about to prove.

My opinion:

Tony, sixty years old, divorced in middle age, living alone maintaining a friendly relation with his ex-wife, is the protagonist of this novel (or you may call novella). The book starts with Tony’s memories in school and then in college with his friends Colin, Alex and Adrian. He recollects how his relation with Veronica, his girl friend in college, and with Adrian ended after introducing Veronica to his friends one day.

While Tony was leading a peaceful life in his old age, he receives a letter, from a lawyer, which again pokes his forgotten memories. The letter says that Veronica’s mother left a small amount of money for him after her death. This issue leads Tony to the facts that happened in the past, which he never even dreamt of.

Read the book to know...What is the thing that Tony came to know?? Is that letter just about money left to him or does it have anything else with it?? Why did Veronica’s mother leave money to Tony?? What happened to Adrian’s life?? 

Some of the lines I liked are…

• When we are young we invent different futures for ourselves; when we are old we invent different pasts for others. 
• If you want to make people pay attention to your voice you don’t raise your voice but lower it: that is what really commands.
• Most of us make an instinctive decision, then build up an infrastructure of reasoning to justify it.
• Marriage is a long dull meal with the pudding served first.
• Reward of merit is not life’s business.
• The less time there remains in your life, the less time you want to waste it.
• History is that certainty produced at the point where the imperfections of memory meet the inadequacies of documentation.

I picked this one seeing the beautiful cover page and the “Man Booker Prize Winner" tag. Though the story is waferthin the author beautifully portrayed the minute emotions of an old person.This will leave you wanting for more. 

The Author will take the reader on a journey deep into Tony's memories and his reflections on them. Each and every sentence in the book has prose, purpose and adds value to the story. The book starts as a collection of memories of an old person but picks up pace and ends in thriller style.

Conclusion:

Insightful. Unputdownable. Go for this. Worth reading again and again. Enjoy. 

You can get the paperback on Flipkart for just Rs.224 here and hard cover for Rs.349 here.

Urban shots: Cross roads - Book Review

Edited by Ahmed Faiyaz

Price: 199/-

Publishers: Grey Oak Publishers

My Rating: 3.5/5

Epilogue:

Edited by the bestselling author Ahmed Faiyaz, this anthology explores the conflict, chaos and confusion in the lives of interesting and colourful characters in Urban India. The reclusive kid with a beautiful bicycle; a migrant to Mumbai with Old Monk on his breath, trying to get off a Virar Fast at Borivali; the misunderstood watchman at the library who befriends a little girl; a playstation loving, spoilt brat, who is smitten by his mathematics tutor; an old widower who longs for some intimacy with the opposite sex; a confused writer who has to choose between his wife and a seductress; the gargoyle who is the boss’s pet at a call centre; a mild mannered doctor whose love for yoga puts him on breaking news; a project manager who hates handing out the pink slip; an emotionally scarred woman in the bazaars of Kamathipura; the barat on a silent night in a one horse town in Rajasthan; the neighbourhood didi with dark secrets of her own and a lot more…

"Urban shots: Crossroads" is a collection of 30 short stories by 26 authors. Most of these authors are bloggers and debutant writers. 

I liked the book Love, life and all that jazz  by Ahmed Faiyaz. So, when I saw his name on the cover page , I was attracted to this one. He is the editor for this and also contributed two stories. I felt the collection of stories in this book is better than the previous book “Urban shots”. I liked the subjects on which the stories were built.

Four stories are missing in my copy because of the printing error. In the rest, except few, every story is unpredictable and holds an emotion. The stories are fresh, the language is simple and the price is ok. Because of the variation from one story to another, this is not a book which you can enjoy by reading completely at one stretch. But you would surely enjoy, if you read two or three stories at a time. 

My favourites are...

• Mervin by Ahmed Faiyaz
• Crossroads by Ahmed Faiyaz
• The Gap by Saritha Rao
• Pity by Paritosh Uttam
• Look How Far We've Come by Shreya Maheshwari

Even the stories Hunch( by Karthik),The Last Week(by Srinivasan) and Rajasthan Summer( by Ayesha Heble) are impressive.

Books like these are great initiatives that will definitely help the upcoming writers. Looking forward to read the “Urban shots: Bright lights” and “Urban shots: The love collection”.

If you are looking for heartwarming short stories, go for this.

This review is a part of Book review program at  Blogadda.