There are very few things in life which are absolutely time and mission critical. Usually these are life or death situations or situations where you are performing or have an appearance at a particular time and place. Outside of that (and a few others) I would say almost 80% of things in our daily life are not time and mission critical. But we still make it so. A client always wants things “yesterday” for no real reason or rhyme, cars refuse to follow the red light (almost like everyone is rushing for an emergency to the hospital is it?), people sit in a restaurant and want food immediately (even if they are not in a hurry). We are addicted to “feeling rushed” and in fact have fallen in love with that feeling. It has become so endemic in our culture (especially urban India) that when a person is relaxed, calm and joyful and apparently in no real hurry, to either execute his or anyone else’s work or to get from one place to another, people almost look at that person with a sense of shock; almost to say “Hey buddy, which planet are you from”. And it’s not just individuals who behave like that – some of the chief culprits are businesses, who live on the edge of insecurity, which fuels this culture of “rushing” around.
Author: Dennis Taraporewala
Storyteller, Business Owner, Musician, Life Strategist.
Don’t Sprint the Marathon
Raghunathan V has recently released his 2nd book titled “Don’t Sprint The Marathon”.
I read his first book “Games Indians Play” and found it apt for the Indian population and the way we think and function. While I have not read his new book, based on an initial preview I did, it looks good and appropriate for parents with kids.
“Don’t Sprint the Marathon”…obvious as that might appear, as proud and ambitious parents, we often push our children to excel in ways that may help them achieve some early successes – but may sap their stamina to endure the more difficult challenges which life may throw at them. What is more, our obsessive rush to get our children off to a good start overlooks at the fact that in life, as in a marathon, an early lead hardly matters, but being too intent on coming first may leave our children lacking in many of the life skills that a normal childhood would teach them.
V. Raghunathan, best-selling author of Games Indians Play, offers an alternative approach that can be even more rewarding: life he avers, is not a sprint and it does not in the long run matter very much if you missed out on the best school, college or job as starters. As long as you give yourself the time to develop your personality and skills, you will still get where you want, at your own pace and perhaps far more happily. To illustrate, based on first-hand interactions, he gives numerous examples of many achievers, famous and not-so-famous, among them N.R. Narayana Murthy, Dr. Kallam Anji Reddy, Dr. P D K Rao, V. Mani, Ashwini Nachappa, G.M. Rao and Ila Bhat. For those helping their children along for success in life, or rethinking their own approach to it, Don’t Sprint the Marathon will prove an invaluable guide.
You may order in online from any of the well-known bookshops or online stores.
Storytelling and Media: Boon or Bane?
Story telling is addictive for the mind. The mind loves stories. Stories can be told in a number of ways and humankind can remain fascinated forever. Stories are powerful, because we create our reality in our mind through the words we use and hear. Not events per se in their purity, but the way we describe events to ourselves or the way someone else describes events to us, creates our perception of reality. Many stories use words (of course images, sound and video are used as well) and these have an impact on our mind.The problem is most of us mistake the story for the reality. Only an enlightened person (a person in deep intuitive harmony with nature and the universe) can see things for what they are; most will see only a version that they tell/repeat to themselves, which is conditioned by their culture, parents, upbringing or their own experiences. Continue reading “Storytelling and Media: Boon or Bane?”
If You Don’t Ask, You Don’t Get
Years ago in the early part of my career and a new job heading an advertising agency, the owner asked me to make a huge billboard and put it up right in the centre of the agency. The board read “If you Don’t Ask, You Don’t Get”. His theory was that if you cannot articulate and “ask” for what you want, create or receive; then it becomes increasingly difficult for you to get it or for anyone to give it, cause no one knows what it is you are actually seeking.He wanted people in the agency to imbibe this culture, get it into the advertising agency thinking and wanted me to lead this effort.
I have contemplated this statement for the last 10 years and the truth hidden in it has repeatedly struck me. The statement can be extended to the metaphysical level – that is, if you don’t ask of the universe what you want, need or intend, how is it supposed to make that manifest in your life? Thus you must ask, to get. What is interesting is, that by asking – you are forced to think, clarify and find out want you truly want. This process refines and solidifies your intention. The act of asking, is actually the end product of your introspection into your wants, needs, desires and intentions.
