G for!

For those who are reading this: 

Most of us might have felt at some point of time in our lives that we could have been or could be doing much more

Might have felt that the true potential has not been realized. 

Might have had been haunted by thoughts and questions: what if I would have taken some other course

But 

A thing that we don’t realize is: 

After all, whatever we have achieved is nothing short of a feat. 

What we have in our possession is not that everyone has a privilege of claiming. 

Be it the:

Job,

Family,

Friends, 

Or

Other material possessions, 

Why then:

This feeling of disappointment,

This frustration, 

This temperament, 

This constant need to prove to the world

And

This inability of being able to appreciate and praise others for so called small things in life. 

Does it even register: 

Just few words of genuine praise can change or even save someone’s life

Just few words of courtesy can make someone’s day, 

Jadoo ki jhappi (an affectionate hug) of Munna Bhai does work, 

Considering we are maintaining social distancing in these times, 

And 

Considering people are getting depressed for so many reasons, 

What’s stopping us from offering something that doesn’t take a lot of effort and could indeed impact lives in the real sense! 

So, my dear friends, please don’t stop yourself from offering this genuine praise, 

to 

Whosoever comes in contact with you in these challenging times

Might even act as a life saving fresh breath of air to the affected and the depressed. 

Wondering what this G is for?

Grateful for:

To begin with alive in these times,

Getting those all important meals,

The health of our loved ones, family and friends,

There is still hope,

Enabling us to take a break from mindless and senseless lives,

and

Being able to connect and communicate, courtesy social medial platforms and calling apps,

If these are not enough for one to be grateful,

I wonder what will be!

Source for the Image: https://leadx.org/articles/we-know-we-ought-to-be-grateful-but/, https://steemit.com/writing/@doitvoluntarily/the-pursuit-of-wanting-more, https://www.amazon.in/initial-Alphabet-Monograme-Notebook-monogramend/dp/B083XVYVY3

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Smile while You Are!

Recently had the pleasure of speaking with one of the most successful of guys, my senior (S), who has gone on to make, as they say, a killing of sorts. Here is what came out of the conversation:

S: “You know, I have had the chance to experience lot of offices through out my life, and one thing was prevalent in all”

Me: “What was it?”

S: “The gloomy faces of people sitting in front of their desks, few seem to be having the worst time of their life, and few trying to show that there was lot of work and hoping that 10-12 hours that they are supposed to spend will pass by somehow.”

Me: “What do you think, was the reason behind the same?”

S: “I used to wonder the same. Somehow, I thought, it might be that most don’t like their work, and do it for their survival, some, I thought, might not like the team or their bosses they were working with.”

Me: “And?”

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S: “But you know what, slowly, I realized that people have got into a mode of remaining gloomy. Somehow, they have been conditioned to be sad and grim-faced. They have lost the charm of what life was supposed to offer to each one of them.”

Me: “So, how did you ensure, that such a thing didn’t happen in your office?”

S: “You know, the first and probably the only thing, I looked for in the guys whom I was hiring, was their attitude and perspective towards life. How they looked at their past? What they thought about their future? And the most important of all, what do they think about their present?”

Me: “That’s it?”

S: “Yup. For if they were too depressed about their past, or too hopeful about their future, having loads of expectations, without focusing on the present, then they were bound to create an environment and build a culture, laden with fear and insecurity. And you would be bemused to know that along with their offer letter, I gave them a piece of advice on the letter head of our company.”

Me: “?”

SMILE WHILE YOU ARE 🙂

An absolute cracker of an advice, applies to all kinds of life that we tend to associate and identify ourselves with, be it our professional or personal, isn’t it? 😉

Source for the Image: https://www.shutterstock.com/search/smile

Moving Out!

More often than not we humans, worry more about getting in rather than moving out, whether it be a job that one has been desperately searching for, or a movie hall when the movie is about to begin, be it a shared taxi to get the finest possible seat, or be it the shared toilet in a hostel where every one is gearing to do what they are of course supposed to do.

Yes, there are always exceptions to the rule with the likes of us, Indians who have got so habitual to breaking cues when it comes to, lets say, getting out of an airplane immediately after it comes to a halt or be it the ticket counter for various utilities, thanks to the insecurity that is so deeply imbibed in all of us having been brought up in an era with stiff competition and lack of resources.

Somehow, moving out in some cases, at the right time, is as important, if not more, than moving in, be it an emergency evacuation or a failed relationship. Today, I am going to talk about an aspect of our lives which tends to consume at least 60-70% of our productive life, if not more. Yes, I am referring to none other than the professional set up towards which we tend to devote more than half our lives.

How often have you thought of calling it a quit, yet staying for the lack of courage or contemplating the uncertainty of the future? How often have you forced yourself to go to the office every single day of your life trying to motivate yourself for something/someone which you don’t like doing and if it were not for the society around you, you would never do so?

How often have you neglected your true callings, your inner voice to continue to do something which brings you lot of bitcoins and perceived social success but not enough happiness? How often have you craved for spending that extra hour with your loved ones but have not been able to do so for the challenges and complexities of living a “conventional” investment banking kind of a profile?

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I believe many of us would have been into the situations where we would have no answers to the above. Many would wonder that in order to live the kind of life that one or one’s loved ones want to live comes with sacrifices. Many would want to call the people who follow their heart as losers and might be inspired by the likes of “chatur” of “3 Idiots” fame, still there are these few who follow their heart and tend to become the “chanchads” of their batch.

If you ask the latter, what they achieve by doing so, they would give you all kinds of philosophies supporting their lifestyle, which you might really not agree with, still the kind of peace and calm that is so evident on their faces, even after not being able to convince you, would make you feel jealous of the fact, and would leave you wondering, “kaash main bhi aisa kar paata/paati“.

If you think they are doing something drastically out of this world, you are mistaken, for they are only doing the thing they like doing. They are doing what they think they were supposed to do, having born on this planet earth. They believe that if if they were not doing the same, they wouldn’t be doing anything, possibly not living at all.

Yes, they are normal human beings. They too have insecurities regarding not being able to accomplish the love of their life. Yes, they fear being not able to make it big and meet others’ expectations.

But the difference is that they are able to move out of this thinking which holds them back, in a flash. They are able to overcome the fears arising out of the above. They are able to convince one and all about the happiness that would come in, if they were doing what they think they were meant to do.

They take failures and success in the same stride. They learn to become moderately happy when they strike gold and moderately sad when they don’t. For them the path or the journey becomes more important than the goal.

They master the art of moving out of the normal. After all, don’t you think the ultimate goal for all of us remain more or less the same, yet paths will differ significantly.

Now, it’s up to you to decide which path to tread, for it’s only you who knows where your true calling lies. Time to MOVE OUT?

Source for Image: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/530791506055972532/

The Crappy Interview!

It is believed that the toughest part and the most subjective of all for any sort of examination is the last and final stage which everyone in the World seem to call “the interview”.

Well, most of the times the guys from IITs or IIMs tend to believe that they are big shots and want to be treated in high regards, but sometimes the breed and the likes of the very same can be on the receiving end and below I take great pleasure in illustrating one such incident where an IITian cum IIMian (if I can call him so) (G) found himself to be on the receiving end of the scheme of things that ensued after he happened to step into a room where the factory manager (FM) was eagerly waiting for him.interview 2

May I come in, Sir?”—-G

Yes, of course. Please have a seat.”—FM

Thank you, Sir.”—-G

Well, I won’t ask you questions like tell me something about yourself, because I know you will give me the crappy stuff that you have done and I personally won’t be impressed by what you have to say, just because I am different from the other morons who try to bask in the glory of the past and forget the task at hand and indeed the future ahead. So I will come straight to the point.”—–FM

Sure, Sir.”—G 

Ok, since you have got the point that it doesn’t matter who you are, what you have done in the past, considering that you don’t have any prior experience working in a factory, give me one good reason as to why should you be hired?”—-FM

Sir, yes I haven’t had the experience of working in a factory, but my credentials speak a volume…”—-G 

Again you are giving me a crappy answer. I told you I am not interested in your tags that you have happened to achieve during your so called illustrious academic career. What I am interested in knowing is how on earth can you increase my revenues?”—-FM

Sir, for that I will have to look at the processes and the implementation of the same in your factory.”—-G

See, that’s the problem with you A League people. You come here for an interview without knowing about the set up and believing that you would be able to do practically anything on this planet. Such arrogance, I must say, will lead to your downfall. And that’s the precise reason why you guys end up doing some silly 9-5 job. By the way, have you ever thought of opening your own firm or a factory?”—-FM

Not really, Sir. May be after a while when I am experienced enough.”—-G

See, the kind of answers you are giving. Such low risk-taking ability is a killer when it comes to a career. What will you do after gaining experience, sit on it all day long. You got to take risks in life if you want to achieve something big. Yes, if you don’t have any ambition what so ever then it is alright to think like what you are thinking. By the way, where do you see yourself, say ten years down the line.”—FM

Sir, I didn’t think about it. I have no clue. Now since, you have asked me to, I would indeed give it a thought.”—-G

No aim in life, no ambition, no risk-taking ability, no sense of responsibility, no vision, why do you think I should hire you?”—-FM

Sir, just because, if I had all the above, I won’t be sitting here asking you for a job and just because of all people in the world, the benchmarks that you have created might be too high for 99.99999% of the people and I am the best pick that you can have from the remaining 0.00001%.”—-G

Well done, good answer. See, now you are talking. You need to leave that “please give me a job” attitude. You need to come out in the open showing your true self. By the way, you are hired. I want to see you tomorrow 9 am sharp :)”—-FM

Thank you so much, Sir.”—G

Well, not the conventional of interviews that tend to go on and on talking about the credentials and how wonderful one is. But indeed an eye opener for the aspirants who tend to go to any level and go on compromising just because they want a job.

What can be seen in the corporate world today is implicit exploitation of the job seekers and employees, just because the company bosses know that they will not come out in the open with their grievances. Imagine a guy working from 10 am to 2 am in an investment bank. He doesn’t even realize the kind of health problems that he will surely get in terms with in future.interview

Well, you can argue that it is his sweet will to chose such a profession. Indeed it is, but that doesn’t give any company a right to exploit people.

So, all people out there, who are working in corporate sector, if you feel exploited or if you feel that your company is taking undue advantage, then come out in the open and speak against the same; for it is this very attitude that will help you take big strides and indeed will prove to be a harbinger for happiness and success.

Source for Image: http://todaycut.com/customer-relationship-manager-interview-questions-and-answers/, http://www.adeptresources.com/blog/how-to-stand-out-in-the-interview