The Power to Shine & Glow!

It was a burning sunny day during the summer! In the noon, I had stepped out for my work. Due to the extreme heat, I was drinking water every now and then to keep my body hydrated. For sun protection, a lot of people were wearing hats, sunglasses and some people were protecting themselves with umbrellas. The restaurants serving cold drinks and ice creams were crowded with buyers. People were using all the possible tactics to beat the heat.

I was passing by a Garden. I thought of sitting in the shadow of a tree to relax for some time. I sat down and looked up at the tree. I was delighted to see the magnificent view of the tree. The tree was fully flourished with red flowers. I could hardly see any leaves but could see plenty of flowers on every branch. The shadow of the tree was very dense because of the numerous flowers on it. The flowers were shining and creating a soothing effect.

It was a Gulmohar Tree (Delonix Regia Plant) which generally blooms during the summer. It’s also called the flame tree because of its sharp red flowers. In the garden, there were a few Gulmohar Trees with yellow flowers (Yellow Flamboyan Royal Poinciana Delonix Regia) which were also looking extremely beautiful. The shining and glowing flowers were giving an elegant look to the trees.

I was amazed to see the glowing flowers under the burning sun. I started thinking how come these delicate flowers look so fresh and radiant in the awful heat. The heat was so terrible that if you put a wet cloth under the sun, it would go dry in a few minutes. I was wondering what was driving these flowers to bloom with a radiance in such a terrible temperature.

I realized that these flowers shine due to its strong support system. The trunk of a tree functions as both a supporting structure and a pathway, transporting food down from the photosynthesizing leaves and conducting water and minerals up from the roots. The underground parts and the above-ground parts of the tree work together flawlessly to provide a strong support to the whole structure of the tree and the delicate flowers. There is a continuous flow of energy that gives power to the delicate flowers to glow under the burning sun. They shine irrespective of the adverse climatic conditions. Everybody enjoys the splendid view of the flourished trees.

In our life, we always like to be a shining face. The shine of each face depends upon its support system. Support system plays a pivotal role in everybody’s life. Everybody has his/her own support system that provides energy to flourish and shine in any situation. We may have different support systems that help us shine in different areas of our life.

In our personal life, our own value system, belief system, skills, habits, and behavior play a very important role in boosting our shine.

In our family life, paying due attention to our family members and maintaining good relations with them help us increase our shine.

In our professional life, our relationship with our team, subordinates, juniors, seniors and our stakeholders play a key role in enhancing our shine.

In our social life, relationship with our friends, relatives and our well-wishers play an essential role in improving our shine.

We need to do our best to nurture and strengthen each support system to help ourselves shine.

I would say that the core support systems of our life are – our own Self and our Family. Hence, it’s utmost important to first nurture and strengthen these support systems. We first need to take good care of ourselves and our family. It’s crucial to molding ourselves with the right education, skills, habits, and behavior to enhance our life. Simultaneously, it’s vital to pay due attention to our family so that they stand by us at every stage of our life. If we do this diligently, the energy would definitely continue to flow to glow our life.

Whenever we see somebody is shining with success, remember that it’s not only him/her that has contributed to the shine, but also that person’s support systems have contributed directly/indirectly in advancing his/her shine.

Let’s contemplate for a moment and do a status check of our support systems. Are they strong enough to help us shine? If yes, continue to nurture them. If not, it’s time to plan and take a necessary action…

Wishing You a Flourishing and a Shining Life! 😊

Be A Medium – It Feels Good! :)

One day, when I was entering my office gate, somebody said: “Hello Sir” from my back. I turned around to check if anybody called me. There was a teenage boy who had called me. He looked poor and needy. I asked him the reason for calling me. He said “I need a job. Do you have one?”

I was little surprised to hear him asking for a job by calling me. I thought for a moment and told him to wait outside for few minutes. I had no idea whether there was any job opportunity in our office. I quickly met the office administrator and checked if there was any job opportunity for a needy teenage boy. She told me that there is no job opportunity in the office. However, in the factory, there was a need for a helper in the packaging department. I quickly went outside and told him whether he was interested in being a helper in the packaging department. He quickly said, “Yes, I will be happy to work from today”. I asked him his name. He said “Mangesh”.

With the admin's permission, I asked Mangesh to visit the factory and meet the factory manager to complete the joining formalities. He visited the factory on the same day, completed his joining formalities and joined the work from the next day. Thereafter, he started working in the packaging department with his full interest.

My role was to coordinate with the factory for timely production and timely delivery of the goods. While working, I used to connect with Mangesh and ask him about how he was doing his work. He used to be very happy about sharing his progress in learning the packaging. He was very happy to find work for his living and was doing his best to deliver the superior performance.

After a couple of years, I resigned from that office and joined a new company for better prospects. Mangesh called me when he got to know about my resignation. He said that he was very thankful to me for helping him get a job because he was in a dire need to earn some money to support his family. I told him that there was nothing much that I had done. It was his effort and capability to get the job.

A couple of years passed. I got busy with my new work.

One day, I got a call from Mangesh. I asked him about his work. He told me that he had started leading the packaging team. I was very happy to know his progress. He started his journey as a helper in the packaging department and over the years, he became a leader in the same department. We had a long call talking about the old factory days and at the end of the call, he again thanked me for contributing towards his success.

I was just a medium to connect him with the opportunity. In fact, there was nothing much I had done for him, but I chose to become a medium. It was all his hard work that had contributed towards his success. However, Mangesh was very much thankful to me for touching his life positively. 

In my personal and professional life, I have been trying my best to guide, develop people and become a medium to connect them to the various opportunities. A lot of them are in touch with me. They show a great amount of gratitude for my little contribution. It feels good! :)

All of us should have a few people that must have become a medium to connect us to our dreams and our better future. Let’s remember them and thank them for their contribution to help us become what we are today.

Touch somebody's life positively and be a medium to somebody’s happiness and success. It really feels good! 😊

Mangesh still calls me sometimes. We care for each other and keep wishing best for each other. I learned something from Mangesh - No work is small. With continuous efforts, we can master any task and achieve great results.

Wishing You A Happy and A Successful Life!

Try Again - A Struggle To Become A Soldier

It was a beautiful evening! I had stepped out my house to take a nice stroll in the garden. While I was walking towards the garden, my friend Ravi met me. I found him little upset. I asked him if he would like to join me for a walk. He agreed to walk with me.

I asked him why he was upset. He told me that he failed in the Army Recruitment process. That was the 5^th time he had tried to get selected for The Indian Army but couldn’t make it. In every selection process, he was being rejected for one or the other reason. He was frustrated due to the repeated failures. He was telling me how tough the section process was and how best he tried to perform in each test. He was furiously telling me how some of the selecting officers were biased while doing the selection. He was so upset that he didn’t want to try for the selection again.

As a friend, I listened to him quietly and told him to calm down. I told him to prepare strongly for the next army selection. Told him to continue focussing on his diet and his physical fitness. Assured him that he would definitely be an Army Officer one day. He should continue with his efforts and do his best during the selection process.

Thereafter, he failed few more times in the Army Recruitment Process. He used to meet me after every failure and we used to discuss how hard he performed on the recruitment tests. He used to be upset and I used to boost his morale. I used to tell him to prepare himself and try one more time. He continued working hard in preparing himself and trying his best in every selection process.

Ravi was my school friend. We both completed the school education together and had traveled to the city for higher education. We both were studying in a night college and working during the day for our living. We both were struggling to get higher education and to make our careers.

Ravi was working in a restaurant. However, wanted to become an Army Officer. It was his dream to join the Indian Army from his childhood. When we were in the school, he used to like the brave stories of the soldiers and was always expressing his desire to become a soldier.

One day, Ravi came to meet me with the good news. He told me that he was selected for the Indian Army and would be leaving for the training soon. He was super excited by the selection and wanted to wear the soldier’s uniform soon. I was extremely happy for Ravi’s success. His childhood dream had come true. I wished him all the very best for his future journey!

I had heard that some of the selected candidates don’t make through the army training as it’s very tough. Some candidates give up during the training and come back home. I was little worried about Ravi and how he would make through the training. However, Ravi made through the training successfully and joined the Indian Army. 

It was a proud moment for me!

After joining the Army, we exchanged few letters to each other. In the letters, he used to mention about our childhood memories, his struggle, and how I encouraged him to achieve his dreams. He also shared how soldiers protect the country borders in the difficult climatic conditions. From Ravi, I got to know how tough a soldier’s life is. 

Hats off to all the soldiers who are working hard day and night to keep us safe and sound!

Ravi has been serving the Indian Army for more than a decade. We are still in touch with each other. I am proud of him and the Indian Army. I salute each soldier because of whom we enjoy our freedom!

From Ravi’s life, I learned that our intense desire can become a reality with our persistent and relevant efforts. We should continue performing our best in whatever we do. We shouldn’t give up on our long-term goals due to the short-term challenges.

Wishing you a great success in whatever you do! :)

Silent Noise? Have You Ever Experienced One?

After I completed my graduation, I was doing a marketing job for a couple of years. I was selling the garment accessories to the various garment exporters across Mumbai.

Most of the times, I used to be on the field work. I had to visit a garment exporter and meet the purchase officers. When purchase officers were busy, I had to wait for them. The waiting time used to vary from minutes to hours. After meeting a purchase manager, I had to discuss their requirements of garment accessories, show them samples and collect the orders if any. Some days, I used to get good sale orders, some days fewer sale orders and some days no sale orders. I used to be happy when I had sale orders and I used to be unhappy when I had no orders. I had to go through the pressurized work situation most of the times. Meeting sales target was a big challenge.

Some of the purchase managers used to treat me well. However, some of them were real jerks. They never used to treat me respectfully. Couple of them used to treat me like a beggar who was begging for orders. I used to feel like killing them. However, I had to continue with my job until I find a new one to earn my bread and butter.

I used to meet at least 4-5 garment exporters daily. It was tough to travel in the city almost the whole day. I used to carry my lunch box and had to find a good place during the noon to have a peaceful lunch. It was a challenge to find a suitable place to have a lunch. Sometimes, I used to eat in the break out areas of a garment exporter. Some days, I managed to hijack the security officer’s cabin of a garment exporter and some days, I used to find a seating place under a roadside tree to have my lunch. Sometimes, an open garden place used to be one of the options for a peaceful lunch.

I was having a tough time doing the marketing job and was actively looking for a new job which would give me a good work environment and a peaceful place to have my lunch 😊

One fine day, I finished my work at a garment exporter in the noon and was looking for a place to have my lunch. Nearby, I saw a beautiful garden and I decided to have a lunch over there. I found a good place in the shadow of a dense tree and started having my lunch. Since it was a noon, there were hardly any people in the garden.

When I was having my lunch, I saw a group of 30-40 teenage boys and girls entering the garden. They were accompanied by a couple of adults. It looked like a group of a school had come to the garden during the play time period. They started playing different games and doing different fun activities. They were running around, teasing each other, pushing each other, shouting at each other. In short, they were having a lot of fun.

I was enjoying this sporty scenario while having my lunch. I felt like I was playing with them and having a lot of fun with them. It was a very good lunch break for me!

All of a sudden, I realized that those children were almost 25 meters away from me, they were having all sort of fun, making a lot of noise. However, I couldn’t hear any sound of the noise they were making. I pulled my ears a little down and tried to hear the noise again, but nothing happened. I could see the children shouting, making a lot of noise, but no sound was reaching me. I was completely surprised and got little worried about my hearing ability.

I thought, maybe those children were quite far away from me due to which I couldn’t hear them. Hence, I finished my lunch as quickly as possible and started walking towards children’s playing area. I almost reached close to the area where those children were paying. However, still couldn’t hear any sound. I got terrified thinking there was something wrong with me. In a while, I approached one of the adults who was accompanying the children and tried to speak to him. I asked which school the children came from. The moment he started answering to me, I could hear him speaking. The moment I heard him, I was very happy realizing that there was nothing wrong with my ears. However, what he told me did touch my heart.

All of the children were special ones – dumb and deaf. Their teachers had brought them to the garden to play during the noon because there was a less crowd in the garden at that time.

After knowing this, I became speechless and got into an introspection mode. A while ago, I was terrified thinking about my hearing challenge for few moments. I started imagining these children’s life with the hearing and speaking challenges. I felt like a luckiest and a most blessed person on the earth at that moment. The stress about my job got vanished in a moment. I prayed the Almighty God to give enough strength to these children to deal with their challenges.

This one incident carried a long-lasting impression in my life. I tell myself that God has gifted me with necessary knowledge, skills, and abilities to move ahead strongly on the path of life.

I remember a poem that I had read somewhere. The poet says –

“I was crying because I had no shoes,

Till I saw a boy who had no feet” 

I also remember a story in which a person was very poor and wanted instant money. One day, he meets the God and asks for money. The God says that he would give him money, but he would need something in exchange. The person agrees to give anything in exchange but needed a lot of money at any cost.

They God says “I will give you 1 million dollars in exchange for your one eye” They man happily says “Done”. Then man thinks that it’s a great deal. Then the God says “I have got another offer. I will give you 2 million dollars in exchange for another eye”.

This time the man became super happy about the offer but became little worried losing the seeing ability. While the man was deciding about exchanging his second eye, the God kept throwing few more offers in exchange for the man’s other body parts.

After hearing the multiple offers from the God, the man got horrified and pleaded the God to stop throwing the offers. The man realized that there is no use of money which he would get by exchanging his body parts. He also realized the worth of his body and denied all offers from the God.

In short, we are all born billionaires. We have already got the billion-dollar property – The Human Body. We are gifted with the necessary assets to fulfill our needs by using our body and its abilities wisely. 

Wishing you a very Happy, Health and Wealthy life! 😊

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The Festival Of Colors – A Unique Celebration

It’s the time of celebrating ‘Holi’ Festival in India. Most of Indians, it’s a Holiday and Holy Day! 😊

It’s famously known as “The Festival OF Colours”. This festival has primarily got three dimensions – 

a) On the first day of Holi, a heap of dry wooden logs is aligned vertically with few other burnable things and the whole bunch is set on fire. The whole burning bunch is called a Holi. This process of burning Holi has got a very deep meaning in Indian Culture –

Fire (The so-called Red Flower) has unique importance in the humanity. Fire is worshiped on this day. There are various mythological stories behind the process of burning Holi. This Holi is a form of a YAGYA - The holy fire in which we sacrifice our temptations and purify ourselves.  The main motive is to burn negative energies around us and purify ourselves inside out to be Happy, Healthy and Wealthy.

b) This time is considered to be the end of winter season in India and the beginning of summer season. This is the climatic transition period between the winter and the summer season. During this time, a lot of bad bacteria take birth and spread out various deceases. Fire helps us kill such bad bacteria and purifies the environment to keep us Healthy.

When the Holi was set on fire, I clicked few pictures of the Holi flames. At a moment, the flame formed a picture of a crowned woman. It looked like the God of Fire who fuels the positive energy around us to enhance our lives.

c) The second day is called “Rang Panchami”. We celebrate this day by throwing different powder colors and splashing colored water at each other. This is the unique way of worshiping and respecting different colors of nature. Lots of good wishes are exchanged with a great amount of gratitude towards each other and the mother nature.

Lots of special dishes are prepared during this festival and friends and relatives are invited to the feast. My special menu is “Puran Poli” which I enjoy eating in this season.

May God bless everybody with enough power and energy to paint his/her canvas of life as colorful as possible. May these colors of joy make everybody’s life Happy, Healthy and Wealthy!

HAPPY HOLI! 😊