Diminishing Breathing Space

Ram Krishan, who used to be a farmer in a small village in Gurgaon, was found dead few days ago. His cadaverous wife and four children were forced to work on a building being constructed on their ex-land; the land which was confiscated by the government to a lot an SEZ to a renowned group of Industries, on a promise that an appropriate compensation would be given in lieu of their land. After two months of treading twelve miles daily, to the municipal corporation, Ram Krishan was left with no choice but to commit suicide. His case was also filed like hundred’s of others and heaps of files are still gathering dust.
Reminiscing a meeting with Mrs. Kalawati Bandurkar, who was badly afflicted with the maladies of abject poverty, the Congress MP Rahul Gandhi said that electricity could solve many of her problems. Indirectly, he was stressing on the need of nuclear power. Thanks to our philanthropic political leaders (particularly the members of the Left Parties), the so called leaders of the nation and the representatives of the citizens, an imperative deal took almost one year to get the final nod.
On completion of the first quarter, when the aviation industry was facing a tragic period and government took some steps to appease the corporates, Left came to the forefront, condemning the government on the grounds of supporting the corporates and not the common man. A little bit of common sense would be enough to justify that a country, where the service sector and manufacturing sector contribute to 62% and 20% of the GDP respectively, it becomes imperative to take care of the corporates. These benefits will finally permeate to the common man.
History speaks volumes of the instances when our political leaders have proved to be roadblocks in the way of national growth. And finally the one who suffers is the common man. The populace of West Bengal is the witness in the present scenario. The motive behind the agitation started by Ms. Mamta Bannerjee was fine, but the implementation has been fallacious so far. Blocking the main highway and thus jamming the supply for a fairly long period can not be considered moral.
On similar grounds, let us take the example of the Jammu turmoil, which started over the issue of granting 40 acres of land to the Amarnath Shrine Board to shelter the surplus pilgrims. The reason for the opposition to the above was stated as a possible change in demographic profile of the area. After nearly three weeks of curfew, a proposal to open the Muzaffarabad-Uri highway, to counter the blockage of supplies. What about the demographic profile now? Would it not lead to immigration of people across the border?
Sometimes we are not left with any other option but to rebel for our rights. But ask a common man. He knows no Hinduism, no Islam; no Tata, no Reliance. All he knows is the pressure of feeding umpteen family members as he gets up, and the same before he sleeps. Our honorable political leaders keep stuffing their accounts with more and more bullion, but the breathing space is diminishing for the common man.

Little Outstretched Hands...

Finally the day is over. Late into the night as I walk across the room towards my bed, my feet betray me. My intimidated brain revolts against itself. Somehow I manage to complete my journey, but my tired eyes are too petrified to close, apprehending the apparitions I see every night; a haunting sight of a child, wailing at the top of his voice, running towards me with his hand outstretched, fast enough to chase me and cling to my leg; and then another one, one more… umpteen piercing screams ringing in my head do not let me sleep.
It has been the same for a while. The reason being the sights I encounter every day. Every morning as I tread on the road to the coaching institute around 6 am, I pass a slum located between two blocks of the main market; a big plot of land, where the laborers have started dwelling to build another block. What a breathtaking view! The odor of the fumes rising from the filth and turd lying all around the place, literally, take one’s breath out. And in the midst of the above, live scores of unprivileged children afflicted with malnutrition, some sleeping in the middle of the road, others on the pavement, usually without the privilege of having their body covered, except for a piece of rag which is merely capable of draping either the upper part of their body or the lower. What a way to start your day!
And sometimes when I visit the temple, I find a number of peddlers, mostly children, waiting outside the gate to collect all the ambrosia that people offer them. As soon as one comes out, after offering his prayers, they run to him with outstretched hands, chanting “Uncle mujhe do… uncle mujhe… uncle…” And if by chance, someone is able to fetch a handful of Prasad twice, that’s the moment of elation, satisfaction and pride. It’s a great relief to make someone happy, albeit momentarily, especially these unlucky children. At times I run out of whatever I have, and then I see those wide, expecting eyes, dejected at last. And probably it’s their outstretched hands, which expect something from me, that haunt me in my sleep…
I wish a day will come when I would be able to live up to their dreams, and probably that would be the day when I will have a sound sleep having those little outstretched hands reneged, so that they would not need to be outstretched ever again…

Lets try something new!

Before going into the mainstream, I would like you to answer this question to yourself:

“What is the similarity between Sam Walton, Sir Richard Branson, Kishore Biyani, Jack Welch, Bill Gates, Mohammad Younis…?”

I hope you could guess it without much trouble. Indeed, all those mentioned above are Entrepreneurs. Now, if you don’t know the correct answer, reading further might be a sheer wastage of time.

None of the personnel listed above were born Entrepreneurs. All they had was a vision, a dream and above all, they had balls. Entrepreneurship is not always benison. Ironically, everyone can’t develop this skill over a period of time. Irony arises from the fact that everyone is not audacious. And, even those who are, might not possess very good analytical and manipulative skills. Most of us are aware of the fact that Sir Richard Branson was an archetypical Entrepreneur, despite of being a dyslexic! Even I was not able to digest this fact completely.

The first stage is that of idea generation. It’s going on around you. The Americans were long engaged in consuming hot-dogs, none but Ray Kroc saw a great opportunity in this business. Being engaged in selling milk shakes, he once saw McDonald, run by the McDonald brothers. He was highly impressed by the way McDonald worked. And there he stood aghast at the cleanliness, speed of service. He talked to the brothers and opened the first franchisee, and started selling burgers. Today McDonald has over 18000 franchisees all over the world and is one of the biggest real estate holder in the world.

Robert T Kiyosaki, in his book Rich Dad Poor Dad, mentions how he had a great urge of earning money, more and more of it, and that too, since childhood. And he further states that, to earn more a person needs to have this basic instinct. Recently while talking to one of my friends, there was a mention of the book and he projected the author as a great entrepreneur. Though, I was a little skeptical about that. Raison d’ etre of entrepreneurship is not money. You run for money and money runs from you. Instead, if you can make money work for you, it can perform wonders.

Entrepreneurship involves a lot of responsibilities… social, financial, political… If money is the sole motive behind a new venture, it’s not going to survive long. Every new enterprise is bonded with its customers. You serve them well and they pay you back, lest you are bound to be screwed at some point of time as it happened with Chrysler before Lee Iacocca joined it as President. Nonetheless, the enterprise will soon be in an abyss, from where it won’t be easy to recover soon, no matter how hard you try, no matter how truthful you become.

Geeks do not make very good businessmen, fanatics do!!!

Note: After reading this article, if you too find some potential in yourself, and even if you do not, please share your views!!!

In the process of becoming rich, are we forgetting the real meaning of life?

“And in the end, its not the years in your life that count; but the life in your years”, said Abrahim Lincon. Arrange a debate on the connotation of ‘life’ he’s talking about, and you would get scores of real meanings of life. Moreover, you’d be bound to choose the one which suits you the best.

Having a hundred million dollars at your disposal, would you be satisfied with a coffee in the bed as you wake up in your big bungalow, a refreshing meal, watching television or commanding servants to clean every corner properly, just making an attempt to spend your time? Most of us would end up in a strong disagreement with such a life. Imagine Sam Walton doing away with all his stores on a simple note that he has earned enough and he wants to lead a life now, which he was not able to live for so many years. In his process of becoming rich, did he forget the real meaning of life? Ask him, and you would get to know the amount of activity he underwent all through. The risk involved in investments, in new ventures; the vast knowledge of marketing and business that he possesses is his actual treasure. That would be the real meaning of life for him.

Talk about a poor farmer, badly afflicted with the maladies of drought. He too intends to be rich. He works all day long under burning sun, playing with soil, seeds, bulls and a bare land. Without having basic amenities, what could be the real meaning of life for him? Would the knowledge of the real meaning of life improve anything?

The process of becoming rich is not just about accumulating wealth. There are numerous other attributes annexed with it. Development and richness come hand in hand. Had there been no desire, no Aryans would have ever come to India, no Mughals would have ever thought of overpowering the Indian Subcontinent, no British would have ever thought of setting up an East India Company, and start ruling over a nation. Considering the positivity of all these hostile takeovers, there was a lot of development. Though India had to pay a huge price, today India is considered a pool of the best talent. And most of the Indians are in the race of becoming rich. Aren’t they leading a real life?

Going back to the real meaning of life, it is generally related with ethics. Though everyone has a different view about life, but most of the people finally consider a philanthropist as leading a real life. For that matter, if we consider Entrepreneurship as one of the processes of getting rich, then it can surely be considered a philanthropic activity, as it generates employment. So the real meaning of life is not lost. Unlike indirect philanthropy, as discussed above, there are many Sir Tom Hunters’ in this world, who have donated large sums of money, for upliftment of the poor.

Today, when we are facing an economic crunch, all those people who are putting in hard labor to curb the rocketing commodity prices and fuel prices, are fairly rich themselves. In their protest against inflation, they finally end up helping the poor. Maximum amount of tax collected, comes from the rich, which is again utilized to help the citizens. Everything involves money, and most of it is generated during the process of becoming rich.

That was all about philanthropy. Another comprehension of the real meaning of life is enjoyment. A thought prevails among different sections of people, that, if someone works too hard and earns well, it is said that he is just a robot who goes to office daily, works for long hours, comes back, and goes to sleep; who doesn’t even have time to have proper meals; who doesn’t even cares about the performance of his kids at school. So he’s not living a life in real terms. Now ask that person itself. He would be more than satisfied with all the success and all the respect he has earned, hence enjoying his corporate life. And if life is all about enjoyment, then he knows the real meaning of life.

The gist of the above discussion is that the meaning of life is not lost in the process of becoming rich, as this process encounters money working hard for the human to make him rich, to generate more money. And in the midst of this process, the intellectual leads a life, knowing its real meaning.

The Golden Period

When the question of careers arises, one usually becomes a child lost in the proverbial sweet shop, which might not be true for a student in India, who generally considers Engg. /Medical as his best option. I followed the same bunch of people and joined NIT Hamirpur, to pursue a B-Tech Degree in Electronics and Communication Engineering, in August 2004.
Wholeheartedly I agree to the fact that the college time is the best time of life. And the most important too, as it covers the adolescence of an individual who metamorphoses, from a child, into an adult having a developed acumen. One learns to maintain a balance between his duties and his priorities. The usual priorities of a budding engineer remain boozing, playing computer games, spending time with friends, maybe some special one at times… But at the first call of duty, the warriors get ready to leave everything aside and complete their work. There won’t be a single instance when we would not have completed our assigments on time. Please don’t ponder on the means we employed for the same.
The best period during whole engineering is the first year. Our classes used to end around 4:30 during the first year, and while going back to our respective rooms, we had to pass the second year block. Sophomores used to block our way and sometimes made us answer some really foolish questions. But that too was fun as we were learning professionalism, when we had entered a professional college. Looking at the ‘third button’, we used to follow in a line and reach our rooms, where we used to be the kings, until some senior thought of coming towards us. But finally those seniors proved to be friends who provided us with books and guided us all along.
Ankush and Larzoo turned up to be my first roommates. First time I met Ankush, he reminded me of the person who used to be in my batch during crash course for preparation of competitive exams. Though, that guy was his younger brother, I confused him with Ankush. The main reason of my curiosity was the incidents of quarrels related with him. So, the first thought of having him as my roommate made me shiver. Eventually I found Ankush to be a completely different person. A real friend…
One of the most beautiful phases used to be one month before the cultural festival. I still remember being tortured by some seniors, during my first year, just because I was in dance club and my dance partner was considered one of the most beautiful ladies in first year. And the only problem was that she was tall enough and none other matched her profile. So most of the times, I was made to dance with her. That was the experience of the Dance Club. During 2nd year I joined PR Club, which was even more fun. And ofcourse, there was much to learn from the same. And there were acquaintances, which eventually turned into friendship.
I gained a lot of friends at college, which would be my worthiest treasure. And yeah finally I received my degree today by post. So finally I am Er. Rishabh Bansal… Cheers everyone!

The Robin Hood Theory

In India, 21% people are below poverty line and the population of those who can’t even earn bread for their family, twice daily, is comparable. Merely a 45% people would be self efficient, 20% of which can be called rich…
Here I want to discuss another citation from the book Rich Dad Poor Dad. During our schooldays, we heard stories of the romantic hero, Robin Hood, who robbed from the rich and gave it to the poor. Is it mandatory for the rich to feed the poor? Is it a crime to be rich? If not, then why do we find people saying that rich should pay more taxes, which can benefit the poor.
This is probably what is happening in countries which boast to be developed, because no one sleeps hungry. A set amount is paid as a reward to those who are unemployed and they are sent to some poor country where they can afford a healthy living. And sometimes this amount exceeds the wages of an employee. The result is pretty obvious. The employed also prefers to sit idle and have a delicious meal with a beer every time instead of having a dry loaf of bread twice, or seldom, once, daily. Such an idea is encouraging unemployment in the developed countries.
A better idea can be to lend some amount of money to such people with minimum rate of interest, so that they can get into a business. And more amount can be lent, if they hold assets equivalent to the double of previously lent amount. This way, their assets can be mortgaged and they will be encouraged to work harder and earn more, instead of relying on the government and blaming the rich. So people! Please suit yourself…

The monetory war...

Several books would have influenced my cognizance, but ‘Rich Dad Poor Dad’, has somehow pushed my instincts further. After having read nearly half of it, I strictly feel that it has a potential to go right into your brain and change your rationale about your lifestyle. Many of us at the stage of leaving college or even pursuing the graduation degree have a fear of being left out in the race of survival, because it’s the human tendency, which doesn’t allow him to consider himself the fittest, hence giving birth to the fear, I talked about. And most of the people of this clan usually have a desire, a greed, of earning more and more; which is why they hunt for a good job.
Despite of having a faint dream of being an entrepreneur, or being an artist, in short, choosing the road less travelled, one runs where he finds the herd running… behind money… behind a good job with a fat pay package… because that seems to be the last resort, especially if he is not from a financially super-stable family. Now, that’s pretty digestible. And everyone cannot become Sam Walton or Richard Branson, or for that matter, Vijay Malaya (the desi version).
Need of the hour is financial know-how. And the perfect medium is a school. Especially the schools of India need to teach the students some financial terms, which can help them comprehend financial articles easily and help them to build strategies. Though B-schools solve the purpose, but everyone can’t afford joining one. Until and unless one doesn’t know what to do with the money being earned, it cannot be invested judiciously; which is the major reason of the widening gap between the haves and the have-nots. Maybe one fine day, we’ll be able to get rid of all our fears and desires, and instead make money work for us; hence investing and accounting for each penny, that has been earned, knowing its actual worth.

The Turban Turmoil

A few days back, an incident of flaring-up the turban of a shool going kid by one of his classmate, in a school in London, rocked the front pages of the newspapers. In another incident, the Akal Academy in Cheema forced, even the non-sikh students, to wear a turban. And recently some SAD workers removed the turban of an officer who refused to accept their nomination for the elections.
It seems that 'the turban’ is acting as a weapon, albeit being dangerous to the Sikh community itself in some instances. And for the rest, Sikhs themselves tend to misuse their “turban power”. Possibly, that is the sole reason, why a helmet could not be designed for the Turban bearers, and the turban is acting as the super-natural power, which, according to them, might protect the upper story of Sikhs in case of a mishap.
It’s the moment when some decisions are needed to be taken, to prevent the ‘Turban Turmoil’. And now, when it has become an international issue, the representatives from the Sikh communities all over the planet should come forward to start a new round of discussion and the ministry of external affairs of all the nations worldwide should take an active part in the discussions, and finally lay down some laws ensuring the prevention of any forthcoming “Turban Turmoil”…

worse than hell

Quite miserable, he once again moves out of the room,
Once again, to the balcony,
Fiddles with clothes dried in sun, comes back in,
Goes to his room, lets out his frustration, says something stupid,
Gets thrashed for one more time.
And once again he moves out of his room,
This time to another room.
Keeps rolling around in the same vicious circle,
Hopping from one place to another in his own house.
What he lacks is peace, in his mind, in his soul.
Adulterates the atmosphere with his vibes.
Neither lives, nor lets other breathe.
Or is it the other way round?
He tries but fails; to make a presence,
To involve in a banter, says something humorous but immature.
And there he goes again.
He is alone, happy to be with friends,
His heart is splendid. He aspires for stars.
Has clandestine desires, which no one tends to embrace.
They want to see him flourish, but in their own ways.
They are the trend setters,
And they want him to follow the suit.
Study my child! They say…
They let him loose for leisure, for games,
But they want him to be disciplined.
Why not have a fixed time to study,
And save the rest to fly with dreams.
Gardener performs his duty well,
So expects the flowers to blush,
Dance with the rain, smile in the spring.
He keeps removing the weeds, to keep his little colorful kids healthy.
But the flowers fail to understand.
They don’t mind the weeds…
May god bless them with an instinct to bloom,
And spread their fragrance everywhere…

What matters is the Alma Mater

Leaders like Abrahim Lincon, Mahatma Gandhi and numerous others of the same clan who succeeded despite of studying in small schools are an exception. Talking in terms of general public, one usually tends to follow the suit, i.e. going for entrance tests after schooling, taking admission in colleges as per the availability of seats. Leaving aside a few, most of the students look at a good college, indifferent of the course being offered. During their graduation, they somehow build up interest in their field. Eventually they get jobs in MNC’s or other big firms with handsome pay packages.
The big issue that still needs to be discussed over here is the importance of graduating from a renound institute. It is a well known fact that all the institutes are graded for a particular graduation stream. These grades hold importance in the recruitment process, where companies tend to recruit students from the colleges with a grade that suits them the best. So if you want to join a big firm, you need to have graduated from a high graded institute. Otherwise, even if you are able to clear the interview and get into the firm, you’ll still need sometime to prove your worth. This time gap will cause some lag initially, which can be coped up in the later stages.
In the gist of this discussion, it can be said that, having graduated from a good institue will prevent the initial lag, which can save some time that might be of paramount importance. So, it’s a message to all the aspirants…Its time to pull up your socks and get into the arena. The competition is really tough and if you want to get through, dream for stars and you might land somewhere near moon.