The Next Page

Hello Friends, it is great to be back after a long interval. Special thanks to some of my dear friends who reminded me of this in their casual question “What’s your next blog gonna be on?”.

I first want to share a fine thought I read sometime back.

“Life is a book. To turn the next page or to put it down, the choice is yours.”

I might not be the best person to comment on this, but am still trying to share my thoughts on this quote. A lot of times we are puzzled, enthralled while reading our future forecast and start anticipating what’s going to happen next. Sometimes nothing seems to be going our way and seems to be the end of the world. We loose our confidence and self esteem. I feel we should live each day at a time and not worry too much on what is happening at the moment too much. There are two reasons behind it. The first, nothing would change for better if you worry too much. The second, after the major event (how we think it is at that time) is history, we look back only to realize that it wasn’t that great or important. My thought is that we need to understand that in what ever situation we are in, we should not give up hope.

I was chatting up with a colleague regarding the same subject and he asked till how long one can try to be positive if everything around him remains negative. My answer was infinity. I know it is easier said than done, but believe you me it works. Sometimes, all it takes to overcome failure is that last try which we thought would be useless. I am firm believer that if we don’t stop believing in our own abilities and are ready to put our 100% efforts in whatever we do, we would find success sooner or later. The important thing is to hold on to your nerves in those questioning moments of life. Tell yourself that you would not allow anyone to tell you how you think about yourself, and that in spite of all odds you will take control of your life and move ahead.

We would have our UP’s & Down’s in life. The best time for making a plan is when you think you don’t need a plan. Also, it is very important that don’t hold fate / destiny responsible for whatever situation we are in. We have been the decision maker and which is why you are where you are today. The flip side to this theory is that leaving everything on fate would make matters worse most of the times.

I know a lot of friends who have undergone a very tough time and my sincere message to all is that it is just a passing phase. Keep your head high, pull your thoughts together and get ready to turn the next page of your wonderful life.

As I said earlier, the decision is……….YOURS!

Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards.

P.S – Do share it anyone whom you think might require this magical dust of hope!

Theory of Relativity

Well friends, just to set the perspective right, this blog is not a physics article but surely based on great Einstein's theory of relativity. Considering that I am from banking background, most of my friends (readers) would be from a commerce background (unlike me, 'cause I am a Science graduate!) hence the disclaimer.

Today, I stepped out of my home at 6am for travelling to Chandigarh for some official work.While on the way this thought came into my mind. For eg. if you are in a rush to reach office it is most likely that you would find a lot of traffic on the road. However, the other day if you have relatively less urgency the roads seemed to be clearer and you reach way ahead of normal time. To put it in perspective, the difference in these 2 situations would be around 10 minutes. The point I am making here is that it is not always the outside situation which affects us but moreso the way we react to it. The example I gave would be true for most of you reading this. While we discuss this in hindsight, those 10 minutes seem like years for us then. Such stress creates a lot of negative energy which erodes our efficiency and focus. Whatever has to happen will happen, but the best I can do is to do whatever best I can to prevent such a scenario. Like in this case, rather than praying for clear traffic, I should rather leave for my destination with some additional time in hand. There's no harm in reaching 10 minutes earlier, I guess.

It is very important to take a break from the regular routine and understand this phenomenon while it is still underway.

I am not sure how many of you would have undergone this feeling of looking back in time and realising that a lot of the unpleasant / unhappy / disturbing times of our lives were infact the most important shaping moments of our lives. The risk of moving into the unknown, the defeat and the fall , the struggle and most importantly the will to win. I quote the most apt quotation " it is not in falling that we fail, but in not trying to rise.". Each experience exposes us to our weaknesses and strengths. Moving back to the theory of relativity, a lot of times we feel helpless or in a state of despair and expect somebody to come and help us. The truth is that if there is somebody who would come to help us, it is we ourselves. We need to believe in our own abilities and determination to wade ourselves out of difficult times. History proves that not all would survive the pressure and the make themselves champions. The most important key, according to me, is to keep moving ahead and ensure that even though we fail in our attempts numerous times, we must not fail to attempt again.
While times would keep changing, it is we who have to have to hold on to our nerves and just believe in ourselves in totallity and not relatively to the situation.


Do share your views on this....


P.S- I did manage to reach the destination on time ! :)

The Unexpected

Cricket is the air and “Holi” colours haven’t been gone completely. There are still traces of the colours on our hands, faces and scalp suggesting that we have had a wonderful Holi celebration. I am sure you all had a great time too. If you are a nature lover, I am sure you would be enjoying the flowers in full bloom welcoming the Spring.

However the topic I chose to write today is something which falls under the “IMPORTANT BUT NOT URGENT” category. It is “What to do if a crisis happens?” I send it today so that we plan and prepare ourselves should such a crisis ever happen in our lives. The best time to plan is when we think there’s no need for a plan.

Crisis never comes with an appointment…..I am sure that a lot of you reading this would agree to this but would vary on different aspects of this line. I quote this with reference to the tragic tsunami which shook the coast of Japan almost a fortnight back. Though the city has been built on a tectonic plate, this kind of nature’s fury wasn’t expected to be. Had this been some other city, the casualty list would have been many times higher. The video footages of the Tsunami are very disturbing and have an eerie resemblance to a lot of the Hollywood disaster movies. To add to the woes and suffering, there has been confirmed news of the leakage of the nuclear plants. May god give strength to the kin of the effected people. Life surely would never be the same for those people.

Sometimes, no amount of preparation can help us tide the unexpected. However, the least we can do is to be prepared for the worst.

On the office front, we are often flooded with emails on what to do in event of fire, earthquake, business disruption (BCM) etc. Most of the times, we ignore these mails simply by telling ourselves that this would never happen to us or we know what we need to do in those circumstances. That’s what causes the major damage. Ignorance of safety standards causes the maximum damage to human life. It is imperative that we go through these “not-for-me” mails and know what do in special unseen circumstances.

I give you some of the basic scenarios and ask for your reaction under these situations.

- Someone gets injured in a road accident

- There’s a fire in the building

- Person has a Heart Attack

- There’s an earthquake

I am sure you would have an idea of the things to do and more importantly not to do under these situations. Still I would want you to take out 5-10 crucial minutes to visit some of the suggested links for a better understanding.

Incase of Earthquake

Incase of Fire

Incase of Heart Attack

This list is surely not exhaustive but I am sure they give us a sense of what to do. It’s the first few minutes which are most critical in these situations. Also would be great if we stored the emergency numbers on our handsets.

I leave you with this small thought. Do you know why we wear seat belts when we drive? It is not because it is not because it saves our life in event of an accident but because there is a challan for Rs 100/-. I am sure our lives are much precious than those hundred rupees..!!!  Accidents don’t always happen for your fault. 50% of the times it’s the person on the other side who’s at fault. Yet, the damage would be ours as well. So drive safe and always remember to wear your seat belts while driving.

Last but not the least, share this with your friends…you never know who might need this vital information.

P.S – I just wish and pray that no one of us ever needs to use this information ever in our lives. But I still thought it was important to share this vital information. Life is priceless....!!

From a distance

We are living a fast paced life. This has been very true for me, considering that my daughter just completed her 2 years of Montessori and is all set to move on to 1st Standard in the new academic session. It seems like yesterday only that she went to school for the first time and wouldn’t want to go inside. Two years later, we were invited to school for her first ‘on-stage’ cultural show performance. I surely had a few anxious moments before she actually came on stage to perform her “Chiddiya(Sparrow)” dance. It was surely a chirpy performance by all the kids of her class.

This blog is about how life takes its beautiful course while you watch your child grow up from an infant to a toddler to a young kid almost magically…from a distance. I am sure this feeling is echoed by a coach who can only watch his player fight out his battle while all he can do is watch. Ofcourse, we always share the feedback once the match is over so as to prepare him for the next big fight.

While this is more from a parent’s point of view, the applicability is not restricted to young kids as these principles hold true at any stage in life.

Before the start of the show, the Principal Mrs Goswami gave a short message to the parents. I have tried to pen down some of the things which I really liked.

Handling Pressure – The child has to learn to handle stress in their own ways and we, as parents should encourage our child to participate in all activities. We should be protective about our kid but need to ensure that the child understands that its okay even if they don’t win sometimes. We build a lot of pressure around us by setting our expectations but fail to provide the support system which the child requires to be able to give his best. There are instances where children go to the extent of committing suicides because they are unable to cope up with the pressures. Childhood is the time from which we need to support our child mentally to become strong and take things in his/her stride.

I am reminded of a wonderful story about the cocoon and the butterfly which I had read some time back. It is about a man that found a cocoon, and got it home to watch it turn into a butterfly. As the butterfly inside matured, it struggled to come out of its cocoon, but couldn't quite get free out of it. After a lot of patience, the man became tired of waiting and decided to help the butterfly. He removed the remaining bit of the cocoon. The butterfly was pleased, but it had a swollen body and small, wrinkled wings. As a result, the butterfly never succeeded in flying and spent its entire life crawling around. What the man didn't understand was that the struggle required for the butterfly to break out of its cocoon actually forced fluid from the body of the butterfly into its wings so that it would be ready for flight once it achieved its freedom. It is the struggle that causes the butterfly to develop its ability to fly. Moral of the story – Our own struggle gets the best out of us!

 

As I look around me, pressure is there on everyone. I guess, it does bring out the best in us only if it is up to a certain limit. What’s my mantra? “Take realistic stretched targets and leave no stone unturned to ensure that you achieve it”….I know its easier said than done. But trust me; our results will surely be more encouraging this way.

Do click on this link to read my earlier blog on this related topic “Pressure” as well.

Do drop in your comments as well on my blog and share it with your near and dear ones, incase you liked it.

P.S - Next time you find yourself in trouble and no one's coming to help you, remember that God wants to you come out of it yourself while he is watching you....from a distance!

Change

Hope this blog finds you in good health and spirits. I thank you all who read my last blog “Shift the Gear” and shared their comments. It is indeed encouraging to know if you liked something I enjoy writing. So dont hold on to your comments and share it with me as well.

A brief update on last week follows-

-          Completed reading “The Alchemist” by Paulo Coelho. In case you have not read it, I seriously recommend you to read it because it is a magical story of a shepherd who gave up everything to pursue his dreams, and also teaches us why it is important not to give up when we are so close to success. The book talks recurrent dreams, omens and signs which life hints us at while we are chasing our “treasures”.  Every one of us is actually an alchemist who can turn convert their dreams into reality. I really liked the following quote from the book “I don’t live in either my past or my future. I’m interested only in the present. If you can concentrate always on the present, you’ll be a happy man. Life will be a party for you, a grand festival; because life is the moment we’re living now.”

-          Watched Steven Spielberg’s “Back to the Future” Trilogy. The first thought that crossed my mind was that given a choice of going back in time and changing the past, what would I want to change. Also, would life be the same incase we knew what future had in store for us? Food for thought…

-          At times, a natural calamity can change the lives of all those you are involved. One such sad incident happened in New Zealand last week where there was a major earthquake. Life is precious. It is sad to know that man is nothing against the fury of nature. May God give strength to those affected by disaster.

Change is the only constant thing. Look everywhere and you would see nothing remains the way it was earlier. Life is all about change. I have been here on this planet for more than 3 decades now and it surely has changed in between. Our lifestyle has taken the maximum toll.

-          Inland Letters / Post cards to emails / video chats

-          Landlines Telephones to I-Phones

-          Typewriters to Blackberry

-          Black & White Tv’s to Mobile Tv's

-          Test matches to T-20

This list would surely be endless. These are some of the things I can think of immediately. However, it is difficult to notice change if you are not looking for it.  I had shared the story of the frog in the boiling water in one of my earlier blogs 'Paradigm'. (You can click on the hyperlink to check that out)

Taking cue from my last blog on shifting gears, life would be monotonous if we kept doing the same thing over and over again. Also, it would be foolish to expect different results while doing the same thing. At times we need to look at the problem with a fresh perspective and that’s it. A lot of times, change is in mind. If we try and be thankful for whatever we have rather than focussing on what we don't have, we sure would find ourselves to be much happier!  However, in the same breath, I would want to clarify that we sure need to have some realistic targets which are stretched, so as to move ahead in life. It is very important for us to understand what we really need in life. Most of the times, we might fail to realise that it was right there all the time, when we were looking all over the place for it. Complicated, but true!

At times, we try hard to bring around change in our own mindset and beliefs. I was reading somewhere that motivation always comes from within. Someone can inspire us but the change would come only if we persisted. Patience surely is a virtue in this situation.

Sometimes, on the contrary we need to ensure our basic values of life should never be compromised. We need to be the protectors of our values and ensure they don’t change due to external environment. I shared some basic values in my blog “My Compass”

I leave you with this thought which I read while flipping through the pages of “You can Win” by Shiv Khera. The article was about how they caught monkeys in India. The monkey hunters use a box with a opening on the top which is big enough for the monkey to put his hand in. Inside the box, nuts are kept as bait. The moment the monkey grabs the nuts, the hand becomes a fist. The fist is bigger than the hole and the monkey has 2 choices –either to drop the nuts and be free or keep holding to the nuts forever and be caught. Amazing but true, the monkeys choose the latter. Shiv Khera has beautifully described us also as the monkeys who don’t let go off the nuts and in the process hold ourselves back in life…So, it is essential to let go of some things which look important but actually hold us back in life.

Do share your views as well.....

Shift the Gear!

It feels great to be back to writing my blog after a brief interval of more than a fortnight. With half the month already gone, love is in the air. I wish everyone and their loved ones a very “Happy Valentines Day”. It sure is a blessing to have someone to love and more so be loved by someone. Make the most of it and don’t delay your expression of love for someone and don’t make the mistake of taking someone’s love for granted.

A brief update on the last fortnight follows-

- It sure feels great, as a father, to see my daughter Kashikaa complete 5 years this month. She’s turning out to be a sharp and a very observant child. She’s got the knack of the laptop & ‘TATA SKY’ ages back. She sure knows a little more than her counterparts. A small birthday party was celebrated in the company of her close friends & their Papa’s & Mama’s.

- Also in the first week, I attended a full fledged Indian Marriage spread over 4 days out of town. There was dual joy, one that I was out of office and more importantly being able to spend time with the family. It was my wife’s cousin who was tying the knot. The events were all very well arranged and everything went off very smoothly.

- Office is going to be stretched this month considering the short month and the appraisal cycle getting closed. The most difficult job as a supervisor is to match everyone’s expectations and keeping it aligned to that of the organisation. On the office front, I completed 3 years of employment in Barclays. Every year the learning seems to be more than in the previous one.

- Last week an aged uncle in the neighbourhood left us for the heavenly abode in his late 90’s. I pray that his soul rests in peace. He was an active gentleman, always smiling and blessed me with lot of love every time we crossed paths. Life is precious and everyone is special. Lesson learnt…No person can replace the other. Another lesson…Life goes on.

- Completed reading the ‘Paths of Glory’ where the protagonist gave up the love of his life in an attempt to be the first man to conquer the heights of the great Mt. Everest. Started with ‘The Alchemist’ by Paulo Coelho…almost half-way through the book and it sure promises to be another great read!

- Saw ‘127 Hours’ by Danny Boyle…hard hitting performance based on a true life incidence about a man’s will to survive after getting stuck in the middle of nowhere on a mountaineering outing in the Grand Canyon….background score by A R Rahman was simply superb…

So many things happening at the same time, brings me to the subject on this blog ‘Shift the Gear’

Living in a metropolis comes with a price for most of us. The price is of travelling from home to workplace and back. This tiresome exercise eats up almost 3 hours of my day without fail everyday which is sometimes more than the time I spend awake at home on a working day. A lot of times while travelling I have tried to draw a comparison between life and a car. This blog is just an attempt to pen it down.

I remember reading the quote "Why do we have a bigger windscreen than a rear view mirror? It is because we should focus on what lies ahead and not what we left behind us.

Another co-relation is that we cannot drive the car in one speed and that is why we have different gears. We shift gears to match up with the driving conditions. If we drive in the wrong gear, we end up wasting fuel and cannot maximise the efficiency of the car.

Similarly in life we play multiple roles simultaneously. The sign of a successful person is one who shifts these gears smoothly with the change of audience.

I remember reading a short story where the father / husband was having a tough time at work. Every night when he returned from office, he would end up fighting with his wife and never gave time to their child. The man stopped enjoying anything at home or office. This was like a vicious cycle and one day he took advice from his close friend. Next day onwards, he would pretend to hang his imaginary office coat just outside the house before he stepped inside the house. He would promise to wear it again when he started for his work the next morning. This way he would change into a totally different family person and his family would never be able to guess what has happening at his office. He was able to work better and became a performer at his workplace.

This is very true and inspiring and we should try to keep ‘office’ out of the house and ‘house’ out of the office. A bad day in office doesn’t justify our stressed out behaviour with our family members especially our kids. The vice-versa is often called as “professionalism”.

The change of gear is not limited between Office and Home. Even while handling colleagues / friends / family members / strangers we change our behaviour as required by the situation. The idea is to not get stuck on a particular thing / job and loose the focus on the BIG PICTURE. 

I leave you all with this thought – Life is not a destination but a journey. Don’t forget to enjoy the journey on the way!

Do share your views on this….

My Compass

Thank you all of you for taking out time to share your comments on my last blog ‘Where’s your Compass?’ Since this blog is in continuation to that, hence my recommendation would be to first check that first in case you haven’t already done that. 

The values of Benjamin Franklin ended up eating up all the space there was for that blog, that my good friend Jayanth sent me the following message “I cannot see your thoughts”. What he meant was that these were Franklin’s thoughts and not mine, and rightly so, this motivated me to write down this blog.

Thanks Jayanth / Neeraj / Rashid / Puneet / Vikas Katyal / Arun / Nitesh / Pooja / Ruchi / Jasmine for sharing your inputs / thoughts on this. Special thanks to Neeraj as well for pointing out that something was missing in my last blog.

A few driving values which I believe in most are shared below. These are not arranged in any particular order and may not be exhaustive in nature. These are inspirational and something I would want to incorporate in my life to the “T”

1. Family before self - I am responsible for my family.
2. ‘Say what you mean and Mean what you say’ – Avoid sarcasm in speech.
3. Never say Die – Develop a positive Attitude & ‘Will to win’. Whenever you lose something, don’t forget the lesson.
4. Always Believe that I have scope for improvement – Learning never Ends and bring paradigm shift in my beliefs.
5. Respect others & their feelings – Be Polite  & ‘Do unto others; what you want others to do to you.’
6. Trust and be trusted – ‘Honestly is the best policy.’ Don’t loose trust in others because one person misused your trust.
7. Social Responsibility – Do something, howsoever little it may be, constructive for the society. It makes you feel good.
8. Develop tolerance towards difficult people & avoid criticism. To smile when it is most difficult.
9. Think Before Speaking – Be Patient  and remember ‘Patience always pays’
10. Always look at the ‘Big Picture’ in life and not loose focus in event of failure or accident.
11. Live in Moderation; maintain a healthy balance between ‘Work & Life’.
12. Setting Priorities Right – So that I am able to achieve all that I target for myself within the stipulated time.

(The words which are in BOLD are hyperlinks which will take to some of my earlier blogs I shared with you all. Do click on them to find out more..)

I might not be 100% compliant of these above mentioned values but I will strive to ensure that I come as close as possible when it comes to living these values.

Do share some of your guiding principles as well....

P.S – I would be taking a printout and putting it on my workstation.

Where's your Compass?

Ever imagined a life before the compass was invented, it certainly would have been very different. Not only did people have to do without a reliable direction indicator, but they also had to do without street lights, torches, road maps and satellite navigation. This must have meant a lot of dark nights lost in the woods.

Did you know when people don't have signs or other external cues for direction, they will probably end up walking in circles. Somehow the same is also true in our busy lives that we often find ourselves in the middle of a whirlwind. We dont know what to do and where to go. So, we look inside for our own compass to help us guide the way.

The compass, I am referring to, is our Values (Guiding Principles). The word is self explanatory. What do we value in our lives? These should be assisting us on where we want to reach in life.

Let me share an interesting article with you about Values.

Benjamin Franklin (the same guy who features on a $100 bill) was one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. A noted polymath, Franklin was a leading author and printer, political theorist, politician, postmaster, scientist, inventor, satirist, civic activist, statesman, and diplomat. He listed down all his 13 values and divided into 2 categories.

Personal

The eight personal virtues relate to your attitudes toward activities and their challenges. Good personal character traits will better your chances of success in achieving your goals.
Temperance: Eat not to dullness; drink not to elevation.
Order: Let all your things have their places; let each part of your business have its time.
Resolution: Resolve to perform what you ought; perform without fail what you resolve.
Frugality: Make no expense but to do good to others or yourself; i.e., waste nothing.
Moderation: Avoid extremes; forbear resenting injuries so much as you think they deserve.
Industry: Lose no time; be always employed in something useful; cut off all unnecessary actions.
Cleanliness: Tolerate no uncleanliness in body, clothes, or habitation.
Tranquility: Be not disturbed at trifles, or at accidents common or unavoidable.

Social

These five social virtues that Franklin stated concern your attitudes toward people with whom you have dealings. Good social character traits result in other people wanting to do business with you or to have relationships with you.
Silence: Speak not but what may benefit others or yourself; avoid trifling conversation.
Sincerity: Use no hurtful deceit; think innocently and justly, and, if you speak, speak accordingly.
Justice: Wrong none by doing injuries, or omitting the benefits that are your duty.
Chastity: Rarely use venery but for health or offspring, never to dullness, weakness, or the injury of your own or another's peace or reputation.
Humility: Imitate Jesus and Socrates.

However, there's a story behind the 13th Value. This was not a part of the values originally noted by Benjamin Franklin. History has it that he never exhibited that trait. So the moral is that only you can decide which the values you choose for yourself are.

The values listed above are only suggestive and by no means exhaustive. It is very important for us to put a lot of thought before we decide what is going to be an integral part of our value system.

Once our goal is fixed, our values will act as a compass and would always help us remain focused and on track in however dire strait we are in.

So, where's your compass? Click here to read my next blog

http://bhupeshdhawan.blogspot.com/2011/01/my-compass.html

I leave you all with this thought: "It is the set of the sails, not the direction of the wind that determines which way we will go."

Law of the Garbage Truck

How much are you affected by your external environment? How often have you let someone’s non-sense affect your mood?

I am reminded of a Franklin Covey workshop in which our facilitator asked us how we felt when he spoke good about us and likewise vice-versa. He pointed out that our reaction was directly linked to his actions and we indeed were letting him affect our emotions. Though this was a small example, there are a lot of other instances when we do indeed let others’ (and when I say others, I am referring to people who are not important to us) actions affect our equilibrium. Sometimes not even by their action, but their sheer presence we feel very insecure / frustrated / dejected.

He further went to share a story of a person travelling in taxi which just missed having an accident by a whisker due to the other driver’s fault. The errant driver instead of apologising hurled choicest of expletives at the taxi driver. The taxi driver just smiled and way bye much to the surprise of the passenger sitting inside. When inquired by him, the taxi driver explained.. "Many people are like garbage trucks. They run around full of garbage, full of frustration, full of anger, and full of disappointment. As their garbage piles up, they need a place to dump it. And if you let them, they'll dump it on you. When someone wants to dump on you, don't take it personally. You just smile, wave, wish them well, and move on. You'll be happy you did."

So this was it: The 'Law of the Garbage Truck.'

Just think how often do you let Garbage Trucks run right over you? And how often do you take their garbage and spread it to other people: at work, at home, on the streets?

However, the mark of a successful person is how quickly she/he can get back her/his focus on what's important. We need to focus our energies all around important things and should not let such instances ruin your day.

The bottom line is that successful people do not let Garbage Trucks take over their day.

I leave you all with this thought….

Life's too short to wake up in the morning with regrets, so love the people who treat you right. Pray for the ones who don't.
Believe that everything happens for a reason.
If you get a chance, TAKE IT! If it changes your life, LET IT! Nobody said it would be easy. They just promised it would be worth it!

First Time

Though we are almost one week into the New Year, I sincerely wish all of you a Wonderful, Happy and Prosperous New Year 2011.  It’s great to be back sharing my thoughts with you after a short break. My last blog brought out some divergent views on the controversial topic “Luck versus Ability”. A very warm ‘Thank You’ to all friends who posted their thoughts on my blog or sent reply to my message. I would be posting them under the comments sections with the acronym of their names. 

New Year is the time for Resolutions. Well, for me, it is to continue to seek improvement in whatever I do and ensure that I learn from my everyday experiences. I know it sounds very bookish and boring but it is not as easy as it looks.  I have shared my earlier blog on “Learning” (<----you can click here to read that blog) and this would be an extension to that.

First Time

When was the last time you did something for the first time? This is an innocuous looking question but its answer tells us a lot of things.

As I had mentioned in one of my earlier blog 'Learning', our experiences in day-to-day lives broadens our horizon and helps us understand things from a bigger perspective. We can learn from ours as well as other's experiences. Most of the learning has come during times when we are not at the helm of affair. Every time we come out of these difficult situations, we realise that we have become stronger and definitely we would respond to the same situation in a better way.

Let me share my experience of visiting the Police Station & Delhi Court for the first time in my life.

I happened to be dining at one of South Delhi's happening restaurant when one thief broke my car's window pane to steal my belongings kept on the rear seat. However, to his bad luck on a busy Saturday night, his act was stopped midway and he was apprehended red-handed. Police was called and this guy got arrested. So far, so good. But now I learnt that since my belongings were now case property I was required to file a complaint to get my stuff back. It's been 3 months now and till date I have visited the police station thrice and appeared in court once but the matter has still not been disposed. As luck would have it, the judge was on leave that day and now my next date is in second half of 2011.

Moral of the story - Don't leave stuff in your car while parking!!

I am reminded of the quote” It is better to protect your feet by wearing slippers rather than trying to carpet the whole world”

The second part of the learning is what we try to do proactively. It can be learning a new language / dance classes / increase your educational quotient by enrolling yourself for some new course / health regime etc.

The last time I did something for the first time was about 2 months back when I wrote my first blog.

Coming back to the golden question….what's your story? Do share it and post it in the comments section.