Have you got your Plan B yet?

When life is going as per plan, seldom do we stop and check for Plan B. It is when we are hit with a sudden crisis, that we look for alternatives plans. This blog is my attempt to figure out the when, why and how of Plan B.  Maybe its called “B” because of two plausible reasons …firstly it comes after A, representing the next option & secondly maybe because Back-up begins with ‘B’

I take the example of you getting stranded on the road with a flat tyre, no mobile, no money and an important meeting. (incase you haven’t read it already, I urge you to read my blog “ can you handle this?” ( <-----just click here)

Preventive actions for above scenario could be some of these – Spare money kept somewhere in the car’s dashboard, car charger, registration with car break-down helpline etc etc.

This would be incomplete, not exhaustive and hence my request to all readers to add their thoughts in the comments section.

Some of the more extreme situations were handled by the protagonists in Mel Gibson’s “Apocalypto” & Danny Boyles’ “127 hours”. I am sure most of you would have already seen either of them.

There would be many such stories but allow me to share with you a story I had read earlier. I am unable to remember  where I had read it, hence there might be a slight change in the story. Here it goes…

Once there used to be an oasis in the middle of a big, vast desert. In it was a kingdom where they had quite a peculiar way to elect the king. After the end of 4 years, the king had to be either executed in the palace or left somewhere in the desert to die. However, for the 4 years when he was the king, he had everything under his control. It had been quite some time now that the kingdom was sans a king. One day, a young man approached the ministers to claim the king’s throne. Everyone was quite surprised by this move of the young man. Soon, he was a crowned the king of that kingdom. He was a very able king and within months he was able to win the confidence of the people. Under his regime, the kingdom’s wealth had increased manifolds. Everyone loved the king. He was a very just ruler. He lowered the taxes for the common man and provided all necessary support to his people. Time was just passing by too quickly. Already 3 years had passed; suddenly the thought had 4 years been soon to be over crossed everyone’s mind.

Rule was rule, after all. Was there any way that this rule could be changed….it was the first time everyone was praying for that…..the meeting of the minister’s was called for. It was decided not to change the rule and the king could only rule for the next 1 year. The king took the decision in his stride.

The ministers were curious to see the calm with which the king was ruling the kingdom, until the second last day of his rule. The prosperity the kingdom had seen under his regime was simply unparalleled. One night they decided to spy on the king and see what he was up to. To their utmost surprise they found out from the sentry of the kingdom, that every night ever since he became the king, some of his men would travel in the middle of the night, seated on camels. They carried some luggage stuffed with them. When they used to come back, mostly after 3 days, they came empty handed. The ministers smelled a rat. They called for an important meeting early next morning.

It was a beautiful morning, the last day of the king’s rule as the stipulated 4 years had come to an end. As per the rule, the king was to step down and choose between the desert and the executioner. The ministers accused the king of theft of royal jewellery and gold. The king kept his calm and responded stating that the wealth of the kingdom had increased manifold under his regime. He was correct. The ministers didn’t have any further question to ask. The king spoke to his folks from the throne for the very last time. He said that he was indeed proud to have been a king of such a wonderful kingdom. He wished everyone happiness and success in their lives and announced his decision to sent to exile for the rest of his life.

There was a wave of sadness between the folks to hear this announcement. So it was the end of the 4 years of his kingdom and probably his death in the next 2 days. The deserts would not be able to give life to the king any further.

As he was about to leave the boundary of the kingdom, one of the ministers asked him to tell what was he smuggling out of the kingdom every night for the last 4 years. The king smiled back and responded that during the first 1 year he took the bulls and heavy equipments for levelling out the barren land about 2 days walking distance away from the kingdom.  The next year he took the best diggers to dig wells and water the grounds. The next year he took seeds and cattle stock to build up a huge poultry farm. In his last year he took the best craftsmen to build for him a magnificent palace having the best facilities. Also, during these years he had been regularly practising to walk in the desert for 2 days at a stretch and had familiarised his way from the kingdom to his new “OASIS”. With that, he moved out of the kingdom with a big smile on his face.

So, my friends this is what I wanted to share with you…PLAN B

I hope you enjoyed reading this short story which has indeed been insightful. Do remember to share your comments if you like to share them with me.

I leave you all with this thought:-

Rome was not built in one day. Every journey, no matter how long it is, starts with the first step!

Where's your remote?

Life is beautiful ( and short too!)….I was surrounded by a number of situations highlighting the same. Apparently, all in one day.

I am sure some of you would have read my last blog “Serendipity” which was around how uncertain things are at times and we don’t always end up getting what we want. What is more important is what we make out of what we get.

Earlier in the morning, I picked up this book by the same name and read this quote.

“For a long time it seemed to me that real life was about to begin, but there was always some obstacle in the way. Something had to be got through first, some unfinished business; time still to be served, a debt to be paid. Then life would begin. At last it dawned to me that these obstacles were my life.” ~ Bette Howland.

Later in the day, I got this beautiful message from my colleague Santosh

2^nd Week of June

It is the time when few years back the most exciting thing used to happen...
The school used to re-open...the excitement of new bag, new books,

smell from the pages of new books, new subjects, new sitting positions in the class...
welcome our best friends in d class..
and the best moment is to c ur crush ur sweetheart back in front of ur eyes and the pouring rains outside,

everything around us freshened up, lush green, cold and pleasant...
all dis is lost somewhere...just close ur eyes and revive it for d moment.. Soo miss it!
Miss my school days ...

Then in the evening, I got a message from my colleague and uber cool Ankur Kapoor to share a blog around this. I was driving on my way back and I try to put these things together in this blog.

Just when I got home, I was informed by my wife that a close relative of her friend expired at the age of 30 today. She was suffering from cancer which got undetected till last month. I pray for her soul to rest in peace.

Moving on, I remembered watching this movie “Click” in which the protagonist Adam Sandler stumbles upon a remote control by which he can fast forward , rewind his life at the click of a button. What had started off as a fun movie, by the end of it, there was a very deep message to it. I seriously recommend everyone to watch it once. Also, it wouldn’t change life much but surely would make you think once about where you are in your life today. We need to enjoy every moment of life with our near and dear ones because who everyone knows there’s a tomorrow but you might not be in it! We do sometimes need to sit back and take a fresh look at life. Do the small things you always wanted to do, share it with the ones you love. Fact is that we get only one life. You can’t wait for tomorrow to start living.

I leave you all with this thought –

The real question is not whether life exists after death. The real question is - Whether you are alive before death. ~ Osho

P.S – What you draw from this blog is entirely upto your own imagination. Life would continue to exist as it was before reading this blog or any other thing…don’t forget the remote of your life is in your hands.  Take the right decision NOW!. And as a matter of fact, so is the keyboard of the blackberry or the laptop on which you are reading this. Do share your comments on this! (else I would never know how or what you felt reading this)

Serendipity

Considering the lucrative tariffs and freebies on your mobile phone, it is virtually impossible to imagine that anybody would have been spared from the reach of the forwarded message through SMS, Facebook or BBM. It could be a short quote or a joke which brings a smile on your face. I, for one, am definitely one of the senders of such messages on numerous occasions. We like some of them more than the others and feel this urge to share it with our friends.

Why is it that at times we feel good by reading such messages? This thought reminded me of the word "Serendipity" Simply put its either the accidental discovery of something pleasant, valuable, or useful or a natural gift for making pleasant, valuable, or useful discoveries by accident.

There was a movie with a same name released more than a decade ago about a couple who decide to part ways to see if destiny had any plans for them to meet again. Well I don't think I need to tell what happened in the end...hmmm.

Coming back to the subject of this blog, the very fact that I am blogging is an example of the subject. Well to some of you, who accidentally clicked on the link I forwarded you....well how this experience turns out, I leave that to you. Actually, the remaining who chose to click, my endeavor would be to make this worthwhile of your precious time and effort. For all the readers who read till the end, I promise to share the secret of how you could double your money without any risk. This is 100% fool proof given the uncertain economic state of affairs. So do stick on till the end.

I am sure I would have shared this story of how I ended up where I am today with most of you.

This is how it went...

During my last years at school, I wanted to be a doctor. I had in fact joined some prestigious coaching institute for improving my chances of making it through the entrance exams. However, unable to clear it in my first attempt I landed up in Hindu College to at least save a year and complete my graduation. After the first six months, the thought of being a doctor had already deserted me. I never attempted the entrance exam again. I joined NIS Sparta for a part time diploma in Sales & Marketing to try out my chances in the field of Sales. I wasn't too happy with the course content and dropped out mid way. Two years into college, nothing really great to look forward to and I was stuck doing Botany Honours. I joined the RAT race..oops CAT race for being a MBA from a premier institute. So again I joined another prestigious institute for coaching.

Well, I did get as far as an interview call to XLRI Bhuvanshwar. Well, as things would have it, I completed my graduation with First Division (only I know those sleepless nights I had just before the exam day) with nothing concrete yet in sight. Immediately after graduation, I applied Law School through an entrance exam and yes I cleared it in my first attempt. So was I going to be a lawyer now? Meanwhile before my law results were out, I took up the first job I got in a small internet start up company as a Business Development Executive. I was in two minds in what to continue and what to leave. I decided to carry on both simultaneously for some time. As luck would have it, this company I had joined decided to close down after four months of joining. And there I was with just one option of completing my Law course.

Come December 2001, my ex-colleague at NIS and a very good friend of mine, Rajesh Kandari told me about a campus interview by a MNC Bank at NIS. I was not interested in the same initially and politely declined the offer. At his insistence, I agreed to accompany him and in the process got short listed for another interview next day. Sadly though my colleague wasn't to come next day, and I came all decked up for my final interview. And yes, I did get an offer letter to join immediately.

And here I am till today in the banking line after changing three jobs. I just ensure that I do my best in whatever role I get. I have got this important breakthrough by serendipity so I always try and back it up with my efforts. The one thing which mattered most, according to me, was the fact that I love to talk to lot of people, make new friends and was a good listener. Probably something this job required the most.

So that's my story so far....from not being a doctor, lawyer, sales guy to be heading  the collections support unit and yet nowhere near half way of my professional career, I am sure to find myself at cross roads very soon where nothing seems to be concrete. I too have sleepless nights at timely pondering what would be the best thing to happen in the future. But, it is just these small forwarded messages at times which re-iterates my belief in myself that I will overcome whatever the situation might be tomorrow. And yes while I look forward to what future has in store for me, I strive to accomplish the current given task to the best of my ability.

Moral of the story - When opportunity knocks at your door, make the most

of it !!! :)

I leave you all with one such forwarded message which I had stumbled upon yesterday....

If you want something you never had, do something you have never done.

Don't go the way life takes you; take life the way you go.

Remember you are born to live & not living because you were born..

Do share your comments on this....

P.S – As promised, I share this secret of doubling your money. Here it comes..

“The quickest way to double your money is to fold it over and put it back in your pocket.” ;)