RIGHT TIME TO BE BORN AN INDIAN

“This is the country of tomorrow. Starting today.”

- cover page punch line on Special Report on India brought out by Khaleej Times, Aug 15, 2003.

 

For more than half a century after India gained independence, we tried to do things in a manner that failed to produce the desired results. But things have suddenly changed. There is a lot that needs to be done. But there is a lot that has started to happen.

 

 

The factors responsible for the upsurge in the Indian fortune have been:

1.   Exposing Indian industry to global competition and doing away with licensing provisions,

2.   Allowing industries like software to operate with minimum legal hassles,

3.   Easy availability of low-interest consumer credit coupled with stringent recovery procedure,

4.   Rising aspirations of the masses due to media explosion.

 

 Paradoxically, factors like consumerism, competition and ambition have done what talks on spirituality, Swadeshi and tradition could not. Yet ‘some people’ just don’t want to change. They continue to behave in a manner that serves their purpose. They take shelter of relative concepts like religion, morality and patriotism. They try to instill fear of the future in the minds of the younger generation.

 

We, my dear friends, can never achieve perfection. Anything pursued to an illogical proportion, turns negative. This does not mean we should not strive for perfection. This simply means that we must learn the art of balancing.

 

What is it that we are missing? What is it that needs to be corrected? There seems to be an attitude problem, as if we cannot shake ourselves out of a mindset of limited achievement.

– APJ Abdul Kalam.

 

Materialism has many negative aspects. But we have to use our judgment and choose between pursuing bread and pursuing ‘Mandir/Masjid’ – when about one-fourth of the population sleeps hungry. Youngsters today may not worship the goddess Lakshmi everyday, but they honestly and aggressively pursue money. They may not be interested in gifts and charities. They are more interested in earnings.

 

 

After having earned their fortune, they don’t mind attending an ‘Art of Living’ session to gain peace of mind. At least, now, they can afford to be free from the thought of money.

 

We are almost there as global leaders in the export of spirituality. Since we have immense knowledge base in this field, some of it will go in taking care of our own youngsters. Teach them the values of integrity and honesty, train them in channelizing their youthful energy in the right direction and allow them to pursue their dreams vigorously.

 

Therein lays the hope for India – in the ambition, dreams and aspirations of the youngsters, who are not afraid of the competition. Rather, they are making the competition afraid of them, as umpteen numbers of glaring examples that our countrymen and women produce on a regular basis in multifarious fields, demonstrate.

 

Hardly anyone in the world would have imagined that the outstandingly worthy sons and daughters of Mother India, which was mercilessly plundered and exploited by the oppressive rule of the foreigners for centuries together, would be among the coveted list of the Top Ten Richest Persons on earth, over barely half a century after independence.

 

 

If there ever was a right time to be born an Indian, it is now! God willing, we shall live to see India as a global economic superpower by the year 2020.

 

But hope alone is not enough. Actions are necessary. There is no worse crime than letting an opportunity go by, unexploited.  If we do that, future generations will not forgive us.

 

A great nation cannot abandon its responsibilities. Responsibilities abandoned today return as more acute crises tomorrow.

– Gerald Ford.

 

Twitter: MrGladPortBlair

THE COVETED SECRET OF GOOD LEADERSHIP

The Leadership Secret - Knowledge of Theory

 

The man at the top is usually someone who has been in the habit of going to the bottom of things. – Anonymous.

 

 

It’s been quite some time since I last shared a little secret of success at ‘Leadership’ with you, my dear friends! Hence, let me talk about the same with you today. It’s the sine-qua-non of being a good leader to go into the details of any given situation in order to comprehend the same to the T. An average person is not interested in going into the details of a situation. So he argues that he is interested only in practical knowledge. Any effort to educate such a person about “why” and “what” of a situation is ridiculed and labeled as boring theory.

 

It is true that theory alone is not enough. Practice is necessary. Knowing “how to….” is essential for the execution of a job. However, the practice will not be perfect without theoretical knowledge. Moreover, learning a skill is easier compared to decision-making. Visionary people know ‘why’ something must be done and they only decide ‘what’ needs to be done. Average people feel satisfied with learning a skill and think it to be enough.

 

Naresh Goyal of Jet Airways doesn’t probably know how to fly an aircraft but he owns the company.

 

Remember: In order to grow in your career, apart from learning technical skills, you must also have a vision, an analytical mind, decision-making abilities and a definite involvement in the affairs of the organization you belong to. You must be a thinker and you must learn the ‘whys’ and ‘what’s’ too.

 

The one who knows ‘how’

Shall always have a job,

But the one who knows ‘why’

Will be his BOSS.

 

THOUGHT     You say “I think” ten times a day Or fifteen times, or twenty And even more. Well, anyway You sure repeat it plenty. But pause and ponder half a wink And start your brain-cells clinking; “I think” you say, but do you think Or only thinking you’re thinking?   How often is the thing you’ve thought Out of yourself created And not a dictum you’ve been taught And simply imitated? Into a revive you sink And like an owl you’re blinking, But do you actually think, Or only Think you’re thinking?   “I think” you say – and ladle out Some fusty old opinion That probably was known about In Pharaoh’s dominion. Do new ideas ever slink Into your cranium’s chinking? I wonder – do you really think Or only think you’re thinking?   Traditions, customs, fill your head And some of them have virtue, But most of them have long been dead They fester there and hurt you. Son, chuck that clutter in the drink, Wake up – don’t sit there blinking! Wake up! And then perhaps you’ll think And not just think you’re thinking!     - Berton Braley (As quoted in the Forbes Book of Business Quotations)