THE MOTIVATOR

Abhay parked his car and walked into the park which was situated at the edge of a mountain range. It was early morning and the park was filled with morning walkers. He made his way to the desolate area commonly known as the suicide point. He walked to the edge of the rock and looked down. It was scary but he had come there to die. He could not jump and instead walked back and sat on the cement bench about fifty meters away.

“Difficult to die, is it not?” an elderly voice was heard.

Abhay looked to his right. An elderly man was sitting on the bench next to him.

“It is difficult but how could you make out?” Abhay asked him.

The man laughed and said “My son, it is out of experience. Thomas has spent more than double the number of years you have spent on this earth”.

“I am Abhay Desai and I stay near the cantonment area” Abhay said.

Thomas asked “Tell me why you thought of giving up your life?”

“I have a company of my own and I hire about a dozen employees. I am a design engineer and we design machines and sell the same to companies. I was involved in the designing of a mechanical loader and was ambitious about launching it in the market and sell the product. I have spent lot of money in the process. I have taken loan to support this. Yesterday we presented the same to the public sector company but the design was rejected. All my efforts for the past one year went into drain. Now I do not have the means to repay the loan and continue with the business. My hopes are dashed and will not be able to answer my family. I took huge risk by placing all the eggs in one basket and now am broke” Abhay explained.

Thomas looked at Abhay. He could see tears in his eyes. He smiled and said “My son please understand that life has been bestowed upon us not to end it on our own. We need to face the hardships. A winner is one who gets up every time he falls. Please understand that by taking your life you are putting few other lives in distress. Your wife, kids and parents will not be able to recover from this. If you lose your life in an accident then it is a different issue but taking one’s life by committing suicide is criminal.

I suggest you to re look at your life and start fresh with your work. Give a try for the next three months. Go to your wife and explain her everything. Talk to your employees and motivate them to give their best. If nothing works out, call me after three months. Please note my mobile number. I shall then give you a loan and you can reply it as and when you make profit. We shall meet again at this place after one year” saying so he gave his phone number.

A rejuvenated Abhay went home and explained everything to his wife. His wife was shocked but soon she became normal. She gave him her gold and told him to take a loan against it. He was reluctant but she insisted and they pledged her gold and took a loan.

Abhay went to his office couple of days later. Lucy came into his cabin and inquired about his health. He opened up and told her everything.

Lucy said “When my little son was not well you gave me money for his hospitalization and did not ask for it. Today you are in problem and Lord will not forgive me if I do not do my bit to help you. I shall take only half the salary for the next three months and put in double the efforts”. The other employees also joined Lucy and said that they would take half the salary for the next three months.

Abhay was moved by the gesture of his people. He said “I shall not take salary for the next three months and shall spend from what I have in my savings account”.

Ten days later an international industrial exhibition was being held in the city. Hundreds of national and international companies were participating.

Abhay went to the exhibition with Lucy. Both of them were impeccably dressed and visited many stalls and discussed with companies with interest.

A German company had put up a huge stall and was exhibiting their material handling products. Abhay went to the stall and met the Managing Director. The MD was impressed with Abhay and his innovative skills. He called his daughter who was at the stall and they had a meeting in the cafe. The Germans were convinced about Abhay and his capabilities.

They had a series of discussions with him and at the end a deal was stuck. Abhay was made the Managing Director of the Indian subsidiary of the German company and he got a minority stake in it. Lucy was made the Human Resources manager.

 He worked very hard and soon the number of employees was increased and things started moving in the right direction. Few months passed and he got the gold of his wife released by paying off the loan.

One year passed and Abhay remembered his meeting with Thomas and on the particular day drove to the park and was excited to explain his success story to him. He had a cup of tea in the stall, bought the news paper and walked up the cliff. He looked around but could not find him. He sat on the same cement bench and tried to call Thomas on his cell. He got a message which mentioned that the number did not exist.

He still had hope that Thomas would come to meet him. He opened the news paper and what he saw in the fifth page sent a jolt through his body. There was a big photo of Thomas and below it was mentioned “Fifth death Anniversary”. Abhay started sweating. He could not understand and his mind became blank for few seconds. He googled about Thomas on the cell phone and learnt that he was a big businessman but had committed suicide on the same day five years ago at the same suicide point. He wondered why such a rich person would do so. On reading further he understood that due to some huge business loss, Thomas had taken such a step.

Abhay started shivering. He closed his eyes and started thinking. He realized that Thomas’s spirit had met him one year ago and stopped him from committing suicide. He was motivated to give a honest try and succeed in his life. After few minutes he opened his eyes. Tears rolled down. He had a sense of gratitude towards Thomas. He got up and slowly walked to his car. He opened the door but felt that someone was at his back. He turned back and saw Thomas sitting on one of the benches. Abhay smiled and took a bow and saluted him. He sat in his car and glanced at the bench again but could not find Thomas on it.

Abhay realized that though money was very important it was not everything. Having the right attitude and a never give up approach to life would definitely give results.

He lowered the window glass, peeped outside and  shouted “Mr. Thomas I may not be able to see you now, but I know you are around here. You helped me and ensured that I did not end my life the way you did. You also motivated me to get along with my life. I promise you that I will also help many people who are in distress”.

I cannot play tennis without a net and a court – Part II

Narrated till now…

Pramod started getting problems while driving after he experienced a nasty turbulence during a flight journey. He was referred to a psychiatrist by his doctor.  The psychiatrist discusses with him in detail and asks him to meet her after three days…

Narration continues…

“Coming from office?” Dr. Maya asked.

“Yes doctor. That’s why I am in formal attire” he replied.

She again started looking at the reports and there was silence for almost five minutes.

“Everything is OK with me doctor?” he questioned.

She looked at him and smiled. She said “Have you observed my table today? “

“You have arranged things very well”

“Of course I had to. You were coming to meet me” she laughed.

“Did you sleep well during the last couple of days?”

“I think so. I was sleeping better and woke up on time”

“To tell you the truth I had written vitamin tablets. They have no control over your sleep. It is you who slept better. It was your mind which conditioned you to sleep better because you were under the impression that the tablet was to aid you in sleeping” she said.

“I have analyzed the case and feel that there is nothing seriously wrong anywhere. You do not need any medical intervention. This has got to do with your mindset issues”

Pramod looked amused and said “How can it be so simple doctor? I feel confused while driving up on a bridge and feel like getting out of the car each and every time. You are saying that it is simple mindset issue?”

She smiled again and said “Let me explain to you.

The problem is that you feel strange while driving on a bridge and feel like coming out of the car and you say this started happening after that nasty turbulence. Isn’t it?”

“Yes”

“The uneasiness is only a manifestation of something else that is happening. It has got to do with your mind. Even though you feel you cannot drive you continue and reach your destination because you cannot come out as you are in traffic.

Let us go point by point and start discussing about your disturbed sleep. Believe me whenever you get up in the middle of night and find it difficult to go back to sleep again, you are under stress. Your day time stress shows in the night. You start remembering the problems you face and though you know you cannot solve them in the middle of the night, you keep pondering over them.

Next interesting point is the Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS). IBS is a lifestyle disease and of late is common in middle aged professionals. Untimely intake of food, intake of junk food, stress and late night sleep will induce IBS. Though we can control it by medication, the best solution would be returning to a healthy and normal lifestyle.”

Pramod raised his finger indicating that he had a point to make.

“Yes please ask” she said.

He continued “I agree with you that lifestyle induces stress and IBS but I have been having these things for the past two to three years. Why suddenly I have problems now? Though a frequent flyer why I am unable to cope up after that particular turbulence?”

She smiled again and said “This is the big problem with you professionals. I take many training sessions for company executives and professional. I see the same pattern of behavior. You do not listen completely to what the other person is saying”

“I listened to you and so I am asking you” he said.

“You have listened to me to question but have not listened to me to understand. Please carefully listen to what I say and start questioning once I complete. You will miss the rhythm and this will break the flow and hence your understanding.”

Pramod smiled and with folded hands said “OK doctor please continue. I shall listen carefully”

She laughed and continued “You were not comfortable with the shabby arrangement of things on my table. You could have neglected it but you could not. You are used to arranging things in an orderly manner and you get turned off if things are not in proper place. Am I right?”

“Perfect and correct” he replied.

She continued “It is not wrong to expect things to be in proper place or arranging things properly. In fact it is good. As they say cleanliness and orderliness are next to Godliness. The issue comes when you become obsessed with it. Yesterday I spoke to Susan and asked her about your obsession with keeping things in order. She told me that you are very fussy about it. This is OCPD”

She paused and drank water from the glass.

Pramod asked “What is OCPD?”

She replied “It is Obsessive–compulsive personality disorder. The person will be concerned about orderliness, perfectionism and gives excessive attention to details.

 I asked you about playing tennis in an open ground and you gave the answer I expected. You are predictable.

You mentioned that you cannot play tennis without a net and a court. If you think about it you will realize that your focus is not on the game but on the boundaries that are needed for the game.

This is reflection of your approach to life. I had a detailed  discussion about this with Susan and learnt many things about you. You have a habit of arranging every activity in a properly manner. You decide on time deadlines and very efficiently split the activity into smaller parts and plan to execute the same. It is good as long as you do not get obsessed with the plan you have made. Many times it so happens that things do not go in the manner you plan and the delayed time schedules turn you off. This adds up to stress.

Each person can take external pressures to the extent he can afford. The moment it exceeds, it manifests as stress. This has happened in your case.

A third person may feel that linking your issues with driving to the nasty turbulence, to various habits you have and the way you think  is not logical. Believe me things work that way. I handle many cases of mental stress and cases wherein people are driven to extreme steps. At first we do not get the correct answer for their behavior but after probing into related and unrelated issues we come to a logical conclusion.

In this case also the chronology of events and your personality made me conclude that you can help yourself better”

She looked at Pramod and said “You have anything to say?”

He replied “while some handle more pressure easily, why I am not able to do so?”

She replied “Mr.Kulkarni each one is unique and different.

Let us talk of how to provide a solution to this. These issues can be treated by medication and meditation. I would like you to think of the second option.

I strongly recommend you to join a good meditation course and practice breathing exercises.”

“How will this help me?”

“Good question” she said and continued “By meditating you give time to yourself. You spend those moments in solitary silence and start looking inward.

Breathing exercises help in pumping more oxygen into the body. The cells in the body get more quantity of oxygen and this helps.

Also as every emotion of ours is linked to pattern of breathing, having a control over breathing will help.”

“How is it so?” he said.

She continued “When you are angry or upset, you will be breathing faster and in shorter spans. When you are relaxed and happy your breathing will be slow and you tend to take longer breaths. By practicing pranayama and other breathing exercises you can have a control over your emotions.”

Pramod looked happy and there was a glow on his face. He realized that he himself was the cause of all the problems he was facing and the solution should come from within.

Dr. Maya continued “Mr. Kulkarni it is only a beginning. Just by joining a meditation course you will not be able to overcome all the hurdles you face. You will definitely be in the right direction.  I am prescribing some tablets and on taking them in the night after dinner you will have a relaxed sleep. There is no other medicine required for the time being. Please join a good meditation course like ‘Towards better living’ and take control of your life. Believe me these are not vitamin tablets. You will definitely get good sleep” saying so she laughed.

Pramod too had a hearty laugh and after shaking hands with Dr. Maya stepped out of the room.

I cannot play tennis without a net and a court – Part I

“Mr. Kulkarni” the receptionist called.

Pramod got up from his seat and smiling at her walked into the doctor’s room.

Slowly he opened the door and said “Good morning Doctor”

“Good morning” she said and gestured him to sit down.

She smiled at him and became engrossed in looking at the bunch of medical reports. She went through the scanning reports, MRI reports and some notes written by Dr. Rama Chandra.

It went on for about 5 minutes. Pramod looked around. He found that the room looked more like the cabin of a CEO than that of a doctor. He looked at the name plate kept on table.

He read it out “Dr.M.M.Iyer, Psychiatrist”.

She looked at him and said “It is my name, Maya Malini Iyer”.

He smiled back and said “Sounds like Hema Malini, the actress.”

“She is an Iyengar and I am an Iyer” she said and laughed. He then thought to himself that this doctor looked no less beautiful than Hema Malini.

Little did he realize that she was deliberately delaying things to observe his response.

After few more minutes of silence she kept the bunch of papers on the table and said “so Mr. Kulkarni what brings you here?”

Pramod started “Some strange events occurred in the past few months and that has disturbed my regular day to day activities”

She nodded and said “I have gone through the reports sent by Dr. Rama Chandra. Was it your first experience in a plane?”

“No it was not the first. In fact I am a frequent flyer and my job profile demands frequent flying” he replied.

“What happened in that flight journey that you have started getting all these problems?”

“Let me explain. It was not just the flight journey that created the problem. It was during the month of March and I was under tremendous pressure for achieving sales figures. I was sleeping less and would get up in the middle of the night and from then would find it difficult to go back to sleep” he said.

Dr. Maya interrupted “The plot is getting thicker. Feel free and explain everything even if you feel it is silly. Please go and sit on that sofa and stretch your legs and feel relaxed”

She went out and started speaking to the receptionist.

Pramod looked at the table. He saw lot of papers kept on it. She had not organized the table properly. There were some sample tablets on the right side corner. There was a framed photo of hers with her husband and two cute daughters.

“Coffee please” she said while walking towards the centre table near the sofa. She had come back with a tray with two cups of hot coffee. Pramod smiled and walked towards the sofa and sat on it.

“I think you were watching the arrangement of things on my table” she said.

“Yes” he replied.

“How do you find them?”

Pramod was hesitant. She smiled and said “Go ahead please speak the truth”

He replied “It is shabby. I would not have kept my table like this. In fact I cannot work on such tables”.

“You were telling me that during the month of March you were not getting proper sleep. I could see from the reports that you suffered from IBS also”

“You are right doctor. I had severe Irritable Bowel Syndrome. I still have it but after regular medication it has come down. I used to go to the toilet in the morning and despite the pressure build up was not able to completely pass the stools. The moment I used to finish my breakfast, pressure used to build up and I was rushing to the toilet. Same used to happen during lunch, evening snacks time and during dinner. It was hell until Dr. Rama Chandra started treating me for that” he said.

Dr. Maya smiled again and said “I read in the notes sent by Dr. Rama Chandra about your excellent academic record but for some failures during your engineering study”.

“Yes I did fail in few subjects during engineering study days. It was more to do with the diversions I had. Initially when I got attracted to a junior girl Vandana Joshi and later when I fell in love with my wife Susan Dsouza” he replied.

Dr. Maya continued “The notes sent by the doctor say that you have been quiet consistently producing exceptional sales figures and many times won the best sales person award.”

“Thank you”

“Let us get back to the issue that brought you here. Please explain what happened during that flight journey” she said.

“It was another normal business trip and I was returning home from Mumbai. The plane took off very smoothly and within minutes the announcement for loosening of seat belts was made. I usually continue with the seat belt and take it out only if I have to go to the wash room.

Suddenly there was a massive jerk and severe turbulence followed. It went on for more than a minute and if I am not wrong the plane lost good altitude and I thought that we were going to crash.

Soon things returned to normalcy and the rest of the journey was smooth. I became normal and had the breakfast they served and few minutes later the plane had a smooth landing in Bengaluru airport”

“I find it normal. Turbulence should be known to you as you are a frequent flyer” she said.

“Even I thought so. Problem started the next day. I started driving my car from home to office. No sooner I started driving on the over bridge, I started feeling strange. My hands started shivering and I felt like getting out of the car. But the traffic in Bengaluru kept me going and I reached the office. Same thing happened the next day and the day after that. In fact it happens even now for almost two to three days in a week” he said.

Dr. Maya smiled at him. Pramod could find a change in her smile.

 She looked very confident and said “One last question before I explain to you. Can you play tennis in an open foot ball ground?”

“No I cannot play tennis without a net and a court” he replied.

Dr. Maya got up from her seat and went to her table. She wrote few medicine names on the prescription and said “Mr.Kulkarni please take this tablet after your dinner. This will help you in having a sound sleep. Please come to me after three days. I shall discuss with you the possible remedies for the problems you are facing. I will have to consult Dr. Rama Chandra also”

“Thank you Doctor” Pramod said and walked out of her room. 

To be continued….

INDEPENDENCE DAY

“There is nothing good to say about this country” Satvik said to the surprise of the audience and the elders sitting on the dais.

The Chandni Housing Society members were celebrating Independence Day and after the flag hoisting the members had assembled near the flag post. About 100 society members were present. The president Rahul Joshi a retired Indian Foreign Services officer, secretary Jaheerudin and the chief guest Father Emanuel from the neighborhood church were on the dais.

Satvik continued “What should I be proud of? Infrastructure is horrible. We have roads in between potholes. We have bad storm drainage systems . Even a lesser intensity rain is enough to flood our roads.

Corruption is everywhere. Without warming the hands no work is possible in many offices. There is little place for honesty. Many times I wonder why these people should be paid salaries. They do not do any work without being paid extra.

Population is the major problem of the country. We see people everywhere. Inequality is in all the spheres of life. Many are living below poverty line and few are ultra rich.

No doubt that the best brains are leaving the country for good and not returning back”

He finished and walked down  and sat on the chair in the last row.  It was Independence Day celebrations and this kind of speech was least expected from anyone. It definitely did not go well with the audience.

Jaheerudin looked visibly disturbed. He got up and walked to the mike and started “I heard Satvik beta talking. He is highly educated person. But I am pained by the way the new educated people look at our country. If your mother is not in good health do you disown her? If your country is not having many good things, do you stop feeling proud about it? We are born here, live here and die here. If we want the country to be good let us start working towards it” saying so he went back and sat on his chair.

Rahul Joshi looked at Father Emanuel. Father smiled at him and asked him to address the audience. He came closer to Joshi and said “Sir you have seen the world closely. Please make it a point to explain to our new generation the importance of our motherland and why they should feel proud about her”.

Joshi smiled back at father and walked to the podium. He started “My dear brothers and sisters of Chandni Housing Society, warm Independence Day greetings.

We all are lucky to live in this country which is the largest and most vibrant democracy in the world. We have to remember today the sacrifices made by our forefathers fighting the British to get freedom for this great nation.

Imagine one hundred thousand British people controlling about 350 million Indians. It is like 3 to 4 people controlling Wankhade stadium filled with 50000 spectators. How could they do it? They could do it because we were not united and we were not aware of the hidden agenda of the British who came as traders and ended up ruling us.

Now no nation would dare to dream of such thing. We have far superior military capabilities now. Despite all this we are always using our strength to be in preparedness to protect our boundaries rather than to attack other countries.

Agreed that we have bad roads and many roads are dug by the authorities to lay pipelines and cables. All this is happening for improving infrastructure for the future. Traffic is being disrupted due to the construction activity of the metro rail network in the city and the authorities are laying huge pipeline crisscrossing the city to ensure adequate drinking water supply for generations to come. The issue here is the delay that occurs in repairing the roads back. They need to improve on that.

Corruption is spread like cancer in the society. Do we not agree that only when we are ready to bribe someone, the person becomes corrupt? Many a times it becomes impossible to get a work done without bribing. I would say that somewhere someone has to take a bold step and ensure that he does not bribe anyone. Once precedent is set things may definitely fall in place.

We are the second most populous country in the world.  We have the largest Hindu, Jain and Sikh populations in the world. We have the second largest Muslim population in the world. We have very diverse society and our concept of secularism is tolerance towards all religions.

I had the opportunity to visit the Sakha Yakutia republic of Russia during my posting in Moscow. It is almost the size of India and has less than one million people living there. The capital city Yakutsk has a population of three hundred thousand and the average temperature is -28 deg C in January and may go down to -64 deg C during peak winter. The question that came to my mind was not how people lived there but why people lived there. I spoke to many residents there and they told me that it was their city and they would love to be there and harsh weather was not deterring them.

 

We are lucky to have tropical climate in our country where in all the 365 days we have pleasant weather suitable for easy human living. Let us look at the residents at Yakutsk and be happy that nature has been very kind to us.

The huge population is our strength. We add one Australian population every year. We have a middle class population as big as the  population of US.  The external economy crises will not have devastating impact on our economy as we have a robust economy driver by huge internal consumption.

Many well educated Indians leave the nation for better pastures. They are settling in America, Europe, Oceania and the Middle East.  They are not forgetting India in the process. In fact I have met many of these people and sometimes I get a feeling that they are more Indian than us.

They are remitting money back home and are acting as good will ambassadors of our nation.

Satvik if you are complaining about wrong things around you in India , you will find many.  You look for one you will find hundred. Instead find an opportunity in every challenge you come across. India is a growing economy and has huge potential for investments and development. Realize that a nation is not made of mud, rocks and trees but it is made of people. The nation reflects the people residing in it. If you want change in the nation be the agent of change. The change may be small but work on it. If every Indian works towards changing something for the better, the nation will prosper fast”.

After few more minutes Rahul Joshi completed his speech and sat on the chair. Father Emanuel did not take much time delivering his chief guest speech. He was crisp in blessing the audience. He praised Joshi for his motivational speech and said “Satvik after listening to Joshi sir has your opinion about our nation changed?”

Satvik got up from the chair and said “It is not that I do not like my country. I love it more than anything in my life. I spoke out of frustration. After listening to Joshi sir there are no doubts in my mind. Am pragmatic and look forward to a bright and developing India. Instead of asking what the country has to give you, question yourself about what you are doing for the country.”