Alex the great

5.30 AM January 1^st 2015, Vishakhapatnam…

Alex took his mobile phone, came out of the room and locked the door. He walked down the three floors of the hotel and on entering the lobby called his wife and said “Happy new year dear”.

It was midnight in London and Agatha was celebrating New Year with her kids.

“Happy new year” she wished back and continued “your yesterday’s meetings were fruitful?”

“Yes they were very fruitful. We have signed the deal with the local company and within months will be acquiring it. Our empire will now be present in four continents” he replied with pride.

After few more minutes he completed the talk with his wife and headed straight to the famous RK beach for a jog. The cool breeze, the crimson rays of the early morning sun and mild roar and crash of the surf from the sea was a far cry from the bustling city cacophony he was used to.

He started jogging on the track meant for walkers and joggers. He could not find many people on the beach or on the track as it was the New Year eve and people would have partied hard the previous night. Suddenly the track caved in and he fell down about six feet onto the beach. The fall was very painful and tears rolled from his eyes due to the acute pain. He tightly held his right leg with his hands and looked around. Not a soul was visible. He looked for his cell phone and was disappointed to see it in a broken state. He could not call anyone for help.

About ten minutes later he saw one elderly man walking on the beach. Alex waved his hand gesturing the elderly person to come closer to him. The person saw him and ran towards him. On reaching he said “what happened sir? Are you alright?”

Alex said “I fell down as the track caved in.”

“At many places roads are caving in and this is happening after the Hud Hud cyclonic storm landfall in this place on October 12^th” the elderly man replied.

Alex looked at the man and said “I am Alexander Kunnappillil and I am the MD of couple of companies with presence in four continents”.

The elderly man said “Nice to know you gentleman. I am Shiva Shankara Sharma and am a retired Sanskrit teacher”.

Alex continued “My mobile phone is broken. Please call the ambulance”

“I leave my mobile at home and go out for a walk” Sharma replied and continued “Please relax and I will go and call someone who can help you”.

Alex saw a strapped plastic water bottle around Sharma’s arm and said “Will you please give me half of the water in the bottle. I am very thirsty”

Sharma replied “I shall give you if you promise to give me half of your property”

Alex was not amused and he became angry. Recovering soon he replied “You are very greedy, my position right now is not good and I need to drink water badly. I shall part with my property. Please give me the water”.

Sharma did not give him water and instead engaged Alex in discussions about his transcontinental businesses. Another fifteen minutes passed and Alex was very thirsty and he lost his cool and shouted “Old man please hand over the water bottle to me. I want to drink all the water in the bottle”

Sharma was calm and he replied “Of course it is all yours provided you give me your entire property.”

Alex was almost mad and he replied “I shall give you but right now do not waste time and hand over the water bottle to me”.

Sharma smiled and said “You have wasted your life building an empire which is worth only one bottle of water”

Alex was stunned and did not have a word to reply. Sharma handed over the water bottle to him and said “Please drink the full bottle. I do not need anything in return from you. I only wanted to tell that you are not going to take all the properties with you once you die and you need just six feet of land. You remind me of Alexander the Great. Please read about him and your life will change”.

Saying so Sharma walked away only to return in couple of minutes with a policeman. Soon ambulance came and Alex was taken to a leading corporate hospital and got the best available medical treatment.

Couple of months later in London…

Alex looked at the heap of books he had bought about Alexander the great. The words of Sharma had great impact on him. He had already completed reading four of them. Alexander the king was ambitious and had expanded his kingdom across many places and his eyes fell on Bharat (India). Aristotle his teacher advised him to be careful as Bharat was the land of Karma and Dharma and had many learned scholars who were capable of changing one’s life by preaching. Alexander invaded Bharat, had discussions with many scholars in due course of time and unfortunately fell sick and realized that he came empty handed and would  leave the world empty handed and his empire would get transferred to someone else.

Alex realized after reading about Alexander the king that earning lot of money and building big business Empire was important but more important was to share it with the people who were in need of help. He and his wife started a foundation and pumped in lot of money to carry out social service activities in many African and Asian countries.

January 1^st 2016…

Alex called Sharma on his mobile and said “Happy new year Sharmaji. Do you remember me? Am Alex the guy you met on RK beach exactly one year ago?”

Sharma was delighted “What a surprise? Happy New Year Alex. I read lot about you in the internet. You are a very big business magnet”

Alex continued “Your words had big influence on me. I have started sharing my wealth with people who need it. I have started a foundation and we are investing money in developmental work for poor children and women in many third world countries. I thought that since your words triggered this change in me, I should share this news with you”.

Sharma could not hold his happiness back and said “My son I am just an ordinary retired Sanskrit teacher who leads an austere life spending the pension given by the government. People like me cannot do much. It is only influential people like you who can mold the society and bring about changes in it.

I am very proud of myself today. I could bring about a change in you. Let me take this opportunity to tell you that you are no longer Alex for me but you are now my hero and I will call you Alexander the great”.

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….