A Day With a Wannabee Entrepreneur !!

After a brief hiatus, The PERFECT Show gears up again. This week, we have an interesting guest. A person who is in his twenties, has broad views on life, a to-be entrepreneur and a good friend of mine, who i will vouch has the right attitude to do something worthwhile. Its Ravi Kumar, who is a software professional currently employed in Sun Microsystems, Bangalore.. He has done B.E in Information technology, 2003.

Some of his worthwhile achievements till date are:
- Forming a city wide youth magazine, AKANKSHA during 2002
- President of SunTalk Toastmasters Club. (A corporate club of Sun Microsystem)
- Setup his own food business in Dec 2007. Will be registering it as a company in May.

“There are more ideas on earth than intellectuals imagine. And these ideas are more active, stronger, more resistant, more passionate than ''politicians'' think. We have to be there at the birth of ideas, the bursting outward of their force: not in books expressing them, but in events manifesting this force, in struggles carried on around ideas, for or against them.

Ideas do not rule the world. But it is because the world has ideas... that it is not passively ruled by those who are its leaders or those who would like to teach it, once and for all, what it must think.”

- Michel Foucault

So here we go with our show.

Host : Prashant Sree - ME
Guest : Ravi Kumar - RK

ME: Hi Ravi, Welcome to the show.
RK: Thank You Prashant.

ME: Ravi, what are you passionate about in Life ?
RK: Iam passionate about self improvement and a zeal to make a difference in this life to the world before i die.i want to be a better person each coming day.

ME:How do you aim to make a difference in others life ?
RK: I am a non conformist by nature. A rebel of sort. I do not agree to many set patterns. I am unhappy with the way world acknowledges education. I want to do redefine education in its real sense. Instill creativity and innovation in one's life and not to follow the crowd blindly. There r many paths of career than what parents force their children.





ME: A worthy thought and a worthy challenge to take up. ;) What is the most important learning which you have learnt from your mistakes which you would like to share with others.
RK: I am a firm believer that every individual is unique and has something extra ordinary in himself. It might sound philosophical but since man is God's best creation, he is endowed with some special quality.
And man has to strive to find what he is good at. Its finding one's calling. And one's you find it, passionately pursue it. This is my learning. the movie "Tare zamein par" spoke my mind.

ME: Good insight.,. Have you found ur calling ? ;)
RK: Yes. Its not concrete, but I have found the direction.....

ME: Wow dude.,. Good to hear that. Suppose you are given the choice to manifest anything, what would you like to change in today's society/world ?
RK: Perception. I would want the world to look for character, humility as a yardstick to measure a man's success than material prosperity. There is an acute shortage of worthy role models. I wish I could create a few worthy role models for the upcoming generations.

ME: Worthy indeed. Includin yourself a role model.,. Hope tat will true :).Now, who s your fav mythological hero and your reasons for that ?
RK: Frankly, I can never relate to any of them. And since I doubt their veracity, I feel better emulate the real heros whom we know existed in flesh and blood than look for mythic heros. My current hero would be Narayan Murthy. Likes of him have redefined capitalism into inclusive capitalism. Money is an enabler for greater purposes. Its not an end in itself. And he has shown that by bringing a change in the society.

ME: Hmmm.,. I respect your opinion.,. Now, what do you want to stand for in your life ? What do you want to be remembered for ?
RK: Someone who practised what he preached. I find preachers all my life but a handful of them actually have the guts to do. At present I am doing something for which I am facing a lot of embarassment and hostility. But I am doing it. I want to be remembered as someone who did what his heart asked for without succumbing to the frailties of life.

ME:Well said.,What do you consider your charm ?
RK: This i realised lately. I can convince and motivate people. I can because of my enthusiasm. I always knew I have enthu stuffed in till the tip of my fingers. I had read somewhere, "Even if you do not have any other qualities in you, you can achieve everything just by your enthusiasm".

ME: :) Cool .,. Now the last one. What is your thumb rule for life ?
RK: Follow your heart. You will be very satisfied when you leave this world.

ME: Good :).Can you share some of your thoughts on your calling?
RK: To create an ecosystem for kids who would learn to live life in true terms. Today's kids are getting educated in the best of schools but somewhere they are missing the true form of education.
Education that fosters creativity, education that teaches one to go slow and appreciate the world around us.
Education that compels children to look for a purpose in life and make a change to the world around them.

ME: What have been your favourite books,till date ?
RK: Books. I survive on them. It is not one or two books that shape you. It is usually a gradual process. But books that have left lasting impact are : Jonathan Livingston Seagull, Alchemist, Banker to the Poor: Md Yunus, Fortune at the bottom of the pyramid:CK Prahalad, Animal Farm,The High Performance Entrepreneur-Subroto Bagchi, City of joy, The Power of your subconscious mind.

ME: Which Quotes do you identify yourself and believe in ?
RK: The quotes with which I identify and truly believe in are:

* Just do it
May sound an ubiquitous Nike ad. But dwell on it. You will know its power. I follow it blindly.

* If you cant win with talent, triumph with effort. (and enthusiasm)
This has been my mantra for long. I have added the enthusiasm part. I will rate that higher than effort. And I have seen it work.

ME: Well said. I can only say that the insights provided are indeed inspiring. I really hope that you are successful in accomplishing what you have dreamt to. I on behalf of my readers wish you all success in your endeavours. It was a pleasure to have you in the show.
RK: Thank You.

Well readers, I hope that you enjoyed the show as much as i did. Before i sign off, i will quote
Rita Mae Brown's saying:

"Creativity comes from trust. Trust your instincts. And never hope more than you work."

Moments with Lovely Angels

“The child must know that he is a miracle, that since the beginning of the world there hasn't been, and until the end of the world there will not be, another child like him.”

--- Pablo Casals

He couldnt have put it better. Each child is special of its own. I had an opportunity to visit Shishu Mandir, an orphanage home for kids in Bangalore. There are 3 categories of kids:

1) Children till age group of 6.
2) Girls from 6-18 age group.
3) Boys from 6-18 group.

Few people visit the home every weekend and conduct classes for them and spend time with the children. Sometimes the children are taken for outdoor trips to LalBagh,Cubbon Park. It was through one of such persons, i got to know about Shishu Mandir.

A SARDONIC REALITY

On the week when we went, the elder children were having exams. So, we had all the time to spend with the little angels. When we entered the room, we had a cute, little kid beaming a smile at us. She was 3 years old, and she was learning walking so she was on a baby walker... She just flapped her hands happily and smiled more on seeing us. It is a sight to behold, a cute kid with a cute smile.,.

The other children were seated and they welcomed us with folded hands.As we had taken some eatables, it didnt take much time for us to mingle with the kids. ;) As we distributed the eatables , i was in for a sharp dose of reality. While distributing the eatables to the kids, one of the kid tugged at my shirt and said "Uncle, that boy hasn't got a biscuit yet" . I was like , What Uncle , Where,Who ??

(Obviously, i didnt say the words, but those were my mental mentations.) It was a dose of reality wherein one realises that we arent the young kids we used to be and that half the life has sped away..,.Anyhow,i realised that i have to be happy with the kids calling me Uncle and i have to familiarise myself with that. I also had my chance at taking a dig at my friend Gaurav, who had accompanied me. I would say to the children, " go to Gaurav uncle and ask him this, ask him that...) It was really funny (to see the amused look on his face, on being called Uncle :) )

We were joined by 2 other people,who also had brought some eatables. So there was another round of eatable distribution amidst chorus of Aunty, ......."chocolate to this boy, this girl". etc.,. The children have classes in the morning during weekdays. And during Saturday, they have painting & drawing classes in morning and games in the afternoon. .Since we had come , the teacher allowed the children to play with us.They had building blocks and other games. Initially we played the building blocks with few pieces, as each child had taken his equal share of block-pieces but as time went on, the kids began to switch games. It was amazing to see the children's creativeness. They would come up with different building designs. It was not only fun but also good learning experience for us also.

A small boy brought a "SPINNING TOP", a pambaram.[ A pambaram is a toy , conical in shape with its bottom end ending in a sharp pointed end. You have a rope and you circle the rope around the top and when you throw the top sideways, it keeps rotating.]. I had played with it during my younger days, but had almost forgot about it. So this kid brought a top and asked me to teach him to play it. Forget teaching him, i myself had forgotten how to play it. I tried a few times, winding the rope around the top, but each time, it kept coming off. Thankfully, i had a rescuer. One of the other kids,named Prabu came along and took the top and spun it effortlessly. I tried again a few times(when no child was looking, yet didnt succeed). Hence i reminded myself that i should learn spinning the top.(Yet to learn properly ;) )

Another thing was a thought in us that communication gap could be there, since Kannada is as alien to me as an alien to the humans :). But it was quite a wrong assumption. [albeit i was armed with one sentence---> "ninnu hesaru yennu" meaning What is your name ? . I used this to a major extent, firing this Question to any child who came across my path ;)

It was nice to see the kids coming to us and showing their creations and explaining the things , what it is and why it is. Though we didnt understand much what they said, other than saying Hmmmm, aama-aama((Yes-Yes) ,Good boy, Good girl. etc...Their earnest way of explaining things and the happiness they get when you acknowledge their work, filled us with bliss. It was a pleasure to see their creativeness unleased , thinking and doing things in a very unconventional way. It reminded us of the immense potential harboured in each individual waiting to spread its wondrous wings.

Finally it was time to bid adieu and the kids were busy,lost in perfecting their creations. It was a satisfying experience, where it was like re-living our younger days again.,.Overall, it was a fun filled yet a memorable experience.

The Orange Girl - Part I

Hmmm, seems a pretty yummy name for a topic, Isnt ?? Permitting our imagination to spread wings for sometime, one might be tempted to assume that the Girl is orange in color. Well, thats too fanciful.

There are white girls, black girl, even yellow( when down with Jaundice), but Orange simply doesnt agree with our notion of a color of a person. Or maybe we can assume that the Orange Girl is a girl selling Oranges.,. This definitely appeals to our mind and to our imagination, but sorry to upset the ingenious find, it is much more cheerful than that. The Orange Girl, is a girl wearing an Orange dress.

Well i have been thinking about it for sometime, and i really feel that it was a divine plan that i met the Orange Girl. I tell you, it was definitely premeditated, How else can you explain the cancellation of my bus ticket and the unexpected obtainment of a railway ticket. You might be asking why the cancellation of bus ticket,for which we need to rewind back our watches for a while.

I was returning back to my college after what you can call a Vacation. It didnt go quite as one would expect on a vacation, it was boresome, mainly because of the fact that most of my friends back home, were having their exams that time.So, i was left all alone contemplating ways to kill time.

Well, i did visit few places on my own, but that damped my spirits rather than enliven it. You see where-ever i went there were lots of couples [Mostly IT people], which made matters worse. It was like adding salt to wounds. You see, you are already single and the sight of doubles, makes you look more isolated... It started a chain of thoughts in my mind about thinking on ways and reasons for me being single.

I got affected by what you can call a Single Syndrome(SS). .Now, you might ask what is a Single Syndrome. Its a kind of feeling wherein you are single and are happy about it, (for having escaped the trap), at the same time, occasionally you have bouts of times, where you regret the fact that you are single.

It has been a much widely discussed topic and we have had many discussions,back at college where we ,a dedicated group of friends who were proud to be single the pros and cons of getting stuck up with a girl. But you know deep down, there always is a soft voice crying out for your soul mate , which no matter what you tell , simply refuses to subside. So All in all, my vacation passed off with a good piece of time, being spent on musing over the Single Syndrome.

To make matters worse,the bus which i had reserved made headlines. Rather it was the route which the bus takes which made the headlines. Thanks to few people among the junta,who were unhappy with few of the regulations passed by Govt and they had protested by alighting (Read--> set fire to) a bus My parents who were very much concerned by this new development were strictly against me travelling by bus(as if the group of people were waiting to strike again in the bus which i take) and suggested me to travel by train. (As if the same kindred junta wouldnt dare to think about a-lighting a moving train, other than the fact that iam yet to see anyone who dared to stop a train by lurching ahead in its path,as they do with a bus).

I couldnt care more about the mode of travel,(still recovering from the effects of SS), atleast to please my parents agreed to go by train. Somehow i got my ticket and had to take one day extra leave as i got a ticket for monday(weekday tickets were over). I tell you again , this was another proof of premeditation.

Setting aside all matters, the important thing to note is that i was a bit fussed due to SS, and was cursing every Tom,Dick and Harry who had one. Now coming back to the moment in the train journey, i had come an hour earlier and found the station aloof, unlike during week end, where you can see a horde of people flowing here and there.

The train had come and i took my seat in the First Class Compartment. I have this habit of carrying a book whenever i travel, yet due to reasons known, i simply didnt have the mindset to read it.. So it was at this moment that the universe in all its grandeur, decided to make a move in the unexpected game , what we call life.

It was then the Orange Girl entered the train.,. I was like looking outside the window, when i felt an impulse to turn. First it was a fleeting glance. Then i turned my head again. And there i see the wondrous image.,. It was as if the Almighty had given a physical shape to your imaginations about your dream girl. I felt as if the time had slowed down and that only the two of us were the only people around. I must have lost sense of time because when i came back to my senses, there was no one at the entrance. I whirled around to see where she had gone. She was standing at the opposite entrance, looking here and there. Probably she was looking for her seat.

I had read Alladin's Story before yet Iam not sure if i had ever wanted a genie lamp as i wanted on that moment. I somehow wished that she be put up in the same cabin as mine. Images of me being the Alladin and 'her' as Jasmine, began floating in my mind.

You see it only in movies, but believe me, i had never thought that happens in real life, yet what to say, creativity has its own ways of manifesting itself.. It indeed was a sensuous experience(Imagining youself with your lady love).People have said that i very creative, but i hadnt thought much on that and havent considered myself worthy of such extolments. But lost in my pleasant reverie, i got a proof of my hidden creative talents..!!

To be continued...

Check out @ the-orangegirl-partII

"Buddy, you’re a good guy!!"

I was having a chat conversation with a friend sometime before. We were talking about a lot of stuff's including laptops, inflation in India, outsourcing issues etc. In course of our conversation, we began to drift to lighter issues and he mentioned about an incident which he experienced a few days back. Its that incident which i wanted to think aloud. I would suggest that you have a look at his post:

http://thekingsgambit.wordpress.com/

For people who want to go on reading without interruption, for their benefit, i will state the incident briefly. My friend who lives in Tuckson,America had gone on a morning walk to get some coffee and a cig for himself. On his way he came across a Afro-American dude, (lets call him "the guy at the bus stop") who was waiting in a bus stop.

My friend went to store, bought himself a cup of coffee. While coming back "the guy at the bus stop" asked him if he can have some coffee which my friend was having.My friend who very badly wanted the coffee(feeling sleepy-headed) , offerred him the coffee, asked him to take what ever he needs and return the remaining to him. After he had some coffee, the guy returned the coffee and then said to my friend "Buddy, you’re a good guy!".

And he said that because, my friend had let him have some coffee from his cup and was having it himself .Generally he was used to people throw the entire cup at him or refuse to give him anything. "the guy at the bus stop" was touched by my friends gesture, which was not at all a gesture by my friend.(Thats what he says). For the "guy at the bus stop" it was the first time someone had treated him with respect.

On hearing this from my friend, i felt that i must share this with all.My friend had mentioned about gratitude as one of his reflections from this experience. I, reflecting about the incident, felt that its not only about a gesture , (leave gesture, take any random act of ours), but also rather the consequence which mattered the most here.

The "the guy at the bus stop" was left feeling happy with his self-esteem pumped up by a simple gesture. And on the other hand, my friend was himself feeling gr8 , because of the gratitude shown by "the guy at the bus stop".

What i wanted to reflect was on the fact that "Every act of ours done with thought or without, affects someone" We may not really look it that way, but as the saying goes:

"The best portion of a good man's life: his little, nameless, unremembered acts of kindness and love."

-William Wordsworth

Will share more of my thoughts on this in my subsequent blogs :)

Till then what are you waiting for.,. Try being a "Good Guy".
Iam sure you wont regret it :)

A Day with Management Trainer !!

"Management is efficiency in climbing the ladder of success; leadership determines whether the ladder is leaning against the right wall."

— Stephen R. Covey

Today we have with us a person who ensures that the leadership of companies are leaning against the right wall. He is Mr.Rajendra Deshpande, a Management Trainer, a Certified Trainer In Aviation & Hospitality , Sales & Marketing. He was appointed By Govt Of India Ministry Of Tourism,CBSP.Programme. and has been awarded By American Express.Best Forex.Centre.He has extensive work experience of 27 years and is a Sales trainer for the past 13 years.

Host : Prashant Sree --- ME

Guest: Rajendra Deshpande --- RD

ME: Welcome to the Show, Mr. Rajendra. We are pleased to have you in the show.
RD: Thank You.

ME: What are you passionate about in Life ?
RD: To get the drive for ones life,You need to be passionate about your work.I am trainer .I believe management training has to transform one life.I derive immense pleasure in making my participants successful in life.I derive Happiness in making others happy.

ME: Thats really nice. What have you learnt in your life which you would like to share with others ?
RD: I have got power of transformation from landmark education & also from my spiritual guru.I meditate,I practice & most Important is -- Living In full integrity, Honoring your word.Living in Integrity gives you power from within.people see your word becoming true. so your word gets power.

ME: Well said. If you are given a wish to change one thing in world, what would you change ?
RD: If u want to bring change in others you need to change first.Change begins from you.you are the cause in the matter.

ME: Like we say , "Be the Change You want to See". Who is your Favourite Mythological Hero and why ?
RD: "Swami Macchindra Nath.".. Lord Shiva Transfered All the knowledge of Yogic Science to him and it is he who brought & spread this knowledge to the world .we all see the results. He is one single Hero who brought & spread Science of Yoga on this Planet. He is the one single Hero who is instrumental in spreading Health & Happiness at no cost, to anyone everyone.His work in Universe is demonstrated doesnt need any evidence.

ME: Who do you consider your role models and why ?
RD: I consider Mahatma Gandhi,& Lord Gautam Buddha as my role models. In the period,when communication was very poor,no technology available,They could spread & market their thoughts,their teachings, all across the world.

ME:I admire that. Very few people pursue Yoga and its great to find a person so passionate about Yoga ;). What would you like to evangelize in your life ?
RD: "Tourism is one activity if promoted well can eradicate poverty,illiteracy,,unequality,suicides,budgetary deficeit,Social Integration, Cast differences ,Discrimination....Terrorism,.....& ..Many More."

ME: Thats quite a find. :) What is your charm, which you feel attracts people to you.
RD: Language ,sense of humour,smiling face ,loving nature,sincerity., Transparent Personality.

ME: Your Thumb Rule for Life ?
RD: Be honest to your word ,Inner thoughts ,& pursue it.whatever Happens. You are the winner..!!!!

ME: Thanks for sharing your insightful ideas with us. Iam sure that by integrating the lessons in our life, we will be Winners. Once again i thank you on behalf of my readers for being a guest in the Show. Wish you a successful and blissful future :)
RD: It was a pleasure to be in the show. Thank You !!

Thats it folks !! I hope you had enjoyed this version of PERFECT SHOW. Iam quite grateful to readers who had come back again with their useful feedbacks and have shared the learnings with me. I also thank the guest who have taken time and effort in sharing their life lessons with everyone. I know that Thanks isnt enough but iam grateful for their readiness to enrich others with their knowledge. My humble thanks to them. :)

The next version will be a bit different. What it will be, wait and see !! ;)