Lessons from Harry Potter Saga

I guess the post title might seem attractive to a Potter fan. And who wouldn’t feel so. JK Rowling did weave a magical net which had all enclosed in it. The journey had been a pleasant one which had come to an end with the release of the HP and the Deathly Hallows-II.  A memorable journey indeed. Keeping away the nostalgic recollections of HP journey let me get down to what this article is about. I have put down my thoughts on the learning from the movie i.e. few snippets of wisdom (if you can call it that way) or motivational stuff which I believe will inspire us to live a better life ourselves.  Before I start, it goes without saying that you will appreciate the article much more if you had read the book or seen the movie ‘Harry Potter series’ or at least have an idea about what the series is about. Nevertheless, you can read the article and appreciate the lessons shared. Let’s begin.

One meets his fate in the path one takes to avoid it: The first learning is the fact that one meets his fate in the very path which he takes to avoid it.  The reason Voldemort tries to kill Harry is because of the prophecy that he will meet his end at the hands of a child. So he finds out Lily and James hide-out, kills them and while killing Harry, it backfires on him. The very thing which he wanted to stop resulted in him initiating it. If Voldemort hadn’t attacked Harry, neither would have Harry became as popular and ended up being a threat to Voldemort. Similarly in our lives too, we take extensive measures to avoid something and in the end, no matter what we do, we end up in a situation which we wanted to avoid (I know the above sentence was confusing to read. To put it simply, don’t run away from things which are your primary responsibility. Things have a way of getting onto you, no matter how hard you try to avoid it)

Respect everyone for what they are:  Another recurring theme which keeps coming up in Harry Potter is the fact ‘Respect others for what they are and not for what they have’.  Harry showed respect for characters like Dolby, Hagrid when many people disliked or hated them for the way they were like. In exchange, Dolby, Hagrid and many others were ready to do anything for Harry’s well being. It’s not just about getting favors from people but the fact that you respect people for what they are and for that they will be eternally grateful. In our lives too, sometimes we may get carried away by status and power. Not that it’s wrong to respect power or status, but if we respect people irrespective of their status, position or power, your stars will prove lucky in due time :)

A Parent's true responsibility: Though Iam not qualified (yet) to make this judgment either by experience nor by credentials based on what the wise people have said, I can safely claim that the best thing parents can do for their children is to trust in them & allow them to make their own choices in life. In Harry Potter if you take the case of Frank & George, Hermione, their parents had given them the freedom of choosing what to become. In real life most of the times, Parents try to live their dreams though their children which is a good thing if the child also wants it. But if the child aspirations are different and if he is forced to live his parent dreams, then it only leaves the child living in a hopeless world inhibiting him to reach his truest potential. All a Parent can do is to convey to your children that you love them for what they are and no matter what happens, you will be for them.  

Hope; a light during dark times: In Harry Potter, many times Harry and his friends had no clue of how things will turn out yet they continued to go on by hoping for the best. Instances like when Dumbledore being killed, Harry caught by Death eaters etc seemed like the end of the world for them. But they continued to persist to see circumstances change, new help arrive at the most uncertain times. Similarly in life, we may not know what may happen, how the future will turn out, but if we just continue to belief that the best will happen more often than not, things will turn out to be better. Hence, no matter how circumstances are in your life, Hope for the best and stand your ground.  

Love is the Ultimate power: In Harry Potter, the weapon which eventually kills Voldemort is his lack of understanding of the power of Love. It is the same thing which continued to save Harry Potter from Voldemort most of the times, the love of his mother for him, the love of Snape for his mother, Lily which  led Snape to look out for Harry and love of his teachers & friends for him. In real life, the solution to most of our problems is to understand the true power of Love. As someone said, Love can move mountains and any obstacles. Hence, it will do us well to remember that as long as we share, embrace and exchange Love with everyone around us, we will continue to live in harmony and continue to evolve to higher states of being.

That’s just few of the learning I had from the Harry Potter saga which I hope were useful to you. I would love to hear your own lessons from the movie. 

On an ending note, a question had popped up which I thought I will put it to you. If you had followed Harry Potter, take a pick at the question --> “What is the star sign of Harry Potter?” ;)

Lessons from Kung Fu Panda 2 !

In my previous article on ‘Kung Fu Panda’, I had remarked that KFP (Kung Fu Panda) was an awesome movie, both in terms of entertainment as well as from a learning point of view. Watching its sequel, Kung Fu Panda 2, took the levels of awesomeness to another level. As the publicity folks of KFP2, rightly say – it’s EXTRA awesome!!! Without hyping to much about the movie, let me get down to the learning from the movie. I will provide a brief outline of the movie, so that one can connect with the lessons. (Read ahead at your own risk, if you hadn’t watched the movie!)

In KFP, Po becomes the dragon warrior by defeating Tai Long and saves the village. In KFP2, the Peacocks, (emperors of Ancient China) have a son, Shen who resorts to violence for getting power; due to which he is banished from the kingdom.  In turn, he builds cannon and uses it to get back his kingdom from the Kung Fu Master’s Council. Hence, Chi Fu sends his students to go and stop Shen. Check out the movie to know how the story goes ahead… With the outline set, let’s go ahead with the lessons. 

Never ending Knowledge: There is a proverb. ‘Known is a drop, unknown is ocean’. This emphasizes that a person learning never stops. ShiFu demonstrates a skill at the start of the movie and says that “for a Master, it is the next phase of the training”. Even for a Master, there are skills to be learnt, potential unearthed, and that the journey for Knowledge goes on. It is never ending… The moment someone says that he has mastered all, that’s when the downfall begins. 

Inner peace: I guess this will be quite hard for many to understand (Even Iam wondering about it still), but attaining Inner Peace, is a pit stop before becoming Enlightened. Chi Fu says ‘Anything is possible, when one has inner peace’. And from the movie, I decipher that finding the purpose of one’s life is a means to attain inner peace. 

Secret of Team Success: This is more of a management lesson. For any team to succeed, it is necessary that the members of the team work to each other skill’s advantage. No one is better or bad. Each brings on value add based on circumstances. This is clearly illustrated by the fact that the Furious five and the dragon warrior complement each other and leverage their skills. There is no ego between them and mutual respect and understanding exist. A team success is dependent on the success of the individual team members.

Know thyself: When Tigress and Po have a sparring session, Tigress tells Po that she used to punch the Iron wood trees while practicing, and now she doesn’t feel anything. Po asks for a shortcut so that he too doesn’t feel anything like Tigress, for which she replies that “Hard style isn’t your thing”. It is apt to quote Sun Tzu wise words “Know thyself and you can win hundred’s of battle”. Each of us has our own strengths. Most often, we try imitating someone or try to be someone else, hoping to achieve their success. Sadly that doesn’t work out. What might have made other man succeed can’t help you succeed. Hence, the foremost task for a person is to know himself, his style, his way of working etc.. That’s what differentiates him from the rest and makes him/her unique. 

Times go on: In our life, we hope and pray for the good times to come. And we fear the bad times… Wise people understand that good and bad times are just phases in our life. They come and go. For, we can’t predict when the bad times can come or when the good times can end. Similarly, the movie shows in a wonderful way how things can change in a short duration. Shen uses cannon on Po, and everyone thinks he is dead, and all things seem lost. Then, Po comes along and saves the Furious Five. They are joined by the Masters - Storming Ox and Croc, and Master ShiFu. It seems they are gonna rout Shen’s troops and win the war. That’s when Tigress and Po gets shot by the cannon again, tipping the scale in favor of Shen. The same is true in life. May it be bad or good times, one thing will help us bear them, that ‘all things will pass’

Facing fears: Another aspect which I would like to discuss is, regarding facing one’s darkest fears. We try to run away from our fear, thinking that will make the fear disappear. But the truth is that as long as we keep running away from it, it becomes that much stronger. As someone said, FEAR is nothing but, ….In the movie, Po refers to his nightmares as bad memories and tries to block it. But the soothsayer tells him to “Stop fighting, let it flow” and when Po embraces his fears, he achieves Inner peace. In real life, it may not be that easy to achieve Inner Peace, but embracing one’s darkest fear will certainly help to let go of the fear and understand oneself. 

You are what you choose to be: This is my favorite lesson from the movie. These soothsayer lines are simply wonderful. “Your story may not have such a happy beginning. But that doesn’t make you who you are. It is the rest of the story, who you CHOOSE to be”, that makes you who you are.

We are faced with innumerable challenges, obstacles in our daily life. Sometimes, it is very easy to pass the blame and wash off our hands. Telling reasons like “I didn’t have a happy childhood, I didn’t have a good schooling, I didn’t have money given to me by my parents” etc, may make us think that we aren’t responsible for our life troubles. But we forget that by doing so, we choose to be not-responsible for our lives. Every moment, we have a choice and the choices we make determine who we become. It determines “WHO WE ARE”. And that in turn, determines our DESTINY.

That’s all I have from my end. Iam sure you too would have had plenty of learning yourself. It would be great if you could also share your learning here. And I hope this article helped you learn something in turn too… 

Take Charge…

There are no Secret Ingredients :

I had watched Kung-Fu-Panda, the last week.,. Disclaimer : Iam not going to do a movie-review here.,. I feel that my Movie review will be so pathetic that it will inspire the IMDb to take off the star ratings which it would have given to the Movie. So i will maintain a safe distance from it and go ahead with sharing my Fun Learnings, which i took from movie. Similar to my previous post on the movie "The Forbidden Kingdom", Kung Fu Panda had is share of Fun Learnings !! Iam sharing 3 Fun Learnings from the movie.For the introduction, the movie is about a Panda who aspires to be a Kung Fu master, and who eventually becomes the coveted "Dragon Warrior" inspite of several other established Kung Fu masters who were existing contenders for the title ""Dragon Warrior".

The Land of Peace-China is under the constant fear of Tilong(Thi-Long) who has struck the fear in the village. Master Woo-guwahe tells Master Shi-Fu that the Dragon Warrior will be the one to defeat TiLong. So a ceremony is conducted to choose the Dragon Warrior from the Master Shi-Fu's disciples the legendary Furious Five "The Tigress,Viper,Crane,Monkey and the Mantis". But Kung Fu Panda is chosen as the Dragon Warrior, quite unexpectedly. Master ShiFu being unhappy with the selection determines to drive out Panda and he tells Master Woo-guwahe that Panda has been chosen wrongly. It was an accident. for which Master Woo-guwahe replies "There are no Accidents." Its quite amazing to see that the circumstances in our life which seem to be accident are not accidents !! Everything happens for a reason and due to our attracting the incident in to our life. Life is better for those who understand this truth.

Secondly, when the Panda gets disappointed because of Master Shi-Fu hatred for him and decides to call it quits. Then Master Woo-guwahe tells him that there is a difference between concerned with 'Whats' and 'What will be'. in Life. Yesterday is history , Tomorrow is mystery but today is a gift that is why it is called a present.And he tells him that a True Warrior never quits.,. Lets compare this analogy with our life, most of the time,we are more concerned with what would happen and lose the present time worrying about the things to happen, instead of being a true Warrior we are, we tend to give in.,. We lose the aspect of what we could be if only we Believed in ourself.,. No matter what the situation is, the only thing that matters is how we perceive ourself to encounter the situation, which will determine how successful we are.,. Everyone is special. Its only those who recognise it , who go on to do worthy deeds.

Thirdly,the Dragon Warrior(Panda) gets the Sacred Scroll which is supposed to bestow the Dragon Warrior with immeasurable Power. And when the Panda opens the
the scroll he finds nothing in it. He doesnt get the sense of it. His father who is a Noodle shop owner, tells him later the secret of the special soup,he prepares is "Nothing".,. There are no secret ingredients. For something to be special, you just need to Believe its special.,. There is no secret ingredient.,. The Panda understands this later and goes on to defeat the Tilong.,. Similarly in our life, some times we think there is a magic motion for happiness, Secret way to become rich, secret way to be successful.,. And if they would have existed we would have shops selling them , a potion of Happiness for 500, Tablets of Peace - 1000, Capsule to become Rich - 5000 etc. (The denominations could be in any amounts,depending upon the economy of the country ;) ). The real Secret is there are no Secrets. Its all simple time tested principles which exist , and Successful people follow that.,. So, my dear friends, the only person holding you back from shining in life is none other than YOU. Believe in you and you will unleash your true potential.,.

Those were my Fun Learnings !! I dunno if i have put across the learnings in an effective manner, if so i request everyone who reads it to tell me if the message could have been presented in a more effective manner. My sincere Advance Thanks to you all.. Also,if you had seen the movie, i would love to hear your thoughts and your Fun Learnings from the movie too.,.

God Speed.