Are You Successful?

Everybody wants to be successful in life. The first question that comes to my mind is: how do you define success? Is it becoming wealthy, famous, creating friends in high places, building a great business, or just being happy and carefree?

Whatever be your definition of success, one thing seems true. Success is something that each individual is yearning for. It’s based on your deep desire to achieve something. It arises from your inner-most feelings that you’re not where you want to be.

One can find many books that talk about how to achieve success. There are umpteen numbers of seminars and training programs on how to make money and be successful. All they do is to capitalize on the feelings of inadequacies that most people have. None of them will ever guarantee success as you are looking for. If they do, don’t believe them. Very rarely will any of them really show you how to get where you want to go.

The word ‘success’ is like a mirage - it continues to distance itself. The pursuit of success makes one fall in a never-ending trap. You work hard on something and when you get it, you are not satisfied but strive harder for the next something. Ultimately, in most cases, satisfaction never comes. You see businessmen who are billionaires – do they ever stop working for more money? Ask the so-called successful and richest people if they are happy and contented with their earnings? Most likely, the answer will be in the negative. Events over the last two years in the financial markets bear testimony to human dissatisfaction and greed. This applies to almost any field of activity – not just money.

When I was a kid, I wanted to be like my dad – have a nice job, a cozy home with decent income. After having achieved it, I felt I was better off as a kid – carefree with no responsibilities.

Does it mean that I don’t care about success? Not really – I do care about success but I would like it to be defined in simple ways that I can understand. To me, it seems that just acquiring riches or fame through any means does not mean being successful. It is not even futuristic. It means doing something that you love, in that you not only make yourself happy and contented but others too. It may be teaching that you love and want to share your knowledge with others to build them. It may be volunteering for a socially worthy cause that not only satisfies you but benefits the society. It may be the small errands that you run for others, and get in return a beautiful smile of gratitude. You could even write on topics you are familiar with – something that makes you use your talent effectively, satisfies you and may be some others too.

So, don’t worry too much about being successful in the way most people tend to define it. Redefine success as it may seem appropriate for you – a success that you can achieve on your own terms, without expensive books or paying for any external programs. Just be yourself, continue doing what you love most and pursue success that provides inner contentment and helping others in need. This may be the shortest route to being immediately successful. Is it not the sum and substance of what our ancient scriptures tell us to do?

The Joy of Story Telling

Ever since I became a grandfather, I had to learn the art of story telling to keep my grand children engaged - especially while feeding them or putting them to sleep. I started recalling simple stories from the Panchatantra, Aesop's fables and Mythology. My two grandsons liked them so much that they started enacting some of them with gusto. Often I was also included as an actor in the short skits but always as the villain in the piece. For example, everytime the Gajendra Moksham story was enacted, I had to play the role of the alligator that bites Gajendra -the devout elephant and eventually gets chopped by Vishnu's High-speed Chakrayuda. In doing so, I had to crawl on the floor and effectively feign the pain of getting slit by the revolving chakra while my grandsons applauded the act. No matter what the story was, I had to be the bad guy!

For every story I tell, I had to unfold each character with the suffix of a 'good guy' or bad guy.' For them, the whole world consisted of only two sets of people - the good and the bad ones. How simple!

In the process of telling stories, I had to face some inconvenient questions. When I narrated the Ramayana story, my elder grandson (then about 5) asked me why the cops did not catch Ravana for all his misdeeds and put him in jail. That would have been the end of Ramayana without a battle. With great discomfort, I had to wriggle out by saying there were no cops during those ancient days.

To the child all things are possible - lions and donkeys may talk, a stone may turn into a princess, a monkey may perform the most unimaginable feats like jumping hundreds of miles over the ocean and lifting a huge mountain. The more heroic the acts by anybody, greater is the delight of listening to them. There is no limit to their imagination. Don't you see how glued to the TV sets the kids are while watching Harry Potter or Wal Disney cartoons?

Fortunately, there is a variety of mythological characters in great epic stories like Ramayana and the Mahabharata that can set any child's imagination racing. Believe me, I have to read and update my knowledge of some of the stories before I can narrate them.

The kids love humorous anecdotes. Stories of the witty Tenali Raman and Birbal are very exciting, dramatic and can make the child laugh at the smartness of these court jesters. My grand daughter (6) simple loves to hear jokes and riddles. Everyday, come feed-time, she demands that I tell a story or several jokes before she starts eating. Her vocabulary is expanding so fast that I can't keep pace with her learning.

It is a great joy for me to curl up with my grandchildren listening in awe to every word that I speak. You must watch the amazement, excitement and curiosity filled eyes on every story or joke that I tell. It is real fun! It is also the most enriching experience that builds the intimacy between me and the younger generation.

A Nice Letter!

Letter writing is an art. It is a way of effectively expressing your thoughts on a piece of paper. I have stored some very nice letters in my archives. Here is a letter that was reportedly written by Abraham Lincoln to his son's teacher. I like it immensely and hope you like it too.

Abraham Lincoln's letter to his son's teacher

"He will have to learn, I know, that all men are not just, all men are not true.
But teach him also that for every scoundrel there is a hero;
that for every selfish Politician, there is a dedicated leader...
Teach him for every enemy there is a friend,

Steer him away from envy, if you can, teach him the secret of quiet laughter.
Let him learn early that the bullies are the easiest to lick...

Teach him, if you can, the wonder of books...
But also give him quiet time to ponder the eternal mystery of birds in the sky,
bees in the sun, and the flowers on a green hillside.

In the school teach him it is far honorable to fail than to cheat...
Teach him to have faith in his own ideas, even if everyone tells him they are wrong...

Teach him to be gentle with gentle people, and tough with the tough.
Try to give my son the strength not to follow the crowd when everyone is getting on the band wagon...

Teach him to listen to all men... but teach him also to filter all he hears on a screen of truth, and take only the good that comes through.

Teach him if you can, how to laugh when he is sad...Teach him there is no shame in tears, Teach him to scoff at cynics and to beware of too much sweetness...

Teach him to sell his brawn and brain to the highest bidders
but never to put a price-tag on his heart and soul.

Teach him to close his ears to a howling mob and to stand and fight if he thinks he's right.
Treat him gently, but do not cuddle him, because only the test of fire makes fine steel.

Let him have the courage to be impatient... let him have the patience to be brave.
Teach him always to have sublime faith in himself, because then he will have sublime faith in mankind.

This is a big order, but see what you can do... He is such a fine fellow, my son!"