Month: March 2014

The David vs Goliath Path

~ Rishi ~ Leave a comment

This morning, sitting at home, I decided to catch up on some cricket action in the ongoing World T20 in Bangladesh. I was curious to see the game between Netherlands and South Africa, having read some tweets pointing to a possible upset that didn’t happen.

What really happened? A newbie side came out all guns blazing to restrict a good batting lineup from scoring too many runs; and then their batsmen had a field day playing fearlessly to some outstanding bowlers and fielders. And it was perhaps a little bit of luck that saved South Africa on the day…

As the match progressed, and Netherlands faltered to reach the finish line, I went into my own thoughts of how and why this happens. Now there is something that always inspires in us a sleeping awe whenever we hear about these big vs small contests, nobodys fighting somebodys. Well, it does inspire in me! How is it that someone relatively unknown, obscure suddenly gathers the courage and guts to fight the big guns?

This is true in battles, in sports, and in the mad world of business all the time. And it has got to do sometimes with luck, but mostly the reason behind such unexpected results is the mindset that the David carries when he fights the Goliath. Mindset plays a major role in the emergence of the victor! And that is true all the times…

When the Small player comes out to face the challenges, being fearless and undeterred and in most cases knowing he/she is doing the right thing, just goes all out to achieve what is set in sight. The Bigger player becomes complacent or sometimes even arrogant, both responses a sure sign of a stalling mindset, to ignore the Small one and hence loses out in the contest. And irrespective of whether there are challengers or not, whether big players exist or not, the ones who enter the field with the right mindset, go on to win. That explains the emergence of an Ambani, or a Mittal, or a Sachin, or an Amitabh. They just don’t give up come what may, focused all the way on their goals. And that is what makes them a champion!

How can we benefit from this all? Well, if we always keep our goals clear and our mindset positive, nothing in this world is impossible. Too many times we give up on things when the going gets tough. Too many people don’t fulfil their life’s destiny because there are people discouraging them. All this negativity stops people from trying and becoming what they set out to achieve, living their life in mediocrity…

We just have to remember a simple thing – Even if there are a hundred challenges or a thousand nay-sayers, the David will win over the Goliath, provided he has the right perspective and a strong mindset to boot!!! And we will also be remembered and talked about in some corner of the world some day, even if we are small today…

Unifying India

~ Rishi ~ 1 Comment

The other day I was sitting with one of my friends and we were just talking about random stuff when I was drawn to a rather normal detail – he is a Bengali, his wife is a Sindhi. It’s nothing out of the blue, I mean people are getting married as per their choice all over the place. But something in this detail stuck to me!

Well, to put things straight, even I have had a love marriage (a rather long labour of love for 5 years before we tied the knot :)). I am a Brahmin from MP and my wife a Marwari from Jharkhand. And we have instances in our family of inter-religion marriages as well, so it’s nothing awkward for me that two people of different castes/religions get married. What really stuck me was the amalgamation of cultures that’s happening across the board within our generation.

In older times, when arranged marriages used to be the norm, most of the alliances were in same religion/caste and to a great extent, even region. It was likeness that paved the way for a successful marriage! Remember, old aunties saying “she is of the same caste, will be able to adjust easily”…

But come our generation, the concept of arranged marriages has been overtaken by people marrying each other based on their choices. And that’s quite a profound thing that’s happening right now in India. As more and more of us get married into different castes/religions/cultures, I believe we are becoming more tolerant of the way others in the society live. And that’s great because it, in my opinion, is bringing the people of India closer.

Imagine, after a few years when Muslims will be marrying Hindus openly without any drama, Sikhs will be getting hitched to Christians and Rajputs to South Indian Brahmins, and so on. The simple idea of marrying based on your choice will create a strong harmony amongst religions, societies and castes that years of efforts couldn’t do! It’s already started, and it’s only going to become better with age! 🙂

Hopefully then films like 2 States would no longer be novelty amongst most people in the hinterland, it will be a commonplace occurrence surrounding one of the most beautiful institutions that India has taught the world how to be successful in. And it will be an India not only tolerant of its diversities but proud of the vastness of its amalgamated culture!!!

The Thrill of Building

~ Rishi ~ Leave a comment

Last month I was at my home with parents for some work with respect to one of our businesses. Most of my free time got spent on the balcony, watching a band of construction workers diligently put together the building opposite to our newly constructed house. And as I watched them, a thought stuck to me (which you can guess took some unsticking to do :P)

That band of workers worked each day in sun/rain/wind/shade to put together an apartment complex where none of them were going to live. And as I observed them each day, I was more and more fascinated by this aspect of how the lives of entrepreneurs unfold…

Most entrepreneurs will agree to this – the fun is in the journey and the climb, the view from the top is lonesome and it’s not the destination that matters. Which suggests, building something should be of prime interest to us!

However, most people make this mistake on too squarely focusing on the end point, worrying endlessly about how it’s all going to turn out in the final race. To put it mildly, if the foundation is strong, if the journey is challenging, if the process followed is good, the end result will be just fine!

This gets displayed in our daily lives also. We fret and fume over small things gone wrong, fight with others and get angry on ourselves if we don’t get what we want, but rarely reflect back on was the building process right? And if it is, temporary setbacks or delays aren’t much to bother about then…

The thrill of building is what keeps people alive, that joy of something that you envisioned taking shape in front of you is unmatchable. It’s true for painters, for artists, for entrepreneurs, for sportsmen, for leaders, and I guess it’s true for all the so called “normal” people as well. Here’s to the spirit of the “Go for it” attitude!!!

Key to Success!

~ Rishi ~ Leave a comment

In the morning, watching a tennis match between Federer and Djokovich, my wife (who of course is not a big fan of sports, no points for guessing :)) made a rather regular comment – “I’m getting bored with this monotonous game, don’t these players get bored too”. And my mind started to churn…

As I answered her question, I stumbled upon something quite revealing. Having been an entrepreneur, I have been observing some traits that are common to most of our ilk. And most of these traits are very common between sportsmen and entrepreneurs so I can safely make a comparison here.

One of the topmost of these traits which make sportsmen/entrepreneurs successful is “enthusiasm”. Some people also call it passion! And it is almost a prerequisite for anyone to succeed doing something of their own!

Well, most of us might think it is their gift or their intelligence or probably they being in the right place that makes them succeed. Nothing could be farther from the truth… Of course, hard work and dedication for years altogether also count, but the first and I think the most important is Enthusiasm/Passion!!!

If one doesn’t have enough enthusiasm or passion for anything, it is quite natural for them to get bored or tired of doing it. That’s why perhaps people keep changing jobs and places, they just can’t bear doing something they don’t like anymore. And that’s why perhaps marriages also break, the couple unable to keep their passion for each other for too long…

But if one has a passion towards something, they wouldn’t give it up for anything else. They would continue to labour and challenge themselves on a daily basis to become better in it. And that’s what happens to these sportsmen and entrepreneurs. They are so naturally excited and charged up about their game or idea that nothing can deter them from succeeding! And they just go on and on and on!

Now, how does this help us? I am reminded of one of Steve Job’s most profound speeches at the Stanford graduation ceremony (I don’t recollect the exact words but this is what he meant) “When I wake up in the morning and look at the mirror, if I don’t seem enthusiastic and wonder what’s wrong; and this happens for a few days, I know I am not enjoying and discover and change what’s worrying me”.

If we all just follow this great man’s advice and start living our life to fulfil our passions and remain enthusiastic about things which we are doing, we would all definitely be more successful and much more happier!!!

So here’s to more success for all of you, may you become the absolute best in whatever you are doing, following your passion!

Probity in News…

~ Rishi ~ Leave a comment

Surfing through news today, I hit upon a report of Pranoy Roy seeking accountability and transparency from the Indian media and wanting a strong defamation law to handle spurious news and wrong accusations. Kudos to him to rake up this issue at a time when the current news channels create nuisance, unnecessarily at times!

I still remember how I started watching news early on in my life, specially ‘The World This Week’ and the DD National news in the evening. It gave me a strong footing to understand and appreciate world-wide happenings and improve my idea of the world. And all of it was cultured, sedate reporting and talks/debates to put forth the complete view-point, most of it thoroughly researched.

But today’s media in India has sadly been reduced to a caricature of its previous self of high standards and professional, authentic viewpoints. What we are witnessing these days are shenanigans of channels and anchors turning news into soap-operas to garner more eyeballs and prolong their life…

Talking about television media particularly, these intelligentsia claim that they are the true champions of democracy and are responsible for everything that’s right, bringing out everything’s that wrong! However, most of the news items seem biased and planted to favour one or the other party and the ensuing debate is cacophonous at best! And even God cannot help their ‘targets’, who is/are portrayed as a criminal or wrong-doer just by the way they are dealt with… 🙂

I am no judge of who is right or wrong but I do hope that television media becomes as sensitive to the veracity of what they are showing, and more importantly empathy towards their viewers (not repeating the same thing all day, multiple times) and participants (who look like sitting ducks most of the times)!

Otherwise they risk losing out on audience who are as such moving to the internet and other sources of getting their news rather than watching the news channels. And it’s happening not only because of changing tastes, but also because people like me value a fair and free opinion/reporting above everything else.

Hopefully that day comes soon!