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The Beauty of ‘The Incomplete’

We give such high importance to COMPLETION

Completion of a task, a project, a process, a relation

Why the thrust on completion?

Don’t you agree

A poem reads well even if the last verse is still in the poet’s mind

Only the chef knows that the mustard in the recipe is missing

A designer sulks about a small motif that looks out of place

A painter knows that the orange should have been darker

The runner knows that he finished 30 seconds later than yesterday

The entrepreneur knows that his actual profit target was 20% higher

Only the homemaker knows that there are some clothes that are soiled and creased

Let us delve a little deeper

Incomplete love is more intense than a perfect love story

The half-moon looks as calm as the full moon

A bud is as delicately beautiful as a fully bloomed-flower

The Sun spreads light even when hidden behind the clouds

A rainbow looks as pretty in a little glimpse as in seeing it end to end

The truth is that the incomplete in our life is complete for the world outside. If we sum up all that is incomplete, we will understand how good life has been to us.

Does that mean that we should leave things halfway?

NO

It simply means that we should learn to celebrate the incomplete as much as we rejoice for the COMPLETE in our lives because life happens in the journey, not at the destination.

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9 Powerful Tips to Help You Develop the Courage to Pursue

He was born in an educated and cultured family. After completing his education in Delhi, he moved eastwards to Kolkata for his first job at Shaw Wallace and later at a shipping firm Bird and Co. But, at the age of 26, he decided to stop earning for livelihood and took a courageous decision of pursuing his dream – ‘He wanted to act on the big screen!!’

While Bollywood is known to run by nepotism, this superstar made his struggle count and today the world looks up to him. He is none other than the respected Mr. Amitabh Bachchan!

What we see today is the glitz and glamour but, the real star emerged after 12 flops over a span of 5 years. Now, this is what we call COURAGE.

How can you develop the courage to pursue your dreams?

– Continuous improvement in knowledge and skills in your field, makes you more confident.

– Share your goals with people, who encourage you. Avoid people who are critical of new ideas.

– Keep patience till the right opportunity comes.

– Take some time to internalize failures and get back to work. Don’t let it stop you.

– Do not succumb to peer pressure. Remember, you are doing it for reaching your optimum.

– Make sure that you earn enough to support day to day expenses and also keep saving some money. This is so that, you don’t have to give up your dream abruptly due to financial crisis.

– Try to fund your own interests. This gives you mental and emotional freedom.

– Work distraction-free. Time is the most precious when trying to imagine/build/create.

– Be genuine and don’t try to create a false image.

On the arduous journey of making your dreams come true, you will come across two big hurdles. First, a question – “What will people think and say?” Facing this question requires maximum courage. Second, self-doubt which requires trusting your capabilities.

Once you have overcome these, the world is yours.

In the words of Mr. Bachchan – “You can’t skip struggle. Better, accept it.”

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3 Easy Ways To Adopt A Sustainable Lifestyle

Are we seeing a change in the culture of India? Zero waste weddings, dedicated cycle tracks, no vehicle zones, celebrities supporting mindful fashion? Sustainable living is the latest trend and I am glad that the society is fast catching up.

Living sustainably is a choice. The transformation from consumerism to sustainability is gradual and beautiful. Why beautiful?

Because it places power in your hands. The power to find more in less. Following are some simple ways by which common people can easily adopt a sustainable lifestyle –

Repeat

Alia Bhatt repeated her wedding outfit and the impact on commoners was phenomenal. When celebrities promote an idea, the message hits different. If we do a similar act, the influence will be on a smaller group but will definitely lead to a stir. The real difference is, in how comfortably and confidently you repeat.

Repair

The Japanese follow Kintsugi, a practice where they mend the broken ceramics by fixing the cracks with gold. In Indian culture also, the idea of repair and reuse is not new. In the last few years, with fast fashion and social media intimidation, the privileged section may have lost the patience to mend, but a larger group still believes in maintaining the old. Not disposing things for the smallest of the reasons is the easiest way to begin living sustainably.

Value experiences

If you analyze closely, most of your shopping is driven by impulse. Good offers, social media trends, the displays and pop ups. The root of sustainable living lies in finding joy in experiences and not possessions. Be it a celebration or an achievement, keep your focus more on living the moment rather than on decking up for the event.

Sustainable living is a habit that can be consciously developed. An important thing to keep in mind is to internalize the habit by not being boastful about it. It is a modern, subtle choice that one makes for self. If others find it inspiring its good else one can continue for self-sake.

Trust me, living sustainably gives you a super feeling because the lack disappears and all that remains is just ENOUGH.

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5 Ways to Build a Happy Team

An organization that is successful in creating an enthusiastic team is poised for organic growth. We were exposed to the idea of team work in our early schooling years, when we were given group projects. Professional education also lays emphasis on working in teams.

What makes a team work? What binds them in an unmatchable spirit to do the best? What leads them to believing that their team work will ultimately culminate into organization growth? Here are a few points that can be of help in developing a healthy team culture –

Define clear work flow

The timeline has to be specific and there should be absolute clarity in roles. Research, designing, content, presentation, proposition and other elements should be clearly allotted with a deadline. While doing this all the team members should be involved so that the outline receives better acceptance. This also improves the proactiveness of the individual members.

Avoid small talk

Stereotyping and gossiping are detrimental to the health of the team. You may think that the person does not know, but the vibe catches faster than words. Do not speak that, which you cannot say in the face. Choose your words wisely and do not let negative communication spread.

Trust the process

Don’t be too quick to opinionate on the others methods. Every person works the best, in their own form. You try to be interfering and you harm the spirit. Be concerned only with the outcome and as far as the process goes, just trust and accept.

Continuous re-evaluation

As a team you have designed a strategy and you all are working by it. Now, you notice some flaws. In such a scenario please re-evaluate the plan of action. Shying away from it will only complicate and lead to an indefinite blame game within the team.

Take time out to enjoy

This is personal choice but you definitely bond better over coffee or a drink. However, the moment also becomes perfect for useless banter so, make sure you keep the exchange positive. Explore the non-work side of each other during such times.

Yes, you feel you work best when alone but, the world does not work this way. Make an effort not to be the best in the team but to be a happy team player.

#teamwork #teamplayer #teamspirit

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A story of how Kumar Mangalam Birla balanced the new and old

Life is all about creating a balance. If you observe closely, you constantly balance, expectations and reality, conflicts and camaraderie, hopes and disappointments, old and modern. Creating a balance is a vital skill of life. The more adept you are at this, the better is your progress. Let us learn more about this with an example of Kumar Mangalam Birla, Chairman, Aditya Birla Group (ABG).  

Honored with the Padma Bhushan in January 2023, Kumar Mangalam Birla’s success story is inspirational on many levels. But in this article, we will only explore how he created a BALANCE.

Kumar Mangalam Birla assumed leadership at the young age of 28, after the death of his father Mr. Aditya Birla.

He inherited a successful business, being run in a closed traditional Marwari setup. A mark of the system was that positions were naturally filled by the children of the older employees, irrespective of their abilities. Kumar Birla recognized the inadequacy of this system, and embarked upon the arduous journey of developing a system based on meritocracy.

Do you think it was an easy task for him?

It is difficult to explain the need for professionalism when the business is already well-established. But being a visionary, Kumar Birla had gauged that he had to bring about this change. He hired managers from multinational companies, putting an end to the tradition of employing ageing staff.

A retirement age of 60 was set. The group explained it in detail and made sure that it was not sprung as a surprise, with those close to retirement getting a two-year grace period and some extra cash.

He infused fresh blood into the group, but also retained many seniors such as Askaran Agarwala and Dwarka Das Rathi, who continued to lead group companies.

One of the key roles created by Kumar Birla was that of people who would determine strategy and today ABG is a multinational conglomerate with presence in 36 nations and a combined annual revenue of $65 billion, over 50% of which is derived from its overseas operations

Kumar Birla says: “Very often people get so caught up in running the businesses that they have no time left for spotting opportunities.”

Have you been postponing an important change in your personal or professional life for the fear of IMBALANCE?

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Be Kind to Yourself

Today as I sipped on my morning tea I heard a voice in my head – “Be kind to yourself.” Amidst targets, responsibilities and the ticking clock, this thought felt empowering. We often expect kindness from others, and end up getting disappointed. We then, enter the emotional tornado where we list everything we did for others and express remorse over how little we got in return. The sad part is that others don’t even realize what you are going through.

The result is, the ‘doing’ that should have uplifted you, brings you down.

How about being kind to self and not seeking it outside?

Here are few ways to be gentler to yourself –

Take care of yourself – Your body is your medium to act. I was once diagnosed with acute calcification is my left hand. The cure was to use an immobilizer so that the muscle tear heals. My days and nights were horrid as I was able to do nothing. In that phase, I realized that I am nothing without my body. Eat well, sleep well, feed your mind with good stuff.

Follow the 3-priority rule – This rule is not by someone famous, rather it is from an 80-year-old woman Mrs. Vaidya, who stays in our complex. One day as I sat on the park bench feeling tired, she came to me and said, “Hi! How are you today. Where is the twinkle in your eye?” As we conversed, she explained, “If you want to do good in life, keep only 3 priorities in a day. Anything more than that strips you off your pleasantness.” Since then, her advice has stayed with me.

Know your journey – In a world of social media, you feel lost. Your possessions, vacations, achievements are underplayed constantly. It generates a ‘lack’ in your life. You see dreams that were never yours and you seek paths that you never wished to tread. Knowing that your journey is exclusively, uniquely yours is the most effective way of being kind to self.

Do special things for self – This thought itself makes me happy. Take a hot shower, cook your favorite meal, watch a series that you like, shop for yourself, go for a walk and many other things make you feel nice. We do it for friends and family with happiness, why leave oneself behind? Remember these are more relevant in difficult times. So do your best to incorporate some of these ways in your schedule on hard days.

Accept your failures – When you fail in life, you should take extra care of yourself. Failures have a domino effect that triggers our negative memory. We remember all that went wrong in the past or could go wrong in the future. In moments like these please do not abandon yourself or feel lost.Be compassionate to regain your calm at the earliest. Treat yourself like you would treat your best friend. Keep the dialogue same.

Forgive – You might be wondering how this is an act of self -compassion?  When you hold grudges, you obstruct your natural energy flow. You waste precious time in rumination. Once you choose to forgive, you release your mind and energy and you are kind to self.

Lower your expectations – Lesser your expectations, lesser will be your disappointments. Develop an attitude of not anticipating and you will protect your peace forever.

Be genuine – Every act of ingenuity is tantamount to self- betrayal. When you force yourself to be somebody, you lower your self-esteem. As against that every act of genuineness makes you stronger and allows you to be kind to your true self.

If I were to give one trait that can possibly cover all the above points, then it would be – ‘Emotional resilience.’ Build a protective wall around your mind and do not let anything enter, to disrupt your peace. No person or situation should have the power to be unkind to you. The moment such a thing happens, stand for yourself with firmness.

The sooner you internalize emotional resilience the better it is.

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Keep calm and be patient

For how long should I keep patience? This question itself shows your impatience. Of the many situations and factors that demand patience, I find two to be the most important  – 

  1. Self-Growth and
  2. People

In fact, if you look closely at your worries, you will find that each incident that bothers you falls under one of the above. Let us list some every day incidents that test our patience –” I am working hard, still I don’t have a steady flow of work”, “he is late always”, “Why do people honk on signals?”, “I am trying to learn AI but it is too demanding” and so on.

Big cities carry  a vibe of busyness. People’s minds are fragile. Small incidents trigger them and it has a trickle down effect on everything around.  

Here are 3 simple ways by which you can develop patience–

  1. Focus on your energies. Others have their own thoughts and priorities. If your schedule is permitting you to take that extra task in hand, just do it. This will help you honor your individual potential.
  2. If you are upset over something and feel like putting your point forth, wait for an extra 10 minutes before you speak. The gap allows you to choose your words and vibe. Many a times the situation gets dissolved in that span.
  3. Remember your circle of control and circle of influence. Know where you can bring a change for good. Everything else does not need your attention.

The rule is simple – Be patient and keep doing what you are good at. Your every act of patience can create a domino effect and inspire many others to behave the same way.

Let us stop looking at PATIENCE as a weakness or vulnerability. Let us celebrate and acknowledge every act of patience to create a new culture of easiness and accommodation.

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It’s Diwali!

Diwali is a celebration of homecoming. When Lord Rama, Maa Sita and Laxmanji returned from 14 years of exile, Ayodhya was fully lit with divas. Every lane was colorful, kids danced on the streets and the joy of the people knew no bound. Similar is the scene even today. Diwali carries with it a deep emotion of togetherness and new beginnings.

What is different is the reason of celebration? This festival gives us a chance to distance ourselves momentarily from the mundane chaos. It gives us time to ponder over what values do we really want in life. Every part of the celebration signifies cascading of the old and rebuilding of the new.

Diyas fight darkness and fill your heart with their golden light. When we look around, we notice what we already have in your life. This makes us feel content. A diya has a tiny flame but it glows in its own light, never asking for more.

The traditional sweets connect us to our ancestral legacy. When the family comes together to roll ladoos and make ghujiyaas, we experience the joy of hand labour. In the age of pace and technology, this practice slows us down and helps build patience.

When we meet and greet our loved ones, we know what real connection is. The pressure exerted by social media is released temporarily while we are engrossed in meaningful conversations.

Dressing up for Diwali helps you find a new beautiful you. The sheen of the silk dress, the grace of the gold jewelry, makes you feel elegant and special.

The rituals lead us to purification, by way of which we invoke Goddess Lakshmi to bestow upon us, the choiciest of her blessings. I firmly believe that the presence of money in life is important, to ensure that we are able to create and spread goodness.

With all of this an abstract aspect that I cherish on Diwali is considering this time to be auspicious to develop new thinking patterns. The newness of material possessions does not stay for long but a change in the thinking pattern, does help you upgrade. We all are victims of our own weak thoughts, which leads to anxiety and vulnerability. The outer world does not change, but it is our perspective that makes the difference.

Diwali is the ideal time to replace jealousy with appreciation, resistance with acceptance, anger with patience, anxiety with faith and FOMO with JOMO.

It is necessary to understand the significance of the REAL. It is important to internalize the good that you have done as you celebrated and not put everything on display through pictures and posts. What is internalized stays with you, what is over exposed fades away. Let us work on internalizing the positive emotions to build a newer better world.

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Keep Faith

What keeps the Universe going?

What keeps the world moving?

What makes you rise each morning?

FAITH.

An old adage says – ‘Faith can move mountains’ and yes, it is so true. There are days when you don’t feel like starting. Everything looks overwhelming. The multiple roles that you play demand time. The many habits that you wish to develop require grit. And on top of all of this is an innate desire to grow as a human being. In such a tight scenario where you move at snail’s pace, absorbed in the mundane, faith can be your strength. Faith lets you see the possibility, that things will change for good.

When does faith work? It works only when you channelize the energy created by faith. How can you do it? By working in the direction of your faith. How can you work for something that is a distant possibility? You can, by practicing the following ways –

Mindfulness

The more you live in the future, the lesser will be your faith in the present moment. Mindfulness is a powerful habit, that keeps you grounded in ‘what is.’ It does not let your faith waver because you know your awareness is completely towards the task in hand.

Resourcefulness

Resourcefulness is about valuing your time. There are many things that you can do if you have an intention. The more you work, the stronger is your faith in your potential. Stretch yourself, every day to give time to things that matter to you. Don’t give up on your own resourcefulness.

Consciousness

Be conscious of your thoughts. Give yourself two positive thoughts for a single negative thought. Whenever your mind feels tired and soul feels weak, sit with yourself and kindly explain your mind – how you do when a loved one feels troubled. Try to read or listen to something that reinforces faith. Trust me it is about holding on for a few moments till you overcome or outgrow.

A short story

Let me share a story about a sculptor, who practiced the above three habits for keeping his faith. It is an adaptation of the original publication from www.winnersstory.com

There lived a father and son in a remote place best known for sculpture shops. Father was a sculptor and had a shop. He made little profits from the shop. In his free time, father used to teach his young son the art of sculpture. While teaching the art, he also taught him about work ethics and the faith one should have in his work.

He told his son, “We are not selling as many sculptures as we wanted. But one day our work will reach the right people. From that day, there will be no looking back.” As time passed, his son learned the complete art of sculpturing. He was helping his father along with his studies. Other Sculptures in the area closed their shops and went for other jobs. They used to advise the father, “Leave this work and look for any other source of income. You will never earn from this.”

One day, a businessman was traveling in his car and saw the sculptures shining like gold in the rays of the sun. He visited the shop and explored the sculptures. Then he told the father, “These sculptures look great. They have high demand in other countries. Can we both do business together?. You make the sculpture, and I sell it.”

Father and son were happy with the offer from the businessman. They agreed to the deal. They started making more Sculptures, and soon their business grew multi-fold.

Moral of the story

When we pursue something in life, the first step is to have complete faith in it. There will be challenges during the process, but if we have faith, we can succeed.

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Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

This book is a beautiful narration of the year-long events that occur in a family, starting on the special day of Christmas. The family has six members– A doting mother, Marmee, four loving daughters, each honored for their uniqueness and a house help, Hannah who stands like a strong pillar of support.

The father serves in the army, but his presence is felt in every chapter through his thoughtful letters. His words inspire the girls to do better for themselves and the house. Every single time when they read or re-read his wise words, the family is saddened. And every single time, they consciously bring themselves back to the present moment with cheer and poise.  

Mommy Marmee defines their simple family goal – ‘Hard work and perseverance help you lead a life free from weak thoughts, malice and anxiety.’ Both the parents keep guiding the girls to engage in the mundane without fretting, without giving up.

Meg, the oldest is a governess, Jo is a caretaker to old Aunt March, Beth is adept at house making and playing piano and Amy the youngest is a learner, willing to help. What is commendable is that the author Louisa May Alcott has maintained the distinctness in the characters despite the continuous intertwinement of their lives and constant compulsory engagement with each other.

Every chapter leaves the reader with a simple thought, that inspires and is easy to follow. It depicts the joy in serving and pushes the idea of finding contentment in less. Comfort zones are caressed and family values are protected. Yes, all these ideas sound obsolete but they offer peace and stability to a confused mind.

The language is archaic and so is the plot, but it draws the reader into a world which is differently resourceful. Unlike the ideas in many other books that require both thought and effort to practice, Little Women gives you easy goals, on which you can work upon from this moment itself.

I would like to conclude in a literary style – On days you feel lost in the world of endless pursuits, the book holds you like an anchor in the swaying sea. On days when you are too tired working, the book pacifies like an oasis in the parched desert. And on days when your self -esteem is low, it brings you face to face with how simplicity lies at the center of your soul.

There are many revised and edited versions of the book available in the market and seven films/shows have been produced as an adaptation of the book, the most recent one being released in 2022. The story is indeed timelessly true.