Make way for the Karma Cowboy!

These are the best of times and the worst of times.

Best and worst, Hell and Heaven, good and bad - everything is a figment of imagination and a direct outcome of choices we make. Over many mistakes and some good decisions, I have lived a life that urges  me to look forward. Perhaps not so much towards the next 10 years but, certainly towards tomorrow.

Each day inspires me to carry on to the next. Each morning when the Sun peeks out from behind the buildings, across the cricket field outside my balcony window, I see a promise being made, a deal struck. It is almost magical in the fact that the same Sun appears everyday from the same corner of the sky without fail and will continue doing so even when I'm long dead and forgotten.

Many years ago when I was still a youngster making the rounds of newspaper offices, looking for a job, my professor had set up a meeting with a friend in one of the leading Delhi papers. He was a sports reporter with the daily and a perfect gentleman who gave me a bit of an advice before sending me to meet the media-favorite editor of the paper. He had said, "Try to be a winner at your work. Do it honestly. Because, when you are dead and gone, no one will remember you because you were good looking or smartly dressed. They'll remember you for the legacy that you have left behind."

Though I did not get the job nor did I ever meet the gentleman again, I still remember what he had told me all those years ago. It was the most sensible bit of advice anyone can give a teenager/barely legal fresher starting out in life.

I repeat it quite often to myself and each time I go back to that day and then, retrace my steps back to the present day, I see a life full of fulfilled and broken promises, losses and victories. Each day I try and remember how many times I had inspired others and how many times I had failed to make a mark.

It is not an easy task to get through life but, it is not very difficult either. One can always sit back and let situations take over or take the difficult way and carve a road out of the maze.

I know that I use a very fragile nail filer to carve my way out because I am afraid of using a machete. I am always worried that I'd hurt someone if I hack my way through. Whether my compassion is a good strategy or a bad one, I don't know but, I renew my pledge each day that I shall not stop making that way. And I struggle over it. Some snigger at my naive attempts and others urge me on. I have now learnt to accept both and continue steadily, with my efforts (however feeble), at making my life 'memorable'.

In life we need to carve our paths on our own. We may be stuck in our Karmic cycle like the Earth, that makes its way though the same elliptical orbit everyday. Its efforts never gets noticed because all we see is the Sun. It rises from the East and sets in the West and starts our day with a promise of a fresh start and ends it with another that says, "I'll be back."

But, a really optimistic person will see that even Karma can be lassoed and harnessed to reap great rewards. For example, Earth is the only planet we know that has life. And it is all because it is in the right place and on the right elliptical path - Karma be damned.

Think about it. Is the Earth more unique or the Sun, that was born only to burn?

Rejection is Challenge

"This is good but, not the kind of work we are interested in. However, we'd like to thank you for trying and we wish you the best in your future endeavors."

Most of us crumple upon finding this two-liner in our mail. But, history is replete with stories of rejectors who have eaten many a humble pies.

Recently, a friend who is keen on writing, did not make it to the final list in a novel writing contest. She was so hurt that she quit creative writing for more than a month, engaging her efforts instead, on writing commissioned articles for magazines. This one is for her and for everyone who wants to throw a curve ball but is stopped because it does not fit in to the existing norms. Don't worry about being the square peg unable to fit into the round hole. Just don't try to fit in. There also exists a square hole made just for you and your ilk.

My advice for those faced with rejection would be, thank the rejector. When life throws lemons at you don't worry, make some lemonade. Treat rejections as challenges. They should make you doubly determined to follow your dreams. Also remember that not everyone understands your vision but in a world of 7 billion there are millions who embrace your dream. You just need to persevere to reach them. Dream on and dream big.

One of the contemporary world's most celebrated artist, Vincent Van Gogh led a tormented life. He was shunned and ridiculed and only sold one painting in his lifetime and that too to a friend! But, he never quit, leaving behind over 800 pieces. In today's market, his art is priceless.

And if that was not enough for Van Gogh, when Irving Stone sent his manuscript, "Lust for Life," this is what came back in the rejection letter, "A long, dull novel about an artist." But, the rest as they say, is history — perhaps history enjoying another little joke at Van Gogh's expense through Stone.

Rejection should not be treated as humiliation. Treat it as a challenge instead. Otherwise, there would be no Mickey Mouse. Walt Disney was fired from a job quoting, 'lack of imagination'.

J.K Rowling, the author of Harry Potter series, speaking at Harvard in 2008 did not discuss success. Instead, she spoke of 'failures'. Her own in particular.

“You might never fail on the scale I did,” Rowling had said. “But it is impossible to live without failing at something, unless you live so cautiously that you might as well not have lived at all — in which case, you fail by default.

Her story is perhaps the most famous, failure-reversed-to-resounding-success stories of the 20th century. Today she may be richer than the Queen of England. But, back then, she was a penniless, recently-divorced, single mom, she wrote the first Harry Potter book on an old manual typewriter.

The manuscript was rejected 12 times. It was only a year later that Bloomsbury decided to go with it and that too it is believed was a fluke that made it possible. She was also advised to get a day job by her publishers because, 'there was no money in children’s books'!

Now, imagine those who had rejected Rowling's adventure series when it had come to them. Think how they must be kicking themselves for their lack of foresight. It is a sobering thought, isn't it?

Many dreams are nipped at bud by teachers and peers because of their own limited understanding. But, there are also a  handful who make mockery of the criticism and come on top.

As a young boy, Charles Darwin gave up on a medical career. He was often chastised by his father for being lazy and too dreamy. Darwin himself wrote, "I was considered by all, my masters and my father, a very ordinary boy, rather below the common standard of intellect." Perhaps they judged him too soon, as Darwin today is the man who proved the theory of evolution. He is perhaps himself the best example of his theory of 'survival of the fittest'.

Sir Edmund Hillary’s gym instructor ridiculed the puny school boy despairing, ‘What will they send me next!’ That same boy by conquering the Mount Everest trumped his master's ill-asked question.

Then there is Beethoven whose music teacher had declared him, "hopeless at composing!"

It is imperative to dream. We stop existing the day we stop dreaming. Dreams are a manifestation of our power to achieve. We just need to believe in them.

Actor Amitabh Bachchan, speaks freely of his failures. On how his deep baritone voice was rejected by All India Radio and how he was turned down as an aspiring actor because of his great height and lanky frame. He however, lived on next to nothing and slept on benches but persevered. and won the National Award for the best debutant for his first film, Saat Hindustani. The rest of the journey, we all have grown up watching — it's history!

Marilyn Monroe, Elvis Presley, The Beatles, everyone of them was asked to pack up and try something else.  Monroe was advised to find a day job as a secretary and Elvis was suggested to keep his day job as a truck driver. Beatles were told that guitar was not popular any more! The list is endless and the victories so great that many of these stories have been buried under the edifice of achievements so unique and great that the rejections are now laughable.

Scientist and inventors have often had to walk through fire, live in extreme poverty and deprivation and often fear of persecution to bring the world one step closer to the truth. Think Copernicus and Galileo and how the Church discredited and then censored their theories.

Let rejections not worry you. It does not matter what others think of you. What does really matter is what you think of yourself and how much do you believe in your dreams.

The best thing about dreams is that they are a manifestation of your own imagination. You should have total control over them. Forget about age, society, family, peers, mentors or religious propaganda. If you think it can be done by you then you can do it. Go ahead, chase your dream because that is the purpose if your life.

Faith, Study, Practice - How to Win Simplified!

Some days back, I was reading how Faith becomes firm through Study and shows results through Practice. It set my mind off. I kept the journal aside and started wondering about Faith.

Faith has a free run in India, where people hardly ever question God. Miracles take place every few minutes, even second perhaps, in this heavily populated country where there is no dearth of Gods, Prophets and Saints nor their believers. There are so many stories of breakthrough of Faith that reach us everyday that we start taking Faith for granted.

It took me a bit to unattach myself from the usual understanding of Faith and to get how it also plays an important part in our professional lives.

I cannot remember ever worrying about a weak axle when boarding a bus. Despite the rash and negligent driving that we expect from the drivers of public transport, no one ever thinks that the wheels will come off or the engine will fall off when we board a bus. We assume that the driver and his helper would have checked that before putting the bus out on road. If any of the un-to-word happens it is an accident.

What is Faith and how does it make miracles happen?

Here, I'll keep off religion because I do not believe in Shamans and Faith Healers and their miracles and have NO idea how they make it happen. I'll simply evaluate the three actions, Faith, Study and Practice on how together they make miracles happen in our professional lives.

When I took up my first job as a journalist many winters back, I had no idea that of what was expected of me. I had given an English language test and passed it and the newspaper had engaged me at a below-the-poverty-line salary on good Faith that I'd wing it from there.

I did prove them right and was able to break into a career path without having done a relevant course nor coaching. In the beginning, like any other person, I too was scared and unsure of what was expected of me.

My first day at work was nothing short of a miracle since that was the first time I had used a computer!

But, I managed because, I had Faith in myself. It had been deepened further by the fact that several other people like the seniors who had chosen my profile over many others and my college professors, friends and family had unshaken Faith in my ability. It led me to become confident. Because I was buoyed by the fact that so many people had faith in me that I put my best foot forward.

I read up as much as possible, shadowed my seniors at work, asked relevant/irrelevant questions and to their credit, they mostly answered (Study) and was so excited by the whole new career that I put my 100 per cent into it, took on more work when my quota was over and worked on special stories on weekly offs (Practice) and honed my skills fast. As I Studied and Practiced, my Faith in myself and that of others in me increased and I thrived in a profession I had no idea of just a few months back.

I used my own example as a green horn and that of a rash, public transport driver here because except for a child who thinks that his/her mother is God none of us are born to our jobs with an instinct. For the world at large, Faith/trust is put on us and people like us because we have or are expected to have honed our skills through Practice and Study.

Never a believer in blind Faith, I have always endorsed the questioning attitude. In fact, I believe sincerely that those who question are the ones who often win the quest.

The path to success lies in these three principles. Have Faith, you CAN do it. Study hard and question everything with a view to learning more because, it will increase your Faith in yourself and finally, Practice as much as you can because, only Practice can make you perfect. And as you become perfect, the Faith of everyone around you will add to your Faith and THAT will make you invincible.

Often we see, those who have achieved fame or our seniors say, "I can do it with my eyes closed". Most of them would be too. The reason is NOT because they are miracle workers but, because, they have immense Faith in their capability which has been honed by years of hard work or Practice and constant adding on to their skills by staying abreast of new breakthroughs in their chosen field by keeping their ears to the ground and learning on the go, or simply put, through Study.

There is of course another part of the debate that I steered clear off in the beginning, how blind Faith,  supposedly supported by neither Study nor Practice works and I have not much to offer except for this one example:

When a child is born, s/he automatically accepts the milk that the mother offers without doubting its credibility or expecting miracles from it but, the miracle happens when the child grows up into a strapping young thing full of energy and ability to conquer the world!

Since there are no more examples that I can think of on that one, I'll leave you to worry on that - if you want to.

And for those who still have doubt on the Faith, Study, Practice strategy to win, please go watch, Pixar's immensely intelligent and inspiring story of a country mouse who wanted to become a famous Parisian Chef, Ratatouille. My hunch is that you'll get your answers.

Just remember, there seldom are any shortcuts to success - even for those to the Manor born!

...And if you still didn't get it, then please go watch Ratatouille.