The two keys to success…

Trending Ted-Talk videos, best-selling books, a chapter in our school/college course, a motivational speech by a famous person during our Annual Day function, a biographical film or so on… We all have come across atleast one story of a successful person by either of the above-mentioned means, haven’t we? But the actual question here is, how many of us understand and apply it in our daily lives? Success is something we all aim for and the version of success perceived varies from person to person. For few, success is how much fame, power, job status or money they possess and for the other few it is personal growth rather than materialistic things like the former. Real success in life is when you achieve something that matters to you the most. Since, every individual comes with different ideologies, background etc., we should never impose our own definition of success on anyone. We should understand that the only thing in common amongst all of us is the path of constant struggle, we all volunteered to travel through, to reach our respective goals. With this being said here’s presenting you the success mantra of Rancho from 3-Idiots: “Success Ke Peeche Mat Bhaago, Excellence Ka Peecha Karo, Success Jhak Maarke Tumhare Peeche Ayegi”. Read on to understand the two things that we need to follow in order to be successful in our own ways:

Courage to accept: “Instead of repeating the same lessons over and over again, learn from them quickly by having the courage to accept them” – Roxana Jones. What if I am not right? What if things went wrong because of me? Do not ever let the ‘what ifs’ obstruct you from making any choice or rather hinder your first step towards something that you are intrigued by. No one is perfect and it is understood that nobody can get anything right at the first go. As a child, it was easier to open the long list of mistakes that we had committed, in front of anyone. You may have a reasoning that you were a child back then and people hence accepted your mistakes easily because of your innocence. Well that is true, but the only thing that’s stopping you now probably would be the ego yelling out to you ‘why should I broadcast my wrong doings so as to let anyone else snatch away my chance?’ Skip the E from the word EGO and let it GO. Feel free and muster all your courage to accept the mistakes. Own it and mean it. In such situations, just close your eyes and ponder if you’d accept a person who is ready to accept their own mistakes and correct themselves or a person who is just stubborn enough to not admit the same? You need to have the courage to accept the fact that things do take time to be right. Own your mistake instead of putting the blame on someone else, irrespective of the position you hold in that place: superior or a junior. In that way, you not only promote a healthy work atmosphere but also create opportunities for wild and creative ideas to flow in! You can excel at the cost of few scoldings from your colleagues rather than keeping quiet out of fear of humiliation and repeating the same mistake again and again. Well, a fun fact is that you get to do a new mistake the next time.

P.S. “It takes immense courage to accept, the reality of the truth, told to you and about you by someone, without just being angry” – Emotional strength

Dedication to improve: “I’ve missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I’ve been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.” – Michael Jordan. How many of us have tried to extract the true essence of the phrase ‘sky is the limit’, completely? As common and easily these words are said, it opens a portal for the million different ways of doing a specific thing. It just requires enough patience to turn clay into a beautiful art-piece or in transforming diamond from a rough stone into a faceted gem. What is amazing is that at the end of the process, you eventually get to turn your frowns of failure to smiles of success. Strive hard until you get to eat the sweet fruits you reaped for. Don’t settle for anything less than perfect because you, my friend, are answerable to only one question that your inner-self will haunt you with, i.e. “Did I give my best? Was I capable of something more?” If you have a satisfactory yes to the former and a no to the latter, you will be the most content person as you have been truthful to your self and worked for something while stepping out of your comfort zone. Just imagine, what would have happened if you had not tried to walk after a few bruises, as a kid? Life is so, dear friends, you either get to walk up with your head high after giving your best or …….!

Well, to conclude, APJ Abdul Kalam has rightly quoted that “Confidence and Hard-work is the best medicine to kill the disease called failure. It will make you a successful person.”

Tick Tock Tik and Adieu…

Four years back,

I was left to explore a vast world,

bound between four humongous walls..

It felt like a prison,

well it had to,

since it wasn’t my home;

the place I spent my entire life!!

Unsurprisingly, I did come

out of my cocoon,

only to stumble upon,

few to laugh with,

few to gather memories,

and few for whom,

I’d definitely let my heart out

and vent out few drops,

that’d trickle down my face,

with no doubt,

that they’d wipe it off for me!!

Just like people tell,

that there’s heaven,

in every single corner of the world,

and it’s for us to find it;

I found my little heaven,

in this earlier mentioned prison too…

Just like people tell,

that heaven’s when you find,

solace in a pair of eyes,

and a heart beating for you,

tolerant to all your versions!!

I did find my heaven too,

but not in just a pair of eyes,

since I was lucky enough to find,

few more pairs of eyes to venture into!!

Yes! When I look back,

I’m glad I was left here;

Four years of memories,

At least three people to spend it with,

Two words to define the moments – ‘College Life‘,

and a heaven I found

out of my cocoon – College!!

Well, long before we drift apart,

let’s sing this once again,

“You can count on me like,

1,2,3… I’ll be there!!”

Yea guys, let’s not count the four,

as the fourth year is too soon to end now;

It’s for us to live the moment,

It’s upon us, whether it ends here at four…

If we can skip the E and let it GO,

Let’s hold hands and skip the U,

and let it go on FOREVER….

So, are we in it?! 😉

P.S. To all final yearites. Wish you all the good luck for your future! Cherish these Happy Days, before it’s long gone…. Cheers!

College – An unforgettable chapter!

“Abhi padhai karo aur college mei khooob enjoy karo (Study now and enjoy later in college) !! “, “Arey yaar, dekho na college ke log kitna enjoy kar rahe haii, bas ye tuitions aur ratna khatam karna haii (Look at how the college students enjoy, all we have to do is get done with all these tutions and the mugging up) !!”, “college mei sirf 3 cheeze chalte hai (The only three things that run in college) – ENTERTAINMENT, ENJOYMENT and FREEDOM“, etc.; these are few common exclamations heard and told during our school days. But is college life this simple?! Read on to get a glimpse of reality. Firstly, let’s get your facts right, “College life isn’t that sweet as it seems. It’s time to apply what you learnt in your course of English: Do not judge a book by its cover! College actually runs on 3 things: LIFE LESSONS, SELF REALIZATION and MEMORIES.

In today’s world, especially in India, college education is something that isn’t that effective (Not being a pessimist here!). It’s all about creating robots who are really great at mugging up things and passing exams using illegal methods! Is that seriously what you expect from education; to leave you so helpless that you have to eventually use shameful ways to just cope with the rest of the ‘muggers’ and create a good impression in front of others!? What are you gaining? What about the “Honesty is the best policy” part taught to you at school? Isn’t it enough of ‘just-bookish-knowledge’ we get till our higher secondary?! Don’t you expect a bit of application or a pre-experience before you enter your work-life? Well the irony is that apart from the work-related education you expect, you really do learn a lot of valuable life lessons. You grow as an individual. Those 4-5 years of college life will take you through a roller-coaster of life with so many ups and downs, people entering and leaving, etc. Few of the qualities which will definitely be noticeable:

Independence:

There will be no extra tuitions for you in college. Enjoy those school tuition days. It may be tiring but when you move ahead, it’s something that definitely will make you look back for! All those munching in between the classes, ringing bells of random houses after classes, cycling or taking a ride back home where your mom awaits you with a wholesome meal ready and so on. Didn’t you just picturize it as you read through?! So, here’s to the young tots waiting to escape school and join college, I’d love to tell you that “Jee Le Apni Zindagi (Live your life)” doesn’t exactly have to wait until you join college. All you have to do is just enjoy each and every moment that life has gifted you with, whether you are young or old and studying or working! Competition is seen everywhere just so that you get noticed or get first preferences. It is very important to know that since our colleges and society emphasize on competitive spirit, not everyone’s going to help you always, atleast not before one night (An Engineer’s study begins one night before the exam!). ‘Serve Yourself First!’ – A place on land where the Airline rule applies is definitely college!

Value of Money:

Though it’s your parents’ money you are still spending, when you give it away with your own hand it does make a lot of difference. The reluctance to spend it even on the 45 Rs sandwich in the college canteen will be seen. End of month common phrases like “Bro, cover me for today’s dinner, I’m really tight”, “no more outings until I get cash, I’m broke!” etc. will help you set your priorities right. Common places like pani-puri and vadapav stalls, sugarcane juice counter will be your KFCs, Café Coffee Days and Baskin Robbins for few years. College definitely brings out the ‘Kanjoos’ (miser) in you! No offences to the girlfriends out there, but it’s quite necessary to understand and accept the fact that your boyfriend hasn’t started earning for himself and he’s still depending on his parent’s cash. So, it will be quite advisable that you expect a little less than a ZARA clothing or a candle-light date at The Taj Hotel and settle for something which is inexpensive yet a precious gift and what mature people call as time! (No offences again, just a tip. Take it if you want or leave it as it is!)

True relations:

Good company gives you good memories and bad ones give you regrets! Obviously you already do have a notion that it’s going to be difficult trying to make new friends or adapt to the new culture and surroundings or find your way alone without any supervision of your parents who were there to guide you until they left you here. But can you do anything about it? Are you going to run away on your first day refusing to give it a try or are you going to make your life worthwhile by connecting to a few people who sticks to you like UHU for the rest of your life (or luckily atleast till you graduate)? You’ll get to know the value of relations in this 4-5 years of college. The type of people you connect with or the right relations will reflect yourself. You’ll get to know what kind of a person you are, what’s your aim in life and what all interests you! Either you become an independent person or just a push-over. Think wisely while choosing your ‘group’ ‘cause you definitely want to complete that bucket-list of yours without any hassles or regrets!

Power of family:

You’ll definitely love the freedom you get in college, with no one to yell at you or restrict or keep an eye on you! You would have been waiting to run and join a hostel soon to get the luxuries you thought to enjoy. Believe me or not, atleast before your first semester break you’d be eagerly waiting to rush home from the ‘so called heaven’ that your seniors mentioned that it’d be! There will be days when you are just dying to rush home at a blink of an eye (Bhagwaan sabko ek Doraemon ka ‘anywhere door’ de dena!), crave for your mother’s hand-made food, listen to dad’s scolding just to let go of that regret building in you ’cause of some really crazy thing you did or his teddy bear hugs when you are sad, fights with siblings (Miss fighting with them for the remote) or the pampering and care from your grandparents. For a change, you’ll feel happy when they scold you. Tears of happiness will dwell in your eyes when you know that, no matter what, they are always there for you. You’ll find comfort talking to them than the friends near to you.

Memories:

First thing that flashes in your mind when you talk about college memories are those hostel days and definitely the trips or the treks you went for. How many sleep-overs have you craved for during your school days? You get it now every single night, with late-night gossip sessions (for girls) and gaming sessions (for boys), mid-night movies and crazy Birthday celebrations (with loads of free GPLs and cake smearings). The moment you enter college for your alumni meeting, it will be like entering a maze of memories. You’ll remember how you spent time with your friends under the huge tree during a sunny day, bunked classes to eat at the college canteen, punctured your professor’s vehicle (if you were the crazy lot) or rather used someone’s cycle and left it back at the same spot without the latter knowing, the lawns where you and your lover used to spend time gazing at the stars or talking about a happy future (which may or may not have continued after college), the classrooms where you would have luckily spent some good amount of time with the faculties (trying to maintain 70% attendance), the labs where you had broken something, the mess food which you somehow gulped down during your ‘broke scenes’, the security guard whistling right into your ears when you were upto some mischief and so on….

Oh well, etc. does really mean ‘end of thinking capacity’ and I’m pretty sure that especially the college lecturers are quite familiar with this term. Thanks to us students, we know we are awesome as we end most of our theoretical answers with an etc. even if it’s a single point that we mentioned! :p

P.S. No matter what you expect or regret or gain, live your college life to the fullest and enjoy while you can, for these days shall never return! YOLO! 😀