The launch of The Shackles of the Warrior - Tidbits from the Media Part VIII

The launch of the Shackles of the Warrior was very successful. The media had quite a few questions to ask. Here, I share with you a few of them with my replies.

8. Comparisons 

Q:- Is comparison with successful Heros bad?

Yours fingerprints are unique. There is no one else like you. Why are people unhappy to possess what someone else has? It is human nature to compare ….

 

Comparisons are not bad, if you can compare, you can compete and if you compete, you can win. The competitor’s present status and performance invigorates you. Comparisons can be used to motivate or correct you. These comparisons become a problem when they are used for all the wrong reasons like branding or making oneself superior to others or when one compares thereby eliciting a wrong response like admitting a sense of defeat etc. it is only then, there the problem. In these cases, they destroy the souls. Then what do we do with comparison?’ A positive benchmarking leading to positive thoughts are fine, but do not get into negative benchmarking leading to nefarious thoughts.

 

Here is a sample for you for negative benchmarking.  There was a hunter who bought an amazing bird dog. It could walk on water, and even hunt for ducks running on water. He showed the dog to his friend praising its efficiency in hunting on water. His friend did not compliment but found fault with the dog saying that this dog cannot swim, while his dog can swim. This is clearly negative benchmarking. See the positive side of such comparisons.

 

The creator expects each one to do what one is capable of, at any point at any time. He does not expect an ant to haul logs of timber as the elephant in a forest. The ant should not compare itself with an elephant and start complaining. There is an ancient Indian story about a mouse who was constantly distressed because it was afraid of cats. A magician took pity on it and turned it into a cat. Immediately, it started fearing dogs. The magician, therefore, turned it into a dog. Now the dog began to fear the tiger. So the magician turned it into a tiger. Right away, it began to fear the hunter.

 

Finally, the magician was so disgusted that he turned the tiger back into a mouse and said, “You’ve got the heart of a mouse. That’s what you are and therefore you shall remain just that.” Hence we need to know what to look at and what to overlook.

 

You cannot put your legs into another man’s shoes and walk. Live your life. There is an old proverb: ‘If you compare yourself with you, then you are living. If you constantly keep comparing yourself with others, then you are only existing and not living your life.’

 

Now do not take me wrong: Effort minus expectations by all of us should not be interpreted as if we are commoditizing our efforts. There exists a difference in terms of the skill and the will of people. After all, the winners in the globalization era create a dent in the market by pursuing differential positioning. It is not uniformity in approach but leveraging the differences that leads to success in today’s globalized era.

 

A few of us are Creators of Core Competence, a few are Enablers, a few are Operational experts, a few are Maintenance Experts, a few are Regulators, a few are Compliance Providers and a few are the Physical Workers at the bottom of the pyramid.

 

The Bill Gates or the Dhirubhai Ambani is creators of core competence. Chanakya could not have become King Chandragupta or vice-versa. The great advisor Birbal could not have become the Great Emperor Akbar. A successful coach cannot become a successful CEO. Knowing your strength and leveraging it is the key for your success. We simply accept our competence levels and revolve around them. ‘Does the rose plant worry any day about whether a lotus will flower on its branches?

 

In much the same way, does a jackfruit tree worry about whether a coconut will grow on it? Even if a neem tree wishes to grow sweet cherry fruits, will it succeed?

Whatever flower you are, the same fragrance will come from you. Hence find out what you are basically! Focus on the roots rather than the fruits.

Steve Jobs said – ‘Some find their passion early in their life, some late in life, and some never in their life’. – Stay Hungry, stay positive, know who you are and chase your passion. Live your life on your own terms!

 

Life is a marathon not a sprint run! Run your own race. Don’t try to win the game by peer rivalries. Today he may win, tomorrow you will win. But you will eventually win – Have the belief!

...to be contd.

 

The launch of The Shackles of the Warrior - Tidbits from the Media Part VII

The launch of the Shackles of the Warrior was very successful. The media had quite a few questions to ask. Here, I share with you a few of them with my replies.

7.Normal man not as Hero 

Q:- Every one is  not a hero in real life? How should majority approach real life?
There is a saying ….
 “Even if she cries she only has to impregnate”
Everyone’s pain, he or she only has to go through.
No one has an easy ride. Great men have purposes, others have wishes. Wise people build homes with stones thrown at them. They were not afraid of losing. They never gave up the spirit. That is how they became Heroes.
Shakespeare said, “Laughing faces do not mean that there is absence of sorrow. But it only means they have the ability to deal with ”. Failure is an option, Fear is not. We should not be afraid of failures. ‘I didn’t fail in test, I just found 1000 ways to do it correctly’ said Edison after his invention.
In a day when you don’t come across any problem, you can be sure that you are travelling along the wrong path’ (Swami Vivekananda). Your attempts may fail, but never fail to attempt. Many were born to win but conditioned to lose. If an eagle’s egg is placed in the nest of a chicken, the eagle will grow thinking it is a chicken. The conditioning of the mind is catastrophe for many. If you don’t try you will never know. You may be disappointed if you fail, but you will be doomed if you don’t try (Beverly Hills). Most people give up at the last minute, just a foot from a winning touchdown. The men who try to do something and fail are infinitely better than those who try to do nothing and succeed as Lloyd Jones once said.
Take hold of your self, Let’s say that you see a flower plant, like the flowers and admire the plant’s beauty every day. One day, you sat near the plant and observed the dirty mud with lot of impurities at the bottom of the plant. Thinking that you have cheated yourself by admiring a dirty plant all these days, will you reject the flowers?
Difficulties are part of everyone’s life.

Many people reading books on positive thinking. I could see many of them were troubled souls looking for a quick remedy. Many of them go to so-called spiritual gurus for seeking solace. It is a strange irony that Gautama Buddha came out of his palace and went into the wilderness, while some of the present day gurus came out of wilderness and go into huge palaces – all thanks to the desperate people who idolize them!
Your mind alone is the cause of everything. Mind is the cause for both bondage and liberation. It is more difficult to control the mind than control the wind (Bagavad Gita). Misery is almost always the result of your thinking. There is a purpose for everything that happens to you.
Always remember that what lies behind you or ahead of you is nothing in front of what lies within you. Therefore, you are only responsible for your miseries. By cultivating a proper mind, you can conquer all your miseries.
Always therefore, remember the night is the darkest before dawn. Count your blessings, not your troubles as many of your blessings are hidden treasures. Make the most of yourself by fanning the tiny, inner sparks of “possibilities” into flames of “achievements”.
You will become a Hero! I guarantee you!
...to be contd.

 

The launch of The Shackles of the Warrior - Tidbits from the Media Part VI

The launch of the Shackles of the Warrior was very successful. The media had quite a few questions to ask. Here, I share with you a few of them with my replies.

6. Genre of the book

Q:-  What genre is this fiction?

This is a story involving modern era and ancient era. This story is a cocktail of two periods. It is a multi-period thriller. India is a sub-continent that lives on several centuries at the same time. A bullock cart carrying Rocket launchers, a laborer carrying a hi-tech  TV on his head, at the same the scientists launching their state of the art satellites – We are living in several centuries at the same time.

This book also covers a multi period – you can travel through the time machine and experience the thrill of several eras via “The Shackles of the Warrior”.

..to be contd.

The launch of The Shackles of the Warrior - Tidbits from the Media Part V

The launch of the Shackles of the Warrior was very successful. The media had quite a few questions to ask. Here, I share with you a few of them with my replies.

5. Multiplication of Population

Q:-  We say that every soul undergoes rebirth. But the population in this Yuga is much more than the last Yuga. How did the people multiply when one soul can take only one new birth? Is it not a contradiction?

It is a question of how we look at the problem. Two prisoner looks outside the prison bars. One looks at the mud, the other sees the stars. Our thoughts are the architect of our approach.

Hear this out …….

One day a lab demo was held. The professor showed two glasses one with distilled water, another with spirit. A warm was thrown into each of these. The worm died in the glass with spirits but survived nicely in the glass with water. The attendee said that it shows that drinking spirits will destroy the worms in the stomach.

The professor wanted to convey that drinking spirits will damage the living organs. There is a different perception. Here also you have one perception. My answer to you has another perception… I react like this ….. The lens we use determines what we see. Let me slip into your shoes for a change, to tell you a story.

You see Only What You Want to see…

One day, a wealthy person took his son on a trip to the country to let his son see how poor country people lived. They stayed one full day and night in the house of a very humble farmer. At the end of the trip, and when they were back home, the father asked his son, “What did you think of the trip?” his son replied, “Very nice dad”. Then the father asked his son, “Did you notice how poor they were?” The son replied, “Yes.”

The father continued asking, “What did you learn?”

The son responded, “I learned that we have one dog in our house, and they have four. Also, we have a fountain in our garden, but they have a stream that has no end. And we have imported lamps in our garden…whereas they have stars! And our garden goes up to the corner our property, while they have the entire horizon as their back!”

At the end of the son’s reply, the father was speechless. His son then said, “Thank you dad for showing me how poor we really are”.

So dad, isn’t it true that all depends on the lens that we use, to see life?”

You know there are more than 64 billion types of species in the planet. Some that existed in the last Yuga have become extinct today. A soul may take the birth of any species – why do you consider that the soul of a man takes the rebirth of a human? It can be of any form of the species.

How do you know whether that total population of all 64 billion types of species remains the same between the Yugas? You have to know this to dispute the rebirth theory based on comparative head counts between two time periods.

...to be continued.