15 Secrets of Happiness for Senior Citizens.

As we grow old, our priorities change. So do our capabilities. We need to redefine our objectives in life. Following is an excerpt from the book ‘Life Version 2’, which is a set of standard guidelines for senior people on how to lead a happy and satisfied life.

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Abhijeet said, “This mantra is called WISDOM OF GOLDAGE. Now, look at the letters in this phrase WISDOM OF GOLDAGE. It has fifteen letters. Each letter signifies a word. I shall explain all these words briefly, one by one.

The first letter is W. This is associated with WALKING. As we grow old, our capability to do any strenuous physical exercise is greatly diminished. Our body cannot absorb the shocks anymore. During our younger days, we may have jogged for several kilometers a day, or worked out in gymnasiums for hours. However, that has no relevance today, except for the fact that your body would be fit and perfect now. Nevertheless, you need to do something today, to ensure that your body remains fit in the future too. Remember, your value is largely intact till the day you are not bedridden. To ensure that you postpone the day of confining yourselves to bed, you just need to walk every day. Walk as per your capability. Do not walk briskly, if your current health does not allow you to do so. Walk slowly, if you cannot walk fast. However, you must walk. Walking is one exercise, which a person can do, with minimum efforts and maximum benefits. A thirty minutes of walk every day, will keep in control your diabetes, blood pressure and cholesterol. It keeps you active throughout the day and increases your metabolism rate, which helps in your digestion process. So, whether it is a sunny day or a rainy day, walk for half an hour every day. If you cannot go out for a walk, please walk inside your home in the living room. Remember, many people suffer from arthritis in their golden age. Those people cannot walk. So, feel blessed if you do not suffer from arthritis and start walking from today onwards.

The second letter is I. This is associated with INTERFERENCE. You need to avoid interfering with everything that is going around you. You should not think that you still hold the important pivotal position in the family. Your children are capable of running the house. You would be often tempted to interfere in every matter, which is being discussed in your home. Whenever you see someone going out, you would be tempted to ask him or her where he or she is going. Please avoid this temptation. Remember, others may not view your interference in correct spirits. They may treat it as an obstruction or hindrance. Therefore, please do not interfere. Be assured that if something concerns you, they will definitely tell you about it. It is not necessary that you should know everything about everything that is going around you. Those days are gone. Be content with whatever is shared with you.

The third letter is S. This is associated with SMILE. Nothing stops you from smiling. Actually, it costs nothing. In fact, when you have a smiling face, people tend to be more open to you, more considerate towards you and they are more comfortable in dealing with you. On the contrary, having a frown on the face will make people irritated and less comfortable in dealing with you. In such situations, people do not share their ideas with you, and you face the risk of missing valuable information. So smile at every opportunity. It adds to your face value.

The fourth letter is D. This is associated with DIET. Friends, all of you have enjoyed sumptuous lunches and dinners throughout your life. You might have tasted the most exotic food around the world. However, as you grow older, your digestion capacity reduces significantly. The body parts like liver, kidney and pancreas do not function with the same vigor as they did during your youth. They need to be treated gently. If you do not monitor and control your diet properly, it puts excessive pressure on your vital body parts, and then, in a chain reaction they start failing one after another. By controlling your diet, you can actually increase the functioning efficiency of all vital organs and your longevity. You comprise of your several body parts. If your body parts are functioning well, you are healthy. Otherwise, you are not. Therefore, keep a strict watch on what you eat. Please do not eat excessive food. Avoid fried, spicy and sweet delicacies. They cause more damage to your system. By eating a moderate quantity of food, you can be healthier and more active, than what you will be by eating stomach-full every time. Control your diet… it is an important gateway to a perfect health.

The fifth letter is O. This is associated with OTHERS. Gone are the days, when you did things for yourself, unmindful of others. Now, you need to watch whether your actions or words cause any inconvenience to others around you. Please avoid doing or saying anything, which others may not like. If you need to say something to someone, please say only that, which is true, and which others would like. That will increase your acceptability among others. 

The sixth letter is M. This is associated with MEDICINES. Please ensure that you take all your medicines regularly, as advised by the doctor. Do not reduce or increase the medicine dose by yourselves, just because you feel better or worse. Consult a doctor immediately whenever you notice any abnormality in your health. Remember that early diagnosis and preventive cure can avoid many health complications. Whenever the doctor advises you to take medicines for specific number of days, complete the medicine course, even if you feel better midway. Your medicines are as important as eating and breathing.

The seventh letter is O. This is associated with your OUTLOOK TOWARDS LIFE. Change your outlook. Remember that you are not going to be here forever. Accept the fact that you are currently playing your “mandatory overs” of a cricket test match. These are numbered. Your outlook towards life changes when you truly understand this fact. Then, you would no longer be attached to the material things in life, as you realize that you cannot take away anything with you. Bear in mind that among all the people alive in the world today, you are among those, who are more likely to depart first. So, start acting like a guest rather than a host. Accept to live a life of detached attachment, so that the pain of losing something would be minimized.

The eighth letter is F. This is associated with FORGET AND FORGIVE. During your lifetime, you might have had the strength and courage to afford to have a fight or to hold a grudge against someone. Now, the times have changed. Holding a grudge against someone is going to burn you from inside, as your powers to act are greatly reduced. Sometimes, you may observe that others do not behave with you in a manner, which you expect them to. Please remember that they might have their own compulsions, to act in such a way. However, you should not assume that they have something against you. You may not know the full picture. Therefore, adopt the policy of forgive and forget. That will help you to maintain peace and balance in your life, all the time.                  

The ninth letter is G. This is associated with GRATITUDE. Express your gratitude at every opportunity. While it would not be practical to express your gratitude verbally to your family members every time, your body language can surely convey that. It is an acknowledgement of help received. It fills up both, the giver and receiver of help, with peace instantly. When we do not hesitate to say a simple “thank you” to any stranger for the help received, why should we feel shy in demonstrating that feeling in our expressions and body language when someone close to us helps us in any way? Remember, the prayers of all the religions are nothing but the expression of our gratitude to the almighty for our existence and wellbeing. 

The tenth letter is O. This is associated with OFFER TO HELP. You are in that phase of life, when people around you develop a feeling that your utility is greatly reduced. Moreover, the fact that, most likely, you are not the breadwinner of the family would sometimes reduce your importance in the house proportionately. Therefore, to justify your existence, whenever an opportunity arises where you can offer help to someone, please do so without hesitation. Offer help to others, within your practical and feasible limits. Remember, this is not to be confused with interference. The offer of help could be in those areas, where others do not find time, or are less inclined to do that task. Remember, such offer of help will make you immensely popular and a much wanted member in the house.

The eleventh letter is L. This is associated with LOVE YOURSELF. When you love yourselves, people around you also love you. You need to accept yourselves in whatever condition you are. You should value self-respect and have high self-esteem. However, it should not be confused with being arrogant or stubborn. It only means that you need to start valuing yourselves. If you do not value yourselves, soon you will find others ridiculing you.

The twelfth letter is D. This is associated with DOWN TO EARTH PERSONALITY. Remember, the achievements from your past can only decorate the walls of the house in the form of certificates and medals. They do not carry the same impact once you cross sixty. So, instead of harping on your illustrious past, better focus on the present and live in the present. Develop a down to Earth personality. In simple words, this means do not throw tantrums around about your liking and disliking. Please do not be fussy about particular things, and do not stick to your preferences. Be prepared to take everything in your stride and enjoy life.    

The thirteenth letter is A. This is associated with ADJUST TO SURROUNDINGS. You might have spent your entire life in a particular fashion. However, now you need to adjust to the revised circumstances. Remember that every time things will not happen according to your liking. Sometimes you may have to adjust and accommodate with something, which does not happen according to your wishes. So, adjust rather than complain. Adjusting with others will make you a lovable personality and make everyone happy. The adjustments could be in small matters like food preferences, TV program preferences, sleeping time preferences or in big matters like the place to stay and people with whom to stay.

The fourteenth letter is G. This is associated with GIVE UP HABITS. You might have developed certain habits over the years. It would be worthwhile to start giving up your habits one by one, because habits make you slaves, and unfulfilled habits bring disappointment. It is better to be bound by as fewer habits to avoid any disappointment. Habits like smoking and drinking are to be targeted first as they are detrimental to health. A person with minimum requirements in life is most likely to be very happy. One should aim to be in that category.

The fifteenth letter is E. This is associated with EXPECTATIONS. If you want to spend some happy moments during the last few years of your life, please do not expect anything from anyone. That is the secret key to happiness. With changing times, people too change and they no longer tend to do things for you, which they did happily at one time. Having high expectations is the root cause of unhappiness in this world. One should have expectations, but they should be revised as per the changing times. The expectations should be realistic and practical.

Friends, these fifteen advices of the “WISDOM OF GOLDAGE” may appear pessimistic to you. However, this is the truth, which you have to eventually accept. No one in this world has been successful in remaining young forever. Every minute, as I talk with you, the older generation is handing over this Earth, bit by bit, to the younger generation, to govern and manage it.

Therefore, friends, instead of cribbing about golden age, accept it gracefully and learn to redefine your objectives in life.”

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This is an excerpt from the book ‘Life Version 2’ written by Suhas Inamdar. This book is available on Amazon, Flip Kart and Infibeam. 

When Pakistan Home minister's daughter was kidnapped ...!

This is an excerpt from the book ‘Altered Destiny’ by Suhas Inamdar. It is a fiction novel published in 2014.The passionate speech made by the Pakistan Home minister in Pakistan assembly echoes the suggestion made by Indian Prime minister recently – to manage its own territory better before casting its sight on additional piece of land.

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Khwaja Salahudeen said, ‘Respected Speaker sir and my fellow lawmakers of Pakistan, it is with great pride and happiness I inform you all that we have successfully rescued a young girl studying in 10th standard, from the kidnappers who held her in captivity for over 36 hours. That young girl happened to be my daughter. This incident nevertheless raises a few questions which we need to ask ourselves, including myself. The first and foremost question is: are we providing adequate security to the citizens of our country? If not, then it is a matter of shame for all of us sitting here. We are the elected Government of Pakistan, who has been entrusted with the responsibility of protecting the country and its people from any kind of threat. We are supposed to devote all our energy and resources for the welfare of our people and the growth of this country.

‘I am happy to inform you that we could rescue Maliha from the kidnappers without meeting any of their demands. Their demands included giving them a lot of money and also releasing 10 dreaded terrorists, who are currently lodged in our various jails. On the personal front, I had a fight with my family about not meeting their demands. I was not in favour of meeting these demands, as it would have further emboldened them to carry out more such kidnappings in future. Moreover, releasing the terrorists was a very demoralizing proposition, as it would have instantly demeaned the efforts of our brave police personnel who had risked their lives in capturing them.

‘Today Pakistan is on the threshold of a new era. The world around us is changing very fast. Countries are shedding their past and embracing the future with optimism and promise. We also need to change. We cannot keep harping on the painful partition or continue to fight over a piece of land called Kashmir. What we need to do is to look at the big picture. What is the use of Kashmir, if we are not able to properly use the much larger size of land already available with us? Are we making foreign policies just for satisfying our egos? We need to change.

‘Pakistan is a blessed land. We are the sixth most populous country in the world. We have a coastline of over 1000 km, which, if utilized efficiently, can boost our maritime business activities. Our Armed Forces are the eighth largest in the world. Our heritage and culture is one of the oldest in the region. We are one of the few nuclear powers in the world. Don’t these figures make us proud? Well, not in the current scenario. And the reasons are not very difficult to find.

‘Today, the common impression about a politician in the mind of our citizens is that of a corrupt person, who thinks and cares only about himself. Very few of us have done something worthwhile for our people. Most of the time, we think only about filling our personal coffers, building our own portfolio of assets and furthering our personal interests. This is injustice to the people of Pakistan. We cannot and should not neglect the people of our country.

‘Terrorism is gaining ground on our soil. We are not showing enough courage to tackle it for various personal and vested political reasons. Since it does not affect us directly, we do not think much about it. But out there, daily, dozens of people are losing their lives in the bomb blasts, which are occurring at very frequent intervals across our major cities. Just because we move around in bulletproof cars with full security around us, is it fair that we leave our countrymen to their fate like this? Who are we deceiving in the process? Is it really worth being a powerful personality in a weak country?

‘We need to think seriously about poverty and illiteracy. These two are the major impediments on our path of progress. If we are not able to guarantee food and basic education to our countrymen, I think we should leave our positions of elected office at once. Just because we have won elections, it does not mean that we can relax and enjoy the fruits of our labour for five years, oblivious of the stark surroundings. Our task is not complete till every citizen of our country is able to bear the minimum expenses of educating his children and providing them food, clothing and shelter.

‘I urge you all to think about Pakistan before thinking about yourselves. Feel proud to be a part of the process of change to lift our country from this mess to a glorious future. And remember, please do not think even for a moment that you are doing charity by doing so… you are doing this for your own children’s safety and well-being. Of what use is your wealth, if the conditions outside on the streets of Pakistan are not safe for people to walk?

‘Look at our neighbour India. Actually we are born out of them. See how they have made progress over the same years. It is not because they are bigger than us. If we talk about size, then Singapore, Japan and Dubai are much smaller than us. India is today far ahead of us in everything. The starting line in this race for development was the same for both of us. Yet they surged forward. There are reasons for their growth and development. It is about the tolerance of their citizens to diverse ideas, it is about the vision of their leaders, and it is about the passion of their industrialists to rise...

‘It is high time that we start considering India as our elder brother, seeking their guidance and support in our various endeavours. I am very sure that if our intentions are right, India will go out of the way to support us. India has already demonstrated its greatness by not attacking us even once, while we made three unsuccessful attempts to invade them. India has taught the entire world the meaning of truth and non-violence. They have demonstrated that with these two qualities alone, they could shake the rock-solid British Empire which ruled over them for 90 years. Today India is considered a giant power in the field of Information Technology. Had we not separated from them in 1947, we could have shared their growth and, if possible, contributed to it as well. After all, we are not different in any way from each other. We were one before 1947 and became two thereafter. As if to pay the price for our deeds, the eastern part of our country was dissociated with us in 1971 to form what is now called Bangladesh. This only proves an old adage… As we sow, so we reap.

‘So, dear colleagues, please join me in initiating this noble move to cleanse Pakistan of all its evils and start a new chapter. Let us take Pakistan to new heights with dignity and honour. Let us show our humble face to the world. Let our citizens be proud of their country. We may need to sacrifice many things on this path of progress, as the task is gigantic in nature. But there has to be a beginning. I have already demonstrated that I did not care for even my daughter, whom I love very much. I did not want to save my daughter at the cost of 10 terrorists roaming on Pakistani streets jeopardizing the lives of hundreds of daughters of Pakistan. Thank you all….’

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The book ‘Altered Destiny’ is available on Amazon, Flip Kart and Infibeam.

Everyone gained … Samajwadi Party lost.

The sordid drama, which unfolded in UP last week, for over 100 hours, has developed serious cracks in the foundation of Samajwadi Party. In the coming days, these cracks are likely to weaken the strong edifice, so carefully built by the patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav for the last 24 years.

It is unfortunate and a bit ironical that all the key stakeholders in Samajwadi Party have made wrong moves and even blunders in the time of grave crisis. Is this because their personal political ambitions have overshadowed their collective responsibility towards the party?

Let us analyze the wrong moves by the three key stakeholders of this thriller drama:

Mulayam Singh Yadav:

As is emerging now, his constant reprimanding of his son in public forums for the last few months has become a handy tool now for all the opposition parties. They are freely quoting his statements in their public rallies, which is causing a deep embarrassment in the rank and file of the Samajwadi Party. However, all his such utterances looked like benign praise when he burst out against his son after achieving a (temporary) truce between his brother and son last week. He said in no uncertain terms that Akhilesh is an incapable and undeserving CM, who had spoilt his (Mulayam’s) chances of becoming a PM in 2014. This statement from a 76-year-old founder of a party displays that his love for his unfulfilled personal ambitions is far higher than his love for his son. He did not even think for a minute the impact, which his statement was going to make on his son’s profile as CM of the largest state of India. He is definitely not naïve to assume that his son would take such scathing remarks lying low. However, what is surprising is that he is willing to take the risk of his son’s revolt. This is where his judgement could be erroneous. Given all the plus and minuses of Akhilesh in running the government for last 4 years, one thing is clear that his style of politics is diametrically opposite to that of his father and uncles. He talks about technology and believes in true development. He connects with the educated youth far better than the elder generation of Yadav clan. His dissidence could prove costly to the party and the family.

Shivpal Yadav:

The best way to describe Shivpal’s behavior during the entire drama is to compare him with the sullen mother of a groom demanding more dowry during a marriage. She demands full attention from everyone around and doesn’t budge from her demands. And she achieves it all finally. However, in the process, she loses the goodwill of everyone around.

Same is the case of Shivpal Yadav. He has contributed immensely in building the party along with Mulayam and obviously deserves significant share of power. However, he probably overstepped into Akhilesh’s well-defined territory far too often, resulting in him crying foul. His best option would have been to resolve all the differences with Akhilesh behind the closed doors. They could have involved Mulayam well in advance and not wait for the media to serve the orgy to its savoring viewers. That would have protected the dignity and strength of Samajwadi Party as well as the Yadav family. However, he chose to wash the dirty linen in public and the entire episode exploded into an unstoppable fire. So, even though the fire is doused for now, the damage is already done.

Akhilesh Yadav:

He has been made to eat the humble pie by his father and uncle. However, they conveniently forgot that he is also one among them, and has run the government for full four years. He is not new to the game of politics. He has many more promising years ahead of him unlike the elders in the family, who can remain politically active for just one more term or two. Displaying courage and magnanimity, he opted to blink first and get whacked royally in full public view, just to protect the honor and dignity of his family and his party. If, in the entire episode, there was one act of showing generosity of reconciliation, it was by Akhilesh in reversing all his demands and orders.

However, shrewd people see this sacrifice as an act of dousing the fire only. Before the smoke withers away, he shall be in sitting in his drawing room, sharpening his claws, licking his wounds and making much bigger plans for himself. He would not have the patience to wait endlessly for his elder generation to retire. He will come back with a vengeance at his uncle. He would not care much about his father, because he has already sort of ‘disowned’ him by ridiculing him in public and questioning his abilities. And this time when Akhilesh strikes back, he would leave no scope for any reconciliation. It would be a final goodbye to the current set-up. The most obvious thing would be to make Mulayam and Shivpal the Advani and Murali Manohar Joshi of Samajwadi Party. 

Arunachal Pradesh crisis explained in 10 simple points

The crisis is Arunachal Pradesh is very difficult to understand. One needs to have a high degree of constitutional and judicial knowledge to fully understand the cause, effect and justification of the series of events culminating in the current crisis.

Therefore, to make it very simpler for an average common man, here are the 10 facts, which led to the current crisis.

#1

The CM of a state expels an important minister and expels him from the party for anti-party activities.

#2

The ruling party (Congress) demands removal of the Deputy Speaker. The main opposition party (BJP) demands the removal of the Speaker.

#3

Speaker disqualifies 14 rebel MLAs. The Deputy Speaker promptly quashes the disqualification.

 #4

The government locks the assembly. The Opposition party along with rebel MLAs hold a meeting in another building. They elect a new speaker.

#5

The newly elected speaker convenes the assembly session in a hotel and they elect a new CM.

#6

The disqualified speaker approaches High court. The High court stays the disqualification of rebel MLAs.

#7

Congress drags in Supreme Court and demands imposition of President’s rule.

#8

The removed CM challenges the President’s rule in Supreme Court. The Supreme Court says the Governor cannot assume the role of a Speaker.

#9

The Supreme Court agrees for the High Court decision of staying the disqualification of rebel MLAs, enabling to form a BJP government.

#10

The Supreme Court, after almost 5 months decides the Governor’s decision unconstitutional and orders reinstatement of the Congress Government.

 …

Concluding, here are the 5 observations of this entire intriguing episode of political instability in this state.

#1

As seen above, the sequence of events would match a high octane Bollywood thriller movie, in which it is difficult to guess who is double crossing who.

#2

To assume that the situation is stable now in Arunachal Pradesh would be the most naïve thing anyone could do.

#3

To say that this is the victory of Congress and defeat for the BJP would only demonstrate lack of full knowledge on this subject.

#4

The problems for Congress are far from over. They face much bigger threat from their in-house rebels than what they face from BJP.

#5

Thanks to the crisis, the spokespersons of both Congress and BJP have at least known the names of the CM, Governor, Speaker and Deputy Speaker of this state assembly. 

My address at BK Gulf Headquarters on World FM day 2016

Full text of my address at the BK Gulf Headquarters, Dubai  

World FM Day

13^th July 2016

Good afternoon Ladies and Gentlemen,

It gives me great pleasure to address you all on the occasion of the World FM day 2016.

It is indeed a special day for all of us in the FM fraternity, because we all belong to a large global family, connected through our profession. Today, as millions of the FM professionals across the world celebrate, we too share our excitement with them, through this wonderful event. Let us hope that in the years to come, our tribe grows multiple times, creating new opportunities for the young professionals, who, under the able guidance of experienced seniors, shall come out with innovative solutions for the benefit of the clients worldwide.

Though the FM industry was formed several decades ago, it has grown significantly in its intent and content during the last two decades. Today, FM deals with not just the conventional FM aspects but also new areas like contributing to the client’s core business processes and enhancing their operational efficiencies. This is further prompting the clients to focus only on their respective core functions, leaving the responsibility of managing non-core domains to the FM service providers.

The UAE market has been very exciting for the FM industry and it promises to be so in the future too. The sheer number of high-rise prestigious structures demand high level of FM services delivered in a highly professional manner. The demand for good FM services in Dubai is poised to grow exponentially, with the global event 2020 triggering growth in various sectors, particularly the hospitality segment.

As the demand for good FM services increases, the market will witness new players entering the market and jostling for their space. The competition shall grow further, leading to a significant improvement in service delivery standards on several fronts.

Here, I would like to quote a very well-known story about four friends who go hunting in a jungle and suddenly find a tiger at a distance. Incidentally, they do not have their guns with them at that moment. In panic, they start running. However, one of them starts putting on his sports shoes. Seeing this, one of his friends asks him mockingly, “Do you think you can run faster than the tiger by wearing your sports shoes?”

He replies, “No. My target is not to run faster than the tiger, but faster than you.”

The message is very clear in this story. As the competition grows, you need to run. But you have to ensure that you run a bit faster than your competitor. You cannot afford to be the slowest, as the tiger will catch up with you.

In order to run slightly faster than the nearest competitor, the FM companies come up with different strategies from time to time. This year’s theme is ‘Empowering people for a productive world’.

So, let us dwell on the subject of empowerment. What exactly is empowerment?

The definition of Empowerment is A management practice of sharing information, rewards, and power with employees so that they can take initiative and make decisions to solve problems and improve service and performance.

Empowerment is based on the idea that giving employees skills, resources, authority, opportunity, motivation, as well holding them responsible and accountable for outcomes of their actions, will contribute to their competence and satisfaction.

However, there are certain pre-conditions before empowerment can yield any meaningful results. Let us briefly analyze some of the critical and important factors required for a successful empowerment.

The first and foremost factor is that the leader has to be strong enough for empowering his team. The leader has to have power and authority, courage of conviction, and a clear vision before he can empower his team.

Here, I quote the example of three prime ministers of India to illustrate this point better. Before I name them and talk about them, I would like to urge you not to draw any political message out of this reference. All these three personalities had their strong areas and weak areas. We are only going to focus on their one aspect of functioning, which is related to the concept of empowerment.

We had one Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, who kept most of her powers with herself. She did not delegate any of her authority to any of her ministers. All the women of 1970s and 80s were highly inspired by her personality.

Then we had another Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. He has been one of India’s greatest economist, who had earned international accolades during his professional career for his subject knowledge and expertise. However, as a politician, there was a popular perception that he did not have much powers with him, in order to delegate further.

The current Prime Minister Narendra Modi is making International headlines for various good reasons and has delegated the important functions to his chosen ministers. He only exercises administrative control over them, for monitoring and controlling purposes.

The second major aspect of empowerment is that when the responsibility is delegated, the expectations have to be specified very clearly and in specific terms. Otherwise, there is every likelihood of a goof up.

Here I quote the example of a blacksmith in a town, who hired a new apprentice to help him in his works. After giving him some basic training, one day, he held a chisel on a metal sheet on ground and gave him a big hammer. He said, “when I nod my head, hit hard.’

The next day, the apprentice was the owner of the workshop. The blacksmith did not give clear instructions while delegating his tasks.

Another interesting example is a joke on Saddam Hussain. One day, Saddam Hussain observed that one of his sons was not good at speaking English. So, while chairing his high level meeting with the generals and commanders, he asked them to find out who is the best English teacher in Iraq.

After about a week, he recollects about his instructions and asks them about the status. They all say in unison, “Sir, we identified him on the same day and finished him off.”

After delegating the tasks and giving specific instructions, the leader should also give the team some power and authority to execute the task. Otherwise, for every small decision, the team has to approach the leader, which defeats the very purpose of delegation.

Here I quote the familiar example of every Mother-in-law’s reluctance in handing over the control of the kitchen to the Daughter-in-law. Unless the former gives a free hand, the latter cannot perform.

Finally, the leader needs to be friendly, respectful and positive with his team members. Unless there is a free two-way communication, problems would remain unresolved.

Here I quote the example of Indian cricket captain, M S Dhoni. He respects all his team players, identifies their strengths and trusts them in times of requirement. Many of us fondly remember, how he led from the front, a young team with relatively unknown names in international cricket, to a stunning victory in the first ever T20 world cup. 

After discussing the leadership qualities required for empowerment, we now talk a little about the ways of encouraging the employees to perform. Because, having delegated the task is not sufficient. The employee needs to be motivated enough to execute the task assigned to him.

Here, the first factor is about acknowledging the employee’s achievements. All of us crave for acknowledgement of our efforts.

I would like to conduct a small quiz. I shall ask you five questions. Please DO NOT answer them. Just raise your hands, if you know the answer. I would be surprised to see even one or two hands raised.

Who was the ‘Man of the Series’ in 1983 World cup? Who has won the Oscar award for the best Actor category in 2005? Who has won the Noble prize for Physics in 2010? Who has won the award for the highest Military honor in Indian in 2012? Who has won the highest number of individual medals in last Olympic Games?

Well, all these personalities have struggled hard in their respective fields to get such an honor. They were very much appreciated during those respective times. However, many of us tend to forget them and their achievements as the time passes by.

Now let me ask you another five questions. I bet that all of you would know all the answers. Again, no need to answer me. Just raise your hands.

Who was your best teacher in the school? Who was your best friend in the college? Who has helped you in your times of crisis? Who has motivated you in your forming years? Who has appreciated your work?

The reason why you knew the answers for these questions was that all these people have touched your life in some way or other. Therefore, you tend to remember them for much longer time.

When you acknowledge the team’s efforts, they would be willing to give their best. Nothing motivates a person more than to see his work getting recognized and appreciated.

The second factor is about giving feedback. You should give more compliments than you criticize them. That works wonders for the team.

I would like to recollect a training program attended by me, in my first job, almost 28 years ago, in which this point was discussed in a very interesting manner. Even after so many years, it is still fresh in my mind.

The concept is that every person should evaluate, how many positive strokes and negative strokes he gives to self and to others during a normal day. That would reveal a lot about the person’s personality and attitude. Giving Positive strokes to self as well as others is good, but not always. Similarly, giving only negative strokes to self and others is also bad. The worst is about giving all the positive strokes to self, while giving only negative strokes to others.

When you criticize a team member, please also mention about his positives. That would pass the message across without getting it personal or hurting the sentiments.

The leader should constantly try to understand what holds back each of his team member and try to remove that obstacle. This could be achieved through periodic training, mentoring, counselling and providing necessary exposure.

The biggest known obstacle, which holds back the people from performing, is the fear of failure. The leader should seek to find out the root cause of his fear and remove it.

Here, I would like to narrate the famous story about how the baby Elephants are tied to a rope in the early days. The baby elephant tries hard to free itself from the rope, but it cannot. It suffers a lot, often bleeds around the neck, and then at one moment gives up trying. Thereafter, throughout its life, it does not attempt to free itself from any rope. Even after the elephant grows to its full mammoth size, when it is tied to a much weaker rope fixed to a small nail on the ground, it does not attempt to free itself.   

Similarly, most of us have tied ourselves up with such imaginary ropes which curtail our creativity and risk taking ability. Some failure of the past haunts us and discourages us from taking even smallest challenges in life. As a leader, we should identify such ropes from our team and snap them, unleashing their full potential.

The leader should give a feeling to his team that they are a part of the company. He should also show them a growth path with timelines so that they remain motivated enough to carry on with their assignments enthusiastically. A proper succession plan would be one effective tool to give them such a feeling.

The leader should sometimes go the extra mile and help the team in achieving its true potential.

One of the effective measures would be to educate the team in its weak areas. Here I would like to quote the ‘Spilt Milk story’.

Once a lady asks her small child to take out a milk bottle from the fridge. The child, while taking out the bottle, slips the bottle and all the milk spills over the floor. When the mother sees this scene, she calmly comes over to the child and says, “Come on, let us together clean the floor.” She then takes the child to the small garden in the backyard. She takes the same bottle and fills it with water. Then she asks the child to lift it again. This time too, the bottle slips from his tiny hands. However, after two more attempts, the child realizes that if he held the bottle near its lid supported by one hand at the bottom, he had a proper grip of the bottle. A lesson was learnt. The child was never ever likely to drop the bottle in future.

Similarly, whenever the team makes a mistake, the leader should identify where the team has gone wrong, and educate the team. This would ensure that the team never fails again, while executing a similar task.

Seeking the feedback of the team is another powerful mechanism to keep the team motivated. Everyone feels great, if his opinion is counted. Sometimes, the team might come out with unexpectedly brilliant suggestion for a complex problem. The feedback also reflects the team’s attitude at the workplace.

Here, I would like to quote the most-often-told story in the sales conferences. A shoe manufacturing company sends its two sales executives to African villages to explore the market potential there.

After intensively touring the area for three days, one of them sends his feedback, “Boss, it is waste of time. No one wears shoes here.”

The second executive sends his feedback, “Boss, Wonderful opportunity. No one wears shoes here.”   

The situation is the same, but the feedback is different. Similarly, when you take up a new site, if you have too many problems, you should feel that it is a boon. Because, you have an excellent opportunity to prove your worth. If you take a new site, where everything is in excellent condition, what would you achieve?

Make the workplace a positively charged zone. Problems will keep coming. However, that should not put you down. The problems are always temporary. They have a shelf life. They have an expiry date.

You can create the positive atmosphere at the workplace by sharing with the team, the positive results of the company. For example, the achievements of the company can be shared with everyone on the ground, mentioning that these results were possible because of their valuable contribution.

While concluding, I would like to say that we too have empowered BK Gulf to manage a significant portion of our huge portfolio. BK Gulf is empowered to react to emergency situations and deal with the tenants on our behalf.

My last quote for the day.

A person is passing by a construction site. He asks one labor, “What are you doing?” He replies, “I am placing the bricks.” The person asks the same question to second labor. He says, “I am constructing a wall.” The person finally asks the same question to the third labor. He says, “I am proud to be contributing to the construction of the biggest mosque of this town.”

While all of them were actually doing the same task, their outlook differed.

Similarly, like the third labor, I too am proud to get an opportunity to address the management team of a leading FM Company in Dubai, on the world FM day 2016.

Thanks for your patient hearing … and Best wishes. 

Inspirational and Motivational short stories Volume #9

This is a collection of inspiring and motivational short stories which I have posted on my Facebook page. Every story gives a distinctly positive message. Enjoy reading the volume #9 of this collection.

1.

Many people tend to spend their retired life in a peaceful manner, relaxing and enjoying finer moments of life. However, there are some exceptional people, who spend their time in unique ways…

Like Pravin Tulpule, an ex-office from Indian Navy. He retired as Lt. Commander after serving for 17 long years in Navy.

He keeps himself busy by visiting pediatric wards in hospitals and orphanages, and shows magic shows to the children. He dresses like a clown to evoke laughter among the children. Some children, fighting for various diseases like cancer also momentarily forget their worries and roll out with laughter.

Moreover, he does this free … because he believes that bringing smile on the faces of deprived and suffering children is priceless. That satisfies him immensely.

Everyone lives for himself. Some live for others. He is one among them.

Such people make this world a better place to live in …!

2.

It is a matter of great pride and pleasure for any father to see his daughter prosper. But the pleasure experienced by Ramniwas Shukla, 62, is something unique.

He is a tea stall owner, who serves tea in Indore police control room.

These days, when he serves tea to all the staff there, his heart swells with pride when he serves tea to Sub-inspector Tina Shukla, his daughter.

Tina Shukla says that her father motivated her since childhood to think big and never give up in the face of adversities. She gives the credit of her success to her father’s continuous encouragement.

This story brings out two adorable aspects – one, a humble beginning need not limit one’s dreams and two, a broad minded father, who encouraged his daughter to excel in her career.

3.

What do we do with the leftover medicines after we are cured of minor ailments? In all probabilities, they lie in our shelves unused, till the expiry date and are thrown away one day.

In this common habit of people, Omkarnath Sharma, 79, from New Delhi has found a novel method of doing his bit towards contributing to the society. Daily, he goes around the upper middle class and middle class societies knocking on the doors for leftover medicines. He collects them and stores them in a small rented room near his house in Manglapuri. The poor people visit him daily between 4 – 6 pm to see if the medicine required by them is available with him. He donates around Rs. 5 lakhs worth of medicines every month. He is popularly known as ‘Medicine baba’ in the neighborhood.

At an age, when people generally tend to relax and enjoy their life Omkarnath Sharma walks 5 – 7 km every day in pursuit of his dream of providing free medicines to the poor, while at the same time avoiding the wastage itself.

He has proved that social service can be done in any form. What is required is … the will to do. 

4.

Some people value their passion more than success. They believe that doing something, which we are passionate about, gives us more happiness than doings things, which we do not like, even if that makes us successful.

No one can prove this more convincingly than Roshni Mukherjee.

Roshni had a dreamt of becoming a teacher since her childhood.  She just loved teaching. After completing her M.Sc. (Physics) in 2011, she took up a job in a MNC to support her family. However, the job pressure prevented her from taking up the teaching activity.

Therefore, in a decisive moment, she quit the job and started a website called examfear.com. In just few months, the YouTube channel of her online platform had over 74,000 subscribers. The website has around 4000 videos on Maths and Science for classes 9 to 12. Her main aim is to provide quality education to those children, who cannot afford to pay high fees of famous tutorials.

She is immensely satisfied today to see that thousands of students are benefited from her online tuitions, which are absolutely free. She supports herself on the earnings from advertisements and donations from charitable institutions.

She can surely be classified as a modern day Dronacharya teaching thousands of Eklavya around the globe.

5.

It is not always that a person gets declared a country’s ‘citizen of the day’. Especially when you are on a foreign land.

But Tejinder Pal Singh, an Indian-origin cab driver, has been named ‘Australian of the Day‘ for feeding the poor and homeless in northern Darwin since the past three years.

Every last Sunday of the month, Tejinder finishes his shift as a driver and goes to northern Darwin where he feeds the poor and homeless, giving them a taste of Indian cuisine which includes chickpeas, rice and vegetarian curry cooked especially for them. Tejinder prepares and carries 30 kg of Indian food in his van, which has a sign that says ‘Free Indian food for hungry and needy people.’ 

Tejinder is a religious man. He says that according to his religion, ten percent of one’s income should be spent on helping the needy and the homeless.

He works as an air-conditioner mechanic during the day and as a cabbie at night. People who are impressed by his work often try to provide monetary support to Tejinder, but he refuses the favour. He says that rather than donating money, they should start their own food drives within the local community.

India is proud of you, Tejinder Pal Singh … you inspire us.

6.

All of us know the importance of protecting our environment, but how many of us are willing to do something out of the way to contribute to this cause? Not many.

Well, Dhananjay Chakraborty, 40, a taxi driver from Kolkata is an exception.

He has installed a green grass-bed on the roof of his taxi, by modifying the roof at a cost of Rs. 22,000/- which also increased the weight by 65 kg. He has also placed eight potted plants in the trunk behind the back seat to give a garden effect. This increases his fuel consumption but he does not mind. The temperature inside the non-AC taxi remains cooler because of these plants and green roof. He says that it is not just enough that one plants trees. What is more important is to nurture them well, by taking their enough care.

People like Dhananjay Chakraborty are rare and few. Their intentions and actions in protecting the environment are far more impressive than the CSR initiatives by big corporates, who do it more for image building and publicity purposes.

Tomorrow, if we happen to see that the environment conditions have really improved, we can be sure that Dhananjay Chakraborty’s contribution is also there.

Just like the contribution of proverbial squirrel in building the Ram Setu…!  

7.

All of us have guests in our home sometime or other. How about having same guests, who come daily for over ten years?

Well, Sekhar from Chennai has been feeding around two thousand parrots every day for over ten years now. That too, two times in a day, at 6 am and then at 4.30 pm. He wakes up at 4.30 am every day to prepare the food for these parrots. He places the food neatly on racks on his terrace and the parrots come regularly without fail.

He is a camera mechanic by profession and spends around 40% of his income on feeding the parrots. He says that during these years, he might have missed a meal, but not these parrots. He says that one must love not just the human beings, but also all the living beings.

Oscar Wilde had said, “The smallest act of kindness is worth more than the grandest intention”.

He is demonstrating that … so well.

8.

How often do we come across a grade 6 student donating funds to the Chief minister’s welfare schemes, from the prize money earned though contests? Rarely indeed.

Well, Maryam Siddiqui from Cosmopolitan High school, Mumbai does that.

Maryam shot into fame a few months ago, when she topped the Bhagwad Gita contest conducted by ISKCON (International society for Krishna Consciousness). She was showered with felicitations, awards and honors from around the country, starting from Pranab Mukherjee and Sonia Gandhi, several chief ministers, and many other organizations.

She won the first prize amongst 4,000 students from 195 schools in Maharashtra who took part in the competition. However, that is not the end of the proud deeds of this girl.

Since then, she has been donating all her cash prizes for the betterment of girl education in the country. Every cheque that she has received, which include cash rewards ranging  from Rupees 11 thousand to 11 lakhs, have been returned back to the respective administration with the request that it be used in a scheme or something to provide better education for girls.

Maryam is from a middle class family, who lives at Mira road in Thane, Mumbai. Her father, Asif Siddiqui, says, “Though we are not financially well off, my daughter has made it her mission to work for the education of girls.” Maryam has also been visiting few other places and distributing sweets and money to poor girls by herself.

Hats off to the amazing girl who shows us the true meaning of generosity.

9.

What do the children do with their damaged toys? Most of the children throw them away or do not play with them anymore.

Well, Vedant Dhiren Thaker, 11, from Mumbai is an exception.

He uses all the broken toys and sometimes disassemble electronic toys to take out the components inside, to make new toys very different from the original ones.

It all began during the summer vacations, when he went out several times and many times his friends came to call him to play outside. Every time the doorbell rang, his mother had to leave whatever work she was doing and open the door. This irritated her, like most of the mothers.

Sensing a need and an opportunity here, he developed a circuit using the remote control of a toy car, batteries, motor drive mechanism circuit to develop a door-latch-opener with remote control. Now, whenever the doorbell rings, his mother just presses a button on the remote control and the door opens.

Vedant has demonstrated that innovations can be done without any formal technical education or long work experience. What is required is an analytical mind and a desire to learn.

So, are we looking at a future genius in Vedant? Time only will tell.

In the meantime, we wish him all the very best in his out-of-box-pursuits.   

10.

These days, most of us experience traffic jams very often. What do we do when we are stuck in traffic a jam? Curse the traffic? Spend some anxious moments?

Well, M. Chandra Kumar, 51, and auto driver from Coimbatore uses the traffic jams for a very productive use. He writes novels whenever he is stuck up in traffic jams, or while waiting for passengers. Popularly known as Auto Chandran, he is a class 10 drop out who ran away from house at a young age. He has written six books so far.

Earlier this week, he travelled to Venice to take part in the 72nd Venice International Film Festival, as a movie based on his novel ‘Lock up’ was made into a Tamil movie ‘Visaranai’ and is being premiered in the event. The movie is directed by Vetrimaaran, and has the honor of being the first Tamil film to be screened in this event.

Five valuable lessons reinforced from Chandra Kumar’s story.

Time is money – spend it wisely.

Dream big – everything is possible.

Look for opportunities in every adversity.

Talent gets due recognition – sooner or later.

Believe in yourselves and pursue your passion. Success follows automatically.

***

Coming Soon Volume #10