A meet with an inspiring lady

A spring morning an innocent-natured, financially and academically backward lady came to my hospital. She started asking me that if she wants her son to pursue the education of medicine, then what’s she required to do. Her dream was to make her son a doctor.

I told her that a person is required to do MBBS to become a doctor. Not to discourage her, but to prepare her for the struggle in store, I also told her that it’s very expensive and tough, and that her son will need to work super hard.

She again asked me the name of the course, and I repeated MBBS. She wasn’t still able to remember the name, but I said that at present what’s necessary is that her son must study hard and Biology is a necessary subject.

Talking with her I felt pleased because she appeared very simple, focussed and clear-hearted, unlike people who indulge in gossip and pointless affairs.

I inquired what’s the occupation of her husband to get an idea of their financial condition. She told me that he builds houses, which means that he doesn’t earn much. I said that from where she will arrange the fees and all. She told me that she has some land, and after selling it out, she will do the arrangements.

“There would be folks,” I told her enthusiastically, “who would discourage you, but you mustn’t give up.”

She optimistically nodded ascent. Imagine a village lady, uneducated and unaware, cherishing dreams of her son becoming a doctor and getting education from one of the most prestigious medical universities of the country. It doesn’t appear rational, and many rational folks in the light of their common sense would have dismissed her dream and discouraged her from pursuing that course.

Call me impractical if you wish, but I believe that she might get success in realising her dream. Many times folks succeed despite having very low resources and tough backgrounds.

Can a poor person who never went to college become a world-famous writer? Can a person who can’t speak a word or move even his finger rule the realms of physics?

Going by the rationality of the mediocrity anyone’s answer would be know.

But the only problem?

He would be plain wrong.

Charles Dickens, one of the most celebrated English writers, never went to college, and because of poverty he couldn’t attend school for more than four years. Stephen Hawking, due to multiple disabilities can’t speak a word and move a finger, yet he is one of the most honoured scientists of the world.

There’re a bunch of such impossible-appearing possibilities then why can’t the son of that downtrodden lady become a doctor?

I want to be like people who sincerely and diligently soldier on to climb up the success ladder. Even if someone isn’t able to climb up so successfully, it’s pleasing because at least he put up a fight and therefore remained far from frivolities. Success is in the act of true striving.

I believe, though you’re free to disagree, that when a person truly wants to accomplish a noble aim, powers beyond his ken come forth to push him forward.

It’s not fair to declare in a self-praising style that someone won’t be able to trek impossible-looking mounts. Conquering Everest once upon a time was impractical.

Why little is sufficient

Ever wondered why folks with fewer resources snatch success while the resourceful lag behind? Yeah, the same rags to riches story…but why is it repeated so often?

Is there anything we’re missing from this unexpected success? No, willpower alone can’t be the driving force.

I argue that folks succeed despite having fewer resources because they focus their energies on the root and weed out the dead-wood. The other side, folks who’re convinced that a rich variety of resources are in their reach tend to be careless, and consequently they don’t rouse themselves to grab out the very best from inside them.

I’m reminded of a Hollywood movie scene. The villain sprays hundreds of bullets towards the hero, but he doesn’t return even a single gunshot. When the villain’s bullets get exhausted, the hero quietly steps out, aims at his opponent, fires the only bullet he had, and kills him.

The lesson?

The hero had only one bullet, but he knew how to utilise it in the best way.

In the same way, those who have fewer resources, are naturally convinced that they’re responsible to make the best of whatever little they possess, and therefore they centre all their powers at their work. The results are therefore more heart-warming.

A person who has to return the book to the library, for instance, is convinced that he might not have the luxury of laying his hands on the book again. He penetrates the content with x-ray eyes, notes down the important points, and goes through the book like a thirsty searches the water.

Compare this person with him who has a bunch of books on the same subject lying on his table. This person is convinced about the luxury of time/availability, of the variety of choice at his disposal, and both these luxuries (of availability and of choice) paradoxically work against him.

How?

When he picks up one book, he knows that he can read the same material however many times he wishes to, and therefore he pays it inadequate attention. He also knows that there’re a bunch of books on the same subject in his easy reach, and this luxury of choice, at the slightest boredom or difficulty, prompts him to put that book down and skim over other books.

The same rule, with more or less the same intensity, is predominant in all the fields. It’s because of this reason why less is often more and why more is often less. It’s perhaps because of this reason why the less resourceful climb up the success ladder and the resourceful ones end as runner-ups.

I'm doing these small big tasks these days (am I foolish?)

“If we attend continually and promptly to the little that we can do, we shall ere long be surprised to find how little remains that we cannot do.”

Samuel Butler, nineteenth-century novelist

Inspired by the power of less, since this 13th of March, I started carrying out only three small tasks per day. The first concerned my health, the second my soft skills and the third doing good to anyone else.

For my health, I decided to eat a fruit every morning, to burnish an area of my soft skills I kick-started speaking for 10 minutes on any topic, and in doing good to someone else, I take a little step. All these three activities, as you can see, are small and therefore easy to execute.

I chose to start small because launching directly in a huge project was becoming a drag on my will and enthusiasm. No matter how deeply I tried and desired, I was unable to carry out self-improvement activities in the way I felt was ideal.

Unsurprisingly, it burdened me with self-reproach. I felt discouraged, and instead of going forth on the track of self-improvement, I skirted off from it.

If I can’t single out 15-20 minutes per day for eating a cluster of fruits and salads, it’s fine. If I can’t muster up the will of exercising for 45 minutes per day, it’s fine.

In the beginning I can munch a fruit per day, and once encouraged by this improvement, I can opt for bigger tasks. Obviously I can eat a fruit going to work per day, and it doesn’t require much effort of the will.

Is it logical to quit even the tasks easy for us because we can’t take up the tough, the ideal? I guess no.

If you can’t tend to all the birds of the planet, will you choose to look the other way if a bird in your backyard is ailing? I won’t.

The same logic is applicable when it comes to taking steps that are vital for our growth. I guess that the biggest reason why I shy away from productivity-friendly activities is that I interfere what I can’t do with what I can, and thus all gets lost.

Eating a fruit every day, speaking for 10 minutes and a small deed to help (rather serve) a fellow human is easy. Once these three activities are woven in the dailyness of my routine, I can think of going further.

But before the 13th of April, I’m disinclined to weave fresh activities in the name of self-improvement, as it stands the risk to backfire. I’ll review the results then.

Why I say no to things I love

"If there is any difference between you and me, it may simply be that I get up every day and have a chance to do what I love to do, every day. If you want to learn anything from me, this is the best advice I can give you." Warren Buffett, one of the world’s richest persons, while talking to the students at the University of Nebraska He is flying thousands of meters above your head in the deep blue sky, cutting the cheerful-blowing winds and clouds in the one-engine airplane. Your keen, fascinated eyes are fixed at the whizzing airplane, a parachute flutters, he screams half in joy and half with fear and jumps off in the wide open sky. As this skydive enthusiast touches the green earth in the dazzling sun, you feel his heart leaping out, so damn thrilled he is by the experience. “I wanna do it again!” he screams repeatedly, at the top of his voice. For years you had craved and dreamt to skydive. And today the plane is roaring right in front of you, the merry breeze is caressing your hair as if inviting you to float in the sky with it – you have the much-craved chance of quenching your wish. Think. If you bash your fear, a few moments later, you too can feel at the top of the world. Would you skydive? Am no Sigmund Freud (nor I pretend to be one) so I can’t tell your reaction. Am only an average guy – eager to squash my fears – and here’s how I would react: “I wish I could, but… [Insert my excuse.]” “I’ll go for it next time because… [Insert my excuse.]” And I’ll invent a bunch more excuses. The real reason? Fear. The fear of smashing the comforts of my boring life for doing things I love. And it’s because of this fear that I say no to activities that can wake me up excited every morning. Skating? No. Diving in the milky sea water? No. Talking to an influential person to bash my bashfulness? No. And there’re a host more things that I love and wish doing but the damn fear of skirting off the same comfort-proof life is nerve-racking. And I guess that it’s tough for you, too. Maybe you had once fallen for a drop-dead cute girl but cancelled opportunity after opportunity of proposing to her because you were scared. Maybe you had wanted to set out on that dream, adventure-rich trip but the fear of disturbing your boring work schedule had postponed it. Yeah, it happens all the time. We love chasing activities that excite us but when right opportunities come flying to us? We look the other side and hope for perfect times! I have taken a few small and big uncomfortable decisions, and realised that perfect times that we wish for never arrive. I never found the perfect moment to get married. To hop on to a different career track. To have children. Of branching out to disturbance-fraught Kashmir. But, I went ahead. And now it has crystallised into my head that the perfect moment of doing something is when we decide to do it. Waiting for perfect moments is fooling yourself, actually. "The first principle is that you must not fool yourself, and you are the easiest person to fool." Richard P. Feynman, Nobel Prize-winning physicist And my next scary project? Meeting the governor of my state (Uttar Pradesh) and asking him about overcoming fears and failures. Just because I fear and love talking point-blank to influential folks. Yes, I have a fear of failing, but fear is the price we pay to feel excited, to do things we love. Right?