Wanted- A Win For Armymen

Recently I got a facebook friend request from a school friend of mine whom I havent spoken to in the longest time. I accepted the friend request and started browsing through his profile to find out what he was upto in last 6-7 years. I opened his photo album and was pleasantly surprised to see my friend in the army unifrom with an AK 47 in his hand.
It wasnt a one of pic, rather there was an entire album of pictures from his base camp in Kashmir. It took me a while to actually come to terms that one of my friends actually joined Army and is currently posted in Kashmir. A rank in army is such a glorified position, yet strangely not many of us ever pursue it with passion.
From a batch size of 300 in our school, 15 people got into IIT, 100 others got into various other engineering colleges, 15 became doctors, but only one dared to join the army.
In last one week, there has been a lot of talk about the Kargil War and the heroic deeds of our Jawans. We draw so much pride, when we talk about the Indian Army and its achievements, but somehow we fail to even think about being a part of it. I am sure, its just not the lack of courage, but also a few other factors, which has created this notion in the Urban Youth of India.
Inappropriate pay packages is one huge factor which keeps the youth away from joining the army, but the recent incidents of disrespect shown by politicians towards the Martyrs would have only accentuated the unwillingness to be a part of the great institution.
Wars are never won by governments. They are won by armies. By brave men who risk everything to watch the borders. The martyrs who leave behind a legacy and a legend to inspire a million others to follow their footsteps. But sadly, when political agenda takes over the general good of the country, a feeling of resentment is created.
Today on a news channel, during the decade celebrations of Kargil victory, the families of the shaheed jawans were invited in an open discussion. Each and every family member made a strong point that, they wouldn't let any of their future generations to join Indian army. This just goes to show how we have let down the families who gave away their sons for our well being.
Government needs to realise that the reforms are over pending and Rs 5000 pension and a gas agency or a petrol pump cannot be used to barter the lives of our soldiers.
The kind of contorversy which was created around Major Unnikrishnan's death during the 26/11 operation was shameful. Similarly, the deaf ears which government was offering for last one week to all the requests for a major celebration, just highlighted the effect of politics on even such sensitive issues in India. Thankfully, Prime Minister made his face saving appearance at Amar Jawan Jyoti today morning, his first such appearance on Vijay Diwas in five years of his office.

Each year, the government comes out with figures stating that the vacant seats in NDA is increasing each year. Well, its for the governement to introspect on why this is happening. The day the brave soldiers get the respect, the means and the social security which they deserve, India would have redeemed itself and it would continue to produce the Bravest Soldiers.

On the occascion of the 10th anniversary of the Kargil War, I salute all the brave soldiers who spend sleepless nights on the border ensuring a sound sleep for the citiizens of this country..

Jai Hind!

When You Say Nothing At All

It was an unusually long night for Rajat. He was getting up every fifteen minutes to check if he got any message or call from Preeti. It had been more than fifteen hours since he last heard from her. The fact that Rajat and Preeti always stayed so connected only added on to his worries.

Even as he was feeling worried and helpless, Rajat desperately wanted to make ammends for his actions the day before, eventhough it wasn't even his fault entirely. It was just a case of one misunderstanding giving birth to another, leading to a very complex situation.

As he closed his eyes, he visualised the happy times which he had spent with Preeti. With the image of Preeti with a beaming smile in his head, Rajat finally dozed off.

Rajat's sleep was broken by a rather violent ringing of the door bell. The manner in which the door bell was rung indicated something really urgent that too negatively . Rajat quickly got up in one motion and ran towards the door. He pulled open the door and saw that a young boy was standing outside, with a bat in his hand.

"Good Morning Bhaiyya, Can I take my ball from your balcony", the young boy asked.

Rajat was irritated and relieved at the same time. He let the boy in to look for his ball. This is when Rajat realised, that he had majorly overslept. He went to his room and checked his mobile phone. There was a missed call and a message from Preeti.

The message read "Call me when you see this"

Rajat's heart was beating a zillion times faster than the usual. He heard the main door getting shut in the background. The boy must have left with his ball, he thought.

He slowly tapped in Preeti's number, while keeping his fingers of the other hand crossed. The song "When You Say Nothing at All" started playing. This 'Notting Hill' number was Preeti's favorite song. Rajat's ears were craving to hear this caller tune of Preeti but all he could hear since yesterday afternoon was the switched off message. Why was Preeti taking so long to respond? His anxiety was increasing with each passing second. The song was cut short by a sweet voice,

"Hello", Preet said in a hurried manner.

"Preetiii ! Where have you been? Why are you panting?" Rajat enquired worriedly.

"Rajat, Chill! I am panting because I came running to take your call. I was in the other room."

"Ohk." Rajat tried to sound relaxed. "But, where are you?"

"I am home. I came to Meerut yesterday evening. I was pretty homesick I realised"

"Meerut! Ohh Okay.. Why was your phone off all day yesterday..I was so worried. You have no clue what I was going through"

"Rajat, I just needed some time off. Sometimes it really helps"

"So, how do you think it has helped you Preeti?"

"Well, I guess now I am ready to take the most important decision of my life"

"And that will be???" Rajat was getting a little impatient..

"For last two years, there hasn't even been a single day when we didn't talk or meet up. Yesterday was a crazy day. I was mad at myself for letting myself get affected by something as miniscule as that. I shouldn't have walked out of Barista, the way I did. I switched off my phone, because I didn't want to get into any further arguements. I think it really helped me. It made me realise how much I missed you. At night, after I reached Meerut, I decided that the first thing in the morning, I will call you up to tell you, how much I love you and that too much more than ever". Preeti broke into a tear as she said it..

Rajat smiled shyly and with a lump in the throat said "I love you too Preeti. When are you coming back?"..

Business Lessons at a Barber Shop

Today I attended to a monthly chore which almost all guys have to go through every month. Sitting at a barber's place waiting for your turn can be a real torturous experience, but today it turned out be quite an revelation for me. I could never imagine that even a small neighbourhood barber runs his business using the same principles which any business would need to succeed.

I have always felt that barbers, tailors, cooks and craftsmen have a very monotonous work life, and they mechanically carry on their job without any scope of improvisation. We crib all the time about having no life at all without sparing a thought for people who follow a fixed algorithmic life day after day. Obviously the barber at this shop must have been experiencing the frustration of doing the same thing day after day. But unlike most of us, instead of cribbing, this one had found ways to keep his job interesting.

He knew his clients well. He welcomed everyone with a beaming smile. He talked to them, asked them about their work, and their well being. As, the guy infront of me in the hair cut queue took his seat, the barber said "Shall I try something new and better on your hair? I am bored of giving you a same hairstyle month after month?" The guy just nodded his head in affirmation and the barber had an interesting task at his hands. He made a few shadow moves close to his head trying to picturise what he wants to do to his hair. Then very carefully started trimming his hair. During the haircut, he asked his clients, the one on the chair and the ones waiting in queue for tea or smoke.

He had a sharp memory and remembered exactly where he had left the conversation a month back with each of his client. This personalised conversation definitely helps in the ego boost of people who love to hear about how awesome their new mobile phone is and how some xyz haircut would make them look like a filmstar. So, with the help of immaculate haircutting and talking skills, twenty minutes later, he had his client happily staring at his pretty neat looking hairdo in the mirror.

The client in a happy yet complaining tone said that the hair this time were left a bit longer, but they did look good. The barber, smiled and just nodded his head in acknowledgement. The guy got up, paid the barber for the haircut and gave a pretty fat tip indeed. It was now my turn for the haircut. He smiled at me and asked me to take the seat and started the same cycle again...

I was pretty impressed with the business and customer service skills of the Barber. With a new haircut, he ensured that he has something new to look forward to while cutting the hair. He knew that, if his client likes his new look, he would get an extra tip and moreover, he left the hair a bit longer, which would reduce his monthly haircut cycle to 3 weeks.

I never knew that a routine visit to a barber would help me revise my Business Lessons in such an effective manner...


Essentials for a Successful Business:

• Innovate
• Know your Customer well
• Retain old clients
• Constantly Scout for new ones

The World Ain't All Sunshine And Rainbows

How often does it happen to you that you try really hard to put together the pieces of a jigsaw puzzel and just when you are about to fit in the last piece, a hard wind blows away all the pieces. Now you are left with the task of finding the pieces and resetting them all over again.

Well I feel that this has become the order of the day for most of us. India being in the phase that it is, the competition is only bound to increase. Its not the same old sleepy country which it was in the 70's, neither does it yet offer a comfortable life which a USA or a UK does. We are living in interesting times, which gets very testing for most of us. Getting frustrated and knocked off is an easy option..but to show resistance and strive for success is what it takes to become a champion. Here I would like to quote from the Movie Rocky Balboa, some really inspirational lines.

The world ain't all sunshine and rainbows. It's a very mean and nasty place and I don't care how tough you are it will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it. You, me, or nobody is gonna hit as hard as life. But it ain't about how hard ya hit. It's about how hard you can get it and keep moving forward. How much you can take and keep moving forward. That's how winning is done! Now if you know what you're worth then go out and get what you're worth. But ya gotta be willing to take the hits, and not pointing fingers saying you ain't where you wanna be because of him, or her, or anybody!

I hope this quick post would help most of us in relieving the pressure of one more stressful week ending tommorow.

Cheers and Happy Weekend in advance!