Importance of Attitude - A Holistic Approach

I believe in a holistic approach. We are not just arms and legs, eyes and ears, a heart and a brain, but a complete human being. The whole person goes to work and the whole person comes home. We take family problems to work and work problems to the family. What happens when we take family problems to work? Our stress level goes up and our productivity comes down. Similarly, work problems too have an impact not only on our family but on every aspect of our lives. Personal, professional and social problems impact each other.

Foundation Of Success is - Attitude !

Someone once approached Blaise Pascal, the famous French philosopher, and said, "If I had your brains, I would be a better person", Pascal replied, "Be a better person and you will have my brains."


Great organizations are not measured by wages and working conditions, they are measured by feelings, attitudes and relationships. When employees say, "I can't do it." there can be two possible meanings. Either they are saying they don't know 'how' to or they are saying they 'don't want to'. If they are saying that 'they don't know how to', it is a technical training issue. If they are saying that 'they don't want to', it may be an attitude issue (they don't care), or a value issue (they don't believe they should do it).


The Calgary Tower stands at 190.8 meters. The total weight of the tower is 10,884 tons, of which 6,349 tons are below ground (approximately 60%). This shows that some of the greatest buildings have the strongest foundations. Just like a great building stands on a strong foundation, so does success. And the foundation of success is attitude.

Why GD is a Mistake ???

Every year, thousands of students, MBA aspirants, take various entrance examinations and gear themselves for the next round of selection/ elimination - GD (Group Discussion). Unfortunately, Group Discussions (GD) have taken a completely wrong mode for some unknown reason and has transformed into an utterly useless mode of selection.

GDs are a mirror of what the managers in the real world will have deal with. It aims to create an environment where a manager discusses a particular topic at hand and, if the situation demands, then aim to find a solution. It is a pity that GDs today are not what they are meant to be. GDs have turned into more of a debate competition than anything else. Instead of the participants trying to expand the extent of discussion  they are more worried about the ‘points’ that they come up with, if they have been steadfast enough in their perspective etc etc.

Aspirants should think of it. Is this how it works in the real world ? Have you seen managers or a group of them haggling over a viewpoint in the conference rooms or ranting and screaming about how great their idea and others are bogus ? The answer is NO. It hardly is. The purpose of GD is to gauge how well does your presence create an atmosphere conducive to a wider and a more eclectically relevant discussion. If all that you can do is rant/scream/bark/haggle/…. then go join the Parliament.

The day students understand that a GD is simulation of the real world scenario and merely inflicting your perspective is not going to help , the GD process will be carried out in a more truthful fashion , thus lending credibility to the whole process.

The Power Of Prayer ! !

"Every problem can be solved if you pray."

Norman Vincent Peak in his famous book "The Power of Positive Thinking" refers to a health club operator Jack Smith who believed in prayer therapy or physical conditioning effectiveness of prayer. He says that while he probes his patrons for physical flabbiness, he also probes for spiritual flabbiness because according to him, you can't get a man physically healthy until you get him spiritually healthy. He believes that prayer is as important, if not more important, than exercise, steam baths and a rubdown. It is a vital part of power releasing process. There is no height, no depth that the spirit of man guided by the higher spirit, for which we pray, cannot attain.

If you pray regularly and you have not yet experienced the miraculous power of prayer, perhaps you need to learn new techniques of prayer. Prayer offered from the depth of one's heart brings blessings, there is no doubt about it. But we can make prayer more profitable by changing the pattern and by experimenting with new prayer formulas. Prayer gives new insights, new skills with which we can attain great results.

Dhirubhai Ambani

Dhirubhai Ambani, Founder Chairman of the Reliance Group, was aware of the fact that education alone empowers people. He was a great communicator. He communicated to inspire, guide, educate and motivate people. He employed telephone as a powerful tool to achieve these goals. He used telephone to defeat distance, to compress time and to remain abreast of events. He was aware of the power of information and communication. He would often say, "make the tools of info-comm available to people at an affordable cost, they will overcome the handicaps of illiteracy and lack of mobility."  

Patriotism Should Be Redefined !!

The underlying love and respect for one's national identity is probably now the term 'Patriotism' can be best defined. But we may well be past the stage of this concept. Patriotism has become a thing of the past. The major reason of this could be the transition from colonies to countries, the independence of people all over the world and probably a fixed definition of land, labor and reason in living one's life.  The concept is outdated and no longer holds parity with today's globalized world. Globalization ~ as a matter of fact, has played a huge part in the steady downfall of patriotism. It no longer matters whether you are using indigenous consumer items or foreign-bred goods. After a lot of mind exercises and a few brainstorming sessions, you come to the conclusion that the country and the world, in general, need a new concept to proceed with living efficiently and smartly. This changes the original concept of patriotism to neopatriotism, which can be defined as "an attitude that a person should develop in which he or she does not flaunt the love and respect for this national identity but continues to work for it without eyeing any recognition incentives." Patriotism often promoted people to become heroes. But we are well past that age and the heroes today no longer merit the recognition of working for the progress of the nation. Today's heroes are fake, unwanted and undeserving of the recognition they carry and can certainly not be looked upon as idols who set the mental keenness in our lives. They are bound to the entertainment industry, an industry which provides quick satisfaction to the body and the soul but has no soul of it's own. Neo-patriotism is composed of all those small and minute tasks that a person can perform with the intent of making the nation a better place. The job may be as small as disposing a chocolate wrapper into a proper, regularly cleaned dustbin and keeping that one square-foot area a little cleaner. Or it may be important, as refusing a bribe someone pays to get some work done.

The serenity and peace of the country is often challenged more by internal disturbances than by external aggression. The diversity in the cultures of it's subjects unfortunately is the prominent cause for animosity between religious antagonists in India. There is so much difference that a common man belonging to one religion finds in another man of other religion though being the very same, as INDIAN. India has subjects following a number of religions which have their own organisations to spread the greatness of their religion that they have relished. Such organisations are very important in making a prosperous and patriotic India. As their aim is to pay heed to the needs of their followers. In this way every Indian will be benefited in some or the other way. It should be also important for these organisations to publicise patriotism as they found themselves amongst the biggest organisations in India. But sadly  it never happens so. Religious antagonism apart, we still distance ourselves with each other with casteism. Having celebrated the 64th Independence Day, India wants to forget castes and the differences caused by them. But probably the politicians do not want it to happen. Reservation of lower castes is one issue, where politicians have made every effort to pursue their own filthy political interests rather than trying to solve the issue. What we cannot envisage is the communal disharmony and religious discrimination that infiltrates into the society defying all norms of humanity. This results in communal riots stupendously engineered by the so called religious patrons - the politicians. But one cannot blame the whole breed, as their exists a minority that puts in efforts to make a more socially stable India. While the majority tries to draw mileage from every loophole in the society and engages itself in building heavens of comfort and luxury, constructed on the debris of human sanctity. For every soldier who sacrifices his life for the nation they echo only four word, "WE WILL FIGHT BACK". But in that "WE" they are nowhere!

There is a lot we could learn from the Western Civilization. The first and foremost thing  we need to learn from them is ego. Yes, ego. To begin with we need to develop ego. Ego will help us appreciate the country and will demand us to stand up for it wherever and whenever asked to or desired for. You may have noticed that people in India usually bring down the reputation of the nation crashing down to the earth with a thud so hard that it becomes unbearable to listen to them. Every product of this country will often say "Yeh logo ko dekho aur apne India-wale ko dekho. Kab sudhrega India?" without realising one fair bit that the person is as big a culprit of the same state he/she is referring to. Ego will make us to stand up every time. Ego will help us stare face to face with any race, breed or color. What is more ridiculous is that we seek controversy in things, which we are even good at, and cricket is a great example. The country has become so weird and inexplicable that we want to see problems in success also. Cricket has had a huge impact on our lives. But the talk around the town is fast becoming so negative that even if we win the World Cup for this game, people are likely to doubt the very efforts made by the players, forgetting that they are one of their own. 


The second thing we need to do is develop a very clean conscience. The lack of a clear conscience has led the people of the nation to believe that they are ethically weak. We resort to evils like dishonesty, bribery, scams and duping with as much determination and confidence as Sachin Tendulkar, when he steps out on the cricket pitch. No longer are we scared of going to any extent to get our work done or add some extra weight to our pockets. It is true that democracy has made us very complacent but we need to be morally stronger and mentally firm if we are to clear out these evils from society. The biggest change that we need to bring in our lives is to stop flaunting our identity. Stop loving the country blindfolded unless you love it in the first place. Stop giving heed to the hypocrisy that works 24 by 7 around the nation, churning out a lot of meaning and reason from our lives. Keep everything that the nation considers sacred under wraps. Stop flaunting the tricolor everywhere. Stop buying the five rupees flags and stop this fake and forcible cry "Mera Bharat Mahan" because deep inside you know that there is no meaning, no reason to action in vacuum. In short, stop being that kind of patriotic who speaks more and does less, one who will buy a five rupees flag and overlook his duties. It is high time we mature beyond the need of being just patriotic. We know it takes a lot more than just being patriotic if we are to see the country become a leading power. Bharat is never going to be Mahan just by speaking those three words. Victory will not be ours by just raising the frequency of shouting "Jai Hind". It is working towards those aspects that matter. And even if we do not make it in the end, the satisfaction gained from our efforts will coincide over any negativity. Any individual is capable of blurting out speeches on "underlying love for the nation". A difference is made only when the person does something in kind and in form.

Neo-patriotism is the new age patriotism. And the youth could be at the forefront of this concept. Efforts like Rang De Basanti do go a long way, but a movie can never make that big a difference. Every single citizen has to realise. Only with realisation will we proper understanding and with proper understanding the breadth of our knowledge will increase. With knowledge, we will get ability. And ability will ensure work. Work and only work, will pave the way for the success of  the nation. Working with an inclination of making a difference to the nation. Working so hard that every drop of sweat from your skin that falls on the earth will reap such a rewarding harvest that we may become more self-sufficient than any other nation. Start working now, even if you are slow, dream big and work hard. Do small tasks but ensure they have huge impacts. All of us can play a role. All of us can make a difference. All of us may not be special. But who wants to be special in a life has been lived clean. The question is not whether we are capable of going all the way. The question is whether we are determined to pursue our goals in relation with the time and the demands. What we need is spiritual development of the highest order. What we need is a radical transformation of attitude, morals and conscience. What we need is nationalistic ego..!!