Confined…

Startled times, stunned life with low visibility.
Negative thoughts lie down in the vicinity.
Living and lying on the bed of negative time.
Life has all to offer except a few moments of joy.
No complaints, no sympathy and no ray of hope seems.
Life offered everything except a few cherished dreams.

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Optimism buried and pessimism born.
Blooming life was suddenly torned.
Drops coming from the eyes were red like wine.
Life seems to be confined.
In the arena of hatred and false shine.
Life seems to be confined.
Life seems to be confined.

–Ashish Kumar

Immaturity…

Joy turning to overjoy.
Overjoy leading to false commitments.
Excitement tarnishing the realism.
Politeness turning to arrogance.
Jokes turning to taunts and comments.
Suggestions turning to criticism.
Creativity leading to dogmatism.
Comparison leading to frustration.
Lack of materialistic assets leading to depression.
Real truth never explored and experienced.
What soul teaches never understood.
Rather developed a layer created by “own-self”.
Pride turning to vanity.
Have you ever experienced above?
These are symptoms of immaturity.
These are symptoms of immaturity.

- Ashish Kumar

Peace…

Peace is one of the most important things which one want to have in life. Everyone wants peace at some point or the other. The nature of peace can differ. One of the ultimate goals is to live a healthy, happy and peaceful life. Life is not same every time. If offers various setbacks too and learning from these setbacks makes us stronger and helps in decision making. Good and bad moments keep coming in life and so is the case with peace.

Living a peaceful life is everyone’s desire. How peace arrives in one life differ from others. There is no measurement of peace or peace cannot be quantified. If I am at peace, I can only feel it and that too from inside. Situation and environment also play its part to have peace in life. The deeds and activities we do in our life also matters to get peace. As peace can be only felt from inside, but most of the time, peaceful feeling occurs with outside situation and our actions or deeds. Confused???

Let’s understand it. Someone can feel the peace by listening songs, some can get the peace by exploring natures beauty, looking at the various landscapes can give peace, helping others can provide peace. Doing meditation provides peace. Someone can get peace by teaching the economically weak children free of cost, writing can give peace (including me) etc. and the list goes on.

Having said that, let us see the other aspect of peace which few so called “egoistic” people practice. Someone gets peace by hurting others, disrespecting others, and letting others down. They enjoy this and peace comes that way for them. In corporates, few managers get peace by humiliating their subordinates, by providing unrealistic tasks, by asking the status of work which were not assigned to them etc. Few does gets peace by practising such unethical things. Such kind of species exist.

Life is not free of problems and obstacles. It is full of ups and downs, good and bad moments and nothing lasts forever. So is the case with peace. Having peace for 24*7 is an ideal situation. It come and go, again come, and go and so on. If one is not having peace at a moment, one should not be worried because worrying for peace makes arrival of peace, far away. It just a matter of time which will pass, one day or the other. This reminds me of the below extract from a poem:

Peace comes in pieces.
All in shades of grey.

Peace comes in pieces. This line is so deep and intense. Indeed, as nothing lasts forever so is the peace. Just like happiness is followed by sadness, peace too has some moment to last and then past. Sometimes, we feel we are in full peace and sometimes we want some more peace. Such thoughts keep revolving in our mind but the point here is when we feel peace, whether it the full one or the part of it. That partial feeling of peace is what comes in grey sometimes and gets away from us. It is subjective to experience the full or partial peace. When it comes, it goes and comes back. This is life having multiple shades.

The above extract is from a poem, written by my blogger friend, Hema Narayan of HemasSphere. One can read the full poem here. She is a brilliant writer, and I would request my readers to explore her blog as well to taste her unique writings. Her blog URL is https://hemassphere.wordpress.com

Whatever life offers, there is a hidden learning, and we must try to explore that learning from various life situations. Stay safe, stay happy and of course, stay peacefully.

–Ashish Kumar

Book Review – Connect the Dots – Rashmi Bansal

 

The world is full of several examples of successful personalities who made their name and are tycoons today. The world is changing fast and entrepreneurs are shaping the new regime.  Their stories have inspired many.  Reading stories of those entrepreneurs who may not be a big name, but their brands have reached many households in India. In this article, I have picked a book which depicts life of various entrepreneurs who started from scratch and reached several heights in life. The book titled “Connect the dots” written by Rashmi Bansal is a blissful read.

About the Author

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An MBA from IIM Ahmedabad, Rashmi Bansal is a well-known writer and entrepreneur. She is best known for her book Stay Hungry Stay Foolish (2008) which covers experiences of 25 entrepreneurs of IIM Ahmedabad. Contradictory, Connect the Dots (2010) was her next book which covers entrepreneurs without MBA qualification.  Her other notable books include Take me Away, God’s Own Kitchen, I have a dream etc.  She is also the founder of JAM (Just Another Magazine).

 

About the Book

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The book, Connect the Dots, bring story of 20 entrepreneur without MBA qualification who started their own ventures. The book brings one of the important pragmatic truths of life wherein “You don’t need a fancy degree or a rich daddy to dream big and make it happen. It’s all in your head, your heart, your hands.” There are enormous examples across the globe where people dreamt big and proved themselves with their talent and efforts without much educational qualification. Connect the Dots covers story of such Indians.

The author had divided the entrepreneurs into three parts and so is the story covered in the book is divided into three parts: Jugaad, Junoon and Zubaan. According to the author:

• Jugaad entrepreneurs have no formal training in business. They learn by observation, experimentation and application of mind as business is not ‘rocket science’.
• Junoon entrepreneurs are driven by a particular idea, or passion. Something which is different and ahead of time.
• Zubaan: Creative people need a platform to express themselves. When that talent is unique, the platform must be created and in doing so, the artist becomes an ‘entrepreneur’.

Rashmi Bansal took the interview of these entrepreneurs and have put the same in the book describing their stories which is inspirational indeed. One of the major attractions of the book which I came across is that she had picked most of the entrepreneurs who are less known. You can easily get many stories and books on big names like Tatas, Birla, Ambanis etc. but this book focusses on picking those who have made their way without any successful financial background or well-established family business. Well, this is what makes this book “an interesting and motivational read”.

The book is an inspiration for many who wants to have their own ventures. Learning from the story of these entrepreneurs who made their way from nowhere to what they are present is indeed a motivation.

Success doesn’t come without struggle and this can be felt while reading their stories. There are some ventures which have become brand now like Dosa Plaza, Crossword, Bharat Vikas Group (BVG), Su-Kam etc. Isn’t it interesting to know how they started from scratch and what bottlenecks they faced to make their start ups into a full-fledged venture with brand value??? There is a story of IT company where the entrepreneur says, “anyone can become a programmer and need not to have engineering degree”. Read the book for such interesting stories.

If read carefully and analysed, one can get to know the common problems which they have faced in their journey and hence can be utilized by others in order to avoid such issues. None of them journey was a cake walk and it was full of ups and downs. Learning comes from experience and all of these entrepreneurs have learnt from their practical experience while in the business.    

Some of the important learning and inspiration which I realized from the book:

• One need not to have MBA qualification or higher qualification for being successful.
• Common issues can be identified if read thoroughly and properly analysed and can be utilized accordingly.
• The book cover story from various sectors and hence one can get the glimpse of these sectors and problems faced within.

Do read if you want to know some interesting and inspiring story of Indian entrepreneurs without MBA qualifications and share your views.

 – Ashish Kumar

Friends of Lifetime

Twists and turns are friends of lifetime.
Life never offers always, good time.
Sudden rise and sudden fall are startling.
It’s all about creating the magic.
Inside us lies the hidden strength and power.
Use the same effectively to rise and deliver.
Amidst the fluctuating seasons of life.
Struggle continues and so is the zeal to rise.
Result is the outcome of the efforts made.
If you won’t try, you are deemed to fail.
Always be ready for unwanted turns.
Over-trusting may offer hurt and burns.
You are your own best friend and guide.
Introspect yourself and rise.
The cycle of good and bad experience continues.
As…
Twists and turns are friends of lifetime.
Life never offers always, good times.

– Ashish Kumar