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

PC: Google

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

PC: Google

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

Behavioral Knowledge

One of the important characteristics of any person is his behavior which is an important indicator of personality. What needs to be said and the manner in which it needs to be conveyed is important. Behavior is indeed a major factor or better to say it is a deciding factor in almost all aspects of life. Sometimes it is said that knowledge is important but behavioral knowledge is most important. Knowledge doesn’t mean what one learns from books but it is a combination of bookish knowledge and behavioral knowledge. Behavioral knowledge is what one learns from his experience, day to day work, interacting with people etc. Behavior also shapes one’s character which, if lost is a disaster itself.

Life is full of ups and downs. When one achieves something, it is natural to be happy and feel proud. On the opposite side, failure disappoints us leading to depression and frustration in some cases. We always desire to achieve best in our life with our efforts and skills. When one desires to be different and make a difference, behavior does matter. World is full of amazing people having different behavior and it plays an important role in shaping our life. How we behave decides our fate as well. There are many aspects of behavioral knowledge which I have discussed below:

• Criticism: Criticize only when it is required and necessary. Criticizing others is the easiest thing one can do. It doesn’t take much to criticize others but repercussion may be drastic. Criticism is also a self defense tool. It is also said that being a critic is the easiest thing one can do. Criticism is frequently used everywhere, be it in job or not. In fact, managers in the organizations find various ways to criticize their subordinates. Many criticize just to show their power which is not acceptable at all. There are cases also where unnecessary criticism ended up in belligerent situation. Nobody will tolerate to be criticized when there is no fault from his side. Hence, criticize only when it is required. Constructive criticism should be welcomed and unnecessary criticism must be avoided. In fact, in his famous book titled, “How to win friends and influence people”, the author, Dale Carnegie had suggested not to criticize and condemn.
• Appreciation: One should appreciate others if he deserves. There is no shame in appreciating others work but unfortunately this practice is not followed. There are hardly few who genuinely appreciate others work and feel happy for their achievement. The reason can be many and one of them is the feeling of jealously. It has been observed that people avoid appreciating other because they feel jealous which should not be the case. Appreciation is a tool of motivation. If you appreciate other, you will be appreciated in return. It is a courtesy which shows your respect and recognition for others. You will not lose anything if you appreciate but you will gain respect from the one whom you appreciated.
• Judgmental: No doubt, people are judgmental and they pass their judgment. What they conclude in the form of their judgement is what they perceive. They conclude without any analysis. Do we possess enough knowledge to judge others or do we have right to pass judgement? Ask this question before giving your judgement. Many people pass their view suddenly and declare the end result. This can be understood by an example. Suppose a student has completed his higher secondary education and decides to go for career in engineering having firm faith in him that he can pursue engineering and do well in his career but one of the family members were not convinced with his choice as there were no engineers from their family in the past. They bluntly said you cannot become an engineer as none from our family has yet become and hence choose some other career. They simply passed their judgement. Take other example, people do judge with what you eat and wear. People do judge with status symbol or better to say have materialistic approach towards others. Poor people are the best example. Dr APJ Abdul Kalam was born in very poor family and he used to sell newspapers in his childhood to run the family and to bear his expenses for study. People used to pass various comments and judgement on Kalam’s study and his future but the rest is history as he became the Missile Man of India and later the President of India.  There are many other examples where you can come up with such situation. Hence, beware before passing any judgement as you never know where that person will be in future whom you are passing your judgement.  Give suggestions which are welcomed but don’t give your judgement which may be reversed in future.
• Pragmatic: One should be pragmatic which means being practical. Behave and decide as per the prevailing situation. Be practical enough to realize the complexity of life and be flexible enough to cope up with the changes. Behave as per the situation. Be realistic in your approach.
• Empathy: Empathy means putting yourself in others situation. It is often said, one should have empathy for others. If someone is in problem, understand their problem and help them if they need but don’t make fool of him. Put it simply, one can feel the pain of hunger only when he has not eaten for few days or else he will never know what hunger means. Similarly, if someone is suffering from any problems, understand it and help him if he asks but don’t make fun of his problem. There are many who enjoys a lot when they see others are suffering from any miss happening which is not at all right. If you enjoy and make fun out of others issues and problems, you may encounter such scenes in your life as well. Don’t laugh on others problems instead have some empathy. Empathetic behavior is very important which is missing now a day. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, in his book titled “Hit Refresh” has insisted and recommended empathy a lot and in any organization, managers must have empathy for their subordinates. Empathy reflects sense of caring attitude which is a kind of motivation. Employee should feel that the management and the organization do care for them.
• Support: Support is as important as any other thing for anyone. Be it mental or monetary, support is required at some part in life. If you can’t support, don’t criticize as well. Support is not help as it is usually seen. Support means you are standing behind someone whom you trust or understand. There are times when you have to take tough decisions in life but there is no one to support you. That time, if you get anyone who is in support of you and taking your side, it is a kind of energy-booster. It also requires courage to support.
• Learn: Learning is a continuous process. Don’t consider yourself to be an omniscient person. Life is the best teacher and it teaches us from situation, either good or bad which we experience in our life. Mistakes are part of life and one should learn from the mistakes. Technical or non-technical, learning gives you the result at some point in life. People generally become hopeless in difficult situation but tackling those situations is also a kind of learning. Confused? If you can tackle challenges in life, you have learned to face challenges which ultimately help you in decision making which is very crucial. Having said this, one should also learn to unlearn. What needs to be unlearned is a question? To put simply, learn to unlearn bad attitude and ego. Keep yourself updated and don’t learn those things which needs to be unlearned. Every people has something unique and one should learn from others as well. Learn the positive aspect and unlearn the negative ones.  Learn to discover your strength which you possess. One of the best method of learning yourself is introspection which gives you chance to talk to yourself and discover your areas where it requires improvement. Introspect at least once in a day or in a week as it is a game changer. The essence of introspection can be felt by one of the famous quotes of Swami Vivekananda which says, “Talk to yourself at least once in a day, otherwise you may miss a meeting with an excellent person in this world.”
• Give and take respect: Respect is the end result what you get from your behavioral knowledge. It is that thing which may or may not have any monetary value but definitely have some recognition which you have earned from others. When you are respected, you have value and your words will have more weightage. Having said this, respect is earned and cannot be purchased and it can be only earned by your behavior which have many aspects discussed in above points like criticism, appreciation, empathy etc. You have to respect others to get respected. Be calm and polite. Respect others opinion as well and don’t force your opinion on others unless it is extremely required. One can purchase lot of stuffs and earn lot of money but may not earn respect. It totally depends on how we behave and how we listen and respect others as well.

Knowledge is necessary part of life and behavioral knowledge is a kind of value addition which shapes one’s personality and character. The various aspects of behavioral knowledge which I shared above is my personal thinking and the list is not exhaustive. What I have thought is important as far is behavior is concerned and that too in the form of knowledge, I tried to share in this article.  In my opinion, behavior is as important as any other thing. Be it work, home or any other place, behavior decides many things in our life. What to say and what not to say is important and crucial. Bad behavior creates problem at the end and it is we who need to decide how to behave as it decides our fate as well. Let me summarize some of the take away from the above discussion:

• Don’t criticize. If required, approach should be Constructive Criticism.
• Appreciate others work
• Don’t pass judgement. Give suggestions if required.
• Be pragmatic
• Keep learning from your experiences and mistakes
• Be empathetic
• Give respect

I was having this theme in my mind from many months but finally though of writing this article on behavioral aspect of knowledge or what I say, Behavioral Knowledge. What’s your take on behavior? Is behavior plays important part in our life? Does behavior shapes our personality and character? Please share your views…. 🙂 🙂

– Ashish Kumar

Blog Anniversary- 8 Years

Hello everyone! It gives me immense pleasure to share that today is the anniversary of my blog, Ashish Vision which came into existence eight years ago i.e in 2011. It was on this day that I created my blog and started my journey in blogging world. 🤗😊 When I started, I have never expected that I will be able to continue for so long but thanks to all my readers and friends across the globe for making this happen. I would like to thank all of you for your overwhelming support and encouragement which keeps me going till today. 🙏🙏🙏 I will continue to write and share my literary pieces with you all. You all are very good, supportive and motivating. In these eight years of my journey, I have learnt a lot from all you and still I am learning from your posts and your views. 👍🕺.

Once again, thank you so much for your love and support. 🤗✌️ Keep visiting and motivating me with your valuable views and I hope the journey continue… 🙏 Thank you so much everyone. 🤗😊

– Ashish Kumar

…BLOGGER RECOGNITION AWARD…

This amazing blogosphere has many things to give for the writers. Being a part of this is really a proud feeling and connecting with writers across the globe cannot be expressed in words. Getting a word of appreciation from the veterans as well as new bloggers is the biggest reward for me as I think if someone is giving time for reading my work , it gives me enormous happiness. 🙂 The happiness increases when someone considers you for an award. Yes, this time Deb from Once upon a Hot Flash and Inkmode have nominated me for the Blogger Recognition Award. When I woke up today in the morning I saw in the notification of this news which made my day as getting a good news in the morning is always pleasant. 🙂 I would like to thank Deb and Inkmode for considering me for the same. Deb is a very fine writer and her posts are refreshing and pleasant to read. Her blog consists of many pieces of different genre. She is a versatile writer. Do visit her blog for reading wonderful pieces… 🙂 Inkmode is a very good writer and is always a pleasure to go through her beautiful poems. Her poems are very touchy. I would recommend to visit her blog for her beuatiful creations. 🙂

Here are the rules for this award…

1. Select 15 other blogs you want to give the award to.
2. You cannot nominate yourself or the person who has nominated you
3. Write a post to show your award
4. Give a brief story of how your blog started
5. Give a piece of advice or two to new bloggers
6. Thank whoever nominated you and provide a link to their blog
7. Attach the award to the post (right click and save, then upload)
8. Comment on each blog and let them know you have nominated them
9. Provide a link to the award post you created

How  my blog started

 I wrote my first poem which was in Hindi when I was in class IX and again a Hindi poem in class X but unfortunately I lost both of the poem which I was unable to preserve. Due to that anger I stopped writing for two years. 🙂 But there was always a voice coming from inside to write. So I started writing again when I entered college for persuading engineering and initially I wrote in notes on facebook for few months and was getting reviews there. I created my blog in February 2011 from one of my friend suggestion without knowing what a blog. I posted my first post in April. You will be surprised to know that I posted my 5 poems in a single day as I was not knowing how to operate the blog. 😦  Slowly and slowly I learnt what is blogging and how to use it and  I am here and just want to continue this journey as much as I can. 🙂

Advice to new bloggers

I don’t consider myself to be in the position to give advice to new bloggers. I also not consider myself a veteran  because I am still a beginner and in learning phase. I have learnt a lot in these years and just trying to improve my writing. I write because I love to do so and I think if you love to write, words will come automatically and you will surely get an appreciation.

As per the rules I have to nominate 15 bloggers for this award. So here is my nomination…

• Kritika Vashist
• Williamleeone
• themissshweta
• Everywordsyousay
• Himali Shah
• noorainsobiya
• Sherrie de valeria
• Deb Villines
• Erika Kind
• Gaurav Luthra
• Priiya
• Jackie Jain
• essofi
• Soumya Mishra
• Shweta Dave

All the best to all the respected bloggers. I would be eagerly waiting to know how you started your journey in blogosphere… 🙂

– Ashish Kumar