The Realization of Success :


Let us face it ! What is success anyway ? What is the worth of this 6-letter word ? What is this idea that keeps us alive in its efforts to get us closer to the definition it sets for each one of us ?

Over the years there have been numerous definitions of success, and sometimes I think we must all wonder what success really is and where we stand individually . I would like to paraphrase John Gray's definition :
" Success comes from within you and is reached when you are living authentically every day. It is feeling confident, happy and powerful in the process of doing work about which you are passionate. It is identifying those things that make you feel fully alive, vibrant, joyous and fulfilled and then excelling at whatever those things are. "

True indeed !

To add on to the above definition , I feel that to be truly successful , we must honour our whole being . That involves appreciation of the spiritual , intellectual , emotional and the physical components that give expressions to who we are truly at the core . Being successful involves a complete understanding of the above expressions and identifying, working towards a goal that brings about a feeling of completeness and justice to one's being .

For example , a friend of mine is passionate about bikes . Nothing can match the happiness in his eyes when he sees the modification of his bike being done to exactly what he wanted . He thrives hard so that his bike can have the best-look as well as have the best on-road conditions . As he pursues this passion, he is able to care for his whole being and experience a sense of being fully alive that he has never known before. And when the bike is ready to be kicked , he has an internal voice that yells "Success" to him .
A mother finds success in giving birth to a child and then gradually bringing him up with utmost care and unfathoamble love . Again , in that process , she experiences a sense of being fully alive as her child grows up to mark her success to the world .
Carrying on with the list , check out the grace evolving out of those adventure-freaks who show glimpses of their succesful ventures into the wild in television channels Nat Geo or Discovery .

One can thus conclude that each person has their own definition of success, and those who succeed, have pursued goals that match their values born out of a deep passion in their hearts.

Identification and Realization :

Hmm . Now comes the difficult part . Identifying one's true passions and then realizing them . Most of us fail to identify them , we just get carried away with circumstances and try to seek happiness under-estimating our actual being . Result - we all know it very well , we face every second of it !
Even after a "successful" identification , its hard to realize. Cant say much about realizing them as I am still in Identification phase :) .

However , in my search for an answer to the situation above , I have had the priviledge to look into several articles , discussions and this is what I have concluded so far :

You need to take time to clarify what your version of a successful life is and then go for it. Now , that involves a lot of self-analysis , exposing oneself to different situations and checking out inner-reciprocation . Along the way, you'll find others who will offer their support and encouragement. This "other" may include different people u meet while u keep on breathing or different situations that u face alongwith . Unfortunately, you will also find those who would prefer you to stay just as you are now. Often these might include the members of your family, close circle of friends or the mini-world that you have constructed for yourself . It takes courage and determination to focus on your goal and not allow these naysayers to deter you. But you can do it , if and only if you are true to yourself .

My conclusion above promises me an end of my search . I am carrying on with the next phase , with the hope of a clear-sky ahead .

Each person deserves to become the best they can be and that can only happen when we are pursuing dreams that have meaning and value to us. So, lets make world a richer place , blessed with the gift that only You , He , She or Me can give !

A Friend named 'Rex' :



It was the autumn of 2000 . I was then a 1st year student of Sri Siddhartha Institute of Technology,Tumkur ( near Bangalore ) specializing in Computer Engineering . Like all other 1st year friends of mine , I too was exposed to ruthless torture of some self-unsatisfied seniors who believed the country can progress only if Ragging is done to an acceptable-extreme level . It went to physical extemes while emotions , brotherhood were something that existed on a Neverland .

However , even this dark cloud had a silver lining ! Our seniors used to ask us to take a detailed "Intro" of the girls and handover the notes to them. God knows what they would do with those collections ! Whatever , it silently gave us and the girls an unique opportunity to get to know each other , become friends .

It was in this stage of life when I happened to see an "intro" of a lady who mentioned her favourite song to be "Paint my Love" by MLTR . Incidently , that happened to be one of my would-die-for favourites . I reverted back to the first page again and saw the name ( reading this time) of the lady to be Rekha Natrajan . Details reflected that she was from Bangalore and a Computer Engineer-to-be . I made up my mind to meet her .

The next day saw the end of my search and I met her , relating the basic cause that made me stand before her . Being an ardent fan of MLTR herself , it was easy for both of us to kick off a chat and sooner , we were friends .
Days passed by along with our discussions related to varied topics , varied experiences in and before college life , opinions and modifications of personal goals we set in life ... steadily becoming friends whose scope doesnt end with the end of one's college life . As years passed by , trust dominated the friendship . Internals , Semesters , College Fests , a dance performance ( was a big flop though we had immense fun ) , birthday parties of other friends , hostel politics , class stupidities , unsuccessful plans of going to Germany for MS etc etc ..the list goes on ...all were part of our thought-sharing process . Nicknamed "Rex", Rekha was indeed one I could always count upon .

After our glorious! engineering timespan , our first job search was for AOL , which was a sort of a mini-adventure where we came face to face with reality , with interviews , GDs . We enjoyed it thoroughly as we had taken it as an effort to know what things actually are . All these experiences , which involves learning and puts a deep impact on any of one's future ventures , were those that we shared together along with a few think-alike , act-alike friends .

Our search ended with Rex joining 24/7 and myself Accenture . Discussions now took a new turn with topics like professionalism , seniors 'n' juniors at work , values of work-experience , learning new technical stuffs , new friends , changing company , job-satisfaction etc ...the list goes on .

As in today , we still carry on the legacy , sharing our knowledge on whatever we gain from life , taking some time out to listen to the other person , looking forward to grow as an individual and always standing beside each other .

Maybe , thats the purity and the bliss of friendship .

Thanks Rex . Friends Forever :) .

When I face Myself :

Seems like an introspection, aint it ? but Hey !! wait a sec ! Lets introduce the most critical three-letter word in human language - "Why ?" - Why do I need to introspect ? What leads me to do so ? Is it a necessity ? If so , then can I find a comfortable way out of it ?
Questions pile up , we dont even care from where thye come from ..maybe thats another introspection ;) .. whatever it is , trapped in this cyclic recursive deadlock and efforts to come out of it with "Yeah , Am satisfied !" lies the very soul of human existence .

Phew ! It took 6 lines and some uncounted words to define Human existence . Is life that easy ? If so , then why do I feel that I can only define it with all my ignorance , why cant I avoid falling in the trap ?

Whenever I face myself , I get numb with the might of my opponent . My opponent , unhindered , unchanged by the rules of the world asks me questions at almost all stages :
At work : What are u doing ? Is this the job u always wanted to do ? BTW , do u know what u want to do ?
At a social gathering : Ohh ! wasn't that smile a bit artificial ? Whom are u trying to impress ? Why ?

What are ur dreams ? What are the goals ?

Maybe , thats eternal confusion which few overcome while few others are still in search as well as few others like me who gather them up and look forward to a conclusion .

Let time be the best healer ! Again my adversary creeps in from somewhere : Hey , why leaving it to time ?

To be continued ...