I came, I saw, I conquered...

I came, I saw , I conquered.. the words by which Julius Caesar succinctly described one of his victories.

I like these words since my early school days when I read about Caesar, in history. Any person may have positive and negative aspects, including Caesar, however, we must be like a sponge and learn and assimilate good and positive from our surrounding and the people and ignore the negatives.

These few words, have helped me learn... to create a path of success for any mission which I choose to undertake...

These few words may mean different things to different people. Conquer is mostly associated with victory @war, and some people may consider that these words depict pride and arrogance. It might seem to them to be words spoken by a monarch. People have various perceptions about things and other people. I respect that, however, here would like to present my version of this statement. The semantics which I attach to this statement.

I came, I saw, I conquered... To me this represents a long voyage of victory. We come to this world, completely innocent; we learn everything slowly and steadily. Have you watched a child growing? For them each day packages a new learning experience. How they learn to walk, taking small steps, falling multiple times before being able to stand up steadily on their feet. Slowly their senses develop, the sense of touch... Its a long, slow but steady process. I feel that exactly is the way we realize our passion, our drive. By being close to our self, we learn what makes us alive, what is the purpose we have on this planet. After this realization, there may be no rosy path to success and achievement in our chosen objective. We need to fall multiple times before we learn to walk, then climb and finally race.

" I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work. " ---Edison

Each attempt which turns to fail, enables us to eliminates one possibility towards failure in our mission. It brings us a step closer to success.

This is the " I saw " part of the statement. One thing which really work here is, for whatever purpose you have chosen is: find people who have been successful in similar missions. Find a list of people whom you strongly admire and aspire to be like them. Read about them, find out their core beliefs, try modeling them as a part of you. Trying building those beliefs for yourself.

Then comes the time to take the plunge, infant we are ready to take the plunge. Success requires perspiration, there is no denying that. After all the effort, we must also make the right moves. Life is like a chessboard, we have faithful soldiers at our disposal, an army which is a combination of all strengths required to win; however, the right moves need to be made. Without making any move you cannot win. Ultimately, the reigns of your life is in your hand; come, fulfill your destiny.Make life the masterpiece it deserves to be.

This is the meaning which I attach to this statement. Would love to hear your thoughts/version, do share them.

Nostalgic School Memories

Bloom, bloom, bloom where you're planted...

You will find your way....

Bloom, bloom, bloom where you're planted...

You will have your day....

As I cast an eye down the memory lane...looking back on whatever life has enfolded before me till date, I am full of a mixture of feelings. Feelings of joy, amusement, a little dash of sorrow, some regrets, but tons of happiness, love and laughter to carry forward in life.

School days are the most memorable part of one's life. Those days of innocence, freedom from the chains of worries and tension, a golden period full of liveliness and vivacity.

At school, I was a quiet and introvert child. However, deep within my self, I had always been a deep thinker. I now wonder how bizarre some of my thoughts had been. They had a spiritual and philosophical bend even at that tender age. I always loved reading motivational poems and songs, motivating my friends to do something innovative and new. Now I understand, I basically loved motivating people, which now has become so much a part of my self.

I remember the few lines from a song we used to sing at my school, Carmel Convent, Durgapur.

Bloom, bloom, bloom where you're planted...
You will find your way....

Bloom, bloom, bloom where you're planted...
You will have your day....

This chorus has and will remain engraved in my mind forever. Just try to take a deeper look into the meaning of these few lines.

Like a flower/shrub/tree blooms, wherever it’s planted… A fertile soil or a barren desert, the peak of snow capped mountain or lush green plains. It never complains, so should we learn to bloom wherever we are… under whatever circumstances and with whatever limitations. We should make the best utilization of our limited resources to carve our way through all twists and turns of life and reach the pinnacle: the zenith which we have identified for us.

This does not mean that we should live content with small means, never dream big, and be happy with whatever little we have; never ever think of venturing outside our boundaries… NO, I don’t mean this.

This to me is equivalent to death. I want to be alive, vivacious and lively… with the sparkle of big dreams in my eyes, with the hope of the most beautiful tomorrow that my mind can picture. This is my symphony of life….However, for the attainment and fulfillment of these most cherished dreams, let me awaken within me the infinite power and belief which will help me sail through all the ups and downs… all my limitations… which, I wont put it as a limitation now…My surroundings is the garden in which I have been planted. A beautiful, fragrant flower can grow anywhere… as I said, in lush green plains as well as desert, on a snow capped mountain as well as on the sea shore.

Let me put my heart and soul in making myself that sweet fragrant flower, which will always bloom where it’s been planted…as long as it is there on this planet, spreading its beauty and fragrance in the atmosphere, making the world around a more beautiful and serene place for others as well as myself.

Let’s bloom where we are planted, we will find our way….

Story Time : The touchstone

The Touchstone story

The story goes to the time when the great library of Alexandria burned. One of the books which was saved, was not a very valuable one. So a poor man, who could read a little, bought it for a few coppers.

The book wasn't very interesting. However, between its pages was a secret : The secret of the touchstone !

The touchstone was a small pebble which when brought in contact with any metal, would turn the metal to GOLD.

The secret said that the touchstone was lying under thousands and thousands of pebbles, that looked exactly like it, near the shore of the Mediterranean. The secret to recognize the touchstone was : the real stone would feel warm, while the other ordinary pebbles were cold.

So the man sold his few belongings, bought some simple supplies, camped on the seashore, and began testing pebbles.

He knew that if he picked up ordinary pebbles and threw them down again because they were cold, he might pick up the same pebble hundreds of times. So, when he felt one that was cold, he threw it into the sea. He spent a whole day doing this but none of them was the touchstone. Yet he went on and on this way. Pick up a pebble. Cold - throw it into the sea. Pick up another. Throw it into the sea.

The days stretched into weeks and the weeks into months. One day, however, about mid afternoon, he picked up a pebble and it was warm. He threw it into the sea before he realized what he had done. He had formed such a strong habit of throwing each pebble into the sea that when the one he wanted came along, he still threw it away.

So it is with opportunity. Unless we are vigilant, it's easy to fail to recognize an opportunity when it is in hand and it's just as easy to throw it away.

We must learn to be open and alert. When an opportunity knocks at our door, we must grab it and make the full use of it. We must also try to create our own opportunities. Its possible. With the realization of your purpose, faith and confidence in your dreams, you can create opportunities for yourself. Believe me, then there will be no looking back...

Wherever we are, in whatever profession, lets realize our dreams, lets give it our best, the ultimate, the utmost passion, perseverance and determination.... remember

"When work is your purpose, hard work is not an option, its a necessity."

Movie Review : October SKy

October Sky

This weekend, I had nothing much to do.
Finally free from office work and traveling, I decided to spend some time with myself.

Decided to catch up some movie, when I came across this movie which was lying saved in my laptop since more than 1 year.

This movie was made in 1999; some 9 years back...however, I loved the movie. Though it is late, yet, I wanted to share my thoughts, views and learning about the film.

The movie strengthened my belief: Follow your dream... With passion and dedication…..
Believe in your dream and yourself.

In life we need to choose our path, we need to find out just one thing: “What do we really want?"

When we know the answer, that answers becomes our purpose.... Our focus...The thing that drives us… it’s a pulsating passion beating deep within us; a part of our blood, so much a part of our real self.

Friends, when we are driven by such a passion, the “IMPOSSIBLE” becomes “POSSIBLE”. A dead end transforms and becomes a new path towards the achievement of that objective, that mission.

Quoting from the novel “The Alchemist”:

"When a person really desires something, all the universe conspires to help that person realize his dream”,

The movie strongly supports this.

It’s the story of a young boy, Homer, living in Coalwood, West Virginia. In the town the coal mine is the town's largest employer and almost every male living there works, or will work, in the mines.

John Hickam, the mine superintendent, loves his job -- despite its headaches and inherent dangers -- and hopes that his boys, Jim and Homer, will one day join him working there.

As the townspeople gather outside one starry October night, they see the Soviet satellite Sputnik race across the sky. Homer watches with admiration and wonder. At the same time, the dream to build a rocket shapes in his mind.

His life moves through various twists and turns, circumstances when he is forced to give up his dreams, however the purpose finds him back.

With his group of friends and support from his teacher Miss Riley, they try a number of tests and experiments; some of which prove to be disastrous and produce adverse effects.

Wading through all obstacles, Homer and his pals set out to prove that they can build a rocket that will soar unimpeded into the sky, proving that they have what it takes to leave the confines of their predetermined, coal miner lives.

The movie also brings forth the fact that sometimes, your loved ones, may not believe in you and what you want to do. However, if you have the focus, the clarity and the determination, the inexhaustible passion, things will change for the better sooner or latter : “Everything will fall in place".

The movie is based on true story. "October Sky" is an anagram of "Rocket Boys", the title of the book on which the movie is based.

Friends, don’t you find the movie very close to what we have been discussing in various other posts of this blog: Beliefs, The Giant within us, and the confidence map.

No doubt, I felt the movie so very close to my heart.