The Car is Always Empty

“Oh no, not again today. Why do these last minute tasks keep coming up at just the wrong time”, Vivek thought as he rushed out of his office in a hurry. The watch read 5:15 pm. “I might just escape the evening traffic.”, he murmured as he started his car.

He had traveled around 15 minutes and the traffic was smooth.

“So far so good”, he uttered as he approached a traffic signal, knowing that a real busy stretch was about to commence. He waited for the signal to turn green, which happened after around 90 seconds of waiting. But alas, even as the signal was green, the car in front of him didn’t move.

“What the …? What’s wrong with this …?”, he shouted as he rolled down his glass windows. “Why do people take their cars out if they don’t know how to drive?”, he said, his voice getting louder.

It has been 15 seconds now, and was only 30 seconds before the signal would turn red again. He honked, and then honked some more but to no effect. He decided it was time to give the driver an earful and got out of the car.

“Can’t you see the green signal in front? Will you bloody move……”, he stopped his angry tirade as he saw that the car in front of him had no driver in it and was empty. “Maybe it had broken down and the driver left it here to find help.”, he thought.

Realizing the futility of his honking and shouting now, he got back in his car, took a little reverse and then went around the car with no driver. He crossed the signal just as it turned red again. “What just happened?”, he said to himself as he drove off.

“If all it required was to take a little detour around the car in front of me, then why was I shouting and honking and getting angry, even when I know I am already running late.”

The Car is Always Empty

The Car is Always Empty

…. Silence …

“And where did my anger disappeared when I saw there was no driver. After that it was just common sense to drive off around the broken car. But where was that common sense before. How does it matter whether the car had a driver or not. I could have still drived off around it.”

This kept on puzzling him till he reached home an hour later. Later at night while having dinner, he suddenly shouted, “I got it. The car is always empty.” “Yes, it is always empty. Even if the driver is there, it is always empty”, he said it out aloud in excitement like he has just had an eureka moment.

Everyone around him on the dining table sat puzzled, wondering what has just happened to Vivek.

— End of Story —

Here is the thing – Whenever we encounter people and situations which don’t turn out as we ‘expect’ them to, we are finding an “empty car”, but we don’t always see it that way. We think that someone ‘else’ has spoiled our expectation when what is happening is normal, just plain normal life. We might judge them, curse them, and find other ways to justify ourself but the truth is that they are just living their lives as we are living ours, and they just happen to be ‘in our way’. Just like we also are in other’s ways multiple times a day.

This is a tough task, to separate the actions of the world from our judgement and ours always thinking mind, and see them just as they are. If we don’t get angry at the sun making us sweat, or the dust making us dirty, and we just do whatever is required, the similar is true for other empty cars too.

यह आँखें तुझे ही ढूंढे माँ

सुबह सुबह जब आँख खुले
पल पल जब तक रात ढले
यह दिल तुझे ही महसूस करे माँ
और यह आँखें तुझे ही ढूंढें माँ

 

तेरी दांट मुझे अक्सर याद आये
प्रेम से पड़ी मार आज मुझे रुलाए
यह कान तेरी ही वाणी ढूंढे माँ
और यह आँखें तुझे ही ढूंढे माँ

तेरे हाथो का स्पर्श नहीं भूला मै
तेरी गोद की नींद नहीं भूला मै
यह मस्तक तेरा ही आँचल ढूंढे माँ
और यह आँखें तुझे ही ढूंढे माँ

 

तेरी ममता की चादर बहुत बड़ी है
तेरे प्यार की बोछार एक निरंतर झड़ी है
मेरा हर शब्द तुझे ही हर पल पुकारे माँ
और यह आँखें तुझे ही ढूंढे माँ

If You Can Do These Things, You’re a Winner

How I describe a winner or success has changed tremendously in the last six to seven years. Very early in my career, I used to associate success and winning with results produced by the people involved, but the definition has changed tremendously now. Not that results and outcomes are not important, but I feel there is more than that to a person or team being called a winner.

In my book, a person is a winner if he/she can do the below three things –

1. Push themselves beyond their current limits, day after day, week after week and month after month. They do this despite the pain, the struggle, the discomfort that this ‘pushing‘ will create.
2. Sacrifice doing something where immediate rewards are guaranteed and continue working in an area where he/she is not even sure whether the rewards will come or not, because of some goal one is pursuing, or some ideals or values that one believes in.
3. Does whatever he does with intensity. Intensity causes performance, not duration. Can you run for 15 min instead of a 1 hr walk? Can you treat every second of your time as your most valuable resource and give nothing less than your best? And it is not just in business, can you bring the same intensity and performance whether you are gardening, coding, or having a conversation.

The excellency of every art is its intensity, capable of making all disagreeable evaporate. John Keats

The excellency of every art is its intensity, capable of making all disagreeable evaporate. John Keats

I rarely push myself to exhaustion. I know if I could just increase my intensity in doing certain tasks, I can cut the duration by as much as 50%. But there is a huge comfort zone where I am, and the mind’s job is to survive, and it will resist doing anything which means enduring discomfort. The mind tricks us into thinking we have hit our limits long before we actually do.

I believe there is no sure shot way to outstanding results, and it can never be guaranteed. But what we all can control is how much intensity we put in whatever we do. Intensity is when a double amputee climbs a mount everest, intensity is when a person with no arms can fly a plane (search for Jessica Cox), intensity is when a 90 year old runs a marathon, or when you see the paralympics. Everybody will give in to the temptation (to procrastinate, to give up too early) some times, but I have seen many people who have been working with intensity, and they are my real heroes, my real winners.

There is Never Nothing Going On

“Mummy”, screamed the child as he craved for some attention from his mother. He has finished his cookies and coffee sitting on a rooftop coffee shop, a favorite of her mother.

“What beta?”, asked his mother as she glanced at him, taking her eyes away from some office work she was just about to complete on her laptop.

“You are busy, and our coffee is finished too. What am I supposed to do?”, said the child, clearly getting bored.

“Just a minute beta. My work is just about to…” She was interrupted before she could complete the sentence.

“There is nothing going on.”

Realizing that her son won’t take it anymore, she closed her laptop, took one last sip from her coffee and asked – “Now tell me son, what’s the matter?”

“It is so boring here mummy. There is nothing going on, let us go home.”, screamed the boy again, attracting the attention of a few people sitting close by.

There is Never Nothing Going On

There is Never Nothing Going On

“Let me tell you something. There is never nothing going on. Just relax for a moment and observe the waiters serving coffee to customers, different set of people leaving and coming in the coffee shop. Also observe the moods of different people, some are happy, some are sad, and look over there – those set of people are certainly arguing about something. Look outside, there are trees of different types. Can you spot the birds sitting on the branches? If you listen, you can even hear their chirping.”

“So what mom?”, asked the boy.

“What I want to say beta is that there is never nothing going on. It is only we who stop listening or feeling. Feel the cool breeze as it comes every few minutes on this side of the cafe. Savor this moment for what it has to offer. And that is why I love coming here and spend some time just relaxing. Never say life is boring, because it isn’t.”

“Hmm.. I guess we get bored sometimes, but life isn’t.”, exclaimed the boy, looking a little perplexed and amused at the same time.

“Great then, let me complete my work now.” And she opened her laptop again.

This time, the boy went over to the road facing side of the roof. I guess he was observing and feeling all that is happening on the road below.

बड़ा मज़ा आये मुझे – Bada Maja Aaye Mujhe

थोडा थोडा करके तुम्हे सताने में
बातों बातों में तुम्हे हँसाने में
आँखें झुकाके तुम्हारे शर्माने में
सामने हो तो घूर घूर के देखने में
और कभी कभी तुम्हारी डांट खाने में
बड़ा मज़ा आये मुझे यह सब करने में ।।

सुबह सुबह तुम्हारी आँवाज़ सुनने में
रात भर बात करके तुम्हे जगाने में
खो जाना तेरे धीरे धीरे मुस्काने में
पंगे लेके तुझे जान बूझकर रुठाने में
और फिर प्यार से तुझे मानाने में
बड़ा मज़ा आये मुझे यह सब करने में ।।

तुम्हारे हाथो से पचरंगा आचार चखने में
बहुत इंतज़ार के बाद तुमसे मिलने में
बहाने बना कर तुम्हे अपने पास रखने में
मिलने के बाद तुम्हे जाने ना देने में
और छोटी छोटी बातो पे तुमसे लड़ने में
बड़ा मज़ा आये मुझे यह सब करने में ।।

साथ मिलकर अपने भाई बहनों को छेड़ने में
तुम्हारे लिए शरारत भरी शायरी लिखने में
अपनी पुरानी बीती यादें तुमसे बाटने में
तुम्हारी बातें सुनके तुम्हे समझने में
और पल पल तुम्हे अपने करीब लाने में
बड़ा मज़ा आये मुझे यह सब करने में ।।

Bada Maja Aaye Mujhe

Bada Maja Aaye Mujhe