Chetan bhagat's speech.. worth reading..

Abhijit Korgaonkar (Final Student) (1243 Points)

17 August 2011  

 

This is a bit long post... but its truly worth reading once by spending arnd 10 mins... once you start reading it.. am sure you cant stop between..
 
How relevant his points are..n to the core they hit!

This speech was delivered by Chetan Bhagat at the Inaugral Programme of the BBA course at Symbiosis, Pune on June 23rd, 2008.
 
Good Morning everyone and thank you for giving me this chance to speak to you..
This day is about you.
You, who have come to this college, leaving the comfort of your homes (or in some cases discomfort), to become something in your life.
 
I  am sure you are excited.
There are few days in human life when one is truly elated.
The first day in college is one of them.  When you were getting ready today, you felt a tingling in your stomach.
What would the auditorium be like, what  would the teachers be like, who are my new classmates - there is so much to  be  curious about.
I call this excitement, the spark within you that makes you  feel truly alive today.
Today I am going to talk about keeping the spark shining.
Or to put it another way, how to be happy most, if not all the time.
 
Where do these sparks start? I think we are born with them.
My 3-year old twin boys  have  a million sparks.
A little Spiderman toy can make them jump on the bed.
They get thrills from creaky swings in the park. A story from daddy gets them excited.
They do a daily countdown for birthday party – several months in advance – just for the day they will cut their own birthday cake.
 
I  see  students  like  you, and I still see some sparks..
But when I see older people, the spark is difficult to find.
That means as we age, the spark fades.
People  whose spark has faded too much are dull, dejected, aimless and bitter.
Remember  Kareena  in the first half of Jab We Met vs the second half?
That is what happens when the spark is lost..
So how to save the spark?
 
Imagine  the  spark  to  be a lamp's flame.
The first aspect is nurturing - to give your spark the fuel, continuously. The second is to guard against storms. To  nurture,  always  have  goals.  It  is human nature to strive, improve and achieve  full  potential.
In fact, that is success. It is what is possible for you.
It isn't any external measure - a certain cost to company pay package, a particular car or house.
 
Most of us are from middle class families. To us, having material landmarks is success  and  rightly so.
When you have grown up where money constraints force
 
Everyday  choices,  financial  freedom  is a big achievement.
But it isn't the purpose  of life.
If that was the case, Mr. Ambani would not show up for work.
Shah  Rukh  Khan would stay at home and not dance anymore.
Steve Jobs won't be working hard to make a better iPhone, as he sold Pixar for billions of dollars already.
Why do they do it? What makes them come to work everyday? They do it because it makes them happy.
They do it because it makes them feel alive.
Just getting  better  from  current  levels  feels good.
If you study hard, you can improve  your rank.
If you make an effort to interact with people, you will do better  in interviews.
If you practice, your cricket will get better. You may also  know that you cannot become Tendulkar, yet.
But you can get to the next level.
Striving for that next level is important.
 
Nature  designed with a random set of genes and circumstances in which we were born.
To be happy, we have to accept it and make the most of nature's design.
Are you? Goals will help you do that.
 
I  must add, don't just have career or academic goals.
Set goals to give you a balanced, successful life.
I use the word balanced before successful.
Balanced means ensuring your health, relationships, mental peace are all in good order.
 
There  is no point of getting a promotion on the day of your breakup.
There is no  fun in driving a car if your back hurts.
Shopping is not enjoyable if your mind is full of tensions.
 
You  must  have  read  some quotes - Life is a tough race, it is a marathon or whatever.
No,  from  what  I  have seen so far, life is one of those races in nursery  school,  where  you have to run with a marble in a spoon kept in your mouth.
If  the  marble falls, there is no point coming first.
Same with life, where  health and relationships are the marble.
Your striving is only worth it if  there is harmony in your life.
Else, you may achieve the success, but this spark, this feeling of being excited and alive, will start to die.
 
One  last  thing about nurturing the spark - don't take life seriously.
One of my yoga teachers used to make students laugh during classes.
One student asked him  if  these  jokes  would  take  away something from the yoga practice.
The teacher  said  -  don't be serious, be sincere..
This quote has defined my work ever  since.
Whether  its  my  writing, my job, my relationships or any of my goals.
I  get thousands of opinions on my writing everyday. There is heaps of praise,  there  is  intense  criticism.
If I take it all seriously, how will I write?
Or  rather,  how will I live? Life is not to be taken seriously, as we are  really temporary here.
We are like a pre-paid card with limited validity.
If  we  are  lucky,  we  may last another 50 years. And 50 years is just 2,500 weekends.
Do we really need to get so worked up?
It's ok, bunk a few classes, goof up a few interviews, fall in love.
We are people, not programmed devices.
 
 
I've  told  you three things - reasonable goals, balance and not taking it too seriously That will nurture the spark.
 
However, there are four storms in life that  will  threaten  to completely  put out the flame.
These must be guarded against.
 
These  are disappointment, frustration, unfairness and loneliness of purpose.
 
Disappointment  will  come  when  your  effort  does not give you the expected return.
If  things  don't  go  as  planned or if you face failure.
Failure is extremely  difficult  to handle, but those that do come out stronger.
What did this  failure  teach  me?  is the question you will need to ask.
You will feel miserable.
You  will  want  to  quit,  like  I wanted to when nine publishers rejected  my  first  book.
Some IITians kill themselves over low grades –how silly  is  that?
But that is how much failure can hurt you. But it's life.
If challenges  could  always be overcome, they would cease to be a challenge.
And remember  -  if you are failing at something, that means you are at your limit or potential.
And that's where you want to be.
 
Disappointment's cousin is  frustration, the second storm.
Have you ever been frustrated?
It  happens when things are stuck.
This is especially relevant in India.
From  traffic  jams  to getting that job you deserve, sometimes things take  so  long that you don't know if you chose the right goal.
 
After books, I set  the goal of writing for Bollywood, as I thought they needed writers.
I am called  extremely lucky, but it took me five years to get close to  a release.
Frustration  saps  excitement,  and  turns  your initial energy into something negative,  making  you  a  bitter  person.
How did I deal with it?
A realistic assessment  of the time involved – movies take a long time to make even though they  are  watched  quickly, seeking a certain enjoyment in the process rather than  the  end result – at least I was learning how to write scripttts, having a side  plan  – I  had  my  third book to write and even something as simple as pleasurable  distractions  in  your life  - friends, food, travel can help you overcome it.
Remember, nothing is to be taken seriously. Frustration is a sign somewhere, you took it too seriously.
 
Unfairness  -  this is hardest to deal with, but unfortunately that is how our country  works.
People with connections, rich dads, beautiful faces, pedigree find  it  easier  to  make  it  –  not  just in Bollywood, but everywhere.
And sometimes  it  is just plain luck.
There are so few opportunities in
India, so many  stars  need to be aligned for you to make it happen.
Merit and hard work is  not  always  linked  to  achievement  in the short term, but the long term correlation  is  high,  and  ultimately things do work out.
But realize, there will be some people luckier than you.
In fact, to have an opportunity to go to college  and understand this speech in English means you are pretty damm lucky by  Indian standards.
Let's be grateful for what we have and get the strength to  accept what  we  don't.
I  have  so much love from my readers that other writers cannot even imagine it.
However, I don't get literary praise.. It's ok.
I  don't  look  like  Aishwarya  Rai, but I have two boys who I think are more beautiful than her.
It's ok. Don't let unfairness kill your spark.
 
Finally,  the  last  point  that can kill your spark is isolation.
As you grow older  you will realize you are unique.
When you are little, all kids want Ice cream  and  Spiderman.
As you grow older to college, you still are a lot like your  friends.
But  ten  years later and you realize you are unique. What you want, what you believe in, what makes you feel, may be different from even the people  closest  to  you.
This can create conflict as your goals may not match with  others.  .
And you may drop some of them.
 
There  you  go.  I've  told  you  the  four  thunderstorms -disappointment, frustration,  unfairness  and  isolation.
You  cannot avoid them, as like the monsoon  they  will come into your life at regular intervals.
You just need to keep the raincoat handy to not let the spark die..
 
I welcome you again to the most wonderful  years of your life.
If someone gave me  the  choice  to  go back in time, I will surely choose college.
But I also hope  that  ten years later as well, your eyes will shine the same way as they do  today.
That  you will Keep the Spark alive, not only through college, but through the next 2,500 weekends.
And I hope not just you, but my whole country will  keep  that spark alive, as we really need it now more than any moment in history.
And there is something cool about saying - I come from the land of a billion sparks.
 


Win as if u r used to it.....Lose as if u've enjoyed it for a change!!!!!

 

Thank You...