A candle of hope !!

I am sorry. That’s all I want to say to all the women who are born in this nation where we treat you as objects. We kill you before you are born. We abuse you if you are born. We rape you even before you grow up. We rape you when you grow up. We disrespect you at every stage of your life.

Today I couldn’t stop tears from rolling down my eyes when I heard the death of rape victim. I don’t understand where this nation is heading. Will these incidents keep happening?  Is there a way we can put an end to it? Will women ever be safe in this country? What will we have at the end of this protest? And why is this protest different from all the other protest?

With all the little knowledge I have, I would like to comment on all the above.

Following news everyday for years now makes me believe that it is all a part of vicious circle. Whether it is women’s safety, corruption, crime, delay in justice etc. It all starts from the way we have given power in this nation. Power to make law is in the hands of government. Power to implement law is in the hands of police but on the contrary to transfer them and promote them is in the hands of government. Power to bring justice is in the hands of judiciary but then again to transfer judges and promote them is in the hands of government.

There was a famous saying by Lord Acton –“Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.”

I don’t blame the ruling government rather I blame the system. I am not challenging the constitution which has given me power to express. That is a different issue they put me behind bars for putting a facebook status. It is also ironical that, I am hoping a change in law from leaders who themselves face rape charges, leaders who watch porn in parliament. There is a big loop which needs to be fixed.

 

The reason this protest if different from any protest is that for the first time people do not need a leader to put their views. This protest doesn’t seem to be backed by any political party. They are all common people. They are all you and me. And we are on streets demanding change. Government has confused them every time with false promise, but not anymore. We are burning candles so what if we go to disco. Each candle is brings us a hope that it will bring light into this dark nation.

So rather than making us immune to pain, make us believe that you will ensure our safety. Make us believe not by your words but by your actions.

I also believe that just by hanging accused of one case would not solve the problem. Rather there should be changes in the system. My suggestions:

1.       Striker laws

What the whole nation is demanding. This will create fear. I am glad that there was a support on this from everyone. From Prime Minister to Home Minister everyone supports this. So thank you for that.

2.      Faster trials – Set Deadline

Justice delayed is justice denied. You have promised fast track courts all around nation. I would rather suggest you to put a deadline in this type of crimes. For eg: Judgment should come in less than 60days at each hierarchical stage.

3.      Women Judge

This will bring a sense of comfort for all the victims. It will become easy to communicate with them.

4.      Transparent and fair transfer of Officials

This would help them to fulfill their duty without any political pressure.

Apart from all the above suggested changes; I also feel that it is the responsibility of every parent to teach their sons to respect women.

This girl has awakened the sleeping nation. I hope government finds a way to rebuild their lost image. Hopefully one day they will realize that women demand respect which can’t be met by setting a parliamentary quota.

Mumbai local : Unforgettable journey !!!

It was not the first time I was travelling by local but it was an experience like never before, because on this trip from Andheri to Churchgate I observed that a life of an entrepreneur is like travelling in a local train of Mumbai. I did my graduation from Bombay so I was not new to locals but I never got the opportunity to travel in Virar fast(Name of the train) which is supposed to be the most crowded of all locals.

Let me share why this trip of around 40mins made me think that travelling on Virar fast is similar to the journey made by an entrepreneur in his life.

• There will always be barriers to not let you enter:

If you think of getting into a train which is flooded by people will be easy, ahhh you

must be kidding me. As Virar fast (The train) reached the Andheri station I tried to board along with other few hundred people from the same door in the same compartment. There were people pushing to just get in, and there were forces from the train to not let anyone enter. You badly get crushed between these pressures and that is when I realised that it is not that easy to enter in train. Similarly in an entrepreneur’s life whenever he thinks of starting a new business he comes across various forces that makes it difficult for him to enter. I remember the time when my dad wanted to start his own factory and he came across various obstacles to just get started. But once you start you don’t look back the same way once you are in the train; you are in.

• There will never be a place for you – create your own place

Once you are in the train where people are standing on top of each other, you do not expect them to make space for you that easily. There you need to create your own place to stand. You literally struggle to keep both of your feet’s properly onto the floor. Same way once you have entered any new venture your competitors won’t let you stand and therefore you have to create your own market. The way you create space in local you have to create space in market just to make you stand.

• Find your support

Now you are in the train and you have found a place where you can manage to stand but all you need is a support which can help you remain standing till the time you are in train because there will be pressures which you will come across at every station where people are boarding and leaving the train and these pressures will make you fall. Though there are many supports which are hanging on top but then there are already many hands holding them, so you try to put your hands on anything which you come across. Similarly entrepreneur searches for his own support. He can seek support from family or friends who always want him to remain standing in his journey of life and gives him support of all possible ways like financial, moral or by giving valuable suggestions from time to time.

• Your shoulders are meant for others to rest

After winning the battle of getting into the train people around you are exhausted and tired, they need to rest. They are drowsy and want to sleep. So the best place where they put their head is your shoulder. Oh common!!! You cannot mind that; they don’t have an option but to put their heads on your shoulders. All you can do at this point is to search a shoulder for yourselfJ. In business too you come across various situations where there are several stake holders like vendors, suppliers, etc who rest on your shoulders whenever they come across a tough time. So do you look upon some shoulders when you come across tough time, remember the saying ‘do good to others and others will do good to you’.

• It is your responsibility to make your journey a learning, entertaining and a happy one

Now once you have decided to travel you have two options either to travel with a lost face which says that you are travelling just for the sake of travelling or travel with things which entertain you and makes you happy after all it was your decision to travel. Many people in the train use various things to entertain themselves; they plug in music players, radios, etc few others read news papers, magazines or books. It was nice to observe that they are trying to make their journey a happy one and a learning one. Similarly in entrepreneur life once he has made a decision to travel now it is his responsibility to make his journey an entertaining one and a learning one. Whatever path he has chosen should make him happy. Remember the first blog path of heart, even the path should make you happy.

This was a strange comparison which I tried to make between two journeys of life. I have travelled one of them, Andheri to churchgate was a journey which I can never forget. I feel this journey has made me learn the tough life of Mumbai and made me realise one thing for sure ‘all that glitters is not gold’. I salute all the people who travel from Virar fast every day. I think they are most trained to become entrepreneurs.

Path of Heart !!!

I have been waiting to write my first blog. And before starting I would like to thank all those people who have encouraged me to write and asked me to share my views on some issues.

The first thing which I would like to share with all the readers is about a philosophy which I came across in the first trimester of my MBA which was titled as ‘Path of Heart’ written by Don Juan. He discussed few very strange things; he said that during the course of life for every person to become a knowledge man he has to face four natural enemies:

1. 1. Fear (Which stops him from doing anything)
2. 2. Clarity (When a man never doubts himself that is he thinks he knows it all)
3. 3. Power (When a man has no command over himself and don’t know how to use his power)
4. 4. Old age (Won’t be able to defeat can only fight away)

Any path you select for your life you have to face all these enemies step by step, and the amazing thing is that any path you select in life will lead to nowhere. Surprising isn’t it. Now the question arise what do we do? Which path should we follow then? The answer to this question is very simple: Follow the ‘PATH OF HEART’. Before you embark any path you have to answer one question that does this path has my heart? This reminds me of a session by Prof. Debashish Chakrobarty who while discussing the rules of happiness said that the path for your long term goal should also make you happy.

Now we can say that every decision we take should be the one which have our heart and soul. For all friends who have been confused in their life about various questions like:

• · Which course should I do Aviation or MBA?
• · Which university should I take?
• · Should I take a drop for CAT?
• · Should I join my dad after studies or should I make my own standing?
• · My parents want me to get married?
• You think I will be able to live with this girl/boy for my entire life?

Anybody can suggest you but it’s you who need to answer all questions, and the answer is there within your heart. Good luck for your future decisions my friend, I hope this will help you and also if you find me cribbing next time make me read my blog.

Never forget the famous quotation “You are the cause of the matter in your life”.

Your views on the same are awaited.