Sunday, October 28, 2012

Water Car enters my resume

Many of us prepare our resumes for our placements. In our resume we enter all our skills, talents, academic and extra-curricular achievements. In doing so, I had included a project of mine which I had done in my 9th std while many include only those projects which they would have done only during the graduation time period. The project 'Water Car' was one of the remarkable achievements of mine is what I felt and hence I included it. I will let you know the inside story of how this happened.

In my 8th std, for the annual science exhibition I had made a model on the use of solar cells for providing electricity to houses. I couldn't bring the original solar cells as it would be very costly and hence had made just a look-alike of solar cells with paper. I had displayed this model and asked my friend to explain so that I could roam around the school seeing all other projects. By evening when I returned I got to know from my friend that my model had got the worst reviews possible. Both the science teacher and our headmistress had ridiculed saying it was a dummy model and had given very bad comments. I couldn't take this as I had spent entire night to make this model itself. I went to a nearby ground and was in tears that I had failed miserably. At that moment there was a small hope or desire inside me which told that in the next year science model exhibition I would get praises from the same people who had ridiculed my project.

I was in 9th std and one fine day, my friend showed me a magazine which had a picture of a car which could run on hydrogen and oxygen gases and would produce distilled water. One of my friends and myself went to IISC with this idea along with our science teacher. The first professor whom we met said that this idea was practically non-implementable. Then we met another professor in another department who surprised us by saying that we could demonstrate the model and even take it from IISC for demonstration at our science exhibition. We were really excited and my friend and myself worked in IISC for 3 days under the guidance of the professor. Just on the previous day of the science exhibition we made all our display ready for our projects. My friend made another project since he was in another group and I took the Water Car project for my group. On the day of the exhibition I woke up late due to last night's additional work and the rest of the day had some really unforgettable moments.
I didn't even have breakfast and got some snacks from a bakery while going to school in an auto. I had to get the apparatus from IISC to demonstrate my project and I went to call my friend but his group teacher didn't send him because judgement wasn't over yet. I went to my science teacher and even she disagreed to come as I was late and scolded me. I couldn't control my tears as all my efforts would go a waste on the final day. Then I decided to go on my own to IISC and one of my other friends accompanied me. In IISC, to my shock I was informed that the scientist of the lab was out of the country and without his permission they couldn't give us the apparatus. I stood persistent over there to get it at any cost. The professor was even worrying that I hadn't got any teacher along with me but finally made up his mind to take a risk of providing me the apparatus. I collected it and ran back to school and thanked God that the judgement had still not started. Finally the chief guest, judge, principal and headmistress came near my project. I explained the concept and connected the apparatus but the motor didn't run which gave a jolt in my heart. The chief guest just touched the fan attached to the motor and it started running immediately. It was just stuck due to some rust. I was overjoyed and the principal even mentioned to the Chief guest that my model was selected for INTEL district level science exhibition.

By evening, I was more than happy that lot of people who watched my project were really happy and the results announcement time had arrived. My science teacher came and informed me that I had won the award of 'Best Science Model of the year' and I was satisfied that all my struggle had finally paid off. I could just recollect those moments exactly one year back when I was at the receiving end of the worst comments against my project. In one year God had helped me to receive appreciation and award from the same people who had ridiculed me a year back. It was a big moment of triumph for me and hence even today I include this project 'Water Car' in my resume.
Please share if you have had any such similar instances in your life on
is.mohanbn@gmail.com

2 minutes to respond

Yesterday morning I was watching the Presidential election debate between Governor Mitt Romney and the US President Barrack Obama. Just before the start of the debate, the host was informing both the gentlemen about the conditions of the debate. In one of the conditions he mentioned that both men would get just 2 minutes only to respond to each other's comments or questions. This point caught my attention immediately. Just 2 minutes ie just 120 seconds to respond at a level where the future of America would get decided. I was left bewildering at this point and was pondering over all my previous encounters where in people took days to make a simple decision.

Time is such a crucial and an important factor that it sometimes teaches its own value by the loss or shortage of it. I have observed many a times that people invest lot of time in planning and decision-making rather than in action and execution. For a simple decision of taking forward one's own life, people think of all the pros and cons of making the decision. The heads of many institutions and organizations take days to consult with all thier staff and students to implement a simple project which would inturn benefit their own staff and children. A person who is leading a team or a company or even a country like America should be so confident of his intellectual capability and visions that s/he should be able to believe in himself and the decisions that s/he is going to make without the consult of all the members of the community. People are diverse and have diverse opinions. Moreover not all men are educated to the same extent to make a decision which can be beneficial for all. That is the exact reason why we elect and select a leader who can take the team or company or a country forward. This leader should be capable enough to take decicions quick enough which can push the progress faster through action rather than wasting time by involving in unnecessary discussions with host of people. Even if such discussions are to be considered, they must be done with people of really high calibre like the board of directors or the ministry and should be concluded quickly.

Friends! many a times opportunities will knock your doors and will not even give you 120 seconds to respond. You will have to be on your toes to take decisions and move ahead instead of spending time on thinking and evaluating as to what can happen in the future. There is no fun in having discussions or debates for hours together. Every hour of talk should be followed by at least ten hours of action. Only then the quality of our talk also can be respected. Please do let me know your opinions on this on is.mohanbn@gmail.com

Friday, October 26, 2012

OCD: Beware 5% of the population

OCD is a psychological disorder where in a person affected by OCD tends to repeat the same things again and again. The full form of OCD is Obsessive Compulsion Disorder. This kind of a disorder happens when a person puts him/herself under too much of self-pressure to be perfect at what he/she is doing. Due to the mounting pressures of the expectations of this competitive world which is addding tension day by day, close to 5% of the population is found to be affected by this disorder. I am writing about this disorder in my blog because I also belonged to this 5% sometime back.
 
I can clearly recall that it was during my 9th std when I got severely affected because of OCD. I had bagged the 'Merit Student Award' during my 8th and 9th stds in my school. During my 9th std, I found myself reading my lessons and repeating them until I got them perfectly well though I had understood them. Until I was able to pronounce every word to the best perfection my mind wouldn't allow me to move forward. There was strange sense of fear that I might forget all that I have read so far if I didn't perfect it by repeating. This repeating used to consume loads of time and also would irritate me because I couldn't get out of a virtual jail that I formed around myself. I still remember the night when I was awake till 3am in the morning just to prepare for a simple test on Chemistry. Day by day, OCD was catching upon me. It started to spread into other activities of mine as well. I used to apply filmit to the lamps again and again just becaue I was afraid that if I didn't do it correctly something bad would happen with me. I can only recall and regret those times when I would shed tears being completely helpless at helping myself.

I shared this problem of mine with one of my friends whose brother referred to me a psychiatrist in one of the hospitals in bangalore. I took my father along and went to the psychiatrist. She asked me many questions as to why it happened and from how long. Then she took me to one more senior of hers who prescribed some medicine. I came back home without much solution and was with my book once again at night. At that time, my dad came to me and told me not to have any tension or pressure to be the topper and just study as much as I could. Then he stated a statement which almost killed the OCD in me in one shot. He just told me that those medicines prescribed by the doctor would weaken my nervous system. This statement just blew me off my worries and intimated that my health was more important than anything else. That is the time, I completely started neglecting the OCD in me and carried on with my studies to the best that I could do. Even in my 10th board exams I didn't score well except for 94%. Then came my undergraduation, the first day of which I decided that I would study as long as I understood the concept and wouldn't bother much about perfect replication of text book words. I worked hard for 2 years only to find myself becoming the topper of my college alongwith 4th rank-holder for my state, 29th rank-holder in engineering entrance exam and 33rd rank-holder in medical entrance exam. Please share if you have had any such similar experiences on is.mohanbn@gmail.com

Are you a copycat?

Probably a question that many wouldn't like to answer or even hear. Let me make it very clear at the first step itself. I am not referring to one of those copycats who copy others' answers in exams to pass or score well in the exam. I am referring to the real exam of life where in all of us are just copying and repeating what someone else has already done. Many have this air around them that they wouldn't repeat what someone else has already spoken or they wouldn't do what someone else has already done. Dear friends! you can copy anything and do it numerous times as long as it leads to the upliftment of the mankind.

New always arises out of the existing. Even the man today we see is a result of continuous process of evolution from the ape generation. I am damn sure that we don't know the name of the man who first completely evolved into a human being from being an ape. Today's technical world is seeing so many cases on patents. Has anyone got the patent on soil or air or water or plasma? When everything on this planet and in this unvierse is a combination of just the above 4 states of matter it's so easy to understand the model of the universe. Each state of matter exists in specific amounts at necessary locations only to fulfill the purpose of its existence. Similarly if you learned a point which you feel you can pass on to someone which might be helpful to that person just go ahead fearlessly as long as it is morally, ethically and legaly correct. You don't have to create something on your own newly just because you don't want to copy what someone else has already said or done.

An inventor is not the one who just invents something novel, an inventor is one who makes sure that his invention benefits large masses of people around him. Observe the model of an atom and compare it to that of a solar system. You can just wonder at how the universe itself copies its own idea. After all, each one of us belong to the same universe. You are not copying or aping anyone, you are just sharing what they have created to spread it among large number of people. You are just being a messenger of a new thought. I don't mind even if you copied someone else's feedback as long as you message me your feedback on is.mohanbn@gmail.com

Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Fun, Work, recreation- All need time

Childhood days were the happiest is what most of them regard as. The reason being there was play everyday and the only work was homework. Recreation was something which we hadn't even had heard of in those days of enjoyment. Work was divided exactly into homework everyday and preparation for tests and exams at the time required. Winter holidays, summer holidays, Christmas holidays, Dussera holidays and so on formed the best times for our trips and recreation. We knew really well as to when to play, when to work and when to rest. But what's happening with the current generation?
 
Today, you will find so many people working in offices but sad that they are unable to enjoy life while at the same time you will even find people who will be on vacation but will be complaining about loads of work at office and insufficient salary. People think about work while having fun and worry about not having fun while working. They want to take rest during office hours but can't sleep at night since they haven't completed the office work. Earning money and satisfying all the desires and deadlines are mounting pressure on people's heads day by day. At any point while you are at work someone else will be on vacation or at play, while you are playing someone else is bound to be working which is a universal fact. Groupism forces people to do what their peers are doing and the moment one finds him/herself in a different sect than the peers, jealousy and dissatisfaction start to eat away the mental energy and time.

Friends! life is supposed to be an amalgamation of all these three entities- fun, work and recreation. You can't keep working all the time, you can't keep playing all the time, you can't keep resting all the time. So plan and divide your time as to what to do at what time. When you plan your time like this, you are not bothered about what others are doing because you know for sure as to where you are heading. Work excites the brain, fun satisfies the heart while recreation rejuvinates the soul. Keep pouring your feedback on is.mohanbn@gmail.com

Sunday, October 21, 2012

I want to know you better

"A gossip is one who talks to you about others ; a bore is one who talks to you about himself ; and a brilliant conversationalist is one who talks to you about yourself "~LK - This was the fantastic quote that I read this morning on Amitabh Bachchan sir's facebook page. It just got me to write this blog. Most of the times I either convey my experience or a learning from one of my daily incidents in my blogs. Today I am writing this blog to know more about my lovely readers and to express what I presume to know about my dear readers. Amigos! This blog is dedicated to each one of you out there who give precious moments of your daily time in reading my blog.

On a primary assumption, I think that you are one of those special people who love to read and hence you take out few minutes of your day to read my blog. On a secondary note, you are an optimistic person who believes in learning from others and sharing the experiences of others and hence you visit my blog. You might be one of those who has been in contact with me from a long time and might even have been a part of my team in any of our fabulous works. You might be one of those who appreciates my style of writing or the messages that I convey. You are one of those few precious souls out there in the world who wants to encourage a budding writer like me. I can clearly understand and realise that you are the one who cares about me and hence regularly visits my blog to wish me continue better or correct me if I am wrong somewhere. You are another important creation of God on this earth who wants to get inspired and want to inspire the inspiring ones with your wonderful support, love and prayers. I just feel you are one of those best hearty friends of mine out there with whom I might not have a chance to talk or interact on a day to day basis but are definitely present to share my emotions and feelings which I might not have shared even with the people around me all through the day.

I just can't express in finite words as to how much I owe to each one of you. Probably the only way I think that I can live upto your expectations and reciprocate the love that you have showered on me is by being consistent with my blogs on a daily basis and imparting more and more meaningful messages. I thank each one of my dear readers from the bottom of my heart and have a dream to meet, interact and know much more about you under one roof very soon. Love you all amigos!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

You can convey your wishes, blessings and love to me on

Energy matters

The transfer of enthusiasm is the achievement to be accomplished by any speaker when s/he takes on the stage. The audience can be at any state just before the talk begins. So the task of bringing them to the required  excited state is left as an initial challenge to the speaker. The initial part of the speech is the most crucial during which the crowd decides whether to listen further to the speech or just handover the external ears only. The initial short timed phase is the time that a speaker gets to convince the audience that it's worth listening to him/her for next few minutes and in this phase what matters is - 'Energy'.

The confidence is clearly visible in the amount of energy that the speaker can induce into each one sitting among the audience that can build a bridge of exclusive energy force between the speaker and each person present. The extra energy hardcodes the words spoken on the minds of the people listening. Normal temperature is never expressed to be experienced by anyone. Only a high or a low temperature is spotted by any living being immediately which results in an immediate response. Similarly, people are used to the normal energy of the peers around them. The moment they witness a dynamic energy source walking and talking to them from the stage, it catches their attention immediately. The best part of being energetic in a talk is that it gets transferred to the other person at the receiving end as well and no doubt that just like when electrons get excited they produce current similarly people who are excited by your energy feel the current flow through their body.

An iron rod can be bent only when it is heated. Likewise the necessary corrections on the existing beliefs and assumptions can be made only when the temperature of enthusiasm is raised in the person opposite to you with whom you are speaking. For the enthusiasm to rise in the other person, you must be ready to propel the energy waves by being the source of the same and hence I claim that 'Energy matters'. Hope and believe to read your feedback on is.mohanbn@gmail.com

Friday, October 19, 2012

What a day!

A wonderful day with varied kinds of experiences comes into a blog now. As I took off from home in the morning, I became a marketing executive and went on to meet the clients to discuss about one of the upcoming novel competitions. After finishing my meetings with the clients, by afternoon I became a Physics teacher for class XI and engaged in 90 minutes of session. By later afternoon, I turned into a trainer to train kids from first to third standard on public speaking. By evening, I took the position of a event co-ordinator to work on sponsorships for one of the upcoming mega events in Bangalore. By late evening, I was exicted watching a live achievement of my team at an international conference. By night I turn into a blogger to convey my experience. I just don't know what else the day has in store for me.
 

No wonder that I hoped and believed to live a day like this than a routine day of going to one single place and doing a job. It was fabulous for me to interact with people of different age groups ranging from principals to teachers to teenagers to kids. The travelling between different places just keeps you going all the time. Probably I haven't even experienced an ounce of what a big-time entrepreneur relishes enjoying every moment of the day involving in various kinds of work. But I can be sure of one thing and that is 'it all starts here'. Every single day that we breathe into the past of our life should enter at least one page of our memory, else the day fades away soon even from others' memories. The day has witnessed different kinds of emotions and feelings in me and everytime a moment goes by it just asks me as to what I did out of it.

I am more than sure that the busy schedule that can keep you on your toes can take the best out of you. The freedom of working as an entrepreneur just brings in loads of responsibilities along with it and I can clearly understand that I was destined for these. It would be great to read your reviews on is.mohanbn@gmail.com

Thursday, October 18, 2012

20 years for overnight success

I think it was Mukesh Ambani sir who said that the overnight success of Reliance was because of 20 years of persistent hardwork and efforts. No wonder that it takes 14 years to build a Taj Mahal which stands as the epitome and symbol of LOVE till date. Monuments always take time to take shape. So are you building a normal building out of your life or are you aiming at reaching the pinnacles of glory that can be paralleled only by something like Taj Mahal in monuments or Reliance in business?

When we are born, none of us know or even plann as to what we will make out of our lives. As we grow, based on the influence of our environment and our exposure we decide to aim and achieve bigger things in life. In the pursuit of such dreams sometimes we tend to forget that life was meant to be just a path to help us reach from where we are to where we dream to be. We feel that success keeps eluding us in spite of our consistent efforts for years together. No one in this world has been able to estimate the exact amount of time required to traverse the path of experience and learning in the pursuit of achieving dreams. The quicker one gets accustomed to the new learning and adapts himself to the situation the sooner one can be closer to his destiny. This process is what that brings the true INDIVIDUAL out of you who is eligible to hold the realised dreams in his hands. This journey is what that will take a lot of time when the dreams are not ordinary but are BIG enough.

It's a myth that success happens overnight due to luck or fate or by chance. Do you remember any of the lottery ticket winners who has impacted success all around him after winning a lottery? You would have heard of such people who became rich overnight but the memory would have soon faded away for sure. It's not the 20 years of hardwork alone that led to the Reliance empire today, it was the service delivered by Reliance and the large mass of population on the earth that was positively impacted in last 20 years that makes Reliance a household name today and a grand success. I am happy to convey this message to you. Are you happy reading this? Please let me know on is.mohanbn@gmail.com

Wednesday, October 17, 2012

Backup or Backdoor

Close all your backdoors if you are going to follow your passion. Make sure you have the required backup when you set out for this adventurous journey. I think the previous two statements have already conveyed the difference between 'backup' and 'backdoor'. Many are confused whether to follow their passion or do what can yield result and reward right at the present moment. I have tried to come up with a practical method which can help you live a life that you dream of and let me share it with you.

Basic necessities of life are the most important to be fulfilled irrespective of whether we are passionate about what we are doing or not. If these basic essentials can get fulfilled at the basic level possible then you can definitely think of working for the extra that you dream of. Without being able to fulfill the pressing needs of a basic life it's even more difficult to work towards our dreams. If you are already working in the field about which you are the most passionate about and are able to fulfill your and your family's basic necessities then continue the same without turning back even if your income fluctuates sometimes. If you are a person like I was some days back who are working in a field out of necessity and not out of passion then just calculate well if you can earn and save enough which can support your basic needs for next one year. If you have saved this much amount of money then it will be your backup when you jump into the field of your passion completely.

If you are spending extra apart from your basic needs being in a work and blaming that is the reason for you not being able to work on your passion then it's the backdoor. Backdoors are those escapades which you keep open under the fear of security which will never allow you to open the front doors towards your dreams. Unless the backdoors are shut completely you will never be able to work on your passion completely. If you can build one year of experience backup in the extra time apart from your work and be able to generate at least ten percent of revenue and also save a backup which can support you for one year without any income from the field of your passion then you can fearlessly close all your backdoors and open the front doors towards the life that you always dreamt of living.

I closed all my backdoors the moment I quit my job and jumped into the field of my passion, public speaking and entrepreneurship and hence I am able to write this blog today. Hope you like it! Keep me informed on www.facebook.com/ismohanbn

Tuesday, October 16, 2012

Diminishing life

Hi friends! I decided to write a blog a few minutes back and the moment I see my laptop there is only 22% of charge left and I don't even have the charging chord with me right now as I write this blog to charge my laptop. My laptop is going to shut down in few minutes but I had decided to write the blog. The life of the charge right now is diminishing and I need to complete this blog quickly before the charge is over. The same situation comes up in our lives as well and that is the exact topic that I want to address in this blog right now.

Many of the times, it so happens that many decide to do a lot of things before they die and we see that the darkness of death starts spreading its wings to create the cloud of doubts of completion of the predetermined things. Hence I named this blog as diminishing life. The author Randy Pausch of the book 'The Last Lecture' addresses the same issue when he is at the verge of death due to severe cancer. It's all about achieving your childhood dreams before you die is what he coaches in his Last Lecture. I just have 17% charge left to finish this blog so let me jump straight to the core. Life doesn't give unlimited time to us to do all that that we dreamed of doing. Only issue with life is that it doesn't guarantee the ending date as well. So the last breath is always kept as a surprise to humans or any other species for that matter. As I am typing quickly in this blog just to make sure that it's completed before the life of charge is over, in the same fashion when the end is near in our lives we will have to hurry to finish all the tasks that we are entitled to and make sure that we have served the purpose that we were sent on this earth for.

Everything grows in this universe except life. Life is the only entity which diminishes as it grows day by day. Hence every moment passed, you are more near towards your end. Gear up to finish all that that you dreamt of as a child, explore all that you desired to and spread loads of inspiration and smiles among all those who come across you. One doesn't need a deadly disease like cancer or AIDS being at the verge of death to understand the worth and value of each moment of life and start working on his/her endeavours, one can also realise the same at the verge of life before it diminishes and cease to exist anymore.
(Just 8% of charge left before I post this blog. YES!!!!! I HAVE DONE IT!!!!!!)
Keep passing on your valuable reviews on
is.mohanbn@gmail.com

Monday, October 15, 2012

Standards! Do they affect you?

In one of my conversations with a friend last night, she asked me whether her poems and proverbs were good enough to be published. Immediately I replied back saying that it doesn't matter whether they are good or bad as long as you want to publish them. Friends! let me reassure you that even garbage sells. Why do we have so many doubts against our own creations? It's all because of the set standards for anything we do that block us from surpassing them.

People have assumed certain standards for anything and everything that they are involved in. There is a certain set standard to wear clothes to a party or office or social gathering. There are standards for eating as well, in fact even to hold a fork. There are different standards of speaking english language for that matter. There is a specific way to convene a board meeting. People have a built-in perception that something really big, best and famous should be in the exact form that they imagine and if anyone else is doing the same level of impact but in a different form, it's difficult for people to accept. Friends! please get rid of all such unwritten rules that clog your mind from conveying our thoughts and ideas.

Right at the beginning of evolution of homo-sapiens species everyone of us were mere monkeys. Man evolved over the years and started following certain norms that eventually became standards for others to follow as they were more convenient and acceptable by a large number. If you can perform anything that you like to perform in the best way that it doesn't hurt the feelings of others and is neat in presentation that large number of people can view and validate it right then that's the best standard. No doubt that 'To err is human', you are bound to make mistakes. Just get rid of the fear of making mistakes and failing in front of the people's eyes. Be ready to learn from them and move on with your journey. All standards will get fulfilled in due course or perhaps you might be the next standard-setter. I am willing to read your feedback on is.mohanbn@gmail.com

How to become multilingual?

Whenever anyone asks me as to what do I do, I reply saying that I am a multilingual inspirational speaker. I add the tag of being 'multilingual' right in front of my profession. In fact, I even remember that during my interview for a job, the interviewer was questioning me continuously for twenty minutes and not even once did he look at me. But the moment I answered for one of his questions that I could speak 5 languages, he immediately looked at me and I was sure that I had landed in the job which duly happened as well. While leaving my job after 3 years, my manager also mentioned to me that it was this ability to speak 5 languages that he remembered which I had told about myself to him about 3 years back.

There are many such incidents like the above which have motivated me to come up with this blog. In fact I plan to write a book on the same lines as well of which you can have a copy in sometime soon. Just before starting off with the book, I wanted to share some sample lessons from my journey of having developed the ability to communicate with people in 6 different languages and here they go;

1.Desire to talk
This is the foundation if you really want to be a multilingual speaker. If you want to be a writer who can read/write multiple languages, probably you can do it with silence. You must be willing to talk on any random topic with any random person in any random location. This randomness is what that will build the field for your trial and errors while learning a new language. The more you expand this field the more expertise you achieve in developing your linguistic skills. Start talking to more number of people from diverse backgrounds on different topics wherever you find a homo-sapien. Your language teachers will be few among these audience.

2.Persevere the practice
As a baby learns to spell letters and words first time in school through repeating and rewriting, likewise you will have to repeat and rehearse whatever new word or sentence that you learn in a new language. Many give up in the middle because they find themselves forgetting the recently learned words and sentences in the new language. There is no harm in learning it again if your forget once or a million times. Just keep your perseverance going until every new word/sentence that you learn in the new language gets registered in your subconscious mind which you can utter even while you're asleep.

3.Deliver without inhibitions
Oftentimes, in such occasions of learning new language we end up at the receiving end of tantrums and comments from friends, family and colleagues. These negative comments build a barrier avoiding us from moving forward to continue our practice. Just shed all such inhibitions. No one in this world was born perfect knowing everything. Everyone learned step by step and became what they became. Consider yourself as a child who has started an expedition towards being multilingual. A child can make umpteen mistakes until it learns and so can you. Just keep delivering your talks in the language you wish to and soon you will see yourself getting better and better day by day and the target to be multilingual doesn't stay far. Would you be interested to read more on how to become multilingual, then please share your feedback on www.facebook.com/ismohanbn

Sunday, October 14, 2012

When it hurts, it's EGO

EGO means 'Eliminating Growing Opportunities'. We are born as human beings and probably we are the only set of species who can be hurt even without touching us. Words are the most powerful weapons than even bazookas sometimes. Probably the mythological stories which spoke of shaapas, by which any person could make the other person suffer just by uttering few words are the real proofs of the power that words have in them. Every weapon has a destination to destroy. Ego is the destination that we build in ourselves as we grow up to destroy our very own self-being.

No doubt that ego is the negative emotion that we have built in ourselves. Please don't confuse self-esteem with ego which most of them do when they say "I don't have ego but I cannot give up my self-esteem". Friends! the word 'self-esteem' in itself has the word 'self' which means it's applicable for the self only. When you respect yourself and you maintain your integrity to keep up to the respect in your own eyes for youself then you have your self-esteem guarded very well and no one can even touch it to disturb it. The moment you are hurt by a simple comment or tease or act of someone else towards you, then alarm yourself that it was not your self-esteem which got hurt but it was your ego. When you are right in your own eyes, self-esteem can't be disturbed at all but when you feel bad that other person doesn't value you as you value yourself then it's the ego that gets hurt and makes you feel bad.

I have come across a lot of irrelevant comments and ridicules about myself in the past and as experience grew I could only realise that these were logically irrelevant and I was still feeling bad about them because I had set my expectations as to how people should respect me. This was the wall of ego that I had built in myself which I completely shattered as time passed by to make sure that the destination to destroy itself didn't exist anymore. Since then any hard words just pass through my ears without even entering my heart. Destroy the wall of ego in the self because no weapon is thrown when there is no target. I don't mind asking my dear readers for feedback again and again as there is no ego to get hurt if I don't get any on www.facebook.com/ismohanbn

Easy to agree when it's true

This blog is dedicated to Patricia Carrigan, author of the antiserum series who replied with this statement to one of my posts on facebook, which I have used as the title of this blog. This statement sounded so simple yet so profound with its deep meaning inside. Today people are not ready to accept what you say even after showing multiple proofs either because out of their ignorance or ego. Also there are many people who are getting deceived with false claims due to insufficient knowledge and exposure. But it all becomes easy to agree when what you say is true and universal. Acceptance from people is one of the hard things to achieve in life. Be true to make it easy.

Life is a long journey right from our birth till death. During this finite journey we are bound to come across lots of people along whom we will be working. To climb up the ladder of growth quickly, many use the wrong methods of convincing people on their reasons through false methods. They might succeed in climbing a few steps but after some time when their disintegrity is revealed, the steps of the ladder just break resulting in them falling down from heights. Unfortunately it take more time to build back the steps of the ladder and climb it again. However if one can be truthful in whatever he/she does, then there is no need of the struggle to cover up for the mistakes made. You are free in the open world to correct all your mistakes and move on. Indeed your failure will also be respected by people when you are true and open. It's easy for people to agree with what you did when you're truthful else the extra time lag happens if one is trying to convince that the false is the truth.

No wonder that today being truthful has been almost considered to be insane in business, I mean the real world out there. Profits and profit margins are just killing the true spirit in us. Folks! let's beware of the future as well. What you sow is what you reap. Better maintain the integrity in whatever you do. Struggles and difficulties do arise in every path whether you are truthful or not. It's always the path to success that enhances your life and not just the destination of success alone. Hence be truthful and make it easy for people to follow what you do. Eager to know your feedback on is.mohanbn@gmail.com

Saturday, October 13, 2012

As I foray into the future

As I foray into the future of unlimited freedom, I realise that I need to be more responsible for each and every act of mine. I have worked as a software engineer at Oracle for over three years now and finally on October 12th,2012 I quit my job to enter the field of full time entrepreneurship. Today, a day after my job ends the mind is clear without any pressure of work or confusion about my career growth as a software engineer in a company. The mind is pouring in questions as to how do I work on my passion and impact a large mass of people. Every instance happening around just inspires me to think a lot more as to how can I make use of it to grow to be a better human being.

The seed of becoming an inspirational speaker was sown in my head when I was in 9th std when I watched few videos of Shiv Khera. The sheer power to hold a crowd of thousands of people just by talking for hours together really triggered the desire more in me to do the same. I have been addressing people from three years now and it's been an enhancing experience each time I do it. Today I feel, I have all the time and all the resources that are necessary to build my intellectual ability to serve all those who listen to me. Working in a job of eight hours also gave me ample time to invest on my passion of public speaking. The only reason that I could take the strong decision of quitting my job was this. I practised my passion bit by bit in the available time even while I was working for my living elsewhere.

Friends! Your passion is only yours and belongs to no one else. It's in your hands to either water it or leave it to spoil and die. The only way to keep your passion alive is by practising it as often as necessary. Since I kept my hopes alive that someday in the future I will make my passion as my profession, I always tried to take out my extra and free time apart from the office work towards my passion and took talks. I feel a sense of accomplishment in letting you know that I have addessed more than ten thousand people face to face through seminars, inspirational and empowerment talks and trainings while working in a job for which I had to spend 3 hours of travelling daily. Probably one lesson that I can share out of my experience is that, practise your passion no matter how busy you are because at the sunset of our lives we only remember what we did out of passion and not what we did out of pressure in the past. You can share your views and opinions on www.facebook.com/ismohanbn

Thursday, October 11, 2012

How does LOVE happen?

I am sure that you have had this question in your mind at one or the other points of your life. If not, you will have it right now as you continue reading this blog. Life is filled with so many emotions and feelings but no doubt that LOVE takes the highest priority among all these. Love is the feeling that bonds any relationship stronger. However in this blog I would love to dwelve into the topic of love that happens between two human beings which is not related to any blood-line, probably that tingling feeling that you have in your stomach when you catch a sight of the special someone.

Movies have glamourised this love to an extent that the same concept of love keeps taking different forms in every new movie and they are afraid to showcase the same type of love which has become very stereotypical. No doubt that many of us are influenced with movies and most of us end up our conclusions based on such movie-type of love. Does love happen when a boy sees a beautiful girl in the bus stand? So was it beauty that attracted love! Does love happen when a girl sees a brave boy fighting off the goons? Was it the bravery and fighting skills that attracted love! Does love happen when a colleague helps out the other in office work? Helping selected colleagues lead to love! Does love happen when a girl is impressed with singing/dancing/speaking or any other skills of the boy? So, special extra-curricular skills were the reason for the birth of love! Does love happen when people are married through a arranged marriage? If you don't love after marriage there is no other option, right! Does love happen when a guy satisfies every desire of a girl? Fulfilling desires was the way to love! Does love happen when the person goes to the extent of sacrificing life for the sake of love? Sacrificing life for love, impressive but is it practical?

Probably this is one of the very few blogs where I am not conveying any message of mine. These are some of the questions that keep running on my mind and I am damn sure that many of you also have this in mind. Love is a feeling that everyone desires to feel at the earliest point in life but the only issue is that not even a single person knows as to how love happens. All the best to you if you are awaiting for such a experience. You can wish me as well on

Saturday, October 06, 2012

Examples of Social Entrepreneurs

Social entrepreneurs can be found all over the world, in most industries, and where there are pressing needs. Here are a few examples:
  • Istvan Aba-Horvath: Based in Hungary, Istvan’s mission is to aid Gypsy children in getting an education and simultaneously earn money. http://www.romacentrum.hu/kozhaz/debrecen
  • Raul Oscar Abasolo Trincado: Raul lives in Chile and works with poor, outcast youth in his country. He has provided an opportunity for them to become meaningful and productive members of society.
  • Mohammed Bah Abba: Mohammed has “resurrected” a form of pottery that was originally used in ancient Egypt. This pottery has allowed his people to keep their food fresh in the harsh climate of Nigeria.
  • Abbass Abbass: Abbass started AlManarah in 2005, an organization centered in Israel. His mission is to stop discrimination against disabled people in his country.
  • Rafael Alvarez: Rafael’s goal is to help American youth extend their outlook beyond graduation from high school, to highly skilled jobs by training students with the skills they need to do so. He accomplishes this goal through his organization, Genesys Works. http://www.genesysworks.org/
  • Anita Ahuja: In India, Anita has addressed problems of waste, sanitation, and unemployment into a social entrepreneurial organization. Her business produces high-end accessories, such as wallets and purses, out of plastic waste. http://www.conserveindia.org/
  • Manish Sankla: In India, Manish has been igniting youths by creating "consciousness" amongst young minds about their social responsibilities towards the wider community through Health, Education and Social activities. http://www.yuvaignitedminds.com/
  • Jiten Agrawal: In India, Jiten is conserving environment by planting trees. TREES are planted by taking individual unique click through its website. http://www.click2plant.com/
  • Ela Bhatt, Founder of the Self-Employed Women's Association (SEWA) and the SEWA Cooperative Bank in Gujarat.
  • Dr Abraham M George, Founder of The George Foundation (TGF).
  • Dr Verghese Kurien, Founder of the AMUL Dairy Project.
  • Bunker Roy, Founder of Barefoot College which promotes rural development through innovative education programmes.
  • Thinlas Chorol, Founder of the Ladakhi Women’s Travel Company.
  • Nand Kishore Chaudhary, Founder of Jaipur rugs, which promotes rural development through capacity building of rural people in carpet weaving.
  • Dr Govindappa Venkataswamy and Thulasiraj D Ravilla who established Aravind Eye Hospital where lakhs of operations have been carried out, about two-thirds of them free!
  • The Narayana Hrudayalaya Institute of Medical Sciences under the admirable leadership of Dr Devi Shetty carries out three dozen surgeries a day, among them 60% are carried out at a nominal cost or free of charge.
  • Technology Informatics Design Endeavour (TIDE), run by S Rajagopalan and Svati Bhogle, which supports the development and launch of financially rewarding and environmentally-friendly methodologies into thriving enterprises.
If you also desire to be one such individual who wants to make a remarkable mark and impact on the society you are living in then the first step is to visit www.atth.org and register yourself to attend the mega SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP FORUM on November 4th,2012 in Bangalore to witness the young social entrepreneurs from all across the globe sharing their experiences so that you can take back the lessons to start off with a social entrepreneurial venture of your own. To know more you can message to is.mohanbn@gmail.com

No need to convince all

Every new idea is first ignored, ridiculed and then accepted. There is not even a single philosophy in the world which has been accepted and followed by all 700 crore plus population on this earth. In fact there is a rule itself which says "Every rule has an exception". There
is not even a single system of governance which has been implemented by all countries/states. Still the world runs fine.

There has been a big invisible barrier on the innovative mind that blocks it to think further the moment it sees rejection of its thoughts by a few people around. Everyone on this planet has the best ideas to make this world a better place. Unfortunately all do not have the same ideas and even if some set of people have the same ideas, they are in different parts of the world unknown to each other. In such a scenario, clashes and arguments are bound to happen among people of different schools of thought and no doubt that these will filter out the best ideas for our future. Its a pity to see that today's youth has been pampered so much with all their wishes that a simple rejection of their thought or idea hurts them badly. Hence they are hiding all the information and ideas within themselves with the fear of being unable to convince everyone who doubt their thoughts. Friends! you have to accept that you will be unable to convince all because some won't accept the same what you accept either out of difference of opinions or ego or plain ignorance.

You are born on this earth to convey and pass on a message that you are convinced about that will do good to the world. Like death is a sure fact that we have accepted, accept that rejection of your ideas is also a normal sure-shot fact. You don't have to argue with anyone to convince them and make them accept your point. Keep informing everyone about your idea. Some will reject, some will ignore, some will ridicule while there will be a set of people who will accept your idea. Keep building this circle of acceptance by spreading your idea among lot of people and simultaneously keep implementing your idea as well. Some years down the lane, you need not speak of your idea, the work itself will stand as a proof and convince everyone.
Shed your inhibitions and share your thoughts on is.mohanbn@gmail.com

Thursday, October 04, 2012

LIFE really simplified

No doubt that books are the best friends of humans. Pages of a book encompass all the learnings and experiences that the humankind has gone through till now. A book can represent the entire life history of any human being on this earth. Probably the only reason all of us are able to follow our cultures is that all our Godly scriptures like Bhagwadgeeta, Quran and Bible are alive in books even today. Books are the only non-living means of transfer of knowledge from one man to the other. Such is the power of books. I am glad and happy to present you with the first book of my mentor Er.Sujit Lalwani which is titled aptly as 'Life Simplified!'

Sujit Lalwani is a pass-out from NIT(K), Suratkal from mechanical branch. He has been through some of the best remarkable experiences in last eight years of his life through business, networking, international level conferences and competitions sandwiched between frequent inspirational talks inspiring masses day in and dat out. He has been responsible for more than 20,000 under-privileged kids to be made computer-literate. He has had the humungous expertise of leading 8000 plus network of business associates. He has been the founder of revolutionary social ideas which are globally growing today such as 36meals.com which aims at eleminating hunger from the world under the banner of which already more than 10,000 meals have been donated to the needy across 25 cities of the world, IU-Youth 2 Children campaign through which thousands of government school students have been made aware of internet and opportunities in future after school by college-going students, IUNewspaperbag initiative which aims at having a greener, eco-friendly and better world by reducing the usage of plastics and providing an alternative of using newspaperbags instead and educating people on the same lines. Along with all these social entrepreneurial ventures Sujit Lalwani is also the founder of 'Inspiration Unlimited', a company which is striving hard to inspire masses towards pursuing their passion and to bring about a massive positive change in the society. Along with this, he is running 'IU websolutions' which provides website construction services and IUSMS(IU Social Media Solutions) which provides social media martketing services to businesses and institutions. Since he alone cannot talk to large number of people in different places of the world at the same time, he has founded an online magazine which targets to spread the fireball of inspiration through information called as 'IUeMag' which has writers contributing valuable articles from 25 countries across the globe and readers from more 75 countries across the earth.

Probably I could summarize just less than 1% of what Sujit Lalwani has done in the past 8 years. He has represented India at international level conferences such as One Young World, Visit RUSSIA forum and Year Big Year travelleing across five different countries of the world and has had a chance to meet Sir Richard Branson (founder and owner of Virgin group of companies). He has travelled and addressed people across 300 cities of India, Nepal, United Kingdom, Switzerland and Russia. Sujit Lalwani is a serial entrepreneur who will be coming up with slew of companies in near future to serve the world. Finally, after multiple and perseverant requests by his fans and friends, he has come up with his first book to reach out to all those who need his advice and guidance towards a glorious life and this book is titled as 'Life Simplified!'. After reading all these, if you are imagining my mentor to be with ages of experiences behind his back, let me surprise you by letting you know that he is just 25 years young. In this book 'Life Simplified!', he aims at conveying the best lessons of life that he has realised through his stupendous journey through  various ventures in simple words which can have immediate positive impact on your life once implemented. Hence I recommend each one of you to visit www.sujitlalwani.com and order your copy right now before the stocks are over. This book would also be reaching the book stores in short time. You can place your personal orders with the HR and marketing head of Inspiration Unlimited, Mr. Bharath.G.C as well on 7829414616.

I am really happy to pass on this little information on international inspirational speaker, the Josh Machine, the fireball of inspiration, serial entrepreneur, author, poet, ardent blogger Er. Sujit Lalwani who has addressed, motivated and inspired more than 11 lakh people through face-to-face talks in last 8 years. I am equally proud and happy to let you know about his first book 'Life Simplified!' which will be in your hands soon to keep you inspired and optimistically spirited throughout LIFE. You can share your feedback about the book on is.mohanbn@gmail.com