Sunday, April 28, 2013

The WORLD INSPIRATION DAY Logo & its MEANING

Every nation around the world has a national flag that symbolizes that particular country and its ideologies.
 
Every organization around the globe has a logo that represents the concept and belief systems of the founders. Every special day of the year is attached with a symbol that carves its remembrance in the minds of the people. Likewise we ie., team IU (Inspiration Unlimited) believed that there should be a symbolic representation for the World Inspiration Day as well. Hence we came up with the logo that has our philosophies in every layer of it.
 
The logo starts with pitch black colour at the bottom. Black colour indicates darkness and every one of us initially are in the world of problems and commotions that fill darkness in our lives. Lots of people are chained in this level of negative emotions and are struggling to get out of there. While people are spending their lives fighting through the hurdles of life, they have to rise to the next level of challenging.
 
The next level is represented by the blue colour which tells us that people have to swim across the oceans of troubles to reach age of prosperity. This ocean is huge and vast and shall take every ounce of effort from us. Blue colour symbolizes water that has the power of purification. Only after a man passes through this layer of purification of his soul can he reach the next level.
 
The level above blue layer is a layer of grey. Man is rubbed against all troubles of life and tested to the core to see if he can come out successful. Battling through all these, he has to walk on stones of fire while every effort of his is burning into ashes with a hope to find his destiny. In due course, he might find himself melting into ashes. That’s the time to rise from the ashes like a phoenix into the higher level of purity and prosperity.
 
Hence the next layer is white in colour to indicate the highest level of life which symbolizes total absence of inequality because the colour white is a combination of all different colours. At this level everyone is at the same level of purity of soul and prosperity of life.

Thursday, April 18, 2013

I know I'm shattered but I also know that God is with me always

God lashes out every trouble at a person to only make him/her stronger. Here's a story of a young girl from garden city, Bangalore, who was underestimated by her close acquaintances for 20 years of her life but found her true purpose of life and started enjoying the spirit of unlimited inspiration in her life. Today, she has been responsible for making more than 35 people including children and adults literate within a span of just 5 months.
 
Kavya Madhavan is a student from Adarsh College pursuing her graduation in B.Com during the day and working part-time during the afternoon in the same institution. She is a highly sensitive person who gets emotional with just a sight of apathy of any person around her. After realizing through a number of incidents that crying alone doesn’t solve anyone’s problems she took up a dream to jump into action to give her bit to solve the problems of others. She recognized that lack of education was the root cause of all evil and hence decided to teach the under-privileged kids in her free time for one hour every day after she finishes her work and on the way to her home.
 
Here are her answers to our questions;
 
1. How did you start this campaign of educating poor children who aren’t allowed to go to school?

A. On 28th of October, I was washing vessels during which I was thinking as to what I was doing in life. I used to get emotional at every scene of trouble of others but I was helpless as I could do nothing about it. I read a lot of books of Swami Vivekananda, who advocates that work shouldn’t be in words but in action. That’s when I decided that that day I would go out and teach any poor kid whom I found on the road. I asked the suggestion of Sujit Lalwani sir if my idea was correct and he gave me a green signal to go ahead with the project. That is when my life started to change.
 
2. How was your initial phase and experience when you started your initiative?

A. I got ready and left my home. I boarded a bus wherein I saw a beggar boy. I felt really sad for him and then approached him. He started asking me for food. I shared my lunch box with him and asked him to stay back at the same place where we both got down so that I could come back in the evening and teach him. Sadly, when I returned the boy wasn’t there. I felt that I had failed in my life but didn’t want to give up.
 
Next day, I once again went in search of poor kids who couldn’t afford their education on the roads of Chamrajpet but couldn’t find anyone. God was testing my patience while I was crying in desperation. Third day, God had to open his eyes to help me. Finally, I found around 5 kids near a construction area who were the children of the mason workers. I asked them if they would learn how to read and write if I taught them. The answered yes! And that’s how my journey began.
 
3. How many people have you taught till now and how has been your experience?

A. I have taught around 20+ kids to write their names in English, English alphabets both capital and small letters ­­and numbers from 1 to 100. Even adults were influenced to learn while I was teaching those young kids. So I have taught around 15 adults to write their names in English and basics of English language.
 
The experience has been totally satisfying. I now feel that I am living my life to the fullest. There are so many small faces that await my arrival in the evening just to learn. I feel so empowered while I am empowering someone else’s life through education. In spite of all the difficulties in my life, I feel every moment that the Almighty is right beside me and supporting me.
 
4. Were there any incidents during the process which made you sad?

A. Definitely, Yes! On a number of occasions I was disappointed and had lost hope. Thanks to IU (Inspiration Unlimited) who inspired me to carry forward my work. My parents were absolutely not supportive of my work as it included meeting strange people and teaching them. I had to make sure that initially I had to work without informing them. Couple of times, those students whom I had taught had gone back to their villages and didn’t return to Bengaluru. I was broken and felt that all my efforts had gone a waste but when I learnt from those who had returned that they had taught English to their friends and relatives in their village I was jumping with joy.
 
5. Which was the most striking incident during this whole process?

A. I used to teach a group of kids who lived near a construction site. There were 4 girls and a boy. Every day they used to come running to me as soon as I reached their place to teach them. On one fine day, it was strange for me to see that the boy who was always enthusiastic to learn was running away as soon as I reached their place. I was disappointed and felt bad thinking that he had lost interest in learning. I was into tears almost. However, I started teaching the rest of them. After sometime the boy returned and said that he also wanted to join the class. I was angry at him and scolded him. Immediately came the reply from him that he couldn’t come to learn as his pant was torn. I couldn’t control myself. I started crying. This was one of the most striking incidents of my journey.

The pool of talent for the modern world. The global platform that's changing lives

I thank Chris Arnold, the Founder of Your Big Year and World Merit*, a phenomenal platform that's bringing about talent from different parts of the globe for sharing his message with us.

Following is a direct letter from Chris Arnold, Founder of YourBigYear, Smaller Earth & WorldMerit*.

Today, Inspiration is not that difficult to find. Social Media makes great quotes extremely accessible, almost to a point beyond saturation. The oratory and poetry of great historical figures is being somewhat undermined by the sheer quantity of ‘wise words’online.
 
However, though sharing a platform with the common words of ‘Anonymous’ may dent the ego of past poets and political leaders, I say this ‘inspiration clutter’ is a great thing. It has created a modern day peer pressure to be a source or conduit for inspiration. As Anonymous or perhaps a famous poet first said, there is a pressure now to do well but also to do good.
 
Users of Social Media have already and irreversibly made a commitment to check or judge the actions and values of politicians and corporations. Though that is not always going to be fair in the unfiltered world of places like Facebook or Twitter, the consequence is that all emerging leaders know that they have to be people of value and values. The best of the upcoming generation know that it makes strategic sense to be collaborative, emotionally aware, culturally aware, ‘social’ entrepreneurs.
 
In the past, because the chance of being ‘found out’ was much lower, leaders were ‘safe’ if standards occasionally dropped lower than the electorate or customer would want. There were only so many news reporters to go around. Compare this to the speed and distance both news and innuendo can travel today. As David Jones, CEO of HAVAS Worldwide and Founder of One Young World says, "People are now empowered by social media to hold business and leaders accountable. So, if you behave in the wrong way – whether you are the head of an Arab Spring country or News International – then people can sanction you. That has taken corporate social responsibility out of the silo and put it in the P&L statement. Business cannot avoid this.”





In my opinion the remarkable effect of Social Media is not the access to information or communication it has provided, but rather the positive change in culture it is inexorably making. Twenty year olds have always been vaunted as idealists and activists, but today I believe it is increasingly more so. The tools are there to collaborate across borders and the desire to be seen to take action and have positive momentum is something for society to harness.

Old people, and by that I mean everyone who has failed to adapt to the current online methods of communication, will latch onto the painfully frivolous uses of social media. They believe that Twitter is about sharing lunch updates; they believe Facebook is simply a source for inanity; they regard the Internet mostly as an efficient delivery system for porn and a way to browse information– like a big virtual library. This view is irrelevant and almost certainly in its final years.
 
There is Merit Online. That is a useful pun for me as my organization is called World Merit and we have our own online social community, however, I mean it in a more encompassing way. The upcoming generation is grouping together in ways that will absolutely change the world. Yes! There are huge number of superficial online communities, but just look at how many powerful groups are being formed, for example,  www.worldmerit.org, www.dosomething.org, www.oneyoungworld.com. This multi–tasking generation is comfortable with being bombarded with messages that naturally splits its focus. In the same minute it will think about football and famine, pop and poverty, and these groups sit unapologetically next to each other on Facebook and in their consciousness.
 
So here is my main point. Quotes are unlimited, messaging is unlimited, but because of the actions that the upcoming generations will take and the way that content is easily shared, inspiration is also unlimited.
 
This has been recognized by my friend, Sujit Lalwani, who happened to be a finalist in the www.yourbigyear.comcompetition that I started a few years back. In YBY2 Sujit beat over 60,000 people from almost every country in the world to become a finalist. He had already recognized the power of his actions on peers and had set up the Inspiration Unlimited initiative, and has now authored his first book with the title ‘Life Simplified!’. Sujit is in his mid twenties and is one of the most motivating emerging leaders I’ve met. The incredible thing is that the ‘Your Big Year’ competition revealed to me the positive power and positive mentality of such a huge proportion of youth. They will not allow the cynicism of the older generations to infect them, but unlike in the past, this is not because of naivety.
 
They know the problems that face humanity and the planet. They understand the need for change more acutely than ever before. They also know that their approach will be unrecognizably different, more collaborative, and more open, than ever. They are aware of the risks of being subverted or made immobile by sheer weight of input and death by committee, but in the transition of leadership styles, to theirs, they know that they hold the seeds of previously unimagined potential.

Sujit from India, Charles from Uganda, Barbra from the US, Linh from Australia, Sarah from the UK, each one of them knows their responsibilities to make the world a better place. I for one, for the sake of my two children and because it is so much fun, will do everything I can to help them.
 

Join the Merit community of global citizens and emerging leaders at www.worldmerit.org. Also try and become the voice of the upcoming generation by winning our Ambassadorial world trip at www.yourbigyear.com. If you are in a position of influence please try and support both initiatives and contact me directly. If you are old, and I mean in the definition I laid out earlier (not being literate in the new world’s communication methods) then you are unlikely to have read this note, but if you have, either modernize, or get out of the way of Sujit et al.
 
Chris Arnold,
Founder, World Merit and Smaller Earth

Tuesday, April 16, 2013

Another dream to share

Bodybuilding has been one of my prime areas of focus. I have even written a blog about how self-defence needs to be taught at school level itself. Combining these two fired up one more thought which became one more dream of mine which I want to share with my dear audience today. Today was filled with thoughts and discussions about dreams and hence I am continuing the same tonight.
 
I have searched for bodybuilding tips on internet and have often found most of the websites featuring bodybuilders from different countries other than my own country ie., India. Hence I used to have a dream that I should help Indian bodybuilders to get websites and market themselves and their ideas using the online medium. Probably the same is true in other countries where computer education is a little low. Since physical fitness is very important for a healthy lifestyle, everyone needs to get into physical training. To serve so many customers, obviously there need to be good number of trainers at least in the ratio of 20 customers: 1 trainer. All the people should have access to their trainers websites and gyms for their physical training. To accommodate every single citizen in gyms, there should be a lot of gyms, probably at the rate of every street having a gym. I even read that Arnold Schwarzenegger had once dreamt that there would be more gyms than supermarkets in USA. His dream motivated me as it clearly synced with that of mine.
 
Once there are enough number of gyms such that everyone gets physical training, people become stronger. Most of the parents don't enroll their kids into martial arts or any other self-defence classes because of the fear of their kids getting hurt. Once every kid is strong with daily work-out at the gym and play, even parents shall have more confidence and less fear in enrolling their children for self-defence classes. Eventually our coming generations shall become physically strong and the entire population shall be so strong that there cannot be any physical assault by bullies on anyone since everyone knows how to defend themselves and help others in trouble. This shall lead to an empowered nation is what my mind imagines and believes in. Please feel free to share your feedback on is.mohanbn@gmail.com

A dream to share

As I keep writing blogs one after the other day by day, I need to ask myself as to what new have I learned today. I need to think through different diverse experiences that I have gone through till night and then pen down my most important lesson for the day. Since I have crossed more than 400 blogs now, I thought of sharing a dream of mine with my beloved readers, my true motivators.
 
Recently, I was searching for some content on 'self-evaluation' on google. I searched for more than fifteen minutes but couldn't find any valuable material. As the Japanese saying says, "when no one else has done it then you must do it", I took up the task of writing a blog on self-evaluation to present myself and for others who might search for the same. At that time, I just recalled about how many friends of mine and mentees had appreciated my blogs. They had even shared that they had learned many lessons from my blogs. Even in the blog statistics I have found that when people search on certain topics, they have landed on my blog. A lot of people search for different lessons on life skills on internet. Since I write most of my blogs on life skills, I dreamt that whenever a person wants to learn about a topic related to life skills like self-development or understanding the perceptions of the world, s/he should just type the topic '+ MohanBN blog' and find the answer to his/her query in my blog.
 
I know there's a lot of work that needs to go behind making this dream materialise into reality. I know that I need to study and learn a lot to post quality content that is completely helpful for anyone who lands on my blog. I am completely aware that I need to cover a number of topics to match with the uncountable number of queries that people can come up with in order to fulfill my dream. Knowing all these challenges, I know one more thing and that is, I shall be blogging every single day and shall take up new topics everyday. More than all, I have loving readers like you who shall support me in accomplishing this dream at the earliest. Hence I wanted to share this dream of mine with you. I would like to learn about your dreams as well, if you can post about them on is.mohanbn@gmail.com

Sunday, April 14, 2013

Kalpana - Beyond imagination

The word 'kalpana' in Hindi means imagination. But the word 'Kalpana' that I have used in the title doesn't refer to imagination but to a girl by name Kalpana from Gujarat who is beyond imagination. Students from 5 different colleges made their presence felt today in Bangalore to attend a session about ENTREPRENEURSHIP by Team IU(Inspiration Unlimited) and international inspirational speaker Mr. Sujit Lalwani. A large group of youth participated in this event and out of these there was one girl by name Kalpana who has an inspiring story to share with us.
Kalpana was enrolled into a Marathi school during her early childhood and had to study completely in Marathi. Then for her higher classes during schooling, she was transferred to another school that taught in Gujarathi. There was no option for her to study in an English medium school. After her schooling, she was sent to Bangalore to study in IKON nursing college to pursue B.Sc in nursing where the complete syllabus was taught in English alone. Indeed this was a big shock for Kalpana as she had to shift from regional medium school to English medium college all of a sudden absolutely without any expertise in English. However with the encouragement of her dad, she took up this bold step and entered Bangalore. This is just a brief introduction about Kalpana. To learn about how she managed through these language barriers let's see some Q&As;
How did you feel when you were transferred to schools teaching in different languages?
When I joined a Gujarathi institution to learn science I was very afraid. Then, I told myself that nothing is impossible on this earth. Even my dad encouraged me and I gave my best in the exams. Everyone around me was schocked that a girl from Marathi background had fared well in Gujarathi medium.
When you were trasnferred from Gujarathi medium to English medium institution, how did you face the challenge?
I almost doubted myself if I would be able to do anything but then consoled myself that now I couldn't turn my back on education and leave. I felt sad thinking that my dad would be disappointed to know that his daughter had accepted defeat. Hence I decided that I would put in my best efforts and learn. Today, though I make mistakes while speaking in English, I can understand English completely. I am even proficient in Marathi, Gujarathi and Hindi.
When you started practising to communicate in English how was your experience?
In our college, speaking in regional language is prohibited. So, when I used to speak in English with my Gujarathi friends they used to get irritated with the mistakes that I made while speaking and would ask me to stop speaking in English, but today the same friends appreciate me for the kind of fluency that I have mastered in speaking in English.
When you felt bad hearing to your friends' comments what did you do?
I used to cry a lot when my friends teased me. I have a habit of writing my daily dairy. I used to pour down my feelings in it. I blamed my dad for not enrolling me into an English medium school but my dad told me that I would be proud about him when I would be the topper of the class even in the English medium college.
When you were changing schools and college, your language medium was changing which upset you but because of that today you know Hindi, Marathi, Gujarathi, Nepali and English and you are a multilingual person today. How do you feel about it?
By learning different languages, I have even learned different cultures of which my friends are a part of. Hence I can mingle with all friends of mine very easily because of which I have many friends.
What is your one message to those who feel inferior while communicating in English?
Please don't think negative. Tell yourself that you will be able to do. Instead of thinking that things will not happen, give your best to make things happen. I gaurantee that if you try, you shall definitely succeed.
Who all do you want to thank for being an inspiration in your life?
First of all, I want to thank my dad about whom I am very proud of. He is the reason for my success today. In spite of low income levels, he is spending a lot on me and my studies and providing me all the amenities. Secondly, I want to thank that teacher of mine who encouraged me to go on the stage and talk to hundreds of people. Thirdly, I would like to thank Sister Devi who has helped me and my friends to get an exposure about different things happening around us and who has been a source of inspiration and encouragement for us always.

Monday, April 08, 2013

Krupanidhi School of Management invites IU

One more speech and this time it happened at Krupanidhi School of Management. It was April 1st, popularly known as the Fool's day, 2 young gentlemen from Inspiration Unlimited were invited by Krupanidhi School of Management(KSM) to address around 150 MBA students studying in their 1st year of MBA. The first man was Mr. Sujit Lalwani and the second lucky guy was me. The surprise was that both of us had no MBA degree attached to our names.
 
It was pretty long drive from the centre of Bangalore to reach KSM but somehow we made it but the students had to wait for about 60 minutes until we reached as we had lost the route on our way. It was about 12:30pm by the time we reached the college and the dean of KSM, Mr. Rahul Sharma escorted us into the auditorium filled with students with their blazers on citing that they were real MBA students. It was a very warm welcome extended by Ms. Patricia to begin the session. Sujit Lalwani sir took over the stage and with his never ending charm began engaging the audience in the talk of their life. He could make them realise that their choice of MBA shouldn't be just of a degree but a dream of their future life. He asked the students if they could be a part of a IUY2C campaign and when good number of hands went up, he took 5 minutes to find out the volunteers, plan the campaign, decide the deadline and assign the roles and proved that MBA could be learned in these 5 minutes.
 
Then Mr. Sujit Lalwani
continued talking about how few minutes of a day when used productively can help students mould their life. He explained about how grabbing every opportunity can make one go a long way ahead in life and shared some of his achievements at the national and international levels. I was glad that even I got a chance to address these set of MBA students. When I went on the stage I shared some of my experiences of my past about how otherwise advices of others can spoil our opportunities in life. I stressed on the point of making leadership a daily process and shared the example of my blogging with them. It was awesome to see that these students endorsed our points and vowed to create a difference in the world.
 
All regards and thanks to Mr. Rahul Sharma and the management of KSM for arranging this talk and joining hands with IU to spread inspiration among 150 more students.

Saturday, April 06, 2013

SEPC - Sports Equipment Procurement Campaign

PLAY FORWARD is an organization from Australia which through community programs use sport as an avenue to build confidence and self esteem amongst young Australians aged 8-13. They aim to impact disengaged and marginalised children, particularly Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students, whose school completion rates are well below the completion rates for other students.Play Forward harnesses the power of sport as a vehicle for social change. OSCAR - Organization for Social Change, Awareness & Responsibility is an organization from Mumbai, India which aims at encouraging children to continue their education through the medium of sports. IU Cares from India tied up with the Australian project PLAY FORWARD and OSCAR and decided to carry out the campaign named as SEPC - Sports Equipment Procurement Campaign in India.
 
We started this project around the month of November and initially this project gained wide interest among lot of teams who were willing to take it up. Whenever a lot many people take up something ultimately it ends up in no one doing it. The same happened with SEPC and the different sets of people who took up the project fell short of their commitment but IU Cares was hell-bent to make sure that this amazing campaign materialised into reality. Hence the team IU took the entire responsibility of making sure that the task of SEPC happened within 24 hours of time frame and we are glad to let the world know that we have achieved our target.
 
The target was taken precisely at 4pm on April 2nd,2013 and right after that 5 dedicated volunteers from different parts of Bangalore were selected and were informed to contact 5 or more relatives or neighbours or friends or classmates or strangers and collect at least one old sports equipment from them which they would otherwise throw away. Within just 4 hours of allotment of the task, the first volunteer by name Srinivas KN from National college reached with his sports items including cricket bat, stumps, jersey and shuttle badminton rackets. The next day on April 3rd,2013, old toys and sports equipment from 4 more volunteers reached within 3pm and finally it was a quick grand successful campaign of SEPC. More than 50 sports artciles were collected within a matter of 24 hours of time. IU Cares takes this opportunity to appreciate all the volunteers- Srinivas KN, Nivedita Raj, Aditya Kanbur, Rajath, Jayanth and Shylesh KS who made SEPC a successful campaign. All of these sports articles shall be distributed to under-privileged kids at the earliest.

Thursday, April 04, 2013

Follow Your Heart

One more fantastic day materialised to end the financial year in an awesome manner. 31st of March,2013 marked one more session of IU(Inspiration Unlimited) in the city of Bangalore to inspire 100 plus youth from different colleges and different streams. It was a session on the most pressing topic among youth today titled as 'Follow Your Heart'. In this dynamic world today, people are advised to follow their heart by anyone and everyone. Unfortunately there are less number of people who can understand what's really there in their hearts but who aren't being guided towards how they need to follow their hearts. To clear these confusions and provide more clarifications on the topic IU came up with this session.
 
I was more than glad that I was also a part of this magnanimous event. In the morning, all the students belonging to different streams came and settled in the auditorium and we had the introduction and the ignition to the event given by Mr. Bharath GC who mesmerized the crowd with his smile and charmful talk. He explained about how energy needs to be showcased at every moment of life to get the best learning out of life and then introduced me on the stage. I was a bit nervous to talk on this critical-cum-crucial topic but took it as a challenge to throw myself into it. I spoke about the basic confusion that people have about following one's own heart. Some are deceived by the photos of people that they keep in their hearts and follow and reach nowhere in life. I discussed about how some are stopped by the parental restrictions, some are demotivated by their peers while some shy or fear away from following their hearts were the different reasons for not following one's own heart. I shared about some of the examples from my own life about how I followed my heart when I wanted to become a multilingual guy, when I wanted to start a robotics company, when I wanted to quit my job and jump into entrepreneurship, when I wanted to create a record in blogging and succeeded in all of them. Then it was time for the show to reach the pinnacle of its purpose and we welcomed the well reknowned international inspirational speaker Mr. Sujit Lalwani on the stage by witnessing whom the audience went mad.
 
Sujit Lalwani sir in his most humourous way conveyed that following your heart was all about breaking the rules of the world to pursue your passion. He had brought along with him few slides each one of which spoke a key message to follow your heart. He spoke about how following your mind would take only courage but following your heart would take everything from you. He explained the tiny twists and turns in our life that can be the reasons for the biggest successes or failures of our life. He showcased the international platforms like One Young World, Your Big Year, World MERIT and VISIT Russia all of which he was a part of just because he followed his heart everytime without being bothered by the advices and comments of others. He showed people that success was not attached with the age of the achiever and shared few of his achievements which inspired the audience. Totally, it was an empowering session which concluded with the fearless participants who came on the stage to share their learning and commitments with the audience. Even you can be a part of upcoming IU sessions in different cities of India if you're determined to take control of your life and dreams. Do visit www.iuindia.com and contact Mr.Bharath GC on 7829414616 for more details.