I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work.
- Thomas Alva Edison
Never regret. If it's good, it's wonderful. If it's bad, it's experience.
- Victoria Holt, writer
"Everything is okay in the end, if it's not ok, then it's not the end."
- Unknown
If you don't make mistakes, you aren't really trying.
- Coleman Hawking
"If you are going through hell, keep going."
- Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)
The greatest pleasure in life is doing what people say you cannot do.
- Walter Bagehot
Don't ask God to make your life easier, ask him to make you a stronger person!
- Unknown
It is not wanting to win that makes you a winner; it is refusing to fail.
- Kristi
The difference between a successful person and others is not a lack of strength, not a lack of knowledge, but rather in a lack of will.
- Vincent J. Lombardi
Things don't go wrong and break your heart so you can become bitter and give up. They happen to break you down and build you up so you can be all that you were intended to be.
- Charlie Jones
When you want something you've never had, you have to do something you've never done.
- unknown
Everything happens for a reason.
Even if you never see the reasoning.
- Katie and Amanda
When someone is telling you that you can't do something, don't quit, just smile and say "I'll show you".
- Luis Lira
Don't ever let anyone put you down to make themselves feel better... Remember that...
- Unknown
What's meant to be
Will always find its way.
- Unknown
Do what you feel in your heart to be right - for you'll be criticized anyway. You'll be damned if you do, and damned if you don't.
- eleanor roosevelt
"Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent."
- Calvin Coolidge
"When you really want something to happen, the whole universe conspires so that your wish comes true"
- Paulo Coelho, 'The Alchemist'
Sunday, December 10, 2006
Monday, December 04, 2006
Along Came Dad !!! Learning to Rise
When I woke up, the first thing I did was to check my cellphone. Any calls, any messages? X works 24x7 you know. But there were none. I looked up ruefully at all the god idols I have in my room and then suddenly, out of nowhere, it struck me.
I have done well in life - I know I have. There are very few areas I have failed and I have never really bothered thinking about them. And at that moment, I realised that all this while in my life, I have never gone through the acid test - the test of failure. No man in this world, can call himself a man till he has gone through a time of failure. For you never judge a man, his will power, his strengths when he is winning. You judge him when he is failing. A girl who judges her love when he is only winning, could never be farther from being right. The only time when a man should be judged is when he has failed and lost. And I thanked god for giving me this acid test as well. I promised myself that I had no intentions of failing this test.
Still reeling under these thoughts, I was unsure if this was the right thing to think about, or was it just a garb or a mask under which losers could hide their face and forget about their failings...ummm
And then along came Dad..
Let me tell you something about my dad. He is the only one of his kind, no one whom I have ever met in my life can even come close to the qualities he possesses. A man of boundless energy, a man of unlimited will power and strength, a man of countless negotiation and convincing skills and above all the only person on whom I have more confidence of handling things than on my own.
And he called... and I told him everything which I couldn't say to anyone else. Its so unfair dad, its so unfair.. I was brilliant, trust me. Nothing had gone wrong, and I couldn't have done any better - I just dont know what happened.. I just don't know.. believe me.
And my dad listened and listened. And afterwards, when he spoke, I only listened. A few words from him and I was right back on track. I can't say what he told me... only he can say the way he speaks. But its suffice to say that whatever he said calmed me in ways nothing else could. My fallen chest had risen again, my confidence level was back to its max and suddenly, I was me again.
And even while I was talking to him, I suddenly realized how lucky I am to have a dad like him. And I so much could die for a quality that he possesses - changing his words to suit the occasion the best way possible. He is a master of words... if I had told him that I have got into X - he would have convinced me that that is the best place to work in the world. And now that I didn't get into, he convinced me that it would have been the wrong place to work anyway. Oh gosh... what a quality. I need that! for I know so long as I have that, I can never be unsuccessful in life.
And after talking to him, I knew one thing for sure. If X chose to go ahead without me, I have nothing to be disappointed about. If someone needs to be, it has to be that of X. "If there was anything that was under my control, it was my performance and not its outcome". Its their loss that they chose to go ahead without me. So it is they who have to be rueful - not me.
And at that moment, I made a pledge to myself. One day, and I do say one day, X will come over seeking me to join their company. And that is the promise of a son, who has within him, the genes of his dad ...
I have done well in life - I know I have. There are very few areas I have failed and I have never really bothered thinking about them. And at that moment, I realised that all this while in my life, I have never gone through the acid test - the test of failure. No man in this world, can call himself a man till he has gone through a time of failure. For you never judge a man, his will power, his strengths when he is winning. You judge him when he is failing. A girl who judges her love when he is only winning, could never be farther from being right. The only time when a man should be judged is when he has failed and lost. And I thanked god for giving me this acid test as well. I promised myself that I had no intentions of failing this test.
Still reeling under these thoughts, I was unsure if this was the right thing to think about, or was it just a garb or a mask under which losers could hide their face and forget about their failings...ummm
And then along came Dad..
Let me tell you something about my dad. He is the only one of his kind, no one whom I have ever met in my life can even come close to the qualities he possesses. A man of boundless energy, a man of unlimited will power and strength, a man of countless negotiation and convincing skills and above all the only person on whom I have more confidence of handling things than on my own.
And he called... and I told him everything which I couldn't say to anyone else. Its so unfair dad, its so unfair.. I was brilliant, trust me. Nothing had gone wrong, and I couldn't have done any better - I just dont know what happened.. I just don't know.. believe me.
And my dad listened and listened. And afterwards, when he spoke, I only listened. A few words from him and I was right back on track. I can't say what he told me... only he can say the way he speaks. But its suffice to say that whatever he said calmed me in ways nothing else could. My fallen chest had risen again, my confidence level was back to its max and suddenly, I was me again.
And even while I was talking to him, I suddenly realized how lucky I am to have a dad like him. And I so much could die for a quality that he possesses - changing his words to suit the occasion the best way possible. He is a master of words... if I had told him that I have got into X - he would have convinced me that that is the best place to work in the world. And now that I didn't get into, he convinced me that it would have been the wrong place to work anyway. Oh gosh... what a quality. I need that! for I know so long as I have that, I can never be unsuccessful in life.
And after talking to him, I knew one thing for sure. If X chose to go ahead without me, I have nothing to be disappointed about. If someone needs to be, it has to be that of X. "If there was anything that was under my control, it was my performance and not its outcome". Its their loss that they chose to go ahead without me. So it is they who have to be rueful - not me.
And at that moment, I made a pledge to myself. One day, and I do say one day, X will come over seeking me to join their company. And that is the promise of a son, who has within him, the genes of his dad ...
Learning to Fail...
Well well well... they say we never stop learning. And I learnt another lesson of life a couple of days back. And the lesson was that of failure. It might sound surprising, but I have never thought that I had really failed in my last 21 years as badly as I felt on Saturday. And boy o boy, was it a tough lesson to sit through!
A quick summary. It was the final round of company X's Recruitment drive. Just the last hurdle I had to clear - back to back interviews, games to play and basically to carry myself well throughout the day. I did all that well, and I really mean I did well. The interviews were a dream - never before, had I given such unblemished, assertive and magnificent interview. When I got up after my interviews, I was sure I am through. No human, whoever they were , could have the courage to not pick me up after such a marvellous display of skills. I was dead sure about that! I caught hold of my friends (who had come for the same assesment) and headed out for two back to back movies at the posh theatres downtown.
But I guess I was a little too sure. After one movie was over and I was still reeling under the effects of Penguins (Happy Feet), my friend got a call on his cellphone - he had got into X. Wow! I was so happy for him. The next thing I started to do was to take a look at my own cellphone - did I feel it vibrate or ring as well. Ah.. not yet. They are still calling - there is no way they can't take me in.
But the creeping python was all over me. All through our train ride to our next movie destination, I could keep feeling my heart beat rise with every minute. Did my phone just ring? No it didn't. Was there a slight vibration.. nah not yet. Or maybe its the tunnel? The train is running through a tunnel and signals are hard to catch by.. yeah that's right. Meanwhile, my friend was making frantic calls to all over the world - parents in India, friends, remote friends, enemies - "I am into X - London training, treat". I made a mental list of all people I would call up. First to mom and dad, and then to my brother - so what if I haven't spoken to him for over two weeks. This is the best time to make up . I will call up all my friends, even remote ones.... O damn it..!!!! Just Ring !!!!!!!!
The train was out from the tunnel, by then all the rest of my friends too had got the call from X and by the time we reached the movie theatre, I was finding it hard to walk. No way, I could sit through another movie - I am gonna die today. It juz can't be. What did I do wrong! Why is it that I am being tested for the power of endurance, why not someone else? Ah.. god. You can't be so unfair to me.
I ultimately didn't go for the movie and came back to my room. Couldn't have been so sad in my life. The canteen owner, where I brought my food everyday, spoke to me for the first time in 4 years.. and the first thing he asked was "Why are you so sad"... and I couldn't hold on anymore. Somehow, telling a stranger of how I felt was more comforting than anything else in the world at that moment.
The whole night, the only thing which went through me was --- why me? Why me, after such a splendid interview, with so many credentials - Dean's List, innumerable internships, awards, why couldn't I get through and simple others could get in? It was too much of a shock and a gulp in my throat formed which was too hard to swallow...
I din have the courage to tell my parents that I had failed in their eyes - the man who was once so sure in his life that no company could reject him would actually call them up to break a news of rejection. No I can't do that.
It was my first introduction to failure.. first time when I couldn't think of what I could have done better to get in. First time, when I felt I was at the receiving end of unfairness. So many first times, that I juz took refuge in a movie stored on my computer and slept ...
A quick summary. It was the final round of company X's Recruitment drive. Just the last hurdle I had to clear - back to back interviews, games to play and basically to carry myself well throughout the day. I did all that well, and I really mean I did well. The interviews were a dream - never before, had I given such unblemished, assertive and magnificent interview. When I got up after my interviews, I was sure I am through. No human, whoever they were , could have the courage to not pick me up after such a marvellous display of skills. I was dead sure about that! I caught hold of my friends (who had come for the same assesment) and headed out for two back to back movies at the posh theatres downtown.
But I guess I was a little too sure. After one movie was over and I was still reeling under the effects of Penguins (Happy Feet), my friend got a call on his cellphone - he had got into X. Wow! I was so happy for him. The next thing I started to do was to take a look at my own cellphone - did I feel it vibrate or ring as well. Ah.. not yet. They are still calling - there is no way they can't take me in.
But the creeping python was all over me. All through our train ride to our next movie destination, I could keep feeling my heart beat rise with every minute. Did my phone just ring? No it didn't. Was there a slight vibration.. nah not yet. Or maybe its the tunnel? The train is running through a tunnel and signals are hard to catch by.. yeah that's right. Meanwhile, my friend was making frantic calls to all over the world - parents in India, friends, remote friends, enemies - "I am into X - London training, treat". I made a mental list of all people I would call up. First to mom and dad, and then to my brother - so what if I haven't spoken to him for over two weeks. This is the best time to make up . I will call up all my friends, even remote ones.... O damn it..!!!! Just Ring !!!!!!!!
The train was out from the tunnel, by then all the rest of my friends too had got the call from X and by the time we reached the movie theatre, I was finding it hard to walk. No way, I could sit through another movie - I am gonna die today. It juz can't be. What did I do wrong! Why is it that I am being tested for the power of endurance, why not someone else? Ah.. god. You can't be so unfair to me.
I ultimately didn't go for the movie and came back to my room. Couldn't have been so sad in my life. The canteen owner, where I brought my food everyday, spoke to me for the first time in 4 years.. and the first thing he asked was "Why are you so sad"... and I couldn't hold on anymore. Somehow, telling a stranger of how I felt was more comforting than anything else in the world at that moment.
The whole night, the only thing which went through me was --- why me? Why me, after such a splendid interview, with so many credentials - Dean's List, innumerable internships, awards, why couldn't I get through and simple others could get in? It was too much of a shock and a gulp in my throat formed which was too hard to swallow...
I din have the courage to tell my parents that I had failed in their eyes - the man who was once so sure in his life that no company could reject him would actually call them up to break a news of rejection. No I can't do that.
It was my first introduction to failure.. first time when I couldn't think of what I could have done better to get in. First time, when I felt I was at the receiving end of unfairness. So many first times, that I juz took refuge in a movie stored on my computer and slept ...
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