Fate and Destiny!

Time and again we complain about our luck and so many of us crib and cry about accepting what life throws at us.

We complain and crib and complain some more .

Smallest of things are enough to spoil our mood and take us in a loop of depression.

Today I would like to share one such story of ill-fate and how it was accepted with so much positivity. The story is a familiar one but the thought process it portrays is what I would like to draw attention towards.

Remember the Story of Lord Ram’s Vanvaas.

King Dashrath had consulted his ministers and decided to announce Ram as the new King the following day, he wished to retire and acceed the throne to Ram his eldest son and the most eligible one at that.

Having learnt this Ram was content however it was fate that had other plans.

As we all know King Dashrath bound by his oath to Queen kaikayi sent Ram away for 14 years.

Imagine Ram’s plight and mindset in that situation.

What does one do in such a circumstance , the public wanted him as their King , the ministers had approved, Dashrath had approved but alas destiny had other plans.

When we look at Ramayana today after learning the complete story it seems like a logical step to go away since we know its pivotal and crucial for the death of Raavan however in that moment and in that instance Ram did not know this, Sita did not know , the entire public of Ayodhya did not know. No one knew it.

Think about this, in a few hours he was to be crowned as the king and now was asked to leave for the forest with a ascetic’s life for 14 long years.

When Laxman came to know about this he suggested a solution he said let us take our father King Dashrath captive. As a prisoner you wont have ro follow his orders anymore and after the coronation we can release him. 

Thus his Oath to Mata Kaikayi can be bypassed on account of him being powerless.

But this is Ram we are talking about he had to set an example for the generations to come, not for nothing he is called Maryada Purushottam.

He said to Laxman “I have not done anything that might remotely hurt Maa Kaikayi ever and yet she has wished for something that has brought me to this juncture in my life. There seems to be greater forces at play. 

Fate has something in store for me which I will not be able to comprehend if I do not follow this path, its only logical that I follow this path which is to determine my destiny and so I will accept the Vanvaas”

In this one decision Ram taught us about fate and its power, we all know what happens next and how Ramayana played out further. 

How many of us accept our undesired outcomes with such openness and such gratitude.

Let us understand he did not do things because he was God , he became God because of his actions.

Jai Shree Ram 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻

P.S.: its Ram and not Rama , translation from Sanskrit to English has fated this mistake 😝

Bhageerath Prayas

Once upon a time , long long ago there lived a great king (😝 pun Intended).

His name was King “Sagar” or famously known as “सगर राजा”.

After conquering the great lands of bharat he decided to perform the famous Ashwamedha Yagna , and as per practice of the yagna he left a Horse to roam about in the lands , as fate would have it overcome by jealousy this horse was kidnapped by Lord Indra himself and hid in Kapil hrishi’s ashram.

Angered by this Sagar Raja sent his sons all 60,000 of them to search for the horse and in their search of it they reached Kapil Hrishi’s Ashram. 

Disturbed and troubled by the sons of Sagar Raja the sage in a fit of rage burned them all just by looking at them.

After learning about this the King was heartbroken.

Being in a drought affected area a sad Sagar Raja prayed to Lord Brahma for water so as to perform the Jaldana for his 60,000 sons and So Ganga took birth , but Ganga was very headstrong and in her prime wanted to destroy anything that came in her path, In a fit a rage lord Shiva held her up and tied her down in his locks.

Now Sagar Raja again with a heavy heart prayed again to Lord Shiva but he soon died,

His only other son who was left Asmanjeya continued his fathers Penance but he too withered away,

Then his Son Anshuman followed suit and even he too passed away,

The next heir to the throne King Dilip continued the task but alas he too couldn’t please Lord Shiva and soon left for the heavenly abode with time,

Then came Bhageerath the 5th Generation after Sagar Raja and as one knows Ganga is also named Bhageerathi , its after this King Bhageerath she is named so because Bhageerath by his prayers was able to please lord Shiva and shiva let a single stream of Ganga from his locks and thus King Sagars dream of Jaldana for his 60,000 sons was realised by his great great great grandson Bhageerath. 

A herculean effort one would say or as Ami Ganatra Says a “Bhageerath Prayas”

It took 5 generations for an effort started by Sagar Raja to fructify eventually. 

Imagine the patience put in. The amount of discipline, dedication and determination required to be passed on from generation to generation.

We witnessed something similar in our generation but much like many things that happen around us we failed to relate to it and unless one draws parallels it’s really difficult to comprehend the magnanimity of the event.

Ram Mandir was opened on 22nd Jan 2024 it was after almost 496 years that Ram Mandir was rebuilt.

If one takes into account a lifespan of 100 years which in times of Sagar Raja was very common , it would be fair to say that it took almost 5 generations to rebuild the temple. It took a herculean effort no doubt or to simply say a “Bhageerath Prayas”

Great things happened in the land of Ram and now that Ram Mandir is Back let us witness the greatness and Magnanimity of our Land once again.

P.S.: JAI SHREE RAM 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻

Service comes from within...

Are you here to serve or are you here to work...

This is the thought which persisted in my mind after reading the article which Girish sir shared with us about more than a month ago...for those who missed it....try and find itt....
anyways it talked about how the service culture in India is still in the infant stage despite the fact that we are becoming more and more service oriented.

Come to think of it, Service in itself means to serve..
To serve your friends, to serve your family..
to serve your elders, to serve your boss..
and above all to serve your job which you promised to do..
now what do you need to do is....to just stay true to your words...
just deliver what you promised in any situation...

Very recently i had given my bike for some work at the service station
Now what started by "saheb 7-8 din main hojayega"
took as much as 15-20 days...
Not to mention the number of times i had to visit the service station in person and the pathetic response which i always got....
and when i got all oral with the person incharge the manager stepped up and said
"Sir give me 2 more days i will look into the matter personally"

My question is why was he waiting for me to get verbal...?
Why did he not do what was to be done before hand...?
I did not expect anything extra...
I would have been delighted if he had just delivered what was promised....not even a bit more was required....but then that's not how it was done.....the service culture....in our country...still a crying baby

Now let us take our case....getting selected in a company for internship was just the first part...
we all accepted it and were excited to work.....but soon we realized
'this is not the job i want' or maybe 'the PPO is too low'
or some or the other reason....hence we fail to give our best...

Now remember the last time you were mad at a waiter....
or a vendor....or your maid....or anybody who failed to deliver what you expected.....

When you took the Internship did you not promise the company a service....
to serve for a period of 2 months.....
so now when you don't give in your full effort...are you not breaking your own rules....

You expect service but you fail to give it in return....
What if that waiter you were angry at was also a intern who hated his low PPO
What if the vendor you last fired wasn't happy with  the deal you gave him
What if your maid is not happy with the payment you give her...
And what if your friend is not happy with the way you had treated him last time...

In each and every walk of our life there is service....
Consider this...
Just by loving and caring a person you can make the person delighted...
now if you equate this to marketing jargon's of customer and provider...
you are serving the person....you are delighting them...
and return you get a friend with loyalty....
you also get word of mouth publicity....
so then...are we not all a part of this...

The way we behave...
we serve...
we act...
we treat...
each and everything is a service....

so if we as individuals fail to serve how can we expect an organization as a whole to serve efficiently...
It's all in our culture...we want good service we find faults...but then what do we do to improve it....

We fail to realize that each and everywhere there are ill motivated fellows like us...who always need the extra push....just to do what they were supposed to do anyways....

so where are we headed....i had no clue...i had thought we can't change the fact....i thought it was a problem we would have to live on with...where motivating everyone accordingly was the only answer

And then i had a chat on this matter with Girish sir....who explained to me his instances...

He says many a times while teaching he comes across students who would not stop disturbing....or keep talking....some times it just get's frustrating....
There is some point to anyone's patience....but then there is always a motivating force in huge abundance...
It's there within us....he told me if he does a shoddy job then he feels dissatisfied....not because the students might not understand....but because he did not do justice to what was to be done....


motivation should come from within...not from outside....you should know what you want to do....and what you want to deliver....then and only then you will be happy for what you have done....and the rest will just be a fallout...to mark his exact words...this is what he said

" it's a question of personal desires. it's a question of what motivates me!
is it something external that keeps me going? or is it something within me that pushes me to do better and better..."


So just as Johny the bagger at the supermarket Put his own personal signature on the job....each one of us should make our presence felt...something that the company will miss when we leave....
Something that will make the company want us....
If we do this it really won't matter if we get the PPO or not....because we would know that we have done justice to our job....
And rest would just be History...!!!

And on that note...i wish all the best to each and everyone of us....

 P.S.: If you like reading it...please comment below...:P