One day I will meet him but I don’t know when, where and how

I came back from my official tour on Sunday morning by train after three days of traveling in and around Siliguri and Gangtok markets. Along with me, my Dy. GM (Sales) was also there, but he left Siliguri a day before by flight to Head Office at Hyderabad via Calcutta.

In the evening we (me and my wife) visited my younger brother’s house at Bhowanipur where both my parents were also staying with him. My father was sitting on the chair in our balcony, with his eyes closed and he was reciting Gurbani as usual. After touching his feet I sat down on the floor. He immediately opened his eyes, simply hugged me with a broad smile, pulled me up and made me sit on the chair lying in front of him.

He started asking questions about my health, my tour and my boss who was traveling with me to Siliguri. Before I could start responding to his questions, he started speaking on his own, he explained everything to me in minute details about my tour. He told me the name and colour of the car in which we were traveling from Siliguri to Gangtok. He even told me about the conversation we had in the car and I was amazed and surprised to know all about it. He was very happy when he was telling me those things but I was not concentrating on his conversation, because I was getting suspicious, tense and worried to hear these things from him.

How the hell he knew everything in details and the most worried thing was the conversation which I had with my Boss was in English and my father cannot read, write or speak any other language except Gurumukhi, then the way he was explaining to me everything in details which had happened between us during the said tour as if he was also traveling along with us.

Before I could ask him any more question/s he suddenly became very serious and said “Charan, finally my letter has come and I have to leave next Sunday night, at 8:40 P.M., therefore, please don’t go on tour, alright” and I answered him jokingly, “Bapu ji, where are you going, leaving me alone here?”, he answered to me in a very sad and low voice, “Charan, how long can I stay here, I am 80 (years) plus, I have to go one day and that day has come, it’s that simple, try to understand, it’s Almighty's wish”. And he reminded me about Shri Guru Nanak Sahib’s Gurbani which says: 'Hukum Razai Chalnaa Nanak Likhiya Naal'.

Thereafter, he started telling me about many things which I had to do being his eldest son. He also told me to look after my mother and both my brothers as an obedient son and elder brother and I should not run away from my duties and responsibilities.

With regard to my Daughters marriages, he said, “do not worry, they all will get married into good families in due course of time so you need not worry at all”. But to be very honest, I never believed what all he said that night, I thought, may be he was feeling very low that’s why he was saying such depressive things to me and I left that night with total confusion, chaos and a very heavy heart.

Next Sunday, my younger brother came to my house with his wife and children to have dinner with us and when we were about to have our dinner, suddenly phone rang and my sister-in-law (youngest brother’s wife) informed us that Bapu ji is not feeling well and he is calling us immediately.

All of a sudden, last Sunday’s conversation flashed in my mind and I started shivering on remembering his last statement. It was already seven past ten and I was staying at Behala which was 20 KM away. We immediately rush to Bowanipur and reached there at 8:15 P.M. and by that time, the Doctor had also arrived and he told us to rush him to the nearby Hospital immediately because he had severe heart attack.

I could not speak a word, my brother called a taxi and we took him to the Hospital which was very close to our house. Meanwhile, my brother had called his friend whose sister was working there as a nurse and we reached emergency ward of the Hospital around 8:30 P.M.; although the Hospital was over crowded but still the Doctor immediately attended my father and after preliminay check-up, he called the nurse, gave some instructions and told us to wait for some time due to very heavy rush at the emergency-ward.

Meanwhile, all of us were standing and waiting for him to be admitted. My father was lying on the stretcher when suddenly he told me in a very low voice, “I have to go now” and all of a sudden he stopped talking to me, his eyes and mouth were wide-open but he was not there and at that very moment the big watch hanging on the wall of the emergency-ward was showing the time 8:40 P.M. to be precise. I started shouting, crying, yelling and calling for the Doctors in a very loud voice, because my father stopped talking and was not responding to my repeated calls. Everyone came rushing towards us and the Doctor also came forward and after thorough check-up he said “ I am sorry”.

I was looking at my father, weaping and uttering following words repeatedly, “This is not done Bapu ji, you can’t go like this, leaving me alone, how I will survive without you tell me, I love you very much, don't go please, wake up because I can't live without you, Bapu ji”.

And to my utmost surprise, I am still alive and survive although more than eight years have passed since he left me alone but I strongly feel and believe that one day I will definitely meet him, but I don’t know when, where and how?.

With Prayers

Gurcharan

We meet Angel sometimes in the form of a Customer also

I was just entering the site office of my valued client’s (a reputed and respected Builder of Ghaziabad) when someone called me from the back in a very loud and harsh voice –“I told you earlier also that we don’t need your products then why are you visiting our office again and again?” And before I could answer him back, I heard another very loud and deep voiced from the inside chamber of the said office –“please don’t stop him, let him come, I have invited him”, and in a very harsh voice and unpleasant gesture the Director – Projects and Purchase allowed me to step inside his office.

I was trying to meet with the CMD (Chairman and Managing Director) of this company for last one month, but I could not get any success in meeting him. With continuous efforts and repeated follow ups with the CMD’s office, finally I got an appointment to meet with the Director who was also the Head of the Projects and Purchase of the said company, instead of CMD Sir.

I had prepared special ‘power-point presentation’ for the Director – Projects and Purchase, along with our products and services details which we intended to offer to this particular group; but it so happened that during the pp-presentation time, he was not concentrating on the said presentation and was also not showing much interest in it. At the same-time he was not asking any question also. It became a one way communication, but I continued. Meanwhile, the repeated interference by way of phone-calls which he was getting on his two beautiful mobile phones, further deviated his attention from my pp-presentation, but I kept on talking about our products, its features and how we can add value to his company’s products and services. I was halfway through with my presentation when he told me to ‘Stop’ and made a sarcastic statement by saying “thanks for your presentation, your products seems to be good, but we have already decided to buy another brand, anyways, we will try to use these products in our next project, alright?” And the said meeting was for-closed without any positive outcome and results.

I was more than convinced that the CMD will definitely like our products provided I can get an appointment with him. I was sure; I will be able to convince him, but my luck was not in my favor this time, but still I wanted to make one more try, may be God may favor me next time. Therefore, I came back at the reception and asked the receptionist about CMD’s next visit to the office. She told me that CMD is not well and he may not come for another week or so because he is having severed tooth ache problem.

I requested her to give me his residence address. She hesitated in the beginning but after my repeated request, she very kindly gave me the address. Same evening, I visited CMD’s residence. He was actually not well and was taking rest when I called upon him. I met with his family members and requested them not to disturb him and told them about the purpose of my visit. They listened to me very tentatively and requested me to leave my visiting card and assured me that someone will call me from his office next week positively.

As promised, next Monday afternoon, I got a confirmation-call from CMD sir office to meet him on Wednesday at 4 p.m. sharp. And here I am today, at 3:45 p.m. when I was entering his office someone called me from the back. (He was the Director and elder son of the CMD). Thereafter, the receptionist came running to me and guided to CMD sir’s office personally.

I was totally surprised to meet CMD Sir. He was in his mid 60’s with silvery grey hair, wearing white full sleeved shirt and trousers. Looking like a Saint, who came from the heavens and sitting at this office to meet me. He welcomed me with a soft smile and told me to be seated and instructed his staff to send tea and snacks. I was totally shocked and amazed to see his reception which made me at ease, calm and comfortable at the same time very relaxed.

He very politely and in a very soft voice told me to start with my pp-presentation. He watched 15 minutes presentation very carefully, asked questions in between and told me that he liked the product very much. At the end of the presentation he asked me only one question: “Can you install 3 units of your wonder-products as a trial order within next three days at our sample flat?” And that was the sentence for which I was waiting for a very long time. I could not believe my luck, but yes it was true and CMD sir was not joking with me and he was serious and he meant what he said.

We executed the said trial order within next three days very successfully and after comparison with their existing products they told us to submit our quotation first for the 1st phase of their existing project and at the time of finalization of the order, they decided to finalize the orders not only for their existing project but for all their three forthcoming residential projects also.

I can never forget that very moment when this customer came in front of me and told me that they liked our product very much and they want to buy it. I pray to the God Almighty to make all my customers like the CMD sir who is more than a customer to me, who is like a living Angel for me. May god give him long and health life along with lots of wealth, name, fame, recognition and all his dreams may come true, Amen!

With prayers

Gurcharan

If you are Happy at your Present Job be there and perform

If you are happy at your present job, please be there and perform your duty religiously. Accept this fact wholeheartedly and tell your-self very loudly and clearly that you are happy at your present job, you enjoy working there and you do not intend to make any change for now. Therefore stop searching for new jobs; also make it a point to stop answering calls from the HR consultants. Have enough courage and strength to tell them honestly that you are happy, enjoying your job and you are not interested to change, also thank them for the call.

Please remember, the moment you say no to the HR-consultant, chances are that you will start getting calls from the head-hunters, because you may be the most eligible candidate and perfect-fit for the new assignment they have in hand. They will start calling you day-in and day-out till you accept there proposal to visit their prospective client for a preliminary Interview.

Once you accept there invitation of an Interview call, you are going to get-trapped in this puzzle. In the beginning, it will be fun or you will call it an experience of giving an interview in a new company and evaluating your true value in today’s job market. But things will start changing dramatically in your personal and professional life once you have been short listed by your prospective employer. Your mind will start making all types of calculations and by the time you get an offer letter in hand, you are fully sold at the same time a bit confused also; your confidence and concentration on your present job will start loosing. But in other hands, it will also start increasing your excitement, focus and confidence simultaneously on the new assignment and you will not stop day-dreaming about your new job and future career growth with an open eyes.

It’s obvious, in any new job offer, the field looks greener on the other side, and there are enough reasons; because everyone will start talking good about you, your new company and new assignment. And they will start giving examples of your career advancements by way of your career growth within next one to three years, where the sky is the limit.

In the beginning, it will look so exiting that you forget the main issue and that is: “All good things are applicable subject to your performing, crossing all expected targets and coming closer up to the expectations of the new management”.

While accepting a new assignment, the new joiner usually forgets few basic things which are: - the company is new, their business is new, so are their customers and competitors. And it will take minimum three to six months for any individual to understand the company, its culture, policies, products, clients, competitors and their future goals etc; there after he can plan his strategies, road map and plan of action to achieve the pre-set target/goals.

However, the meter of the prospective employer starts clicking from day you join them and the whole company will be looking at you with x-ray eyes and they are expecting miracles from you; that’s why they have selected you and agreed to pay you an exorbitant salary, incentives and perks, which you have negotiated with them. They strongly believed that you are an extra ordinary person with super intelligence; sharpen skills, full of confidence, positive attitude, high energy level, optimism and an excellent performer.

Please do not get dishearten, the intention is not to discourage you to join a new company, but it's a request not play with your own career and change for the sake of a change. First, do self introspection and analysis rationally and than take a call. There could be various personal reasons but you have to think rationally: -

1) You are under paid and you deserve more
2) Your designation has not change in last five years
3) You are not comfortable at your present assignment
4) You think your boss and your colleagues do not like you
5) You don’t see great future for yourself in the present job

These could be some one’s assumptions which may not be true. Everyone has problems. But running away from those problems is not a solution; rather it becomes a bigger problem at a later date. Because the moment you decide to change the job, your mind, body and soul stop working sincerely, which directly influence your performance. You start thinking negatively and by default every thing seems to go wrong and it goes against you which further add on to your decision of leaving an organization which was good to you and fed your family till yesterday.

Therefore, please be sincere towards your job; give your 100%, always do more than what you are expected to do; strongly follows company's Ethics and EH&S policies,  try to learn more soft/hard skills; obtain more professional qualification/s; don’t criticize your company, boss and colleagues; last but not the least, do your best. This will not only makes you happy and proud of your job but it will also makes your company feels proud of you, because you being their most dedicated, honest, loyal, hard working and excellent human being who is respected in the company as a most valuable human resource.

With Prayers
Gurcharan

Consistent follow-up and patience brings positive results

Six months had passed since I had joined my new company, but I did not get any break through in getting even a single order. At the time of joining this company; Sahib (Sr. Vice President and Business Head of a building material company based at north India) gave me a new car key and told me that “the whole of national capital region (NCR) is your territory, just go and get the orders” and wished me all the very best for my new assignment.

Every morning, I used to leave with a new mission to concur. Some clients would listen to me patiently but would not give any order; another set of clients would not even listen to me while a few decent customers used to welcome me, offer a cup of tea and then allow me to leave without an order.

I was running from one builder to another for a break-through order, but it seemed luck was not in my favour. I was getting impatient with myself and had started worrying about my new job, place and products. In spite of all odds, one thing was in my favour and that was my Sahib’s confidence in me, which continuously gave me the strength, power and energy to go to new clients with the same zeal, excitement and confidence.

With each passing day, it was becoming more and more difficult to earn the salary without performing and this guilt of non-performance was so strong that by default, I used to leave every day in the morning to meet with the new clients with the hope of closing the sales-call that very day. It was a very painful experience and with the dawn of each day it was becoming yet more and more difficult to survive without results. Still I was not ready to accept the defeat and did not want to prove myself and my Sahib wrong by declaring myself a “failure”.

It was a “Catch-22” situation, with one-way traffic where nobody could take a u-turn and go back. Here, either you perform or perish; there was no other option available to me.

I had decided to try again and again till real success knocked at my doors. It was not a day-dreaming but I wanted to prove it to myself that consistent follow up and patience with the prospective clients would definitely bring positive results. Moreover, I was having the blessings of my Sahib and God Almighty with me, which was more than sufficient to win over in any given situation.

After eleven months of continuous hard-work, I got my first break-through in the shape of a trial order of three units from an upcoming builder of Ghaziabad, which was executed within three days. This followed with another order worth Rs.14 crores, to fulfill all their requirements of our products, for their four upcoming residential projects.

With Prayers

Gurcharan

We meet God in many Roles, Forms and Faces

It was a Friday afternoon. I was working with my field-sales-team at Guwahati, when I got a call from a senior manager, who was working in my Rehnuma’s office, (the Managing Director of a North India based Rs.3000 crores plus conglomerate), and he instructed me to report to Delhi Office the next Monday for an Interview with the Sahib, Vice President and Business Head of one of Rehnuma’s Units, engaged in the manufacturing and marketing of building materials.

As a matter of fact, I was waiting for this call for a very long time and finally the D-day had arrived. I was very excited about the interview call and the very first thing I did was to call up my wife and told her about the interview-call. As was expected, she also became very happy.

I wished Bapuji (my late father) was alive to hear this good news as he would have been very happy, because he had fore-told me before his death that I should not lose heart and wait for the call with prayer and patience and I would definitely get a call from my Rehnuma.

After making the call, I started thinking about the proposed interview. I had never met Sahib before and I didn’t know what all he would ask me in the interview? I thought what if by any chance I failed in the proposed interview? One after the other, worries started pouring into my mind. Somehow, with great anxiety and excitement, I booked my air-ticket for New Delhi.

On the scheduled day, I reached New Delhi Airport at 08:30 AM and within an hour I was sitting at the reception of my Rehnuma’s office, where the Sahib was to take my interview. Before I was called in by the Sahib, I thought of meeting my Rehnuma to convey my sincere thanks for arranging this interview, which I did. He wished me good luck and told me to wait at the reception for my turn.

In less than five minutes, I was called in. While entering the Sahib’s chamber, I was very nervous, tense and exited, but within few moments of my arrival in his chamber, the Sahib not only made me feel cool and comfortable but also put me at ease. He was very warm, friendly and started communicating with me in a very soft tone. To begin with, he started talking about the company, products and its future plans and later asking about me, my work and my family in details.

I was through within an hour. At the end of the interview, he advised me to come to Gurgaon with family saying that if everything goes well, I would not only settle down in there but also prosper and progress, both personally and professionally without any hassle. Last but not the least; he also assured me that my daughters would get higher educations, good jobs and will also get married there without any problem.

Six years have passed, to be precise, since that very lucky day, when I met the Sahib for the first time and whatever he had predicted on that day had come true exactly the same way without any variation.

It’s true that God Almighty comes in our lives in many roles, faces and forms but in the first instance, we fail to recognize Him with our naked eyes, and by the time we realize it, He is gone forever!

But in my case, I have been lucky and blessed that my Sahib is very much here with us and I pray to the God Almighty to always keep him happy, healthy and wealthy. May all his dreams come true; and may all that he wishes in this life be given to him unconditionally, Amen!

With Prayers

Gurcharan

Unforgettable Diwali Night

It was the Diwali day and I was staying alone in Kolkata, whereas my family was  still leaving in Jamshedpur. I could have gone to Jamshedpur a day before but I wanted to attend Diwali puja in the office, therefore, I decided to attend puja in the morning and proceed for Jamshedpur in the afternoon by Gitanjali  express  train, which was leaving at 1:15 pm in the afternoon from Howrah station and reaching Jamshedpur at 5 pm. I booked my ticket in advance and as per the schedule, after attending office puja, I left at 12 noon from my office for the station. The distance was hardly 10 km which could be covered within 45 minutes by taxi.

On the way to the station, I instructed Taxi driver to take M G Road, which was passing through Kolkata's biggest whole sale market,  because it was a shortcut to the station. But due to Diwali rush, there was heavy traffic jam and  I was unable to reach station before 1 pm due to heavy  traffic at MG Road.  Finally I reached station at 1:10 pm and I straightaway rushed to platform no.12 from where Gitanjali express  train used to leave everyday, but that day, Gitanjali express train was standing at platform no. 21 at Howrah South station, I literally started running towards the train, I had to climb the foot-over-bridge and in spite of my best efforts, I could not reached at  plat no. 21 before the schedule departure time, when I entered platform no. 21, the train already started and I was running towards the train, but of no use, because nobody was listening to me and in spite of my best and sincere efforts, I could not catch the train that day.

People at the platform started shouting at me and telling me not to run towards the  running train because I could have fallen-down at the platform and/or railway track, but I was still running till the train's last boggy left the platform. I was breathing very heavily and few passengers came running towards me to stop me; after controlling my breath, I started crying like a child, because I knew, I could not be with my family that day.

The next train to Jamshedpur was at 5:30 pm, which would reach Jamshedpur at 9:50 pm and by the time I will reach home it will be 10:30 pm and within next 90 minutes  the most pious Hindu festival of Diwali will be over. Meanwhile,  someone from the standing passengers suggested me to catch local train  for Kharagpur,  (all trains going to Jamshedpur stop at Kharagpur station), which will leave Howrah station at 3 pm and I can get some train from there  for Jamshedpur. 

But before taking any further steps, I thought to speak to my wife first and when I told her about the day's incident, she also became very sad and said, " you are not coming today for Diwali, children will miss you a lot and I will miss you too, please do something and just come?."

Therefore, after due consultation with the ticket collector I boarded local train for Kharagpur and reached there at 5:30 pm and it so happened that the local train to Jamshedpur had left 5:15 pm,  and  the next train to Jamshedpur was at 7:25 pm,  it was Steel express train which leaves Howrah station at 5.30 pm in the evening and reach Jamshedpur at 9:50 pm..

I tried to get information about bus services or taxi for Jamshedpur but I could not get any conveyance from Kharagpur. That day I felt very bad and realized that I should always have a contingency plan  ready  in case of such an emergency, as an alternate plan for personal and professional life in the future. 

I sat down at the railway canteen and coolly thought about the whole day's incident and  analyzed  about my mistakes. Thereafter, I called my wife again and  requested her to perform Diwali Puja and celebrate Diwali whole heatedly so that my daughters should not miss the joy of  Diwali's lightnings,  sweets, toys and fireworks. She listened to me quietly and said yes in reply with a very low tone, I knew for sure, she will not do any thing till I reach home.

In twenty years of our marriage life, that was the first Diwali when I was not with my  family. I was carrying lots of Bengali sweets, ready made clothes for my daughters, silk sari for my wife and jaba-phool mala for Kali thakur, which I bought from the station. I was feeling so helpless, frustrated, angry and cursing myself for the  said delay I had made at Kolkata office. 

 

I could have given the responsibility to perform Puja to our  depot manager but no, I wanted to do every thing myself and this is the result for not passing on the responsibilities to the team members, this could be due to my insecurity and low confidence level on my team members.

 

I reached home at 10:30 pm that night and I saw everyone was standing at the main-gate of our house and  eagerly waiting for me. That Diwali night, I felt so helpless, demoralized,  confused  and  shaky. I was having no valid reason or explanation which I can put forward to my wife and children about the said delay.

 

I also realized that day that, in spite of  my well planned strategy, thorough road map, best and sincere efforts the plan can fail because life is not mathematics and it's not marketing game plan which can be fought  with a  professional approach alone. It's life and life has it's own set of rules and regulations  which has to be strictly followed by each and every individual religiously because it's influenced by  the  nature or we can say by the super natural power, which is also known as the God Almighty.   

Happy Diwali

With Prayers

Gurcharan

I have seen Death with my own naked eyes

As usual, I reached Mumbai Airport late but as the flight departure was also delayed by two hours,  I straight-away went to the CHECK IN  counter and got my Boarding Pass from the counter executive. Having seen my turban, on her own, she gave me the window seat at the ‘ no smoking zone’.  After security check, I sat at the waiting lounge and started reading my favorite novel. Two hours had since passed but no announcement for departure was made for the Mumbai-Kolkata flight.   

Mumbai to Kolkata flight duration is 2 hours 20 minutes and even after landing at Dum-dum airport, it usually takes  another one and half hours to reach home.  It was already 8:00-pm and yet no announcement for the  departure made.  I wanted to inform my wife about the delay, but the STD booth was outside the waiting lounge. Therefore, I dropped the idea of calling her.  I knew, she will understand.

Finally, the departure announcement was made and all the passengers proceeded towards the Kolkata flight.  At 10:30-P.M. the flight took off.  Every one seemed happy at last.  So was I, because I was going back home, after a week’s sales-tour. The crew members were very efficient.  First,  they gave us toffees and welcome drink and after half- an- hour  started serving  dinner.

The serving crew member gave me non-vegetarian tray and I had to request her to replace it  with  vegetarian food. She politely said ‘sorry’ and after few minutes brought the  vegetarian tray. I had just opened  my  tray to start eating,  an urgent announcement from the flight captain said, "due to bad weather, the flight may be delayed further".

Within next ten minutes,  we could sense that there was something seriously wrong with the aircraft and one of the passengers shouted in panic "only one engine is working and we all will die in the air".  The crew members rushed to that passenger and took him to a back seat. Within no time,  there was panic and  some passengers started crying , some shouting and a few like me began praying. The scene was so horrible as if I was seeing death with my own naked eyes.

I thought, finally, the D-day has come but I was not ready for it. I never expected it to come so early in my life. I have many things to do, and  how God could call me back so early. What is my age?  My mission had not accomplished yet.   I am married,  having elderly parents and children to look after.  I have to go a long way in my professional career also and here in the air,  death is knocking at my doors. No,  no, there was something seriously wrong; the God Almighty, all merciful God could never take so many lives at one go. How could He?

Every one was upset and few elderly passengers including women and children started crying and shouting in the plane. Crew members were rushing everywhere and consoling the passengers; serving waters etc.  They did not show panic, but I knew inside, they were as much worried as we all,  but still  were performing their duties with lots of courage, conviction and confidence, as if, they were not worried at all about their death. The co-pilot was repeatedly announcing  "please do not get panic, things are under control, we will land at Nagpur airport within next thirty minutes. Please calm down and every thing will be alright".

I could not concentrate any more on the novel I was reading and started thinking about my family in general and my children in particular. All of a sudden my entire family came alive in front of me and I started rewinding my life from my childhood.  I was stunned and almost in shock to know that an end of my life had just arrived and I did not know whether my family will be able to even see my body, forget about  proper Dah-sanskar and Arthi-visarjan activities. I was thinking of my elderly parents, my beloved wife and two beautiful daughters, who were studying in school. I did not know what will happen to them, after my death;  my provident fund, life insurance policies and total savings would not be sufficient enough for them to lead a peaceful life. So,  how will they manage, my Lord?

But then I realized, why think negative.  God Almighty will save us all.  For the first time I was not very confident about His existence. I was very sure, if the Lord was to make a balance-sheet of my  life's Karmas today, He will find it in red, because I had done more bad than good things in life.  Now, I cannot rewind my life again and do necessary corrections. I have hurt many people by my words, deeds and acts knowingly or unknowingly, but I cannot do any correction now,  because the past is past.

And within no time all my past deeds came in a flash in front of my eyes and the guilt inside me became so strong  that it was no more important for me, whether I die today in this plane crash or not.  In real sense,  my soul had died many times in the past but I did not realize because that time I was  under the influence of my ego, pride, hotheadedness, ignorance and wrong doings. In each and every personal and professional relationships, I had repeatedly hurt my family members and friends. I can see for myself  today how wrong I was then, because I was doing those shameful acts with my insufficient knowledge, skills, attitude, behaviors and last but not the least my big/fat ego.

Today, all the 228  passengers of this flight including  two pilots and six crew members will die in one  crash. Oh my Lord, please pardon and forgive us, at least, give us one more chance  to make necessary corrections in our lives. Why don't you understand, I have my family to look after.  Please do not be so cruel and unkind.  After all,  we are human beings and we keep on making mistakes and you, our only Lord,  will always pardon us without any preconditions, so why  this punishment  my Lord?

I opened my bag and took out the Holi book of "Sukhmani Sahib" and started reading. But to be honest, I could not concentrate on it, but still tried to read it loudly. Meanwhile, I also started telling my co-passengers to start praying so that we all can have a safe landing soon.

While we were still undergoing the trauma in the horrific atmosphere inside the aircraft, the Chief Pilot announced the safe landing of our flight at Nagpur Airport, thus abruptly ending our ordeal.  

More than Twenty years have passed since that night but I could not forget that incident till date and  it reminds me every time that this could be my last day of my life and I must finish my work fast and do not blame later for my incomplete task, and since then, I am living my life on daily renewal basis.

With Prayers-Gurcharan

May His Soul Rest in Peace

I boarded Ispat Express train at 6:15 a.m. in the morning from Howrah station for Jamshedpur. Somehow, I was not very happy about this visit but inside me, the hidden-salesman was repeatedly provoking me to make a trip to Jamshedpur and collect the order and advance. I had made twenty-seven visits to this client for the order without any success. My Boss has categorically told me, not to make any more visits to this client, without his prior approval. I knew for sure, even if I ask for his approval, I am not going to get it. Therefore, I opted for a noble idea of visiting Jamshedpur without informing my immediate supervisor; and if I can get an order with advance then only I will make my trip official and submit my visit report and travel expense bill along with order, otherwise, I will take one casual leave and show it as a personal visit.

I had visited this client first time almost most seven month's back and at the very first visit, this client  said, "I need this machine immediately, please send us your no-regret-offer along with early delivery and attractive terms of payment; we will release the order within a week or ten days maximum."

I could not believe my luck, it has never happened in our Industry that a client had ask for the offer in the very first visit itself (yes in case of repeat order this is possible, but with new client, never). I thought, my God will be so kind to me and I am going to break all past record by concluding this order within one sales call only, isn't it great?

Six months four weeks and three days have passed since my first call and 27 visits have gone in follow up for this order, but there was no sign of order. As a matter of fact, after submission of the offer, the client told me to come after a week and collect the order with 25% advance, but that one week never came, and many such weeks have gone in follow-up visits without any success.

On top of it, I had earned a tag of over ambitious sales person who believes in closing the sale-call within one visit. Due to this reputation, my Boss has also started criticizing me about my lack of clarity in evaluating client need, want and desire. More-over, my over-ambition, excitement and inadequate knowledge of customer behavior has further added on to my reputation of over ambitious salesman.

The story goes like this, proposal to buy a capital equipment was made by the concerned department and submitted to accounts cell for preparing ROI (return on investment); the proposal was sent for capital purchase approval to the board of directors; later it was sent for in-principal approval from CMD's office; thereafter, application was filed with the bank for term-loan; and this exercise took seven months, but till date, no good news was received from the customer's side except repeated assurances.  

I reached Jamshedpur at 11 a.m. and rushed to client's office. At the entrance of the factory gate, I met with the Purchase Manager, who gave me sad news of GM sir's father untimely demise. I was in a shock as if I have lost my father. Since my return train was at 5:30 p.m., I decided to visit GM sir's residence along with the Purchase Manager and if time permits, I will attend the funeral also. 

GM sir was sitting on the floor along with his family members, relatives and friends. His father's body was lying on the floor of the lawn of his bungalow. I paid respect to the departed soul and with my wet eyes, looked at the GM sir, who was also staring at me, as if  he was asking "how come you are here?". I wanted to ask him about the order but some-how or the other, I could not speak a word to him, instead I started crying as if I had lost my father. Many people came and started consoling me, but I was unable to control my emotions and I kept on crying for a very long time.

After attending the funeral, I came back home at 11:30-p.m. night, and my wife's first question was "Did you get the order?" And I could not control myself and started crying again like a small child who lost his favorite toy. After explaining my wife in details about day's incident, I started looking after old news papers for appointments, because I knew for sure, tomorrow my boss will come to know about my Jamshedpur visit and he will send me a pink-panther (termination letter) within next three days by courier, I was hundred percent sure about it.

As expected, on third day, I got a telegram in lieu of courier from my Boss, which read, "please proceed for Jamshedpur immediately and collect the order and advance from GM sir " And during our annual sales conference my Boss told me that, same night GM sir has called him on phone and informed him about his father's sudden demise, my visit to attend the funeral of his father and reasons for the delay in releasing the purchase order. Although he will be on leave for next 13 days but he will see to it that the said purchase order and advance will be released within next 24 hours, without fail. He categorically told my Boss that I should visit Jamshedpur again and collect the order and advance from his residence, a day after.    

I pray to God Almighty to give enough strength to GM sir and his family to bear this great loss and his father's soul may rest in peace, Amen!

With Prayers

Gurcharan

      

Unforgettable journey with Swami ji

After attending an annual sales conference at Pune, I was returning home. The train reservation in Gitanjali Express was done by my company. And Pune-Mumbai distance, I was supposed to cover by share-taxi. I always use to visit my boss's residence on the way to Mumbai, and that night, after a dinner with my boss, I left for taxi-stand at mid-night. I was fully confident of covering the distance within 4 hours by taxi; the departure time of Gitanjali Express train (from Shatrapati Shivaji Station, Mumbai) was 6-AM in the morning and I was having six hours in hand.

We crossed Chinchwad at 1.30-AM, but we were stuck on the way due to heavy road traffic and massive jam at the Ghati road. I had no option left but to pray to my Lord and I actually started doing so in frustration. The other co-passengers in the taxi were sleeping without any worry or tension. I started cursing myself for this delay. In the head office, my senior's always used to advice me to leave early for Mumbai, so that I may not miss my train and this time, I knew for sure, I was going to miss my train.

But, thanks to my Lord, I reached the station just on time and I straight away entered AC-II compartment and went to sleep on my side-upper-birth. Around one o'clock in the afternoon, I woke-up and asked the service boy for a cup of tea. But the service boy told me, point blank that its lunch time and tea will not be served now; I better look for tea at the next station, which will come within half an hour.

Finally I stepped down from the upper-birth and I sat down at my side-seat and in the opposite seat one very healthy, fair, beautiful and very impressive Swami ji was sitting and he gave me a big smile and asked me "did you have a nice nap, Vatsa?" and I was not very keen to answer his question, but after seeing his saffron cloths, first I folded my hands offered respect by saying "Pranaam" and nod my head in approval. He replied with a long smile "Ayushman Bhava" (have a long life), and raised his right hand in the air for blessings.

Gradually, we started discussing various subjects, which includes Shrimat Bhagwat Gita, Ramayana, Mahabharata, Guru Granth Sahib, Kuran Sharif and Bible. Besides, we also discussed about Guru's: Shri Arvindo, J. Krishna Murthy, Shri Ramkrishna, Acharaya Rajneesh, Shridhi Sai Baba and Swami Vivekananda. I was not only surprised but also amazed to see his vast knowledge, experience and clear conviction about his thought process and views on various subjects including Life, Death, Salvation and Sanyas. He answered all my questions with ease and explained to me with facts and figures, gave logical/rational answers, but the thirst to know every thing in one day was not ever-ending and  I was afraid, his destination may arrive any moment now and his discourses will be stopped automatically.

Train was running towards it's destination with high speed and so was the time which was not running but was flying. As the time passed, I started liking this Swami ji and gradually the deep sense of respect developed within and he was no more a stranger and so called Swami ji, I was getting more and more impressed with this young Swami ji, who was very practical, well behaved,  well mannered, knowledgeable, educated, well read and having positive attitude.

He was around 32 years of age, bachelor, post graduate in Sanskrit, became a disciple at the age of 18 and head of the Ashram at the age of 24 (when his guru expired). Since then, he is running the Ashram very successfully and having strength of ten lakh disciples spread all over the country and abroad.

The Ashram head quarter was at Haridwar, build on 15 acres of land, plus they were having 100 acres of agricultural land also where they grow crops, vegetables and housed 150+ cows, which is in the out-skirt of city limits, on the way to Rishikesh. Besides, Ashram was having  150+ disciples, Sanskrit School up to class ten and old age home. The land and building belongs to Ashram which was registered under the Hindu trust act.

I always wanted to know more about Indian Bhikshu, Guru, Naga, Ojha, Oghar, Swami, Sadhu, Sant, Sanyasi and Tantarik. Our conversation started in the afternoon which continued till late night, and it stopped only when the train reached it's destination at Bilaspur station. I got down at  the station along with Swami ji to wish him good bye and I was surprised to see the big crowd of his disciples at the platform, and most of the people were carrying garlands, flowers, snacks and hot/cold beverages; and they immediately started serving food to all passengers of our coach.

Swami ji was literally surrounded by his disciples and the distance between us was getting longer and longer and I thought, I will not be able to meet him again but to my utmost surprised, all of a sudden, Swami ji came in-front of me and said, -"you have not asked any thing for your-self, not an issue, but one day, you will have to come to our side and I shall be waiting for you with my open heart, may God guide your path and always be with you." I bow down and touched his feet with respect and he hugged me and blessed me with his love and affection. The fragrance of his blessings are still alive, very much, which I will not forget, within this life  span.

Many years have passed since, neither I could meet Swami ji nor I have visited his Ashram till date and I don't know how long will it take to reach his Ashram, may be the journey is very long and I am still not prepared for it or maybe I am not capable or qualified of being his true disciple in this lifetime. I pray to my Lord for his blessing to enable me to have enough strength, courage and confidence, so that I can put my right foot forward towards the final destination, wholeheartedly with my mind, body and soul, Tatha-asthu! 

With Prayers

Gurcharan

My True Gurdian, Guide and Rehnuma

I wanted to reach my customer's place before lunch time, where I was expecting an order, but due to very heavy traffic on the way, I reached my destination during the lunch break. The security person at the factory gate told me to wait at the reception and go inside only after the lunch break. I sat down at the reception and started imagining things and some how or the other, thoughts started coming to my mind, like, if I don't get this order, concerned person has gone on leave, competitor has given better price or the decision of the capital purchase postponed for a year etc. etc. And to divert my mind, I started reading a magazine which was lying at the reception, but I could not concentrate on it.

All of a sudden I was interrupted by some one from the back and when I look-up at the stranger, I simply jumped from my chair, oh my God, look who is here, the Unit Head himself standing in front of me; I came to meet him and his team for the order. He was looking at me and smiling, for few seconds, I was simply shocked and speechless, he asked me very politely "why are you sitting here at the reception, come to my chamber please?" 

Thereafter, he took me to his chamber and after Greetings, he asked me again "did you have your lunch, you must have left home early in the morning, isn't it?" And before I could answer his question, he came out from his chamber and took me to the staff canteen. I was offered lunch and when I asked him to join me, he said - "I already had my lunch, you carry on, we will have coffee together, alright."

Later, I met with his team members, but all said and done, in-spite of my best/sincere efforts, I could not get an order that day. I was told by the Purchase Manager that the proposal to buy the said machine has gone to head office for approval and budgetary sanction for capital purchase and they will release the purchase order and advance only after the due approval/sanction. I was not satisfied with their answer, but I was left with no option but to wait for some more weeks for the said order. They assured me that this order will be given to us, I must go home without any tension/worry and with peace of mind.

I was wondering, going back home without an order was not adviceable. And how to face my boss was a big question in front of me; because, I was over confident and have assured him that in this visit I will definitely get this order, due to my excellent customer relationship and my confidence level was above 90% for this client.

I was just wondering, how will I explain these things to my boss, and what excuse I will offer to him, I was dead sure that he will not buy my story of delay in getting this order, (which was long over-due). He will definitely ask me the basis of my so called confidence about this order and once again it's proven that I am not capable of forecasting and my judgmental skills are very poor. I have no option left but to leave this client for the time being and look for some other prospective clients for the order/s, so that I can achieving my yearly target, without fail.

After completion of my work, I was planning to leave, but then, I remember my host's invitation to have a cup of coffee with him. To be honest, I was not in the mood of having coffee. But at the same time, I wanted to convey my sincere thanks to my host for his warm hospitality.

Therefore, I visited my host, in his chamber with my sad/dull face and he immediately understood the reason of my sadness and said: -"you did not get an order today I know, but you don't worry, order is all yours, it will take some more time, because HO has raised few quarries, which has been answered, the revised proposal has been sent again and we are expecting an approval within next 15 days from head office, as soon as we get the approval will let you know, you don't worry and cheer up."

In between our talks, he opened his flask and poured coffee in two cups, (which were lying on the table), and he offered me, hot cup of black coffee, which he brought from his home for himself. Although, coffee has never been my favorite, but that day, I liked the black hot cup of coffee very much. I had witnessed his deep sense of care, concern, love and sincerity for the well being of his company, employees, vendors and customers, which was crystal clear, transparent and it has further made me comfortable and gave immense satisfaction to my soul and I left his office with peace of mind, because whatever he said to me that day was truth and only truth; which was genuine, pure, transparent and 24 carat gold.

28 years have passed since then, but even today, I very clearly and distinctly remember the taste, flavor and richness of that cup of coffee, because it was offered to me by my client with his love, care, concern and affection.

On my way back home, I explained to myself, I did not get an order this time, never mind, but with the grace of God, I have met with a perfect Gentleman, who is not only a good human being but also very decent, well behaved, down to earth and a highly professional Businessman with a human touch.

And to my utmost surprise, a week later, I got a telegram from the said client's office, in which they advised me to collect the order with advance from their office immediately.

This visionary with his determination, dedication, clear-vision, positive attitude, Midas touch and charisma has made him the top class business tycoon of Indian corporate world and he is holding the portfolio of "Managing Director" of  Rs. 3500 Crores plus empire, very successfully, in India today. 

I feel honoured and privileged to have him as my true Guardian, Guide and Rehnuma. The God has given me the best gift of my life, which I cherish with pride. I pray to my God Almighty (with folded hands), to bless him with his wisdom and all his dreams may come true, Amen!

With Prayers

Gurcharan  

I sincerely ask for your forgiveness

It has never happened in my life before, the people to whom I trust, believe, love and care the most today they are no more with me because they don't want me in their lives and all of a sudden I became a stranger and an outsider who is not wanted in their world and all the doors were closed on my face.

Today, while sitting alone at my cave/shell/home, I started rewinding my life from the begining, which I could remember very distinctly, clearly and properly; thereafter, evaluating each and every incident, episode, action, deeds of my past and trying to pin-point the route-cause of my mistakes, which has made my present life miserable, painful and hell.

But to my utmost surprise, I started trembling, shaking and shivering to remember the number of incidents which took place in the past were wrong/incorrect, which could have been avoided, and when I look back and see from today's prospective, they all seems to me, my wrong doings. But when I did those things at that particular point of time, they were not wrong; may be because of my childhood ignorance or sheer madness, I have done it, but that was my past and those deeds were done without any wrong intension, intent or motives, it just happened in that particular situation/incident which was beyond my control, and I just can not set them right today, inspite of my best intentions.

After deep thinking/evaluation, I have come to the conclusion that we are simple human beings and God has made us a social animal; in this life we keep on making similar mistakes again and again intentionally or unintentionally, but in real life the wise-man is he who learns from his mistakes and move forward. But if he starts compiling life's all wrong doings and living with it, then one day he will find his life itself a bundle of mistakes and the true essence of life will be gone with the wind.

Therefore, I have decided to ask for their forgiveness in your presence (you be my judge), from each and every person/s, who came into my life since my childhood, and I am sure and confident they will accept my sincere apology and they will excuse/pardon me once and for all, which might have hurt them very severely, since the scares of my sins were so deep that it hurts them even today.

Oh my lord, I beg of you and ask for your forgiveness for all my wrong doings, mistakes and deeds. Instead of giving them my love and affection, I have hurt them with my selfish act of arrogance, high headedness and ruthless behavior. Therefore, I pray to God Almighty with my folded hands, please make the life of each and every person/s, (who came into my life, as a friend, family or stranger), comfotable, smooth, trouble free with your blessings and give them good health, happiness, wealth, joy, fame, love; all their dreams may come true; and make them so powerful that nobody can hurt them, in this life time, again, Amen! 

With Prayer

Gurcharan

The witness of my sins

Whenever I don't get a sleep, I simply go out on the terrace and start thinking about the past incidents which makes me worried, disturbed and impatient. It makes me very low and sad and my heart starts weeping and gradually my eyes also gets wet with tears and I don't know for how long this continues.

All of a sudden I start communicating with someone who never came in front of me, He has never shown me His face but He has got a very sweet and at the same time very deep voice. He started communicating with me in my language, which I speak, whether it's a Bengali, Punjabi, Hindi or English, he responded in the same language with a very clear and perfect pronunciation.

I put forward my reasoning's, logics and justifications for my deeds. He listens to me quietly but He never accepted a single answer for my deeds, instead he started proving me wrong with facts and figures. I sometimes wonder, how he knows every things and that too in the right perspective without missing even a single link and incident.

Still I am not convinced with His reasoning's and I say the same thing to Him with full volume of my voice, spirit, force and arrogance. But He never gets angry, upset or disturbed with my selfish, greedy and negative attitudes and He starts explaining to me the incident from the third angel, which never came to my mind earlier.

Oh my God, what I have done, what will happens to me now? As usual, I started criticizing, cursing and shouting at myself and on my stupid deeds. All of a sudden the tears starts flowing again, uninterruptedly, my voice get chocked and I sit down on the floor. I don't know for how long I cried that night, there was nobody on the terrace  to console me or make me quite.

But I do have the witnesses of my sins with me that night; the moon, stars and the dark, deep and a very long night. I felt as if they were also crying with me and making me realize about my mistakes apparently and also putting an envelope of my guilt on my deeds.

And all of a sudden, I saw a bright thin red ray on the eastern part of the sky and the Sun God was planning to fill the sky with his broad smile, bright light and warm atmosphere, which will further boost our moral and we will again start doing our routine works as usual, which may be good, bad or ugly, we don't know.  

With Prayers

Gurcharan

  

  

The real Angels of my life

I have been blessed with lots of love and affection of my parents, guru, well wishers, friends and many unknown but good souls who simple came in my life blessed me with their wisdom and went-off without asking for any favour, help or support. In the past fifty years of my life this miracle has happened not once or twice, but several times and every time I used to think that, may be, this would be the last favour I am going to get from them; but I was repeatedly proven wrong by my God Almighty and his Kripa (blessings) continued to bestow on me and I was simply astonished, surprised, speechless and shocked to see my Lord's uninterrupted flow of Karishma, Kripa and Karuna.

I have met them at many places which include the ashram, airport lobby, burning-ghat, book stores, church, corporate offices, client's place, gurudwara, hill stations, hotel lobby, library, mandir, mazaar, market, park and river-bank. They all were from different age groups, characters, colours, caste, creed, customs and sex and they have always tried to answer all my questions, solved my puzzles and shown me the road-map to move ahead in this life. To be honest with you, they have also taught me to face the situation up-front and with clear, unbiased and opened mind. They have been the real source of my existence and inspiration of my eternal journey.

It's also true that they were not at all like: Acharaya Shree Rajneesh, Master Chari, Shri J. Krishnamurti and Shri Shri Ravi Shankar. I have not seen my God Almighty, but yes, I have seen his chosen Angels who are beautiful, great, wonderful souls, with full of life, having smiling face, always offering their unconditional affection, blessings and love. I used to get the glimpses of my God Almighty in their personality, I also knew for sure that my eyes are not accustoms to see my Lords in-person, but yes, I was certain and convinced that they were my true Angels and when-ever they came in my life, I got new lease of life which is very precious, precise and priceless for me.

Even today, when I remember the faces of those good souls who came into my life, did good job for me and left without leaving their impression, foot-print and signature. They have became a part of my daily prayers, I remember them with my mind, body and soul, offer my prayers, which is full of gratitude, love, respect and trust, because they were the real source of my life. 

At the end, I pray to God almighty that He must bless them all with his wisdom, love and affection and where-ever they are today, they should always remain there as my true master, guide and angels, amen!   

With Prayers,

Gurcharan

If there is any problem solve it

If we are happy at our present position, we must be there and be happy. And by any chance if we are not happy and satisfied with our present position, then, it's a matter of great concern and worry. Therefore, we must sit-down, do serious thinking, do SWOT analysis thoroughly and note down all the plus and minus points to remain in the  situation, if required discuss it with our mentor, guide and/or our best friends and be honest in what we think feel and believe. And after this exercise, if  we still feel low and lost then we can plan our next move accordingly with extra care and caution.

We have been in the similar situation many a times and we used to think of running away from the present crises but the fact remains, if there is any situation we have to face it and if there is any problem we will have to solve it with our sincere efforts and capabilities. We will get out of this situation very successfully, but we will have to keep our patience so that things should not go out of proportion and our control because many a times we become so influenced by the present crises that we simply start thinking negatively at that particular moment and the said problem becomes a major issue for us and our total focus and energy is devoted towards the problem itself and we simply forget to solve the problem at large. 

It's a universal truth that nine out of ten problems are man-made, or if we can say so, created by our own illusions. As a matter of fact, most of the time the simple situation becomes a problem for us due to various reasons and the fact of the matter is to keep ourselves cool, think positively, analyze properly and come out of the crises without creating any more problems for us 

Therefore it's always advisable to understand the situation thoroughly, so that it remain under our control and we can solve it without any major hindrance  And by doing so, we will become an expert in solving day to day problem with ease and without much hassles.

With Prayers

Gurcharan

. 

Never quit, if you want to grow in a company

Today getting a good job is not a big deal but yes, getting a right job is off course an issue which cannot be ignored. Similarly, joining an organization, learning the job, performing the duty with dedication, honesty, hard work and sincerity; giving our 100% to the company with mind, body and soul and also growing with the company, would be the right approach in a professional career. There are two types of employees in any organization, the first one, who stay in a company, perform their duty as instructed and advised by the management and the second  one are those employees who wants to grow in a company, think out of  the box and do things in a non-conventional way, which in return makes  them an extra ordinary employees  and  great performers in the company. We have many such examples in our corporate world today:

1) Ms. Chanda D. Kochhar - MD+CEO - ICICI Bank, Mumbai

2) Mr. Manoj Kohli - JMD+CEO of Bharti Airtel, New Delhi

3) Mr. Rajiv Sinha-DMD of DCM Shriram Consolidated Ltd., Delhi  

4) Mr. Sanjay Chamaria - VC+MD of Magma Fincorp Ltd., Kolkata

Each and every one of the above mentioned senior professionals have given their golden period of  life to the company which developed and progressed with their sweat, blood,  hard work and passion.  They  have always worked with honesty, dedication, and performed within the company's policies, rules  and regulations without disturbing it's culture and environment;  at the same time maintaining a very high standard of moral with a very strong personality and doing things in an ethical and right mannerism; sincerely achieving company's short term and long term targets; strictly following corporate policies  without any deviation and/or dilution,  putting  sincere efforts, hard work and keeping strong belief  in corporate mission  and policies. They were not 9-AM to 5-PM types of employees and many a times they have sacrificed on their personal front and that too with their own will, so that they can  be with the company at the time of the crises and also during the most difficult period due to external reasons. 

In their up-hill task and professional journey, they were supported by their family and friends who stood  by them through out their long, difficult  and pain staking journey; at the end of the day when they come back home with job satisfaction, lots of pride, peace and sense of satisfaction of a true, honest  and dedicated employee. In return, they were rewarded and appreciated by their Employer/Owner/Promoter/Stake-holder/Director with  lots of Money, Position, Perks, Fame, Stock options and  they also earned high respect from their  Clients, Colleagues, Corporate world, Employers,  Family, Friends, Society and Vendors 

We sometimes get impatient with our own position and simply quit from our existing job/position for some silly reason/problem and for small monetary benefits due to lack of clear vision and foresight. In such cases our excuses were so illogical, irrational, unprofessional and selfish.  Our  sheer ambition also becomes a hindrance on the way to success in our career path and forced us to simply jump from one company to another  for short term gains and by virtue of this  unprofessional act,  we  always put our wrong foot forward and land up in mid-term career crises, which further bring us down by thousands of feet in our career goal. Later, when we sit back and think about our past deeds, we make fool of ourselves with such stupid and unprofessional act, which has directly effected our career growth.

For any successful career one needs to work  with lots of planning, clear vision,  define goals,  well planned road map, hard-work,  honesty, determination, dedication, positive out-look, patience and  thereafter, we can achieve our predetermined career targets and goals without any major problem.

There is no shortcut to success, and if we have to achieve our professional and personal goals, we must stick to one company provided we are wanted there and treated well as a good human being without any prejudice, partiality and preference. We, therefore, must be dedicated and  committed  towards our company; at the same time, we should also take an Oath, (like Doctors and Army personnel does at the time of joining) to work for the company whole-heartedly till the last day of our retirement with the same zeal, dedication, hard work and passion;  come what may, we will  never quit/resign. We must think in a broader  prospect and work in an organization as a  team-member and make our company goals and targets as our own personal goal and target and put our right foot forward to achieve them first.

To  do so,  we will have to put-in lots of hard work and many a times sacrifice our family life for better and secured future for our loved-ones; to be honest, at the end of the day, it's  a win-win situation for both of us and we must come forward and do it with our sincere efforts, dedication, determination and single-mindedness, so that all the preset professional goals can be achieved without any difficulty. We would be the happiest person, if on arrival at home, (after attending the late evening marathon meeting at HO), our loved ones welcome us with a broad smile.

With Prayers

Gurcharan 

SHE IS MY REAL LIFE-LINE

The second most important lady in my life is my beloved wife, (after my mother), who is the most  beautiful, simple, honest, straight forward and a good human being. Besides, she is not only a good wife but also an obedient daughter-in-law, dedicated mother, adjustable sister-in-law, true friend and a good neighbor. At the same time, she also play a different role in  my life; being a wonderful wife; sensible human being; equal partner in all deed and acts; turned out to be  my strong critic; philosopher and guide, as and when required and a true lover in the real sense. Today I can say without any hesitation that she is a better person than me and she is really good, decent and a charming lady of my life.

But when I compare myself with her, I do not feel comfortable, happy and satisfied with my approach towards her and I strongly feel and believe that I have failed in many real-life situations and have never came up to her expectations in many occasions, and my male ego has always created tension between our relationship. I could not became a good husband, better father to my children and a good human being for the society. But yes, in spite of all odd, she always came out a real winner in all situations, because she always took her right foot forward towards the real-life  situations and goals and did what she thought and believed was right at that point in time,  and she has also forced me to act-upon, accordingly.

I wonder, without her, if I could have lived my life so comfortably and when I see my most beautiful daughters with right attitudes, mannerism, sanskaras and knowledge, which makes me a proud and satisfied father, but again, the entire credit goes to my wife, who has dedicated her entire life to serve me and my family, without expecting any thing in return.

I sometimes imagine, what will happen to our relationship when she will come to know that I have never been an honest, faithful, dedicated and committed husband to her? I have learnt the art of  playing with my wife's emotions in several ways and she  has never created an ugly scene in front of my parents and children and she has always kept quite to maintain harmony and peace in the family. I  know for sure, she was  always aware about it,  but she never said a single word against my decision and she silently accepted my injustice, arrogance, ruthlessness, hardheadedness, illogical arguments and stupidity in the name of my  male ego, for years together.

I wish, if I could have rewind my life again and correct my wrong doings but it's not possible now and my simply saying Sorry to my wife will also not serve any purpose and it shall not maintained the sensitivity of the situation, any more. But yes, I can do one thing, by not repeating those  mistakes, deeds and acts again, and I will not hurt my wife anymore by my words, acts or deeds, I promise, because she is the most important person in my life whom I love very much.

With Prayers

Gurcharan

The 1st Wonder of this Universe

I do not know for how long I will live in this world but I have realized one thing, that there is someone up there who not only watch us but also do the needful as and when required,  (I only knew about one universe, but I am sure there may be many more similar worlds in the space), and His decision, actions, timing and solutions are unparalleled, unmatched, unthinkable. It's so perfect that you just cannot find any fault or defect in it and you can say that these are ISI marked creations made with zero defect, having life-long guarantee manufactured by an ISO-9000 certified Organization, which is even bigger than first five Fortune-500 companies of this world. 

He is known by many names in this part of the world: - Allaha, Bhagwan, Babaji, Devta, Guru, God, Ishwar, Jesus, Karim, Maula, Thakur ji,  Parmatama, Parmeshwar, Prabhu,  Parvadigar, Rahim, Sant, Swamy, Sai aur Thakur ji; Jisne Jal, Vayu, Agni, Dharti aur Akash banae; Jisne Surya, Chand aur Tare Banae; Jisne Jheele, Nadiyan, Nale, Sagar aur Samunder banae; Jisne unche aur vishal Parvat banae, Jisne Per, Paudhe, Vanaspati, Phal, Phool aur Anaaj banae; Jisne, Pashu, Panshi, Keet, Patange, Janvar aur Insaan banea; Kaun hai woh who has created this world with so much perfection and without any tolerance that you just can not find a single defect in the entire system?

First I thought, He must be an Actor, Artist, Astronaut, Dancer, Musician, Motivator, Teacher, Poet,  Painter,  Professor,  Philosopher, Scientist,   Singer,  Social-worker and Writer. Thereafter, I felt, he must be  an Architect, B.Com,  Chartered Accounted, Cost Accountant, Doctor, Engineer, IT-professional, Journalist, Lawyer, MBA or MCA. And He must be a leed-Certified Auditor, otherwise how he can create such a wonderful and beautiful world with full of green plants. 

Moreover,  you really think that one man can have so much of knowledge, skills, talent, expertise, experience, innovative mind, soft and hard skills to create such a beautiful, marvelous and wonderful world, which is the most innovative, unique, fantastic world which became the first wonder of this universe, believe me this is the best thing ever happened to this civilized world. Last but not the least, he loves each and every member of His family without any partiality, preference or choice and for Him all are equals.     

And at the end, I have realized one thing that He is not what all I have mentioned above, He is beyond anybody's imagination, thinking and guess-work. And our Babaji has defined  Him in one Shloka: - "Ek Onkar, Satnam, Karta Purukh, Nirbhav, Nirvair, Akaal Murat, Ajouni Saibhang, Gurprasad,  Jap, Adi Sach, Jugadi Such, Hai Bhi Such, Nanak Hausi Bhi Sach". 

With Prayers

Gurcharan

 

THERE IS NO SHORTAGE OF GOOD SOULS IN LIFE!

Whenever I see around myself I feel so amazed, astonished, stunned and deeply surprised to see His wisdom which is full of surprises and everyday I come across many such surprises which are unimaginable, unthinkable  and unexpected. I want to thank Him from the bottom of my heart for his beautiful world and his creation. 

To begin with, the first person to whom I owe my whole life, and who loves me the most in this world is my mother. Then came my teacher who first introduced me with the books. Later when I went to college and met our college prefect Father Zoris, who introduced me with "Jesus Christ" and took me to the church (which was in our college campus) and he said that He is my God Almighty who has scarified his life for humanity.

After completing my college I joined my first job and met my first boss Mr. Ram Mohan Kapoor, who literally took me to the field and teach me how to deal with customers and made me a perfect salesman. Till date, I am simply following his advices and instructions, and believe me, I have never failed in my job.

Then came my second job where I met my second boss Mr. Ravi Verma who trained me, how to sell  Hi-Tech products to a technical person with ease, without actually being an engineer and throughout my career, (I being a non-technical person), I have been successfully selling and marketing Hi-Tech products.

And when I met my third boss in my third job Mr. Sudeep Singh Gill, it was not very comfortable position in the beginning, because, he was my customer in my previous job and when I finally renounce my so called ego, I realized, he is gem of a person, who gave me the mantra's of selling steel and wire products to the Institutional clients and Dealer's segments simultaneously,  without any problem.

Later, when I met Mr. Sundeep Mathur in my previous job, who turned my life upside down by giving new meanings to my life, with induction of new prospective, vision, objective and goal. He is the one who actually    gave a new lease to my personal and professional life by way of his true love, affection, guidance and blessings. And last but not the least, he made  me a thorough Sales professional with a very clear and focus aim on the target audience and he categorically told me to satisfy each and every client by offering right product-mix along with personal touch and dedicated after-sale-service, so that each client can get more than what he want. He also advised me, not to make wrong sale to any prospective customer for short term gains, because the customer is also a human being who think, feel and behave like any other human being of this world. 

I have also met so many people with whom I have worked directly and their advice and instructions have made my professional journey smooth, steady and hurdle free, which I can never forget; they are: - Mr. Ashok Nandwani,  Mr, Chandra Mohan, Mr. Gautam Das, Mr. S. L. Narayan, Mr. Shishir Gupta, Mr. S. Thyagarajan, Mr. S. Murlidharan and Mr. Sethu Chakrabarty,               

Similarly, I have also met many people with whom I could not work in this life, but  I will never forget  their help, support and blessings; they are: -  Mr. Arun Seth, Mr. Anil K. Beejawat, Mr. Alok Tibrewala,  Mr. D. K. Srivastava,  Mr. Gurmeet S. Singh, Mr. M. Srihari Nair, Mr. Mohit James, Mr. P. V. Balasubramanian, Mr. R. Rakesh Gaur, Mr. S. S. Virdi, Mr. Sanjay Monga,  Mr. T. K. Mukherjee,  Mr. Umesh Sharma and Mr. V. P. Singh. 

I have also met many "Dev-Purush" with good souls  who have contributed a great deal in making my life more meaningful, comfortable and happy; they are the real angels of my life: - Mr. Alok Sakhlani,  Prof. Akshya Kumar, Prof. A. P. Singh, Prof. Ajay Chowhan, Dr. Deepankar Chakrabarty, Dr. Mukesh Chaturvedi, Prof. Prem Mohan Lacotia, Dr. Satish Chandra Kaushik,  Dr. S. K. Jha, Dr. S. K. Pandey and Mr. Virender Srivastava.

God being very kind to me and I pray to God almighty to bless them all with his wisdom,  so that they can  achieve new heights in their personal and professional life and they may always help and assist those who need it the most.  

With Prayers

Gurcharan 

 

 

IS THIS WHAT WE WANTED IN OUR LIFE?

There are two type of people in our society, one who make mistake and learn from it and never repeat the same mistake again; second category is of those people who learn from others mistake and never  commit such mistakes again. But still, we intentionally or unintentionally try to repeat our  this act of negligence, which is not well thought of. Although, we do have some other options open to us in that point in time, but since we are in a hurry and we wanted an instant results, hence we do not mind crossing our own line of control, which we have drawn ourselves, not meant to be crossed over; but knowingly pretty well that the end result would be negative and it will be very selfish move on our part to do such an act. Usually, we do such things only when we ourselves are on the target and we are so clever that, somehow or the other, we convince ourselves that, this is grave situation and we have to take a decision and it's  matter of life and death,  and our pet phrase for such a situation is: - "every thing is fair in love and war".

Over the years, we became so self centered, self indulgent and extremely  selfish that we want every thing  in life at our terms and conditions and we are not ready to compromise,  because neither we have the interest nor inclination to listen to other view's or to see their prospective; here our prime motive is to have, what we wanted and we do not care what others think about it, and to be honest, we don't mind it also.   

We are living in a civilized society where we have fairly well educated and sensitive people.  We have learned to live the life of hypocrisy, we do not mind amending society rules and regulations  in our favour and we have learned one lesson that, everything is fair, if  we have the power of M (money),  we can make our own laws, rules, regulations and the life will run the way  we want it to run, no questions asked.

It's a very sad situation, because this not what we have asked our God Almighty to bless us with. We wanted a fairly good life which must be full of love, peace and joy; but  such a life  based on these terms  and conditions, which is horrible,  pathetic and painful is not wanted. We never thought even once, what will happen when the same thing will be repeated with us and/or to our loved-one by some one else because yesterday we were  in a hurry and today Mr. X is in a hurry and tomorrow Mr. Y will be in the same situation.  And there is no end of these unethical, unprofessional, unreasonable and unwanted acts, which may look like a life and death situation on the face of  it,  but to be honest, life is not mathematics and it can not be predicted the way we want it to be,  because after all, it's His world and wisdom where everyone has to follow certain rules and regulations, weather it's  Nature, Sun, Moon or Man, everyone has to be within His command and  run under his instructions, come what may, which were made by the God almighty; after all,  human life is a great gift of God to this universe.

With Prayers

Gurcharan