Keep the Spark Alive - By Chetan Bhagat !!!

Keep the Spark Alive
Inaugural Speech for the new batch at the Symbiosis BBA program, Pune

By Chetan Bhagat

Good Morning everyone and thank you for giving me this chance to speak to you. This day is about you. You, who have come to this college, leaving the comfort of your homes (or in some cases discomfort), to become something in your life. I am sure you are excited. There are few days in human life when one is truly elated. The first day in college is one of them. When you were getting ready today, you felt a tingling in your stomach. What would the auditorium be like, what would the teachers be like, who are my new classmates - there is so much to be curious about. I call this excitement, the spark within you that makes you feel truly alive today. Today I am going to talk about keeping the spark shining. Or to put it another way, how to be happy most, if not all the time.

Where do these sparks start? I think we are born with them. My 3-year old twin boys have a million sparks. A little Spiderman toy can make them jump on the bed. They get thrills from creaky swings in the park. A story from daddy gets them excited. They do a daily countdown for birthday party – several months in advance – just for the day they will cut their own birthday cake.

I see students like you, and I still see some sparks. But when I see older people, the spark is difficult to find. That means as we age, the spark fades. People whose spark has faded too much are dull, dejected, aimless and bitter. Remember Kareena in the first half of Jab We Met vs the second half? That is what happens when the spark is lost. So how to save the spark?
Imagine the spark to be a lamp's flame. The first aspect is nurturing - to give your spark the fuel, continuously. The second is to guard against storms.

To nurture, always have goals. It is human nature to strive, improve and achieve full potential. In fact, that is success. It is what is possible for you. It isn't any external measure - a certain cost to company pay package, a particular car or house.

Most of us are from middle class families. To us, having material landmarks is success and rightly so. When you have grown up where money constraints force everyday choices, financial freedom is a big achievement. But it isn't the purpose of life. If that was the case, Mr. Ambani would not show up for work. Shah Rukh Khan would stay at home and not dance anymore. Steve Jobs won't be working hard to make a better iPhone, as he sold Pixar for billions of dollars already. Why do they do it? What makes them come to work everyday? They do it because it makes them happy. They do it because it makes them feel alive. Just getting better from current levels feels good. If you study hard, you can improve your rank. If you make an effort to interact with people, you will do better in interviews. If you practice, your cricket will get better. You may also know that you cannot become Tendulkar, yet. But you can get to the next level. Striving for that next level is important.Nature designed with a random set of genes and circumstances in which we were born.. To be happy, we have to accept it and make the most of nature's design. Are you? Goals will help you do that.I must add, don't just have career or academic goals. Set goals to give you a balanced, successful life. I use the word balanced before successful. Balanced means ensuring your health, relationships, mental peace are all in good order.

There is no point of getting a promotion on the day of your breakup. There is no fun in driving a car if your back hurts. Shopping is not enjoyable if your mind is full of tensions. You must have read some quotes - Life is a tough race, it is a marathon or whatever. No, from what I have seen so far, life is one of those races in nursery school, where you have to run with a marble in a spoon kept in your mouth. If the marble falls, there is no point coming first. Same with life, where health and relationships are the marble. Your striving is only worth it if there is harmony in your life. Else, you may achieve the success, but this spark, this feeling of being excited and alive, will start to die.

One last thing about nurturing the spark - don't take life seriously. One of my yoga teachers used to make students laugh during classes. One student asked him if these jokes would take away something from the yoga practice. The teacher said - don't be serious, be sincere. This quote has defined my work ever since. Whether its my writing, my job, my relationships or any of my goals. I get thousands of opinions on my writing everyday. There is heaps of praise, there is intense criticism. If I take it all seriously, how will I write? Or rather, how will I live? Life is not to be taken seriously, as we are really temporary here. We are like a pre-paid card with limited validity. If we are lucky, we may last another 50 years. And 50 years is just 2,500 weekends. Do we really need to get so worked up? It's ok, bunk a few classes, goof up a few interviews, fall in love. We are people, not programmed devices.

I've told you three things - reasonable goals, balance and not taking it too seriously that will nurture the spark. However, there are four storms in life that will threaten to completely put out the flame. These must be guarded against. These are disappointment, frustration, unfairness and loneliness of purpose.

Disappointment will come when your effort does not give you the expected return. If things don't go as planned or if you face failure. Failure is extremely difficult to handle, but those that do come out stronger. What did this failure teach me? is the question you will need to ask. You will feel miserable. You will want to quit, like I wanted to when nine publishers rejected my first book. Some IITians kill themselves over low grades – how silly is that? But that is how much failure can hurt you. But it's life. If challenges could always be overcome, they would cease to be a challenge. And remember - if you are failing at something, that means you are at your limit or potential. And that's where you want to be.

Disappointment's cousin is frustration, the second storm. Have you ever been frustrated? It happens when things are stuck. This is especially relevant in India. From traffic jams to getting that job you deserve, sometimes things take so long that you don't know if you chose the right goal. After books, I set the goal of writing for Bollywood, as I thought they needed writers. I am called extremely lucky, but it took me five years to get close to a release. Frustration saps excitement, and turns your initial energy into something negative, making you a bitter person. How did I deal with it? A realistic assessment of the time involved – movies take a long time to make even though they are watched quickly, seeking a certain enjoyment in the process rather than the end result – at least I was learning how to write scripts, having a side plan – I had my third book to write and even something as simple as pleasurable distractions in your life - friends, food, travel can help you overcome it. Remember, nothing is to be taken seriously. Frustration is a sign somewhere, you took it too seriously.

Unfairness - this is hardest to deal with, but unfortunately that is how our country works. People with connections, rich dads, beautiful faces, pedigree find it easier to make it – not just in Bollywood, but everywhere. And sometimes it is just plain luck. There are so few opportunities in India, so many stars need to be aligned for you to make it happen. Merit and hard work is not always linked to achievement in the short term, but the long term correlation is high, and ultimately things do work out. But realize, there will be some people luckier than you. In fact, to have an opportunity to go to college and understand this speech in English means you are pretty damm lucky by Indian standards. Let's be grateful for what we have and get the strength to accept what we don't. I have so much love from my readers that other writers cannot even imagine it. However, I don't get literary praise. It's ok. I don't look like Aishwarya Rai, but I have two boys who I think are more beautiful than her. It's ok. Don't let unfairness kill your spark.
Finally, the last point that can kill your spark is isolation. As you grow older you will realize you are unique. When you are little, all kids want Ice cream and Spiderman. As you grow older to college, you still are a lot like your friends. But ten years later and you realize you are unique. What you want, what you believe in, what makes you feel, may be different from even the people closest to you. This can create conflict as your goals may not match with others. . And you may drop some of them. Basketball captains in college invariably stop playing basketball by the time they have their second child. They give up something that meant so much to them. They do it for their family. But in doing that, the spark dies. Never, ever make that compromise. Love yourself first, and then others.

There you go. I've told you the four thunderstorms - disappointment, frustration, unfairness and isolation. You cannot avoid them, as like the monsoon they will come into your life at regular intervals. You just need to keep the raincoat handy to not let the spark die.
I welcome you again to the most wonderful years of your life. If someone gave me the choice to go back in time, I will surely choose college. But I also hope that ten years later as well, your eyes will shine the same way as they do today.. That you will Keep the Spark alive, not only through college, but through the next 2,500 weekends. And I hope not just you, but my whole country will keep that spark alive, as we really need it now more than any moment in history. And there is something cool about saying - I come from the land of a billion sparks.
Thank You!

Book Review: The Polyester Prince – The banned biography of Dhirubhai Ambani

This book on Dhirubhai Ambani’s Empire is a thrilling experience as it talks about the toughest times of Reliance which has gone into the making of it and is kept away from public domain for obvious reasons. Even if people close to Ambanis are aware, they don’t dare to speak against the mightiest and the fastest growing invulnerable business house of India. RIL as on date is the most profitable and most revenue generating private company of India and the tactics (yes, the word is used deliberately) used by Late Mr. Dhirubhai Ambani which has become the trademark of the group may be appreciable in terms of financial acumen but when it comes to ethics, value and principles they are big zero.

You name it and Reliance had been all through it – from stock market rigging, undercutting, under invoicing, non payment of duties, cheating share holders, havala, harshad Mehta, bofors and framing of Nusli Wadia, they are involved in every damn scam. Though Reliance gathered lot of International attention due to increasing profits and revenue, it could not avoid getting into controversies too due to n number of cases running against it. I feel ashamed on discovering that some of the political leaders whom I thought to be man of ethics where puppets in the hands of Dhirubhai. For those who tried to raise their voice against Reliance like Nusli Wadia, The Indian Express and a chosen few political leaders had a bad fate as with the ascent of time, Dhirubhai became bigger than the government and if the political party tried to take any step against him, he threatened to pull down the government.

The author says that the Indian political system was driven by the prices of polyester and he has made a right remark as Indian corporate war between the Wadias and Ambanis started with polyester and later on spread among political parties with one supporting the Ambanis and very few who were the real preachers of values and principals supporting the Wadias. But the influence of Dhirubhai on New Delhi was so strong that everything worked the way he wanted it to whether it was getting a license or getting action against his business competitors and creating troubles for him like it was done for Nusli Wadia. Dhirubhai manipulated the laws and customs rules in the way he wanted them to be and by the time government realized the loopholes in the rules, he had already made his buck. He exploited the Indian government, their rules and tax system to the best of his ability which is very clear from the fact that Reliance is the only company which never paid taxes even after three decades of listing and went on giving bonus and dividends to shareholders. It took too long for the government to react and it was only for Reliance that Minimum Alternate Tax was brought in action. There had been a sheer injustice against the competitors of Reliance as all of them were not allowed to flourish in a similar environment but at the end of the day what matters is the return on investment. This is where Reliance had been right there by declaring dividends and bonus to stake holders. So it would be right to say, it was government and the system which was at loss. Billions of rupees which should have gone to the coffer of government went into building Reliance Empire and also went for paying bribes to the government babus.

Rich, powerful, intelligent, shrewd but a man sans ethics and values – this is how the author has described Dhirubhai Amabni in his book.I hope by know all of you must be aware of the reason for the book being banned in India. Someone who smuggled entire factory into India, who purchased the government can easily get the book and the author banned in India if he dares to raise voice against him. I really appreciate this work of Hamish McDonald who went against the stream to expose Dhirubhai and his group to the public. It is an interesting and must read for those who are interested in India Inc but the only option left to them is to smuggle the book into India from some foreign location as Dhirubhai smuggled the entire factory set up at Patalganga because the book is banned in India.

Extract from the book

'Today the fact is that Ambani is bigger than government,' said the lawyer in all seriousness. 'He can make or break prime ministers. In the United States you can build up a super corporation but the political system is still bigger than you. In India the system is weak. If the stock exchange dares to expose Ambani, he tells it: I will pull my company shares out and make you collapse. I am bigger than your exchange. If the newspapers criticize, he can point out they are dependent on his advertising and he has his journalists in every one of their departments. If the political parties take a stand against him, he has his men in every party who can pull down or embarrass the leaders. He is a threat to the system. Today he is undefeatable.'

But two of India's sharpest business journalists did get Dhirubhai to admit that stroking government was his biggest task.'The most important external environment is the Government of India,' he told India Today's T N. Ninan and Jagannath Dubashi. 'You have to sell your ideas to the government. Selling the idea is the most important thing, and for that I'd meet anybody in the government. I am willing to salaam anyone. One thing you won't find in me and that is ego.'

Book Review: The Kalam Effect – my years with the President

When it is Abdul Kalam, I just can’t keep the book down. The missile man has great influence on me and I truly admire him from the core of my heart. It takes a lot to rise from ground zero and become the president of the largest democracy in the world. It takes still more to keep the values, principles and fire in oneself alive after achieving so much in life. Kalam is a person with difference for whom his country means more than anything else in this world, who has a vision and dream for his country and who believes that his countrymen has all the will to achieve that vision. It happens once in 50 years that a person of such stature who has produced missiles for the country becomes the first citizen of country. I may fall sort of words if I go on describing the missile man but here is a review of a book just released on Mr. President by his private secretary, P M Nair which is a must read to know Dr Kalam from very close.

Well!! When you a pick up a book on a person who is your idol, it does not take too long to read it and same thing happened when I picked the book which is an account of how things move in Raisina Hills, how critical is the position of President and over an above all this, the book also speaks on emotional and personal front about Mr. Kalam which undoubtedly is the most interesting part of the book.

Dr A P J Abdul Kalam is a very simple, dedicated, modest and sincere personality with influencing vision and mission. As Nair says in his book, when he went to address the European Parliament for the first time, also being the first so by an Indian President, he was allocated 25 minutes and he concluded only after 45 minutes, receiving an overwhelming response from the audience along with a standing ovation. Better known as People’s President, and a great admirer of youths and children, he believes that the power of our nation lies in the youths and through his interaction with ~ 1 lakh children spread across different states and region, he arrived at the conclusion that all of them want to see a developed India which is free of poverty. When asked by someone about his source of inspiration and motivation, Mr President replied - “Dream, dream, dream .Think, think, think. And then put that thought into action, action, action.” Through his writings and address to the nation during his Presidential tenure, he always carried a mission of building a self reliant and developed India by 2020. He reposed enough faith in the youths of the country and showed us the path to achieve the mission and I personally believe that he is very true that our potential lies in the invaluable human resource of our country. A billion plus nation can do anything if they have a clear vision which is put into action because ‘impossible is nothing’.

Nair also says that Dr Kalam made it a habit to answer all the queries which was put to him through his website and so attached he is to the children that when a little girl wrote to him that a see – saw in her nearby park is not working due to which she could not play, Mr. President got it repaired and replied back to the child. This is just one of the instances which show that Dr Kalam was truly a People’s President in all essence. He is the only President of India to have travelled all the states (only to the exception of Lakshadweep due to security reasons which still remains his regret till date) during his tenure and he took the trip to North – East region more than once which is generally neglected by political leaders due to security reasons. Mr President broke all protocols when it came to meeting children and talking to the youths. On the eve of New Year, he met ~ 6000 citizens who were waiting outside Rashtrapati Bhawan to greet the President. The author writes in his book that Dr Kalam, asked him many a times to distribute food and clothes to poor people from his personal fund and not to make his contribution public which shows that he was least interested in fame and publicity unlike other political figures. He also landed in many controversies many a times during his office and Indian media was not kind enough to spare even this selfless man. By returning the office of profit bill to the parliament for reconsideration, he made it clear that he is aware of his constitutional rights and is not a rubber stamp. Kalam is a secular person and paid visit to Gujarat during riots which surprised the nation as President is always supposed to keep himself aloof from controversies and politics. A pure vegetarian, who reads Koran and Bhagwad Gita everyday, a scholar of Thirukkural which is quoted in most of his speeches and a great admirer of Classical music and art are some of his personal traits. He has made valuable contribution to our motherland by playing the role of father to the long list of missiles and above all by giving a vision and mission of developed India by 2020.

Mr. President carries a long list of award with himself, to name a few, Bharat Ratna which is the highest civilian award for his contribution to DRDO (Defence Research and Development Organisation) and also Padma Bhushan and Padma Vibhushan. I really feel privileged to be a part of nation whose first citizen was a visionary and scholar like His Highness, Dr A P J Abdul Kalam.