Que Sera Sera

On Saturday I watched the film ‘K Sera Sera’ once again. Produced by Rajesh Pednekar and directed by Rajeev Shinde, two long-time collaborators in creativity, the Konkani film has brought together the country’s best technicians, a well written screenplay and a marvellous ensemble cast led by Palomi Ghosh and Pednekar. It presents two stories that explore the theme of ‘whatever will be, will be’.

‘Que Sera Sera’ has been a popular song, written by Jay Livingston and Ray Evans, in the 1956 Hitchcock film ‘The Man Who Knew Too Much’, starring Doris Day and James Stewart. The Spanish words point out that some things are beyond our control. The deeper meaning is to accept that we cannot change everything we wish to.

The message is to choose to accept. It is a philosophy that life rolls on, moving from highs to lows. We must move beyond wanting to change everything. Of course, we must change the things we can. We must put efforts in changing things we feel we should. But if can’t change them, we must not fret and sweat.

This does not mean we should retreat to escapism or pessimism. It is not about giving up. It is about avoiding the needless burden of onus on self for things that don’t go your way. It is about pointless worries for the future. It is about over emphasis on insisting that efforts must lead to only desirable outcomes.

When we are stressed out by disproportionate suspicions about eventualities or unnecessary uncertainties, we must choose to see the positive philosophy of ‘Que Sera Sera’. It gives us the strength to face accidents like the passing away of a dear one, the failure despite the best efforts, the fears of the unknown future.

Future haunts when worries we nourish…
‘que sera sera’ allows positive to flourish!

~ Pravin Sabnis

Ready to Play

The phrase ‘Lead, follow or get out of the way’ is inconclusively attributed to Thomas Paine and many others. It appealed to me and resulted in many activity sets in my training programs. However, the third part was understood by me as different from the obvious meaning to ‘keep out of the way’.

Consider the analogy of a football team. The player with the ball is the ‘lead’ of the moment. The remaining players are meant to ‘follow’. So who would be ‘Get out of the way’? Referee? No! Coach? No! Audience? No!

Then, who? It is the players on the bench!!!


The reserve players are not playing. They are neither leading nor following. But they have to be ready to play! They have to be fully aligned to the flow of the game and be in position, to use it, if called to join play. All though not in the playing team, their focus and zeal cannot be lesser than the ones on the playing field.

It is said that teams in sports are as good as their bench strength. A high premium is placed on players who are ‘ready to play’. It is no mean task to have the tolerance to ‘actively’ wait as well as cheer on the players who are playing on the field. They display the right team spirit of supporting, observing and being ready to play!

So often, so many of us yearn for the main role (lead) or the supporting one (follow). However teams are empowered by the ones who are ‘ready to play’… by the ones who are not weighed done by the ‘waiting’… by those who ‘stay out of the way’ but stay close to the playing arena… with preparedness to play… and play to win!

The ones on the bench show the way
To ‘actively’ wait and be ready to play!

~ Pravin Sabnis

Update

The trainer was addressing his learners, ‘we update our mobiles and computers… we upgrade various appliances and machines that we use… we update our status on social media… we modernize our furniture and clothes… we tend to update everything that we use… but do we update our learning?’

A voice, from the back rows, queried, ‘Do you?’

So often, persons from my tribe (of trainers, teachers, educators), preach something that we may not be practising. Among such gaps in the ‘walk-talk’ is the tendency to insist that the learners should learn and yet we may not involve in the learning process to update our knowledge, skills and attitude.

We will not handover repairs to a mechanic who is not updated with the latest developments regarding the machine. We prefer professionals who keep updating and upgrading their know-hows and skills. Sportspersons keep trying to learn newer and better ways of playing the sport. The one who knows is the one who grows!

We must update our competencies and capabilities. As seniors, we recommend it to our juniors. As parents, we insist that our children do it. As preachers, we expect our followers to practise it. But it is pertinent to be able to affirmatively answer the question posed to us by our children, learners or juniors, ‘Do you update?’

Don’t be smug with competence of the past
Those who update are the ones who will last!

~ Pravin Sabnis

Ink it

In Std IX, we encountered Professor JAM (short for J.A. Menezes) who welcomed us to play with maths. He threw us a mental challenge in form of a series of puzzles. As we tried to solve it in our minds, he urged us, ‘don’t think it… Ink it!’ We opened our notebooks and put pen to paper… put our thoughts to the sight board.

Last Friday, our popular and effective teacher passed away. But his many lessons live on. It includes the above quote by Mark Victor Hansen which he promoted as the right way to think. It was beyond mathematics and turned out to be the best lesson for life. The best way to see our thoughts is to write them down.

There are many ways to ink it. Besides using pen, we can use pencils or colours. We can use chalk on slate. We can inscribe on sand with a stick. We can scribble on a wet surface. We use things like twigs and sticks to make various formations. We can shape out or carve in clay. Nowadays we can write on touchscreens.

When we ‘ink’ our thoughts they come in sight in a greater visual perspective. We can add or detract effortlessly. We can change or develop them better. We can reorganise and rearrange the thoughts. We can create strategies. We can define purposes. We can outline plans of action.

When we ‘ink it’ we are better placed for immediate exertion as well as a recall tool for the future. When we face with our own thoughts, we see them for what they really are. Writing down Professor JAM’s various quotes made for deeper insights every time I looked at them. They remain as memorable and meaningful as he was!

The thought in our mind needs exposure
‘Ink it’ for deeper insights and disclosure!

~ Pravin Sabnis