Diversity

DOn occasion of the festival of colours – Holi, social media will have uploads of selfies of coloured faces. However, the preferred pictures will be where various colours are distinctly distinguishable and not ones where the colours have merged to make a mixed shade that appears like a shady smear.

 

The colours look attractive together, but only as long as they do not lose their individual attractiveness. Coming together is good but it is better to maintain diversity. So often, when we move to unite, we insist on uniformity. But by stifling diversity, we cripple the impact of unity. 

 

Various instruments in an orchestra play together, but melodious music is created because of diverse sounds. Languages are empowered by varied vocabularies of different dialects. The rainbow looks beautiful as the colours in its spectrum retain their colours. The same holds true for teams.

 

We mistake uniformity for alignment. Diversity involves acceptance and respect. It means understanding that each individual is unique and recognizing different dimensions of ethnicity, gender, socio-economic status, age, physical abilities, ideas, beliefs and ideologies. 

 

The exploration of this diversity in a positive and nurturing environment helps us understand each other such that we can move beyond simple tolerance to embracing and celebrating the rich dimensions of assorted capacities of each individual in the team. 

 

Colours of the rainbow look good in unity…

As they align without losing their diversity!

 

- Pravin K. Sabnis

 

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Falter

If something, say a table, is not steady, we say that the table wobbles. If a child sways while moving, we refer to it as wobbling. While it may seem a problem, the learning is in the wobbles!

 

As children, we learnt to walk and ride a cycle through a long process of trial and error, of falls and repeated efforts. Our enthusiasm and encouragement by others made us stay at the task until it was accomplished.

 

The child keeps stepping ahead despite the falters. However, as adults we are swayed by failure. So often, so many of us resist the time to learn something new because we don’t like wobbling.

 

We must give ourself the permission to falter. Failure is an important part of the journey to success. We must choose to accept the faltering, learn from it and do what is required to correct the wobbles. 

 

The wobbling table can be set right by putting something under the legs. The wobbling child can learn balance by trying other ways. For the result to alter to a positive result, we must address the falter!

 

Move beyond the falter

The outcome will alter!

 

- Pravin K. Sabnis

 

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Perseverance

Ernest Hemingway was in Switzerland, on assignment as a correspondent. Journalist Lincoln Steffens was impressed with Hemingway’s writing and asked to see more. His wife carried all his writings in a suitcase from their home in Paris. She lost it in the train.

 

At that point, nothing of Hemingway’s fiction had been published. Now, there was nothing left as his wife had packed both the originals and their carbons. Only two short stories survived the disaster. 

 

But when he lamented the loss to poet Ezra Pound, Pound called it a stroke of luck. Pound assured him that when he rewrote the stories, he would forget the weak parts and only the best would reappear. Hemingway rewrote the stories and became a major figure in literature.

 

Indeed, with the loss of the manuscripts, and with time pressing to replace those vanished words in his bid to become a respected writer, Hemingway may have adopted and adapted the lean prose style for which he became famous.

 

Perseverance and failure cannot coexist. Failure happens when you quit. We can instead learn from it. We can unlearn the unnecessary and rewrite our efforts afresh. Perseverance can turn failure into an opportunity.  

Don’t get stuck at failure’s gate

Perseverance scripts your fate!

 

- Pravin K. Sabnis

 

Null Set

In algebra, a Null set refers to an empty set. A teacher mentioned the Indian woman astronaut as an example for a null set as until then no Indian woman had become an astronaut. One girl exclaimed, 'one day this null set will not exist!' The girl, Kalpana Chawla went on to fill the set!

 

In college, she was the only girl to opt for the aeronautical engineering course. During admission when asked to state her second option, she replied that she had none! 

 

During counseling, teachers tried to dissuade her as aeronautic engineering had limited job opportunities in the country. Most girls had opted for electrical engineering. Kalpana stuck to her passion. This was the first step to much greater achievements of India’s first woman astronaut. 

 

Imagination is important, but it is not enough. To be better, it needs to be transformed into a clear vision and backed by a motivated mission to achieve it. 

 

Null sets get filled when dreams are empowered by steadfast belief and committed actions. Indeed, it took courage of conviction for a small town girl to become the first Indian woman to straddle outer space. 

be better at achieving every desirable vision

null set gets filled with committed mission!

 

- Pravin K. Sabnis

 

#mondaymuse21stYear #pravinsabnis #since2004 #motivation #blogging #MondayMuse