True Image

It doesn't make sense to call ourselves ugly, because we don't really see ourselves… We don't watch ourselves sleeping in bed, curled up silent with our chests rising & falling with our own rhythm…. We don't see ourselves reading a book, eyes fluttering and glowing…. We don't see ourselves looking at someone with love and care in our heart...

There's no mirror in our way when we are laughing and smiling and pure happiness is leaking out of us…. We would know exactly how bright and beautiful we are if we saw ourselves in the moments where we are truly our authentic self...

The above message was posted by Geeta Shanker, my facebook friend. How true! We are denied seeing our own inherent beauty that is obvious to others who discover it in our responses and behaviour. The charm of our personality lies in our little actions and expressions.

Of course, those who see us, in our inherent beauty, can hold the positive mirror to us. But so often, so many of us would refuse to accept the true image of our selves. We tend to deflect positive appreciation and on the other hand we easily succumb to negative feedback, even if it is off the mark.

Our true image is when we are free of inhibitions... when the child within is set free... when we laugh without covering our face... when we walk without worry... when we shed the masks of false pretence... when we are simple and sincere... And when we choose to be better at noticing our truly attractive traits, we will notice our true image of yet another beautiful human being!

‘Every being is beautiful’ insists many a sage...

Let’s be better at appreciating our true image!

- Pravin K. Sabnis

Goa, India.

Faith

A tightrope walker could perform his feat with his assistant sitting on his shoulder. An impressed audience would give him a thunderous applause. Before doing it again he would ask them whether they believed that he could do it again. The crowd would respond with, ‘Yes, we believe that you can!’ Then, he would ask, ‘Now, who wants to volunteer to get on my shoulder?’

The crowd would turn silent.

 It was obvious that the crowd had the ‘belief’ in the acrobat’s capability. They had seen him do it again and again. But they did not have enough ‘faith’ to rely on his ability. Hence the reluctance to act as per their own stated belief. It is pertinent to note that faith is not a logical conclusion of belief, at all times. If the belief is superficial, the faith will be shaky.

Consider a deeply religious person who says he believes that God does not play dice with human lives and the same person falls prey to dread of astrology and other superstitions. Consider a self-proclaimed patriot who circumvents the law of his country. Or consider a scientist who prostrates before a God-man despite knowing that the latter’s miracles have easy explanations.

Education and experience create a set of principles in us which we consider to be our beliefs. It is easy to state our beliefs without having any real faith. Faith is reflected only if it is seen in our actions. The test is easy… if we can be better at convertinge our own stated belief into consistent action, then it can be certified as true faith. Otherwise, that belief is just a blank expression.

What we describe as belief is just an expression

Faith requires us to be better at aligned action!

- Pravin K. Sabnis

Goa, India.

Eyes Capture

Nowadays at various events, we see a common sight of many enthusiasts, standing in an awkward pose, back bent backwards and forefinger on the trigger... all set to capture the ongoing scene on cameras of different types. Never mind that the professional photographer is blocked out of view by these over excited, trigger happy camera-men.

Earlier the camera was meant for the ones who could afford it or the ones who could use it. Now it is easily affordable as well as usable. It comes as an add-on with other tools like mobile phones. It has empowered the needs of photo documentation. Journalism and even activism has found its uses to capture, chronicle and transfer visual information.

However the fundamental focus of the camera’s real potential is lost on its many converts. More often not, the furious frenzy of such enthusiasts, displays that they are only interested in clicking the shot rather than experiencing the activity. They rush from shot to shot, observing nothing. For some, the motive is to upload the photograph on Web 2.0 before someone else does.

It is akin to W H Davies’ poetic lament, ‘no time to wait till her mouth can... enrich the smile her eyes began’! We need tolerance for time so that our eyes can notice the minute detail as well as the larger vision. The camera is a highly useful invention, but it remains secondary to the human eye and its capacity to observe beyond the scene... a necessary trait for every photographer.

It would be better for us to use our eyes before we use the camera. The personal experience and the understanding that comes from it help empower the photographer’s penchant for perfecting the skill... like so many passionate photographers so well display! Alfred Eisenstaedt said it so well that ‘The important thing is not the camera but the eye!’

BE BETTER at using eyes to capture the activity...

Instead of a hasty clicks for needless posterity!

- Pravin K. Sabnis

Goa, India.

Voice

‘I have a right to be heard! I have a voice!’ - George VI

The above line comes at a defining moment in the award winning film ‘King’s Speech’. The King has the attitude, the aptitude and all it takes to be a monarch. But he has a severe speech impediment. After trying many options, he goes to an unorthodox speech therapist, Lionel Hogue.

Hogue’s highly effective methods are based on getting his learners to believe they have a voice. He gets his learner to unlearn negative strokes from the formative years of childhood. After all, technique would be in vain in the absence of an empowered temperament. Attempts at speech therapy fail until the teacher prods his student to declare his ‘right to be heard’.

Look around and you will notice little children speak their mind out as they have no doubts about their right to be heard. But as they grow older, they are conditioned to question that very right. ‘Don’t speak’ is a very influencing statement that many get used to hearing and believing! Other negative strokes further compound the problem.

Surely, it is a tragic when persons who have a voice, find it difficult to speak. Besides, hurting their ability to communicate effectively, it cripples their self-esteem and makes them more vulnerable when faced with leadership opportunities. James Humes put it pertinently when he said that ‘every time you speak, you are auditioning for leadership’.

Competence can be harnessed only when we choose to be better at confidence. In fact, in my Voice-vocabulary Optimisation Workshop (VOW), the primary focus is on helping people reclaim the right to be heard and thus find their voice. Once this is achieved, the subsequent empowerment, of voice and vocabulary skills, is child’s play.

To BE BETTER at finding, within ourselves, our liberated voice...
reclaim the right to be heard and escape the impediment vice!

- Pravin K. Sabnis

Goa, India.

VISION-CANDLE

One night, a host offered his blind visitor a lantern to carry home with him. The blind man declined saying, ‘Darkness or light is all the same to me.’ The wise host persisted, ‘I know you do not need a lantern to find your way, but if you don't have one, someone else may run into you.’

The blind man started off with the lantern and before he had walked very far someone ran squarely into him. ‘Look out where you are going!’ he exclaimed to the stranger. ‘I maybe blind, but can't you see this lantern?’ The person replied, ‘Brother, I did not notice you as your candle has burned out!’

Now let’s recast the above characters. The blind man in the story is one of us. The stranger is a person who crosses our path. The lantern symbolises the persona we carry. The candle represents our vision. The path represents our life purpose, our mission…

Look around and you will notice that personalities, who stand out in a crowd, are the ones who keep sharing their dreams, their hopes and their vision. They are noticeable because they ensure that their vision-candle is burning bright. Others easily notice this vision-candle and the person who carries it. In fact, it is even better noticed when things around appear dark and bleak

People, who have no prior experience of our abilities, are more likely to notice our potential if we carry our vision-candle. Holding out vision has dual benefits: it lights up our path as well as defines our positive standing in the eyes that we encounter! Hence we must be better at keeping alight our vision-candle to ensure that the lantern of our personality is consistently illuminated.

To BE BETTER at being noticed positively on the dark way
Our vision-candle must be lit every moment every day!

- Pravin K. Sabnis

Goa, India.

Duration

Over the weekend, responding to a call from my friend, Gopal Bhargava, I was in Kanpur to conduct training for JCI Kanpur Industrial and also for the IMA, Ophthalmologists’ Society and students from seven schools. This Monday Muse is triggered by the experience of travelling to Lucknow airport to board my return flight scheduled to depart at 8am.

The organisers told me that it would take just 75 minutes to travel the distance from Kanpur to Lucknow. They suggested that even if I were to leave Kanpur by 6am I would reach by 7.15am. When I insisted that I wanted to leave at 5am, they told me they knew better. But I remained firm and eventually reached the airport by 7.30am... just in time to rush through the formalities!

Interestingly, they did not err in their estimated duration to cover the distance. So what went wrong? The taxi reported late. A brief stop for tea turned time consuming. All this delay was compounded by traffic that steadily increased after 6am. The vehicle and the driver were slow. The distance remained the same but the duration of the journey had doubled.

So often we presume that the duration to cover a particular distance is the same. We ignore that variables may occur in the start-off or the quality of the vehicle or the skill of the driver or the traffic on the road or delays on the way or even breakdowns! All this factors need to be considered while planning a new journey across the same distance that we may have travelled before.

Experience can condition our minds to look at things in a rash way. The journey will be better if we accept that duration is affected by changing variables in the attitude and approach of the traveller as well as external issues that surface on the way. Time depends on the journey, not on distance. The play ‘Zoo Story’ has a pertinent line: ‘you have to go a long way to cover a short distance’.

The same distance at different times will see duration differ
we must BE BETTER at visioning the variables that may occur…

- Pravin K. Sabnis

On Lucknow-Mumbai flight.

Eklavya

The legend of Eklavya is found in the epic Mahabharat. Eklavya seeks to study archery under the coaching of Dronacharya, mentor of the princes of Hastinapura. When Eklavya approaches Drona, he is refused due to his humble status of being a tribal. However, Eklavya, full of determination, creates a statue of Drona and starts practising in front of it.

One day, during a hunting trip, Drona’s students come across Eklavya and they realise his skill is superior to that of Arjun, Drona's favourite and most accomplished student. An incensed Drona asks Eklavya to gift his right thumb as ‘guru-dakshina’ (a offering of gratitude to a teacher). Eklavya heeds to the demand without hesitation.

Drona's demand, for Eklavya's thumb and his initial refusal to accept him as a student, was indeed mean and unfair. However, it is pertinent to focus on the attitude and approach of Eklavya to learning. Though his teacher refuses to teach, he does not give up on his education and development in his desired skill. He shows what focused pursuit of learning can do.

A good teacher can facilitate learning, but not without a good student. Hence, the teacher must empower the passion of learning in the student. For once the passion is kindled; the learner can cross all restrictions. The story of Eklavya shows that the traits of desire, dedication, discipline and determination are the ones that help learners to be better at connecting to their potential.

It is said so well that ‘lessons are meant to be learnt, not taught’. And that is the real lesson. As learners, we must realise that the onus lies on us to learn from our teacher. And as a teacher, we must accept that even if put in our best efforts, it is to the credit of the student to rise to greater levels of competency.

To BE BETTER at nurturing potential, aim at the right spot…

The Eklavya story tells how to learn without being taught!

- Pravin K. Sabnis

Goa, India.