When I made a stranger smile. . . :)

I have always been a big supporter of the smiling habit and making others smile along your own personal journey of life. So a few weeks back I had a beautiful incident and today it struck my mind that why not share it with you all.

I presume here that you all must have read my blog post on my bike ride, if not click here. I really love my bike. So a few weeks back, my mom told me to go to the nearby market and fetch some vegetables. Being an obedient son I did what I was told to. As I was walking from the shop towards my bike to go back home, my cell rang up. Mom told me to wait there since she also has to buy something else. I did the same.

Waiting, waiting and still waiting. Then all of a sudden, from nowhere, a little boy of around 10 yrs of age came to me and started chatting with me about my bike. So this is the conversation between us:-

He: - Hey, Is this your bike?

Me: - Yes.

He: - It's a very beautiful bike. I love red color as well. It's damn gorgeous.

Me: - Haha, yes it is. Thank you for the praise.

  (Then he said something that I had to laugh. I laughed because of the innocence with which he asked this question)

He: - How much does it cost?

Me: - (this is the moment I laughed) brother, it's very costly you'll definitely be able to buy it when you'll be of my age.

He:- Thank you. Can I ask you something ?

Me:- Sure, why not ?

He:- can I have a small ride on your bike ?

(I saw a sparkle of bike love in his eyes. I know it might sound crazy to some of you while reading this but yes, those who love something deeply and when they see it, their eyes do sparkle. And due to that sparkle I couldn't say "No" to him)

He sat on the back seat and I gave him a full round of the market. 

After the round when he got down :-

He:- Thank you, brother. You don't know me and still you gave me the ride on your bike. Thank you  ( he literally stretched his "you" here )

Me:- No, I know you. You're a dreamer. An avid dreamer like me. I always used to have a dream of having my own bike. Do you have the same?

He:- Yes, I do.

Me:- Then how can you say we don't know each other? You're also a dreamer ; bike lover like me. So I do know you now. Work hard. Study well. And never lose the sight of your dreams. One day you'll surely have your own bike, better than mine, sexier than mine and much costlier than mine.

He gave me a big smile with his "stretched" thank you and he ran away to disappear in the crowd of the market.

This was a very beautiful incident in my life. A lot of times I have talked to and even shared some good jokes with strangers, but this small boy was something else. I could notice the innate desire for a bike from the way his eyes were looking at my bike with utmost admiration and fascination. All his smiles made my day. I really can't tell you how much happy I myself felt that day. Not because I had a bike and I gave a ride, but just because I could make a significance in someone's life and give him hope. At last, it's the human and personal touches that make you happy, not the material things. 

Till next time. 

Stay motivated. Stay excited. Stay happy. 

Invest in Humanity

I don't have the privilege to have a large number of friends, that's why I don't have many. I kind of enjoy having my own alone time a lot. Yes, I do have friends, but only a few. Two of my friends had the following conversation. Let's give them names A and B for ease.

The story line is that my friend "A" was needing some money to give a gift to his new girlfriend. So "B" had some pocket money saved so he promised to give it to him (A). As "B" was coming to give the money to him, he gave that money to an auto rickshaw driver because the auto rickshaw driver had to give the money to his landlord as that day was the last day of the payment term period. 

My friend "B" has traveled a lot from that auto and thus, he knew that auto driver.

My friend "A" said to me "See Prateek, what kind of a friend is he ? I wanted that money to give that expensive perfume to my girlfriend and he gave that money to someone else"

My instant reply to this was "I understand buddy. But see what he has done. He has truly invested in humanity. By giving that money to you, of course, he would be happy to help you but just look at the satisfaction on his face now. He's euphoric."

And then even my friend "A" realized his mistake.

It's not just about the money my friend gave to the auto driver. It's about the trust and love for humanity that he invested. In this world where people live, money values more to humans than humans, it's so easy to have the biggest possible pocket full of money and it's so difficult to have the biggest heart filled with love and compassion for others.

The moment we start loving money more than humans, we start measuring relationships in monetary terms and this is the biggest blunder of all time. You can buy money with strong relationships, but you can never buy a relationship with the dollars in your bank account. How do you think such strong businesses were developed? They had such Top level management that believes in the power of humans and agrees that the most important asset of the company goes up every morning and comes down every evening through the lift. Relationships, be it in business or otherwise, have to be built on strong foundations of kindness, compassion, love and trust. This is the best way to invest in humanity.

So please invest in humanity. Period.

Till next time. . .

Stay motivated. Stay excited. Stay happy. 

What Struggle Teaches Us

I am fully the cheerleader of the tagline "Stay happy and smiling no matter what life throws at you" but yes, sometimes even life shows you it's power and beats you no matter how hard you try.

I just went through some very tough days. They were exhausting. I could hardly camouflage my unhappiness. I would wake up in the morning, staring straight up at the ceiling in anticipation of the misery of the day.  Have you ever experienced that no matter how hard you try, you still can't change the past?

There is a moment in our lives when everything is going on fine, we're happy the way things are working on, there is no fear of loss and then something comes up and the storm dismantles all the constructions of your beautiful world.

Everything that earlier seemed to be in place is now falling apart. Nothing feels right. Nothing seems right. It seems like God is playing games with us. We do start asking him questions like "Why did you put that happiness in my life if you wanted to take it away from me?", "Who do you think I am? A puppet that you can play with the way you want?" Or the most frequently asked one is "Why me? "

When we look around during such tough times, everyone around us is happy. Even those people are happy that have done bad deeds. Then we ask HIM another question "Why have you stolen my happiness? Look at him, he's such a curse to the society and still he is happy. Why didn't you put him behind the bars of pain that am suffering through? "Why am I the only one who has to suffer? "

 And this is called struggle. Life is such trouble sometimes. And we all want to avoid it many times, but we can't.

 I believe that we shouldn't avoid such struggles because our greatest growth potential lies in these areas only. Our biggest potential resides in these struggles only.

I myself have faced many big and small struggles till date and am thankful to all of them because they have made me what I am today. You really can't put a price tag on the value you extract from such struggles in life. Many of the cancer survivors have put down this "feeling of victory after struggles" so well, that even I can't put it that well in words. Some names that come to my mind right now are Lisa Ray, Yuvraj Singh and Lance Armstrong. They all fought cancer so bravely, confidently and positively.  They truly are heroes. Salute. Hats off! If you have read any of their interviews/articles you'll see that they found a new strength in those struggles.

This is the power of struggles in our lives. Struggles in our lives aren’t there to break us, instead, they’re in our lives to make us a better version of ourselves. I found a new strength after my recent struggles. In that deep abyss of struggle, I found bravery, strength, conviction, passion and a powerful strength I’ve never felt before. I really never felt alive before!  I feel alive now, after coming out of that deep mysterious abyss of struggle.

And in case you think that where is God during hour those toughest struggles, then I would suggest you read the line below. It will give you some hope.

When you're thinking where God is during your toughest days, just remember one thing that the teacher is always silent during the test.

Stay motivated. Stay excited. Stay happy.