Aspirational Young Indians



Shaniwadwada ,Pune



Solkadhi , the pink health drink and Thalipeeth



I reached home around midnight .The hopping flight waited at Mumbai airport for over one hour and forty-five mins before leaving for Kolkata. By that time there were fifteen missed calls  from  my over anxious siblings. I could not help smiling .Even at this age how protective Indian families can become.

I hate airports in big cities .They are a pain.  Pune airport was fortunately comfortably relaxed . I was visiting the city after a gap of twenty four years .  Naturally the city looked and felt different. It  had lost some of its old  beauty but was still not as bad as Bangalore. You can see the face of young aspirational India here. First generation learners , determined young girls and boys from small towns of India are competing with their more privileged counterparts on equal footing. I met some of them .

 Jeetender is from Bhopal .His father is  an alcoholic .His mother worked in people’s houses to  make  ends meet  and ensured that her three sons went to school regularly. Jeetender’s two elder brothers were too protective and did  not allow him to do any part-time work  . However the young boy managed to earn money by helping juice makers after school hours .He wanted to help his mother. He got a job as a support staff in an organisation and then completed his graduation on distance learning mode. He was determined to learn proper communicative English. An extremely intelligent  man he had impressed his bosses with his efficiency and sincerity. He  misses his family  in Bhopal and his eyes filled with tears when he spoke of his mother.

Neha belongs to a traditional ,conservative Marathi  joint family . Her  two elder sisters were married off before they turned twenty. Neha was determined not to give up  her studies and  marry early   .She fought against her father , her father’s elder brothers and joined an MBA course . The elders including her father stopped talking to her. She was adamant . She completed  her course and has now started working .Her first job was with a foreign bank.

Ashok hails from Varanasi .He is twenty four years old and has already got a working experience of six years. He is raring to go and has travelled all over India. Bright and confident he exudes a charm that can win over any sceptic.

I met two very confused youngsters .Both had moved from one option to another unable to decide what was best for them .One of them had moved from the East to the South to the North and then finally arrived in West India . I hope they are able to find their path soon.

It is a restless generation and the temptations are many and opportunities are waiting to  be grabbed . Read this story which a friend mailed me on New Year’s Day.

Prakash Iyer, MD, Kimberly-Clark Lever and Executive Coach shares two important management lessons he learnt from a 500-rupee note. Read on.

It happened some years ago but I can recall the evening like it happened just last week.

I was in an audience listening to a motivational guru.

The speaker whipped out his wallet and pulled out a five hundred-rupee note.

Holding it up, he asked, "Who wants this five hundred rupee note?"

Lots of hands went up. Including mine.

A slow chorus began to build as people began to shout "Me!" "Me!"

I began to wonder who the lucky one would be who the speaker would choose. And I also secretly wondered -- and I am sure others did too -- why he would simply give away five hundred rupees.

Even as the shouts of "I want it" grew louder, I noticed a young woman running down the aisle.

She ran up onto the stage, went up to the speaker, and grabbed the five hundred-rupee note from his hand. "Well done, young lady," said the speaker into the microphone.

"Most of us just wait for good things to happen. That's of no use. You've got to make things happen."

The speaker's words have stayed with me ever since.

 Our lives are like that. We all see opportunities around us. We all want the good things. But the problem is we don't take action.

We all want the five hundred rupee notes on offer. But we don't make the move. We look at it longingly and wonder who will be the lucky one -- instead of making our own luck.

To be fair, some of us do think of running onto the stage and grabbing it. But we quickly hold ourselves back, because we worry about what people might think.

Has it ever happened to you that you see a successful new product or a flourishing new business -- and remind yourself of how you had thought of that very idea many years ago? Well, that's not worth much.

You may have had the idea first, but someone else did something about it -- so he'll reap the rewards. Next time you have an idea -- remember that simply thinking about doing something is of no use.

Do something. Next time you see an opportunity -- think of the lady and the five hundred rupee note.

Remember, just wanting it is of little use.

Get up, and do something about it. Don't worry about what other people might think. Take action.

 Several years later, it was another day, another time.

And another motivational guru.

As I watched him pull out a five hundred rupee note and hold it up for all to see, I thought I knew what he was going to do next. But he just asked a simple question. "How much is this worth?"

"Five Hundred rupees!" the crowd yelled in unison.

"Right," said the speaker. He then took the note and crumpled it into a ball and asked "How much is it worth now?"

"Five Hundred rupees!" screamed the audience.

He then threw the note on the ground, stamped all over it and picked up the note and asked one more time: "And how much is it worth now?"

"Five Hundred rupees!" was the response.

"I want you to remember this," said the speaker.

"Just because someone crumples it, or stamps on it, the value of the note does not diminish.

We should all be like the five hundred rupee note.

In our lives, there will be times when we feel crushed, stamped over, beaten. But never let your self-worth diminish. Just because someone chooses to crush you -- that doesn't change your worth one bit!

Don't allow your self-worth to diminish because someone says something nasty -- or does something dirty -- to you."

Good lessons to remember as you embark into a Leap year.

May the New Year bring you joy, happiness -- and all the five hundred rupee notes you always wanted!

2012 promises to be your best year ever. Now just take action to make it that way!