Very early in my career, someone once asked me to be a judge at an event. On the surface, I was thrilled (after all! every dog has a day and mine had come…I savored my chance to get back at the world; paying it in the same coin). But ironically, I ended up denying it because deep down inside, I could never assume any right to judge anyone….as I never wanted to give right to anyone to judge me…and if I had accepted the offer, I would have not only assumed the right but would have intrinsically provided it as well (that’s the way ball bounces… judgment is essentially a Siamese twins)
With the passage of time, the nature of my profession and the mode of my attachment to it overpowered my natural aversion (as entrepreneurs we were chasing the limelight and in such scenario any free spotlight was gold dust…) and I started featuring at such platforms quite often (I guess it is difficult to be a lawyer when you have a poet’s temperament)
The other day was another such day. I was invited as a judge for an illustrious event by someone I have a lot of regards for. I happened to be part of a panel of 3, with one of my long-time mentors. There is something about a mentor…he may not say much but his sheer presence is elevating and enriching, and that day, I again had a first-hand experience of it…(and when he did speak a few words…I swear! They were the most profound words of the day). I am sure what I felt with him was enough a reason to go online with my thoughts, yet there was something else that also happened on that day…
At tea, I happened to talk to the Executive Director of a major Tata company (now even before you inflate your opinion of my stature in the society, allow me to pre-puncture it by telling you that we don’t know each other and I am sure he must have already forgotten me). What matters is that during one of the sips (while cup was still ‘a mid-air ad-hoc’ in his hand), I asked him how does he look at what he has achieved in life?
He smiled, paused and said…(Paraphrased here onwards, on the basis of my memory and motive)…”Sandeep (I still can’t believe he remembered my name!), you know…a few years back, 16-year old daughter of one of our workers came into my office and told me that she wanted to study further. I told her that I would only pay the fee for her 1st year and would pay for the next year only if she would come in Top-3 of her college. She nodded with a happy tear in her eye and left. After one year, she came with a paper-cutting…she was in Top-3 of the university…”
He then stopped to make the cup feel worthy, and said…”You know! It is not about driving a Sedan or being a globe-trotter or being a well-respected man in the society…it is about an opportunity to experience such experiences…my achievement is that I helped someone create theirs”…
I looked at his face to confirm the veracity of what he was saying (after all! I am considered to be a good behavioral trainer)…he had a smile that can only come on your lips when your heart is smiling…
Since then, I have kept wondering if he would have said the same if he would not be driving a Sedan or was not a globe-trotter or was not a well-respected man in the society… but still I am sure that what he had said is a major reason why today he is driving a Sedan…is a globe-trotter and is a well-respected man in the society…
After all…destiny does have a good eye for the man it wants to date…
