Jak's World

Think FAMILY!

2010-01-11T00:32:00.005+05:30

What is God’s biggest gift to humans? Is it money? Or is it the nature? It’s none of them. God’s biggest gift to humans is to think. Even a beautiful morning near the world’s largest waterfalls doesn’t look pleasing for a mentally disturbed person. For those who do not realize the importance of what needs to be done in the next moment, happiness is a distant dream. We do think about many things in life, but, do we really think about our family? How many billionaires on earth are happy in their personal life? How many of them became so rich without the support of their family? The answer is NONE.

The perception of every human being is that- Money divides an individual from his/her family. The truth is that it’s the Perception that kills the relationship between them and hence brings the ‘individual’. Money is just a fuel that we have created to run our lives. And now, we ourselves have made it the reason for our downfall. In reality, it’s our mindset that has changed. It’s our thinking that made us look the world through money. It’s not money that is making us think. It’s us- we think that money is making us think.

One might wonder what is so special about family. Why do we need a family? In a world where individuals are ready to ditch their parent companies in favour of a better pay, there is no surprise that family values are going down each day. But, most of us give a reason to that- in fact we give only one reason. This damn kid is running behind money. Money is making him go mad. But, this very thought of Money making the individual think is absolutely wrong. It’s our perception that Money is changing a person. And it’s our misunderstanding in understanding that person. Most of us consider the most negative reason out of the hundred reasons one sights for a change. It’s the thought process that runs us.

Starting from our college days, where a boy runs behind a girl, to the CEO of a big MNC joining the direct competitor, the first reason we sight for change is always money. However, we fail to understand that behind the money, there is a reason called Better Living. Better Living doesn’t just come with better salary, it comes with better understanding. Understanding between any two individuals, companies or any two parties is the first step to their happiness.

As humans, we have the luxury of unlimited imagination and ability to come up with new ideas every minute. Few of those ideas bring us success in business, some of them lead to victories, and some of them end in disaster. Wait a minute. How many of us think of getting ideas to build up a better family? How many of really care about getting our family together? For sure there are some who really say “I do”. But family is not just our parents or our immediate dependants. Family is all those who care for you, who really wish a minute of your time would make them feel better. It’s everyone who can really afford a smile on their face when you are around them.

So what really separates us from our family? Given the pace at which the world is developing at this stage, many of us think we should also compete with the world. We compete with the people around us in every possible manner. We try to earn more, we try to prove we are more luxurious and we try to prove we dominate them in every possible manner. But how often do we really compete in taking care of our family? How often do we think we are much happier with our family than the individual happiness we compare every day? How many of us really look at an IIM A graduate for successful personal life? Very few of us really care about it.

Some of us say, we are new generation and we need to think in a different manner. Life might have changed in many ways, but our family and human relations are not supposed to change. We still learn the basic things of life from our family. Then why do we need to be an individual to compete with the modern world? Why can’t we compete as a family? Why do we care so much about our customers than we care about our family? It's individualism that drives us. It's selfishness and the idea of Me and My Partner/My Parents. How many girls in this generation really think the guys should take care of his parents post marriage? How many of them expect their husbands to be still part of his happy family after marriage? Why do the modern generation think about individualism, rather my direct family is my world? Why do we forget about the entire family? Our cousins, parents' relatives are still part of our family. Then what makes us narrow-minded?

Every one of us has constraints. Constraints that prevent us from meeting our family, old friends and sharing a happy news with them. How many of us take it positively when we hear a good news about a close friend from someone whom we rarely see? The first thought in our tiny brain is how can he forget to inform me? But, how many of us really leave that thought behind us and go ahead and wish them? How many of us keep the bitter truth that he forgot to inform us, in our mind and start building grudge against him? Most of us do the latter and deteriorate our relationships.

As the saying goes, it takes one rumour to spoil a good relationship which is built on a thousand facts. It’s the lack of trust that breaks a relationship. But we always give it a different name- Money. We keep on saying- People run behind money, People don’t really care about their family/friends but they do care about the money that is behind them. However, in giving the credit to Money, we forget the fact that it’s our thought process that runs us, not the Money. Adding to that, we go a step ahead to say money makes us think in that way. In a generation when we are set to build a star hotel on Moon, isn’t it foolish to say that human thought process is controlled by Money?

Humans are driven by desire; desire to make a living for themselves. However, most of them combine that desire with individualism. The word, rather the letter, “I”- itself is misleading. When someone says “I will do this”, the general idea of the opposite person is to imagine that the so called person is doing it for himself. It’s not until the activity is finished, we realize that he wants to do something for either his family or for the society. By the time we realize that, time might slip out of our hands. Understanding the other person or an action in every moment of our life is so important that the next moment is decided on our response. Building it or spoiling it is in our hands.

The modern education teaches us this: If X leads to Y and Y leads to Z, then it means X leads to Z. However, it’s just education. We implement it in our class rooms, board meetings and in our balance books. But, we never do that in family/relationships. One might manage to please his girlfriend with a promise, but could end up in anger for his parents. How often do we think about this formula that pleasing girlfriend may not please our parents? What if we do that in the first step? Can’t we find a solution to please both of them? Thought process is not just a momentary thing. The biggest gift human race has is to control their thought process. We need to think about our thought process to build and maintain lively relationships- both in and out of our family.

Saying money drives this world is as foolish as saying we are dumb. We always do a mistake before saying that money ruins lives- and the mistake is we stop thinking. If one starts thinking before saying a word, it works wonders. A currency note might make others wonder about you but it doesn’t bring a smile on their face. It’s the understanding and the assurance that you give to them, that makes them smile. And that one smile is worth millions. We hope to see a world that looks for the smile on their family's faces than on their client's face!

Game On

2009-08-14T21:35:00.000+05:30

Don’t remember the last time I was so eager for a mid-August. Certainly, as an English Premier League fan, I wouldn’t expect it to come so quickly. Ever since the game in Rome was over, days -especially weekends- have become very boring. Of course the transfer market did lit up life to some extent, but the lackluster spending of Real Madrid and Man City made the transfer market nothing less than a boredom and monotonous.

Ever since the last day of Premier League was over, I have been waiting for the new season to start in no time. Being a hardcore Man United fan, I never thought that Christiano Ronaldo would leave United, though Real never looked like leaving him in England. On the other hand, Carlos Tevez’s departure was imminent, especially after seeing him wave to the crowds after United completed a third Premier League title in as many seasons.

Both the players had been fantastic for the Red Devils. But CR7 was more than just fantastic. 68 goals in two seasons in the most entertaining and hard-fought football league in the world is not an ordinary achievement. The charismatic winger had expressed his willingness to join the Los Blanco in the past, but he never let that affect his services to United. He may not have reached the same levels as the previous season but the last season as a Red Devil was never a lesser achievement for the Portuguese and thus making his name into the United’s ever growing list of legends.

On a personal note, the departure of CR7 was a surprise to me, especially after both the player and the United manager announced that none of them are in favor of the transfer. However, one must appreciate the way the deal has been made. Without much of a buzz, United agreed to let Real talk to the player. Though there was a talk of some pre-agreed deal on the transfer, that doesn’t stand any relevance.

Once CR7 and Tevez left United, it was no surprise the whole football world has looked at Sir Alex Ferguson. Arguably, the United boss was under some pressure to fill in the void left by the departures of two of his key players. Starting from the long awaited Karim Benzema to a not so well-known Nilmar, Sir Alex attracted a complete bunch of strikers and wingers. Most of the United fans, football fans thought Benzema was the obvious replacement for the star role emptied by CR7. But, the intentions of Real were different. The launch of the new Galactico generation has taken the world less of a surprise and more of an irritation. Clubs have really made a chance for themselves by increasing the valuation of their players irrespective of what they are worth of.

Whether it was intending to make the most out of it or to keep their valuable asset to themselves, Bayern have priced Frank Ribery out of everyone’s, including Real, reach. Benzema has opted to join the group of stars at Real, rather than proving himself as a star by joining the Red Devils. There were several cases of valuations not meeting the player’s worth or the valuations not meeting the player’s tag set by their respective clubs. Whatever it was, the current market has hit the less-spending clubs hardly. Most of the clubs couldn’t even think of making new signings.

However, Sir Alex has been successful in grabbing another of his long-lasting targets in Antonio Valencia. The young winger has really impressed the vastly experience United boss and he did impress United fans allover the world in pre-season. But, the most shocking and surprising move of the transfer market has seen the England and former Liverpool and Real Madrid star Michael Owen join the Red Devils in a ‘free’ transfer. If it was not Michael Owen, I would have never liked any of the Liverpool players joining United. That might sound a little absurd, but that is the passion for your club. Before someone asks me why Owen, I will make it clear that Michael Owen was the only second footballer I ever heard of.

If Real has swept the stars all over the world, the big money spenders of England, Man City has targeted the stars inside England and the Premier League. The addition of Gareth Barry, Adebayor, Toure and Tevez has really strengthened the other half of Manchester. But can they challenge the Red side of the city and can they challenge the other top four teams for the title?

Well, if that was what happened in the last 2 months, the coming 9 months will hold nothing less than a spectacle. 19 clubs fight for the prestigious Barclays Premier League for 9 months, with breathtaking football. If the last season was a closely fought league, then this season would be much more intense than that. The departure of CR7 has certainly weakened the Red Devils but that is nothing but a curtain raiser for the likes of Federico Macheda, Nani, Anderson and many more waiting in a very big United squad. Now it’s up to Wayne Rooney t deliver the goods for the Red Devils with his preferred role as a central striker. Can he deliver the needed?

Chelsea, on the other hand, may not have made too many valuable additions, other than the promising Zhirkov, but they bought in a new manager in Ancelotti, who boasts a lengthy list of European titles, both as a player and manager. Will another manager for another season change the fate for the Blues? Liverpool, who finished second in the table last season despite losing only 2 games in the league, lost a key player in Fernando Alonso, another of the new generation Galactico, and replaced him with a talented yet delicate Aquilani. Can he fit into the shoes of Alonso? Can the captain fantastic Gerrard and El Nino Fernando Torres stay fit for complete season? Can Liverpool go a step forward and end their trophy draught this season?

There is nothing much to talk about Arsenal or Arsene Wenger though. I wonder why neither Wenger nor the Arsenal fans understand that football is not business, to buy a kid and sell him for triple the buying price. Even a layman plants a seed expecting to devour the sweetness of its fruits. When will Arsenal, as a club and a fan community, understands that they are playing for titles rather than money? Will it be the season Arsenal proves people like me wrong by winning something other than money? Will the Arsenal fans realize that they need to think about something more than the trust in Arsene? But, first of all, can they hold on to Fabregas? However, I must appreciate Arsene Wenger for his economic brains in selling Adebayor. The player has long been in for a move away from the club. However, he must have used some of the earnings. He may have to answer a few questions at the end of the season for sure if he doesn’t answer many of them during the season.

Though there is much talk about Man City replacing one of the current top four, and winning the league according to some more, I personally do not think it is in their reach, at least for this season. However, I do really feel the likes of Tottenham and Aston Villa giving tough fight to one of the top four teams and dethrone them from the elite club. Watch out for Arsenal to survive, they are the most vulnerable of the crop. Not to forget Everton, they had a good season last time around and have been consistent in the last couple of seasons.

That really sets the pace for the upcoming season and ends the long wait for another cracking Premier League. I am sure every honest Premier League lover would have real sleepless nights in the next 9 months. It’s time for kickoff folks- Game on!