Top 7 Drugs For Motivation: My Daily Overdose!

The idea is that, one must never give up. No matter what adversities come one's way, you and I need to keep moving forward. It is as plain simple as that or so it seems. I have seen many of my fellow Out-Of-College-20-Something friends seemingly caught in that Not-Challenging-Enough trap that the majority of people face when they step out of college. Life may not be easy, yet we crib and complain, mostly regarding the stagnation (that we seem to have hit!). Mind you, I for one am not in this situation considering my career goals. In fact, such thoughts should be orthogonal to my mind set. Yet, I falter with my efforts and have to look for inspiration. These are some of the sources that I regularly use to boost my morale and get the engine back up and running:

# 1 Inspirational Speech in 'Rocky Balboa'

"Let me tell you something you already know. The world ain't all sunshine and rainbows. It is a very mean and nasty place and I don't care how tough you are, it will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it. You, me or nobody is gonna hit as hard as life.

But, it ain't about how hard you hit; it's about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward. It's how much you can take and keep moving forward. That's how winning is done.

Now, if you know what you are worth, then go out and get what you are worth. But you gotta be willing to take the hits, and not point fingers and saying you ain't where you want to be because of him or her or anybody. Cowards do that and that ain't you. You're better than that."

# 2 Inspirational Quote from 'Will Smith'

The only thing that I see that is distinctly different about me is I'm not afraid to die on a treadmill. I will not be out-worked, period. You might have more talent than me, you might be smarter than me, you might be sexier than me, you might be all of those things you got it on me in nine categories. But if we get on the treadmill together, there's two things: You're getting off first, or I'm going to die. It's really that simple, right?

You're not going to out-work me. It's such a simple, basic concept. The guy who is willing to hustle the most is going to be the guy that just gets that loose ball. The majority of people who aren't getting the places they want or aren't achieving the things that they want in this business is strictly based on hustle. It's strictly based on being out-worked; it's strictly based on missing crucial opportunities. I say all the time if you stay ready, you ain't gotta get ready

# 3 Inspirational Speech from The Legend of Bagger Vance

Inside each and every one of us is our one, true authentic swing.  Something we was born with.  Something that's ours and ours alone.  Something that can't be learned.  Something that's got to be remembered.

# 4 Swades: We the people, the Bollywood movie

I know this one's kind of weird, but it reminds me of the potential one has of influencing many lives radically. It is among SRK's most commendable performances. I watch it almost once every other month.

# 5 Pre-Workout Motivation Playlist

This playlist consists of some really good speeches. It's a good collection to listen to during morning runs.

# 6 The All Blacks Haka

This great Maori war cry will surely get your blood pumping. This ritual performed by the NZ All Blacks Rugby team is a real boost. Make the challenge with a Haka.

# 7 If by Rudyard Kipling

If you can keep your head when all about you

Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;

If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,

But make allowance for their doubting too:

If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,

Or, being lied about, don't deal in lies,

Or being hated don't give way to hating,

And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise;

If you can dream - and not make dreams your master;

If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim,

If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster

And treat those two impostors just the same:.

If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken

Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,

Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,

And stoop and build'em up with worn-out tools;

If you can make one heap of all your winnings

And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,

And lose, and start again at your beginnings,

And never breathe a word about your loss:

If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew

To serve your turn long after they are gone,

And so hold on when there is nothing in you

Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on!"

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,

Or walk with Kings - nor lose the common touch,

If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,

If all men count with you, but none too much:

If you can fill the unforgiving minute

With sixty seconds' worth of distance run,

Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,

And - which is more - you'll be a Man, my son!

# 8 Biographies/Autobiographies (Bonus!)

If you ever need inspiration, these are hands-down the best sources. The trials and tribulations that several leaders went through in their path to success shows that grit and determination can trounce all deterrence. No adversities are too great for man to conquer. If you are willing enough to sacrifice your today, you'll have a great tomorrow.

So, here are my regular pick-me-ups. Looking forward to adding more to this list from your suggestions. Till then, stay strong and stay motivated!

Around the World in 80 Books - The Asian Leg!

I have been slacking on my reading for a really long time now (over six months!) and this has left me all the more agitated. Having my hands full isn't really an excuse, since I do nothing except watch South Park in my spare hours (Yes Ladies and Gents, I watch a cartoon!) . In order to rid myself of this nasty habit, I have decided to resume reading and that too with a new challenge. I may not have any of the daredevilry or ingenuity of Phileas Fogg, yet I presume that I can read my way around the world in a year. So, here is the list of books I shall take up for this challenge, in the first leg:

S.No.	Book	Author	Country
1.	The Patience Stone	Atiq Rahimi	Afghanistan
2.	Bullets and Trains	Adeerus Ghayan	Pakistan
3.	Pax Indica: India and the World in the 21st Century	Shashi Tharoor	India
4.	The Lives We Have Lost: Essays and opinions on Nepal	Manjushree Thapa	Nepal
5.	Chinaman: The Legend of Pradeep Mathew	Shehan Karunatilaka	Sri Lanka
6.	The Rainbow Troops: A Novel	Andrea Hirata	Indonesia
7.	The Sorrow of War: A Novel of North Vietnam	Bao Ninh	Vietnam
8.	Waiting	Ha Jin	China
9.	Kafka On the Shore	Haruki Murakami	Japan
10.	The Railway	Hamid Ismailov	Uzbekistan
11.	When My Name Was Keoko	Linda Sue Park	South Korea
12.	Throwing Sparks	Abdo Khal	Saudi Arabia
13.	My Name is Red	Orhan Pamuk	Turkey

The two criteria that I used to make the selection were the nationality of the author and the subject matter of the book. Coincidence of both these criteria allowed me to select the above books from my to-read list.

My literary sojourn spanning thirteen countries (in the first phase) starts tomorrow. So, when do you begin yours?


Happy Reading!

A fight for humanity : Long Walk to Freedom

I believe that if and when a person is asked as to "what is our greatest inheritance?", the perfect response would be "it is the written content" - the books containing prose and poetry of long gone generations which give flight to our imagination as we walk the footsteps of our ancestors. By ancestors, I do not wish to limit myself to the narrow definition of a blood family but the entire human race. For we are one big family surviving on an infinitesimal grain of dust in the vastness of the universe.

From this family, I have discovered yet another gem in the annals of history - Long Walk To Freedom. To say it is Nelson Mandela's autobiography is an understatement. The book is a document of the aspirations and the struggles of the peoples of South Africa. True, it is written by Mandela. But, strikingly in contrast and  in similarity with other such texts, the book tends to detail the sacrifices not only of the protagonist but the entire nation - from the hinterland to the largest cities. South Africa has come a long way since then. The days of the cruellest of social segregation schemes in modern history - apartheid are long gone. But, this transformation wasn't achieved in a single battle or war. It came as the result of a protracted struggle by the oppressed to show the oppressor the wrong of his ways. The severe repression of the non-white majority in their own native land by a foreign settled people was something the African people had fought for since the early years of the twentieth century and change could only be brought about in the last decade of the same. It was not a set of concessions by the government that finally culminated in the abolition of apartheid, but a prolonged delay, denial and extreme suppression by the state authorities of the people who never stopped fighting for what is right. I salute the anti-apartheid fighters of that era, ones who helped create a new nation and a more humane world.

Being an autobiography,surprisingly it focussed a lot on other characters of the movement - all ANC leaders especially Walter Sisulu, Oliver Tambo, Chief Luthili among others. I believe that it wasn't a deliberate attempt by the protagonist to seem modest. For, in his own words, the life of a freedom fighter is not his own but of the struggle and the people. It recounted ANC meetings, discussions with its leaders, his wife who herself was a freedom fighter and many such political events and instances. The account that is most moving is from the time spent in Robben Island prison wherein the prisoners were able to retain and continue some form of struggle against the authorities and apartheid.

One essential learning that I personally take away from the text is that determination and faith in the cause/goal is the most important thing that a person must have to succeed. Mandela had to spend 27 years in prison following his arrest and trial for high treason. It was the same man that walked out and began negotiations with the government. His demands , and that of the entire movement, hadn't changed and stayed the same till the goal was realized in 1994. Very few people in history have shown such resilience in the face of exploitation and persecution.

While Mandela now rests in his eternal abode, his teachings in the form of his life experiences continue to remain with all of us to this day and ahead.

I look forward to more inspiring words and lessons from my next read, The Autobiography of Martin Luther King Jr. , I go now reminiscing my experiences from this moving tale.

Long Walk To Freedom

Pic courtesy : @NelsonMandela : Officer Twitter Account

Two to Tango (At the bookstore)

One day both N. and I slipped to Crossword with a new idea in our heads - book spine poetry. Our new found craze in this activity led to a brainwave of using the vast collection offered by the store to feed our need. So, donning the 'hat of creativity' both took to the aisles and BINGO! we had seven poems by the end of our deputed time. Here is a short recollection of the amazing time we had creating poems out of book spines.

The first one!

Hickory Dickory dock

Kill Alex Cross

Four past Midnight

True at first light

The modus operandi was quite simple :-

1.Pick a book randomly off the shelf (which would obviously be an interesting title). 

2.Use it as the beginning for your next poem. 

3.Scour the bookshelves till you complete the poem.

Just after sunset,

windmills of the Gods

After the darkness,

games people play.

Be it fiction, romance,drama, thriller or a writing on the more serious issues, we left none untouched in our efforts to create something out of these.

 

It wasn't love at first.

The morning after

(in)the lake of dreams;

Oops! I fell in love

more than you can say.

It was fun as we ran hither and thither trying to find the next piece of the poem, searching the bookshelf from the top to the bottom, making discoveries, keeping books aside for use in the next one! For instance, N. had kept the books Vanity and Envy on reserve since she first set eyes on them and we were finally able to make something out of them !

The sword of thunder,

vanity,

envy,

betrayal,

games people play.

Quite interesting, isn't it? The fact that we had an entire bookstore to our disposal made it all the more better. We were quick ! A set of seven under two hours was an impressive feat.

Our next shot was at something that showcased women power.Here is our tribute to that.

 

Leading ladies

storming the world stage,

playing with fire,

power shift.

What next?

And then there was a poem from the Hindi section too! (We  solemnly swear that as far as Hindi is concerned we have never been up to any good and so, we request you not to judge us!)

जीतने का साहस 

आत्मा के लिए अमृत 

सकारात्मक सोच की अदभुत शक्ति 

लक्ष्य !

As we came to the end, the last section was the food guide section. Feeling a bit adventurous on the literary scale we decided to try our hand at this and cooked up the dish we present next.

 

The red market

southern flavours-

fish and shellfish 

the family meal.

An hour and half full of fun and creativity. What an awesome way to spend the day! A maze of books, a camera and the enthusiasm with the perfect person. A day to remember - two to tango at the bookstore.

On an ending note, we thank the staff of Crossword , who without any knowledge of our actions saw it fit to let our efforts go unnoticed as we scampered all across the book sections sometimes with a camera and at other with books. Cheers for aiding our creativity!