Sachin Tendulkar's words to me.

The young Sachin made his Test debut at 17 in November 1989. When he filled this questionnaire, he was already being hailed as the next best thing in cricket. His answers, however, are disarmingly simple, something that is reflected even 20 years later.

Time flies but memories last forever.

Thanks for all your support, love and prayers.

I'm always humbled by the love I get from India.

I thank you from the bottom of my heart for 24 years of support.

I hope Team India inspires you to believe in your dreams.

Stand & Deliver.

In India, it is a sad fact, there are many people who do not get to go to school. Most people do not learn how to speak with people and how to convince people with ideas and thoughts. Many others who get to attend schools do not lay a great emphasis on learning good speaking skills. This makes it very difficult in the later stages of their life when they have to get through in the world using their communication skills.

Powerful speakers are attractive people, even if they are not gifted with good looks, they move audience with their speeches. Any person who becomes successful has to be good communicator and any person who has to succeed in a country like ours should understand and learn the importance of powerful speech.

India is a country with many social problems and the solutions for these problems should come from the people of India. And such people should be strong enough to face audiences. Whether you grow up to be an engineer, doctor, lawyer, teacher or a computer specialist, you require good speaking abilities.

Powerful speaking abilities can help you to live your life successfully as you will never find it difficult to convince people with your ideas. Ideas are useless unless they are implemented and to implement them you need to convince people.

Powerful speaking.
     Did you ever wonder how some people stand up and speak to groups and move them. We have seen many great speakers, speakers who motivate people into action, speaker who move thousands of people in a direction and speakers who shakes nations with their power. These speakers are like lightning. They get the work done - brilliantly.

The ability to deliver great speeches comes from conviction in what you are saying and from preparation. No natural ability, no gift, no talent and no charisma is required. If you believe and prepare enough you can deliver any speech, anywhere with any audience.

Preparation involves knowing your subject, knowing your audience and knowing your site.

Know your subject.
     Even the greatest of speakers feel nervous in the first few minutes of a speech. That's all right. But if that nervousness is carried throughout your speech then you are a case for preparation and practice. Knowing your subject is the only known way of speaking with authority on the subject. Not knowing your subject is one sure way to lose credibility.

Know your audience.
     Many times we attend speeches where we do not understand what is being said. Why? Because the speaker does not know the audience's tastes and expectations. If you are meeting a group of environmentalists then talking about industrialization may not be the right subject. If you are meeting politicians, you cannot make a speech on "Honesty - the best principle".
     The above examples sound absurd. If you want to your audience to sleep then you may ignore your audience's needs, likes and dislikes.

In you speech there are three stages that you go through. They are the beginning stage, the body stage, and the ending stage.

Beginning stage.
     You can gain or lose your audience in the first few minutes of your speech. The first few minutes of your speech should be used to get their attention. A good speaker always begins with a story or a quotation or a proverb/saying or a joke or a thought provoking question.

The Body.
     You have begun. What do you do next? When you are in the beginning stage remember that you should project optimism. You can do that by being upbeat and bold. This stage is important to communicate urgent and ambitious goals.
     An audience is interested in your speech so long as it interests them and for this you need to highlight personal benefits.
     In the second stage of your speech, paint pictures with your words. People remember more of pictures than words.

The Ending.
     The last stage of your speech is the ending stage. You have educated your audience on the subject and now it is time to call for action and say goodbye. This could be the most satisfying part of your speech, if they respond the way you want them to, or the most frustrating, if it fails. In any case your ending should be appropriate, smooth, clear and fast. When you say you are ending you shouldn't hang around the stage for an hour. Your ending should tell the audience what they should do next.

Whatever you speak, wherever you speak, you should speak with a lot of confidence and conviction. This requires immense belief in what you are saying. How many times do you follow people who speak with great conviction? And how many times you are disinterested when a speaker doesn't actually believe in what he is saying.

Health.

Only a healthy body can house a healthy mind. This is a fact of life. Life is a gift of nature and health is the gift we give to ourselves so that we live happily and peacefully. Without doubt all of you must be very healthy people. Good health is very important for all of us to lead good lives. And health constitutes both physical and mental health.

A person who is healthy is vibrant, full of energy and seldom gets tired. Good health increases your life span and helps you to avoid problems. And if you have people depending on you then you are going to have to maintain good health so that you dispose off your duties even more responsibly.

Tips for good health.

Exercise regularly

Breathing is an essential element of good health. We all breathe normally but once or twice during the day we need to supply our body with large doses of oxygen. This can happen when you exercise. Exercise will even tone your body and prepare you for excellent growth in bone muscle.

Sports and Games

It is essential that you participate in sports and games. Depending on your taste you may choose your sport. There are many useful sports that will help you in building a great physique and at the same time teach you deeper aspects of life like victory and defeat, right and wrong, rules and procedures and the spirit of a sportsman.

Eating habits

Eat all you can. Diet is not applicable for you unless you have an ailment or a deficiency. You only have to watch your timing of eating and the frequency of your meals. But remember you have to sweat out all that you eat. All food and no play can make a person dull.

Give yourself good sleep

A scientific study recently showed that people who were not in bed for more than 8 hours a day for a specified period of time, showed signs of ageing and memory loss. If you do not sleep for atleast 8 hours a day then you will age quicker than you should.

Cleanliness is next to godliness

If you aren't clean then you are not going to be healthy. Our body needs regular cleaning just the way a vehicle requires. Taking bath regularly and developing good clean habits is essential. Right from your hair to your toes see that you are clean and fresh.

Say no to harmful substances

Smoking can kill you. Yes. Smoking is not just injurious to health. Smoking kills, slowly and silently. Most of us take to smoking out of curiosity and also out of false heroism shown in movies and media. Cigarette ads show smokers as great heroes. Nobody becomes a hero because he smokes. In fact, lot of habitual smokers are losers in life.

Drinking and chewing tobacco needless to say are extremely harmful. If you want to write your own death warrant then you can try out these substances. Good health and long life are assured if you are away from these substances.

Smile and laugh

The best way to keep good health is to cultivate a healthy attitude. Smile, laugh and make others laugh. Laugh along with people and not at people.

Crack jokes and ensure that others are happy when you are around. There are many who appreciate good humor. There are few who create good humor. Be among those few.

     Have fun and enjoy your life. If you are serious about your life then you will take care of your health. Life is to be lived in a healthy way, mentally and physically. You cannot enjoy the beauty of life if you cannot retain good health.

Living a New Life.

There is an old Indian mythological tale that has great wisdom in it. It goes something like this.

Once there was an Indian merchant who used to trade in diamonds. Every year he used to go to African Jungles and buy diamonds from there, bring them to India and sell them here. On one of his trips to the African Jungles, he came across beautiful talking parrots. They were speaking in beautiful tones and he was fascinated by them. He thought that he should own a talking parrot. He then caught one parrot and brought it with him back to India. He put it up in a golden cage and gave it honey, nuts and various eatables. He played music to the parrot and entertained the parrot. He brought his friends to visit and proudly showed everyone his new possession - the talking parrot. He took care of it very well and gave it a lot of love. The next year when he was getting ready to again leave for the African Jungles, the parrot says, "Dear Master can you do me a favor?" The merchant says, "Yes! I shall do anything for you!" So the parrot says, "when you go to the jungles please find my friends from whom you caught me and brought me here, and when you find them tell them how happy I am here with you." The merchant says, "I will certainly do so." Saying this, he leaves for the Jungles.

When he reaches the jungles he searches for a while and finds the group of talking parrots and goes near them and says, "Remember, I have taken one of your friends last year, It is very happy there with me" And he began to narrate all the good things that he does to take care of the parrot. As he was narrating this, there is one parrot, which starts to cry. He goes near it and tries to console it but it does not stop crying. It goes on crying and after sometime it turns pale, goes weak in its knees and falls down and dies. The merchant is surprised that when he told the wonderful story of the parrot and how happy it was, this parrot gave its life. He thought that may be they are friends and it could not bear the fact that the other parrot was so happy.

After returning back to India, with great sorrow he narrates the story of this dead parrot to his parrot. And as he narrates it, even this parrot begins to cry and turn pale. The merchant tries to console it but the parrot wouldn't stop crying and after a while, right in front of his eyes, the parrot turns weak, keels over and dies. The merchant is stunned by this great relationship and he thinks that may be the two parrots are mates and they could not bear the separation and they both died. He then with a heavy heart picks up the beautiful parrot, which he loved so much, and he throws it away. As soon as the merchant throws it, the parrot comes to life, and fluttering its lovely wings, it goes and perches on top of a nearby tree. It has a great look of happiness on its face and begins to sing with joy. The merchant runs towards the parrot and says, "You cheated me. You pretended as if you died. Why did you do that?". The parrot replies, "When you told me about my friend who died in the jungle, I received a message". The merchant asks, "what was the message?". The parrot replies, "The message was that, if I wanted a new life, a free life, I should be prepared to die while I am still alive" And as the merchant stood there the parrot flew away to its freedom.

Each one of us can have a new life if we leave our old ways of thinking and our old ways of living. You have a great future, but your thoughts and your old habits should not cage you. You should be courageous enough to overcome your old self and give rise to a new person with powerful new habits.

There would be no better judge in your life than yourself to tell you if you are doing right or wrong. You will decide for yourself how your life should be and live your life happily for yourself and for others.

Anger.

Anger is a feeling. Anger is an emotion. And a useless one. If anything, anger can spoil good relationships and situations. It can worsen bad situations. But we all have angry feelings at some time or the other. Especially the young people. You must have heard about rebels. People who rebel against parents, teachers and friends. Generally they are glorified in movies too - the rebels.

Anger is a feeling that we choose. And when we get angry we lose our senses and behave irrationally and in harmful ways. Anger is not good for any person and especially so to a young person. Because anger does not solve anything. It only worsens the situation. Suppose you are angry with your parents for not sending you to a movie or not allowing you to go to a party, your show of anger will not make them do what you want them to do. In most cases, the more you get angry the more stubborn they become. Because anger is a feeling which evokes that kind of response. It does not solve anything but worsens everything.

Some examples of anger in young people.

Anger at school/college

Anger with classmates is common for young people. But it does not solve any purpose and succeeds in spoiling relationships. Fights over petty issues and over insignificant matters always result in unhealthy situations. People get angry when others tease them and call them funny names. 

Anger with authorities

People who love freedom, dislike authority. It is important to understand that authorities are an essential part of our life and they are responsible for a smooth conduct of many things in our daily life. And many times authorities exercise strict behavior so that we benefit from it later.

Anger in competitive sports

If you saw cricket matches and how players sledge at each other, you'd know what anger we are talking about. The thirst to win at all costs can make us lose our senses sometimes. 

Anger on the road

We usually see a lot of people expressing anger on the roads. Especially when there is traffic jam. Sometimes during a traffic jam people yell at each other and quarrel. It is easy to express anger at someone who is not in relation with you because one can be utterly irresponsible of the consequences. Therefore we see many people getting angry with total strangers over issues like sharing the road or a seat in the bus or overtaking a vehicle or jumping a traffic signal...and so on.

These are some common examples of anger and if you fit into any of these then you know what to do. Start working at getting rid of anger from your life.

Finally

Whatever may be the situation remember that you can be in control. And people who are in control of themselves don't get angry. In life as you go ahead and live further you will find this ability to control as one of the most important ability, which will help you in more ways than one.

Achievement.

Achievement is to set a goal and get it. Simple. But not easy. When we are young, we are full of dreams. Dreamers live a life of great success, riches, fame and happiness. These dreams give you the direction in your life. Achieving your dreams is what your life is all about.

Our world has several achievers who set for themselves great goals and achieved them. It is not easy to be an achiever. Everyone dreams of achievement but only a few make it happen. Why is it that not everyone becomes an achiever?

Achievement comes from Will Power.

Everyone wants to stand first or get a prize or become a famous scientist, pilot, artist or a cricketer. But why don't everyone reach their? Because of poor will. In whatever you undertake in life, be it studies, sports or any other activity, you should have strong will power. The determination to achieve what you want to achieve.

A mantra for strong will power.

Whenever we experience a headache we take a tablet or apply a pain balm. Similarly whenever we suffer from lack of will power there is a mantra that you can recite. That is "I Can. I Will." When you have a problem that you want to overcome and you do not have enough will power to overcome it, then say these words to yourself,  "I Can. I Will". 

In your efforts to be achievers, remember that you need to have a goal and achieve. You should not be deterred by circumstances but should go on even in difficulty. Only then you will be an achiever and your achievement will be an example for others to follow. We should show the will power and resolve to achieve. If you do it now you will never forget the importance of strong will power. You will be a great achiever. So go ahead. Become an achiever.

You are a Beautiful Being.

Life is beautiful regardless of all the sad and bad experiences that we might have. Despite the problems that exist in our lives, in our country and in our world - life is beautiful. Having life is the most important gift of nature. Imagine what we would do if we were not alive? Life is all that we have and each one of us should lead a happy life.

Our universe is an endless universe. There are no walls that restrict the vast universe. It is everywhere and we can never  think of reaching the corners of the universe as there are no corners or boundaries to our universe. The universe is so vast that we cannot imagine its great vastness. For example, if a letter is posted from the nearest star, Proxima, to our earth, it would take 20 light years to reach us. That means, the letter has to travel at the speed of light for twenty years before it reaches us. The light of the nearest star reaches in twenty light years. There is a telescope called the Hubbell Telescope with a 1 square inch chip in it, which can photograph the edge of the universe. It is still a mystery as to what is there beyond that edge. It is believed that there are many more mysteries beyond what Hubbell Telescope is photographing. And every month Hubbell Telescope is photographing 100 new galaxies. There is so much to our universe that our entire lifetime is not enough to unearth its mysteries.

But in all this eternity, our life is unique. We are unique. Each one of us is very very special and unique.

Imagine this. At this moment in our vast endless universe there is no one like you except yourself. There has never been anyone like you and there will never be anyone like you even in the future.

Most young people in the age group of 14 to 16 struggle with themselves in understanding, accepting and loving themselves. If you want to be loved by the world, then you should begin to see yourself as a beautiful being in our universe. No one can be one with you. You are you and you will remain that way for as long as you live.

Each person is unique and beautiful in his own respect. And you have to develop respect for yourself because you are a unique being. In our universe, no person is greater than the other person and no person lesser. We are all unique people. You should look at yourself as someone who is good, as talented , as special and as powerful as anyone in the world.

If you begin your life by thinking that you are less than someone else then you are never going to like yourself and accept yourself completely. If you do not like yourself, your self-esteem will come down. People with low self-esteem will never be happy or successful. If you have to be a happy person then the first thing you should learn is to accept yourself and love yourself and treat yourself as someone special. Because you are. You really are.

Leadership in Young People.

Long time ago, a phrase was coined. It read something like this, "today's children are tomorrows citizens". It was considered that children form the pillars of the nation in the years to come. That is a truth. Children and young people are the future of a nation. Our nation requires leaders in every field who can bring in new awareness and new life of prosperity to our country. Each young boy and girl of today have the great responsibility on their shoulders for building a better tomorrow. We cannot be satisfied with one or two great leaders, what our nation requires is an entire generation of great leaders. And people like us can provide that leadership. People like who are in their early and mid teens should develop a great vision for yourself, your family, your society and your nation.

India has been enslaved by several nations for over 1000 years. India was once upon a time a great land of prosperity and knowledge. India was a leader in spiritual and intellectual wisdom and our ancient Indian wisdom is now beginning to get recognition in the world. After more than 5000 years of slumber the world is waking up to see once again the knowledge of Indian people. But our country has a long way to go before we become prosperous, peaceful and powerful. This is only the beginning. The youth of today are going to be the leaders of tomorrow. So each one of us have a responsibility which is sacred and which we should not shirk in the face of difficulty and pain.

In 1947 our enslavement ended once and for all and a new India was born. It was born out of a long and painful struggle. Thousands of people laid down their lives in this struggle. Though largely peaceful and non-violent, our freedom struggle required more than two generations of Indian people to come together and fight the oppression and suppression of nationhood. What we enjoy today is due to leadership of great people who belonged to our earlier generations.

Our country was born out of struggle, pain and tremendous sacrifices by millions. It is then our sacred duty to carry on this great leadership into the future generations and pass on a greater country to the generations that will come after us.

In front of each one of you, is a great life waiting to be lived. How do you want to live it? You should accomplish something so great in your life that your deeds should light up a thousand lives. Bring peace, prosperity and happiness to scores of people.

Social Consciousness.

Dip a glass in the ocean and fill the glass with ocean water. You have in your hand a tiny part of the ocean. It is separate from the ocean but still retains its properties even after being separated. It is separate and yet remains the same ocean water. If you throw it back you will never find it. At once it is separate and at once it is one with the great ocean. Similarly people. We are all individuals, separate, unique, special and different. But yet we are all a part of the great ocean of humanity. Humanity is made up by all of us. Our society is made by all of us. We are all different from each other but without all of us there would be no society.

All our riches, fame, name and money will amount to nothing if they do not have a positive effect on the people around us.

It is our duty towards ourselves to lead a happy and prosperous life based on strong values and principles. It is our duty to contribute to the society we live in so that our success affects others' lives positively. Or else the successes of a few individuals will always be there but the society at large never progresses.

Our success should not result in failure for someone else. Don't we all love to live in a society where the roads are beautiful, the traffic is orderly, medicines and food are available for every body, everyone gets to go to a good school...? We all want these. Who can do all these things? It is us. We have to do it because we make the society. Each one us is like a glass of ocean water and when we all come together we become an ocean - strong, vast and powerful.

Others' success does not mean your failure.

Once a man opened a bakery in a busy locality. His bakery was doing good business and a lot of people began to buy goods  from his bakery. He was happy as he was making a lot of money. After a few months, another man opened a bakery in the same locality. The owner of the first bakery got angry and felt that he is going to lose all his customers to the new bakery. He wanted the customers to come only to his bakery. So he hired some goondas and sent them to destroy the glasses and windowpanes in the new bakery. But that bakery did not close down. So he bribed the electricity officials and cut power supply to the other bakery and then he threatened the employees of the other bakery, after many such attempts, he at last succeeded in his efforts and the other bakery closed down.
       
 Please answer this queries:
  §  What was the mistake of the owner of the first bakery?
    § Did the locality benefits or lose from the closing of the        second bakery?
    §  If you were to give the owner of the first bakery some            advise what will you tell him?

It is common to witness people competing with each other and thereby pulling down each other in the process. This comes from a kind of thinking which says that everyone should not benefit. And if someone benefits I will have to lose. We should realize that we cannot have everything at the expense of others. And also realize that nobody needs to lose because we have to win. Everyone in the society can win without anybody having to lose. When people want everything for themselves then the society never progresses. Individuals get rich but the society remains poor. So remember - everyone has the right to succeed, no one should stop others from prospering. Competition should be on a fair level and should not hinder others. When you grow up do not forget that you can make all the riches that you want without having to trample on others' riches. You can win at the same time help others to win too. That's when you will contribute to our society in a good way.

Data, ideas and information.

When we look at data with an idea we have information. Data by itself is useless unless we look at it with an idea. Information is powerful because it can help us to create new things and get things done. Information can help us in overcoming problems and take decisions correctly.

Suppose you are in a bus stop waiting for a bus no.33. You can see all the other buses, which are not no.33, but they are not useful to you. Such buses are data. When you see the bus no.33 you get into it because you look at bus no.33 with an intention to go somewhere. So bus no.33 is information to you to make the journey. While all the other buses are just data.

What happens when you want to board a bus no.33. We seek that bus. That means we look for the bus no.33 among a lot of buses which we keep seeing. Similarly in life. There is a lot of data available in the world. But not all data is useful to us. Only that data which we see through the spectacles of an idea is useful information to us.

We should remember always then, that all the data we receive in our life is not always useful to us. We should learn to look at the data with an idea. Most Indian boys and girls strive to become successful at a young age and even each one you should do that. If you want to succeed at that then the first thing you should learn to do is to look at data in your life with an idea. 

Always try to find what you can do with what you have. This way, seemingly useless things will become useful.

Temptations.

Young people are most vulnerable. Everything you do between the age of 14 to 20 is almost first-time activity. This is the age when you undergo bodily changes and feel attracted for the first time towards the opposite sex.

Most young people operate their lives from half-knowledge and thereby make a lot of mistakes. There is nothing wrong in making mistakes. We all make mistakes and that is how we all learn. But we need to be responsible for our mistakes and we should not shirk responsibility for those mistakes, nor should we repeat them.

There are many temptations for a young person to step onto the wrong paths. Every person has to decide for himself what path he will choose in his life. And bear the consequences of the decisions he takes.

Because of temptations many youth spend their time in wasteful activities which harm their life in the later stages. Habits like smoking, drinking reckless social behavior are a result of newness in life coupled with ignorance, and arrogance of youth.

What should a young person do if he is taking the wrong path? The truth is that every person has to decide for himself what he should do. Even if there are number of people who can give you good advice and teach you, you have reached a stage where you can think for yourself and decide for yourself. So what should every young person do? Be disciplined.

It is easy for someone else to discipline you. But it won't be best for you because as soon as the influence of that person is not there you will go back to your old ways. True discipline has to come from you. That is called self-discipline . Next time you see yourself making a mistake remind yourself that you have discipline yourself. You need not be told by someone to be disciplined. You should tell yourself and implement it yourself. This way you will meet great success in your life.

Communication Skills.

One of the most important aspects of any successful person's life is the ability to express thoughts and ideas. Successful people have the ability to communicate. This ability is called communication skill.

Often the first person who knows how to knot  the tie will knot it well but will to express it well when asked to explain it to the second student.

Lack of proper communication is the root cause for many problems in our society and people are realizing this more and more. Today people are no longer satisfied with a cozy job and a regular salary, people want more and most importantly people want to give back something.

The ability to communicate is crucial for success. Rules of living today have changed and one of the important life lesson any young person should learn is that communicating with people is absolutely essential and communicating well would mean success in life. If you have the ability to solve complex problems and do not know how to express your intelligence, then you know where your intelligence will take you, no where. If you know how to design and develop new technologies but do not know how to market them, your inventories will never move. If you want your Dad to agree to your new hobbies and interest but you do not know how to convince him then you may never get to pursue your hobbies. If you want your parents to spend time with you and understand you but do not know how to put it across then it is your life that suffers.

If you know how to communicate, you'd be much better off.

In your life how many times do you feel the strong urge to succeed and do something with your life that brings immense pleasure and happiness to you? How many times do you dream in daylight about your success, about how people would flock around you bestowing all their attention on you and gather in huge crowds to hear you and get better after they've heard you? If you are dreaming of such things in life, learn to communicate well.

If there is any skill that can get you out of any difficult condition in your life then this is the skill. The communication skill. Learn it now and you will enjoy its benefits throughout your life.

Creativity.

Let's learn creativity:

Most people do not have a simple, clear and a complete definition for creativity. The reason is that many people have become too creative in defining 'creativity'. Creativity simply means to create something new. So remember that if you can create something new out of what you have then you are a creative person.

Waiting for creativity:

Man owes his progress to creativity. Right from the beginning of mankind we have progressed because we did not stop thinking in new ways. Today we are progressing at great speed in all spheres of life because we are thinking anew at every step of our life. Creativity is in our very nature. But most of us do not choose to be creative in our lives. The young people are extremely creative but the challenge in front of you today is to nurture these creative abilities and improve it to serve a good purpose in your life and lives of many others. Most people wait for creativity to happen in their lives. Meaning - they do not deliberately try to be creative but they wait for it. Every person should, especially young people, realize that creativity can be learnt with practice.

Why do people lie?

Fear. This is the single most important reason for all lying. Right from students lying about homework to president of any country lying to cover his inappropriate behaviors. Everyone lies for the same reason - FEAR. There is another corresponding reason too and that is GREED. When people lie, the truth is hidden and some people lie so that they benefit from the fact that truth is hidden. There are lot of people who deal in financial markets and businesses who do not blink an eye before lying because they will get a lot of money if they do. But the sad fact is that people lie even if they get very small benefits.

Movies stars are bad role models.

Movies stars are being looked at these days by young  people as role models. They make very poor role models. Good looks and glamour charm the young people and there is nothing wrong in that. But it is wrong if you build your life around what movies stars do and don't do.

Most movie stars evade taxes and lead a life of indiscipline. One look at today's movies and the popular actors and actresses, with an exception of very few, we realize how purposeless their lives are and how hypocritical they are. Would you like to follow such people?

Movie-makers and actors and actresses live in a make-believe world. And seldom you will be able to find the truth about them. Amidst all this we have the media who uses famous people to their own advantage. So a largely values less system of media and a morally decaying section of the society can never make good role models.

This not to say that all actors and movie-makers are bad and all the media people are valueless. There are good people even in their midst. But the bad is prevalent more in number. Hence young people should exercise their choices carefully and after due thought.

TV, magazines and Newspapers

TV is sometimes referred to as idiot box. And with good reason. Because all kinds of trash is shown on it. Just like there are good movies and bad movies. There are good programs and bad programs. Bad programs have a bad influence on you, so you should simply turn them off. Bad does not just mean those who are excessively violent and vulgar, bad also means those which are meaningless and which insults your intelligence. Similarly with books and magazines. There are number of magazines that can mislead you into wrong things. You might find them interesting for the time being. But if you fall into the trap then it will have a harmful effect in your life. Sometimes you will not ever recover from those effects. There are newspapers who put incidents pictures in their front pages because it makes news. Some princess is bathing nude so they put the snap of hers on the front page, without any discretion and responsibility.


Many people in the name of art, fool the public and dish out mediocre works. Films, TV programs, magazines and newspapers from the most important media available to any young person. These are popular in our country to the extent that people who run these institutions are worship and revered throughout the country. But a majority of these institutions are run by mediocre people with only one intention of making money over others. When you come across a program or an article or a film or a news item that insults your intelligence then you should choose not to see it or read it or be influenced by it. You cannot stop people from being mediocre and inefficient and also from being unethical. But what you can do is to stop subscribing to such people. You can stop seeing stupid films, which make no sense at all. You can stop watching films and programs that glorify bad things and projects as good. You can stop reading newspapers that doctor the news for their selfish ends. You can stop buying useless magazines. The choice is always yours.

So whether you will lead a good life, full of good health, happiness and success or whether you will lead a life of ill-health, disease and sickness depends a great deal on your media habit too. If you do not want to be addicted to harmful things and if you do not want to waste yourself over meaningless media then you should make a choice today. 

Should you not try to look good?

There is nothing wrong in wanting to look beautiful or handsome. You should by all means exercise regularly, take good care of yourself and groom yourself to be healthy and fresh. But you should not derive your definition of beauty from selfish campaigns of others. Fashion world has made enough damage to the minds of the innocent through advertisements which lure people to buy certain products which are not necessary. They manipulate the innocence of young minds and spoil them with desires that are detrimental to growth. Young people should realize that there is a lot of hypocrisy in many fashion ads. Many people are unaware that most people, who act in cosmetics ads, or clothes ads, do not use the same products they advertise. They do it only for the sake of advertisements and in their real life they do something else.

Become Prosperous.

Each one of you should be determined to create a lot of wealth for yourself. What happens when you do that? You will have a hassle-free life. You can enjoy all the material benefits  that technology advancements of man can bring. When you create this wealth, your father and mother, brothers and sisters would be happy and they would enjoy the wealth and success too. And if others do what you do then the good things that happen will multiply. This is how we become stronger. So each one of you should aim to become successful and prosperous.

Sharing the Responsibility - Social Consciousness.

Young people of today are the leaders of tomorrow. So it is all the more important that we all understand how each one of us share the responsibility of building a good society. Who builds all the bad roads, or inefficient institutions or corrupt offices, substandard products, polluted chemicals.. .it is us. Someone from our own society. Similarly, malnutrition, illiteracy, unemployment, poor health facilities... . are all a result of our own actions. Actions of generations of people - our people. So we all share the responsibility for whatever happens around us and whatever happens around us has an effect on our personal and family lives. What happens in our personal lives has an effect on the society.

Let your success be shared.

Each one of you will someday become successful. When you become successful share your success with others. Do not suspect people that they would take away your success. If you build somethings of your own, no one can take it away from you.

To win, you don't have to defeat anyone.

If only you want to fight, fight poverty, illiteracy, mediocrity, inefficiency and complacency. Fight the social evils and forces that cause illness, fight everything that goes against humanity but do not fight with people.

Nobody wins when you defeat another human being and you can win over all the people to your side without having to defeat them. You can win all on your own and share your victory with everyone.

Mistakes that most youth do - which you should not do.

Young people are very powerful in their outlook. Each one of you is a bundle of power who can accomplish great things in life. But then why is that many young people do not grow up to become great? There are some common mistakes that youth do. Make sure that you & me do not do them. If you & me want to have a strong sense of purpose in life and if you want to be somebody in your life and not just live like another person, then you should stay clear of certain common mistakes that young people do.

Dreams make your destiny

When we ask the question - What should I do with my life? What should the purpose of my life be? We should look into ourselves and give our dreams and deepest desires an expression. Each one of you should pursue a dream life - despite difficulty. Life will be wonderful and filled with lot of happiness if you follow your dream.

Learn to speak well.

In order to speak well, one needs clarity in thought and purpose. If you are a confused person, your expressions would also be confusing. In order to develop good speaking skill one needs thoughts and knowledge. If you do not possess knowledge and thoughts then likely chances are you will speak aimlessly.

Good speaking is nothing but reproducing whatever thoughts or knowledge you possess in your mind through words in a brief yet complete manner. A good practice could be to try and reproduce the knowledge you acquired from a lesson that you've recently learnt or reproduce the knowledge from a conversation that you have heard. In the process you can make improvements from the earlier instance by adding deleting or modifying information. Choosing to speak as often as you can and constantly and consciously trying to put in words all that you know is the only way to learn to speak better.

Act - don't react. Choose your actions

You are a human being with an unlimited number of choices. Choose what you want. Develop an awareness of yourself. Understand what you are and you will  find that you are a bundle of infinite energy. You can do whatever you want if you choose to apply your mind to it. Never blame others for what you are. You are a person who choose what you are. You should not blame others for your behaviors. This an excuse weak people give. Be responsible for what happens in your life. You can make tremendous advancement if you are determined and if you do not blame others. People who choose their actions do not blame others. People who react to others are like those who do not have a mind of their own. They are controlled by others' actions. So they blame others.

Special Gifts for Humans.

Nature has been very kind to us and bestowed on us special gifts which, no other living being has. These special gifts are called endowments. Our ability to think and respond to our life situations is the greatest ability that nature gives us. Right now you can think of whatever you want, imagine whatever you want and visualize it in your mind. Apart from this ability to comprehend we have one more gift - that is gift of choice. Each one of you can make a choice. If you are right now given a bicycle as well as mobike and asked to choose any one between them then you will exercise your choice according to what you want. But if you call your pet dog and give it a choice of two different dog collars it will not be able to choose. The difference between us and animals is that we can make choices and choose what we want.

Loving yourself does not mean you should dislike others.

You should love yourself so that you can love others. If you dislike others and love only yourself then you are going to grow up into a very selfish person who never amounts to any good for the society. Just the same way as you are beautiful, every person in the world is beautiful. So respect and treat everyone with the same love with which you treat yourself. Only a person who dislikes himself disrespect others. A person who has a high self-esteem will never disrespect others but treats them with love, kindness and care.

So love yourself and love others - because you deserve to give and receive love.

YOU AND THEM.

You will fearlessly look them in the eye.
They will have to face you on an equal footing.
You will pick the side you believe in.
They will have to stop straddling the fence.
You will raise the questions.
They will have no choice but to answer every one of them.
You will speak your mind.
They will not have the option of turning a deaf ear.
You will challenge their decisions.
They will not be able to ignore your opinions.
You will demand to know where they are leading you.
And they will not refuse to follow when you show them the path towards a better nation.

A Thought for Today

The saddest aspect of life right now is that science gathers knowledge faster than society gathers wisdom.
                                                  ISAAC ASIMOV
                                                                                                                                                       -TOI

FEAR

Fear is a feeling. We feel fear and similarly we feel courageous. Fear stops you from functioning fully and creatively. If you are afraid then you are not going to perform at your best.

Fear is a very strong feeling which can bring us down in life. Success never comes to people who are afraid. People who fear never venture out and do anything adventurous. Fear stops us from functioning fully.

The opposite of being afraid is being courageous. Being confident and full of conviction.

When you face fear, it won't be so dreadful after all. Most people discover this in their lives that what they are afraid of generally turns out to be something that they really enjoy. The fact is that if we do not try out a new activity because we are afraid that we won't do it well then we would never get to know how much we'd actually enjoy that activity.

Face your fears, with positive images in your mind and you will grow up to be a confident and courageous person.

Sense Of Purpose (Purpose Of Your Life)

We have a Sense Of Purpose when we know exactly what we want in our life. And when we do what we want everyday of our life.This is what happens when we have a Sense Of Purpose.

When we live our lives with a strong sense of personal mission and purpose we become very effective and also very happy.

A man with a strong dream is always a powerful man. Your dream will provide you a Sense Of Purpose - A Sense Of Direction. And our dreams are the best vehicles for us to attain that Sense Of Purpose in life.

Our lives are very short. Each one of us is going to die some day. This means that we have a limited time on the earth. So we should spend this time in a worthy way, in a purposeful and happy way. So each one of us should spend our lives happily and with a Lot Of Meaning.

ATTITUDE

Attitude Is Our Permanent Or Considered
Disposition.

Disposition Is Our Mental Make-UP And At
Many Times We Adopt Behaviour Based On
How We Are As People.

We Sometimes Have Permanent Dispositions
And Sometimes Our Dispositions Change
According To Situations. This Is Nothing But
Our Attitude.

Attitude Is Everything In Life.

Our Approach To Life Decides Everything And
Determines Our Moves In All Aspects Of Life.

Attitude Therefore Is An Important Aspect Of
Living.

Attitude Of The Person Plays A Great Role In
His Conduct.