The Man who moved a Mountain.....Literally!!!

No! It’s not an idiom for someone who toiled through the day and slogged in the night to achieve success. But about a man who actually moved a mountain!!!!!!

Outlook covers the story of Dasrath Manjhi, who single handedly cut a road through the huge mass of rock - massive 360 feet long, 25 feet high and 30 feet wide rock.

Every morning, for 22 long years, a frail, diminutive man, barefoot and clad in a loin cloth, would trudge two kilometres to a hillock of solid rock and chip away at it with a hammer and chisel.

Of course, the first question to hit our minds is why does he have to do that?

Dasrath eked out a living as a farm hand, toiling in the fields of local landlords on bare subsistence wages. One day, in the early '60s, his wife Phaguni fell ill and Dasrath set off with her to the nearest hospital. She died on the way. If only there was no hill blocking the road to the town, Dasrath would have made it to the hospital in time, and perhaps his wife's life would have been saved.

The villagers of Gelau, where Dasrath lived, had to take a circuitous route and travel 19 km to Wazirganj, the nearest district town with a hospital.

Dasarth - challenged by Nature and given his humble background – could have resigned to his fate. But the irony fate is; Dasrath decided to create history by changing the geography of his land. Armed with a mere chisel and hammer, Dasarth decided to cut a road through the huge mass of rock.

After 22 years - from 1962 to 1984 - of toil, Dasrath paved the way. The once long route of 19 KMs was now reduced to bare minimum of 6 Kms. The road stands as a memorial for her wife and an example of grit, determination and a will to make the world a bit better.

Dasrath Manjhi was building a memorial to his wife Phaguni Devi—one that won't ever find a place in hallowed global must-visit lists, but can well be passed down from this generation to the next as a monument of love. A poor man's Taj, literally. Not for its aesthetics, but for the way it symbolises the human spirit's capacity to endure, its indomitability.

So true, that these stories, probably will, never find a place in history. This post is a tribute to the man - Dasrath Manjhi (1934-2007) – who stood against all odds rocks.

Invigorated,
Neo

India: Young @ 60

A time has come to celebrate our Independence. But unlike every other 15th of August, this marks a milestone. It’s a date when India turns 60. 60 years of remarkable journey, to say the least. After all, how do you describe a journey from a country being called as a land of snake charmers to a nation which houses the world's largest democracy.

The general debate might hang on the point that our nation is now a sixty year old grumpy uncle and its time to sum up the life lived. But I beg to differ. While most of us are tagged as Senior Citizens at 60, it doesn’t even remotely apply to countries. Just the thought that my dad is older than the country he leaves in; intrigues as well as amuses me to no extent. I think the age of a country is best measured in decades or better in centuries. In those terms, a 6 decades old country is a child who has learned to express himself in a chaotic world, which has had enough of baby steps and is now ready to take giant strides. India is a young and "a raring to go" nation like never before in its ancient history.

Success has different interpretations, and my friends will agree. The fact is undisputed that India is one of the fastest growing economies in the world. Also, no one can deny that the potential remains far from being realized.

But for today let us bask in the glory of our great Nation that we admire and adore immeasurably.

It’s been 60 years of life and freedom since we redeemed our pledge. And now we stand on a place in time where we are poised, all over again, for a tryst with destiny.

Saluting,
Neo

From Rags to Riches

Here's story which is heart warming as well as inspiring enough. Its about a classic rags to riches story of a boy born and brought up in slums and goes to complete his MBA from IIMA!!!!
And then gives it up all ( read a 8 lac job) to become an enterpreuner. Infact, I would term his as a social enterpreuner.Go ahead and get touched.


inspired,
Neo

Against all Odds

I was having my regular doze on rediff this morning and one particular link interested me. It said "Siddharth's amazing success story".

Off lately i have been reading quite a entrepreneur stories on rediff and thought this also to be one. But to my surprise, this one story is of a person (Siddharth) suffering from cerebral palsy and the heights he has scaled in his career.

More into the article i found a link which details Siddharth's entire story from childhood to the day he lands a job at ABN Amro Bank. The story is too real to be true but heroes are made of this very stuff - Unbelievable.

And there is one statement of Siddharth which stuck me - "Everyone has some disability. Think about what we can do instead."

inspired,
Neo

Why Me??

Arthur Ashe, the legendary Wimbledon player was dying of CANCER. From world over, he received letters from his fans, one of which conveyed :

"Why does GOD have to select you for such a bad disease"?

To this Arthur Ashe replied:
The world over --
5 crore children start playing tennis,
50 lakh learn to play tennis,
5 lakh learn professional tennis,
50,000 come to the circuit,
5000 reach the grand slam,
50 reach Wimbeldon,
4 to semi final,
2 to the finals,
When I was holding a cup I never asked GOD "Why me?".

And today in pain I should not be asking GOD "Why me?"

Happiness keeps u Sweet,
Trials keep u Strong,
Sorrow keeps u Human ,
Failure Keeps u Humble,
Success keeps u Glowing,
But only God Keeps u Going.

Of Cats and Underdogs

Of cats and underdogs


Business Today is a magazine fond of making lists. Every issue features at least one 'top 10' something or the other. This time it's India's best mutual fund managers.

The intro states: "Many are Indian Institute of Management (IIM) grads,others are Chartered Accountants (CAs) and a couple sport more esoteric degrees". I skimmed through the survey, more as an exercise in ego-surfing ("let's see how many IIM A grads are on the list") and here are the startling results.

The scorecard
FMS - 1
JBIMS - 2
NMIMS - 1
CAs - 2
unknown - 1
IIM Lucknow - 1

Unless the author of the intro meant "MBAs from premier institutes" -which includes FMS and JBIMS - the IIM reference is actually misleading!

The 'esoteric' degrees the magazine is referring to are basically MBAs from lesser known - actually unknown - institutes. There are 3 on the list, which is a statistically significant 30%. These include:

MBA Allahabad University
(Ashish Kumar, 35 - GM, LIC Mutual Fund)

MBA Bhopal University
( Rahul Goswami, 32 - Sr Fund Manager, Prudential ICICI AMC)

Hindu Institute of Management, Sonepat
( Sujoy Kumar Das, 32 - VP - DSP Merrill Lynch MF)

I called up a senior at DSPML and asked him, a dozen years after graduating from IIM A - how much does your institute label matter? Well, he says, at entry level - a hell of a lot. A company like DSPML does not take MBAs outside the top few institutes through campus placements, so definitely you get a headstart.

But they do take in lateral recruits based on performance - and hence success stories like Sujoy, the Sonepat MBA who started his career with Bank of Pubjab. And of course we all know this at some level - that in the end it's we as individuals who are responsible for our career graphs - regardless of which institute we graduate from.

But I'd just like to highlight this point, because I often meet young people who tried for IIMs, didn't make it and are now studying elsewhere. And feeling terrible about it. I want to say to all of you that 10 years from now it's really not going to matter. Although you may use it as an excuse to explain why you aren't doing as well as X, Y or Z.

Bottomline: It's what I call the cats and dogs theory at work in every field of life - not just MBA. The cats are the ones born with the silver spoons or who manage to enter institutes of a certain reputation. But the underdog can have his day - and often does.


P.S: Remember the story of the Helium Balloon seller. A kid comes and asks "Which color balloon will go up?"
The Balloon seller replies "It's not the color of the balloon but what's inside that makes it go up."

That is Why?

Posted By Neo

The Doer

It is not the critic who counts, nor the one who points out how the strong man stumbled or how the doer of deeds might have done them better.The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred with sweat and dust and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, and spends himself in a worthy cause; who, if he wins, knows the triumph of great achievement; and if he fails, at least fails while daring so greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory or defeat.