Chapter – 10
Mould yourself – Win over life
Buddha says that you will become what you want. You are nothing but your thoughts about yourself and your Practice. You have to design yourself.
You are the author of your life. Your ideas, goals and practice will mould your life. You are the master of your life. Every thing is in your hands. Believing you are helpless is lack of self confidence. Only with self confidence you can go forward in your life. A writer called Satya wrote a book by name ‘Belief! A salute to you!’ In that book he discussed about the importance of the beliefs and the paradigm shift.
Only those who face adversity grow in life
Remember one thing. Remind of yourself what was told in the previous chapters. There is no life story without adversity. Only those who go through adversity create history. Traveling through difficulties alone is the life story. The moment adversity ends the story of life ends. A love story ends the moment the difficulties in the process are over.
Identifying personality through walk
By a person’s walk, the manner of his dressing and his eating habits we could identify his status. We would recognize the persons in drama either as a servant or as a political leader or as an official or a wife or husband by their makeup. Different mannerisms, dressing codes, accent and culture help in identifying a human being.
By the above way we recognize the social status, respectability and culture of an individual. So you have to adopt the dressing code, language, the way you speak, habits, culture and mannerisms depending upon the way you are respected. If you are a Collector of a District could you pass urine on the road side? Could spit on the road? Could you talk what ever you like? So also as yon is a Bank Manager. Most of the Bank Managers will have the same kind of behavior. So also as in the case of the Managing Directors and the CEOs of the corporate companies. What is the secret behind this?
When you are in a particular position or status you will learn how to behave and how to talk with others etc. through training, reading books and through experience. That is why many people in the same kinds of profession behave alike.
Public and teachers condemn the corruption in the government departments. But even their fellow people criticize them that you will involve in much more corruption, if you are in that position. It means some positions make it inevitable to behave in a particular fashion and to do something.
What is meant by growing as a leader in your opinion? Doing your work efficiently is leadership. Leadership qualities are taking help from others in your work, working together with others, creating a model of work for others etc.
All are leaders
If you do the work assigned to you whole heartedly it is nothing but a leadership quality. Performing a task half heartedly is the characteristic of a follower. Even doing the kitchen work without being whole heartedly involved is the characteristic of a follower. Deriving pleasure out of the work you do is a leadership quality.
Even if you are a mother, father, teacher, student, housewife, husband, official, sub-ordinate, owner, citizen or a member of an institution doing your duty happily and whole heartedly is a leadership quality. Doing the task half heartedly is the characteristic of a follower. This reveals your personal blossoming.
How to become a leader even when working as a subordinate
Even a Collector doesn’t decide most of his tasks. He does the work as demanded by the superior officials, public representatives or common public. But if he can do that work happily and whole heartedly he is a leader. A Collector looks like a leader not because he orders other to do the work. But because he does the work assigned to him whole heartedly. So also a wife who lives on the earning of her husband also could be a leader. She could be a leader through performing her duties happily.
In growing in to the status and responsibilities of a school teacher, headmaster, correspondent, MRO, Engineer, Surpanch, MLA, Medical officer, a Trade Union leader one had to grow in understanding, in his work nature, in the style he speaks and as well as the culture he displays. A follower has to learn the nature and culture of a leader in the process of evolving into a leader himself.
In some banks and government departments’ attenders who acquire 10th class qualification or else the minimum academic requirement become clerks, cashiers and assistants. They change the style they speak and behavior they show, in accordance with the new role. Thus they command the respect in the new role. Only then the public will recognize him that he has grown to that level through promotion.
One has to preserve the new status he acquired
It is as difficult to preserve the status by acquiring culture, work style and life style as to grow from one status to another. Only those who achieve both these will have continuous development. If a lecturer drinks toddy in a roadside shop, that will belittle his position in the eyes of the students and their parents. So, one has to sacrifice some small things when they grows in life. One cannot behave like a child. One cannot go on boozing in bars.
The above things won’t apply only to the employees, teachers, officials or else public representatives; they apply equally to the students also, who reach a particular level. Students who get good ranks in their class room try continuously to preserve that. If teachers appreciate a boy or a girl, such a boy or a girl will continuously keep on trying to retain that image. They sacrifice petty joys for the sake of good image. If a particular individual is appreciated as good player or a singer he will try to preserve his position and more over that he tries to develop more.
There should be monthly planning – Write a dairy
First of all there should be a yearly plan followed by a monthly plan. Writing a dairy means recording ones life. It is like looking in a mirror. Nothing could express the evolution of ones life and its blossoming better than a dairy.
Doctor Jaisetty Ramanaiah retired as Reader in History, after working for 40 years in Jagityal. He composed the main items from his dairy, written for over 40 years. Because of that we could know many things pertaining to the life styles of those days, movies of that time and the prices of the groceries in the past and about his contemporaries in school, college etc. A dairy has a more crucial role than a novel in understanding the social history and family history.
Everybody has to record their life in the form of a dairy. That reflects the personal blossoming and evolution an individual has undergone. So also the family tree could be understood. The relationships in a family over generations could be traced back by writing dairies.
We have seen in the previous chapter how caste, religion, economic status, parents, family, tastes culture etc. play crucial role in personal blossoming though individuals pass out from the same school as well as belong to the same village.
Overcome the past
But all these are the impressions of the past. Still we could overcome them whenever we realize their limitations. We need not have to brood about the past insults, oppression and inferiority complex. If we want to grow we could start that process at this moment. Your self-confidence, goals, determination and practice will mold you into a new person with a new personality.
Your physical appearance might not change, but changing your personality and nature is not impossible. It is also easy to make the change visible to others. For example a politician leaves a party in which he was there till yesterday. He will criticize the old party after he left it. He praises the new party in which he joins. Here the physical person did not change. May be his personality even does not change. But his political character and opinions changed or else he is at least readying himself for change.
If concepts are changed – the person is changed
We often exclaim that a person has totally changed. So even if the appearance does not change, personality does not change by the change in the concepts, a person’s nature will change. By the change in the nature of a person, the way others look at his personality changes. Angooleemaalu who wanted to kill Buddha actually was changed himself and became his disciple. Latter he propagated Buddhism. So does Saul who was changed by the preaching’s of Christ and became Paul. He propagated the ideas of Christ. In the same way many people who were initially bad in their nature, latter on sacrificed their lives for a good cause.
Being a bad person is matter of social values. By transforming oneself into a good man an individual’s personality and leadership qualities take a turn towards social leadership. Osho Rajneesh discussed elaborately about the possibility of bad individuals turning into great leaders. Like that when concepts and practice change, the nature of that individual also changes. In that process the personal capacities of the old personality will be useful to the society in a new context.
That is why your belief system, goals, determination and self confidence mold you in a desirable way. It is possible to transform yourself into a human being who loves the entire humanity thus overcoming the limitations of the past like caste, religion, class, region, country etc. Overcoming the past means, overcoming the inferiority complex, feelings of revenge and humiliation as well as overcoming the concepts, culture and habits created by them as a response to the oppression of the past. In such a case the knowledge of the experiences created by the past will remain intact. But their burden will be lessened, so that we could evolve into new human beings.
Different kinds of opinions would form out of the limitations and situations imposed by the society. Many beliefs, opinions form out of the environment involving friends, classmates, family members, job we do, profession we pursue and conditions we live in. Those beliefs keep on changing. The old opinions and beliefs look to us anew depending upon our goals.
Paradigm shift means changing in entirety the concepts and practice we adhere to till then. V.P.Singh Joined Janatha Dal leaving the Congress Party. He became Prime Minister on behalf of Janatha Dal.
Your Position and growth are important
What ever organization you are in, job you are in or the post you are in, your position will improve only when you prove your capabilities. Congress Party is a National Party. So also BJP. The leaders of these parties may be great men. The parties also may be great. But what about your position in that party? What is your role? What are your priorities? Will your hunger be satiated if some one else eats a belly full? These are all important questions.
I have 101 acres of land including my land lords
A person use to say that his property including that of his land lords is 101 acres. He won’t reveal how much land he has of his own. But after continuous pursuing, he revealed that his landlord’s property is 100 acres and his’ is one acre. So it is important to know what belongs to you and what belongs to others. You will get respect and recognition or else wealth and power only if you grow. It is important for you to grow. If you keep on saying the property of me and my landlord’s combined is 101 acres, it is meaningless. If you remain like that only, your value will become a ‘zero’. As that of besides a ‘one’ zero has a great value. But unto to itself it is value less. It will become a hero only adjacent to another number.
Your hard work in your growth is important. You have to learn the parliamentary language. You have to address one and all on the Dias by name before you start your speech. You have to say words of appreciation in brief about the speeches of the speakers who spoke prior to you.
How to grow from the lowest rungs?
Many people say that they are not educated and they have no higher level job. They say my parents did not get me educated, and so how could I grow in life? If you want to grow in life it is possible at this moment also. A Russian writer called Maxim Gorky, who achieved world renown, started his life in a hotel. He did many menial jobs. He learned to write at the age of 18. Latter on he became a great writer.
A renowned writer by name Ravoori Bharadwaja ran away from home when he was studying 4th standard, due to the unbearable harassment of his maternal uncle. His uncle punished him for using the soap that he brought for his own use. After quitting the home Bharadwaja won over life. Ultimately he retired from All India Radio. Andhra, JNTU and
It may not be appropriate for Dr. Ravoori Bharadwaja not using soap for his entire life for the reason of his uncle punishing him. But his determination is great. His determination should become an example for us. Many people proved in their lives that it is possible to grow in life even in adverse conditions.
There is one great writer by name Mahidhara Rammohana Rao. He was educated only up to 3rd standard. Latter he joined the movement, read widely and learned to write. Mahidhara Brothers translated 300 English and other language books into Telugu. A Sanskrit Pandit called Ravva Srihari was the Ex-Vice Chancellor of Dravid University. He joined the Sanskrit school because of poverty, as food is being provided free of cost there. In course of time he became a Professor and ultimately retired as Vice Chancellor. A Professor by name Kasireddy Venkata Reddy never went to college. He appeared for Telugu language exams privately and latter secured a job and ultimately became a Professor in
You could achieve any thing if you have determination
Many people worry that they have no money, caste advantage or education in coming up in politics. But many people emerged as great leaders even without all the aforementioned. They served people. You could find many such people in the Communist Movement. There were many such people even in Congress Party.
A person’s education was stopped at 4th standard; he worked as a construction laborer. He slowly became a contractor. Latter he entered in to politics and became Jagityal Municipal Chairman on behalf of the Congress Party. Many educated employees and officials saluted him and respected him. They did whatever he told. His name is Puppala Asaalu.
In the same way a person earned great respect in his town. But the party in which he is working did not give him the ticket to contest the elections. But the people of that town collected funds and make him contest as an independent candidate. And he won the election by defeating all the party candidates. He became Korutla Municipal Chair-person. His name is Seri Narsaiah.
From cotton mill to Professorship
Let us see another example. A boy lost his father at a very early age. He has a brother and a sister. His mother was chronically sick. Her earning can’t feed the entire family. But this boy got a deep desire to study. Somebody joined him in the government hostel. He thought that if he is in the hostel he alone will get food, what about the rest of the family. So he started working in a cotton mill and rice mill during nights. He used to feel sleepy at the school during the day time. Teachers complained to the warden. Warden enquired the matter. That boy broke down and wept before the warden about his family’s problem. Warden was moved. He made that boy as the leader of the hostel. Thus his self-confidence increased. Warden himself used to pay his school fee. Like that he completed 10th standard. Again the problem begins. How could he continue higher education? Again the warden came to his rescue. He completed Intermediate as a private candidate with the help of the warden. Latter on some how he secured the job of a Librarian. He privately completed his graduation, did his LLB. Latter on LLM. Finally he secured the job of Assistant Professor in the Law College of Osmania University. His name is G.Vinod. He hails from Warangal District.
From helper in a cloth shop to a state leader
A father migrated with his son from
Success from the clutches of adversity
It is possible to be successful in life even under great adversity. There is an old saying that marriage will ruin the education. But there were many who studied after marriage with the help of their spouses and became teachers and Principals.
A life without ups and downs may look stale. Dr. Kolakluri Inaq who grew as a Vice Chancellor from the level of a servant is well known. Another person who was a shepherd completed his school education, started as a small employee and ultimately grew to the level of Tribal Welfare Officer. His name is K.Seetha Ramulu. There was a person who grew to become warden and finally Social Welfare Officer starting his life as a cook in a hostel. His name is K.Venkata Ratnam. Both of them belongs to Khammam District. There were many who privately took the exams of Hindi Prachara Sabha and Telugu Visharada and grew in their lives. Renowned writers Vasireddy Seetha Devi, Doodem Nampally of Sirisilla, Prof. Kasireddy Venkatareddy of
Don’t worry if you are not educated
Don’t worry if your are not educated. Many examples of the kind of people mentioned above who grew to the top from the bottom rungs could be quoted. Many teachers instill in you the fear that if you did not pass in the exams your life is finished. If you pass in the exams that is good. But even if you fail – nothing to worry. It is possible to change the tack and win over in life at any point of time. I could quote the examples of the people who bought an auto and grew to the level of owning two Lorries through hard work. Mohammed Ghori won his battle against
There is a link between education and the job. That is why the value of this education increased. But in fact there were many who grew to the top even after discontinuing education.
From Sarpanch to C.M.
Leadership growth will be a step wise process. A person first became the Sarpanch of his village. Latter on gained experience, grew to the level of a MLA and became the Chief Minister of the State. He is Jalagam Vengala Rao.
It is important to clarify your ideal world to all those around you. It also should become clear that you are not just a follower, but also a leader possessing self lamination. Government hands over many responsibilities to a Collector. Collector as a team leader fulfills all those responsibilities. But in fulfilling those responsibilities there will be an individual mark of the particular collector. He will have his own way of doing things.
You have to acquire a capacity to mobilize people as a team leader. Sarcasm and criticism in the dialogue leads to dissonance in the group. Love, affection, friendship, good humor, sympathy bring the people together. The art of making friendships is one amongst the leadership qualities. The responsibility of a leader is to grow, sacrifice and lead the way in a way that the followers love to obey.
