Chetan bhagat's speech @ Symbiosis pune worth reading

WORTH READING

Good  Morning everyone and thank you for giving me this chance  to speak to you. This day is about you. You, who have come to this college, leaving   the comfort of your homes (or in some cases discomfort), to become         something in your life. I am sure you are excited.  There are few days in   human life when one is truly elated.  The first day in college is one of   them.  When you were getting ready today, you felt a tingling in your     stomach. What would the auditorium be like, what would the teachers be     like, who are my new classmates - there is so much to be curious about. I call this excitement, the spark within you that makes you feel truly alive today. Today I am going to talk about keeping the spark shining. Or to put it another way, how to be happy most, if not all the time.                                                                                     Where do these sparks start? I think we are born with them. My 3-year old twin boys have a million sparks. A little Spiderman toy can make them jump on the bed. They get thrills from creaky swings in the park. A story from daddy gets them excited. They do a daily countdown for birthday party –   several months in advance – just for the day they will cut their own       birthday  cake.                                                                                                                      I see students like you, and I still see some sparks. But when I see older people, the spark is difficult to find. That means as we age, the spark   fades. People whose spark has faded too much are dull, dejected, aimless   and bitter. Remember Kareena in the first half of Jab We Met vs the second half? That is what happens when the spark is lost.   So how to save the   spark?                                                                                               Imagine the spark to be a lamp's flame. The first aspect is nurturing - to give your spark the fuel, continuously. The second is to guard against     storms.                                                                                                                                     To nurture, always have goals. It is human nature to strive, improve and   achieve full potential. In fact, that is success. It is what is possible   for you. It isn't any external measure - a certain cost to company pay     package, a particular car or house.                                                                                                                   Most of us are from middle class families. To us, having material         landmarks is success and rightly so. When you have grown up where money   constraints force everyday choices, financial freedom is a big             achievement. But it isn't the purpose of life. If that was the case, Mr.   Ambani would not show up for work. Shah Rukh Khan would stay at home and   not dance anymore. Steve Jobs won't be working hard to make a better       iPhone, as  he sold Pixar for billions of dollars already. Why do they do   it? What makes them come to work everyday? They do it because it makes     them happy. They do it because it makes them feel alive. Just getting     better from current levels feels good. If you study hard, you can improve your rank. If you make an  effort to interact with people, you will do     better in interviews. If you practice, your cricket will get better. You  may also know that you cannot become Tendulkar, yet. But you can get to   the next level. Striving for that next level is important.                   Nature designed with a random set of genes and circumstances in which we   were born. To be happy, we have to accept it and make the most of nature's design. Are you? Goals will help you do that. I must add, don't just have career or academic goals. Set goals to give you a balanced, successful     life. I use the word balanced before successful. Balanced means ensuring   your health, relationships, mental peace are all in good order.                                                                               There is no point of getting a promotion on the day of your breakup. There is no fun in driving a car if your back hurts. Shopping is not enjoyable   if your mind is full of tensions.                                                                                                                   You must have read some quotes - Life is a tough race, it is a marathon or whatever. No, from what I have seen so far, life is one of those races in nursery school, where you have to run with a marble in a spoon kept in     your mouth. If the marble falls, there is no point coming first. Same with life, where health and relationships are the marble. Your striving is only worth it if there is harmony in your life. Else, you may achieve the       success, but  this spark, this feeling of being excited and alive, will     start to die.                                                                                                                                   One last thing about nurturing the spark - don't take life seriously. One of my yoga teachers used to make students laugh during classes. One       student asked him if these jokes would take away something from the yoga   practice. The teacher said - don't be serious, be sincere. This quote has defined my work ever since. Whether its my writing, my job, my             relationships or any of my goals. I get thousands of opinions on my       writing everyday. There is heaps of  praise, there is intense criticism. If I take it all seriously, how will I write? Or rather, how will I live?     Life is not to be taken seriously, as we are really temporary here. We are like a pre-paid card with limited validity. If we are lucky, we may last   another 50 years. And 50 years is just 2,500 weekends. Do we really need   to get so worked up? It's ok, bunk a few classes, goof up a few             interviews, fall in love. We are people, not programmed devices.            I've told you three things - reasonable goals, balance and not taking it    too seriously that will nurture the spark. However, there are four storms   in life that will threaten to completely put out the flame. These must be   guarded against. These are disappointment, frustration, unfairness and      loneliness of purpose.                                                      Disappointment will come when your effort does not give you the expected   return. If things don't go as planned or if you face failure. Failure is   extremely difficult to handle, but those that do come out stronger. What   did this failure teach me? is the question you will need to ask. You will feel miserable. You will want to quit, like I wanted to when nine         publishers rejected my first book. Some IITians kill themselves over low   grades – how silly is that? But that is how much failure can hurt you. But it's life. If challenges could always be overcome, they would cease to be a challenge. And remember - if you are failing at something, that means   you are at your limit or potential. And that's where you want to be.       Disappointment' s cousin is  frustration, the second storm.  Have you ever been frustrated? It happens when things are stuck. This is especially     relevant in India . From traffic jams to getting that job you deserve,     sometimes things take so long that you don't know if you chose the right   goal. After books, I set the goal of writing for Bollywood, as I thought   they needed writers. I am called extremely lucky, but it took me five     years to get close to  a release. Frustration saps excitement, and turns   your initial energy into something negative, making you a bitter person.   How did I deal with it? A realistic assessment of the time involved –     movies take a long time to make even though they are watched quickly,     seeking a certain enjoyment in the process rather than the end result  – at  least I was learning how to write scripts, having a side plan – I had my   third book to write and even something as simple as pleasurable           distractions in your life - friends, food, travel can help you overcome   it. Remember, nothing is to be taken seriously. Frustration is a sign     somewhere, you took it too seriously.                                     Unfairness - this is hardest to deal with, but unfortunately that is how   our country works. People with connections, rich dads, beautiful faces,   pedigree find it easier to make it – not just in Bollywood, but           everywhere. And sometimes it is just plain luck. There are so few         opportunities in India , so many stars need to be aligned for you to make   it  happen. Merit and hard work is not always linked to achievement in the short term, but the long term correlation is high, and ultimately things   do work out. But realize, there will be some people luckier than you. In   fact, to have an opportunity to go to college and understand this speech   in English means you are pretty damm lucky by Indian standards. Let's be   grateful for what we have and get the strength to accept what we don't. I have so much love from my readers that other writers cannot even imagine   it. However, I don't get literary praise. It's ok. I don't look like       Aishwarya Rai, but I have two boys who I think are more beautiful than     her. It's ok. Don't let unfairness kill your spark.                       Finally, the last point that can kill your spark is isolation. As you grow older you will realize you are unique. When you are little, all kids want Ice cream and Spiderman. As you grow older to college, you still are a lot like your friends. But ten years later and you realize you are unique.     What you want, what you believe in, what makes you feel, may be different from even the people closest to you. This can create conflict as your     goals may not match with others. . And you may drop some of them.         Basketball captains in college invariably stop playing basketball by the   time they have their second child. They give up something that meant so   much to them. They do it for their family. But in doing that, the spark   dies. Never, ever make that compromise. Love yourself first, and then     others.                                                                     There you go. I've told you the four thunderstorms - disappointment,       frustration, unfairness and isolation. You cannot avoid them, as like the monsoon they will come into your life at regular intervals. You just need to keep the raincoat handy to not let the spark die.                       I welcome you again to the most wonderful  years of your life. If someone gave me the choice to go back in time, I will surely choose college. But I also hope that ten years later as well, your eyes will shine the same way as they do today. That you will Keep the Spark alive, not only through     college, but through the next 2,500 weekends. And I hope not just you, but my whole country will keep that spark alive, as we really need it now more than any moment in history. And there is  something cool about saying - I   come from the land of a billion sparks.