Tag: happiness

They can have their rules, so can you..

At Delhi airport today.. in line to get coffee. Gentleman in front of me, an elderly uncle, had a flask in his hand, asked the cafe to fill it with warm water. The guy hesitated a bit, allowed hot water, then uncle also asked for a cup to take back to his wife. Cafe guy says ‘cup is chargeable, coffee leni padegi sir’

Asked the guy why? It’s a little cup? ‘Rules sir, company policy’.. so I ordered two coffees instead of one, asked him to give that empty cup to uncle. When the guy pointed at me while giving him the cup, just told uncle ‘I convinced them, it’s just a cup, should be free no?’.. uncle had a warm smile, nodded his head in agreement, and left.

Walking to boarding gate, saw uncle-aunty sitting, sharing their drink – one from flask, one in coffee cup :)

If we can do these tiny acts all around us.. that’s the kind of world we want kids to live in. There’s something above rules and regulations and policies – it’s being human.. little empathy.. little heart.

If they got rules, make your own too, little peaceful rebels we are.

On Children’s Day, keeping a promise I made months ago.. ❤️

A few months back I found this book which I loved.. something I would have totally enjoyed as a kid! So I posted on LinkedIn – if you have kids (8+ years), or just wanna explore that childhood innocence, curiosity and mindfulness again (you know how kids just live in the moment), this book is for you, and I’ll ship them as a gift

Got busy with moving houses, travel and craziness of life.. but finally today, the box of books is ready! Will ship them next week to everyone who shared their address.

Why this book? Because creativity needs to be nurtured from childhood, before education and programming slowly supresses it, the best ideas of tomorrow will happen out of innocence.. curiosity and the pursuit of possibilities..

If you weren’t on the list – highly recommend getting this book. If you’re waiting – they’re finally heading your way!

Happy Children’s Day! From the kid in me to the kid in you

How small actions can have big impact

Driving down golf course today in Gurgaon, saw an unconscious man on the divider, with half his body on the road, with speeding cars swishing by inches from his legs… took a u turn, to make sure I saw it right.. and there he was… went about the road.. put blinkers on and stopped next to him (with chaos of cars honking behind me)..

I feared if he was okay, shouted in the bustling noise of the traffic.. ‘bhai theek ho’.. he seemed to have fainted.. sat next to him.. shook his shoulders and kept talking to him.. few cars stopped.. a person came and offered water.. another came and helped him sit.. and splashed water on his face.. he was okay.. either too drunk or intoxicated.. he was dressed in a crisp white shirt and black pants, worked for an office nearby it seems. Me and the other person who helped, made him stand.. and took him far away from the speeding cars.. made him sit in shade.. he was ok now.. mumbling but ok. After it seemed he had collected himself.. we left..

It’s easy to brush or ignore someone aside, thinking.. ‘oh he’s drunk’, but who are we to judge what a person is going through, also observed that no ones stops to help.. but.. when they see someone take an initiative to help.. cars stop.. people come forward.. and in that moment.. it seems we’re all one, there for each other…

So, next time you see someone in need of help, you’re not alone.. and it won’t become your problem.. take the initiative to help.. coz when you stop to help.. magically.. others will show up.. and we together we take care of each other.. like one big family, and your small action.. can snowball into big impact.

The first video – Gurgaon Toll Surprise

This day eight years back, I released my first ever video. It was the happiest and the scariest moment of my life, happiest coz it was my first ‘viral’ experience and scariest coz if I did not build on that, if I did not figure out, learn, deep dive, obsess about why it worked.. then I’d be back to the rat race, nothing but a one hit wonder.

The journey and the obsession since then has resulted in 76 videos which went viral, 470M views and a best-selling book.. which for a college drop out, written off as a failure.. was beyond my wildest imagination. Results are never in our hands, but our action and performance is, and one brick at a time, compound effect works like magic. Life always gives you signs, shows you doors, but what matters is if you run through them.

And when that tiny door opened on Feb 18, eight years back.. I ran through it like my life depended on it.

AC

Super Grateful for everything that came after :)

Bring The Change?

Here’s a non-campaign, non-commercial, non-branded CHALLENGE! In your daily routine, can you find someone you can help with the skills / knowledge you use at work daily! Post picture with #BringTheChange Here’s mine.. a little CTA ;)

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Update: One Week

One little sign with a clear call to action, 5 minutes of execution and 2x growth in sales over a week. And when I took my slippers for fixing, this startup founder refused to charge for it :))