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.
Tag: kindness
From a Hindi teacher to a cab driver to future content creator :)
Last month on my way to Delhi, I met Yakub, a cab driver. He had been here for 3 months and passionately talked about going back to Ranchi, to start his own Hindi tuition centre for classes 1-5. ‘Teen saal mein teen lakh’ was his goal, to save enough to return back and kickstart his little startup…
He spoke passionately about what he taught kids back in Ranchi. After a pause for few minutes, I asked him what if he could save that money in half the time? He looked back confused, until I pointed to keep eyes on the road..
‘Do you know how many people want their kids to learn Hindi, around the world?’ Confused still, he peeked into the rear view mirror at me. ‘How about you start teaching Hindi on YouTube, make videos for every little topic’ and focus on getting online tuition classes from people who find your video, and when you start getting parents from across India and abroad, you do online tuitions in your free time after the job, it can take sometime but you’ll do the work you love, and when you’ve hit your 3 lakh mark, with savings from the job and online classes.. you go start your centre…
His eyes lit up, still looking through the mirror. By this time I was at my destination, as I got out.. I gave him the book (always carry a copy in my bag), gave him Rs. 1000 to invest in a tripod/ring light to start creating videos from his phone and told him to learn everyday anytime he gets..
Learn about how YouTube works by watching YouTube tutorials, watch what others teachers have done to see it’s not difficult and learn ‘what’ and ‘how’ to make videos from the book and call me when he has attempted his first video. He kept staring at me as I patted his back and got out.
If you can find someone you can help, with skills you’ve learnt over the years.. don’t just give gyan.. but give an action plan and a little support.. once the extra wheels come off.. off they go empowered to thrive.. and that’s the India 🇮🇳 I love.. working hard with a twinkle in their eyes ♥️
Do share your stories, if you’ve had a similar experience 😊
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 :)