Inimitable Sehwag And The Inevitable Runs

Inimitable Sehwag And The Inevitable Runs

Sehwag was not what a cricket connoisseur prescribed, he was what a crazy fan imagined. He did not change his game as per the format. No adaptation issues for him. He played the same way, irrespective of formats and conditions. If the ball was in his zone, he went for it; if it was not, he still went for it. His test match strike rate of 82 plus sustained over 100 tests at an average of almost 50 is mind-blowing.

The purpose of the bat is to score runs and that of the ball is to get hit. No one other than Virender Sehwag perhaps ever had such an uncomplicated view of the game of cricket. While opening batsmen traditionally were fed with the viewpoint that they had to take the shine off the new ball so that they were better placed to score runs and set up the game for batters to follow, Sehwag believed in taking the seam off. Give the first hour to the bowlers and the remaining are yours is what the world's greatest opening batsman Sunil Gavaskar said, but Sehwag simply reversed the rules and took the match away from the opposition in the first hour itself. If the ball was in his zone, he went for it; if it was not, he still went for it. He was the anti-thesis of Gavaskar, yet is counted as a co-great.

Opening batsmen before Sehwag became one were taught to defend well and rotate the strike. They were conditioned to play long innings and score a century over a day's play. Sehwag however believed in hitting the highway the moment he arrived at the crease. If he batted through the day in a test match, a double hundred was on cards. Against Sri Lanka in a test match in Mumbai (2009), he scored 284 runs in a day and missed out the next day to become the only batsman to score three triple hundreds in tests.

The philosophy of when you see the ball, hit the ball helped India beat Sri Lanka in a test match on their soil in 2008 only because while other batsmen succumbed to the magic of Ajanta Mendis in that series, Sehwag took him on to score a famous double century. He carried his bat through the innings, only the second one to do after the great Gavaskar. It is incredible that such a `high risk` batsman carried his bat while the `safer, technically sound` players found the Sri Lankan attack too hot to handle. While traditionally opening batsmen were trained to build an innings and set up a game, Sehwag set the game up upfront for his team with a blistering positive approach. If he scored, India were well and truly on the way. If he did not, there were always the greats like Dravid, Tendulkar, VVS Laxman and Ganguly to follow. It is incredible that a middle order batsman asked to open the innings by his captain Saurav Ganguly for the first time in England in 2002 went on to become one of world cricket's most celebrated opening batsmen.

Sehwag inspired cricketers as well as cricket writers. One of the world's greatest cricket writers the late Peter Roebuck described Sehwag as `impudent but rarely imprudent`. Former England cricketer Dereck Pringle described Sehwag as somebody who bats as if needing to catch the last plane out of Kabul. Harsha Bhogle quotes John Wright as saying "Sehwag didn't redefine his game because of his batting position. He redefined the position with his batting."

The uncomplicated nature of Sehwag's mindset can be gauged from the fact that he looked at the ball, not at the bowler's reputation. None of the traditional orientation typically dished out to openers – watch the ball carefully, settle down, defend well, build an innings, respect the bowler's reputation. Viru simply came, saw and attacked. He did not take pressure, he put the pressure on the bowlers.

Sehwag losing his place in the Test side and subsequent retirement has robbed world cricket of a batsman who was both audacious and skillful. He was a wonder of sorts as pundits of the game would not have imagined a player with such less footwork and abhorrence for technique going on to become the Wisden Cricketer Of The Year for two consecutive years in 2008 and 2009 purely on his achievements as an opening batsman. Sehwag simply backed himself and his abilities. He had a technique of his own. He lived by the willow and preferred to fall aside by the willow. Till the end of his career, barring perhaps a pretentious attempt, he did not really reinvent himself. If he had, that would not have been Sehwag. While at the crease, he kept you on the edge of your seat. The moment he got out, you took a deep breath to extend your lifespan, at the same time feeling a void as the other batsmen would now bring you down to reality. Sehwag in full flow made you incorrectly believe run-making was as simple as gulping down a glass of water. As he walked back to the pavilion after yet another blitzkreig, the new batsman had the unenvious task of exposing his mortality as a batsman.

Sehwag was not what a cricket connoisseur prescribed, he was what a crazy fan imagined. He did not change his game as per the format. No adaptation issues for him. He played the same way, irrespective of formats and conditions. His test match strike rate of 82 plus sustained over 100 tests at an average of almost 50 is mind-blowing.

He was a true great of the game and the tributes that immediately followed his retirement announcement were testimony to the inspiration he provided to critics, experts, fans and cricketers alike. Here's saluting India's greatest match winner ever. Virender Sehwag, you will be missed in the battle between bat and ball which, at your peak, you won it easily and formidably.

Givers Gain

Givers Gain

BNI's founder Ivan Misner has created an organisation that is spiritual at its core and business-like in its working. It teaches the world everyday, you celebarte other people's success and they will celebrate you. BNI is not just about networking, it is an experience that you cannot afford to miss.

“The target given to me is very low. I can do far better than this.” No, this is not an overconfident salesperson speaking in a typical sales conference. This is a BNI meeting where the member is disappointed with the revenue target given to him by the leadership team, that too not in terms of what he will earn, but what he will give. Yes, you guessed it right, he is unhappy with the `Giving Target`, an unheard of philosophy for many. At BNI, members strive to fulfill their giving target, that is, the amount of business they will generate for their fellow members. They are not explicitly concerned about what they will receive, for that is being addressed by others.

BNI is a one of its kind networking forum for entrepreneurs, where business is purely generated through referrals. I joined BNI four months ago and I have been fascinated by what I see, experience, give and receive everyday. We meet once a week to generate referrals for our fellow members. It is fascinating to see how members compete with one another to give more.

The BNI philosophy is based upon the karma theory of what goes around, comes around. This essentially means if you give, you will receive – that is the law of life. If you do good to others, they will do good to you. It is a very selfless way of fulfilling one's selfish objectives. Yes, everyone joins BNI to make money, but quickly realise that the quicker way to receive abundance is to help fellow members earn the moolah. The beauty of the process is not who will make the first move. The system works to clockwork precision, with giving being the principal philosophy. No one waits for the other person to give first, they are more than eager to take the first step.

Before joining BNI, I knew that the way to become successful was to make others successful. But I did not know that this philosophy could be run as a system. Week after week, members strive to provide references to their colleagues not just because it may benefit them too eventually, but also because there is an inherent joy in giving. Appreciation and recognition platforms are skewed towards the givers. The maximum applause is reserved for the givers and contributors in the chapter. It is fascinating to see how even highly successful entrepreneurs happily submit themselves to a system which is not only demanding in terms of discipline – punctuality, attendance, etc – but also hold them accountable for their performance, primarily measured on giving parameters.

Having worked for a long time in the corporate world, I can understand the frustration that comes from always being under the scanner for achieving one's own performance targets. Here, it is different. Your targets are others' responsibility. Your responsibility is to enable others' targets. If every organisation looked to collaborate rather than merely internally compete, we'll have many more happy corporate professionals. BNI teaches the world everyday, you celebarte other people's success and they will celebrate you.

The thing that fascinates me about BNI is you can without any inhibition ask for help in getting business. It is not a typical social networking organisaton where people meet to socialise. Here, the members `also socialise`. Members go out of the way to ensure their colleagues get good referrals. While there is no guarantee of business conversion, you get tens of salespeople working for you by simply paying the yearly membership fee. The most proven way to get quality business is through referrals – not cold calls, not mailers, not advertisements. BNI has perfected the art of generating referrals by creating a water-tight yet dynamic system.

BNI's founder Ivan Misner has created an organisation that is spiritual in its core and businesslike in its working. He has ensured BNI not just helps members transact business, but also provides training on various aspects of giving and receiving business. The philosophy of give and take is institutionalised within BNI. The organisation has taken the age old philosophy out of the text book and converted it into a living phenomenon. It is indeed incredibly fascinating that across the world, once a week, entrepreneurs attend their respective chapter meetings to give, receive, bond and grow.

BNI is not just a business platform, it also brings together people with different personality traits to add to the overall strength and dynamism of each chapter. Here, business is the factor that gets people in, but it is bonding with fellow members that keeps them from going out. While business is what the organisation promotes, it is based upon the fundamental values of team work, care and empathy. BNI thus is not just about networking, it is an experience that you cannot afford to miss.  

Bees Saal Baad

Bees Saal Baad

On July 4, 2015, we, a group of University friends, reconnected after a gap of twenty two years. Reconnecting after such a long time gave us a perspective of where we stood in our life contexts. Catching up with old friends is like travelling back in a time machine which has the ability to transport you to a zone of life which stayed still even as you moved on.

I have always been fascinated by the Bees Saal Baad funda in Bollywood, where lovers, families, brothers, friends drift away and have a rendezvous in curious circumstances bees saal baad. I have always wondered at the logic of such a reunion especially considering the consistency of the bees saal baad rant. Yet, on July 4, 2015, I got a taste of this curious plot when me and my university friends met as a group after twenty two years. The laughter, leg pulling and openness of expression had the makings of a Bollywood potboiler. We simply let our hair down and behaved in a manner that befitted us twenty two years ago and not now, as that baton had presumably passed on to our kids.

We passed out of university – the best two years of academia for all of us perhaps, bolstered by the camaraderie we shared – in 1993 and all of us simply drifted into our own life spaces. Reconnecting after such a long time gave us a perspective of where we stood in our life contexts. A satisfying noting was to see everyone happy in their spaces and choices. We all made a brief presentation of what we had done in all these years and my story of course had all the makings of a masala film.

Cut to 1995 – bees saal pahale - and I was building my career as a journalist. It was the decade when the concrete effects of economic liberalisation were being felt in the country. Satellite television and mobile phones were getting entrenched and changing the fundamental habits of our living. The look and feel of the country was undergoing a major makeover. It was a time when the country was celebrating its second freedom – that came from market-driven choices, having for so long been stifled by the licence permit raj. I had an MA (Politics) degree with a brief work experience as a research assistant and here I was in 1995 trying to be a responsible citizen as well as family member by embarking on a career in financial journalism.

Bees saal baad in 2015, life is unrecognizable from the day on May 1, 1995 when I walked into the Business Standard office in Mumbai to join as a rookie correspondent. Since then, after six years in journalism with a role change to editing to boot, love, marriage and kid, and eight years as a training professional, now I am a fledgling entrepreneur for the past six years, trying to establish a robust learning & development business. In these twenty years, I have grown within by leaps and bounds with the help of my meditation and Reiki practice. A deep passion to create a training legacy and to take Reiki to every home drives me. I am also dabbling big time into writing with three published books under my belt. By God's grace, there is a restlessness generally noticeable in ambitious youth.

My life truly began at 40, when I took hopefully an irreversible plunge into living my dream – doing the things I like doing – speaking, teaching Reiki, training, writing. It is incredible that I started my life all over again at 40 after having attained a respectable position in corporate life with a more-than-respectable salary. I am driven by the need to create to legacy of learning and healing, so that even after I am gone from this world, generations to come can benefit from my creation.

I have a theory called the Death Theory, which essentially means we all are allocated a certain quota of life which diminishes with every passing moment. Within this lies our opportunity as well as the urgency that is required to start working on the dreams implanted within each one of us. We all are part of the larger cosmic ecosystem, yet are born unique. It is both a responsibility as well as a privilege given only to human beings to explore this uniqueness. Time is a great reminder of our mortality. It rapidly moves despite us and not because of us. Our life is inter-twined with time, but time itself functions independent of our thoughts, feelings, emotions – even existence.

Time in the little over four-and-a-half decades of my life has flown past like an aeroplane in the sky. Time is like that plane, which even as you try to fathom its magnificence simply leaves you staring distantly at a wondrous contraption that just whizzed past above you. Bees saal baad what I have are memories of a distant past which seems to have magically arrived like a living present when I experienced the rendezvous with my University friends. Catching up with old friends is like travelling back in a time machine which has the ability to transport you to a zone of life which stayed still even as you moved on.

An interesting aspect of the reunion was the common thought we all shared – where would we be placed bees saal baad from now! It seems too distant to discuss right now, but it seemed the same way bees saal pahale, and lo! it arrived like a miracle on the day of the rendezvous, leaving us all stunned as well as excited with its impact. Time however taught us agian that we just need to be rooted in the present, occasionally dig into the past for perspective as well as learning, and have a clear vision for the future. Bees saal baad has arrived, the next one is bees saal baad. We'll meet the bridge when it comes. 

Hariharan Iyer – Featured on brewathought.com

Hariharan Iyer – Featured on brewathought.com

Presenting a feature on brewathought.com written on me by Manisha Panwar, the brain behind the website. The feature was posted on May 27, 2015. 

By Manisha Panwar

About 5 years back, a friend of mine introduced me to someone who had a glorious past as a senior sales training professional with a life insurance company. The only reason we were to meet is because she thought that there was something common in the way we both felt for “people” at the workplace.



In walked Hariharan Iyer, who was a pleasure to talk to at the first instance itself. Hari had just quit a high profile job to start out as an independent trainer. He believed that while the job helped him to meet people, there was so much more he could do to support their journey. And hence it all began for him. Quitting a job at an age where responsibilities are plenty both professionally and personally is a risk few can take and even fewer can make the most of it.



The past five years is a tale of grit and determination when it comes to Hari. When he walked out of the café that day, it was clear that he was someone who was willing to put everything at stake to do what he loved doing the most - supporting people in their individual journey. And my, what a journey it has been!

He now runs the acclaimed Hariharan's School of Success Education in Mumbai. A highly traveled man, who enjoys to travel and train together, he has visited more than 50 cities small and big in India and a couple of countries. His training interventions are on sales, soft skills and individual coaching. He is the author of three books and is an avid blogger.


So, I am not here to brag about a friend and his success. Albeit I am hugely and immensely proud of his success, my feature here is about his practice also a Reiki Grandmaster. He has been healing a number of people from 1993.
Reiki has been widely spoken about but my first brush with Reiki as a person seeking to be healed was nothing less than magical. It was in Mumbai when my husband was traveling extensively and I lived the life of a so called single parent to a 5 year old. A day before my daughter’s 6th birthday (for which I had made arrangements and organized a huge party), she came down with a viral infection. I was hassled perturbed and emotionally drained because it meant that everything that I had planned was not to be. I was miserable with the question of why was my daughter falling ill on her birthday more than any other day. The more I thought negatively, the more my daughter deteriorated. To add to that, her best friend was celebrating his birthday a day before hers. Which meant that the kid could not go for that as well. As I made the kids talk over the phone stating why she could not come for his party, both kids started crying (innocence and friendship!). The boy’s mother told me to get her even if it was for half an hour so that her son would feel better. I thought otherwise, since taking her meant exposing other kids to the infection.

But here is where the drama began. As I was lying down with my daughter, I thought of Hari in a flash. I just messaged him saying that I sought healing for my daughter and gave him the complete picture. Hari, in no time swung into action He first asked me to calm down and remove all negative thoughts (tough but I tried!) He asked me a few details of my daughter and said he would start the distance healing immediately. All I was supposed to do was hold her and tell her some good stories. In half an hour, when I did not hear anything more from Hari, I gave up pursuing him. My daughter by then had gone off to sleep. In another 20 minutes I heard my child call out to me in her very original voice (meaning without a hint of flu!) I leapt to the room to see her bright eyed and asked me if she could go to her friend’s birthday party. We got dressed and I decided to hang around just in case she needed me or felt unwell. That one hour I saw my daughter came back to her original self..devoid of any illness, she had a gala time.

I came back home and it suddenly struck me that maybe I should check with Hari. Late at night, I spoke to him. He confirmed that he had indeed carried out distance healing for Prakriti. He said he had done cosmic ray healing, an advanced form of healing which works powerfully. He assured me that more than him, when the healing is sought with good faith, it is bound to work. My conversation with him lasted only a few minutes and it was enough to convince me of the power of Reiki and healing. Over the years, Hari was subject to my “need” for healing time and again..whether it was emotional or physical healing I sought, for myself or for others.

Undeniably the most patient person, Hari never failed me. He made time for my big and small queries and has even motivated me to learn basic Reilki from him. One day I am sure and I will! It comes as no surprise to me that in recognition of the difference he has made to people's lives through the work he does, he was conferred with the Rex Karmaveer Global Fellowship and Karmaveer Chakra -Bronze by iCONGO (International Confederation Of NGOs) in February 2014 followed by Karmaveer Chakra -Silver in March 2015.



My journey with Reiki must have begun about half a decade ago, but my faith in the same has taken a quantum leap. I look forward to exploring the same. Hari gave me a thought to brew 5 years back, it’s time to take the leap, brew it better and enjoy the taste that Reiki will bring to my life!



Hariharan can be reached at lifetransformation69@gmail.com; harry_44@rediffmail.com and mobile numbers 9930883877 / 8898880676. You could also visit his website www.lifetransformation.in and his blog- bolharrybol.blogspot.com

The Anatomy Of Peace: Mind, Body And Soul

This article was carried by news portal newswithchai on March 26, 2015.

The Anatomy Of Peace: Mind, Body And Soul ~ Hariharan Iyer

POSTED BY NEWS WITH CHAI - MARCH 26, 2015 ⋅

The body, with which we identify so deeply, is actually a solidified form of energy, which we have mistaken to be matter. It is matter alright, but it’s form has manifested from formless energy. Just as a potter can give any shape to his clay, energy can attain any kind of shape. The beginning of understanding lies in the appreciation of energy as the essence of existence and not matter.

A human being goes through many small life changing events. Yes, there are major experiences that change your life forever in some way. But truth is it is the series of small experiences that keep impacting your life continuously. I have felt this deeply over the years as I keep going from one life changing experience to another.

Having said this, what brought about an institutionalised change in my life was the First Degree Reiki Seminar I attended in December 1993. That day something dramatic happened – I got introduced to myself. I was just 24 years old and had been meditating for the past four years, thanks to the shaktipat dikshaI received from my Guruji Dada Nakhate. While Dadaji’s divine touch at the center in between the eyebrows, much like the Guru-Shishya initiation parampara, was all grace, the Reiki training on that day was grace, science, introspection and inner opening – a package deal. I believe it is because of my Guru’s grace that I came into Reiki and life has never been the same again.

Reiki taught me two critical things that day: 1. I am responsible for my life and everything that happens in it and 2. My physical sickness was a result of my emotional and mental processes. This understanding was a massive opening as it unleashed in me a healing power I am enthralling in ever since. I was a sick child and till that day suffered from problems like weak digestion, nose bleeding and poor stamina. Reiki taught me that I was basically `sick` – in my thoughts and in my feelings.

In many ways what I learnt that day and teach now as a Reiki Grandmaster is common sense. The whole understanding emerged from a simple awareness that happy feelings create a healthy mind and body, and unhappiness creates an irritable mind and body. But simple as it may seem, it is difficult to accept this phenomenon. This emerges from a lack of holistic orientation in life.

The body, with which we identify so deeply, is actually a solidified form of energy, which we have mistaken to be matter. It is matter alright, but it’s form has manifested from formless energy. Just as a potter can give any shape to his clay, energy can attain any kind of shape. The beginning of understanding lies in the appreciation of energy as the essence of existence and not matter.

That day during the Reiki First Degree Seminar I acquired the quintessential understanding that emotions and physical well being have a deep connection. In fact, it may stun you to know that the visible body is an inept entity. Its harmonious functioning is purely dependent on the invisible forces of emotions and thoughts. This is contrary to what is normally understood – that the body is an independent entity in itself and sickness and health are factors which are caused by chance or are connected to nature’s whims.

While this may seem true given the strong tangibility of the physical, it rebels against the fundamental principle of inter-connectivity in nature. Everything in this universe is connected by an invisible but not unfelt thread, which binds people, objects, dynamics and perspectives in a manner both perplexing as well as wondrous. To think that the body, mind, emotions and spirit are disjointed independent entities co-existing in a single person smack of an understanding disorder which is creating havoc in the lives of people globally.

A holistic approach, rather than threatening you with an abstract existentiality, actually empowers you to take charge of your life and health. What could be more empowering to know that what you feel, what you think, how you behave can have a direct impact on your physical energies? Acceptance or realisation of this understanding helps you to take charge and do what is entirely in your control – change yourself. What could be more un-empowering than to believe that things happen by chance in your life, that you are a slave at the hands of `luck`?

Spiritual sciences like Reiki – yes, spirituality is the mother of science and it is not obligated to prove its worthiness to its child by proving its efficacy as a science, though a scientific approach to spirituality does help build greater connection with the real essence of life – explore the inner dimension of a human personality through both technique and satsangs,or put simply discussions and arguments. While there might exist a whole body of research on the mind-body connection, we can do this at our level and within ourselves everyday. All we need to do for that is, observe ourselves – our thoughts, our emotions and our behavior.

We are our own best teachers, provided we are ready to be good students of life. In the Reiki system we learn about the inner reasons for both common diseases like cold, cough, etc, as well as the life threatening ones. When we are armed with the understanding that cough is a result of lack of expression and headache is a function of intellectual conflict – just to take couple of simple examples – we can rise above our limitations and act on the inner weaknesses rather than hope for external solutions which are largely dependent upon somebody else’s intelligence, interpretation and knowledge.

In the Reiki Level 1 course, we help students analyse a range of diseases which can potentially offer sustainable solutions to long standing physical-mental-emotional issues and open up long-held blocks. Essentially, the whole discussion about the anatomy of peace is about who we are from the inside. The `outside` is an illusion, simply because we all are present even physically within the universe which is just ONE large entity without a beginning and an end. So everything is really within and `without` is just an imagination we can actually do without. So peace needs to be released from the clutches of both pieces of understanding as well as piecemeal understanding. A holistic approach to life is both empowering and enchanting. Let us weave in the pieces together to form a whole rather than get stuck with the parts which just appear to be the whole.

Article Contributed By: Hariharan Iyer, who lives in Mumbai, is an Inspirational Speaker, Corporate Trainer, Author and Reiki Grandmaster. He is practicing meditation for over 25 years and Reiki for over 21 years. You can get more details of his work from his website www.lifetransformation.in. You can write to him onlifetransformation69@gmail.com.

Disclaimer: “The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author, and they do not reflect in any way those of the institutions to which he is affiliated, or the publication, or any of the members of the publication or its parent organization. newswithchai.in is not responsible for the accuracy, completeness, suitability, or validity of any information on this article. All information is provided on an as-is basis. The information, facts or opinions appearing in the article do not reflect the views of newswithchai.in and newswithchai.in does not assume any responsibility or liability for the same.”

Dear Diksha – A father's letter to his teenage daughter

Dear Diksha – A father's letter to his teenage daughter

You must always work to be a better person and constantly look to contribute towards the welfare of others because we live in a society where we share resources. Being a contributing citizen is not just a good quality, it is also our duty. Being ambitious is good, but you must also have a great heart that is ready to help people, especially those who do not have the same resources like we have.

In this blog I simply present a few passages from my new book `Dear Diksha – A father's letter to his teenage daughter`.

On Naming Diksha

We named you Diksha as it means spiritual initiation, for we have received initiations from our Gurus and as a Reiki teacher I give spiritual initiations myself. We wanted a daughter and had thought of your name even before you were born. God granted our wish and we gave you your very special name, though astrologically the letter P was suggested. Mom is very fond of the name Prakruti. We could have even named you Harita, a combination of Hari and Rita. But we settled for Diksha, as anyway `Harita` lives in your personality and you are a gift of nature, which is Prakruti. Nice justification, right?

On Bringing Up Diksha

I must say that Mom and I never really had a problem bringing you up. You have been an undemanding child. You respect us for what we are and you have accepted us as we are. You have never placed major materialistic demands on us which would have otherwise made life pretty difficult for us. We both are simple people but not without the aspiration to lead and give you too a materialistically much better life. As we engage ourselves in this journey we thank you for being the way you are. You are now old enough to even partner us in this journey. We thank you for another reason – for never comparing our lifestyle with that of your friends' families. It would have placed enormous pressure on us.

Life Gyan For Diksha

Yes, life is a journey, and so is success. Like you, I too learnt in school that success is a journey not a destination. But I never understood the true meaning of this statement until I undertook a journey of my own in 2009 when I decided to move out of my well paid job and start my own enterprise. The journey has been full of learning, many failures and some significant successes. What I have learnt and experienced in the past five years are simply indescribable. I have grown up even more in this journey. The journey has taken me to different places in India and two countries - UAE and Nepal – and brought me in touch with some absolutely amazing people on this planet. It also got me an award - the Rex Karmaveer Global Fellowship and the Karmaveer Chakra - for my contribution to Reiki. I realised that my contribution when compared to the people I met at the conclive in New Delhi, where the award was given, is really minuscule. I would like you to familiarise yourself with some of the extraordinary people I met at the conclive by watching and listening to some speeches on YouTube.

At the conclive I met some real role models. They are not celebrities like film stars or sportsmen. They are the unsung heroes of society. They make small but mighty contributions to lives of ordinary people. I want you to understand that wanting to become rich or famous is not a wrong aspiration, but the approach to life must never be self-centric. You must always work to be a better person and constantly look to contribute towards the welfare of others because we live in a society where we share resources. Being a contributing citizen is not just a good quality, it is also our duty. Being ambitious is good, but you must also have a great heart that is ready to help people, especially those who do not have the same resources like we have. Be it in terms of knowledge, money or any other kind. You must lead life with a purpose and the purpose is Contribution. When you have a purpose, you will never have to seek motivation from outside. You will be self motivated and become a role model for others.

Ebook link: http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=dear+diksha

Md. Rafi, Music, Heaven

Md. Rafi, Music, Heaven

Rafi was divinity personified. His voice instantly connected you to a realm of consciousness which can more appropriately be explored only through the discipline of meditation. While meditation needs you to close your eyes and urge your mind to direct itself towards a focal point, Rafi Saab's songs automatically make your eyes shut, mind focused and heart beat with a rhythm impossible to achieve through an intellectual procedure.

I have been a committed blogger for the past few years and have been trying to write on a variety of topics. Blogging is a wonderful way to express oneself beyond the expectations of the marketplace which any writer, desirous of being addressed as a `best-selling author`, cannot get away from. However, one of the subjects missing from a wide array of blogs I have written is one on Md. Rafi, especially given that I am such a huge Bollywood buff. I am correcting that anomaly through this piece.

One of the great things for an `abnormal` guy like me is that nobody looks at me with suspicion when I say I am a Md. Rafi fan. In fact, you would be counted amongst the abnormal and uncultured lot if you said you were not particularly a fan of India's most iconic singer. Yes, Rafi is not just representative of a great lineage of singers in our country, but is part of the overall Indian artistic tradition. When you think of music, you cannot but think of Rafi as a top-of-the-mind recall.
My generation grew up listening to Rafi Saab, Kishore Kumar, Lata Manageshkar and Asha Bhosale. My favourite has always been Rafi, simply for the divinity in his voice and the charm of his singing. In our growing up years, we are deeply influenced by certain public figures who leave a permanent impression on our psyche. Rafi Saab is one of them, besides my generation's other usual favourites like Sunil Gavaskar, Kishore Kumar and Amitabh Bachchan. But what is incredible about Rafi is that over three decades after he passed away, far from his voice being silenced by the destiny of death, his songs reverberate with even more freshness.

Rafi was divinity personified. His voice instantly connected you to a realm of consciousness which can more appropriately be explored only through the discipline of meditation. While meditation needs you to close your eyes and urge your mind to direct itself towards a focal point, Rafi Saab's songs automatically make your eyes shut, mind focused and heart beat with a rhythm impossible to achieve through an intellectual procedure.

Hindi films, in general, have always been thought to provide a mechanism of escapism to tired masses from the humdrum realities of life by transporting them to an unreal reel life. But what Rafi achieved by leveraging the same platform was spiritual in nature – he provided joy when alive and continues to do. That truly is his legacy.

Rafi was not just a great and one-of-a-kind singer, but also a stupendous human being. His humility was legendary. His career evolved through tumultuous times in post-independence India and he sang songs with equal conviction across genres as well as those which represented part of any religious tradition. He was equally at ease with classical as well as non-classical and racy numbers.

No doubt, his talent, range and versatility are the stuff dreams are made of. It may even make one feel envious that one man can be bestowed with so much grace, while we mere mortals are left wondering about our own talents. After all, we all could so easily be singing for Rafi the song he rendered: `Khuda Bhi Aasmaan Se Jab Zameen Par Dekhta Hoga, Mere Mehboob Ko Kisane Banaya Sochata Hoga`.

But to attribute greatness merely to talent is grossly unfair. Sure, God perhaps constructed Rafi's voice in his own image, but what made him a legend amongst legends was his commitment and inventiveness. He ensured the actors he sang for received as much glory as his own singing by employing imagination and transporting himself into the shoes of the actors' personalities and roles.

While actors like Dilip Kumar and Shammi Kapoor made Rafi's voice their own, Rafi too made the actors' `voice` his own. That's why even today when we listen to a Rafi song, what simultaneously flashes across our mind is the image of the actors on screen lip-singing that song. You feel as if Dev Anand, Shammi Kapoor or Dharmendra themselves are singing the song.

Rafi had this unique power to surrender himself to the character on screen, thereby ensuring that not just his, but also the actors' careers flourished. Today, when we think of a Shammi Kapoor or a Dev Anand, we think not just of their films, but also their songs. Today's generation of actors do not have this luxury. They need to fend for themselves purely on the basis of their talent and the roles they portray.

It is unfair to compare any modern day singer with Rafi, for Rafi was the original, whereas, everyone else, be they professional or bathroom singers like me, simply sing by picking up the threads from the Md. Rafi gharana. Rafi Saab was absolutely right when he sang `Tum Mujhe Yun Bhla Na Paoge. Jab Kabhi Bhi Sunoge Geet Mere Sang Sang Tum Bhi Gungunaoge`.

Generations to come will experience the Rafi magic, for Rafi Saab is not just part of our culture, he is part of the Indian consciousness. Rafi the person will be missed, but his music – Never.