The seed of entrepreneurship.

It’s Thu Jun 25 2009 and I am at home. The state of mind is fertile and it’s a good opportunity for writing a blog. I will express my inner thoughts using lots of simile (a figure of speech in which two unlike things are explicitly compared, as in “she is like a rose.”). I will also name some similes for better imagination. :-)

Of late I am noticing a small seed of entrepreneurship, comparable to a yellow mustard seed, developing a bright green “3 mm” stem with two tiny leaves. This tiny seed was present from 2-3 years but it was dormant. And the changing favorable landscape has made it grow to a tiny life. This is like God deciding that, “Ok you can take a try to become a life form.” Well, I am the small seed of entrepreneurship.

Let me describe the landscape. It was a small monolithic island, with no lakes or shrubs. Few months back a volcano erupted bringing in fertile soil from the bed of the ocean. A small geyser emitting hot water is slowly turning to a small lake. Now the water is cooler, earth warmer, sunny and moist. The condition is favorable for new life forms to originate.

Living creatures that were confined to the cliffs and crevices have started surveying the new place. I am lucky that I have some friends helping me. There is a queen ant (my mother) with her army of followers. She is hard working and she is surveying the work of the other worker ants. They are digging tiny tunnels and this is bringing fresh oxygen to the new soil. There is a humble frog (my father) who is selective in eating and destroying the insects who got attracted to the green tiny growth of the seed. There is a tiny stream of the flowing water (my wife) making the soil wet and giving me the confidence of survival. There is a small baby monkey, (my son) who has immense energy and endless desire to learn something new every day. It’s an inspiration for everyone to learn.

Now let’s come to the seed. He has no idea of what he will look like after some growth. There are no other mustard seeds in the vicinity that can set any example. There are many dangers lurking that will eat the seed in one pick. There is no guarantee that the favorable landscape conditions will continue. More volcanoes will erupt and it will rain badly. The seed can be washed away and die.

But the seed is optimistic. He believes in the one in thousands chances that he will grow. He has faith on his Karma and knows that the conditions will be favorable for him for the first bit of growth. And then he will learn and adapt to the changing circumstances. He knows that he will blossom soon to have bright yellow flowers.

These forced breaks

It’s Fri morning and this week has been hectic, with 5-6 hours of official meetings on some days. On an ordinary Friday, I will be working extra hard in office to wind up things, so that I have a cleaner list of TODOs on a Monday. And on top of that I have a piling list of my personal things to do, which I had moved to today.

But The Creator had a different plan for me today. I have a sore throat and slight fever, so there is a forced break for me. :-(

Initially I was a bit upset, as this requires complete re-planning. I dropped a mail to my team and moved all my appointments to Mon. There were some important personal things to be done on Sat. I delegated that to a friend, and I know it will be taken care of.

I took some medicines and I know it will take care of the sore throat. In-spite of the fever, I took a hot shower, had a 10 mins meditation, and had a cup of sugar-less black coffee. All appointments are moved and there is nothing pressing now. I will be alone for 5-6 hours before my wife comes in the evening from her office.

Now, I am free like a bird. Free to fly in the realm of imagination and dreams. Finding such a free time, when you can be in the zero state of mind is priceless. And it’s difficult to plan for it. But The Creator knows when it’s required for a soul to get this break. And here it is ! :-)

I feel happy, and contended, as I understand the plan of The Creator. And this gave me an opportunity to be with myself, think, dream, plan, re-plan and jot down this blog.

Have you had such thoughts ?

Mahtab Syed
11:21am May 16 2008

Abundance kills the desire.

Anything in abundance kills the desire. To enjoy things we need to consume in moderation. Like say sipping Darjeeling Tea slowly and enjoying every bit of the aroma.

The root of this thought is the observation of a wide spread problem these days, which young parents with toddlers are facing. These tiny toddlers don’t show much interest towards food, and I have seen parents trying all the gimmicks to fool them to submission, so that they somehow swallow it.

This problem is faced by new generation parents who are economically well-to-do. Every fruit and all types of chocolates are at their disposal. In fact these toddlers got these food items in abundance before they are actually hungry and before they develop the natural craving. And this abundance has killed the desire.

I remember as a kid, we used to get a Five Star chocolate as a present once in say 3-4 months. And we used to relish it slowly. We were not supposed to open and swallow in public, where we got it, as it was against the manners. So we had to wait to reach home. And that wait was killing… The chocolate used to almost melt in our tight clutch. It was the heat of the craving which was more responsible for the melting… (Exaggerating a bit ! ) And as soon as we got the first chance, we used to swallow the first half quickly, and then the senses of an economic child alerted to save the next half for some later time, may be half a day. And the wait and then the relishing was worth it. :-)

And the matter did not end there. The gold or silver aluminum wrapper was made smooth, and preserved in a favorite book, so that it can remind of the happiness, till we were presented with the next chocolate, God knows when.

Now compare this feeling, with the feeling of our kids who get a chocolate, whenever they want. Sometimes before they want…

And this general philosophy also applies to the other things we get in abundance these days.

As kids, do you remember how we waited to go to a movie ? The whole process was like a celebration. And then the best part was having potato chips, which we had to share with a sibling or a friend during movie interval. Well that was also so much fun. :-)

And we waited for new clothes in festivals, which we used to flaunt shyly, with people appreciating how neat and charming we looked.

We can get back the fun in many things by consuming in moderation.
What do you say ? :-)

Mahtab Syed
5:23 pm Feb 15 2008