From Super Achiever to Super Contributor

By Dr Madan Kataria

Are you unhappy? Don't worry, you're not alone. Most people belong to this ‘unhappy club’. In fact, I too was a member of the same club before starting the Laughter clubs in 1995. Years of experience and understanding of life taught me that happiness is not something you can go looking for; it does not come easy when you seek it. It is a state of mind and you need to feel good from within to be able to experience real and unconditional happiness. One way that you can achieve it very easily and effortlessly is when if you give happiness to others. The selfless joy of striving to make others happy leaves you with an abundance of happiness in your life; it provides you with a sense of contentment which is unparalleled.      

I would like to share a story which depicts the real purpose of life for everyone: 

I was honored with a Super Achievers award on January 4, 2007 by an educational institute in Pune, India, which awarded people for their outstanding contribution and innovation in different fields of science, art, culture and education.

It was a gratifying moment as I held the trophy in my hand. I felt humbled and was really moved by the response of the people. After the warm felicitation, I was expected to say a few words about my achievements. As I took to the dais, I looked at the trophy and felt a kind of spontaneous rush within and much to the amazement of the audience, I said, “I don’t think I’m a super achiever”. I knew they didn’t expect this, but the words came straight from my heart.

When I was young, I always wanted to be a super achiever and become rich and famous. I wanted to prove to the world that I was a high flier and a go-getter.  But, it was not easy. The struggle was very long and hard. It left me unhappy, stressed and depressed. As I approached my 40s, I felt that time was running out and I hadn’t really achieved much. I was getting restless and the drive to attain and accomplish became even more intense. At that point, I was only thinking of myself, the others were just secondary.

Suddenly, life took a U-turn and I came up with an ingenious idea of Laughter Clubs. People advised me to patent the idea as it could make me a millionaire, and I must admit that I was very tempted to go ahead and fulfill my life long ambition. But, within six months, I started receiving hundreds of letters and e-mails from people all over the world saying how laughter clubs changed their lives. This again managed to stir my innate desire to become rich and famous. Seeing the growing popularity of the clubs, I thought of charging a small membership fee, which would generate a substantial income. I had almost made up mind, until this incidence changed my entire perspective and gave me a new direction. The age old adage, ‘Man proposes God disposes’ made me do something which I never ever thought I could.

One day, in December 1995, 85 year old Babu Rao, came to my clinic with his son. As soon as he entered, he fell at my feet. Momentarily uncomfortable at seeing an elderly man touch my feet, I knew this was customary in India. It was just a way to show respect and gratitude. I had done it all my life with parents and elders in the family, so I accepted it and took it in my stride.

After a while, he started crying and kept crying for almost five minutes. He could barely talk. As he wept, he kept repeating, “Doctor, you’ve saved my life.” I picked him up, gave him a hug and tried to pacify him. As I started talking, he offered me a box of homemade sweets. He told me he had been suffering from several diseases like diabetes, high blood pressure, arthritis, insomnia and depression. Fed up of life, he contemplated suicide, but fortunately, he joined a laughter club, which changed his whole perception.  A month later, he felt much better and his sugar and blood pressure levels stabilized. There was a new resurgence of a will to live and he felt completely rejuvenated. I was moved to tears on hearing his account. Seeing his belief in my concept humbled me and for the first time, I realised the value of true contribution; something that can change a person’s entire life is to be cherished and shared with the world. It can never be equated with money.

After that, I decided to tour India. I came across several people who had benefited from laughter- nature’s most powerful healing force and the best medicine for physical and emotional and mental well being. Seeing the growing popularity, I realized it wasn’t me - it was a divine idea and I was merely a medium who helped to spread the good word. I dropped the idea of patenting the concept and charging a fee.

It was a gift that I was going to give to the world. That day, I felt happy and relieved.

This unique concept captivated the people and gained tremendous popularity worldwide mainly because it encompassed everyone. It was not about me. It was an idea that helped people get the feel of complete wellness, happiness and joy. As the concept spread, my dream to become world-famous was fulfilled. Money and respect started pouring in and I soon realized that I had everything that I ever wanted from life.  I understood the importance of placing others before one self.

This is what I spoke to a packed house of 600 people attending the ceremony:

“Ladies and gentlemen, thank you very much for honoring me with super achiever award.  I don’t think I am a super achiever. I would rather call myself a super contributor.  The times when I was striving, struggling and pushing too hard to accomplish something in life, I found it was very difficult. It was not easy and I was quite frustrated. Nothing was ever enough as it was all directed towards myself. But, when I started thinking about others and planned to do things that would help people, life became simple. I could easily achieve everything by making a worthwhile contribution to the world and making a difference to the lives of hundreds of thousands of people around the world. There is an old saying – ‘Whatever you give out to the universe, it comes back’.  This is the circle of life.

Inspired by the speech, the chairman of the Institute said that they would like to change the name of the award from ‘Super Achiever’ to ‘Super Contributor.’

Dr Kataria is the founder of Laughter Yoga International - global movement for health, joy and world peace

www.laughteryoga.org

A Turn Around

“History perhaps may never repeat at that Branch”


Collective Fulfillment: An Experience


SBLC, Indore: SBI Citizen – Intervention II (21 - 27 July’10)

The write-up relates to my tenure as Branch Manager at Abhana Branch, A Rural Branch located about 17 Kms from Damoh on the Jabalpur route. I joined during July’99. Regional Manager had posted me at the branch with a specific target to set the things right as the Branch was failing on all fronts with ‘Business and hence Profit falling, NPAs mounting and the Branch Premises in a precarious state’. Given the circumstances, the Staff Moral and Enthusiasm levels were also at the lowest.

Involving and Energizing the Staff:

As I joined, there was usual apprehension as to ‘What, the next BM is going to be like?’, well supported by the air of expectancy to turn the things around.

It took me a few days to understand and acquaint myself with the Branch Environment, Work Culture and the Customer Profile. As my task was already cutout, I lost no mare time and immediately applied myself to the ‘Mission’.

In the situation described earlier, involving the staff was no mean task. However, I could see the silver lining in my interactions. Making the work environment conducive and enjoyable was part of an action plan evolved during one of such interactions and which initiated the involvement process. First step in the long journey was thus already taken.

It was at this stage that the seeds of a plan to turn around the Branch fortune were sown.  An action plan was drawn up with the views of all concerned. With realistic prospects of achievement visualized, the staff felt energized. The achievement of goal, this point forward, then became a forgone conclusion.

The Journey:

My first priority was to improve the work environment. This required a good deal of effort and expenditure for which I took my RM into confidence. Having got a go ahead, the work immediately began. The Branch had lot of space available on the first floor which was being used to ‘DUMP’ stationery and old record. It almost resembled an abandoned godown. The record dumped there, ever since the branch came into being some 20 years ago, was sorted and disposed off. Three days of non-stop day-night effort with each one involved, changed the look to a well arranged recreation-cum-lunch room with provision for rest in the form of a double bed.

Next on agenda was giving a new look to the Branch Premises i.e. the main banking hall. It was indeed a mammoth task to give it an adorable look through oil painting, vinyl carpeting, new curtains, new furniture, new signages, posters and informative write-ups. This was followed by interactions with all influential people in the area of operation of the branch including the Government Authorities. The results were evident with new business flowing-in and staff oozing with enthusiasm, ready to welcome customers.

To take the Bank closure to the heart of clientele and give the Bank due publicity, Customer Relation Program, Pensioners’ Meet, Teachers’ Meet, Blood Donation/Health Check-up Camps  etc were organized with Damoh Collector also joining the CRP. All this and more turned the Branch fortunes like Never Before.

The Branch finally ended the financial year, not only achieving the budgeted goals on all fronts, but also surpassing some of these by a mile.

The proud moment for me and my team came when the Branch was awarded recognition / awards in the following areas –

Ø      Highest % Growth in Advances – Rural Branches (RBO),

Ø      Maximum Reduction in NPA in % Terms (Level),

Ø      Maximum Reduction in NPA % (Module).

Ø      Highest % increase in recovery in W/o accounts.

Ø      Highest % Increase in Profit.

However, almost a decade down the line, the greatest satisfaction comes from the calls I still receive from not only the Staff but also the Customers of that Branch who all say that “History perhaps may never repeat at that Branch”

Nimish Kumar Bhatnagar

Chief Manager (RCPC), RBO – Khandwa

Whip up a tornado!

One energised person can change the vibes of an entire room. We all run away from enervators, preferring the breath of life an energiser can infuse in the world around!

Vinita Dawra Nangia 

    AMONGST all around, you will notice two kinds of people, the energisers and the enervators. You feel automatically drawn towards the former, while even the thought of the latter tires you! All of us like to avoid those who are a drain on our energy. Listless people with melancholic thoughts, singularly lacking in energy or life force. These are the names you avoid on your cellphone and in your social engagements diary. They are a drain on your resources and after having met them, you feel you have lost, rather than gained anything. 
    On the other hand, have you noticed how one person bounding with energy can change the vibes of an entire room? All eyes are drawn towards someone who is full of dynamic ideas and a spirit that strives to do newer things, achieve greater heights. There is no time for depression here because all thoughts are taken up with present action and the thought of further action. You feel energised just meeting such a person and get carried away on a wave of goodwill and the fervour to do something. These are the people who seem to carry the world forward and most of the time you will find those at the top in all fields are the ones blessed with loads of energy. Remember the way Indira Gandhi walked, with a spring in her step? Sonia Gandhi walks with the same spring, as does Rahul Gandhi and most of the world leaders. 
    There’s a buzz around such people, their minds are whirring with ideas that spill over and inspire others. The secret to movement is creating energy. Any vehicle, before it moves, floats or flies, has to necessarily create a spurt of energy that propels it forth. In order to fly, a bird creates energy by flapping its wings and taking a shot leap; to pounce on its prey, even a lion needs to regroup its energies and focus them on that one deadly leap. So why then should it be any different for us? Those of us whose minds buzz and whirr with ideas are bound to take flight sooner than those who lack the requisite buzz. It is important to create an energy field around anything we do, a vital Life Force — be it prayer, work, charity, or even just plain good old fun. The only time to relax, go quiet and meditate is when you need to recoup your energy sources, think through and give them the right direction. 
    When given a project at work, for the required period of time, make it your main focus, work up a lot of energy and enthusiasm around it, whip your co-workers into a frenzy of creative energy and action. Involve everybody in the creative force, explore a few extra ideas, consult more people than you need to, listen a bit more carefully, discuss a little more intensely. Become attuned to all the energy that starts building around the project, become one with it and go with the flow. Not only does your work become more pleasurable but it gives you back the energy you gave it, manifold! 
    What is the idea of doing a project as well as the next person does it? You should not rest easy till you have energised every last atom in your body and let your creative juices flow to ensure that what you added to the work is something nobody else could have given it. A simple task like cooking may bore you; how about bringing a new energy to it by looking up a few extra recipes, bringing in new elements, mixing ingredients, experimenting? The new energy you bring to the task not just makes it interesting for you but also leads to a newer, more exciting dish for your table. 
Spur yourself on by throwing self-challenges. Gardening? Why just limit yourself to watering plants and weeding out overgrowth? Up the antenna and challenge your creativity to create a special corner in your garden. Landscape it, dedicate an area to a special kind of a plant you like, coax the plants to grow the way you want them to. Become one with the creative energy of nature and see where the flow takes you. 
Feng shui rides on the principle that everything around us is energy and there is a constant flow and exchange of energy between us and all around. So Feng Shui teaches us ways of creating happy energy in all things around us, so that we gain from that energy flow or qi. The Greek technical term for qi, coined by Aristotle, is energeia, loosely translated as something “being at work”. French philosopher Henri Bergsen’s term for the “vital impetus” was Elan vital. In Vedantic philosophy, the Sanskrit term for Prana as the vital, lifesustaining force of living beings, is comparable to the Chinese Qi. 
In literature, Romantic poets have yearned to be a part of the process of Nature, looking upon the creative life process as something apart from them. George Bernard Shaw too spoke of a “Life Force” that directs evolution toward ultimate perfection by trial and error. As you give free rein to your energy and whip up the force of a tornado or the deadly focus of a whirlpool, no matter how small you consider a task, you will witness the chaos that precedes creation, the driving force of progress, of life, of development — the only way to move ahead and avoid stagnation. And you would have internalised it. And become an energiser!


Courtesy: TimesLife

It happened one night

Veena Mithare 

   A few weeks back, around 10 pm, I was driving back home from Bangalore’s Chowdiah Memorial Hall. After about a 2 km drive on quiet, peaceful roads, I came in front of the Windsor Manor bridge. This has a small underpass, called the magic box. Now I wasn’t sure if this magic box would lead me on my way to MG Road, from where I could take myself safely to my abode at Bannergatta Road. Wondering what to do, I paused at the entrance of the magic box. 
    When, out of nowhere, in the midst of the quiet, lonely night, a young auto driver in his mid-20s, came and stopped besides me and said, “Hogi Madam" (Go, madam) in a very kind voice. Guess he thought that I was scared to go under the very small underpass. I smiled to myself. Anyway, I asked him, if this was the route to MG Road, to which he replied in an affirmative and said, “Come, follow me!” Since I didn’t know the route much, I just trailed behind him and followed him as he took all the lefts and the rights, when at one point I spotted a road sign saying “Cunningham Road”. “Wow! I know this road!” I reflected. And simultaneously, I wondered, “Why am I following this guy? What if he leads me to some Godforsaken place?” With this newfound self-confidence and fear of being abducted, I decided to follow this guy no more. So when he took the turn at Ali 
Aksar Street, I moved on. I went up the “God knows what” street. I asked for a few directions, went left and a few rights. And after some circling around, I ended up in the Ali Aksar Street. This time I proceeded along the road. 
    I had forgotten the auto driver by now. And I was sure that he had forgotten me too and would have proceeded with whatever he was doing. 
    I came out of Ali Aksar Road and reached the Infantry Road, all of which were familiar territory to me now. From there, I proceeded in the direction of the Chinnaswamy Stadium cross. I 
    paused now, since the traffic signal asked me to do so. Absentmindedly, I looked around, when to my surprise, I saw this young auto driver patiently waiting for me on one corner of the road. 
    The moment he spotted me, he walked up to me and asked, “Ma’m, can you find your way now?” Slightly embarrassed and dazed, I gave him a grateful smile and said, “Yes, and thank you!” He smiled back and went on his own way with a fulfilled smile on his face. 
At that point, it struck me like a bolt — “It’s only when you lose faith, do you lose the way. It’s only when ‘I’ comes in the way of your judgment, do you actually fail to judge.” 


Courtesy: TimesLife

A contribution story from Kolaras

1. Name of the Branch : Kolaras, Distt: Shivpuri (MP)

2. Brief Description of the project:

a.      Brief Background – The Branch was a semi-urban branch with agriculture incentive finances. Branch had recently been transferred to manual system to Bank Master System. Branch was having large number of agriculture accounts and during the time of the migration, in large number of cases, different accounts of the same customer viz KCC, ATL, SB etc were erroneously given different customer numbers in Bank Master. Therefore, it was very difficult to maintained/monitor the accounts of a customer which might result in turning on all account as NPA due non recovery in one of the accounts as per RBI guidelines. In all the cases field officer has to refer to the old ledger sheets. Further there were large numbers of inspection registers not maintained area/village wise which had resulted in difficulties in recording the inspection done by the branch officials into the registers. Most of the time field officer had to carry all the inspection registers during the filed visits, which used to give lot of inconvenience in handling the bulky weight. As a result of this the branch had not been able to carry out meaningful inspections and recovery percentage was abysmally low at 21% and rating of the branch was FWR.

b.      The project: To have a proper mitigation of above shortcomings/problems,  need was felt to resolve captioned issues by-

Ø      Opening of different accounts of the same customer under the single customer number. It was preferred to take the base of ATL account. Account in different customer numbers were to be closed with new account number feeded in the remark column and balance were to be transferred in new account opened in customer number given for ATL account.

Ø      Taking photocopies of the all the written leafs of the inspection registers and arrange them village wise/area wise. Thereafter indexing was to be done for the each leaf and index numbers were to be feeded in the memo level III of the account in Bank Master. All photocopied leaves were to be kept in box files so that next accounts inspection leaf was to be filed in the same village index.

Ø      Challenge:  The task was big and it had to be done in one go. Therefore, it had been decided to carry out the task by involving each member of the staff and in the three continuous holidays ahead on 13^th ,14^th, 15^th of April on account of Baishakhi, Ambedkar Jayanti and a Sunday. Branch staff was motivated and educated to handle the captioned project. All the Branch Staff had agreed to complete the project in three holidays despite the fact that branch has just finished the closing work and statutory audit just completed.

c.      Project implementation: During three holidays the work had been carried out on war footing. Task for new account opening has been assigned to the system administrator with the help of one assistant. Arranging of the photocopies of the inspection leaves by area wise/village wise had been done by using the large banking hall, by the filed officer with the branch messenger. Indexing of the leaf and feeding in the system was carried out the Branch Manager himself. During three days due to the joint efforts branch was able to accomplish the project in time.

3.            Benefits: Tracking of customer accounts become easy. Branch has been able to carry out meaningful inspections. Filed officer need not to carry all the inspection registers during the field visits. Meaningful recordings were made of recovery efforts. During the inspection time is was very easy and smooth to verify the inspection records to the auditor. Inspection rating of the Branch has been improved to Well Run. Recovery percentage in the next year has significantly been improved from 21% to 72%. Operating staff also feel convenience in operating.

Contributed by

Hemant Karaulia

            Chief Manager,

CPC LHO, Bhopal 

Slow down, save self

Vithal C Nadkarni

In 1887, in a defiant gesture against the new-fangled culture of speed that was gathering momentum all around him, philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche branded himself as a ‘teacher of slow reading’. The poet of uncertainty conceded that his taste for slowness might appear ‘perverted’ and it could drive to despair everyone who is in a hurry. But he stood unmoved by the side of his ‘leisurely art of the goldsmith applied to language’, urging his readers to read slowly, profoundly, attentively, prudently, with inner thoughts, with the mental doors ajar, with delicate fingers and eyes. 

In the following years, the culture of speed has spread relentlessly. As science writer James Gleick says in Faster: The acceleration of just about everything, “Societies are in overdrive with no sign of braking. In elevators, we maniacally smack the Door Close button in the hope of saving some seconds. Politicians average 8.2 seconds to answer a question. 

“Top industries are hiring on the basis of quick wits. A buffet in Japan charges by the minute. And the most advanced cases of ‘hurry sickness’ punch 88 seconds on the microwave instead of 90 because it’s faster to tap the same digit twice... yet for that increasing speed, there still seems to be less and less time to spare.” 

A backlash has begun, but slowly: a phenomenon called Slow Living has groups such as Germany’s Society for the Deceleration of Time. There’s Italy’s Slow Food, Slow Cities and even Slow Sex movements. The latter draws some inspiration from Tantrik cults that flourished in ancient India and which were notorious for their obsession with cheating time or death (Kala). 

These have now been joined by the Slow Reading Movement. The year began with the hoisting of the Slow Flag and The International Day of Slowness. 

This is described as a manifestation against haste; a day of hospitality, love and kindness; of recovery against greed and hatred, an opportunity for reflection; for dialogue, and a starting point for a slow society. 

It rests on the premise that only a reflective society can anticipate and adapt to crises. Proponents believe that only a slow society can be in harmony with a slow planet. But what if that distinction were to be one huge mental illusion? That’s the electrifying message of The Yoga Vasishta: that there are no causal relationships at all, only indivisible reality as consciousness.

cosmic uplink / economic times

A success story from Dongargarh

THIS IS A SUCCESS STORY OF A BRANCH MANAGER – WHEREIN THE METHOD ADOPTED IS VALUABLE, INNOVATIVE AND PRACTICABLE – in the present Banking Environment

EXPERIENCE SHARED BY ONE OF THE PARTICIPANTS  

DURING THE FIRST  I-2 PROGRAMME HELD AT AO, RAIPUR 

(12-07-2010 TO  17-07-2010)

DONGARGARH BRANCH, under RBO-III, BHILAI, IS A CURRENCY CHEST BRANCH LOCATED IN SEMI URBAN AREA. BRANCH IS CATERING TO 1350 PENSIONERS & 450 NIRASHRIT PENSIONERS ALSO.

DURING THE FIRST WEEK OF EVERY MONTH, i.e. upto 7/8^th of every month, the branch is crowded with pensioners and salaried class for withdrawal of cash.  We are not able to cater to the needs of High value Clientle & SME Customers during this period.

During the month of January, 2009, I (Branch Manager – V.Chandrasekhar, MMGS-III) was informed by CEO, Janpad Panchayat & Programme Officer (NREGA) that Dongargarh branch is allotted with 5000 new accounts and has to open these accounts and arrange for their payment.

The newly appointed SDM of Dongargarh, an IAS officer on probation, is personally monitoring the NREGA accounts opening and payment issues with Bankers as well as the Sarpanch/Sachiv of each village. He is forcing the opening of accounts without focusing on the difficulties of villages / Banker. The SDM has also cautioned us that in case of failure of opening the accounts, he will shift the NREGA main account & CEO JP account to other bank viz. Durg Rajnandgaon Gramin Bank (or) Dena Bank. An average amount of Rs.3 to 4.5 crores is maintained in these accounts.

As a branch manager, I met the SDM thrice about the whole issue and explained the process of account opening  to payment to NREGA labourers in CBS Environment.  He was  convinced to a great extent with the difficulty of SBI branch as well as labours of villages who have to approach the branch for payment from a far place.

I was successful in convincing the SDM for opening 800 – 1000 accounts – all pertaining one village only and the branch will make the payment at the village itself either fortnightly or once in month. We have selected one village namely “MOHARA” which is around 18 Kms from our branch and the native place of Dongargarh MLA.

After convincing the SDM & CEO, JP, I took a meeting of staff at the branch for opening of these accounts. Some resistance came from the staff, but they were convinced after my elaboration of pros & cons of such initiative. One of our senior clerk Mr.S.K.Thakur and the newly recruited Clerk Mr.Brajesh Malviya, came forward for successful implementation of the process.

The Sachiv of Mohara village extended full support to us during the process. I alongwith one clerk visited Mohara village took a meeting of Sachiv & Sarpanch and other local people. Handed over the NO FRILL account opening forms to them and also a sample (duly filled in) account opening form and explained the other required papers for account opening.

The sachiv got the a/c opening forms in bunches of 100 – 150 and handed over the branch. The branch opened these accounts through Bulk Account Opening in 5-6 phases and also printed the passbooks. All these passbooks were issued to customers at the village panchayat office (at the doorsteps of villagers).

The payment list is provided by Janpad Panchayat in hard copy with names and amount. We have fed the same in xls sheet and the same was uploaded for posting in the accounts. Every month we just altered the amount only as our list & the list of janpad panchayat are in same order.

One clerk, One Armed Guard & One messenger, along with cash (around Rs.4.00 lacs to Rs.5.00 lacs) are deputed in a Car to the “Mohara”Village for payment to NREGA customers. The payment is made as per the list provided and not as per the total balance lying in the account (the actual balance is visible only in the system). Payment of around 400-450 are done on a single day and these are posted in system after coming back from the village – through batch cash payments menu.

The passbooks are also updated by our Messenge – Mr.Vishnu Yadav, at monthly intervals (some times on Sundays also) and are handed over to the customers at the village itself.

THIS INITIATIVE NOT ONLY ENABLED US IN RETAINING THE MAIN ACCOUNTS OF NREGA & CEO JP, DONGARGARH, BUT ALSO ENABLED US TO REDUCE / MINIMIZE THE CUSTOMER APPROACHING THE BRANCH IN THE FIRST WEEK OF EVERY MONTH. NO CASH PAYMENT IS ALLOWED AT THE BRANCH PREMISES TO NREGA CUSTOMERS BARRING FEW EXCEPTIONS.

THE BRANCH IS ABLE TO FOCUS OUR HIGH VALUE CLIENTELE and SME CUSTOMERS DURING THE FIRST WEEK ALSO. AS PER THE PROMISE MADE BY THE BRANCH WITH THE CONSENT OF OUR CONTROLLERS, THE BRANCH IS MAKING ALL NREGA PAYMENTS AT THE VILLAGE ITSELF.

- V.CHANDRASEKHAR

Erstwhile BRANCH MANGER

DONGARGARH (TILL 10.06.2010)


Courtesy: Shri K Natarajan, Citizen Facilitator, Bhopal Circle

MAGIC OF COLLECTIVE EFFORT AND POWER OF S.M.S.

COLLECTIVE FULFILLMENT MOMENT: SARC, JABALPUR

BY SHRI  A.K. TIWARI, C.M., SARC, JABALPUR

CITIZEN SBI : INTERVENTION II :  19 - 24 JULY 2010  

STATE BANK LEARNING CENTRE, JABALPUR

 I am working as Chief Manager in SARC, Jabalpur.  My AGM Shri Ganeshan had a vision that the NUMERO UNO NPA account at the SARC should be resolved through team effort.  He shared his vision made a team of three members, C.M., C.C.O. and AGM himself.  We went to Vaidhan (Singrauli) where our biggest NPA unit “Bulk Explosives” is situated having an NPA of Rs. 32.00 lacs.  The loan was sanction by Commercial Branch, Jabalpur.  The account was NPA since 2006.  SARC initiated SARFAESI action, tried to auction the account’s mortgaged property at Vaidhan but failed.  DRT, DRAT (Delhi, BIFR(Delhi) cases were pending and no solution was on sight.

While inspection we found that there was a big blast near Bulk Explosive in the year 2009 in which which the Unit was completely destroyed and most of the equipment became scrap metal and since then the Unit remained closed.  Value of security was insufficient for the outstanding amount.  After inspection on 30^th April we just sent SMS to three directors that “YOUR ACCOUNT IS ELIGIBLE FOR SME OTS SCHEME – PLEASE CONTACT ON PHONE OR IN PERSON”.  After three days a phone call was received from Delhi that they were ready for compromise and application with application money Rs. 1.05 lacs was received.

Our team processed SME OTS 2010 proposal, Rs. 18.00 lacs was payable against an outstanding of Rs. 32.00 lacs.  The proposal was sent to SAMB, Bhopal for sanction.  But the proposal was declined by SAMB, Bhopal for the reason that as the unit “Bulk Explosive” was amalgamated into Bharat Explosive in the 2006, hence it is merged into a C&I Unit and does not fall within SME segment. 

The team was discouraged and disheartened but our AGM kept his faith & nerve and asked us to return the cheque of Rs. 1.05 lacs with a genuine letter of apology with a request that if they are interested we are ready to accept direct compromise proposal.  After one week we got the information that the delegation from Bulk Explosive, Head Office, Delhi would like to visit in person.  On the third day Miss Vasudh Verma came as the Unit’s delegate to SARC, Jabalpur.  An intense session of negotiation between SARC and the delegates went on for nearly 4.0 hours and positive result came as an offer of compromise of Rs. 22.00 lacs.   Agreement was reached for a down payment of Rs. 10.00 lacs and remaining amount in 12 monthly instalments of Rs. 1.84 lacs each with interest of 1% below PLR.  The proposal was approved by CCII Bhopal and Rs. 10.00 lac credited in the account on 30^th June 2010.

We succeeded in our Vision only due to collective action and a SMS. The team after this success is in top spirit and the process and result gave us a lot of satisfaction and joy.

P.S.  We are doing something about the present No.1 account– but, that is another story!!.

POSITIVE MENTAL ATTITUDE

A milk vendor used to sell milk on his motor cycle in a town. He was carrying four milk cans, two on each side of his vehicle . One day, while he was calling on a house, two students approached his motor cycle and pushed frogs one each in two cans. The happy frogs started finding themselves in a tight position.

The frog in one of the cans studied the situation. It made a SWOT analysis. His strength was – to swim effectively in any liquid. He recollects from his “WISDOM BANK” that most difficult times come only for a short time and will not last long. He starts swimming and swimming and finds himself sitting on a butter lump formed due to the churning action of his swimming. He is now safe for a while. When the milk vendor opens the cans for his next call, the frog leaps to his freedom .

The frog in other can does not turn on his attitudinal bulb. He blames the student for his misery and started cursing him. He blames God for making him so small that he can neither lift the lid of the can nor he can drill a hole in the can. With all these negative thoughts, he eventually drowns in the milk and dies.

What is the moral of the story ? It is about ATTITUDE. While the first frog was a ‘ I CAN’ person with a positive mental attitude, the other one was a “I CAN’T” person. You can be a “CAN” or ‘CAN’T’ person. The choice is with you alone.


Jai Prakash Pandey
Umaria

Moments of Intense Rapture

By MUKUL SHARMA

 Last month was the 40th death anniversary of psychologist Abraham Maslow who, in many ways, turned the study of human nature on its head. Before his writings -- spanning some three decades till his death in 1970 -- started making waves with mainstream research on the subject, most psychologists had arrived at their conclusions about mental health based only on abnormal human behaviour. So Maslow decided to study supremely normal human beings instead.

 “It is as if Freud supplied us the sick half of psychology,” he wrote in 1968, “and we must now fill it out with the healthy half.” In other words since there were two faces of human nature, therefore there should be two faces of psychology too. His decision to learn more about people who were well adjusted, well adapted and optimally functional led to some startling breakthroughs.

 Underlining the obvious, Maslow began with what he called a basic hierarchy of needs. To begin with, he said, there are the physiological needs such as the requirement for air, water and food without which we can’t survive. Once these are fulfilled there come the security and safety needs like shelter, clothing, protection and a degree of stability. The next level comprises love and belonging needs for partners, children, friends and relationships. The last of these basic levels are the esteem needs: status, fame, recognition, reputation, respect, appreciation, dignity, freedom.

 They are what can be called “deficit needs” which have to remain in equilibrium. That is, if a person suddenly or even gradually doesn’t has enough of any one of them, he or she climbs down to the relevant level and tries to attain it again in order to maintain the balance. On the other hand, if one has all or most of them of them then that somehow seems to be it. Nothing more to want, no imbalance felt and, thus, no motivation left.

 The next and final level in the hierarchy, however, is a dicey one because it’s not a deficit need. Rather it’s a “being need”, the need for actualisation to realise one’s full ethical, moral and spiritual potential. And, most importantly, this growth motivation never reaches a balance once it’s set in motion because it tends to feed its own hunger for increase.

 Here is where Maslow turned to models of humanity who seemed to be above normal as opposed to the dysfunctional models studied in the past and this included people like Abraham Lincoln, Einstein, Albert Schweitzer, Spinoza and Aldous Huxley among others. In particular, one historical figure he found helpful in understanding self actualization was Lao Tzu, the father of Taoism. A tenet of Taoism is that people do not obtain personal meaning or pleasure by seeking material or merely self-gratifying possessions.

 But then he made an astonishing discovery. He found that such people who appeared to be in harmony with their lives often had moments of an extraordinary occurrence called “peak experiences”. These are profound moments of intense rapture and well-being, along with possibly the awareness of ultimate truth and the unity of all things. Accompanying them is a heightened sense of control over the body and emotions and a wider sense of awareness.

 Not long before his death Maslow coined and defined the term “plateau experience” as a sort of continuing peak experience that is more voluntary and one that requires a lifetime of long and arduous effort. Interestingly, Maslow believed something that we all actually know if we think about it -- that the origin, core and essence of every high religion is “the private and lonely personal illumination, revelation or ecstasy of some acutely sensitive prophet or seer” living in such a plateau of existence.

 - mukul.mindsport@gmail.com

Published in The Speaking Tree - a Times of India Publication - on Sunday, 18 July 2010 

CitizenSBI Blog expresses sincere gratitude to the author for permission to post this article.

Cool practice makes perfect

VITHAL C NADKARNI

Laura Vanderkam had a moment of insight some years ago: you can have a full life that few of us think possible, when you give structure and purpose to your leisure time. This is like treating one’s weekend wardrobe with the respect one assigns to one’s weekday suit and tie, she writes in 168 hours: You have more time than you think. 

But most people don’t ‘use’ their leisure time optimally. One reason is mental pre-occupation. If you love your job, are self-employed or thrive against ‘impossible’ deadlines, you tend to spend lots of time thinking about your work, even when you’re chilling out or swinging in a hammock. 

Also, most people tend to spend big chunks of their leisure in the most ‘frictionless’ ways — watching TV, for example. If you started exercising every time you wanted to turn to the tube, you’d soon be fit enough for competitive triathlons! 

So how does one cultivate such ‘virtuous’ practices? Start with this basic insight: while most of us think of our lives in grand abstractions, a life is actually lived in hours. If you want to be a writer, for example, you have to dedicate hours to putting words on the page. And if you want to do something or become something — and you want to do it well — it takes time. The noted New Yorker writer Malcolm Gladwell sums this up in the 10,000-hour rule in his Outliers: The story of success, which says the key to success in any field is, to a large extent, a matter of practising a specific task for a total of 10,000 hours. 

This works out to 20 hours of work each week for 10 years. So, genius may not be the only or the main ingredient of a successful symphony of a person’s life, Gladwell emphasises, citing the cautionary story of Christopher Langan who ended up working on a horse farm despite having an IQ of 195 (compare this with Albert Einstein’s score of 150)! 

Gladwell blames the environment in which Langan grew up: “No one — not rock stars, not professional athletes, not software billionaires, and not even geniuses — ever makes it alone,” he writes. 

In contrast, Eastern traditions tend to attribute such results to innate or intrinsic causes or disciplines. The Bhagavad Gita, for example, cautions against unintelligent (tamasic) or overpassionate (rajasic) effort. 

The best results flow from satvic practice: dispassionate or detached effort, abhyasa backed with vairagya. 

Practice makes perfect; but don’t lose your cool.

Courtesy: Cosmic Uplink / ET

INTELLECT AND INTELLIGENCE

Swami Parthasarathy

We spend a lot of time acquiring intelligence at the expense of developing intellect.

Intelligence is built by gaining information, knowledge from external agencies, from schools and universities, teachers and textbooks. The intellect is developed through your individual effort by exercising the faculty of questioning, thinking and reasoning. Not accepting anything that does not admit logic or reason. Know the difference between the two.

The intelligence acquired from external agencies is much like data fed into a computer. Consider, a computer charged with a complete knowledge of fire extinguishers, firefighting and fire escapes. All the knowledge stored in its memory cannot help the computer act on its own. If the room catches fire, it will go up in flames. The knowledge you acquire is of no use to you without an intellect.

You need a powerful intellect to put the knowledge, intelligence gained, to practical use in life. That explains why among millions of doctors graduating only a few have discovered lifesaving procedures, cures and remedies. So too, among millions of engineers only few design something unusual like the Panama Canal or Eurotunnel. It is their intellect that renders their performance outstanding. Besides hindering success and progress, intelligence without intellect could destroy peace and happiness .

Not realising the importance of the intellect in life, people make no attempt to develop their own. Instead, they merely indulge in acquiring intelligence through surface reading of others’ periodicals and publications. Education has lost its meaning and purpose. For generations human beings have turned into intelligent robots and are traversing through life without awareness, much less enquiring into the meaning and purpose of life.”

The world today is in a state of chaos due to the perversion in human development - all intelligence and no intellect. That explains why even highly educated businesspersons, professionals and scholars become alcoholics, are short-tempered and succumb to worry and anxiety. It is the mind that craves alcohol. It is the mind that loses its temper. Again, it is the mind that constantly harbours worry of the past and anxiety for the future. When the intellect remains undeveloped and weak, it is unable to control the vagaries of the mind. Those having developed a powerful intellect, with or without academic distinction, can hold the mind under perfect control and direct action to spell success and peace in life.

The educational systems the world over must be held responsible for the debacle of the intellect. It is their primary responsibility to strike an equable balance between acquiring intelligence and developing the intellect. Only by maintaining this essential equation can governments be run, businesses conducted, professions practised and families live in peace and prosperity.

Courtesy: The Speaking Tree / TOI