Sunday, July 23, 2000		Life Ties

Destiny is a matter of choice
By Taru Bahl

WHEN Nazar came from Bayana, a tiny town in Rajasthan, to Delhi seeking college admission, he was embarrassed about two things -- his name and his awkward 6 feet 2 inch-frame. Although he had earned a distinction in three subjects, he enrolled in ARSD College and not in St Stephens. He chose the former because he had a complex about his broken English. He was also acutely conscious of his small town upbringing. ARSD, he felt, would allow him to merge into the background and not make him stick out like a sore thumb. Today, as a senior manager in UTI, Ahmedabad, he is proud of two things — his name and his height!

He took the road less travelled by and lived the dictum: ‘Destiny is not a matter of chance but a matter of choice’. His may be an ordinary story of an average small town boy and certainly not a nail-biting rags-to-riches-adventure; but nevertheless it is a story of a survivor. It is a story of one who had dreams and ambitions. He took strength from his family value system but was also aware of the disadvantages of his background. He worked systematically and tirelessly to overcome all these hurdles. He was willing to work hard, and fortunately he had full support of his better-placed brothers and sisters.

In Delhi, he stayed with his brother and sister-in-law whom he worships till date. He was particularly fond of his naughty niece whose command over English and rapid-fire delivery had made him proud. Armed with a Wren and Martin, he would implore the 10-year-old to test his English, correct his grammar and, most importantly, set his pronunciation right. Never did he feel embarrassed when she laughed at the way he constructed his sentences. He insisted on speaking English even if it appeared silly.

Although he was hard working and studious, he couldn’t make it to an engineering college. Since things were not working out as smoothly as he would have wanted them to, he felt he was on his way out. His desperation to land a respectable job grew. He took a bank entrance test and was posted to a small sleepy town called Ganganagar in Rajasthan.

He has never looked back since then. After years of struggling, networking, upgrading his skills and stepping up his banking knowledge, he managed to move to Jaipur to the bank’s headquarters. This was a major move for he could now build on his career base and also give his family better exposure. He took to writing and landed a column on finance and banking in one of the leading business dailies. He also got a number of well-documented articles published in national and international banking journals. His humility and simplicity made his life itself a huge learning experience. He could laugh at his follies and punish himself for his mistakes. Meanwhile, he kept taking exams to upgrade his position and was soon an officer.

From this point, he took a giant leap by switching from a nationalised bank to a private bank as manager at Ahmedabad. Here he found that he had the distinct disadvantage of being over forty and not of being computer literate. After the initial gloom, he set about overcoming his handicap and within six months he was on the fast track of growth. His career had finally shaped up the way he wanted it to be.

The interesting thing is that though he had a slow start, he managed to make up in the middle years. For his friends in Bayana, Ganganagar and Jaipur he is a hero, one who broke through the mould, managing to change the colours of his life even after the dice had been cast. Most of us resign ourselves to our fate, and succumb to the twists and turns of events. We accept them and stop doing anything to alter and change the scenario. Rescripting our lives its something that doesn’t occur to us. We fail to explore alternatives.

Edward de Bono in his exercises on concept building asks participants to divide a square into four equal pieces. Most of them do the most obvious thing of dividing the square into four slices without thinking of alternatives like diagonals and quarters. In much the same way, depending on our circumstances, capabilities and resources we have to think of alternatives without digressing or losing sight of the basic background concept/goal.

You have to have an idea of where you want to be within what time-frame. While the luck factor can hasten things and open certain doors, you will have to rely on effort, initiative and ability to be able to make a mark.