Virgin Patiala Peg

by Gaganjeet Gujral

  “ Yes Karamjit, did you had any queries?” he asked. “ Prof. I attended your lecture today and it was very insightful for me. I felt that the principle that you shared with me was particularly relatable to me.” He said. “ Oh yes, it is. It is relatable to every single person on this damn planet” “ I don’t know how to say it Prof. but I never asked this to anyone else before.” “Please go ahead.” The professor said as he leaned forward to listen to Karamjit with full attention. “ Actually what you said was one hundred percent true. But how can I apply that in my own life? What is its practical utility? I mean, don’t get me wrong. Whatever you said sounds really good but can you please tell me how it can transform me as a person?” he asked. “ Well Karamjit, that’s where more that 99% of the people are stuck. Everybody is born dumb, naked and stupid. But some people manifest their true abilities and potential while most of them don’t. Because they learns this information, understands it but then do not apply it. It’s just like a smoking doctor, metaphorically speaking. He knows that smoking is not good for his health, he understands it but then in the end doesn’t apply it. And that is completely useless. It’s as good as not conceiving the information or the knowledge at all. I have given this advice to many people, some of them used it for the betterment of the society and themselves while there were others who squandered it. I would just tell it very plainly to you. Associate yourself with the right people. It’s very simple. If you are broke and you want some help, you don’t go asking for help from a person who himself is broke. No! That’s insanely stupid. You go to a person who has got plenty money or the one who can help you connect to a person that has got some money. Right? It’s the same way here. If you associate with people who are highly ambitious towards their goals, you are going to be the same way. But if you are associating with people who just barely make through the day, you will be filled with the exact same type of vibes. So that was number one: To associate yourself with right people. Number two is to have faith in your abilities to take on any task and believe that you can just squeeze it. If you can conceive and believe something, then you can achieve it. I have seen it my life personally. It’s all in your head. And number three which according to me is the most important; Always keep learning. You have a huge competitive edge over other people when you become an absolute learning machine. Michelangelo was still learning at age 87! Compare your age with his. You haven’t even started living your life yet. And I realized that you have this quality of always learning the very first time I met you. That’s why you are still listening and I am still speaking. Because as they say: the teacher appears when the student is ready to learn.” He explained all this to Karamjit.

  “ But Prof. I have this insecurity because of the way I look and I always have this fear of being judged by other people. How do I get rid of it?” asked Karamjit. “ Well, well, well. I can’t explain that to you just by hammering it in your brain. But you will learn it. Okay, so tell me, do you play any sport?” “ No. I haven’t played any sports at the State or National level. I just used to play some chess online on my desktop computer and a little football with my father when he visited home. Other than that, I have never played sports soberly. I don’t think I am good at sports either” he said as he dropped his head down looking at the ground. “ How did you find that you were never good at sports? See, you need to let go off some things that happened in the past and continue to surge ahead from this point onwards. Make this your starting point. And as I said, don’t look at the facts, but make your own reality by choosing the environment. I want you to pick up any sport which you like and start playing it. You said that you played chess and some football. Then go for it. I can get you into the junior team of our university. They will let you play and from there on, if you perform well, you can get into the senior team. It doesn’t matter whether you perform well or poor, just play it and I will see the changes in you in the period of next one month. Okay?” he asked. “ I will pick chess and football then.” “ Great. See, you after one month then.” Said the Professor.

  And following the advice from Prof. Joshua, he joined the chess club and also got into the football team. His daily routine was now staggered as he would first attend his lectures and then grind hard in the football ground with others. And then play chess in the university’s chess club. He made some friends in the football team and playing football gave him the strength and the endurance and he grew much more stronger and agile at the end of the month while playing chess made him think about the situations strategically that were kind of new for him. All in all, doing these physically enduring games not only toughened him up physically but also improved his mindset and perception towards certain things.

  He was just one month into it and there were significant changes to his personality which were visible to everyone. Karamjit was now much more confident than ever. He was a completely different person now. Earlier he would complain about things if they didn’t went the way he planned them to be but now he would consider every drastic situation careful and analyze how he can reap the maximum benefit out of it. Earlier, he used to see problems as adversity, but now every problem that he encountered was an opportunity for him to grow and make himself better.

  When he started playing football, he wasn’t very agile and fast. He fell several times, injured his knees and legs but he didn’t give in, in those times which made his conviction even more strong. He no longer saw failure as a detour but as an opportunity to learn something from it and use it as an incubator to create something out of it which had never been produced before.

  Amrit and his uncle Gurtej Singh could feel the confidence in his voice whenever they talked to him now and they were completely surprised by the way Karamjit had gone through this transformation. And indeed, playing sports really proved to be a crucial factor for Karamjit which was really helping him in his personal development. Now, he could see things clearly which were cluttered before because of his stagnant mindset. He never knew that he had a good instinct at playing chess or whether he was just born to be good at it. He soon represented his university team in several tournaments, some of which he won while losing inothers. But all in all, he never considered failure to be his permanent address now. He would now also guide his juniors in learning the basics of chess and improving their games which consequently improved his performance as he got a much deeper understanding and subtleties of chess. He was progressing with every passing week in his chess career and getting victories quickly. He was amazed at himself watching his progress over this short period of time. Although he never got into the football senior team but he continued to play as he understood that it was way more important to be in the game and enjoy it rather than focusing on the results. This belief and revelation made him realize that life is the similar way. We don’t necessarily have to reach a goal that we have established but to enjoy the journey that takes us through to that goal. That’s very important!

  After a month he met with Prof. Joshua as he had promised him. And Prof. Joshua could see the way sports has helped Karamjit bring the best in him. He could see the confidence with which he walked. He was no longer the guy who would walk around with his shoulders dropped and face to the ground. Now, he was walking upright, with stern confidence and a cheerful smile on his face. “ Hello Prof. Joshua” he greeted the Professor. “ Hello dear. You promised me to spend your spare time in sports and I can say I am already perceiving some changes in your personality. So tell me what you have learnt from chess and football?” he asked.

  “ Prof. Joshua, first of all I am extremely thankful to you for your advice which has completely changed my life. I am not the same person anymore which I was a few weeks before. Playing sports has completely turned my life upside down. Although, I have not changed drastically but I can certainly say that I have seen my life take a major turn from being unconfident to becoming comfortable in my own skin. Football taught me that failures are not the end point. It’s just a small detour which one faces while moving to
wards a higher end goal. So I no longer get discouraged when I encounter difficulties and rather I embrace them and move forward learning some lessons from them which would certainly help me in my future course of life. And from chess, I have lately come to appreciate the power of planning. I never used to believe in planning. Rather, I always thought that one should always execute even if they are going through the motions. It has taught me that it’s important to plan. It’s important to plan first using all their intelligence but when it comes to really trying it out, only then the execution should be ruthless. But planning certainly makes you insulated from the unnecessary risks or choices that you might have to make in the execution of that plan. So this is what I learned” he explained everything in detail to Prof. Joshua.

  “Well done Karamjit, I am proud of you my boy. I always feel amazed when some of my mentee heeds everything I say carefully and then take it to the next level. I must say that you are fully deserving of the time that I invested in you. So, you are about to graduate from the University of the Bahamas. What’s next for you?” he asked.

  “ You know, professor when I was a kid, I had this desire of travelling all around the world. But as I grew up, people around me painted an image in my mind that was conflicting with my imagination. They taught me to settle for something less than I was capable of achieving. Even my uncle told me to just get a job, make a living and settle down and live a regular life just like most of the people does. They ingrained in my mind that I was a backward child who did not had the mental faculty or intelligence to learn things fast just like other kids do. And the predicament is that I believed them and after I met you and learned these lessons, I finally realized that it were those beliefs which actually overtook my life from my control and gave control to other people’s opinions and even expectations of me. I slowly lost control over my choices and became a convict of the convictions of people around me. I couldn’t trust my abilities to achieve what I wanted. I wasn’t always a shy, introverted and klutz like that. Everyone that I met kept telling me that I was shy, that I speak less, that I am afraid to talk to strangers, that I was a no good nick. It was due to all of these beliefs that led me to where I went. But you have made me realize that I am not what they say I am, I am what I believe I am. I believe that this is the most important lesson that I have learned in my entire life, and if I were to sum it up, I would say that I was only limited to the beliefs that I had accepted. Once I changed the beliefs about myself, everything started to change for me. I became a quick learner, a good athlete and with your help I am still working on my communication skills. I can’t be more thankful to you Prof. Joshua. You are the person who also mentored my mother Kulvir Kaur. She was mentored under your mentorship program. She might have known how you could help others realize their true potential and maybe that’s why she told my father to let me meet you here. Thanks a ton for whatever you have done for me so far.”

  Prof. Joshua was listening to the complete narrative which Karamjit narrated to him. While Karamjit was narrating his whole story, Prof. Joshua couldn’t help himself and tears rolled down his eyes. He said in a trembling voice, “ Kulvir? Yes, I know her. She was such a bright young girl with big dreams and aspirations. She really wanted to make a difference. You know what Karamjit? There could be no better scenario for a mentor whose mentee says to him that the mentor changed his life. You and your mother have given me that privilege. This is the happiness which all the seven billion people living on this planet strive for but never realize it until it’s too late. Your legacy is never in buildings or finishing projects. Your legacy is measured by your ability to build people. Your legacy is build when you help others realize their greatness. And I have got that privilege that I could serve your mother and you as well in my lifetime. That’s two generations. There’s nothing more fulfilling than that.” He said as he calmed himself down.

  He then continued, “When I was a young lad, I was just like you; aimless and confused. But I had a stroke of luck that I got a mentor that guided me to become the kind of person that I am today. His name was Charles Munro. He is no more today. I said him the exact words that you said to me today. He was the person that build the man you see in front of you today. And when he was on his deathbed, he told me that he wanted me to mentor people just like the way he did and help someone realize their true potential.” He said as he somehow controlled himself.

  “ That’s great.” Said Karamjit as he put hands on Prof. Joshua’s shoulders. “Are you okay?” he asked. “ Yes, I am good. Just some emotional burst remembering my mentor and his teachings. But I want you to stay strong Karamjit and don’t forget what you have learnt so far. See, there are people who are fast learners and learn without going through any repercussions but then there are those who learn the lessons the hard way. You are one of those people. I know, you have gone through some tough times, but believe me, the trouble will never end. Until you are breathing, you are going to face plenty, plenty, plenty troubles. So embrace them and take life head on.” He said.

  Prof. Joshua then took a piece of paper out of the magazine that he was reading. On it was the advertisement of a public speaking event that was about to happen in the Bahamas Institute of Business and Technology. He asked Karamjit to participate in that event that would help him to become even a much improved speaker. If he were the old Karamjit, he would have thought several times and considered the consequences of participating in the event but this new Karamjit accepted it immediately without even giving it a second thought.

  He went to the event with all his preparation for the speech. The event took place in a large hall packed with audiences from various other universities. When his turn came, he went to the podium and as he walked towards the speaking dice to hold the Mic, he could see the large gathering of people sitting in front of him waiting for him to speak. He felt nervous at once and thought that people would make fun of him and he would lose his face in front of so many people if he couldn’t deliver the speech in the right manner. It was difficult for him to still leave behind the old Karamjit and move on with his new identity.

  He remembered what he had learned. He took a deep breath and started commencing his speech. After he went two minutes into the speech, his heart started to calm down and he got back to normal calm state. After he finished his speech, he received a loud applause and a few standing ovations. He wasn’t expecting that his speech would go so well. It was effortless for him to deliver the speech so confidently in front of these many people. He never would have thought in his wildest imaginations that he would be doing the stuff that he was doing now and even help others learn it.

  His happiness was out of the bounds when he gave that speech which made him even more confident and convicted to pursue his dreams. Now, he started to believe in his dream of travelling all around the world and meeting with people ending up inspiring them with his life. Now, he could see the good in everything that happened to him in the past. If he had not gone through the traumatic experience that he went through, he wouldn’t have this beautiful testimony of how an individual could completely transform their life if they want to.

  He would meet with Prof. Joshua every other day and they would discuss on how Karamjit could incorporate some more changes in his life to become more effective in his areas of competence. They would keep sitting for hours discussing about the lives of the people which influenced the people in their times and made a significant impact on the world before they died. Prof. Joshua made Karamjit read those people’s lives and then ask him to tell three important lessons that he learned reading those people’s biographies. Karamjit was all excited to learn from him whenever he got the opportunity to do so.

  He would now focus less on his academic studies, rather he believed that he should be studying more about the events and people that would take him closer to his life’s calling. And so he did that efficiently. He started reading more and more. Some days he would literally spend his whole time reading books and grasping people’s l
ives through their stories some of which inspired him while he learned from the mistakes of other’s lives and tried not to incorporate those in his own life. Every passing day, he was becoming a critical thinker and the more he read and studied people’s lives, the more aware he was becoming about life and ways of dealing with people.

  He would start attending seminars and conferences, listen to tapes and read books, even share some of the experiences of his own life with other people which made him a good storyteller. He was now bold and confident which made him a good choice for every event or conference that took place in the university. He would keenly participate in every event and give speeches that left a lasting impact on people.

  He wouldn’t just recite the speech like a robot, but he included stories and events from his life and the foolish mistakes that he made along the way mixed with his laughter that gave people that listened to him an experience that would retain in their memory forever. He would encourage others to share their life experiences and live a larger life than they are currently living. In essence, he was on the path to becoming a motivational speaker with exceptional communication skills and the ability to inspire people with his stories.