Dreamweaver

There are some people out there in the world who, because of their immense knowledge, demand respect. Demand is a harsh word. But that's the best I can find now. I'm not talking intelligence. I'm talking Knowledge, which for me is a culmination of intelligence and experience. That brings the charisma. Dr. JP is so approachable, so magnanimous with his patience and so convincing in his explanations that the first time I spoke to him for a considerable amount of time, I turned into a huge fan of his. Luckily, I've met some people like him. Venkat, for one, is every man's dream boss. And Amogha would nod in consent. He never micromanaged, never ordered around, never roused fear or insecurity. Instead, he was a constant presence, fusing confidence. Urging us to move forward and that he would take care of everything trailing behind. Rajiv, maybe a little harsh sometimes, but I love his careless demeanor. Maybe HN Lakshmi should join that list too. Her presence wasn't comforting but she was fair in her criticism and judgement and that's something I always look for in an inspiration. Ragini Atha for her sheer humility. For so simply stating that you don't have to be right all the time. Bhavana Rao is amazing company. She taught me the difference between being rude and being strict. I totally love the she can evoke respect, fear and admiration interchangeably. I haven't found anybody like that in my office yet. The other people I just spoke about seemed to love what they were doing so much that they didn't feel a need to prove a point. They were imposing yes, oozing with life and energy, but never cruel or loud. On the other hand, the people I associate myself daily with give me the impression that I'm doing this because I don't want to fail/ be blamed/ lose this job. There's something truly divine about people passionate about their jobs. And that is what gives us jitters when we hear Jobs talk, or Messi dart or SPB sing. I just found a term for this phenomenon. Mr. CM Reddy, who I've never met and who I spoke for the first time ever, a high intensity talk of about half an hour on topics like Corporate Agriculture, Co-Operative initiatives, passion, decentralization of economic strongholds, respect for farmers and creating a sustainable economy at the village level. Amidst all this, Mr Reddy said, "Don't fool yourself by saying that you want to do it for the poor. You aren't doing them a favour. You're doing whatever you're doing because it's your Moksha Path. Somebody wants to be an Engineer, somebody a Bar Dancer and you want to do this. Simple."  I fell in love with the term, Moksha Path. I was hitting along with him so well and the moment he uttered that phrase, I was floored. An half hour conversation with him is the reason for this post. Conversations are elixir and he injected life back into me. Like I was saying earlier, some people have it in them to inspire others. I don't really want to comment on somebody else but I have a feeling that if some people look back and see what they'd done in the past fifteen years of their lives, see if they've evolved in any way, inspired somebody, been worshiped by a teenager, laughed and cried uncontrollably, they'd treat their juniors in a much better fashion. About two weeks ago, we were having a team lunch and somebody suddenly asked what each of ours' dream was. I thought I'd say something to please them but then before I knew it, I uttered, " I want to be the man who's seen life. Who's slept on footpaths and the costliest of hotels. Who's dined with paupers and pampered adults. Who's lived in a group and who understands solitude. I want to be the man who quotes and is worth quoting. I want to be the man who's truly lived. Summing it up, I want to be most interesting guy I know. Somebody who can entertain audience in dinner table conversations all night long. I want to be that guy." I'm not sure who understood but for the first time in my life, I cohesively answered to myself what exactly I want. I want to inspire kids into moving out of their pseudo-secure places to see and cherish the world out there. I want to be a storyteller. I want to be a dreamweaver.