The Secret Revealed

Recently I read the famous book “The Secret” after getting it from my friend after a long wait. The author, Rhonda Byrne, wants to put forth one point & in my view, the essence can be summed up by what Paulo Coelho said –

When you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it.

(A variant of this being made famous by SRK in OSO –itni shiddat se maine tujhe paane ki koshish ki hain, ki har zarre ne mujhe tujhse milane ki saazish rachi hain). In both the cases, the premise is that you are in charge of what you want. But sometimes you also become in charge of what others should do (read others’ actions which you want to influence). The scenarios are plenty – You are a teacher, you are a supervisor or may be you are a parent or you may be a leader of a team. In all these cases and more, you are the one who decides others objectives so that your wants are satisfied. Now the case arises where you do not have complete control over your wants. Strange isn’t it? But even here, a positive way of putting things will give better results. So now we will see how people usually react while donning these hats and how it can be done in a better way.

Don’t drop the catch. (Catches win matches)

See to it that you are never seen with those friends of yours otherwise you are going to face dire consequences. (I think your these friends have lost their way a bit and you better be careful and spend less time with them)

It would show up in your appraisal if you don’t do this job properly. (The team and individual objectives would be fulfilled and your confidence will grow if this job is done on time)

Though these comments may not bring the desired results all the time but at least will send out the message that you really care about them and not being ignorant of their needs. It also shows that you are giving legitimate reasons why you want them to behave in a certain way. Also indirectly you are focusing on what you want. So the chances of work getting done increases. I think its becoming too philosophical :) So I will keep my further opinions to me :)

Fed Ex Derailed

I am back from hibernation. And what better way to start off than making an attempt to describe the best tennis match I have ever watched. It was an unforgettable, extraordinary exhibition of human talent and flair at work in the longest ever Men’s Singles Final at SW19. Both the hunter (Rafael Nadal) and the hunted (Roger Federer) deserve all the praise coming their way. This bolsters once again the yawning gap between the two and the rest. But wait a minute; can I actually describe the indescribable, outstanding and a memorable rivalry? I know I cannot.

So I would write about what I learnt from this. I am going to run out of superlatives while doing this but then there are no alternatives. It began with the challenger, in this case the eventual champion, showing great self belief by doing what others could not do for a fortnight – breaking the “King of Grass” and winning consecutive sets. At 3-3, 0-40, Nadal serving, it seemed that the Roland Garros is being telecasted but then the King had other ideas. Federer showed his ingenuity and won the tiebreaker and with it the third set. This showed the mental strength of Federer even though he was mauled by the same man a month back. In the fourth set, both men showed why they are ranked above the rest (not that they didn’t show it earlier) and the kind of preparation it goes to hone your skills to be a world class athlete. In the tie breaker, 2-5, Nadal serving, for a moment it looked that he was nervous and will never be able to win on Wimbledon against Roger. But next few games and in particular the return at 8-7 by Nadal put to rest that claim. Federer won the tie breaker and with it the set. Now I assumed that Federer is not going to let it slip from here on and Nadal will have to wait for at least a year to challenge the King. But indefatigable Nadal came at Federer with the same brute force and his agility was not to be shunned even after 4 hour of such high quality tennis. On the opposite side was a man many believe to be the greatest of all time, soaking in so much pressure and that to without any emotions on his face. Watching this match were former rivals – Bjorn Borg and John McEnroe whose 1980 epic final was touted as greatest ever at SW19, their loss of words pretty evident. (Literally, John McEnroe, BBC commentator, could not describe what was going on at the centre court). In the fifth set it seemed that this match is going to go on and on but when Nadal broke Federer at 7-7, no one was ready to believe that it was to be the last break of serve. Finally the saga came to an end with Nadal winning 9-7 in the final set but this was not to be the last match on grass for the dethroned King as was the case with Bjorn Borg after he lost the 1981 final to McEnroe. The graceful acceptance of defeat by Federer and then the assurance (more so as a warning to his detractors) that “He will be back next year” shows that single defeat has revealed a chink in his armory but he is ready to fight.

The sportsmanship portrayed by both the players deserves a mention out here. Long Live Tennis and this great rivalry. I still am an ardent fan of “The poetry in motion” (Federer). Watch out for FedEx :)