I saw the movie The Motorcycle Diaries last night.
It is an awesome movie and I would recommend it to one & all. But this is not a movie review and hence I am not getting into the specifics of the movie.
There is however one thing from the movie that I do want to talk about. The travels and the experiences so amazingly depicted in the movie says 'I am not me any more. At least I'm not the same me I was'.
I cannot imagine a better way to capture the essence of personal experiences and interactions.
Each one of those fleeting moments changes and shapes your for good. The big ones start to seem like destiny and the path at the same time.
Each one of us, has an experience that we could blame or attribute for our current state of affairs, and yet without these experiences we wouldn’t be who we are.
Why am I talking about this?
I believe since those experiences shape you, your behaviour, your lens to look at the world, it may be a good idea to think about them and if possible record, the ones that changed you forever.
I mean when I stepped out after watching the movie Matrix I thought it changed me.
For sometime I walked around thinking maybe everything around me is just an illusion.
That feeling lasted less than 3 days.
I was back to getting upset, happy, sad about everything happening around me, so I dont really think of it as an experience that changed me in anyway.
However, the one experience that definitely changed my life was a short 30-minute meeting with a Duty Manager from Taj Palace, New Delhi.
I was preparing for engineering and was set on doing that without any real thoughts of any other careers or options. The advertisement for IIHM, Aurangabad mentioned the entrance examination would be held at the Taj Palace and all I intended to do was use it as an opportunity to take a break from the more challenging engineering entrance exams.
I went to relax and unfortunately was invited back for the personal interviews.
Then I really started thinking about this career. Something so different, something nobody had done around me or in my family.
I was nervous and had no clue what a hotel manager did.
I had to find out before I went to the interview. I knew they would ask me, 'why do you want to join this industry?'
So I walked into Taj Palace with trepidation and went up to the desk that seated a young man looking very busy. The plate on his desk said 'lobby manager'.
I said hi and in the next minute told him I wanted to know what he does, what was hotel management all about and why did he join this industry?
His response changed me forever.
His passion changed me forever.
He took me to his office (back office) and told me all. All that he did, all that he accomplished, all that made him want to get up and come rushing to work.
He spoke about all the special people he met and helped.
He mentioned the emergencies, the confidence and the responsibilities he handled. He detailed the good life he lived.
He made it all look so good, I signed up!
Of course, years later, I would find out for myself, some of the things that weren’t as 'nice' but that is not what I am trying to say here.
That interaction changed me and I wonder how different my life would have been, if he was just another 'too busy' to mentor, talk or share kind of executive that I seem to encounter more and more.
I urge you to take a moment from your busy life and think about such moments.
Maybe you were the receiver, maybe the giver.
You can have a deep and lasting effect on people you don't even know.
Would you like to be someone who makes it worse or the one that makes it better?
Give every interaction the importance the universe accords it and you will find the experience not only uplifting but so valuable and intricate it will take your breath away!
'I am not me any more. At least I'm not the same me I was'.
Cheers
Prabhjot Bedi
The Coach
Other Stuff from the Coach...
Post a Comment