Have you ever thought why a customer is called king? Why only a few people are able to multiply their customers on a larger scale? The skill of problem-solving which is possessed by only a few is simple. Satisfying all the requirements and demands of customers which may range from a pin to a plane plays an important role.

Do you think this is the only skill you are expected to have as an entrepreneur? Well, no. As an entrepreneur you need to be a persistent leader with good communication, and be great in sales and marketing skills. We always assume an entrepreneur to be a talented college dropout or a seasoned businessman predicting new path-breaking strategies. Absolutely not. Successful entrepreneurs are recognized for their great minds and ideologies. But is this skill really important? Surely it has immense value not only in terms of customer satisfaction but also makes an entrepreneur proactive internally, which definitely reflects positively on the business and success. This skill proves to be a valuable and trusted asset for any business. It is well-known that most appreciations are received by those solutions and efforts which benefit the masses.

Ritesh Agarwal, an 18-year-young boy, observed the problem and adapted the solution as his business model by launching OYO Rooms.

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“Goals in writing are dreams with deadlines.”
~ Brian Tracy

Goals are dreams with a timeline. Most successful people have Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Time-bound (SMART) goals, which are written down and worked upon every day.

Having a big dream is not enough. Your big dream has to be broken down into small goals. Your goals are the milestones towards your dreams. By setting easy goals you are underestimating yourself. Your goals must be big enough to stretch you and be capable of taking you to a new level of success.

Have you ever made a list of priorities in life? Do you really know what you want from life? If you haven’t, it may surprise you to know that deciding what you want is often the first and the most important step to getting it. The intensity of your desire determines the probability of its happening.

A burning desire to be somebody and to do something great is the starting point from which the dreamer must take off. When you break down your dream and set a timeline to achieve it, it becomes a goal. There is a difference between wishing for something and being ready to receive it. No one is ready for anything, until he believes he can acquire it. The state of mind must be that of complete faith, not mere hope or wish.

Our brain is a goal-seeking organism. In fact, scientists now know that the brain uses its own Reticular Activating System (RAS) to filter through the millions of images, sounds, impressions and other messages we receive each day to let into our conscious mind, to hold on to only that information which we need to meet our goals.

When you decide what you want, you instruct the brain to start looking for information, resources, opportunities and other ways to achieve the ‘want’ that you’ve identified. This may sound impossible given your current circumstances but your burning desire and the intensity with which you go after it will determine whether you achieve it or not. You will be guided and directed by an invisible power, a force that will attract you towards your goal.

There was a boy who wanted to find out the secret of success. He approached a wise man living in a hut on a mountain. He asked, “Sir, can you tell me the secret to becoming successful in life?” The wise man was silent for a while. After a moment, he led the boy to a nearby river. They kept walking further into the river until the boy’s head was fully submerged in the water. The boy struggled to keep his head above the water. To his astonishment, the wise man did not help him. Instead, he held the boy’s head under the water. After a few minutes the wise man pulled the boy out of the water and they walked back to the hut. The wise man asked the boy what he desired most when his head was submerged in water. To this, he quickly responded, “Of course, I wanted to breathe, you old man!” The wise man replied, “Son, if you desire success as much as you wanted to breathe, you will find the true secret of success.” Is your desire as intense as the desire of the boy who wanted to breathe when immersed in the water?

To help your reticular activating system begin finding out your wants in unexpected places; take time to decide what you really want in life. Forget about whether you think it’s possible for you right now. First decide what you want; how it happens will unfold as you go ahead with your plan. The law of attraction begins to work in your life as you send out your intense desire to the Universe. Soon you will find opportunities and resources that will help you reach your goal. The very act of creating in your mind a vivid and compelling picture of what you want may be the most underutilized success tool, because it greatly accelerates the achievement of any success.

Success is a matter of choice. If we have enough strong reasons, there is nothing that we cannot do. Once we have a good reason to do something, we will surely find ways to do it.

Always have specific, measurable goals with deadlines attached to them. I am not talking here about New Year resolutions, but GOALS! Let me tell you why New Year resolutions never seem to work. They are too vague, generic and non-committal. A resolution like “be a better person” will not work. To make it a powerful goal, it could be stated as, “I read one self-help book every week”, “I pay sincere compliments to the people around me”, or “I will stop complaining and criticizing others from today.”

The other reason behind the failure of resolutions is that people write them down and look at them just once. The next time they look at it (if they ever do) is one year later! In the meantime, they get so distracted by all the day-to-day demands of life that their resolutions are always shelved aside.

For goals to work, you must:

1. Write them down on a big poster. Clear and vivid images of your goals are important.

2. Stick it up all over your home, work area, computer desktop.

3. Make a public commitment by putting it up on your blog, social media platforms or telling your friends about it.

4. Read it out aloud every morning when you wake up.

5. Reflect upon it every night before you sleep.

6. Break down your goal into small action steps.

7. Take at least one step everyday, however small it is towards your goal.

8. Never give up on your goals, even if all odds are against you.

9. Celebrate your little achievements as an encouragement towards your larger goal.

10. Set newer and bigger goals when you achieve one.

Take a constructive look at your goals and, if necessary, make changes to them. This does not mean that you should compromise on your dream, but you must consider various paths to achieve it.

Most people don’t recognize the difference between wishing and believing. Very few people crystallize their wishes, desires, and hopes into beliefs, then into a burning desire, and finally into faith. No wonder only a small percentage of people become successful.

Outstanding leaders in every walk of life are those who recognize the power of their minds; they seize that power and direct it towards whatever they choose. When you take this step, the word ‘impossible’ will have no meaning for you. Everything will be possible for you, and you will manage to get it. The intensity of your desire is the most important factor in the material realization of your dream.

If we observe the career graph of successful people, we shall find that a goal in life plays an equally important role as the journey of life. Having a goal in life is journey half covered — the rest is all hard work, tenacity, persistence and perseverance.

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After the first round in Chennai and Mumbai, The Teenager Today’s unique workshop ‘The Leadership Treasure Discovery’ designed by PrePearl Training Development Pvt Ltd, saw its third successful session in Mumbai on 20 October 2019 at St Paul’s Institute of Communication Education (SPICE), one of the country’s fastest growing media schools.

The one-day workshop is a discovery of strengths, leveraging the world-renowned Belbin Team Roles. Designed for young adults in the age group of 15- 20 years, the experience helps one build one’s self-concept and confidence to make a unique mark in school, college or even as one is getting ready for the world of work. The session had 16 bright youngsters from various parts of Mumbai and even Pune! A unique feature was parents being invited to the second half of the session where the teenagers shared with their parent their new insights and learning.

Here’s what the participants had to say:

“The workshop has been nothing less than perfect. Rather much better than the monotonous career guidance. An insight for the youth to reinforce their natural talents.”
— Abigail Tixeira

“This was the best session that I have been to. At no time was I bored or lost focus. Aspects I found the most useful — Belbin’s nine behavioural aspects and its application in detail.”
— Ken Farro

“Getting to know me as a person and my purpose in any group. Reflecting on various aspects on my strengths and weaknesses. Exciting, insightful and interactive. How to make my strengths work in any situation. Different qualities that we find in people”
— Raka Mandal

“My key learnings: How to discover my inner strengths, what I can discover in my near future. The workshop was really fun. Got to interact with new friends and learnt new things. The workshop taught me what I am from my inner state of mind. Aspects I found most useful: the fun sessions, the interaction, the activities were the most useful aspects of the workshop.”
— Joe Thomas

“My key takeaways: I have learned my strengths and how to implement them and also that my weaknesses are not a shameful thing and my strengths complement my weakness. The workshop has been informative, innovative (it oiled the machines in my head) got me thinking of things I have not thought of before. My learning was insight to success and the mock interviews.”
— Sinead Pereira

Here’s what some of the parents/guardians had to say:

“I felt it to be very encouraging for me as well as Raka (my daughter). It is the seeding for the beginning of a long journey. Thanks to PrePearl and The Teenager Today.
— Gaurab Mandal, Parent

“I got to know how well my sister knows herself and even I got to learn a lot about her.
— Guardian

The workshop is truly an opportunity to discover our strengths and talents. At The Teenager Today we are filled with joy and pride to meet youngsters and see interest and keen willingness to discover one’s potential to make a positive impact on society.

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One of the most exciting and fascinating discovery expeditions we will ever be on is the discovery of ourselves. Getting to know ourselves better, realizing what we are good at, the talents we are blessed with and the impact we can create truly is interesting and life-giving!

Erik Erikson was a German-American developmental psychologist known for his theory on psycho-social development of human beings. He speaks of how at different stages of life we are on an exploration. He says how we engage with life experiences helps us build trust, autonomy, initiative and intimacy — all helping us to build a strong sense of identity and purpose that then allows us to live fully and contribute to society.

Ages 12-18 are particularly interesting as Erikson says this is the time when we begin to ask questions like ‘Who am I?’, ‘What do I want to do with my life?’. This is the time when we try on different ‘selves’ in a way to see which one fits. It’s the time when we are truly making our first conscious journey to knowing ourselves and all the treasures that we maybe gifted with.

In the U.K. in the 1960’s, well-known researcher and management consultant, Dr Meredith Belbin, sought to study group and individual behaviours. Dr Belbin was able to identify different clusters of behaviours that are important for success of teams and projects. These clusters of behaviours came to be called ‘team roles’ or behavioural talents. For example, one cluster of behaviour referred to the ability to come up with ideas, another to the ability to focus on details, still another to the ability to be sensitive to people’s needs and feelings. Dr Belbin’s research showed that each one of us is gifted with two to three team roles or behavioural talents that we are very good in. There are some we find stressful but can do a decent job of leveraging them, and there are some behavioural talents that each of us are just not great at. Knowing our strengths truly helps us realize how we can make a unique contribution wherever we go.

Discovering one’s behavioural talents is one of the most fascinating, empowering and energizing journeys that one can embark on. While Dr Belbin is today known as the ‘Father of Team Roles’ and the Belbin philosophy is used widely in organizations across the globe, the team roles and behavioural talents begin to show during our teenage years and this knowledge can be very valuable.

Experiences during high school, college and university help us on our discovery journey of getting to know ourselves. The Belbin team roles therefore prove to be a deeply researched and fascinating guide on what Erikson possibly describes as the ‘quest of finding one’s identity’ when one is a young adult.

But how can the two merge? That’s where The Leadership Treasure Discovery session comes in. PrePearl Training, the India representatives for Belbin UK, had been looking at bringing the session to India and when we shared with THE TEENAGER TODAY what the session encompasses, we were so happy that the editorial team agreed that it would be very valuable for young adults and decided to partner with PrePearl in conducting sessions across the country.

The one-day discovery session is designed exclusively for young adults in the age group of 14-21 years. Each participant gets to complete their Belbin Getset profile wherein they also get to take inputs from their parents, guardians, mentors/teachers and friends as to what they see as the individual’s strengths. The workshop is designed to help participants begin the journey of discovering their strengths, and in doing so develop a strong sense of self and thus build confidence in one’s ability and potential.

A crucial and important part of the session is participants creating their own Statement of Purpose. The insights from the Belbin reports and their own reflection during the day, helps them articulate how they want to impact society and how they want to make a difference.

With this, the ability to prepare oneself for interviews — whether school, college or work — becomes interesting and even exciting. The session helps participants become aware of their strengths as a person and also enables them to identify unique aspects they would like to share at interviews.

Being a young adult is one of the most exciting and complex times — one is building one’s independence and yet not fully independent — both parents and teenagers try to find the ideal balance. Invited to be part of the second half of the session, parents now become part of the process and get an understanding of what their young adult has discovered during the day. An energising dialogue is facilitated between the parent/guardian and the student.

How this links to life skills and success in careers

With the onslaught of Artificial Intelligence, machine learning and automation, the future of work poses its own challenges and opportunities. Technology is actively reshaping the skills that will be in demand. The technical and hard skills will keep changing but what seems to be constant is the soft skills of ‘leadership, collaboration, adaptability, resilience, creativity, managing time’.

“The abilities to read social situations and develop productive relationships are, for the foreseeable future, uniquely human skills, and will become increasingly important and valuable in an automation economy.”
— gettingsmart.com

The World Bank Report 2019 on ‘The Changing Nature of Work’ states that the three qualities that will define employability are: complex problem-solving, teamwork and adaptability.

The need of the hour truly then is for an opportunity for young adults to begin their discovery journey, to help hone soft skills, to discover their behavioural talents and strengthen them, to understand the ‘technique of teamwork’ and the essence of effective collaboration. What is really important for society and the world at large to also realize today is that appreciation of differences is the most important step to effective communication.

The Leadership Treasure Discovery session opens the doors to appreciating differences. It begins the journey of enabling youth discover their strengths and build the life-skills to succeed in the present and in the future.

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Pedagogy — the science and study of teaching, i.e, finding answers to the basic questions ‘what’ and ‘how’.

There is a thin line between teaching and leadership. If we look closely we might find many similarities and few irregularities too. Both encourage, motivate and value their followers but at the same time the goals are slightly different. The former is the creator and the latter is the one who nurtures them. The former lays the foundation and the latter gives the finishing touch.

Eventually both of them play a vital role in creating a masterpiece. Having said so, and understanding the importance of the same, the education system nowadays has come up with ways to pick a leaf from each other’s books and make their function feasible in all conditions. And this is how pedagogical leadership came into the picture.

In the past, we have witnessed eminent teachers, scholars and leaders each with their own principles, methodologies and styles having excellent outcomes.

To study the art of teaching with basic traits of leadership, we need to identify who is dominant and who is submissive. To answer that, let’s take a quick peek into history. Is there any leader who is a good teacher or any teacher who had great leadership traits? The answer is “none”. Since the teacher is the creator, it should be dominant over the leadership role.

According to me, these are a few important characteristics of great teaching:

1. Set goals and the layout to achieve them. Discuss them with your students as they should be clear about the way ahead.

2. Identify your audience, or in leadership terms, identify your team. Teaching and learning is a team effort between a teacher and a disciple. You need to identify what their strengths and weaknesses are and the best situations or conditions in which they can give their best results.

3. Don’t be a dictator. Be a listener, or as a matter of fact, be an effective communicator. An effective leader communicates. He/she listens and involves others for the common cause.

4. When we talk about involvement, we talk about accountability. Ensure that students are made accountable for assignments and imbibe them with responsibilities. This will lead to them being encouraged. At the same time, it will make them feel important.

As far as teaching techniques are concerned, it’s very evident that no technique is right or wrong unless it gives results. There is only one thumb rule to be followed — “keep learning so that you can teach better”.

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The culture today encourages competition. Advertisements give out the message, “Stand out and be noticed.  Succeed all the time.” It’s all about I, Me, Myself. This message implies that all of us should not only excel, but be leaders.  If everyone aspires to lead, then who will follow?

My late husband, Nelson, was a leader. He not only excelled in studies, he founded his own firm and held important positions in non-profit institutions. I am, on the other hand, by and large a follower. When I once mentioned to Nelson that I wished I could be a leader like him, he smiled and said, “Leaders need followers. If a person fancies himself as a leader and has no followers, then he is just fooling himself. Followers may not steal the limelight but they also have an important part to play in society for one-man armies exist only in movies. Basically one should not think in terms of followers and leaders but in terms of a team which is united that makes a difference.”

Think of a stage production. The main actors of the play get the applause but there is an entire team of people backstage who have contributed to the success of the play — stage-hands, backdrop designers, costume designers, and so on. So it is in life. The widowed mother of the young boy who slogged so that he could go to college and become a leader in an organization is also an important person and should not sell herself short.

However, the follower should beware of following a leader without using their grey cells. When the ‘head’ of a social body is followed blindly, this could lead to the so-called ethnic cleansing, an euphemism for mass murder. The annihilation of 6 million Jews during World War II was not just because of the crazy, megalomaniac, evil leader Adolf Hitler but his followers who believed his myth of Aryan superiority. Some were in it for personal gain.

In the Oscar-winning movie Schindler’s List, Oskar Schindler, a German industrialist and himself a member of the Nazi party, could not bear to see his fellow Nazis ruthlessly killing the Jews. He used his own personal wealth to bribe Amon Goth, the commandant of a concentration camp in Poland, to save 1,200 Jews from going to the gas chambers, claiming he needed them to work in his armament factory. Schindler ensured that no usable armaments were produced during the seven months his factory was operational. He took a great risk in not following Hitler’s agenda but this did not deter him from pursuing the path he believed was correct.

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Leadership qualities are required not only for those who are in political and social life; it is needed in all walks of life, and its scope extends to home, school, religion, business and any other field. A good leader will have clear idea about his target and knows the way to success. A realistic leader has foresights and insight. S/he is able to read the signs of the times and senses trends and tendencies which are at work in his/her surroundings. Prof Sherene Aftab in the cover story this month explains how Mahatma Gandhi became the undisputed leader of the Indian freedom struggle and influenced millions of people with his simplicity, humility, honesty, truthfulness and empathetic nature. She challenges you teens to use your education, knowledge and the skills you acquire in school and college days to pave the way for a bright and better future.

Everyone is called to be a leader. A good leader, as a role model, will have positive attitudes and will be disciplined. S/he values human resources and will empower others constantly and act as a mentor, persuading others by his/her words and deeds, and at the same time also being assertive when necessary. Developing leadership qualities is a lifelong process; it does not happen overnight.

To become a great leader you need to make sure that your intentions are pure, your words and actions are appropriate and they are applied at the right time, in the right manner and with the right persons. If you are a good listener you will elicit the cooperation of others and reap the benefits of networking. Humility to learn from ones mistakes and willingness to learn from others will enable you to make sound judgements. Humility and sincerity to accept responsibility, accountability and transparency will generate trust among your followers. A good leader will have the ability to manage relationships, build rapport, provide emotional, intellectual or physical support when needed, manage time creatively and be dependable and consistent. It is the capacity to cultivate and build up their skills that distinguishes leaders from the followers. Discover your inner resources and strive to be a good leader.

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Everyone is a leader. ‘Catch them young!’ Yes! Catch them young and mould them and let them bloom and grow in the best possible way. India needs leaders. Our nation needs leaders, leaders unique in their own way, leaders filled with compassion and love, disciplined and just, hard-working and helpful, humble and intelligent — having the courage to commit and stand by commitments, global-minded and culturally sensitive, critical thinkers and visionaries — it takes a lot to stand apart and lead.

The qualities that made Gandhi a good leader were also his charisma, deliberateness, patience and commitment to non-violence. Gandhi was critical of the injustice of the caste system, and he worked to eliminate the concept of untouchable caste. Honesty, commitment and confidence are characteristics of a great leader.

At this point I would like to share what I learnt about being a good leader in my leadership workshop at Poynter’s Institute of Media Studies in Florida. Leadership is like a power grid, just like those high tension wires and towers that energize our daily lives. The power grid of leadership fuels responsibilities and ambitions. It’s a little complicated. I didn’t invent it. They were first identified by social psychologists John French and Bertram Raven back in the 1950’s, but they are absolutely relevant in today’s world scenario.

They are the Legitimate, Expert, Coercive, Reward and Referent powers which actually mould you as leaders. I shall make it simpler for you to understand this power grid of leadership.

The little stripes that you carry over your shoulder are the legitimate power, where you are in a position to boss over people and force your opinion and mind on them. But if you tap on this too much it will backfire as people can read you through and only recognize you because of your ‘Stripes’ the position you are in.  Remember they are not saluting the person inside that uniform.

The Expert power is your ‘Smarts’ — this comes from deep experience, specialized training, or awards. It could be an innate talent in solving problems of others. Your expertise causes others to turn to you for ideas, resources, and often outright direction. Your guidance is accepted without a question.

Knowledge in fact is the power to lead. You need to be wise. Wise people know that the evil twin of ‘Expert’ is ‘know it all’ they don’t try to say I can do it all alone. They aren’t afraid to say ‘I don’t know. What do you think?’ they go out of their way to understand a situation, rationalize and then take a decision.

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AIESEC is a global platform for young people to explore and develop their leadership potential. We are the world’s largest non-political, independent, not-for-profit organization run by students and recent graduates of institutions of higher education. Our members are interested in world issues, leadership and management. AIESEC does not discriminate on the basis of ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, religion or national/social origin.

Since we were founded, we have engaged and developed over 1,000,000 young people who have been through an AIESEC experience. The impact of our organization can be seen through our alumni who represent business, NGO and world leaders, including Nobel Peace Prize laureate, Martti Atisaari of Finland.

We are a global network of young leaders under the age of 30 who strive to better themselves and the communities around them. We are passionate about world issues, leadership development, cultural understanding and experiential learning.

Global Citizen is an intensive international volunteer abroad experience that enables you to work on projects that impact social issues. Through this we empower communities by developing the people and enabling them to develop a more sustainable and healthy future.

Through this programme, AIESEC provides young students an opportunity to develop entrepreneurial and leadership skills through international internships mainly on social issues which will help them enrich their education, challenge their world view and help them gain a unique combination of multi-cultural, social and entrepreneurial experience during the formative years of their lives.

I spoke to Ronisha Sanjana, a 20-year-old B.A. student studying at K.C. College in Mumbai, about pursuing an internship in Cairo, Egypt via AIESEC.

Tell us about your student exchange internship. What was your experience like?
I have always wanted to visit Egypt (Cairo) since I was a kid. And I got the right opportunity at the right time. Hearing about a crazy opportunity like this, I couldn’t wait to experience it. I knew it was sudden and it sounded crazy to leave everything and vanish from all the studying but trust me, I did not regret it one bit.

Having never been overseas, I went to a completely strange land, met new faces, experienced a new language and a different culture; that strange land turned into my second home and the new faces became family. After I returned I was the same person with a completely different perspective on life. I was back to the same routine with tons of new friends from all around the globe and memories to cherish forever.

What were some of the major challenges you faced while working abroad?
The language was a bit of a problem. Our internship was based on photography and graphic designing so we had to travel all around Egypt. The truth being that 85% of the locals speak only Arabic, it was a bit difficult to communicate. But we had our fellow AIESECers who taught us basic Arabic and we were good to go.

Why should students go for this kind of exchange? What makes it different from a normal trip?
One cannot compare an AIESEC exchange with just another random trip. This organization provides a platform for students where it gives us ultimate freedom. In that freedom and infinite space of possibility, you meet yourself, you learn and explore. “Living Diversity” is an AIESEC value and it completely lives up to it. And hence, when you go for an exchange you will not be completely alone out there; you will meet students from all around the world. For those two months you will be living and travelling with them. They will be like family to you. I thank AIESEC for giving me such a great opportunity.

What advice would you give to somebody who is planning on pursuing an internship abroad via AIESEC?
Go for it. Don’t even think twice. An experience like this should not be missed. You will learn, explore and discover in just a span of two months. You will come back a responsible person. There are 126 countries. Choose your own destination; pack your bags and leave!

Do you wish to experience a life-changing opportunity like this? Log on to aiesec.in or email me at sidellemenon@gmail.com

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A sorcerer once requested the legendary King Vikramaditya of Ujjain to fetch him a Vetal or ghost that hung upside down, like a bat, from the branches of a tree that stood in the middle of a crematorium. Not wanting to disappoint anyone who approached him, Vikramaditya immediately set out for the crematorium determined to fetch the Vetal. “Make sure you do not talk to him. If you speak, he will slip away from your grasp,” warned the sorcerer.

Vikramaditya entered the crematorium, found the tree, and the Vetal hanging upside down from its branches. He caught the ghost, pulled it down and made his way back to the city when the ghost started chatting with him, telling him all kinds of things, annoying him, yelling into his ears, cursing him, praising him, anything to make him talk but Vikramaditya refused to succumb to these tricks.

Finally, the Vetal told Vikramaditya a story, a case study one might say, and at the end of it asked the king a question. “If you are indeed the wise Vikramaditya, as you claim to be, you should know the answer to the riddle. But how will I know if you are truly he, unless you speak? And if you choose to stay silent, I am free to assume I have been caught by a commoner, a pretender, a mimic!” Too arrogant to be called a commoner, the king gave the answer. And it was a brilliant answer, one that made the Vetal gasp in admiration. And then, he slipped away and went back to hang upside down from the branches of the tree in the middle of the crematorium.

So Vikramaditya had to walk back to the tree once again and pull the Vetal down once again. Once again, the Vetal told him a story with a question at the end. Once again the Vetal told the king, “If you are indeed the wise Vikramaditya, as you claim to be, you should know the answer to the riddle. But how will I know if you are truly he, unless you speak? And if you choose to stay silent, I am free to assume I have been caught by a commoner, a pretender, a mimic!” Once again, the arrogant king gave the answer. Once again the Vetal gasped in admiration. And once again he slipped away.

This happened twenty-four times. The twenty-fifth time, a tired and exasperated Vikramaditya, sighed in relief. He had succeeded. “Have you really?” asked the Vetal, “How do you know the answers you gave the previous times were right? Each decision was subjective, not objective. You thought you were right, and so you spoke. Now you are not sure of the answer, and so remain silent. This silence will cost you dear. You will succeed in taking me to the sorcerer who will use his magic to make me his genie and do his bidding. His first order for me will be to kill you. So you see, Vikramaditya, as long as you kept answering my questions, rightly or wrongly, you were doing yourself a favour. You had to keep chasing me, but you stayed king. Now that you doubt yourself, and stay silent, you are sure to end up dead.”

At the moment of decision making, decisions are not right or wrong. They are right or wrong only in hindsight. He who takes decisions proactively, he who is not afraid to let the Vetal slip away, he who knows that life is about solving one problem after another, is Vikramaditya.

To improve decision making, Vikramaditya has to visit the crematorium where the past hangs upside down like ghosts and confront the Vetal. This is where learning takes place. This is where he hones his skills. The Vetal is the mentor, the trainer, the coach, the teacher, the guru, who presents the past as case studies and asks questions in the form of riddles and puzzles. Does the Vetal know the answer?

Maybe yes, maybe no. It does not matter. What matters is that Vikramaditya answers the questions and solves the problems. Every answer, every solution, is subjective; only time will reveal if they are right or wrong. If Vikramaditya refuses to answer, he will end up destroying himself and his kingdom. A leader matters only as long as he seeks to solve problems.

Vikramaditya must always go to Vetal; the Vetal must never go to Vikramaditya. Vetal is Saraswati. Unlike Lakshmi and Durga which can be given, Saraswati cannot be given. She has to be taken.

The crematorium is not a place where business happens, but it is here that the mind is expanded and beliefs are clarified. It is a place of new ideas, new thoughts, new frameworks, that facilitate decision making. The more Vikramaditya visits the crematorium, the more he expands his mind, the more he gains Saraswati and the more attractive he becomes to power and prosperity, Durga and Lakshmi.

The process of gaining Saraswati is twofold. There is the outer voice called Smriti and the inner voice called Shruti. Smriti means that which can be remembered hence transmitted. Shruti means that which can only be heard but cannot be transmitted.

What a teacher teaches a student, what is passed on through texts and puzzles and riddles and questions and case studies, is just Smriti. These can be parroted and passed on. These can be mouthed to impress people.
But real learning happens when the aspirant listens to his own voice, the inner voice of his mind. This is the only voice we hear. This is Shruti. Only when Smriti provokes Shruti do we internalize wisdom. It becomes part of us. When this happens, we do not have to provide references for our knowledge (“This idea comes from that teacher”). We become the source of the knowledge (“This is my idea”).

Books and lectures are Smriti; they can be remembered and passed on. The reader or listener can allow it to provoke Shruti. Only when they listen to their inner voice and truly ‘get it’, will this knowledge of the past transform into timeless wisdom. The way to this is to introspect on it, personalize it, rather than intellectualize it. Frameworks appear when we see the mirror and are comfortable with the reflection.

As long as frameworks are meant to change the world, not ourselves, Saraswati will remain Vidya-Lakshmi, skill that grants prosperity, but not peace. We will stay trapped in Swarga, like Indra, eternally on a shaky throne. We will never find Vaikuntha, where Lakshmi sits at our feet, and we always enjoy the rhythmic swing of the waves.

Every king whose rule extends up to the horizon, the Chakravarti, is no different from the Kupmanduka, the frog in the well. The walls of his kingdom define his well. However great the size may be, it is but a drop in the canvas of infinity. There is always scope to grow, outgrow the animal within, stop chasing Durga and Lakshmi, and make them chase him instead. For this he has to cut his head.

Vetal cuts the head. Shruti cuts the head. Cutting of the head is a metaphor for intellectual as well as emotional growth. Intellectual growth may make us more skilled and less insecure, but it does not enable us to empathize. The point is not to be knowledgeable; the point is to be wise. And in India, wisdom happens when knowledge combines with empathy, gyan with karuna.

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