I will begin the fifth chapter of my memoir with a case from my childhood. Because this incident has had a profound effect on my life and my beliefs.
This happened when I was about ten years old. One day a little water was spilled near the refrigerator in our house and no one was aware about it. Unfortunately my daddy’s foot slipped in the water and he suddenly stumbled.
This seemingly insignificant accident turned out to be decades of hardship for our entire family and immense pain for Daddy. Because after that accident Daddy had slip disc problem. Sometimes the pain became so unbearable and increased to such an extent that Daddy could not go to his office for days.
As I have mentioned in my previous chapters, that my daddy is usually a very positive person, full of enthusiasm and a strong personality who did not give up in life. In fact, for the rest of his life he became the strength of our family and kept motivating all of us to try new things in life.
But after that accident, Daddy faced many limitations in his own life. Most of the days, he would carry on with his normal routine. But few days in a month, when the pain from slip disc got very severe, he would obviously have no choice but to do bed rest. So it’s just as natural that Daddy couldn’t do the chores outside the house.
There are some outdoor activities which are better attended by men in general. But during his tough days when the pain worsened, my mom had to take on the double role of managing the house and running outside to get things done. On one hand, my mom was obsessed with her home and dad’s medicine as well as his care and on the other hand she had to frequently do the outside chores.
My daddy always taught us an important lesson in life that instead of crying over hardship, face the challenges and work out ways to overcome it. I was heartbroken to see my mother in this ordeal. I thus made up my mind that I would always be sincere and would not give a chance to my mother for any complaints. This way at least her work would not increase. My brother Kunal, at that time was five years younger than me. Being quite young, he could not understand the condition of my parents as much as I could. Because of this, I automatically became over-protective of my brother and took care of his smallest needs as if I were his daddy. I took on the duty of looking after my younger brother to lessen the responsibilities on my parents. Apart from that I also did most of the chores outside the house to lessen the load of my parents.
Being only 10 years old when my father’s accident happened gave me immense pain, but looking back today, I realize that the accident also gave the four of us a chance to live a better family life. Our goal after that incident was to never hurt Daddy and to achieve this a mutual understanding and bond formed between me-mom and Kunal. And the after effects of this incident had many positive effects on my personality. I became extremely mature and patient. Why? One reason was to lighten the burden of my mother’s work and take care of Kunal. And secondly, I didn’t want to bother my mom or dad with my mischief.
This maturity and patience has helped me immensely throughout my life. As a businessman or a social worker, I had to deal with some routine and some complex problems, some other problems which couldn’t be solved by my teammates. I have taken every step with patience and maturity and by the grace of Lord Krishna I have succeeded in making decisions that seemed impossible.
That accident has also instilled empathy and love in me. From a young age, I have come to realize that family and love are very important in life. Maybe that’s why even today whenever I meet someone, that person does not just become a friend or acquaintance, but a part of my extended family. That is why the number of my friends in life is very low! They are all part of a bigger extended family.
As a businessman I have never done business in a calculative way. I have also given priority to empathy and love in business, because my aim was never to do business only to make money. A balance sheet is just a rotation of numbers, going up and down which has not been important to my passion. I have been inspired instead by doing business in a way so as to give back to the society. For me, business means creating a rotation in society filled with love, cooperation and warmth for each other.
Anyway, in today’s chapter I wanted to talk about Daddy’s accident and the changes that had since taken place in our lives due to that accident. I am not saying that I have matured or endured only because of Daddy’s accident. But yes, that accident was a huge contribution to me in creating these two core values – Maturity and Patience. These values have always benefited in my personal and professional life be it related to business or environment.
Chapter 5 | Diary of a Green Man
I will begin the fifth chapter of my memoir with a case from my childhood. Because this incident has had a profound effect on my life and my beliefs.
This happened when I was about ten years old. One day a little water was spilled near the refrigerator in our house and no one was aware about it. Unfortunately my daddy’s foot slipped in the water and he suddenly stumbled.
This seemingly insignificant accident turned out to be decades of hardship for our entire family and immense pain for Daddy. Because after that accident Daddy had slip disc problem. Sometimes the pain became so unbearable and increased to such an extent that Daddy could not go to his office for days.
As I have mentioned in my previous chapters, that my daddy is usually a very positive person, full of enthusiasm and a strong personality who did not give up in life. In fact, for the rest of his life he became the strength of our family and kept motivating all of us to try new things in life.
But after that accident, Daddy faced many limitations in his own life. Most of the days, he would carry on with his normal routine. But few days in a month, when the pain from slip disc got very severe, he would obviously have no choice but to do bed rest. So it’s just as natural that Daddy couldn’t do the chores outside the house.
There are some outdoor activities which are better attended by men in general. But during his tough days when the pain worsened, my mom had to take on the double role of managing the house and running outside to get things done. On one hand, my mom was obsessed with her home and dad’s medicine as well as his care and on the other hand she had to frequently do the outside chores.
My daddy always taught us an important lesson in life that instead of crying over hardship, face the challenges and work out ways to overcome it. I was heartbroken to see my mother in this ordeal. I thus made up my mind that I would always be sincere and would not give a chance to my mother for any complaints. This way at least her work would not increase. My brother Kunal, at that time was five years younger than me. Being quite young, he could not understand the condition of my parents as much as I could. Because of this, I automatically became over-protective of my brother and took care of his smallest needs as if I were his daddy. I took on the duty of looking after my younger brother to lessen the responsibilities on my parents. Apart from that I also did most of the chores outside the house to lessen the load of my parents.
Being only 10 years old when my father’s accident happened gave me immense pain, but looking back today, I realize that the accident also gave the four of us a chance to live a better family life. Our goal after that incident was to never hurt Daddy and to achieve this a mutual understanding and bond formed between me-mom and Kunal. And the after effects of this incident had many positive effects on my personality. I became extremely mature and patient. Why? One reason was to lighten the burden of my mother’s work and take care of Kunal. And secondly, I didn’t want to bother my mom or dad with my mischief.
This maturity and patience has helped me immensely throughout my life. As a businessman or a social worker, I had to deal with some routine and some complex problems, some other problems which couldn’t be solved by my teammates. I have taken every step with patience and maturity and by the grace of Lord Krishna I have succeeded in making decisions that seemed impossible.
That accident has also instilled empathy and love in me. From a young age, I have come to realize that family and love are very important in life. Maybe that’s why even today whenever I meet someone, that person does not just become a friend or acquaintance, but a part of my extended family. That is why the number of my friends in life is very low! They are all part of a bigger extended family.
As a businessman I have never done business in a calculative way. I have also given priority to empathy and love in business, because my aim was never to do business only to make money. A balance sheet is just a rotation of numbers, going up and down which has not been important to my passion. I have been inspired instead by doing business in a way so as to give back to the society. For me, business means creating a rotation in society filled with love, cooperation and warmth for each other.
Anyway, in today’s chapter I wanted to talk about Daddy’s accident and the changes that had since taken place in our lives due to that accident. I am not saying that I have matured or endured only because of Daddy’s accident. But yes, that accident was a huge contribution to me in creating these two core values – Maturity and Patience. These values have always benefited in my personal and professional life be it related to business or environment.