We had the final of the World Cup One day International cricket held in India last week. While India had an enviable record of winning all their league matches against all the participating countries in a very convincing manner, they lost in the finals to Australia, who were the better team on the final day.

Millions of people across India were shocked and rightly so since cricket is one of the most popular sport in India. I am also an ardent cricket fan and felt highly disappointed on India losing the finals after a great record right through the tournament.

However, what many fans forgot is that the final is also like any other game and you could either win or lose and whichever team plays better on that day wins the game. Australia played better and we lost. We need to learn to gracefully accept this result and still laud our team India for a consistent performance right through the tournament.

Many cricket gurus started analysing the result and gave their expert opinion on what the captain could have done in terms of strategy. In hindsight, everyone can become an expert. We need to remember that the 11 players representing the country in the game give their heart out and are clearly playing to win the game for the country. They are aware that a billion Indians may miss a heart beat if they lose.

We need to remember that our life is also like a game. We may win on some days and lose on others. This whole incident taught me five life lessons, which I thought may help us reflect on how to deal with failures in life :

A. Give your best : We need to strive to give our best for every thing we pursue in life. We may succeed in some things and not in others. However, even if we fail, it should not stop us from trying out something else.

B. Celebrate success : Many fans forgot that the Indian team won ten matches on the trot and most convincingly. Yes, they lost the finals and everyone was pouncing on them with vague theories and funny hypothesis on why we lost. Imagine a child topping the class from standard one to ten and misses the first rank in the next class. Will the parents or teachers disown the child ? We need to learn to celebrate success and learn from failure.

C. A game is a game : We always need to remember that a game is a game. We should not get overjoyed by winning a game nor get exasperated by losing a game. Life is no different. We may win on some days and lose on others. Our ability to be grounded in success and learn from failure will always make us a winner.

D. Focus on the future: We may win or lose a game. However a sportsperson will focus on the next game more than wasting time on the past ones. Similarly in life, we need to learn from our mistakes and our successes and learn to move on into the future.

E. Start all over again: The Indian team members may have got over the disappointment of losing the finals and moved on to prepare for the next World Cup. So would the Australian team. Champions do not rest after a win or a loss. Similarly in life, we need to start all over again. Life is not lost with one failure nor made with one success. Both successes and failures are part of life and we need to learn to deal with them magnanimously and start to live life all over again.

Let us start all over again.

S Ramesh Shankar

24th Nov 2023

I am not sure. Every time I think I know myself I am wrong. I find I have discovered something new which I did not know. Life is full of possibilities and and I am no different than life. I do believe that human beings have unlimited potential and I am not an exception.

Let me recall the events of my life from my childhood. At school, I had never participated in any debate or elocution competition. My english teacher called me one day and encouraged me to participate in a hindi poetry recitation competition. I was nervous since I had never done so. But he said I will do well and that I should try. I did and not only did well but got a prize.

I was always keen to contribute my little bit to society. At college, I was in the first year of my graduate course. My chemistry professor nominated me as the president of the Rotaract club. I was nervous again since we had members who were senior to me from the second and third year of the graduate courses. But, I did serve the full term and contributed my best to the social causes, together with all the other members of the club and with support from all.

Then at the work place, it has happened many a time. My managers have made me volunteer for many projects and even made me lead projects where I thought I was not capable of. I remember I was asked to lead a SAP HR project, where I did not know much except a bit of HR. But It was executed in time and to the satisfaction of all stakeholders.

I had successfully completed my corporate career and returned to Bangalore to settle down and enjoy life. This time my community elected me as the President of the residents’ association. Again through the difficult years of the pandemic, there were many challenges but we did succeed as a team and executed more than 26 projects successfully during our term of two years.

All the above instances prove that I still do not know what I am capable of ? Every time I get into some project or activity or lead a team, I realise I still have some potential to discover in myself. We possibly grow up in a society where realising one’s potential may be left to ourselves. I was lucky to have teachers in school and college, managers and leaders at the workplace to enable me to realise my talent. Everyone may not be as lucky as I have been. But I do realise that I also may have put in some efforts to discover my latent potential.

Today when I look back at my life so far, I realise that may be I am still discovering myself. The journey of life may be filled with crests and troughs. But, it is upto us to sail through these challenges and realise our potential. If I give up when I am down and out or if I do not grab opportunities coming my way at different stages of life, I have nobody else to blame except myself.

The most auspicious day to start is today and the time is now. Lets just do it.

S Ramesh Shankar

12th August 2021.

There are some moments in life which drown you in a sea of grief. Losing a near and dear is irrevocable. It feels as if the sun has set in your life and will never rise again. You also feel as if the moon will not light the night sky. You feel lonely but want to be left alone. No words of comfort can console you. You have no tears to cry in your eyes

I have gone through such moments in my life. I lost my mother at 23 and my father at 25. It was in quick succession and I had just started my career at 22. Fortunately my sisters were married and settled and I had to only take care of my younger brother. But still the question, which haunts you at such moments is – “Why me “?

You have led an honest life. You have been good to everyone around you – family, friends and relatives. You loved your near and dear one the most and God has snatched him/her away from you. You not only wonder why but also wonder why only you. These are normal feelings and anyone facing this situation will go through. No words of consolation soothes you. You get no answers from God or anyone around you. It’s only time, which heals you and not the words, conversations or people around you at this time of grief.

Your world is lonely. The gush of the wind is not heard by you. The song of the birds do not lighten your somber mood. The sound of the waves in the sea reverberate your hurt feelings. You lose faith in yourself and in God. You may stop visiting temples, churches or mosques irrespective of whichever religion you follow.

It is only time, which may heal you. It is at this juncture, you need to believe in yourself. You need to be a supportive partner to your family. Together, you need to weather this storm. You need to take courage from poor people, who live in small hutments near the sea. They face the wrath of the rains every year. The thunderstorms blow away their houses, their belongings and sometimes even their near and dear ones. They may be fisherfolk and fishing is their only source of income. So , they come back to the sea to start their life afresh.

Our life may not be very different. We may face one crisis after another. We may lose faith in ourselves and in others. We may also lose belief in God. But as time heals our wounds, we need to limp back to stand up and live life all over again. We need to look for people around us, who may have lost much more than what we have. We need to seek blessings and express our gratitude to God – to bless us for all that we have and give us the courage to bounce back. During such crisis, we need to be thankful to the people around us, who stood like the boulders on the ocean front, which faces the wrath of the sea waves every year to protect us from damage and destruction.

We need to believe that the sun does rise next morning after every sunset. Even the moon resurfaces after a no moon day. We do get rewarded for our efforts. We have to be thankful that we did our best and sometimes a crisis in life is inevitable – may be not in our hands and it could be nature’s way of helping us keep our feet on the ground.

Our life ahead is an opportunity. We need to learn to bounce back. Let time heal your scars and I am sure you will find ways to bring joy to others. You may get an opportunity to take care of other people like your own. You could think of all the good memories with your near and dear one and all the joy he/she brought into your life. It is sweet memories of our lives, which keeps us going in good and bad times.

The clouds do settle down and the blue beautiful sky returns after some time. We need to wait patiently for the blue sky to return in our lives as in the photo above. There is nothing permanent in life.

Selfless service and gratitude to those who stood by your side during your crisis are useful ways to bounce back in life. Wish you all the best.

 

S Ramesh Shankar

4^th Sep 2021

PS : Dedicated to everyone who has lost someone close to their heart in their lives.