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It intrigues the movie critics; he has reigned as a “Super-Star” of the Tamil movie industry for more than three decades. It is ever more intriguing when one realises that he is not even a Tamilian. As of this writing, he is one of the highest paid actors in South-East Asia.

He is so popular in Tamil Nadu that you can stop anyone, anywhere in the state and they will know about Rajini Kanth.

Never mind that his dance sequences are not elegent; never mind that his voice variations remain the same in every movie; never mind that he wouldn’t be praised for his acting; but every movie of his is a sure success (okay, most of them) in both rural and urban areas – now-a-days even in Japan!

How did he do it?

I was constantly reminded of him, as I read through ‘Simply Better‘, where the authors argue that providing “Core Category Benefits” is the sure path to long-time success than providing differentiation.

Evaluate the Super-Star on that – he has mesmerized the audience with his fighting sequences, punch dialogues and most importantly style and he has stayed within that boundary. He has not differentiated himself with directorial ventures; method acting and so on and so forth. He provided just the core category benefits of the entertainment industry and reaped the huge rewards in return.

If I could think of one fine example of ‘Simply Better’ entertainment experience it is none other than, Rajini Kanth.

“Consulting is a tough business”, says Alan Weiss.

You better listen when a million dollar consultant speak.

From opening a bank account to steering a challenging project can be tough, especially when you are starting out as an independent consultant.

So how do you get through?

Motivation is a big part in getting through tough challenges. I draw motivation from family, friends, colleagues, popular icons. Even events can be source of motivation.

Paraphrasing Sir Issac Newton’s words, “If I’ve succeeded, it is because I stood on the shoulders of the giants.

Standing on giants helped me so far; will it get me further? Only time will tell.

In an earlier post, I mentioned about interpreting scriptures for practical application in our lives. In this post, I’m sharing with you a story in a Hindu epic that inspired me greatly. It’s a pity that I forgot the names of the character and reference but the moral of the story inspired me all through my life.

In the ancient days, according to Hindu epics, it is a common practice for men to undertake penance to invoke blessing of gods. One such story goes like this:

A king undertakes penance with a desire to taste God’s food. Days go by; months go by; and years go by. After many many years of penance, the king is tired and thirsty. Then a lowly man walks by and enquires the tired king, if he needs something. When the king requests for water, the stranger pees in his ‘thiruvodu’ (earthen pot used by beggars for collecting food) and place it before the king. Annoyed by this, the king throws away the pot in anger. As the king throws away the pot, the lowly stranger transforms into God saying, "You threw away what you’ve been longing for – It was God’s food’.

We all long for that one ‘thing’ in our lives – be it the job that will get us out of our  debts or the gal of our dreams, or the article that will take us to the pinnacle of fame. Call it ‘unfair’, but life never gives that in a golden plate. It comes in as a ‘pee in the earthen pot’.

In software industry, it always takes the form of ‘the risky project that none wants to handle’. Taking it could spoil your reputation. But there lies "God’s food", that one thing that you’ve been waiting for.

Those who know me, know that I grab such projects with all enthusiasm. (Sometimes it had been just plain ‘pee in the earthen pot’. When that happens, the emotional pain is too high. Still you learn something valuable about handling risks). But most often I end up as a winner.

Is this true only for professional life? No. I’ve found it to be true even in personal life.

Taking risks is a difficult decision. During the decision making phase, it drains you emotionally and during implementation it drains you physically. But there lies ‘God’s food’.

Recently I read an article titled, ‘The Best Advice I Ever Got’ in Leading Blog. That triggered a walk through the memory lane to capture the best advice I got. There were so many good advices that came to my mind. But only one stood out; that was the one that changed my life, forever.

Why it mattered?

I will get to those ‘magical words’ in a minute. But let me first tell you why it mattered so much to me.

As a child I had developed severe inferiority complex – about my appearance, about my inability to speak English and about many aspects of life. Though it didn’t have much impact on my curricular life – I managed to be among the top 10 students in class – it considerably impacted my interpersonal life. I would literally run away from anyone and everyone, always imagining that no one would be interested to talk to me. That turned into a vicious cycle – I didn’t speak to anyone due to inferiority complex; so I had very few friends; because I had few friends I would feel still inferior.

Because I studied well, my parents didn’t notice anything wrong. In fact no one noticed anything wrong. It was attributed to my personality.

It is true that in the early days it didn’t have much impact on my studies. However as I started loosing self-esteem, it showed up on my progress card. My ranks started falling down (which again aggravated the feeling).

With such inflated inferiority complex, I entered college.

Those miraculous words

What I saw in college didn’t help, everywhere I saw rich and handsome guys who were speaking English fluently. Or I thought so. I drowned still further in my low-esteem.

I wouldn’t know if my college-mate ‘Arun Edwin’ noticed anything wrong; or were they impromptu words, but he uttered those magical words:

You’re inferior to none and superior none; You are unique.

Those words hit me.

That was it. Those were the exact words that I had to hear. Yes true, I am inferior to none. I am what I am. What a revelation! What followed was a magical transformation. I was still the black, village boy who can’t speak proper English. But my perspective changed – ‘I am unique’.

The Impact

I’m looking back after about 15 years.

It is not a simple change; it is a heavenly transformation – none of my current colleagues will ever believe that I once suffered from inferiority complex. I don’t feel ‘threatened’ by ‘handsome’ guys anymore . I can strike a conversation with ease.

And my English improved very well. I am confident of writing articles, proposals and similar materials. I’m not (yet) perfect, but I keep improving myself.  I dream of writing for journals like ‘HBS working knowledge’.

Not just the first part of advice but the second part too had a profound impact – not superior anyone. Even when I’ve tasted success after success, I keep repeating those words to myself. As a matter of fact, every success humbles me – I realize that I could’ve been a total failure in life; so I ensure that I don’t spoil my success with haughtiness.

If you feel inferior for any reason, however genuine they might seem, repeat those words with me:

You are inferior to none; You are superior to none; You are unique.

Those words will bring magical results into your life, as it brought to mine.

As I go through the ups and downs of life, these words keep me going with sanity.

This too shall pass

I’ve come across many difficulties in life – disappointments, physical ailments, academic failures, broken relationships and financial difficulties. As I went through each of the tough phase in my life, I’d tell myself – ‘This too shall pass’ and so did each of them.

There was a time when I used to think that, "I don’t need to do anything; with time, this situation will go away or get better". I’ve realized that it is a lazy attitude.

Some situations may go away or get better as time goes. In other cases, you have to change your perspective or take a solid action before the situation get any better. However, most often, it is, ‘take-enough-action-and-then-wait-with-hope’.

It has guided me not only during my bad days. These words have guided me during my ‘feeling-damn-good-buddy’ days as well.

In essence, these words have kept me going with hope one one side and humility on the another.

Life is not a zero-sum game

I’ve not understood game theory well. All that I know is, "I don’t have to necessarily loose for others to win; and others don’t have to necessarily fail for me to win". Both can win. Or in corporate parlance, it is a ‘win-win’ situation.

In one of the mail forwards, I read the below and it challenged me to think with this ‘win-win’ perspective.

A shoe salesman is sent to an island. He returns back saying, "None wears shoes; No opportunity". The company sends another. He returns saying, "None wears shoes; great opportunity".

I’ve been in many disastrous situations – in personal and professional lives – sometimes when others have explicitly given up hope. I don’t mean to say I can solve the issue. Not always. But something better can come out of it, if someone takes the pain to think.

Life is a bitch and at the end you have to die

I bet you did not expect this after all this optimistic talk. Right? Well, let me say one thing: I’m somewhere in between being-optimistic and being-pessimistic, which I call ‘being-realistic’.

When I get attached to life (when the going is good) and try to be a good person myself, I start to expect that life will be fair to me. Let us get this straight: life can be beautiful; life can be fun; life can be anything but fair. Life is unfair: sometimes in favor of you; most often ruthlessly against you.

I accept the brutal fact that life is unfair (rather a bitch). That doesn’t depress me; rather it challenges me to be stronger to take action (life is not a zero-sum game; think differently to win) with a hope (this too shall pass).

I keep repeating this (AA) prayer quite often:

Grant me the strength
To change the things that I can
Grant me serenity
To accept the things that I can’t change
And wisdom
To know the difference

Life is a paradox. Beauty lies in knowing to sail through that.