To Fresh Beginnings - March 2012 Editorial

How often do we dread to stride on a path unknown? To uproot ourselves from the routine and risk a new path is a difficult decision - a decision arising sometimes out of choice but very often a result of circumstance. A little change in the routine brings in a breath of fresh air. It could be the arrival of a newborn, reallocating ourselves to a new home, etc. The freshness of the change often alters our life for the better. But sometimes such a change can ditch us! The risk of nudging ourselves out of the comfort zone and exploring another avenue can be rather unpleasant. The fear of facing failure and starting all over again is usually the hindrance for most of us to take risks in life. We underestimate ourselves and thus fear exploring - Be it a new job, a new residence, a new vocational stream, reviving an old passion. The ‘ifs’ and ‘buts’ create such a huge mind block that we refuse moving out of our cocoon. It may sound rather strange to an outsider, but we Indians distinguish this risk taking ability of our people by the community we belong to. Historically it is believed that the ‘marwadi’ and ‘gujarati’ community reign in their acumen for business, therefore are known to be risk takers or so called gamblers in the game of business. The ‘sindhis’ are known for their “kanjoos” calculative minds and do rather well in their small time businesses. These are the people who boast of very glorious “rags to riches” success stories. They have made it big because they had the guts to challenge themselves, they had the perseverance, and the confidence to move out of their routine and explore fresh areas. Unfortunately, even today a ‘marathi’ is believed to be rather naïve and timid in his approach towards his goals in life. An impression of a typical ‘marathi manoos’ is that of a middle level manager going for a 9-5 job, having a modest home, very satisfied in his life and very proud to be a ‘marathi manoos’ too, worrying about his children’s education, he thinks he has invested well enough in LIC policies to take care of his family’s future. Well, I beg to differ. In my opinion a ‘marathi manoos’ has evolved beyond the shackles of mediocrity. As I know many of us who have led rather successful lives, moved out and explored. There are many of us who are willing to tread on an unexplored journey, try unique career options, break the routine of a 9-5 job and embrace other business opportunities. Prabhu Tarun has featured such risk takers of our community who have chosen an off beat career in last year’s Yuva Manch Section. It was indeed a pleasure to read success stories and educate ourselves on their road to a different career; these were people who chose to walk on an uncertain but promising path and have been successful in their own journey. Yet, it would be a pleasure to come across more entrepreneurs in not just our community but other marathi communities too. The more we propagate successful entrepreneurs around us, the more the outside world will start believing that we are as good as them or even better. Of course it is important to break this belief that a community makes entrepreneurs. It takes the perseverance of an individual and the back up of his family and social circle to walk a different path. It is true that many other communities stand united to help their fellow members in any small and big challenges. Help may not necessarily be monitory, but it could be help in networking, help in tutoring, offering a business advice, or even offering an internship to gain some experience in the specialization that a youngster wants to explore! If nothing else, then simple good wishes and encouraging words also work wonders! Nevertheless, seeking help through the right people for breakthroughs is as important as offering help! We have many of our community members who hold high positions in various fields and can offer such help to youngsters in our community. But our youngsters may not even be aware of them. The younger generations have got attuned to a misconception that the community is only for their grandparents and parents to mingle. They yet have to find out such advantages which they can seek by merely interacting or actively involving themselves. They continue to fear and dread to walk on an unknown path, least realizing that the community they belong to could have someone like them, who thought similarly some years ago and managed to make a great career and a successful life with the same unique off beat profession that they today fear. This can happen only if the community as a whole upgrades its array of involvement amongst its people to other aspects of life! It is time that we rise above the usual and sometimes regressive areas of discussion to more progressive subjects. Yes we all know that usage of the “English” language is extremely high in our newsletter, which is often criticized by many of our fellow PP members. With due respect to all these members, I would like to reiterate that if another language connects better with the future of the pp community, then it is time you all bypass this bit and embrace the new youth who is coming forward to participate actively by contributing to the content of this newsletter. Where else would you be able to read the journey of a highly designated market researcher, a talented event manager, a photographer, a grooming specialist, if it was not for the flexibility of our newsletter to allow these talented people to express their views in our ‘Yuva Manch’ section throughout the last year? The point is not “WHICH” language they are writing in, but “WHO” is writing! Please notice the variety and usefulness of the content available today in a community magazine which can help career decisions for our own people. These people would continue shying away from the community had we not allowed them the flexibility of language. If these articles have encouraged even one youngster to defy traditional career streams and explore something new, then I believe that the community newsletter is doing its job and catering to its rightful audience, which is the future of the community. Performing Arts has been a critical binding force in our community. We took a risk by setting a large stage to showcase this art and it paid off! It all began with ‘Pratyush’, which brought together tons of youngsters who got a platform to showcase their talent. Today ‘Pratyush’ has become a benchmark and has set a trend within the community and we are pleased to see many other similar programs being organised with the same enthusiasm which are further bringing the community closer. These programs further instil our faith and confirm that we are in the right direction. We now want to look forward and set another trend with a new showcase of our own community. It may be a risk, but we will walk the unknown path to explore and test our capacity. This time we will bring forward a totally different facet of the people of our community. We hope that this fresh beginning will also mark a new trend and encourage a new set of talented people giving them their due recognition. Well, right now it all seems to be a jigsaw puzzle that we all are trying to solve, but sooner and surely we will spill the beans of our next project – ‘Pratyush’ will don a new look and enthral the art lovers with masterpieces awaiting everyone’s appreciation! I may sound ambiguous to you all, but spare me, as that’s exactly what I am. It may be early to talk more on this, we have our set of challenges and sooner we resolve them, we shall announce our next project! Higher the risk, greater is our determination to make it work, greater the determination, higher the efforts and thus higher the chances of success. Sometimes we only realize during such times what we are capable of as these times test our abilities. The will to fulfil against all odds is at its peak when we have lots at stake. To emerge as a winner in all we do, breaking the shackles of mediocrity is extremely important. A calculated risk will always allow us to explore the unknown and sometimes even explore our own worthiness! If we don’t allow ourselves that chance we may lose the opportunity to know more about our own self. In our careers as well as our personal lives, we owe ourselves that chance, that risk to keep bringing out the best in us. Today I am at that time of my life, where I think I am starting all over again! While I explore the unknown, and test a new direction in life, I hope I emerge as a winner at the end of the journey. Till then, here I raise a toast to A FRESH BEGINNING!