Vision of Life; by Sanjay: Togetherness, Goodness & Lock-down!

10th July 20

"Hard times are good, they make you able to test yourself your toughness"...

Dear Team Sanjeevani,

I only wrote above quote & I know writing or sharing philosophy about hardness of life is very easy but living that life is not!! Let me tell you all, in these times when we thought life is coming back to normal, may be slowly but was moving, suddenly when this new lockdown has been made stringent again making everything standstill, I am equally disturbed or even say frustrated, demoralized, depressed & scared too but I am ok with it!! As on one side its burden of commitments to our vendors, contractors, clients, banks then on other side pressure or fear of health of myself as well other members in the family, elder ones & younger ones too!! And I know you all have same fears & pressures but let me share, you are not alone & the best thing about sharing is, when its joy, happiness, goodness you share, it gets multiplied i.e. increases but when you share depression & fears, it gets divided i.e. reduces!! In both ways sharing is important & you shouldn’t have any shame in sharing your fears or depression, as we all are humans & we have a thinking mind, which easily gets drifted towards negative things, faster than thinking about positive or happy things!!

Exactly this is the real test of each of us, as a team & as an individual. As each of us is a father, a mother, a sister, a son or a care taker to someone & one or many people are depending on us in different capacity & roles!! Don’t allow this knowledge of responsibility to become your weakness but make every such relation as your strength!

Again, easy to say but most difficult to actually do it as hardest fear you overcome or to win is fear of unknown, which we all are facing now!!

But then none of us has ever faced fear of unknown which actually is always there but in normal life we think we know everything & control it, which again is a big lie we are telling to ourselves as nobody can control the future or know the future, even next hour that what will happen but we live on assumptions, that we know what will happen next. All that is our guess from our past which we call experience & when we are unable to guess as we are facing something of which we have no experience, we are allowing to fear rule our mind, which is happening right now!!

And this is situation like some war on border or like the way in World War, European countries has faced. Imagine you are a soldier on border & war is going on, you have a gun in your hand but so has the enemy & firing is on, all you can do is keep firing at the same time try to protect yourself from enemy’s firing, isn’t it?? And then imagine yourself sitting in your home & are a civilian, common citizen just the way you are right now and enemy's fighter planes are hovering over your city day & night, bombing it!! How you would have felt, well exactly the same way, you are feeling right now, isn’t it? But does your thinking will change the situation which you are in; answer is a big "No"! All you can choose is how to face the situation; this is what differentiates a brave & a normal person. I won’t say you are a coward as a brave doesn’t mean he don’t have any fears, a brave is who chose to accept his fears & face the enemy keeping the fears aside!

Let me tell you something, fortunately the city we are in & the business we are in makes us much more comfortable than most other business. As our lands are not going to ran away & our building are not going to decay, not even roots9 hotel. And a home & the food are human beings two of the three basic needs i.e. "roti kapada aur makan" & we have our presence in "roti & makan", so these industries are going to stay even after the war also & so will be us!!

Only thing is, we should be fighting our war as a team & as an individual with proper care & attitude. Any war is won with attitude more than just physical strength, sometimes taking a step back is also an important aspect & waits for right moment to strike. In no case a frustrating daring, careless approach is useful as history has proofs such approach has lost even the winning wars at many occasions!!

If on work front we all need to be particular & more proactive to whatever our job may be i.e. if you are a sales person then see that you give your best not just to give the client information about his or her home but you try to make him or her your friend first!! Even a driver should make the client or any person sitting in his car feel, that he or she is travelling with their family & son or father or mother is driving the car & not some company's unknown driver!! An engineer should look at the building as he is building his own home & not somebody else’s, then see the difference, the quality will definitely follow & this we have to tell to our contractors & vendors & bankers too. Do mind an army is built out of all wings, it’s not just artillery or air force or navy which makes you win the war but even a cook in the kitchen who makes food for the soldiers is also matters in a victory! This thing each of you can do it for our team!

And on personal front, be safe by your own self, by mind & by body. Use the period of lockdown to do something creative & even when the lockdown is over then also follow the habits of self care & self development. May it be any hobby of reading, singing, painting, game anything, try to excel in whatever you are doing as it will make you more confident about your own capacity & that’s what matters most!!

Lastly, believe in goodness & togetherness as that’s something no enemy can defeat!! And yes history is not just about final outcome of any war; it’s about the way you fought also!

Thanks a ton for our togetherness & let’s stick so...

Sanjay deshpande