Book Review: I Will Survive by Sunil Robert

First thing first, this book is a marvel for teenagers, period!

Having said that it’s not that people of my age and above shall not read it. There are takeaways for all age groups. How does one expect a book on comeback stories of a corporate warrior—Full of challenges, learnings, hardships, cut-throat competition, leadership lessons, trials and triumphs. Yes, it does have all of that.

And, it heavily reflects upon the author’s inspiring journey through the testing times, battling poverty to support a family of six right from his childhood and coming through with flying colours.

Tough life dealt with a sense of optimism and urge to fulfil dreams, this book is a fine depiction of how one has the ability to transform his or her life if they focus on the positives and ignore the negatives.

Every chapter is summed by some thoughtful and practical learnings applicable and relatable to all of us.

Since the author starts his journey through his childhood hardships; how being unable to pay the school fee bills to pursuing further studies alongside job to mastering the art of writing and communication and to excelling in public speaking that led him to support a family throughout since a very young age and also give him a global recognition.

A fine read I would say. If you have a school going kid about to step into his or her teenage, make them read this book for preparing them for future challenges. Because, no matter how much we avoid it thinking they are too young, the truth of the fact is the world is highly competitive and favours those who can build strong relationships and have passion, energy and a clear vision.

The book has numerous tips to apply in practical life for a definitive success.

My takeaway from this book is ~ you often feel instead of scattering your energies in diverse activities you should be more focused on one thing for profound results. The author from his experience strikes off this mindset. He writes that all the wide experiences define your identity in an unfathomable way.

@westland_books

#anupriyamishrarecommends

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Let me know in comments if you liked the book review. 😌

Pages: 191

Publisher: Westland

Buy: I Will Survive: 1 https://www.amazon.in/dp/8189975986/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_PfFxFbTHC21AN

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Death is Never an Option

Losing someone close to you is painful, however what’s more painful is not being able to comprehend the pain a person must have been going through when he was alive. The entire nation is mourning over Sushant Singh Rajput’s unfortunate and unnatural death. People are also emphasising on mental health and with open arms welcoming people to pour their heart unto them. Then the same majority is busy trolling the Bollywood bigwigs on promoting Nepotism. I fail to understand why people are so judgemental all the time. Not a single being on this earth is a pure soul. People who leave no stone unturned in pinpointing others are full of profanity. They are the real troublemakers.

I am extremely heartbroken with Sushant’s death because it reminds me of losing someone dear under somewhat similar circumstances. Having said that I am absolutely not in favour of blaming anyone and putting them down because then there’s no difference between something that may have worried the passed away actor and our actions. Everyone has their own fate. Life’s full of struggle and you got to face the challenges and be strong enough. Someone has rightly said, “Tough times never last, tough people do.”

Our society is full of hypocrites. They are best at humiliating someone by their own damn statements. Targeting someone in particular can lead a person in the same situation as other. Stop bullying! Which industry doesn’t promote nepotism? I have worked with big media houses all my life and I hated this industry only because of the nepotistic approach, biases and ruthlessness. Although I have always and throughout loved my work, not the double standard people I’ve worked with. Giving up is never a solution, fighting and overcoming every bit of a challenge is.

Not sure what mental state of a person forces him or her to take this extreme step of suicide. I’m sure it’s just in the spur of a moment. I neither promote this act nor do I hold respect for people who take this dire step only because it’s not the person who dies, it’s also the family and friends whom he takes along. Some crucial part of his or her loved ones always go with the person who departs from this world.

Everyone makes way through hardships on his own. Some get the support from “godfathers” and some may not reach to that height because they had none, and it’s absolutely frustrating but fine. Live with it! Either learn to bend or learn to accept and move on. There’s no way one can break you until you do.

Who doesn’t have problems? Who doesn’t face difficulties? Who doesn’t face sarcasm and bully? Who doesn’t have to fight hard with the system and wrong practices to make space for themselves? Everyone has to and so have I. Plenty of times!

I feel proud to have stood strong and faced the problems all alone. I never stood silent, always fought for what was wrong. Yes, the outcome was either I was pushed to extremes or I moved on. In both the situations I was always content that at least I spoke and fought for my rights or for the rights of other people. This is no great act, it’s normal. Why am I sharing this is so that more and more people can speak up against bullies.

I had a boss who misused his power in order to control people. He treated people like bonded labours, shouted at them in a way that even your parents would not have yelled at you that way. You would feel ashamed of working in such an environment, coming from a decent family and professional atmosphere. Some managers make people work with respect and some with fear, he used the latter. He would make everyone work 16 hours and inhumanly call you the 20th hour for more work and then even shout at people, insult them for hardly any fault without appreciating their efforts even for once. I was stunned. Why? Because I had seen people tremble while talking to him, they fumbled because of the fear to be shouted and insulted more. Moreover, in my entire career of almost fifteen years I had never come across a manager like that.

I had worked in professionally sound places and having a sound work culture. Even in my family had I not seen anyone raising their voice on any individual. This was terrible, shocking and inhuman. I flagged some of the issues, knowing nothing would happen because I was trying to raise concerns relating the top guy who can use/ misuse his power. Sure, nothing happened as expected but there’s always a sense of satisfaction to give him back as he would think twice before ill-treating others.

Speak up! Bring to light such bullies and idiots who think high of themselves. If you do not speak up neither would you be at peace nor would this professional manhandling stop. Fight it out and don’t give up. Be it any industry, you’ll always find such people. Bring them to limelight so that their acts are known to the world. Do not leave it on people to speculate. Dying is not a solution! You can save so many lives by guiding them from taking one wrong step. Remember, God is your saviour and He always has a bigger plan for you so don’t be afraid and don’t give up on life. All God wants is to see you fight through.

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If you have faced something similar please share in comments and leave your thoughts.

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Current Corporate Scenario

A man appears for an interview in a start-up company and the conversation begins:

Interviewer: Vishwas, what is your area of expertise?

Vishwas: Sir, I have no expertise, but my strength lies in handling anything and everything. If I’m hired in one department, I’m flexible enough to move to another and manage the work with same ease.

Interviewer: Oh, I see. You seem to be a multi talented person. How do you manage that?

Vishwas: Thank you Sir. I don’t do it myself; I get it done by people.

Interviewer: That’s great. How do you do that?

Vishwas: I diplomatically handle situations, politically deal with peers and flatter my superiors. I also crack idiotic jokes to grab attention and disclose internal plans of the company with subordinates to win their respect. I know all the tricks “To win friends and influence people.” That is all I can do.

Interviewer: Wonderful! Since we are a start-up, we are looking for such people who are flexible enough. As you have come through Mr. Arora’s reference, I don’t have to ask much.

He continues, “Initially, you will be joining as the Manager in Operations. If it doesn’t suit you, let us know and we can move you to Marketing. You have all the scope to try your luck and keep on experimenting. You can also be promoted as the Head of a department by next year, if you keep justifying your salary as you’ll be on a higher package than other Managers. Wish you all the best.”

Vishwas gets scandalized with the kind of proposal.

Vishwas:  Thank you Sir.

(To himself: What a bunch of fools, who’ll reward me for zero skills. That’s the benefit of being vocal. Thanks to such start ups. Who would want to quit such a company?)

Moral of the story:

• Don’t work, flatter.
• Have strong references, a strong resume is an outdated thing.
• Be friendly with important people at the top level like your immediate supervisor, HR or whoever will be of benefit. Hang out with them often.

Coming to the Deserving Ones

A Lebanese American essayist, scholar and statistician, whose work focuses on problems of randomness, probability and uncertainty.

Poor people; they slog day and night, but neither do they show off nor do they flatter their bosses thus, they lag behind. They silently mind their own businesses, do their tasks with utmost sincerity and dedication, and still lose the race in the corporate world that have undefined set of structure. They join the company with high hopes, feel as an integral part of the organization and later on they leave with utter dissatisfaction.

**Between the lines – All those genuinely working people, you are saluted. Keep up the good work as in the end it’s you who are the masters of knowledge and expertise. It’s better to be learned than being the slave of a few. Live with pride and dignity.

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Want to know the reasons for increase in attrition?