Of Gandhiji’s charkha,Schumi and Biyani

If you have read the book "It happened in India" you will surely remember a lot of interesting anecdotes and recall the experiences of Kishore Biyani, the head of Future Group.
He has had a fascinating life so far much like his philosophies. One such theory of his is called “Time Pass theory”. Here is what he had to say –

“I interpret life very differently and I have this belief that we all come to this world to kill time. Therefore, we pick up some activity that we like doing and call it our profession. I call this the Time Pass theory.
I work to build a business, an organization. But what I am essentially doing is trying to spend the time I have in this lifetime. Every morning, I get busy getting ready to leave for work or some meeting. I am doing it not because I have to do it. I am doing it because I will not have much else to do through the day.
Through this work-life of ours, we tend to create our own world. We make our own definitions of success and failure, of victories and defeats. And we use these not only to judge our own selves, but also to judge others, without ever realizing that all we are doing is basically digging holes and filling them up. Yet I have seen so many people take their life too seriously, not realizing that what they are essentially doing in this world is time pass”

This theory by Kishore Biyani virtually cocks a snook at the other renowned people who have achieved great things in life only because of their sense of purpose. Unlike Biyani’s life (as he claims), their lives have been defined by direction and conviction to succeed. They simply did not land up in this world and went about killing time. They had to go through hardships and turbulent times and the end product is what we now admire. Gandhiji was one such legend. He decided to set the wheels of Indian freedom in motion and almost single-handedly inspired a whole generation to fight back against the British colonial rule.Now, without resoluteness, strong will and a sense of purpose this feat would not have been achieved.

Fast forward to our current generation, Michael Schumacher, F1 race driver, set his wheels rolling (at break-neck speeds of 300kmph) on a Ferrari. He accomplished enviable records on the F1 circuit by becoming a seven-time world champion.

Now call this Biyani’s theory arrogance personified or whatever!!! Bottom-line is Biyani has achieved a lot and I truly admire the man. On the other end of the spectrum, there are millions of us who don’t take their lives seriously and go about the chores and mechanical life hoping that some day they do something great and that they could also say – “ In my own small way, I have changed the face of mankind”.