Welcome back to another edition of Monday Truclusions! Well, to be honest with you, I haven’t recovered from IIS 2016 yet. Maybe I don’t want to! Believe me, working towards our vision of making India inclusive, and the mission of making a difference to 10 million lives by 2020 is addictive.
As Ferose and his team would say, “Each time we experience the joy after completing one edition of IIS. We long for more and we can never have enough of it”.
Change Is A Way Of Life
To satisfy my withdrawal symptoms, today, I will tell you about another personality I met at IIS this year. But before that, I need to tell you a story, a story of a frog that never learnt to accept change and paid dearly.
Once a frog was ensnared in a fisherman’s net. Unfortunately, the frog was the only thing the fisherman had caught that evening. Though he wasn’t happy with the catch, he was at least satisfied he had something to fill his empty stomach. So he went home and happily started to make arrangements to cook the frog.
In his excitement, he overlooked the fact that the frog was alive. He put the frog in a vessel filled with water, set it to boil, and covered the vessel with a lid. The frog, on the other hand, did not realise that his life was in peril. It began enjoying the comfort of the lukewarm water. As the temperature of the water increased, so did the frog’s enjoyment.
But at one point, the water became hot enough that the frog started to feel uncomfortable. But frogs do have the ability to gradually adjust their body temperature to their surroundings. So, the frog used all its energy to adjust its body temperature to that of the water.
It failed to realise that in the process of making itself comfortable, it was wasting vital energy, which it could have used to jump out of the vessel. Finally, when the frog could no longer sustain itself in the boiling water, it tried to jump out. But it was too late, the frog was too tired to take the leap and was boiled alive.
The frog did not jump out of the vessel because it was too comfortable with the situation. It was not ready to let go of the surroundings it was happy in.
Personally, I have hated my wheelchair since childhood, and I never wanted to sit on one. Thanks to my family, I never had to until I started my first job. If I had been the frog and hesitated to adapt to my new aid, I wouldn’t have been able become as independent as I am today. Well, that was a small example of adaptability.
A Champion For Inclusivity
Now, the personality I am going to introduce to you is extremely different to the frog whose story I narrated just now – poles apart actually! She has been given the title of ‘Champion Of Change’, which is indeed what she is. She has been honoured by President Obama, President Clinton, and many other important figures. She is also the first blind and deaf graduate from Harvard Law School.
I proudly present to you – Haben Grima! I’m at a loss for words to describe her properly. But I can say this, some of her best qualities are her confidence and the exuberance with which she lives her life. I remember reading one of her articles in which she explains why she doesn’t like being called ‘inspirational’. According to her, the work an individual does must inspire others, rather than his or her challenges or limitations.
Our team at ANZ were absolutely blown away by her thought process. There is no doubt that she has been able to accept every challenge life put her through and overcome it with flying colours.
Being The Change You Wish To See
On the podium of IIS 2016, she quoted a few examples that were eye openers for many.
For instance, when Haben applied to Harvard Law School, the administration told her that they had never had a deaf-blind student before. Her response to them was candid and confident, and essentially Haben, “I have never applied to Harvard Law School before.”
Haben communicates with the help of her digital braille machine, which has a wireless keyboard component that allows others to type messages to her. When President Obama met her, he communicated with her using this medium. Of course, President Obama has to be appreciated for making the choice to do so. It would have been very easy for him to ask someone else to type for him or ask for a tactile sign language interpreter. But it was Haben’s willingness to adapt to challenging circumstances, and still be her victorious self that influenced the President.
When I went to introduce myself to her, I typed her a message and let her know that I can only use one finger to type, and I might be a little slow in doing so. She wasted no time in telling me that I could type at my own pace and it was up to her to adapt to my situation.
She had a similar message for people in her speech. Here are a few things that I took away from her speech, which dealt with what we can achieve by being proactive to change:
- Resisting falling into the rut of mundane expectations.
- Being observant and looking for what might be coming next.
- Monitoring for all possible sources of information.
- Taking some action as soon as possible, because the riskiest thing is doing nothing.
People like Haben, Damini (who I spoke about last week) and other achievers, who have fought adversity and emerged stronger, wouldn’t have been able to do so if they had not swum against the tide. They had to take a leap of faith.
Here is some food for thought, if someday the sun of your hope begins to set, is this poem something that will help it rise again?
While
Of all the peaks of success you have scaled,
Beyond the times you have failed.
When the world leaves you alone,
And every place seems a thorny thrown.
When you fall to your knees,
And you are deserted of a pleasant breeze.
You don’t find a friendly face,
Every step feels deeper into a maze!
In times of distrust and dismay,
I will be a thought away.
You will always have a home in my heart,
I will never let us part.
All you need is to do is hold your nerve,
Each day of your life is a learning curve.
Liked reading this? Then you might also like to read Monday Truclusions – Making Unforgettable Memories At IIS 2016.
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