What Value Have YOU Added?
When you’re knocking furiously on the
60th door of your life, it is but natural that you have a bag of
mixed memories. Some years have been good. Some great. Some have been
indifferent. And some have been avoidable.
And each year has been a new recipe for the tangy,
hot, sweet and sour soup called life. And each year has served a wonderfully new
dish with style. At the end of it, ‘experience’ is perhaps the only thing that’s
growing faster than my girth. And I’m savouring every bit of it as it
accumulates in my very being.
Many years ago, my then Boss and now friend, had
introduced me to a professionally satisfying and motivating thought...in the
shape of a poster that asked “What Value have YOU Added”...and I’ve tried to
respond to this simple yet meaningful question with something tangible and
substantial in everything that I do.
If you just take what’s given to you and pass it
on to someone else you’re nothing but a ‘post man’. If each of us takes what is
given and adds value before passing it on, we create an enhanced and enriched
experience for the next in line.
Every year now, for a few years I have been
examining the year gone by and asking myself what value I had added and to what.
Sometimes the answer would be in the form of a relationship that I had helped
strengthen. Sometimes it would be in a product or a brand that I had helped
evolve. Some other times I’d look back with pride at the extra dimensions I’d
given a role in a play. Or at work.
This year the thing I look back at with a warm and
glowing feel in my heart, is the recent Chennai Floods and what a whole bunch of
Hyderabadi youngsters managed to do for the victims of that disaster.
Hey look, disasters are nothing new. And I’ve been
on the periphery of many a calamity and the process of recovery thereafter. But
I must admit that this time, whatever happened, happened for the first time and
happened better. There was Value Addition every step of the way.
Walk with me...
One person, doesn’t matter who, thinks that he
should do something for the Chennai Victims.
Another person picks that thought and uses his or
her network to spread it. A Community is formed.
One member takes the responsibility of connecting
with Chennai and figuring out what it is that is required. The message goes
around. A list is formed.
One person then identifies himself as the
collection spot. Things start coming in. In private cars. Hastily hired tempos.
Taxis et al.
Then the search begins for the transporter. At
this stage I am called (i am a local ‘old’ man in this community of youngsters
after all). And asked if I can suggest someone reliable for trucking
services.
I reach out to a friend. Actually, an
acquaintance. And pitch the case to her. Amazingly she agrees instantly to help.
Transport is no longer a problem to be tackled.
I thank God for the good nature of people that He
encourages. And thank him for having made reaching out to people so easy.
In the meanwhile the communication between the
victims and the Command Centre becomes sharper. Lists are fine tuned. Navigation
is exemplary.
The relief reaches the intended victims. Tracked
by GPS. Cheered by a whole band of brothers and sisters who are just heart and
soul.
Some of them even drive down to Chennai.
It’s an experience that can be encapsulated into a
few pages of conversation transcripts on Facebook, on Whatsapp and perhaps
SMSes. I really don’t know how many people were eventually involved. I only know
that I’m proud of each and every one of them.
And I especially thank my friend, the trucking
lady. She helped selflessly. And instantly. Hats off.
And yes, she allows me, in all humility, to say
that Yes. I did add value to the cycle of assistance. I am privileged. And
Blessed.
0 comments