Are You A Destined To Be Great?

 Leadership is a highly debated issue and one never gets a simple answer to the question –what makes a great leader .As a leader of some sorts ,I have often debated it in my mind and read and attended umpteen seminars about the same .My simple answer to the question as to who is a great leader would be  –a great leader is someone who is so passionate about a idea that he /she is not only willingly to die for it ,but pushes himself /herself to be exposed to death in its quest .In other words -fearless .There are innumerable examples of people who were fearless and possesed with an idea -Hitler ,Gandhi ,Martin Luther ,Chengez Khan ,Nelson Mandella ,Abraham Lincoln ,Alexander the Great,Winston Churchill....and the list goes on and on .Not all of them were neccesarily good -but all of them were able to command the obedience and allegiance of men under them.I am trying to analyse the core of great leadership ,which is radically different from good moralistic leadership (though great leaders have more often than not been value oriented leaders.).
In recent times there are   two supreme examples of great leadership that come to mind -both in the very recent past  .And in different fields –one in aviation and the other in education

Neerja Bhanot was the pretty  senior flight purser from Chandigarh who was  on the ill-fated Pan Am Flight 73, which was hijacked by four heavily armed terrorists after it landed at Karachi  from Mumbai in 1986. Bhanot alerted the cockpit crew about the hijack and, as the plane was on the tarmac, the three-member American cockpit crew of pilot, co-pilot and the flight engineer fled from the aircraft. Bhanot, being the most senior cabin crew member on board, took charge.

After 17 hours, the hijackers opened fire and set off explosives. Bhanot opened the emergency door and helped a number of passengers escape. She could have been the first to jump out when she opened the door but she decided not and was shot while shielding three children from a hail of bullets.Maybe some of you have not heard of her -but she is the youngest recepient of the highest gallantry award given to a citizen during peace time  ,the Ashoka Chakra ,has a Square named after her in Ghatkopar (Mumbai) called "Neerja Bhanot Chowk",and has a stamp which was released by the Indian Postal Service in 2004 commemorating her .She was also given  a Special Courage award by the US Department of Justice in 2005.Her age -just 22 years .!! That is greatness and please compare her response to that of the 3 members of the cockpit crew who deserted the plane and ran away -as if they would live forever by doing so !!

The second example is that of Tahira Qazi ,the Principal of Army Public School in Peshawar where  young and innocent children were brutally gunned down  . Ahmed Qazi, son of Tahira Qazi, the martyred principal says his mother  never  ever left  school till the last child had left and even on the day terror struck, she had a chance to escape, but she insisted she would leave with the last child. It so happened that her body was the last one to leave the campus that day. When terrorists entered the administrative block, he says his mother told them, "Leave the children aside , talk to me, I am their mother." She was contemptuously shot in the head.What a sacrifice . Her place in history is assured .
Maybe all Principals and budding Principals can reflect whether we have it in us to stand up –if not to die ,then at least not to compromise on basics of important values which we are duty bound to teach  .Do we have it in us ?Do we want to be great and risk everything for a cause and NOT  believe that greatness comes only to Generals ,Politicians ,Sportsmen,Film Stars ?  If yes –then history will judge us kindly (the present may not ).If no –do we go back home everyday  and sleep in peace ?The answer to one of those question will determine whether you will make a good or a great Principal .And only you know the answer .
However the bottom line is -you can never become great by playing safe .!!

Uttarayana -Remembering Ahmedabad !!

My Day Out On Uttaryana.

It was a busy day for me yesterday .It was  a day I had earmarked for seeing and absorbing the colours of Uttarayan –the kite festival in Gujerat .Uttarayan coincides with Makar Sakranti and signifies the end of winter and the beginning of the movement of the Sun north towards the celestial space which heralds the summer months .From July it starts heading southwards and thus is called Dakshinayan –a move which will bring in the winter months .

It is a big, big festival in Gujerat and one cant miss the pulse of it .There is a lot of flutter in the city weeks before the festival date –with kites being sold  all over shops in the city .The vegetable markets are packed and one should be brave to try to venture into them because people are buying  vegetables to prepare the traditional dish called “undhyu”.Undhyu is a mixed vegetable –fruit, sweet and sour gravy which is eaten with puris and sweet ladoos or “surati jamuns”.!!I planned my trip out to see how Uttarayanan happens .!

A Stack Of Kites -Rows After Rows of Them  At The Patang Bazaar.

I first made my way into the Bopal area where I stay .It has a number of highrises and the moment I drove out and into the residential part of the colony (I stay in a secluded part of the area ),I could see why the festival was what it was known for .I could see desolate roads ,and crowded rooftops .I could hear drums being beaten(dholaks)and I could see men and women dancing .And I could see hundreds of colourful kites flying in the skies .There were small boys on the road who carried wooden sticks and had their eyes fixed for a falling kite .The moment it(the falling kite) neared them ,they would raise the stick upwards and give the thread of the falling kite a twirl and “capture”,it .It went on and on .I watched the whole thing with a sense of amusement and awe .!!I took several photographs of it .!!

But my main destination was the heart of the city –Manick Nagar , Kalupura ,Daryapur,and Khanpur .One has to be brave to get in there .The streets are narrow ,they are bustling ,they are cluttered with tea stalls and dhabhas BUT one can see kite flying at its best here!! .I watched with amazement how small children were so adept at flying kites .I also saw some amazingly designed and coloured kites .I even managed to buy a pack of 20 kites for 100 rupees .I talked to some of the old residents of the area .Some of them had been flying kites for 60 years .!!Kites are strung by a thread called “manjha”,made out of powdered glass .This helps in giving a kite a edge when it entangles itself with another kite or enters into a “war”with it .!!Localities fight with each other in “downing”,each others kites –as soon as a kite goes into the air ,it is a signal for the adversary to retaliate .!!Its much like a air raid over a city by the enemy –the plane has to be shot down !!There are champion kite fliers and they have kites which are specially made for them .So when Ustad Nizam Sheikh puts out his kite –everyone  recognizes it .He is a celebrity  kite flyer of his locality and normally will be challenged by a celebrity champion kite flyer of the locality adjacent to his .These are contests which are watched very keenly and celebrations break out  among the supporters of the kite flyer who brings down the opponents kite .

I watched one such contest .It was a enthralling experience as the two kites of opposing localities took to the skies .It is not only a matter of art but also of strategy .The kites skirted each other –trying to get at the other from a particular angle .And from a particular height .Finally one kite swooped on the other one from above ,Nizam frantically tugged at it –first gently  and then in a series of convulsions ,and finally a loud cheer as the opponents kite went into a free fall .The little boys darted off with their wooden sticks to retrieve the booty!!.Everyone started dancing –including me .!!A free cup of half chai -“cut”chai-was served and the battle continued .It was great fun and I never knew that kite flying was so competitive and generated so much passion .I had learnt another thing –experienced something which I had never experienced .

In the evening ,the sky was crowded with white kites so that one could pick them up against fading light .And when it got dark I saw for the first time “tukkals”-kites lit up .The sky was peppered with them .It was a beautiful site .

I don’t celebrate any festival –neither holi,diwali , sankrati or uttaryan .I am against them because I think they tend to do harm .Holi is dangerous –I have seen people getting blind because of spurious colour .In Diwali I have seen people being terribly hurt and animals being terribly frightened .During kite flying I have seen so many birds lying on the roads and fields being slit because of the sharp and glass coated thread .I wish one

 could balance our festivals in a way by which everyone can enjoy .This year we decided to campaign not to fly kites between 6am to 10 am and from 3pm to 7 pm .Thats the time time when birds tend to take to the skies .I hope all of you who are reading this will spread this message across .We need more birds  in the sky than the kites I saw on Uttarayan .Not less .As Charles Lindberg the first pilot to fly solo across the Atlantic wrote 

"I realized that if i had to choose ,i would rather have birds than aeroplanes "(his last interview before he passed away )

We need to protect the beautiful form of life called birds .I cant better their value to us than to quote what John Burroughs wrote

"The very idea of a bird is a symbol and suggesstionto the poet .A bird seems to be at the top of the scale ,so vehement and intense his life .....the beautiful vagabonds endowed with every grace ,masters of all climes ,and knowing no bounds. How many human aspirations are realized in their free ,holiday lives ---and how many suggesstions to the poet in their flight and song .!!

My Debt To Reading !!

I have always been fond of reading . I started reading  rather  early in life and there was a reason why I did so .It was because of my passion for cricket .I don’t know why I was so passionate about cricket –it was something very abnormal because I used to scan every paper or magazine (those days only one –Sports and Pastime)and  note down some  contents things  in files .I would even cut and paste some of  clippings from newspapers into similar files  .By the time I passed out of school I had nearly a hundred files .Sadly ,termite ate into them in  my ancestral home in Clement Town, and with a big bonfire one day –they were consigned to flames .I  remember  I felt terrible about it .The burning files being consumed by flames is etched sharply in my memory .

Reading about cricket was contagious .It  quickly spread to reading books .I do not call myself a voracious reader –but a steady and meticulous one .I had to read my quota of 10 books or so in a month and it was  a certainity that I would read a minimum of 100 books a year .(the voracious reader would read about 500 books or so a year –I read somewhere that Shashi Tharoor reads about 2 books a day on a average!!).Whatever I read –I reflected upon .I imagined the rolling countryside described in some novels and I also pondered a lot of themes of betrayals and selfishness and about love and lovemaking.  Books cemented my beliefs in right and wrong and made me thoughtful. I lapped up P G Wodehouse ,Enid Blyton ,W E John(Biggles and Gimlett), Shakespeare ,Max Brand (Westerns ),Oliver Stone ,and even Barbara Cartland (I have 4 sisters and they loved the romance depicted in Mills and Boon novels ).I read the great classics and one of them that stood out in my mind was “Wuthering Heights” by Emile Bronte .

My school Librarian gave me Wutheing Heights and “ordered”  me  to read it and review it .I was about 13 years old . “ Don’t think you have write about it while you read it, otherwise you will treat it like homework” he advised .”And don’t worry if you don’t want to write about it –its ok ,just enjoy the book” he said .I took the book home .As luck would have it –the electricity went off  after I had just started reading it .But  I had a kerosene lamp. Just the right atmosphere in which to read this haunting epic of star-crossed lovers. I stayed up till three in the morning to finish the book.The power of the writing was to remain with me for the rest of my life.I continued reading while in College and University and subsequently when I started teaching .Since i read History at College and University ,i read a lot of books on the subject .And Yes -i read Toynbees 12 Volume Classic "A Study of  History"as well !!

Reading was a habit which came to stay and never went away .I still have to read  before I sleep –otherwise I cant fall asleep .!!

 After a gap of 25  years,of  reading Wuthering Heights  in school ,I picked it up again again while I was a Principal in Bhopal.. Would it have the same hold over me? Or had I grown big and old now to NOT be moved by  a tale of love, hate, longing and enchantment? Obviously I had not, for once again I was up all night, gripped by this haunting  tale of  passionate yearning and burning desire played out on the desolate Yorkshire moors. Catherine and Heathcliff yearn for union with each other but it is always denied. Just as Emily Bronte’s yearning for love and fulfilment finds exp­ression in this tale of her own frustration. And with yours and mine at different phases of our life .And as  my train rushed across the Yorkshire Moors en route to Scotland –I once again remembered “Wuthering Heights”.!! After 40 years !!Thats the impact reading books has had on me !!

I haven’t read much in Dubai –and the reason for that is that my rather large and personal library is left behind in India in boxes packed neatly(I am a great one for rereading what I like ) .But whenever I get a chance to read –I do so .My writer friend Meenu Mehrotra presented me her novel –“Sunlit Hearts” .I loved it as I did reading Rajdeep Sardesais book  “2014 –The Elections That Changed India” .I haven’t read books written by my students Anupam Srivastava ,Mahendra Jakher and Ajit Shehrawat .I look forward to doing so in the very near future .

I look forward to going back to reading( about 100 books a year),  as I start my walk back to the pavilion !! I only hope that its not a case of the “Far Pavillions” because I cant wait to get there !( a fabulous book by M M Kaye).And I hope the termites don’t get to my valuable books which are lying packed  in India.That would be the unkindest cut I would have ever got in my life !!