Invictus

Now that ‘one billion’ prayers have been answered and the ‘world champion’ feeling sinks in, I cannot but help remember the movie Invictus. Nelson Mandela, in his first term as the South African President, initiates a unique venture to unite the apartheid-torn land: enlist the national rugby team on a mission to win the 1995 Rugby World Cup. The idea of using sport as a means to rally a fractured nation, unify it in the true sense of the word is so inspiring. I wonder whether our world cup victory will go beyond the ‘kitna majaa kiya’, ‘raat bhar piya’ kind of conversations that I have been picking up. Will this be another spectacle before we move onto the next episode of the IPL?. Will we be able to rise as one nation and demand the good governance that we deserve (well we gotta vote first), will we be put the country first or will we slip into our mundane routine of acceptance. Well, Dhoni and his boys did not. I believe it will be a shame if we did not learn from this stupendous effort. I guess we have too many people trying to change everyone else around them, I have decided to start with myself:

1. Develop ambition, believe in myself 2. Execute relentlessly. Chance as they say favors the prepared mind 3. Follow instinct. It is after all the purest form of thought. 4. Do what I most enjoy. 5. Question status quo.

This victory has brought into sharp focus the value of good old hard work and smart execution. More importantly it has highlighted an important facet of life ‘our families’, the reason we work the crazy hours we do (Gary truly deserves the title Guru only for this). So,

6. Enjoy life to the fullest with family and of course friends (I consider myself lucky to have 12 blokes who I can count on) Nelson Mandela was hugely inspired by the poem Invictus, a few lines reproduced below:

It matters not how strait the gate,

How charged with punishments the scroll,

I am the master of my fate:

I am the captain of my soul.

MSD showed us that he is truly the captain of his soul. Question is are we?