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7/8/08, My B-School, Pune, 8.30 pm
It was one of those (rare) occasions when I was completely in to what the prof. was teaching.
As I remember, ‘Systems thinking’ lectures were always stuffed with some above the head concepts like mental models, learning organizations, irreversible loops etc. I and some of my highly optimistic classmates, we used to try our best to figure out what exactly is being taught. But most of the times we used to end up staring at the board with the Eshan Awasthi expressions on our face. (Remember Taare Zameen Par, the kid with Dyslexia?)
However, today’s lecture was an exception, revolving around only two terms: - ‘Universal purpose and Individual purpose’

“When I say ‘individual purpose’, I mean all the objectives, dreams and targets one sets for his own life”, Sir was teaching.
“By now, you all must have set some objectives and I’m sure you all have big dreams. However apart from these objectives that we set for ourselves and consider them as the purpose of our life, there is one more purpose behind our existence.
And that one is set for us by the Universe or Mother Nature or God, whatever you call it. This is called as the universal purpose. Don’t take the literal meaning of the word ‘universal’ here, just understand that the purpose set by the universe for us is our universal purpose.”
Then there was a long pause that was absolutely necessary to absorb this new funda.
“And … He continued ,”There is a universal purpose for everyone. I repeat, there is a universal purpose for existence of each one of you in this room.”
"But Sir, how to find out our universal purpose?"
“Well…. I don’t have any encouraging answer for this. Most people depart from this world without ever knowing the real purpose behind their existence in this world.
However there are some guidelines to find out this purpose. If you are working in line with the universal purpose, you will always experience joy and ease despite of multiple obstructions in your path. You will never get bored or frustrated.
And when you will accomplish the tasks set for you by the universe, you will ,in a way, serve the entire mankind. You don’t need to be Mother Teresa or Mahatma Gandhi to serve people. You can do it in your own way.
So when you will lose yourself in some work and experience immense joy, ease and grace while doing it and at the same time, people around you will get benefited through it, understand that you’ve found it.
And when that golden moment of realization will come in your life , you have my cell number, don’t forget to SMS me.”

5/6/ 2009, Juhu beach, 6.30 pm
A friend of mine was talking bit restlessly, quite contradictory to his otherwise calm and composed nature.
“‘Superficially, I’m fine. My job is going great, got promoted last month. However something is missing yaar. Don’t you think we are living like billions around us?
I mean, look at our life, Monday to Friday working like hell, then chilling out on weekends, getting excited with small increments, promotions…Man…This is so …so mediocre, so routine. Nowadays I’m getting a strange feeling that I’ve so much in me and that is not at all getting utilized. I’m born to do something else….Are you getting what I’m trying to tell you?”
Well, that was an unexpected reply to my simple & harmless question, “How’s life ?”

8/12/2009, Some cyber café in Chennai, 7.00 pm
My inbox blinked with a mail from a friend. A friend who is currently thousands of miles away from me. It was a long mail. Took me ten minutes to read and half an hour to grasp the matter.
He was saying that he has found the one thing he is best at. His strength, his talent. And he is going to sculpt his entire life considering this particular thing at its core.


I remember all these incidences so clearly till date because of one powerful common theme they share. In one way or the other, all the above mentioned incidences are connected to this theory of finding and aligning ourselves with the universal purpose.

I think , the primary step to find out our ‘universal purpose’ is to trust that there is such an entity called as the universe .And the next one is to believe that there is some special, definite purpose behind our existence. (Forget about finding that purpose for a while, this thought itself is rather encouraging, isn’t it ?)

Believing such things can be little difficult for some logical and rational minds out there.
Because no tangible proof of this theory is available.
Even I found it difficult to believe the universe as an entity and then to believe that there might be some different purpose behind my existence than what I’m thinking. But two days before I saw a guy who was working with extraordinary grace and ease and somewhere I thought this guy is doing it so easily because he is doing what the universe wants him to do. I’m talking about Sachin’s double century in the last match. Two hundred is certainly a mammoth figure for ODIs, but what struck me is the simplicity with which he was executing all those difficult shots.
And then I realized that the proof of this theory is very much around us , it’s just concealed.
Check out the grace & style in Michael Jackson’s moonwalk, the effortlessness in Lata’s singing, the joy on Zakir’s face while playing tabla, the ease in Leonardo Dicaprio’s acting (‘No hidden machinery involved ‘, to quote Michael Scorsese. )
All these things indicate only one fact.

These guys have found it, the universal purpose for them, the very thing for which they are here on this planet earth.

If you ask them, why you are doing what you are doing, they all will give a common answer which is a cliché but true and that is ‘ I love to do it’.
And definitely these people are serving the entire mankind by just doing what they love to do or now we can say ,what they are born to do.
We’ll find such examples in and around us. And many of them won’t be celebrities.

In the pursuit of any dream beginnings are scary, ends are uncertain and rewards are not always assured. However we seldom think about rewards at the end, when the journey itself is full of joy.
After knowing this theory of alignment with the universe, I’m still struggling to find out my own universal purpose. Still Sir’s cell phone has not flickered with my SMS.
I’m bit confused about it. The search is on.
What about you ? Have you found that thing for which you are here? Or you are also confused? If you are, then not to worry.
Confusion is a good thing. Because, confusion, in it’s true sense, is nothing but an indicator of availability of multiple choices.