News Headline
The Year in between 2006 and 2008
Here’s a year that barely was!
When someone writes the history of 2007 they will find it difficult to find the right catchphrase to define an odd year.
People, I’m not going to lie when I say that for me it was a True Generation Year because it made me realise that I had made one of the best decisions of my life. I say one because there are other Best Decision Year status years.
 |
Leaving the comfort zone was the BIG CALL because at the end of the day, no matter what, it’s not called The Comfort Zone for no reason. It’s called the Comfort Zone because that’s what we strive for all our lives. As a student you’re made to realise that if you work hard you’ll get a Good Job and work for a Good Company and Money isn’t everything! So you study hard , work hard and then finally get a job that you think is cool and you get on with the boss and you continue to strive each day to get promoted and earn that little bit more and so on and so on. Then when you get to the Top you realise that that’s Not the Top and the chase continues. It’s a bit like going on a trek and you’re told that the stopping point is just round the corner and you find that its not. There’s another corner to go round and another and another until you’re completely knackered.
So when you get to the place where you think it’s the Top you could say that it’s the Comfort Zone you’ve always strived for.
Not a bad place to be. The view is good, the perks aren’t bad, there’s plenty of challenge and yet there’s the Golf routine and the variety of paid-for overseas jaunts and family holidays, at least twice a year. An expense account that most would kill for and so on. A couple of trips in the corporate jet maybe.
That’s when the fun starts because there are people who’ll tell you that you should really be doing more with your life and get OUT OF THE COMFORT ZONE. As though the Comfort Zone was a place akin to hell and that you could be doing more interesting things with your time and getting more out of life!
And the strong willed amongst us take that on board and yet dismiss it and stay put and enjoy The Comfort Zone. (Sounds like a good name for a massage parlour or a nightclub).
The more Daring, Creative, Energetic, Passionate, Fun loving, Mad ones actually take the BiG CaLL and do it. They quit. And take the plunge into the icy waters of ‘doing your own thing’.
So for me this was the Generation Year that I took the plunge but I’d never have done it without being pushed by Indrani – my much better half – (and that was an earlier BEST DECISION YEAR) who’s said I was a loser if I didn’t do this and asked me time and again how long I would be a slave to someone and do the ‘yes sir yes sir, 3 bags full sir’ routine.
I would recommend the’ Icy water jump’ to anyone who’s been doing the 3 bags full routine for any length of time and ask them to rekindle the flame of taking risks.
The transition from being an entrepreneur to a professional entrepreneur is less exciting I think that going from being a prosessional and doing the transition to becoming an entrepreneur.
Go for it any day. You can’t imagine how boring life has become until you see the light at the end of the tunnel and after about 3 days you don’t actually miss the corporate jet or the expense account or the rest of it.
It’s a new start and that’s the key to reinvention.
There’s another reason for me to call this a BIG DECISION YEAR. That’s because I bought my first computer game – since buying the original Nintendo. This time its the Nintendo Wii and I bought it to play tennis which I’m getting better at and I have reached a score of 500, which I’m told is not so hot as I should be up to 1000+. Turns out I’m a very competitive digital athlete. My daughter whips me in boxing but I get her back at tennis – sometimes. She’s 10.
It’s also been a year for the I phone which I managed to get working quite early on and found a colleague who could transfer all the data from a Nokia to an Apple. Marvelous what the techy guys can do. Really.
This was a great year by all accounts for yours truly. No complaints, no regrets and no lack of wonderful goal posts to shoot into. A real BIG DECISION YEAR.
NEW DELHI: Hamdard Laboratories gathered a cross-section of India’s achievers in New Delhi on Friday, handing out the Hakeem Abdul Hameed Excellence Awards to figures who have left their mark across healthcare, education, sport, public service and the arts.
The ceremony, attended by minister of state for defence Sanjay Seth and senior officials from the ministry of Ayush, celebrated individuals whose work blends professional success with a sense of public purpose. It was as much a roll call of achievement as it was a reminder that influence is not measured only in profits or podiums, but in people reached and lives improved.
Among the headline awardees was Alakh Pandey, founder and chief executive of PhysicsWallah, recognised for turning affordable digital learning into a mass movement. On the sporting front, Arjuna Awardee and kabaddi player Sakshi Puniya was honoured for her contribution to the game and for pushing women’s participation onto bigger stages.
The cultural spotlight fell on veteran lyricist and poet Santosh Anand, whose songs have echoed across generations of Hindi cinema. At 97, Anand accepted the honour with characteristic humility, reflecting on a life shaped by perseverance and hope.
Healthcare honours spanned both modern and traditional systems. Manoj N. Nesari was recognised for strengthening Ayurveda’s place in national and global health frameworks. Padma shri Mohammed Abdul Waheed was honoured for his research-backed work in Unani medicine, while padma shri Mohsin Wali received recognition for his long-standing contribution to patient-centred care.
Education and social development also featured prominently. Padma shri Zahir Ishaq Kazi was honoured for decades of work in education, while former Meghalaya superintendent of Police T. C. Chacko was recognised for public service. Goonj founder Anshu Gupta received an award for his dignity-centred rural development initiatives, and the Hunar Shakti Foundation was honoured for empowering women and young girls through skill development.
The Lifetime Achievement Award went to former IAS officer Shailaja Chandra for her long career in public healthcare and governance, particularly in the traditional systems under Ayush.
Speaking at the event, Hamdard chairman Abdul Majeed said the awards were a tribute to those who combine excellence with empathy. “These awardees reflect Hakeem Sahib’s belief that healthcare, education and public service must ultimately serve humanity,” he said.
Minister Seth struck a forward-looking note, saying India’s young population gives the country a unique opportunity to become a global destination for learning, health and wellness by 2047.
The ceremony also featured the trailer launch of Unani Ki Kahaani, an upcoming documentary starring actor Jim Sarbh, set to premiere on Discovery on 11 February.
Instituted in memory of Unani scholar and educationist Hakeem Abdul Hameed, the awards have grown into a national platform that celebrates those building a more inclusive and resilient India. For one evening at least, the spotlight was not just on success, but on service with substance.
