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Stay motivated | Navin Gulia | TEDxYouth@DoonSchool


it feels wonderful to be here and I
always have a lot of questions when I
use this phrase it feels wonderful to be
here it feels great to interact with the
wall I should have a sound justification
for saying that what if we would not
have met you know we say nice to meet
you why what if we would not have met
what if you would not have invited me
what if I would not have come for some
other reason why is it nice to meet each
other it is nice because I feel meeting
one more person is like living one more
life because my own way of looking at
life I know I am aware of but when I
meet other people I learn I discovered
their way of looking at it and it
enriches my life we are meeting in a
very positive atmosphere so it is in
every way a nice thing a great thing to
me thank you all now why I began my talk
with that is that we should have always
have a justification when there was a
small boy I had lots of questions people
will tell me be a good boy I’ll say why
what’s the justification for being a
good boy is it is it because your
parents will punish you so if you are
told your parents will not come to know
then is it because your parents are
going to give you some reward you vote
you with something but then your father
tells me son this this year the
financial situation is not good I cannot
reward you then if if if somebody told
me that I am good out of fear of God so
I said then give her a very bad person
because I don’t even know whether God
exists or not I have never met him but I
am a good person you are good only out
of fear of God if somebody’s able to
convince you that God does not exist
you will become bad so that is not the
right justification for being a good boy
like we say respect others what is the
justification for respecting others why
can’t we be rude people in this world
they are having a good life they are not
they’re doing well so why do we have to
be respectful towards with us what’s the
justification for doing that
I have the justifications I will not
give them to you I would want you to
think about it
and see what your justification is for
making those choices now when I was a
small child of course I didn’t know much
I was weaker of the group shorter in
height not very good in sports
I could not throw up all well I could
not hit it well I could not catch it
I could not fly a kite children used to
fight with each other that we don’t want
naveen in a team this is what we called
rejection and we have to face a
rejection from our friends from a family
from appearance from my teachers useless
fellow your parents may call you your
friends may make fun of you so rejection
is something we all have to face in life
away we cannot avoid that now this
rejection leads to a kind of frustration
anger sometimes I meet with young
students the youth and they say sir I
want peace peace in this world peace is
not the driving force of this world we
say rest in peace when somebody is dead
peace is the end peace is not the
beginning the beginning is anger and
frustration anger and frustration is the
driving force of this world so what if
we use it in the right direction Gandhi
was a very angry man you know when we
are angry what do we do we skip one meal
and our anger is taken care of him but
Gandhi could skip being meal for 40 days
and still have the energy left in them
so he he was a very angry man who did
not who had tremendous anger towards the
way people used to behave so maybe
that’s why he wanted to change the
society he directed his anger in the
direction of self-discipline so anger
and frustration is the driving force of
this world if we don’t get angry with
the present with existing conditions
will not try to bring out our change now
as a child I did not know that it was
just fortunate that I used it in the
right direction and somewhere there was
a rebel in me who was not willing to
accept the time of each child the time
not good that my handwriting is bad my
handwriting was bad and teachers who
tell me write it under themes and hate I
would write hundred times bad and get it
so unless you tell me what are the
characteristics of a good handwriting
then somebody will tell me right
neatened idea I am NOT writing dirty I’m
writing you know tell me the
characteristics what are the five points
to be kept in mind which if anybody
keeps those five points in mind he’ll
never good handwriting so we will be
told our mistakes by a lot of people but
how to improve them we’ll have to
discover that for ourselves because
something that worked for me may not
work for you we have our own answers
which we have to find one thing for sure
that I was going to do it I was going to
improve myself I was going to be a
better child I was going to be
appreciated I was going to reach a
certain level of success in my life and
in whatever terms that we may define
success I started working hard I started
crying and finding out my ways I had
lots of questions you know why does the
Plus become more – why it is the
multiply become a divide why the
innermost record first why not the
outermost break it why do we divide the
alphabet into let into into vowels and
consonants why not just letters and why
do we need both of them to form a word
why not just one of them so I always had
these questions and because I was not
getting answers to these questions I was
not able to move further from there
so the point is you should have lots of
questions and try to find their answers
and I always say a good teacher will
never provide you the answers it’ll
teach you how to discover them and a
good student will also try to do the
same thing so anyway I worked hard I
found my answers and when I was in ninth
or tenth grade I was doing very good in
sports
I was playing nearly all the sports at
some school level some zone and level
regional level and children used to
fight with each other that if you want
naveen in your team give us two plays in
exchange so we all want that kind of
change in our lives but to bring about
that kind of a change is going to take
time what happens is the child decides
now I am going to be a good boy I am
going to study he studies for half an
hour but definitely in half an hour is
reputation has not improved
so his pyrenees father comes and schools
in
and he says what is this I decided to be
hood / now I’m not going to be able so
if you want to bring that change you
will have to live with that criticism
for a long period of time then you will
be able to bring about that change you
need that period of time now the doctors
predicted not edited diagonals that I
had bronchitis asthma I was not able to
run I was suffocating and they advised
me that I should give up sports because
I would not be able to achieve anything
in sports from next day I increased my
running distance by double and my
exercising time by double people so you
did not listen to the doctor doctors and
not cause doctors are my classmates they
can commit mistakes I know they are as
vulnerable as any of us in committing
mistakes what you will be able to
achieve in your life you have you have
the right to decide that nobody else has
the right to decide that your parents do
not have a right to decide that your
teachers don’t ever write to it aside
that your friends don’t have the right
to decide what you’ll be able to achieve
in your life you have the right to
decide it sometimes things just come to
me so I don’t agree I believe it works
this way so I say okay move it what’s
the problem
I have no essence so you if you have a
belief proof it now I continue working
hard and success was even more difficult
and the more difficult the successes the
better it is eg success can destroy you
I always say failure can hum you a
little but success can completely
destroy and dead tremendous number of
examples handling success is very
difficult thing and so I did not get
success that helped me in a way that the
fire was always daring me to succeed and
I joined army at age of 18 and by the
age of 22 I’d met with this accident not
very far from this place
just a few kilometers and that time this
place was a small town and there was no
orthopedic specialist doctor here that
doctor was to arrive by train in three
days and I had to survive those three
days from how there was the doctor he
did not know how to attend to me or what
how I was to be treated and I have I
have learned in my days of supporting in
sports and in training that more
difficult the situation is more calm you
should be if you are calm you will take
the right decision again I can just give
examples one after the other
why do we call man the synchrony as
captain cool because this cool is able
to take the right decision the more calm
your mind is the better decision will
take if you’re angry you may take the
wrong decision if you are excited you
may take the wrong decision if you’re
nervous you may take a wrong decision so
you always have to be calm when taking
decisions and I knew that so I had to
practice it at that point of time and I
lay in a hospital bed not being able to
move not being able to breathe properly
not being able to speak even my head did
not move only my eyes moved and I
imagined that I was walking in the night
and I kept forcing myself to place one
step in front of the other
that’s how I cuz I passed those three
days survive those three days and
continued I spent out two years in the
hospital again one thing that somehow we
feel having more is a better thing
whereas life is so beautifully created
that the lesser we have the mold we
appreciate it when I was in the hospital
bed I used to imagine that how wonderful
it would be if I could just turn to a
site and go to sleep I used to imagine
how wonderful it would be if I could
take a cold water bath something very
small significance but it used to feel
like a very big thing to me and I was
able to sustain those two years in the
hospital sustained nicely now that’s you
know a sportsman’s way of looking at
things if a normal person looks at an
obstacle it’s a hurdle this is another
hurdle I will have to cross this one
also where as a sportsman says ah
another hurdle Wow let’s do it
so you should look at life like a
spokesman looks at it and after two
years in the hospital again the doctor
said that one day he might be able to
move his wheelchair himself and it never
disturbs me in any way if people have in
an opinion about me people have a right
to have an opinion about me good or bad
and that doesn’t matter what matters is
what opinion I have about myself that is
important and that was 72 years back I
got injured at the age of 22 and I have
been in the wheelchair for 22 and I feel
the second 22 have been better and I
have enjoyed it more in these 22 years I
whatever I wanted to do in my life I
modified cause I drove or manual
transmission cause I am the only person
with my disability driving manual
transmission cause anywhere in the world
I made a world record which in the
adventure driving which nobody else has
been able to break till date and I write
in three languages I’m a published
author in two languages my books have
been translated into surfing languages I
get wonderful reviews for my books and
my poetry and I run an organization for
so for the welfare of the children it’s
it’s it’s not that I’m working for the
children I am working for myself it’s
it’s great joy to work for them so I’ve
been able to do everything in my life
you know right – flying also flying
power and letters and Mac related
perhaps whitewater rafting things
whatever I wanted to do and the
difficulties the challenges that I had
to face in my life actually helped me
achieve that sooner than later we have a
misconception that if we have to face
some difficulty or some challenge maybe
now it’s going to take more time no it’s
going to help you achieve so long so
that is how it works in in reality and
I’m very glad that I’ve been able to do
it now the main thing is before doing
before you know venturing on any of
these expeditions or any of these tasks
I really did not know how I will do it
but that I will I was sure that is the
idea one idea that I want to give you
out of my story today that you know what
happens with most of the people is that
they have a dream like Martin Luther
King said I have a dream we all have a
dream the point is we want all the
answers before we start on that path
before we start following that dream we
want the answers what if this happens
what if that happens what if I lose what
if I did we want all the answers you can
never have the answers before you have
to start on that journey in somewhere
along the way you will keep discovering
the answers that is important so start
on the journey it is like that camping
trip that you want to go on and before
going on that camping trip you carry all
those hunting knives and this gadget and
that carrot and then of those gadget
comes handy what comes handy is
something you find on the ground there
so in life also you may have n number of
answers before starting but what it will
eventually help you will discover on
your way so don’t hesitate to follow
your dreams what is you know the fear
people have what if I feel I see what’s
the maximum that can happen you will
fail it’s okay not a big deal 7,000
cruel people have come in this world and
gone away you will also come and go hey
not a big deal at the most what K what
will happen at the worst what can happen
you will feel that it’s okay
except that accept that possibility so
that that fear goes away from you and
then after that focus on your work focus
on your dream so that is about it as far
as the idea that I wanted to share with
you and I have a collection of pictures
in the form of a PowerPoint presentation
most of these pictures are intended to
impress you all and so let’s talk about
it this is partly frozen MercyMe click
temperatures there can go up to minus 30
minus 40
and yes this is a that time of the year
when neither the Chinese troops nor the
Indian troops are there fighting with
each other
next next these are my this is my very
good friend if it’s the Kommandant of
Indian of Russia Indian military college
our MC right now next we were in
training together next whether you
believe in God or you don’t believe in
God
the body that has been gifted to you is
a very great gift we should take care of
it we should try to stay as fit as
possible next next next
people say adventure is about taking
risk I say adventure is not about taking
risk adventure is about eliminating the
risk and you will you know I got injured
on this particular obstacle a very
simple obstacle so you you you you face
your end or even face your face and
injury where you will be least expecting
it next this was the condition in which
I had to remain in the hospital the
facilities were very in the poor
facilities at that time and I could not
move at all and I treated that period of
hospitalization as some kind of you know
meditation or something from which I
learned next next next
I have always you know sometimes people
say what if this would not have happened
you cannot know Eisenberg’s
uncertainty principle you can never know
what would have happened if this would
not have happened but it works for me to
believe that whatever happened happened
for the right and happened for the
better so I will believe in it next next
next I always say life is like a 500
rupee note if you keep it in your pocket
it’s a piece of paper if you spend it
you can buy something with it and
whether you spend it or not it is going
to prove a so it will be better you
spend it
next next next next next next I go to
the cold places in winters and I go to
the deserts in summers because like
people say what what’s wrong with you
why are you going to the deserts in
summers so I say if you have not seen
the deserts in summers you have not seen
that as it’s you have to see them in
summers if you want to know what does it
feel like next a lot of places you know
this is again check rata falls those who
have corn would wonder how I reach this
rock crossing that mountain track the
foot track the thing is when you have an
impossible target in front of you and
you are able to divide it into 50 or
read logical small smaller steps you can
achieve it
next this is the white desert a place
where you can actually see that the
earth is round next next next next
some people are impressed your you have
done flying and all I said flying is
easier than driving next next next one
thanks yes we can stop there it’s a long
presentation we will not continue
further now I’ll end with my social work
because a lot of youngsters twins come
to means they say sir I also want to do
social work so I say can you be happy
when you see your friend or your
competitor succeed and not feel jealous
can you meet people with a smile can you
be nice to people can you congratulate
your competitor and celebrate history
over you you know if you if you don’t
have that kind of a heart and really you
cannot do social work first you should
work on developing that kind of our you
are a giver where you can instead of
wanting appreciation you can give
appreciation to others you can encourage
others if you have that then after that
you can venture into
Social Work so that’s about it and I
hope I’ve been able to convey that idea
that if you have a dream follow that
dream you will find your answers on the
way
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