13 best (proven) ways to waste your time!!

Being a lazy person, I have found out 13 things I can do to waste my best time. And if you do the same things, trust me, you too can waste your time and in the process waste your life..

1) Watch TV. For 4 hours a day. Watch all those serials on various channels

2) Plan but don't do anything about it. Watch some motivational speakers speak about goal setting, set goals and then........................keep those goals inside the drawer, so you can't find it anymore. Never take actions on them

3) Gossip about "that girl"/ "that boy"

4) Start your day with texting and checking your emails

5) Never ever read a good book

6) Go to facebook.com and check other peoples' statuses. Check their comments. Check that girl's recent photo. You can download and set it as your desktop background also

7) Never ask questions. Always act like the person with all the answers. Think yourself to be the expert, you don't need to learn anything

8) Give a call to someone "just to say hi" and keep talking for next 1 hour

9) Never plan your day ahead... Always say- "Jo plan karta hoon, woh toh hota hi nahi hai.." WARNING: Planning your day ahead might make you productive

10) Never have a to-do list, rather fit into others' to-do lists

11) Always think- "Maybe I should do it later.."

12) If you want to do something, never do it. Always think- "Maybe later... I can do it better later... NOW is not the time.. I should wait"

13) Go back to www.facebook.com now!

Please share YOUR best time-wasting tip down in the comment box.
I'd love to hear.

An unusual feeling!

In February, we visited Vizag.

What a wonderful place. Seaside! Fast food! Family walk! Talking to myself. Smiling at strangers. Looking at the sea from the window in the afternoon. Taking lonely long walk along the seashore. Writing words on the sand, and water coming and erasing it. Writing again... Drinking coconut water. 

I always carry my camera and mp3 player with me. And on this particular eve I was listening to this song- "Who am I" by Rupam Islam. I was listening to the version of the song he sang on a radio show. I really enjoyed and felt the song. 

Days have passed. I am back in Bangalore. Now every time I listen to the song, I go back automatically to those moments of walking along the sea. Such a strange feeling!

I think this is a v nice thing about music. You listen to a song at a place, during a span of life. Then after a long time you listen to it again and you feel like- "wow it feels the same. I am going back to those moments."

What's your fav song? Do you go back to "those moments" when you listen to it?

I'll speak soon again. I am going to turn on my mp3 player and listen to it once more!

When does your REAL race begin?

And there I was. Running a race on the annual event of my primary school wearing red shorts and white t-shirt. I was ready, steady and whistle!!!!!!!

Goooowwwwww. I was running , all were cheering and I saw my father at the end line. He was shouting- “Go, run… run Bittu run..” I was running, I was running, I was running. And suddenly!!! I fell down in the midway. Yes.. I was lying on the ground smelling the grass, inhaling the dust. I heard a voice- “Get up son, run. Get up. Get up now..” I got up, I started running, I finished the race. 

                                                                                             

Now you might think like all movies, I got up and came first anyways! Nope!! I didn’t come first. Not second. No I didn’t come third. I came 23^{rd ....} You should know that 23 kids ran that day. It’s funny, but can you feel what I was feeling that day? What do you think being 23^rd can affect a kid who was running best till midway? I can tell you I was completely heartbroken. I was crying like a baby (I was one, back then), that’s when I saw my father coming to me with his smiling face. I clearly still remember he said to me- “You did well son. You did well. I am proud of you.” I don’t know why but his words brought smile to my face that day. Now have you ever seen a kid smiling and crying together? They look cute, don’t they? I did too. I guess.

Years passed. Now I was in class 7, studying in Siliguri Boys’ High School, where I studied from class 5 to class 12. It was (and is) in Siliguri, my hometown. Did you ever wish you were the topper in your class? Great. Me too. I had my home teacher, the best teacher in the world. My mom. I studied hard, I wrote the exam. And this very day I was going to get my marks, I was excited, my mom was tense. I got my marks- my name was not there in the top 10 list. I was there in the class, thinking- “mom is waiting outside. She’ll be angry, she’ll be upset. I didn’t make it. O my God. I didn’t make it!” I got out, went near the gate where mom was waiting for me. I saw Saurav, the topper nearing his mom who was so happy, her son topped, yeah. I went to my mom and hugged. She saw my marks and gave a huge smile and said- “Wow Bittu. You did well, today you are going to get a chocolate icecream..”

What? Ice cream? I didn’t even come to the top-10 list. Now I was having an ice-cream, I saw my mom paying 10 bucks to the ice-cream uncle and I was thinking- “Wow Saurav topped and got no ice cream, I didn’t come even in top ten and got a choco ice cream. If this is the case, I’ll never come in top 10.” That day my mom taught me that it’s not about being the topper, it’s about thriving to become one.

I am now a college student. I am a member of Toastmasters International. I emjoy speaking. And I've decided that I am going be a full-time speaker. I swear I get tired. I feel studies boring, speech writing super boring at times. And that’s when I rehear the voice- - “Go........run… run Bittu run..” When I still sometimes get low marks in college, or speak to a group and feel it was not my best one, I hear my mom’s soft voice “Wow Bittu. You did well, today you are going to get a chocolate ice-cream..” That’s what keeps me moving, even when I am tired, even when I want to give up and kiss the dust.

What I now realize is- Your race doesn't begin when you start running, your actual race begins when you feel like giving up!

To the question: "How many sit-ups do you do? "Mohammed Ali answered, "I don’t count my sit-ups. I only start counting when it starts hurting. When I feel pain, that’s when I start counting, because that’s when it really counts, that's what makes you a champion."

I am becoming a champion, by falling down yet not giving up.  Are you? So the next time you’re tired of trying, I invite you to tell yourself- “My race begins NOW!”

1…..2….3… Goooooowwww

Fun @ Express2Lead Toastmasters Club

Here you can watch the video that I took after the club level contest of International Speech contest and Table topics contest on 11th March,'12

I interviewed some of the club members and guests.

I hope you enjoy.... experience it.

Wishing you fulfillment,

Bishal Sarkar

A wrong approach towards the word "success"

“Success” is a topic that anyone can and loves to talk about. A businessman, a superman, a batman, or a gentleman, whoever they are..just ask them “What is success to you?” and they start- “Well, my definition of success is completely different….”

From a long time I have been studying successful people, their winning habits, their stories. I also pride on knowing a lot of quotes on success. But there is one particular quote that struck a chord on me. After I had read that philosophy, my view towards success and failure totally changed. Before that I used to think- success is something you pursue. But I was wrong for a long time. So what is “that” quote?

Rory Vaden, the 2007 first runner-up of world championship of public speaking, authored these lines-

“Success is not owned.
It’s rented.

And the rent is due every day..”

Woooo.. Success is not owned? Really? For years I thought success is a goal that we must "hit". But now- no, you don’t hit success. But you “carry” success. Now look at the quote above. It says- Success is not owned. Replace “success” in the quote with anything else- “a good relationship”, “a great health”, “a peaceful mind” etc, and it works!! Like-

“A good relationship is not owned.
It’s rented.
And the rent is due every day..”

“A great health is not owned.
It’s rented.
And the rent is due every day..”


Wow! This is cool.

It influenced me so much that I had to stick this quote on a big paper to my almirah in my room. And after the quote I have added a question. It reads-

“Success is not owned.
It’s rented.
And the rent is due every day..

WILL YOU PAY THE RENT TODAY?"

I will. Will you?

Do you eat chicken? Flesh or bone?

And there I was, in the recording studio where the sound engineer and I were working on mastering my song I wrote and composed. When finally it was done, I had my own song in my mp3 player!!! Can you feel how happy and excited I was? I came back home listening to it. My parents listened to the song, all said it was great. I went to my friend Avi, he said- Best song he heard till now. I went to my aunt, she said- Wow great song son. I also went to friends who listened and said- “Ffffhheww.. Nothing special, get out of here..”

I can tell you it made me sad, it was emotionally damaging to a boy who just got his first song released.

That night when I came back home, I went straight to my father with all my complaints, and said- “Why is it that they didn’t like my song? Dad why is it that they cursed it?” My dad asked me- “Bittu do you like your song?” I said- “Yeah, don’t you?” He said- “I do love it. Your mom loves it a lot. We are proud of you.” 


Then he kept silent and said to me- “Bittu I know you love chicken, how exactly do you eat chicken when your mom makes it?” I thought this was a question my 8-year little brother can answer. Still I said- “How I eat chicken when mom makes it? I take it from the dish, eat the flesh, remove the bone and eat the flesh again.” Then he said- “if you eat chicken removing the bone, why can’t you take the positive responses removing the negative ones, my son?” That day my father taught me this lesson- take the flesh, remove the bones. What do you take? Flesh or bones? Positive or negative?

Let them fall in love with you!!

When I was talking to a friend yesterday, she gave me a lot of good advice about my life as I asked her. Then suddenly I observed something strange. Though she was giving me timeless wisdom, each time I was going to tell her something when she was finished, she was not letting me speak!!! Each time I was asking her something, she started talking EVEN before I finished asking. Reminded me of what I learnt from Robin Sharma- "Resist the temptation to interrupt. Catch yourself just before you do so and pay more attention to the content of what the other person is saying to you." So brilliantly said. Thanks Robin.

It's so true.When we talk,we want people to listen to all we say, but how often do we give others a good listening? 

How often do you just nod and keep listening to all a lovelorn says after her boyfriend breaks up with her?

How often do you not interrupt when your spouse complaints about what they don't like in you?

My girlfriend is a great listener. And the other day when I was trying to find out 3 best qualities about her, I came to the realization that- she's courageous, she's honest, and she's a world-class listener. And you know what- when I am upset, I go to her cause she listens to all my complaints, all I have to say.

This blog is not about my spouse. But I can't stress more on the fact that you should listen more. Just be silent and keep listening. I call it SHUT UP AND LISTEN. What I have realized by watching many brilliant and wise people is that- if you wanna be wise, you have to learn to shut up for a longer period of time.

So here are 3 ways you can adopt to take your listening skill to the next level, right now-

1) Shut up.

2) When someone is saying something, stop rehearsing your replies inside your head.Give them a good hearing. Get behind their eyeballs and try to understand all they are saying.

3) Learn to ask powerful questions and encourage them to speak. Robin says it so well- "After the other person makes her points, rather than immediately responding with your opinion, reflect on what you have just heard. Saying something such as, 'Just to make sure I understand you, are you saying…?”

Trust me if you can lend others your ears, they will gift you their heart. The single best thing you can give someone being generous is your listening. And the single worst thing you can do is- you can interrupt. And trust me on this too, when you master the art of listening, people will fall in love with you- just like I fell on with my spouse.

Who will you give a good listening today?