There are times when you have to obey a call which is the highest of all, i.e. the voice of conscience, even though such obedience may cause many a bitter tear and a separation from all that you have held as dear as life itself. But this obedience is the law of our being. We all have a little voice inside us that guides us. It tells us bitter truths that are hard to accept. But I think that if we shut out all the noise and clutter from our lives and listen to that voice, it will tell us the right thing to do.

In the words of Mahatma Gandhi, “Could we but evoke the oneness in stillness, we would be able to carry it within us in whatever went on in the world without. As a deep and awakened awareness from within, when acknowledged as ever present, much would be changed, and liberated indeed would we be.”

All men and women are born, live, suffer and die; what distinguishes us one from another is our dreams, whether they be dreams about worldly or unworldly things and what we do to make them come about. We do not choose to be born. We do not choose our parents. We do not choose our historical epoch, the country of our birth, or the immediate circumstances of our upbringing. We do not, most of us, choose to die, nor do we choose the time and conditions of our death. But within this realm of choicelessness, we do choose how we live.

A man's dreams are an index to his greatness. Reach high, for stars lie hidden in your soul. Dream deep, for every dream precedes the goal. Dare to live the life you have dreamed for yourself.

Go forward and make your dreams come true.

You have understood nothing of leadership if you don’t understand the term “Be the change you want to see in others”(Mahatma Gandhi) To manipulate others is like trying to control the wind and the waves. Managing yourself is to adjust your own sails. So if you wish to use the wind, change your sails (change yourself).

Amongst the greatest warriors in the world were the Samurai, the Gurkha, the Tuaregs, the Beduin, the Commanche, the Mongols, the Spartans....to name but a few. An earmark of these class of warriors were the ceaseless infighting that kept them at the top of the game in times of peace. So it always took great leadership to bring them together in times of war. But when they came together they were invincible. Empires have been built and lost on their backs. Great leadership has never been about great systems or great organising abilities, it has always been about bringing together improbable allies and implacable forces into one's force.

For Networkers : Leaders are made, not signed up…

For Corporate Management : Leaders are made, and not hired…

For Parents : Leaders are made, and not inherited…

Leadership is not a talent, nor a skill, nor is it genetic. It’s a mindset.

Vijay Eswaran

A woman has strengths that amaze men. She can handle trouble and carry heavy burdens. She holds happiness, love and opinions. She smiles when she feels like crying, cries when she is happy and laughs when she is afriad. Her love is unconditional! And her greatest strength is....she sometimes forgets what she is worth...

This is not a book for someone sitting on a rock contemplating on a lotus pond.  Not for someone who is retiring into a forest and walking the path of zen. This is not a self realization book and not meant for spiritual upliftment of mankind.

This is a day-to-day manual that can be used to create a dossier of one’s own progress thru life. The objective is to stop, think, reflect, introspect. It's is meant to question, challenge the standards that we have become accustomed to. We have allowed ourselves to fall into somewhat of a trap by allowing our habits to dictate our destiny from thought to word, word to deed, deed to habit, habit to character, character to destiny.

The objective of the book is to break the process at the very onset, when at the thinking stage. If thought is the architect of your destiny, then it’s the thought that needs to be the force of change. Its thought that needs to be addressed and challenged.

As we grow in material gains, acquiring various trappings of wealth, we are trapped, ensnared, and locked by it. We don’t seem to be able to get out of this comfort zone. Hence, the process of this book is designed to challenge it.

In essence, the book is designed to look simplistic and designed uniquely in a fashion that is meant to attract the reader's attention and draw him to every page. It's with this in mind that the words and the phrases used are all designed for a  specific purpose, to stop one in their tracks. The attempt here is not so much to overload the individual with information, but to make him find his own solutions within himself. It is my position per se that all of us have answers that are unique and specifically designed for our position in life. These answers though are sometimes very clearly in front of us, usually completely overlooked if not ignored. It’s the purpose of the book to search and find these answers ourselves. Atleast to begin the process that would lead the process.

Answers change, day to day as it were. If it does not, by then, by definition we have not changed. Our ability to analyse, assess and apply these answers in day to day life grows as we grow. Hence, the answers to these problems, appear different to different people. These answers have many levels of understanding and many levels of application. And this process is something that engages you at every level.

Life is not just in colors…its in hues.  Therein lies each of us, the answer within each of us. The quest to these answers actually leads to us asking better questions. And that would be the ultimate purpose of this book.

In essence all of us have an internal source of energy. Something that we acknowledge in many ways. Eastern culture refers to as 'Qi'. In Sanskrit it is referred to as 'Prana'.   It’s a mental/physical/spiritual energy source. Its an internal balance that this energy source creates. This internal balance is between the kinetic and potential, the yin and yang, the negative and positive, the shiva and shakti in Hinduism. This balance of energy is found within us. The sphere of silence forces one to basically tap into this energey and build up its reserves in a way. Its an application of self discipline everyday.  Keeping silent for one hour , we are forced to communicate with oneself.  This helps us get in touch with ourselves instead of living in a façade.

 
We create this artificial barrier between who we are and who we want the world to perceive us to be. We walk around with this mask, assuming the face behind the mask in reality is the mask itself. Here I refer to the masquerade that one is forced to put up to live in the social strata. The three essential questions we have to ask every day:

1. Who we are?
2. Where we are?
3. Where are we going?

 
We need to ask these questions everyday because the answer to these change everyday. The process of analysis helps keep us very much in touch with ourselves. In this process we build up the inner "Chi", the strength in action, the versatility in language.

 
The application of this doesn’t have an immediate or direct  objective. If one doesn’t even achieve the objective just the process of trying everyday is enough because you have embarked on the journey. There is no such thing as the proper time or proper place. There is no waiting for the right time. It must be done everyday, like breathing.  It is the trying that makes all the difference. Eventually, there are people without trying very hard, simply by virtue of their being manage to achieve an hour a day. They actually gain from the process can be lead. The trying is fundamental to the change.

Someone who managed one hour is maybe ahead mentally, physically, spiritually to someone who managed 20 mins a day.  But to someone to who this comes easily, is not growing. For someone who struggles to do this 20 mins, is pushing oneself and hence the percentage of growth is higher.

You cannot define the process by the  1 hour or the 21 days. But define it by how much of a struggle it is for you. Hence, naturally the process of struggling against oneself , however mediocre it may seem to the rest of the planet, is what is important.

I don’t lay any claim to the originality of the process. Something that I acquired gratefully…….. its a labour of love to take it across the planet. The effect it had on my life. By making it a process that I could share with others.