Choosers can't be beggars!!!

Yep... you read that right...

The most amazing thing about life is that it keeps throwing lessons at you... Its entirely upto you to decide which ones to catch.

Was having a conversation with some friends and we were talking about some limited options. One of my friends just casually said "Choosers can't be beggars".
Actually he wanted to say "Beggars can't be choosers" but it came out the other way round.
We all laughed it away as another slip of tongue... but after a few minutes... I realised that what he said was absolutely true... albeit by mistake... but true nevertheless...

Beggars can't be choosers...
All of us find ourselves begging for jobs... begging for favours... begging for attention... begging for appreciation... and then we happily take whatever is given to us...

Because we are begging, we take whatever we get and hence the famous saying...

Tell me something...
Have you ever seen Gandhi beg?
Have you ever seen Ambani beg?
Have you ever seen Gates or Buffett beg?
Have you ever seen Jobs beg or Sachin Tendulkar beg?
Have you ever heard of Alexander the Great having begged?
Take any incarnation in any of the religions, and tell me if any of them ever begged???

Just for the fun of it, lets imagine how it would be to if all the legends of our history were to start begging for the things they wanted...

If Sachin Tendulkar was to beg the bowlers to bowl slow balls so he could hit sixers... would you respect him so much?

If Jobs was to come to your doorstep and beg you to buy his phone... would you respect apple devices so much?

If Alexander the Great were to beg each ruler of the world to surrender to him... do you think he had a chance to become the ruler of the world???

No way.... right??

No greatness has ever been achieved by begging or by being helpless....

The Gandhi chose to be non-violent and held on to his choice.
The Ambani chose to create an empire and strived for it.
Gates and Buffett made the right choices at the right time.
Every time Jobs was pushed down... he came back with a product that you would helplessly have to buy.
Every time he got sledging on the pitch, Sachin Tendulkar hit a six on the next ball.

Every great person was a Chooser... not a Beggar...

These legends chose what they wanted and then worked towards it... Did they always get it??? maybe not...
But did they have to beg??? definitely not.

Even when they failed, they had enough attitude that they did not beg and they chose to bounce back.

Truly, Choosers can't be beggars... even when life puts them down.

You will never see a successful man making this statement.

"Beggars can't be choosers" is a shield behind which the weak hide.

That day, while speaking, although by mistake, my friend showed what we are truly made of...
We can all choose to be Choosers and we will never have to be Beggars in life, because, "Choosers can't be Beggars"

Think about it...

What's your legacy???

Long long ago, in a place far far away, I was working with an ex colleague (Lets call him Dondu). Dondu had put in his resignation. While we were working on one of the reports, I noticed that Dondu was completing his work very fast, I got a bit suspicious and asked him whether he was actually checking the reports to see if they were coming correctly.
Dondu coolly replied - "Who cares, its my last week, even if they are wrong, I'll be long gone from this god forsaken place"

In a week's time, Dondu was relieved from his duties. A few months later, guess what --- the mess surfaced...
We spent over two weeks correcting what Dondu had left behind... Even to this day I remember what he had "Left Behind"


At another time, I went to a friend's house. He was shifting out of his apartment and going abroad. He had sold his apartment and was just there to pick up the remaining stuff. As we were in the lift, he threw the gum he was chewing in the lift itself... I told him it was unhygienic. He just replied that he wasn't going to come back anyways... so how did it matter.


Once my dad took me to a wildlife sanctuary. I was probably 8 or 10 years that time. We had ice creams and once I had finished I just tossed the empty ice cream cup nearby. Although there was a dust bin nearby, I just threw it nearby.
My dad noticed and said something which changed my life forever... "Tu saala Indian ka Indian hi rahega... jahan jayega... kachra failaiga..."
("You'll stay a **$#@* Indian all your life... leaving garbage behind wherever you go")

I felt very bad... My ego was seriously hurt. Yes... I was 10, but I still felt humiliated. I walked back, took that cup and went all the way to the dustbin to throw it in the bin.

Just so you know, my Dad is more Indian than most of us, but that comment that day had a purpose behind it.
I decided that I will change the meaning of being an Indian. I decided that I will make sure that every place I have been to should be clean after I have left. I have not littered for more than 22 years now. Not even a chocolate wrapper on the road side.


I was out shopping the other day and a girl walked up to me. She came up to me and said "Hi Gulshan Sir, recognize me?"
Obviously I didn't recognize her and I told her honestly that I wasn't able to place her face. She said that she was my student 5 years ago. I used to take a little extra something after every class and this girl remembered those extra snippets I taught. She told me how much difference my way of teaching had made in her life, both the academic aspect and otherwise.
It felt really great, especially because I myself never realized the value of what I was doing back then.


In every single thing I do, whether I'm working, sitting with family, with friends, having fun, on the road, in the mall, in the park... Wherever I am, I'm leaving something behind.
What I leave behind will stay there. It will have an impact. It will be my reminder. It will either help someone or disturb someone.

When I work and leave, I'm leaving my results behind.
When I teach and leave, I'm leaving my knowledge behind.
When I'm littering, I'm leaving garbage behind.
When I'm angry, I'm leaving disturbance behind me.
When I share a joke, I'm leaving smiles behind.
When I leave home, I'm leaving a hug and love behind.
When I pray and leave, I'm leaving gratitude behind.
When I'm writing, I'm leaving my learnings behind.

Whatever I leave behind will have an impact on those who come after me.
Whatever I leave behind is what I will be remembered for.
Whatever I leave behind is going to be my legacy...

It is entirely upto me on what I leave behind... It is entirely my choice to decide what the world will remember me for after I'm gone.

I will make sure that when I'm gone, everyone behind me will remember me only for the right reasons. For the value I added to their life.

I will make sure I leave behind a legacy. A legacy that will be valued. A legacy I will be remembered for...

The "I" here is not just for the writer of this blog... the "I" here represents each and every one who is reading this blog.

What are you leaving behind???
What's your legacy???

Think About It...