The difference between ordinary and extraordinary

[Music]

[Applause]

exploring

the eclectic is the ultimate purpose of

human life

ladies and gentlemen i am captain prana

bassoon thacker

and today i will share you my journey a

journey of a small kid

from a small place to a soldier to a

corporate world

here 1986 montessori one or lower

kindergarten 100 meter race was all set

and i was starting i was there at the

starting point whistle blew

and for the first time i discovered fear

or competition or fear or competition

together

i was completely frozen could not run

started crying

could not have the courage to perform

and face the world was searching for my

mom and dad for a small hug

just not to do to okay myself but

everything in vain i could not find them

the crowd booed loser loser i just

stopped and stopped and was still could

not run completely

you know how they treat you in such

situations i was a very simple average

kid and

nothing more the kid grew 10 years post

that

olympics advertisement in doordarshan

and it said

to be a giant this has forever been

my passion this desire to be a giant

not to stand on one’s own shoulders but

to have one for a dear friend

for these may be fortunate things but to

be one

giant step over barrier that seem never

ending

they conquer mountain that appear

unsurmountable

giants rise over fear trying for pain

push themselves

they inspire others to be a giant to do

giant things

to take giant steps to move

the world forward these lines went very

deep inside me maybe somewhere in my

army or frontal lobe lobe of the brain

and then i aspired to be a giant

the huge the magnanimous graduation was

over

and one song was echoing in all of us

in those days

that says the kid will do great things

but that doesn’t know what the kid wants

to do

life decisions were to be made but that

giant thing was lingering wrong

between an easy going and a cliche

career

i chose the great indian army indian

army where we live

by chance we love by choice and kill

by profession an extraordinary life the

life of a giant

who moves the world forward so life

decisions were made

two roots diverse in the wood and i took

the one less traveled by and

that has made all the difference year

2005

2006 i got selected in indian army

they said do you have it in you and i

had very much but later i understood

that

getting selected was not a deal 11

months training in offices training

academy

which was one of the toughest training

academies in the world

was the deal and survival of the fittest

was the mantra

it was the second day of the academy and

there was a running competition

every gentleman credit was giving their

best i remember i was

again at the starting point as this time

i was not searching for my mom and that

i ran and i was gasping for the

for the breath i was not able to maybe

not used to running i was fighting not

to become the last i was the second last

in the

academy and somehow i carried that i i

did not

fail i was the second last guy in the

cabin

at the finishing point i saw a strong

eye and combats maroon beret

black aviators and a cynical green on

his face

maybe he was doing a he was having a

jingle or a

chocolate he came close to me and he

said gentlemen cut it

your running is real bad i had no face

to defend myself just answer stop

i will work on exa he laughed

we will work on it together sunny boy

tomorrow zero four hundred hours your

training starts

he was my later i came to know he was my

company commander commander

from the special forces the best and the

lead from indian army

those who operate behind the enemy lines

i could just nod and

say in confirmation that yes sir i will

do it he was colonel sangram singh

or sangrosa we used to call him

and from then i ran

and ran and ran my dad used to say that

if you’re not good at something

do it for n number of times and i was

living those lines

we ran and ran and ran in the from the

dawn to the dusk to the nights

he just did not give up on me

and i did the same

he’s no more now but i remember every

bit of that training

two major learnings he gave me in my

life two dictums actually

he said tiger always remember number one

the difference between

ordinary and extraordinary is that

extra once you have committed then never

give up

anyone on anyone or anything in life

and number two it is very close to me he

said it’s all mental

you win it here whenever you’re down

tell yourself you’re a commander

you’re a warrior you’re born to fight

fight back

no mercy these dictums transformed me to

a warrior

and i started feeling every bit of it

i had a never said die attitude i can do

resolve

and i don’t quit commitment

i completed the training though it is

very simple to say here but it took a

lot of time

with all the flying colors and then i

was commissioned as a class one gang

state of islam

life in army is full of great valor and

courage

legitimate prana prasad no fear to die

two stars on my

shoulders were better than millions in

the sky what a life it was

we used to say if i die in battle zone

box me up and send me home put my

medals on my chest and tell my mom i did

my best

and for them all i have to say for your

tomorrow

we gave our today in my journey of an

officer i salute

and carry the honor of having served

with

many fallen soldiers army gave me many

operational

and crude stories some of the time

though

let’s focus on exploring the eclectic i

was a search office commission officer

and there was a choice we had to make a

choice to continue on to leave army

after my tenure was over though it was a

very tough decision

i was doing good i was comfortable

but i had to decide what next and i took

a decision again

two roads that was in a hood and i took

the one less traveled by and

maybe that has made all the difference

leaving army was the toughest decision

in my life

army was my first love or maybe second

or

third to be honest but it was a love

which

fairly reciprocated i was a very

committed and serious guy

left army with a very heavy heart came

to the civil or corporate world

started from the scratch a degree from a

premium college was a support though

but i was completely confused which

domain or which industry

to to choose where to start what should

be the salary

and in my nothingness one thing came

very specific to me

that i’m a people’s guy and i have been

a people’s guy thrower

leading men whom i command and leading

them

the way it should be from the front

by my example is what i all know

and i bet i could not do anything better

than that so i chose human resources

the people domain so

civil life followed like a like a

smooth thing though sometimes it was

quite tough

i used to be a loyal guy just change one

job after army

worked hard grew in levels and today i’m

leading the human resource

for a quite a big company

leading by example and leading from the

front

walk the walk talk the talk don’t run

just for your targets prepare others

to run for theirs and many times even

run with them

what sangrosa used to do for me

but one thing i realized the people here

maybe of course they are different from

army they used to quit

halfway i used to kept on running with

them motivating them inspiring them

no reports rather many times they used

to

just leave me and go in 2016 i learned

the word which disrupted my thinking

transcendence it is going beyond

and the execution mechanism was to make

someone

better than you

i love living that world i made people

i made a team and the teams made the

organization push them hard

to take them to a different level make

them corporate commandos

but sooner or later i saw them succumb

they used to surrender and i used to

carry the

understanding which sir taught me

to inspire them to be a leader from the

front

used to run with them it’s all mental

you’re a commando a warrior you cannot

leave you cannot quit

fight fight back but only silence used

to prevail

many times i just used to be running

alone talking to them alone or talking

to myself sometimes like a lunatic like

a like a mad guy

then i learn something is wrong

this is not army things are different

here minimum integrity

commitment is laughed at relationships

are being used

and also people here they know

everything they know everything

but they firmly decide to leave and quit

even if you don’t give up on them they

give up on themselves

and therefore i see being in this

profession of human resources

many half baked career people

out of the career very soon the dreams

and desires burn to ashes

when i was a kid my dad used to tell me

a story of shambhu shikai

now there was this farmer who used to

have some parrots

and he used to love the parrot so he

used to tell them

the tactics of survival

you should make them recite these

parrots and they’re good at

that

the hunter will come put the trap keep

the bait don’t get trapped inside it

and all the parents knew good enough

they learned and they learned it quite

well

and every day they used to sing and the

farmer used to feel very good

one fine day the actual hunter came he

put the trap

he put the bait and all the

parrots one by one started entering the

trap

when the farmer came in the evening he

saw all the parrots are not there

and he saw at the distance there was a

hunter who was taking all the parrots

the trap was on his shoulders and all

the birds were singing in unison

so this is what it happens we know

everything but still we get trapped

and still i feel what sandra used to

teach me

and i want to do really want to do so

many things for them

transcendence must be upheld in full

pride and honor

and i really really wanted my level best

to give that support to everyone whom i

met in my life

being in this journey beautiful journey

of exploring the eclectic

let me share with you three secrets i

learned

and i had coined it as 3r

the first star is romance be in ultimate

love with

your life and your purpose complete

passion

romance the eclectic and even if it

doesn’t come in the same manner

in the same quantum keep it one-sided

one-sided love is

better than the dual-sided one you don’t

have any fear of

heartbreaks the second r is resilience

many a times you will be praying to god

no no this should not happen to me

please god please i should not be in

this situation

for heavens now have some mercy but bad

days will come in your life you will be

pinned down

fall on your face stabbed by the people

who love you the most

right take it take it

with complete composure breathe don’t

die like others do

learn to live alone in the darkness

remember

it is not what height you fall from but

what height you bounce back

that matters and the third r which is

very close to me is rest in peace

even when you are living not when you

know you you are not no more

be in peace and harmony with yourself

your surrounding the sky the earth

go on vacations with yourself be on

nothingness

observe life happening to the left of

you to the right of you

stop struggling in x y axis see the life

from z axis it’s beautiful you know

every day when i go to office it’s a

long drive almost three to four hours it

takes me every day

to go and come from office the driver is

very busy

driving and i on the back seat of my car

see the entire world happening next to

me i observe them all

i love the world being so busy with a

lot of faith and trust

it’s not hope we create it with our

perseverance

only faith and trust

just like between falling in love and

coming out of love there is something

called continuing staying in love

it is that a continuum of persistency

like the continuum of continuum of

exploring the eclectic

but let me caution you circumstances

will be tough you’ll have pains and

tears

which will haunt you the people who who

love you so much or you whom you love so

much will come and

stab right in the soul the so-called

soul connection will not exist take the

pain

love them all good bad ugly whatever it

may

always remember it’s mental and you are

a commander

whatever said and done even if you are

cut into pieces thrown

in a corner collect your pieces

join them one by one and make yourself

again

you are a commander you must not die

your soul must not be crushed

foreign

live with it that is the truth of life

so here i am ladies and gentlemen

captain prana prasun thakur

failed stabbed cut into pieces

got up again made myself bit by bit took

one stride at a time my strides gave me

the pace

the pace gave me a flow the flow gave me

a complete run

always and every time this was my story

a story of passion perseverance

exploring the eclectic

and i pray for all of you that in your

stories

may god bless you with lots of strides

long strides deep breaths thank you

thanks