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