Note From President Vineet Bhatnagar
Birwa Qureshi, the guest speaker at our club meeting this week, made a presentation on celebrating Indian monuments with light and music. She showcased, to the utter delight of everyone in the audience, the untold and unparalleled beauty of some of our structures that are steeped in history and are an architectural marvel.
Throughout her address, I noticed that Birwa had both a sense of joy about her work and a sense of clear determination that she will continue to pursue new initiatives that delight her. Quite visibly, her love for her work gave her the direction and determination which not only delighted her but also brought unexpected joys to so many others. She had connected the dots of all her interests and influences – architecture, a keen sense for design aesthetics, curiosity for history and music.
To me, the big take away was that we need to keep looking and relentlessly pursue what we love doing. We’ve got to find what we love. And that is as true for our work as it is for other aspects of our personal lives. After all, our work fills a large part of our lives and THE ONLY WAY TO BE TRULY SATISFIED IS TO DO WHAT WE BELIEVE IS GREAT WORK. “The only way to do great work is to love what you do” – this is what Steve Jobs maintained. He said “If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle. As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on. So keep looking until you find it. Don’t settle.”
In life, the final picture only emerges at a much later stage, after we have created and travelled through a lot of dots. For most of us the dots can only be connected backwards. We do not know upfront which are the dots and where they could lead us. Unless of course, we are relentlessly searching for what we love to do. And it is this pursuit that allows us to gain an insight into which dots emerge in future. By doing so, we lead a life where we connect dots looking forward rather than connecting them backwards as a mere recollection of experiences rather than being the architect of designing our own experiences. This can be fulfilling, productive, inspiring to others and remarkably successful.
We need to remember that nothing good ever came out of being in our comfort zones. Last two years have shaken most of us out of our comfort zones. So, this is as good a time as ever to find what we truly love to do. TIME IS UNCERTAIN AND LIMITED FOR EACH ONE OF US; LET EACH ONE OF US NOT LIVE SOMEONE’S LIFE. IMAGINE A WORLD THAT HAS MORE OF US DOING WHAT WE TRULY LOVE TO DO.
— President Vineet Bhatnagar