Standing Out

 

Let me tell you a story:

I reached the hotel reception for checking in at 10PM. The front desk person was very efficient and he had kept all the documents ready and I had to put one signature and it gave me a good feel. These days you do not need to ask their names, as they wear their names on their chest. His name was Kisley. I was curious and I asked him, “what does your name mean?”. He said, ” sir it means newness also and to do with nature “. Wow, it was nice, I bid him good night and I felt good after that conversation. I did not get the meaning at that point. The morning I was checking out, I asked the lady at the front desk, Hi, could you tell me the name of your colleague, who had a unique name ending with ley. She said yes it is Kisley but we call him Anand. That was an interesting thing to me as I found that he had a very common first name but he wears his unique name.  So what doe Kisley mean. It means “inquisitive, restless and seeking nature“. Extension of that would be, “to accomplish something outstanding and to do something very worthwhile for humanity“. I am sure Kisley stood out in my memory with that unique name.

In the workshop I attended, there was a discussion about how to stand out from the crowd. I felt that Kisley embodied what I learned in the workshop and also from different cross-sections of people. I had the opportunity to meet a CA.  He had a good knowledge of books and I was able to update my booklist with some new titles. A line from the book “Fountainhead” stood out:

The next person whom I met is working in a software firm. During the course of our discussion, I understood that he loves to travel over the weekend to villages and he loves to spend time with that community and I guess he finds inner peace in that way. To me, I was really thrilled to see him dance and later I understood that he is a choreographer as well. I had the opportunity to meet a person who has done his Ph.D., an Entrepreneur and a process consultant. He knows all about Kanban, Kaizen, and 6sigma. He shared with me this wonderful message, “Problems never stay long, they just put the signature in the experience book of our lives and moved away.” All the people whom I met were standing out in their own way.

Collectively, we stood out from the group, we called ourselves the yellow umbrella group (WhatsApp group also created!). I did not know what the word “Ensemble” stands for? Ensemble comes from the Middle French word ensemblée, which means “together, at the same time.”

On my return flight, all the seats were empty in the rear end of the plane. I got hold of an aisle seat.   As I was walking, I saw this nice line on the TOI paper, “Pleasure is sensual whereas joy is blissful.” I wanted to read that article and so I requested that paper from my co-passenger. I started making notes on my blog journal. At the end of the flight, I returned the paper and I thanked him. Later as I was coming out of the washroom I once again saw him, he asked me, ” I saw you writing a lot, are you into media?” I replied, “no  I like to write”. I asked him what he does and his response really took me by surprise, he said: “I am a retired scientist, I was an IT entrepreneur and now I am a Sufi poet.” With a twinkle in his eyes, he added, ” I am ahead of my times” He explained to me very briefly his career life and I was astonished, to say the least.  That is what we call standing out.

The past week was an eye-opener for me in terms of understanding the world of possibilities out there. We are limited only by our imagination.