People – Page 2 – Nishtha Gehija

Clients, People

Wow! Just wow!!!

Last Friday, a founder and CEO of one of the groundbreaking startups in India approached me on LinkedIn. He wanted to speak to me for writing content for them.

When I responded to their DM to know more about the work, his first response was: “Thanks for the response,” and then we talked further.

Who does that in a mean world? Such a kind soul! He could write a social media post and get 100’s of writers in less than an hour, and still responding me with kindness? Wow!

So we spoke further and scheduled a meeting three days hence.

Almost two-and-a-half hours prior to the meeting, he sent me an email informing the meeting had to be inadvertently cancelled due to a family emergency. Not only that, he ensured to DM me on LinkedIn as well.

Of course, I understood and replied with an understanding and affirmative response.

That’s not the point. The point is he did not “need” to inform me before not showing up for a meeting, yet he informed me at two places – that too when it was a family emergency.

So so sooo fortunate to be working with such generous and kind folks. People who value the time and work of others just as theirs and not taking their art for granted are a priceless asset. Always.

Just that I got lucky, because the world doesn’t owe us anything. All the kindness and ease from clients like him is always a blessing to be bestowed upon. If you are one such kind soul reading this, thank you to you too! You rock <3 🙂

That drive from Noida to Gurgaon

May 2017.

We had gone for an official team retreat. Most of us were staying in Noida, and we had gone for a 2D 1N stay in a resort in Gurgaon. The team was packed in 3-4 cars, one of which was mine. I was prepared to listen to the female-driver jokes, because not getting affected by them had become a forte by then.

I remember we had halted at a place, and the male colleague got out of the back seat and came to the driving seat to me, and said he will drive. That was rude, however in a society that anyway screws female drivers, this was a normal meme material. I politely refused, stating that I love driving long distances, and I wanted to drive.

While I did get a “chance” to drive, why am I sharing this story with you today?

Because when we say we need equal rights for women, et al, we need to remember that most often women willingly give up their rights.

Having the awareness to respectfully refuse, is the Super Power we didn’t even know existed.

Stand for yourself, people! How will anyone help you out if you aren’t in a position to help yourself out?

New people

Met incredible people. Or met people that drained your energy.

Though both of these are good, what is great is how much time you spent with yourself alone.

If not, then whatever we do is going to be a replica of the world, not an originality.

How long have you been friends for?

We all go through different layers of friendships.

Starting with school. Then college friends. Then friends in our jobs. Succeeded by our latest friends.

In all these stages, we have some “hello” kind of friends, some are good friends, and some become our lifelong friends.

And as much as we believe that our latest friends are our best friends (of course, they are the ones who pop up on our Instagram stories), the older the friend, the greater the understanding.

No matter you cry and talk about your boss with your latest friends, your college friends actually know where that is coming from.

No matter how much nostalgic we are with our college friends and our wonderful memories, our school friends do not need that – they are our by default psychiatrists and psychologists.

Every relationship gets stronger with the passage of time, of course, when it is nurtured consistently.

Time is power in friendships, and not investing that is losing on exponential rewards of love and belonging to a community.

That chat with a friend

Last weekend, I was having a casual chat with a writer friend.

After exchanging pleasantries, I thanked him for helping me bag a wonderful client, to which he responded, “Thanks to YOU, it’s your hard work.” And thus, we continued being humble.

As the conversation proceeded, he told me he had also applied for a writing engagement, which was finally bagged by me.

Those words of him just moved me. Here I was, getting envious of the number of clients and interesting assignments he has, and here he was, perhaps having the same emotion as me.

Too often, we take the most important things in life for granted.

The work that brings food on our plate.
The parents (no matter how weird they are) that make us fight for our existence 🙂
The friends who make us realise we aren’t alone.
The colleagues and clients who understand us when we had expected to be fired.
And most importantly, counting the endless blessings in our life when the Life we have today was the life we had dreamt of years ago.

How will we get more and be more if we aren’t grateful for what we have already been blessed with?

Thank you, my dear friend, your humility was always an inspiration for me. Now you are an inspiration to be grateful for my blessings. You rock! Like always 🙂

The meaning of mistakes

One of the most fascinating things about life is mistakes.

More interesting than mistakes, is about studying people who make mistakes.

There are three kinds of people:

1. Who realise they have made a mistake, admit it, and try not to make the same mistake twice.

They are the top 1% of the world. Even if they are not famous, they are indispensable in whatever they do.

2. Who realise they have made a mistake, and don’t admit it.

The three-letter word comes in. However, there is still hope that they will learn from their mistakes, even silently.

3. Who do not realise they have made a mistake.

They are the people in deepest pain, and aren’t aware of it.

As much as we’d hate admitting it, we all are surrounded by someone in each category, the third one being the most vulnerable ones.

Small tips:

a. Bless them.

b. Focus on the good in your life versus the opposite in their life.

c. Chill man!

Everyone is fighting a silent battle we aren’t aware of.

The joy of life, is learning to deal with these people in an effortless manner, that you be responsible for not allowing anyone to take your happiness away.

Effortlessly.

The relationships between parents and children

One of the things our society is suffering with today, is lack of time.

As a kid, one of my dreams was to tell my father: Please deduct my pocket money for several months, whatever amounts to a day of your time, and spend some time with us today.

Fast forward to today: We are still trying to get along. We love each other, are there for each other during good and not-so-good times, however, I do wish I wasn’t appreciated for my ranks in class and rather appreciated for failing.

It is a constant battle of self-blame.

Also, he did and still does his best. And we do spend good time together.

However, if anyone of you reading here is a parent or intend to be so in the future, a small request: Don’t tell your kids: “I am doing it for you only!”

Kids need you, they will anyway learn to make money online. Online parents and understanding is not possible.

Why should you hang around the right people?

1. They give us the confidence that we, too, could be them.

2. We understand how things work versus how we have been doing them.

3. We learn to measure things, instead of beating around the bush.

4. Life is energy. Not the words or broken promises.

5. We are always, always the product of five people we spend our time with.

What kind of friends should you make?

The ones who are unlike you.

The ones who challenge your beliefs.

Those who don’t let you down, no matter what.

The ones who are there for you.

And the ones who are there with you.

(PS: This post is inspired by the good good time I’m having with my friends these days 😎)

How to gain respect of others

1. By saving their time.

2. By accepting them where they are, and not judging them (even in our mind.)

3. By showing up when you commit to do so.

4. By respecting them for their life choices, even if they are not aligned with what they do or have done.

5. By giving up the need to be respected.

Me and my parents

Today I wasn’t feeling good about my relationship with my parents. Somewhere I want them to talk about things that interest me.

However, later I realised that this is not the first time I have had the same emotions. Happened multiple times.

Till when would I allow myself to wallow in the same pain? Is my time so easy to be wasted?

So here’s what I did to keep me grounded:

• Made a gratitude list. My mood is my responsibility.

• Played a spiritual and practical video on YouTube while working

• Actually spoke with them. Because perhaps that is what they think of me.

That’s it. Problem solved. Rinse and repeat, the next time it occurs.

When you don’t like someone…

When you don’t like someone, going about not liking them forever is a tough job.

What if you asked yourself instead: “Why do I not like them?”

It may be possible that their values aren’t aligned with yours.

It may also be possible that they just don’t know better.

And when you make time to think deep with yourself, you’ll be able to make an informed choice, not the one that is out of rage and impulse.

You get the life basis the people you allow. The first person to allow is you, not the byproduct of someone else’s actions.

The respect

My bro and bhabhi have been married for almost 4 years now.

After having a bit of knowledge and research into psychology, it is a great thing to see a relationship like this.

It isn’t about couples, rather every relationship. The way they respect each other, the way they have fun with each other, and most importantly, the way neither of them loses on their individual personality despite being together – are rare things to be found in relationships these days.

If you have managed to protect at least 2 or 3 relationships like this, you’re a rich human.

Are people dissatisfied with you?

People are going to be dissatisfied with you.

At home.

At work.

Friends maybe.

There’re two things to reflect:

a. Is it a reflection of their own dissatisfaction?

Or

b. Is there something you really need to change.

In either cases, you have the power. You just need to let go of your first-emotion crisis. You just need to decide.

People, Success

Lessons from 66 year old father

Yesterday my father turned 66. While his life has innumerable lessons, here are some that inspire me today:

1. Picked up exercise during lockdown. Still continues it for an hour daily.

2. Loves to go to his work daily. A trait missing in a lot of millennials.

3. Is always there to listen to my problems, without judgement. Ever.

4. Will give up anything but never honesty. That, in turn, brings him tons of blessings.

5. Most importantly, understands the space I am in. Thus, never forces me or even brings up the topic of marriage. Being a boomer and raised by parents who witnessed WW2 and partition of the country, this mindset shift from him is the best gift he could give to me.

Here’s a closing note: Him and I have different points of view on almost everything. Yet, you will miss your father when he is gone. Love him despite the differences. No one would love you like him, and this comes from someone who is the biggest rebel to her father. 🤗

Knowing Yourself, Life, People

We need more people who understand us.

We need more people to respect us.

We need people who could see how hard we are working.

Amidst all of that, have we taken time to acknowledge our own journey?

And have we dug deep and acknowledged someone else?

If the answer to both these is yes, do we then really need someone to appreciate us?

People, Truth be told

Love and hate

We have different levels of love.

And different levels of hate.

That is what causes differences in the way we feel.

Basically arising out of inability to communicate properly.

Let them know. Or yourself.

Forming relationships

Forming relationships is beyond connecting with people from LinkedIn to WhatsApp.

Forming relationships is just being the genuine human being that you are, without ulterior motive of collaborations.

When you do so, just because you want to give, what you’ll receive will come to you manifold.

We, the humans

Just because we are humans, we will thrive in accordance with living with other humans.

This would, in itself, make the process difficult because all humans are different.

However, if you learn to be easy, things are going to change – because you cared for the common good, you cared to make the other person feel good, and also you didn’t care to follow the angry zone of the world and marched to your own beat of ease and peace.

If you’re feeling negative

If you’re feeling negative because of someone, there are two options:

You can talk to them. Or you can’t.

If you have the relationship to talk to them, please do. It will clear all the mist.

If that relationship is not where you can talk, does it make sense to lose your sleep over? Perhaps the person needed to be talked to, is you.

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