Speech given by Chetan Bhagat at Symbiosis.

Life is one of those races in nursery school where you have to run with a marble in a spoon kept in your mouth. If the marble falls, there is no point coming first. Same with life, where health and relationships are the marble. Your striving is only worth it if there is harmony in your life. Else, you may achieve the success, but this spark, this feeling of being excited and alive, will start to die.

One thing about nurturing the spark - don't take life seriously. Life is not to be taken seriously, as we are really temporary here. We are like a pre-paid card with limited validity. If we are lucky, we may last another 50 years. And 50 years is just 2,500 weekends. Do we really need to get so worked up? It's ok, bunk a few classes, goof up a few interviews, hang out with friends, fall in love. We are people, not programmed devices.

"Don't be serious, be sincere."

Life!!!

Arthur Ashe, the legendary Wimbledon player was dying of AIDS which he got due to infected blood he received during a heart surgery in 1983.


From the world over, he received letters from his fans, one of which conveyed: "Why does GOD have to select you for such a bad disease"?

To this Arthur Ashe replied:

"The world over -- 50 million children start playing tennis, 5 million learn to play tennis,
500,000 learn professional tennis, 50,000 come to the circuit, 5000 reach the grand slam,
50 reach Wimbledon, 4 to the semi final, 2 to the finals,
when I was holding the cup I never asked GOD 'Why me?'.

And today in pain I should not be asking GOD 'Why me?'

We count our pains, but not our blessings.

Simple rules of life

Just May be...

May be we are suppossed to meet the worng people before we meet the right one so that when we meet the right person we will know how to be greatful for that gift.....

May be it is true that we do not knwo what we have until we loose it, but it is also true that we do not knwo what we have been missing until it arrives...

May be the brightest future will always be based on forgotten pasts, afterall you can not go on successfully in life until you let go of your past mistakes failures & heartaches...

May be you should hope for enough happiness to make you sweet, enough trials to make you strong, enough sorrow to keep you human, & enough hope to make you happy...

May be the happiest of people do not necessarily have the best of everything they just make the most of everything that comes along their way


May be the best kind of friend is the kind you can sit o na porch & swing with, never say a word and still walk away feelign like it was the best conversation you have ever had...

May be happiness waits for all those who cry, all those who hurt, al lthose wh ohave searched & all those wh ohave tried, for only they ca nappritiate the importance of all those who have touched them& their lives....

May be you should do somethign nice for someone every single day even if it is simply to leave them alone...

May be there are moments in life when you miss someone -- a gradnparent , a spouce, a friend, a child -- so much that you jsut wnat to pick them from your dreams & hug them for real so that once the yare around you, you can appritiate much more

May be givvign someone all your love is never an assurance that they will love you back .. Don't expect love in return, jsut wait for it to grow in their heart but if it doesn't, be content that it grew in yours...

MAy be you shoudl dream what you want to dream go where you want to go be what you wnat to be, because you have only one life & one chance to do all the things you dream of and wnat to do....

Just may be..

Taare Zameen Par!!!!

Dekho Inhein Yeh Hain Aas Ki Boondein.......Patton Ki God Mein Aasmaan Se Koodein
Aandayee Lein Phir Karwat Badal Kar.......Nazuk Se Moti Hans De Phisal Kar....
Kho Na Jaaye Ye Taare Zameen Par........Yeh To Hain Sardi Mein Dhoop Ki Kirane.... Utarein Jo Aangan Ko Sunhera Sa Karne............Mann Ke Aandheron Ko Roshan Sa Kar Dein..........Thithurti Hatheli Ki Rangat Badal Dein.....Kho Na Jaaye Ye Taare Zameen Par....

Children... like due drops from endless space resting innocently on soft bedded leaves... a little puff of wind and they roll over smiling "Mummy tell the wind not to push me"...

Children.. the true stars on our sky... we were all part of this amzing life once where even the strongest hatred would turn into a smile among the giants jsut by looking at our innocent faces... Man what i would to be child once again no responsibilities no worries just fun fun fun.....

Unfortunately not all of us children are fortunate to have this fun filled life... some are not as healthy as we are not as free as we were not even as lucky as we were.... And the worst part is they still fidn time to smile... Just imagine 5-6 year onld children born with LUKEMIA or even DIABETES... now just imagine tellign little angles not to eat sweets or tell them we have to operate on you.. grown up like us piss in our pants when we here the word "operate".... sad is'nt it...

Well I had a chance last thursday to help some of these children breathe a new life... There was a blod donation drive in my office on thursday to help collect blood for children with Lukemia... and I donated 1 pint of blood....

When we mention to our loved ones that we are goign to donat blood the first thought that comes to the mind is oh my god are you crazy whts wrong with you wht is theire needles or nto god or they are not proffsionals etc... I completely agrree and sympathise with their concern but just imagine a mother stnading by her child in a hospital room and a doctor saying that "I'm sorry mam we do not have the correct blood match for your child".. now whose worries are worse....& besides no hospital would use infected infected instruments to infect a donors blood just os that they can make their patients worse.

I will never know which child in which corner of the world will get my blood but i know it will bring a smile to his/her face and i will silently get the blesses of his / her parents...

My request to all my readers if you can take time out to do a good deed.. Please wlak into a hospital find out if their blood bank needs blood & donate it.. dont wait for somethign terrible to happen to someone in your family to donate your blood......

We are helathy people, other unfortunate ones may not have our luck so do not heistate to lend a helping hand...

Thank you :)