THE SEED CALLED DEPENDABILITY


















“In adults, dependability is the fruit of maturity;
 in a child,  it is the seed.”

- Richard M. Eyre

The first person to ring our doorbell every morning is the dhoodwala. Sharp at 6:30. At 7:30 sharp, it is the house-keeping lady. At 7:45, the paperwala tucks the newspaper at the door… At nine sharp, the istriwala rings the bell… The maid stands on the door sharp at 9:30… At night, at 8:30, the pavwala (andawala) rings our bell…

These guys haven’t been to school like you and I have… They haven’t heard of Time-management or Personal Leadership theories from Stephen Covey or Brian Tracy… These guys  just do their job to earn their daily bread… and, they know, that  if they don’t do it well – that is, if they do not show dependability – they will lose it all… Yes, they will starve!

So, if the maid tries to act funny on this, take it… she has lost it… So will the rest. There is simply no exception to this most fundamental principle of success in life…

Obviously, by ‘Success’, I did not mean how to be millionaire or whatever that is…

I tell our kids and young-ones during our P.D. sessions, and I tell all my students… and, I do it tirelessly: “Make yourself dependable… Keep your words… Don’t take commitments casually. It’s all about winning trust, feeling good inside and enhancing your self-confidence and personal leadership power.”

Most of them understand, but some don’t… Just the way many house maids do, and some don’t!

“These are things learnt early in life just by loving life, just by loving yourself,” I keep reminding our little-ones and young-ones, “You do not have to do an MBA to learn this.”

Late at night, the day before yesterday, I saw a message in my FB inbox. “Sir, you may not remember me… my name is Rajgopal… I was your student in the year 1988… and, it is really a great feeling to be re-connected with you, sir. You have been a great influence in my life… Can I call you when you are free?”

We fixed for 9:30 am yesterday. I was pleasantly surprised the see the reminder clock ticking on FB inbox… at 9:30 dot, Rajgopal called!

After three decades, my young students have become ‘somebody’ in life. But, the fundamentals have not changed! We spoke for over 30 minutes, last morning… and, Rajgopal did tell me that… that is, how respecting the fundamentals had helped him reach where he had.

There is nothing called a ‘small commitment’… There are no people called ‘small people’… There is no life called ‘small life’…

Last evening, I called my friend Austin. He was in an autorickshaw and the first rain in Mumbai had surprised all of us… Well, the Rain-God was merciful even though unpredictable… Rain is better than no rain, we all know that. So, let me not invite God’s wrath saying anything wrong about Him…

Well, the point I want to make is this: Austin couldn’t talk to me in the rain-thunder commotion and promised me that he would call me once reaching home. This morning, I saw a message from Austin, “Gerry, I am really sorry for not calling yesterday. In the rain commotion, I simply forgot about it. If it is fine with you, can you call me between 8:30 and 9.00 this morning? Or, let me know if I should call at your convenient time.”

“Hey Austin, don’t feel bad about it. I shall call you at 8:40.”

And, I did!

A big deal?

Yes sir, really big!!!!


GERALD D’CUNHA

Pic.: Harris Seeds/Internet


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