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Karamjit’s life went on with him following his regular routine day after day. Days, weeks, months and then two years passed by and now he was in the final semester of his three years bachelor’s degree completion after which it was time for him to go back to India. But he was worried that he hasn’t yet fulfilled the last will of her mother of meeting Emmanuel Joshua. He got into the Bahamas but two years have went passed and he hasn’t yet explored this archipelago. He didn’t wanted to leave the Bahamas without finishing that. So he decided that once he finishes his final semester, he would surely take a trip and visit every place in the Bahamas and consequently try to find if that person is still alive or not.
One day, after he finished his economics lecture, the professor stopped him tapping on his shoulder. It was Professor Nathan. “ Karamjit, I want to meet somebody. This is Professor Joshua. He is a Philosopher.” He said as he pointed out to an old aged man probably in his seventies in a coat standing tall in front of him. Professor Nathan continued talking to Professor Joshua, “ Professor, this is Karamjit. He is the student that I was talking about.” “ Oh I see, so you are the one that I have heard so many complements about, young man. I have heard him saying about you that you are a very sincere student and never miss his lectures. Well... I appreciate that.” Said Professor Joshua. Karamjit looked at Prof. Joshua and thought to himself: Is it the person that I heard about from Uncle? “ Thanks Professor for your kind comments. Can I know your full name please?” said Karamjit blushing out trying to confirm if he was the person he was looking for. “Sure, young man. I am Emmanuel Joshua. My students generally call me Prof. Joshua” he said. And it was at this moment that Karamjit realized that he was the exact person that he heard about. The Professor then continued, “ So what are your future aspirations after completing your bachelor’s degree, young man?” he asked. “ I.... I am afraid I haven’t thought about it yet, Professor.” “ Well, you must ponder over that for some time. We really need individuals like you who take life seriously. Trust me, the old man standing in front of you is 79 years old and most of the students that I have met until now in my life do not take life seriously. And what I have observed from my observation is that you are quite different from all of that majority out there. You have the potential to create something big and leave a mark in your areas of competence.” He said as Karamjit stood there quietly listening to him speak.
“ But the only issue that I see with you as pointed out by most of the people and probably you know that as well, is that you don’t speak much. So unless you speak for yourself, nothing will change for you. Do you understand me?” he asked. And Karamjit nodded his head in agreement. “No you don’t. I can’t explain it to you in just two minutes what I have learned in two decades. Karamjit, I know that you want to live a bigger life than you are living now. I know that you have that deep desire in your heart to get out of your rut. So I want you to take some of your time and attend my class tomorrow after which I want you to clear any of your doubts or queries if you have any. But make sure that you attend tomorrow’s class. And I promise you that I will completely change you into a person that you desire to be but haven’t tried because of your insecurities. So meet me tomorrow for sure.” Explained Professor Joshua. “ Surely I will attend your class professor. Thanks for your advice” he said as he left thinking that he finally met the person he was searching for. Now, he would realize why his mother wanted him to meet that man.
The next day he was eagerly waiting to attend Professor Joshua’s lecture and as soon as he finished attending his other lectures, he reached the memorial hall where Professor Joshua was supposed to give his lecture. As he entered the room, he saw that the hall was packed with people. He was amazed with the number of people that were sitting there that it was difficult for him to find a seat in the front rows. So he moved up to the back rows and after searching hard and looking around for some time, he finally found a seat and sat there.
People were still moving in and out but he remained seated there not wanting to lose his seat to other person. The lecture was about to start in five minutes and Professor Joshua arrived with a little cylindrical box in his hand while everyone else sitting in the hall gave him a round of applause. Karamjit didn’t knew much about Professor Joshua but the way he received a warm appraise from the audience, it seemed it him that he certainly had some great achievements under his belt. He had seen no other professor in his two years spent at the university being treated with such respect as he was receiving.
The Professor asked his assistant to close the door so that no one else could enter the hall after he had started his lecture. After glaring at the audience , he smiled a little and then began, “ My friends, you might be wondering why I have brought this little cylindrical box with me today. And you might be trying to figure out what is inside this box. And I will certainly tell you that later on. I will do a little demonstration in front of you all so that you can easily grasp what I am trying to make you understand.” He said. After which he opened up the lid of the cylindrical jar and took something which seemed to be grains to Karamjit because he was sitting too far away so he wasn’t able to clearly perceive what the Professor picked up in his hands.
The Professor continued picking up some seeds from the jar. He took it in his palms and tried to show it to everyone else and then asked, “ Can any one of you tell me what this is?” “ A Seed” some one answered from the audience. “Well, how can you prove that to me? I mean, what made you come to a conclusion that what you see in my hand is a seed?” he asked. No one responded. And then he continued placing the seed back in the jar. “ You see, that is the problem with all of us. Not particularly referring it to any specific person but all of us have been victims of this delusional perception of the reality in believing some things which are not true and that has led us to some circumstances under which we become distressed. But If we can mould the present perception into a completely different set of perceived notions, that could lead to much better results.” He said and paused for a little while as he cleared his throat while someone from the audience asked him, “So Professor, what is the correct way of thinking that you are talking about?”
“Well, let me finish it. I am very careful with the selection of my words while I speak.” He said. “You see, a fact is completely different from the Truth. A fact is simply the description of the present situation of a thing or a person while the truth is their ultimate reality which is what that thing was made to be. Now, let me explain that to you with an example. So, I asked you what you see in my hand. And not to my surprise, most of you had responded that you saw a seed. Now, those of you who said that are right. But what you have said is just the fact. The fact is that I had a seed in my hand. But the truth is that if you put that seed under a given set of stimuli to which it responds in a progressive way, you will see growth. Which if we talk in terms of a seed, then it requires soil, some moisture, sunlight and all these different things which then combine together to result in the growth of the seed to become a tree. But that is not the truth about the seed either. The seed that grows into a tree has fruits on it which further has seeds in it and those seeds further has got trees in them with fruits with seeds with trees with fruits with seeds and trees with fruit with seeds with trees and this process goes on. So you may say that the fact is that I have a seed in my hand. But that does not constitute the truth. The truth is that I have a complete forest in my hand. Now, I want you to think about what I have said so far for two minutes and then tell me what you have learned from this principle.” He said as he grabbed the glass of water and continued to glare at the audience. Karamjit was thinking about that story too. It was going through his mind iteratively.
“Okay” the professor continued. “ So can anyone of you tell me what is the lesson that you have learned following this principle?” he asked as everyone was scratching their heads. Then he said, “ You see friends, this is what happens with most of us. All of us have the potential and the capability to become a tree but we never realize it until it’s too late. Why? Because we are too busy looking at the facts that we never bother to find the truth about something. The fact about you may be completely unparallel to your reality, your truth. The fact may be that you are broke now, but that does not cancel the truth that you have a million dollars in the bank in the future. The fact may be that you are depressed, but that doesn’t cancel the happy and joyful person that you are. The fact may be that you are living from hand to mouth but that does not nullify the truth that one day you are going to have so much that you are going to help other people get what they want to give it away. And I call it the seed principle. We all are like that seed. Everything that we are supposed to do is within us, but all we need to do is just put ourselves in the right environment. And that is the reason I am sharing this lesson with you. Right environment for you is the people who help you grow, books that nurture you, and friends that encourage you to push past your limitations and improve on your blind spots. Just think about what I have shared with you today. Heed it in your mind and never forget it. I hope you have learned something new from this lecture today other than your academic lectures which might give you the information but does not bring any transformation. Thanks for your time. I will see you all tomorrow.” Said the professor as he quietly left the hall. As soon as he left, everyone rushed through the hall door to get out of the hall but kept sitting there pondering over what Professor Joshua taught.
He was curious to learn more from the Professor, so he went looking for him. He searched all around the campus but he found him nowhere, in the mess, conference hall, staff but he couldn’t find him. In the end, he went to Professor Nathan and asked him about Professor Joshua. Prof. Nathan told him that he was in the library and that if he ever wanted to meet him, he should simply go to the library without a second thought because that is where he is most of the times. It was a kind of second home for him. He rushed immediately to the Library where he saw Professor Joshua sitting at the corner chair of the room reading a book of philosophy which was titled “Beyond Good and Evil” by Frederick Nietzsche. He went to him and whispered, “Hello Professor Joshua.” The Prof. looked at him and a smile rubbed off his face. “Oh, hello Karamjit. Please sit down.” He said. And all of sudden Karamjit felt a sense of significance about himself. He thought to himself: Professor remembers my name? Am I that important to him?
“ Yes Karamjit, did you had any queries?” he asked. “ Prof. I attended your lecture today and it was very insightful for me. I felt that the principle that you shared with me was particularly relatable to me.” He said. “ Oh yes, it is. It is relatable to every single person on this damn planet” “ I don’t know how to say it Prof. but I never asked this to anyone else before.” “Please go ahead.” The professor said as he leaned forward to listen to Karamjit with full attention. “ Actually what you said was one hundred percent true. But how can I apply that in my own life? What is its practical utility? I mean, don’t get me wrong. Whatever you said sounds really good but can you please tell me how it can transform me as a person?” he asked. “ Well Karamjit, that’s where more that 99% of the people are stuck. Everybody is born dumb, naked and stupid. But some people manifest their true abilities and potential while most of them don’t. Because they learns this information, understands it but then do not apply it. It’s just like a smoking doctor, metaphorically speaking. He knows that smoking is not good for his health, he understands it but then in the end doesn’t apply it. And that is completely useless. It’s as good as not conceiving the information or the knowledge at all. I have given this advice to many people, some of them used it for the betterment of the society and themselves while there were others who squandered it. I would just tell it very plainly to you. Associate yourself with the right people. It’s very simple. If you are broke and you want some help, you don’t go asking for help from a person who himself is broke. No! That’s insanely stupid. You go to a person who has got plenty money or the one who can help you connect to a person that has got some money. Right? It’s the same way here. If you associate with people who are highly ambitious towards their goals, you are going to be the same way. But if you are associating with people who just barely make through the day, you will be filled with the exact same type of vibes. So that was number one: To associate yourself with right people. Number two is to have faith in your abilities to take on any task and believe that you can just squeeze it. If you can conceive and believe something, then you can achieve it. I have seen it my life personally. It’s all in your head. And number three which according to me is the most important; Always keep learning. You have a huge competitive edge over other people when you become an absolute learning machine. Michelangelo was still learning at age 87! Compare your age with his. You haven’t even started living your life yet. And I realized that you have this quality of always learning the very first time I met you. That’s why you are still listening and I am still speaking. Because as they say: the teacher appears when the student is ready to learn.” He explained all this to Karamjit.
“ But Prof. I have this insecurity because of the way I look and I always have this fear of being judged by other people. How do I get rid of it?” asked Karamjit. “ Well, well, well. I can’t explain that to you just by hammering it in your brain. But you will learn it. Okay, so tell me, do you play any sport?” “ No. I haven’t played any sports at the State or National level. I just used to play some chess online on my desktop computer and a little football with my father when he visited home. Other than that, I have never played sports soberly. I don’t think I am good at sports either” he said as he dropped his head down looking at the ground. “ How did you find that you were never good at sports? See, you need to let go off some things that happened in the past and continue to surge ahead from this point onwards. Make this your starting point. And as I said, don’t look at the facts, but make your own reality by choosing the environment. I want you to pick up any sport which you like and start playing it. You said that you played chess and some football. Then go for it. I can get you into the junior team of our university. They will let you play and from there on, if you perform well, you can get into the senior team. It doesn’t matter whether you perform well or poor, just play it and I will see the changes in you in the period of next one month. Okay?” he asked. “ I will pick chess and football then.” “ Great. See, you after one month then.” Said the Professor.
And following the advice from Prof. Joshua, he joined the chess club and also got into the football team. His daily routine was now staggered as he would first attend his lectures and then grind hard in the football ground with others. And then play chess in the university’s chess club. He made some friends in the football team and playing football gave him the strength and the endurance and he grew much more stronger and agile at the end of the month while playing chess made him think about the situations strategically that were kind of new for him. All in all, doing these physically enduring games not only toughened him up physically but also improved his mindset and perception towards certain things.
He was just one month into it and there were significant changes to his personality which were visible to everyone. Karamjit was now much more confident than ever. He was a completely different person now. Earlier he would complain about things if they didn’t went the way he planned them to be but now he would consider every drastic situation careful and analyze how he can reap the maximum benefit out of it. Earlier, he used to see problems as adversity, but now every problem that he encountered was an opportunity for him to grow and make himself better.
When he started playing football, he wasn’t very agile and fast. He fell several times, injured his knees and legs but he didn’t give in, in those times which made his conviction even more strong. He no longer saw failure as a detour but as an opportunity to learn something from it and use it as an incubator to create something out of it which had never been produced before.
Amrit and his uncle Gurtej Singh could feel the confidence in his voice whenever they talked to him now and they were completely surprised by the way Karamjit had gone through this transformation. And indeed, playing sports really proved to be a crucial factor for Karamjit which was really helping him in his personal development. Now, he could see things clearly which were cluttered before because of his stagnant mindset. He never knew that he had a good instinct at playing chess or whether he was just born to be good at it. He soon represented his university team in several tournaments, some of which he won while losing inothers. But all in all, he never considered failure to be his permanent address now. He would now also guide his juniors in learning the basics of chess and improving their games which consequently improved his performance as he got a much deeper understanding and subtleties of chess. He was progressing with every passing week in his chess career and getting victories quickly. He was amazed at himself watching his progress over this short period of time. Although he never got into the football senior team but he continued to play as he understood that it was way more important to be in the game and enjoy it rather than focusing on the results. This belief and revelation made him realize that life is the similar way. We don’t necessarily have to reach a goal that we have established but to enjoy the journey that takes us through to that goal. That’s very important!
After a month he met with Prof. Joshua as he had promised him. And Prof. Joshua could see the way sports has helped Karamjit bring the best in him. He could see the confidence with which he walked. He was no longer the guy who would walk around with his shoulders dropped and face to the ground. Now, he was walking upright, with stern confidence and a cheerful smile on his face. “ Hello Prof. Joshua” he greeted the Professor. “ Hello dear. You promised me to spend your spare time in sports and I can say I am already perceiving some changes in your personality. So tell me what you have learnt from chess and football?” he asked.
“ Prof. Joshua, first of all I am extremely thankful to you for your advice which has completely changed my life. I am not the same person anymore which I was a few weeks before. Playing sports has completely turned my life upside down. Although, I have not changed drastically but I can certainly say that I have seen my life take a major turn from being unconfident to becoming comfortable in my own skin. Football taught me that failures are not the end point. It’s just a small detour which one faces while moving towards a higher end goal. So I no longer get discouraged when I encounter difficulties and rather I embrace them and move forward learning some lessons from them which would certainly help me in my future course of life. And from chess, I have lately come to appreciate the power of planning. I never used to believe in planning. Rather, I always thought that one should always execute even if they are going through the motions. It has taught me that it’s important to plan. It’s important to plan first using all their intelligence but when it comes to really trying it out, only then the execution should be ruthless. But planning certainly makes you insulated from the unnecessary risks or choices that you might have to make in the execution of that plan. So this is what I learned” he explained everything in detail to Prof. Joshua.
“Well done Karamjit, I am proud of you my boy. I always feel amazed when some of my mentee heeds everything I say carefully and then take it to the next level. I must say that you are fully deserving of the time that I invested in you. So, you are about to graduate from the University of the Bahamas. What’s next for you?” he asked.
“ You know, professor when I was a kid, I had this desire of travelling all around the world. But as I grew up, people around me painted an image in my mind that was conflicting with my imagination. They taught me to settle for something less than I was capable of achieving. Even my uncle told me to just get a job, make a living and settle down and live a regular life just like most of the people does. They ingrained in my mind that I was a backward child who did not had the mental faculty or intelligence to learn things fast just like other kids do. And the predicament is that I believed them and after I met you and learned these lessons, I finally realized that it were those beliefs which actually overtook my life from my control and gave control to other people’s opinions and even expectations of me. I slowly lost control over my choices and became a convict of the convictions of people around me. I couldn’t trust my abilities to achieve what I wanted. I wasn’t always a shy, introverted and klutz like that. Everyone that I met kept telling me that I was shy, that I speak less, that I am afraid to talk to strangers, that I was a no good nick. It was due to all of these beliefs that led me to where I went. But you have made me realize that I am not what they say I am, I am what I believe I am. I believe that this is the most important lesson that I have learned in my entire life, and if I were to sum it up, I would say that I was only limited to the beliefs that I had accepted. Once I changed the beliefs about myself, everything started to change for me. I became a quick learner, a good athlete and with your help I am still working on my communication skills. I can’t be more thankful to you Prof. Joshua. You are the person who also mentored my mother Kulvir Kaur. She was mentored under your mentorship program. She might have known how you could help others realize their true potential and maybe that’s why she told my father to let me meet you here. Thanks a ton for whatever you have done for me so far.”
Prof. Joshua was listening to the complete narrative which Karamjit narrated to him. While Karamjit was narrating his whole story, Prof. Joshua couldn’t help himself and tears rolled down his eyes. He said in a trembling voice, “ Kulvir? Yes, I know her. She was such a bright young girl with big dreams and aspirations. She really wanted to make a difference. You know what Karamjit? There could be no better scenario for a mentor whose mentee says to him that the mentor changed his life. You and your mother have given me that privilege. This is the happiness which all the seven billion people living on this planet strive for but never realize it until it’s too late. Your legacy is never in buildings or finishing projects. Your legacy is measured by your ability to build people. Your legacy is build when you help others realize their greatness. And I have got that privilege that I could serve your mother and you as well in my lifetime. That’s two generations. There’s nothing more fulfilling than that.” He said as he calmed himself down.
He then continued, “When I was a young lad, I was just like you; aimless and confused. But I had a stroke of luck that I got a mentor that guided me to become the kind of person that I am today. His name was Charles Munro. He is no more today. I said him the exact words that you said to me today. He was the person that build the man you see in front of you today. And when he was on his deathbed, he told me that he wanted me to mentor people just like the way he did and help someone realize their true potential.” He said as he somehow controlled himself.
“ That’s great.” Said Karamjit as he put hands on Prof. Joshua’s shoulders. “Are you okay?” he asked. “ Yes, I am good. Just some emotional burst remembering my mentor and his teachings. But I want you to stay strong Karamjit and don’t forget what you have learnt so far. See, there are people who are fast learners and learn without going through any repercussions but then there are those who learn the lessons the hard way. You are one of those people. I know, you have gone through some tough times, but believe me, the trouble will never end. Until you are breathing, you are going to face plenty, plenty, plenty troubles. So embrace them and take life head on.” He said.
Prof. Joshua then took a piece of paper out of the magazine that he was reading. On it was the advertisement of a public speaking event that was about to happen in the Bahamas Institute of Business and Technology. He asked Karamjit to participate in that event that would help him to become even a much improved speaker. If he were the old Karamjit, he would have thought several times and considered the consequences of participating in the event but this new Karamjit accepted it immediately without even giving it a second thought.
He went to the event with all his preparation for the speech. The event took place in a large hall packed with audiences from various other universities. When his turn came, he went to the podium and as he walked towards the speaking dice to hold the Mic, he could see the large gathering of people sitting in front of him waiting for him to speak. He felt nervous at once and thought that people would make fun of him and he would lose his face in front of so many people if he couldn’t deliver the speech in the right manner. It was difficult for him to still leave behind the old Karamjit and move on with his new identity.
He remembered what he had learned. He took a deep breath and started commencing his speech. After he went two minutes into the speech, his heart started to calm down and he got back to normal calm state. After he finished his speech, he received a loud applause and a few standing ovations. He wasn’t expecting that his speech would go so well. It was effortless for him to deliver the speech so confidently in front of these many people. He never would have thought in his wildest imaginations that he would be doing the stuff that he was doing now and even help others learn it.
His happiness was out of the bounds when he gave that speech which made him even more confident and convicted to pursue his dreams. Now, he started to believe in his dream of travelling all around the world and meeting with people ending up inspiring them with his life. Now, he could see the good in everything that happened to him in the past. If he had not gone through the traumatic experience that he went through, he wouldn’t have this beautiful testimony of how an individual could completely transform their life if they want to.
He would meet with Prof. Joshua every other day and they would discuss on how Karamjit could incorporate some more changes in his life to become more effective in his areas of competence. They would keep sitting for hours discussing about the lives of the people which influenced the people in their times and made a significant impact on the world before they died. Prof. Joshua made Karamjit read those people’s lives and then ask him to tell three important lessons that he learned reading those people’s biographies. Karamjit was all excited to learn from him whenever he got the opportunity to do so.
He would now focus less on his academic studies, rather he believed that he should be studying more about the events and people that would take him closer to his life’s calling. And so he did that efficiently. He started reading more and more. Some days he would literally spend his whole time reading books and grasping people’s lives through their stories some of which inspired him while he learned from the mistakes of other’s lives and tried not to incorporate those in his own life. Every passing day, he was becoming a critical thinker and the more he read and studied people’s lives, the more aware he was becoming about life and ways of dealing with people.
He would start attending seminars and conferences, listen to tapes and read books, even share some of the experiences of his own life with other people which made him a good storyteller. He was now bold and confident which made him a good choice for every event or conference that took place in the university. He would keenly participate in every event and give speeches that left a lasting impact on people.
He wouldn’t just recite the speech like a robot, but he included stories and events from his life and the foolish mistakes that he made along the way mixed with his laughter that gave people that listened to him an experience that would retain in their memory forever. He would encourage others to share their life experiences and live a larger life than they are currently living. In essence, he was on the path to becoming a motivational speaker with exceptional communication skills and the ability to inspire people with his stories.
And all this was the result of constant hammering and learning process that he was undergoing under the guidance of his mentor Professor Joshua. And Prof. Joshua made sure that he don’t let Karamjit to get back to his old life by getting back to his comfort zone, so he would constantly give him some task to do to keep him engaged whether that be some physical activity or some research paper to analyze and formulate his conclusions. He did this purposefully to expand his conscience to a much higher level. Professor Joshua didn’t even let Karamjit to take a day off to relax himself. He believed that body is a slave to the mind.
He once explained to Karamjit that whenever a person starts to do a task which is beyond their comfort zone, there comes a point where their body would start giving them signals telling them to quit the process. But at that moment, once you ignore those signals and keeping moving towards the goal in spite of those signals, that is when you become a better version of yourself.
He explained this to Karamjit by giving him example of a marathon runner. He said that once a runner starts running a marathon, he starts off excited and energetic but once the marathon progresses, there comes a point where he starts feeling weary and tired and his mind tells him to quit the marathon and take some rest. But the true strength of the runner is measured when he beats that stage and continues to move forward despite the pain and suffering that he is temporarily going through. And after he passes that stage, there comes another stage where running feels like a walk in the park to him. And as long as the marathon continues, he goes through all these different motions which try to deter him from finishing the marathon, but once he endures all of these motions, he comes out victorious.
And then Prof. Joshua metaphorically used this story and told Karamjit that the same is true for any task that we try to do going past our comfort zone, your mind and body starts resisting it but once we get past that stage and continue to move forward, it is then that we realize our true ability to move forward. It is then that we can look back and enjoy those memories of not giving in to adversity, pain or fear taking our souls. He explained several parables to Karamjit which helped him get a better understanding and a new perspective to look at life. He was always grateful for the wonderful mentor that he got in the image of Prof. Joshua and he couldn’t thank God enough for that.