With Success comes responsibility

This article was published in the February 2010 issue of The Lamplighter

When I was in my 3rd year at IIT, I got a chance to do 1 year of engineering in Europe. That one year was a defining year ofmy life because one is very impressionable at that age. The exposure I got shaped who I wanted to become later in life and what I wanted to do. 

Before we reached France, me and my classmate spent 2 weeks in UK to visit his aunt and my cousin and her husband. My cousin and her husband were settled in UK for the past 20 years and used to come to India for 2 weeks every 2 years. We talked about a lot of things when we spent time there but the memory that stands out the most is their pessimism towards India. People don’t work hard, phones don’t work, railways doesn’t run on time, people have no civic sense, traffic is messed up, political leaders stink. And I remember that I was really enraged as a 20 year old who believed that we are the ones who create the world we live in. And we fought with him tooth and nail – even though we were guests in their home – what are YOU doing about it – only sitting here and cribbing about it? Why don’t you be the one to cause that change? Somewhere deep down, I wanted to create that change or at least become an instrument to cause it.

Another memory I have isof a weekend trip our class of Electrical Engineering took to a weekend resort up in the hills. We were a bus full of people and they had booked a Youth Hostel which was basically a huge hostel with furnished rooms – you didn’t have to pay for the place. There was nobody to manage it either except one caretaker. The only expectation was that you should leave it like you found it, so others can benefit from it too. After enjoying the 2 days of fun before leaving the place, I saw a glaring example of the French sense of responsibility. All the students, scrubbed every inch of the floor, cleaned the toilets, threw the garbage from every possible place and we left that place BETTER than we found it. I could’ve never imagined something like that happening – and that too with nobody to force them to do it. I was thoroughly impressed. On our way back, once we reached our university, another strange thing happened. We had hired a bus for the whole trip and obviously had paid for it too. Before we reached, everybody sang a song of thanks for the driver of the bus and a box was passed around in which everybody contributed more than they should have, for “Mr Driver” – just as a gesture of goodwill for the wonderful trip. I just could not believe it. I was not used to see such human acts of magnanimity in my life till then. I secretly wished in my heart from then on, that I will be able to live in a society of people who would feel their responsibility towards their society, their environment and to the fellow man. That would be a life well lived.

And when I saw this business,  I could instantly identify a vehicle through which these dreams could come true. I found a voluntary army of people who wanted to create a society which embodies those principles and those values of life which make life worth living. I heard Kanti Gala talking from every stage “Giving is Living”. I heard the leadership of BWW talking about leading by example. I heard Charlie Durso’s talk “You Be The One”. 

And if that endeavour also makes you wealthy beyond measure…..wow!!!! What more can you wish for? 

Yes, our goal is to make 10,000 a month and then 50,000 and then a lakh and then a crore. But if we do not fulfill the responsibilities that come along with that success, this success will be very empty at the end of the journey. We cannot change the world – we can only change ourselves and inspire others to do the same – first frontlines, then our group, then crosslines and then their families and the society around us. And that change has to be in every small thing that we do. Every thought we let enter into our minds.

It will mean following the 3 cardinal rules when nobody is looking. It will mean not pouncing upon somebody’s guest who has invited them from another city and another LOS. It will mean not gossiping about what’s wrong with upline and BWW and crossline but instead giving constructive feedback to the right people to help make it right. It will mean not just standing in a queue in the open meeting but also at the food stall at the major functions where upline is not watching. It will mean not buying books and CDs from the vendors outside major functions. It will mean not sitting in the silvers and up section if you are not qualified. It will mean not wearing the Eagle Badge if you are not qualified. It will mean all this and it will mean more. 

With success will come responsibility. And to the responsible will come more success. It will mean being ready to serve your group. It will mean being loyal to your upline and to the system. It will mean saying “No, we will not sell to somebody else’s customer or offer discounts just to get that order”. It will mean thinking big and thinking for the good of the bigger Britt team instead of just I, me and mine. 

These might be but small steps that seem insignificant. But they all add up. They add up to creating a winning atmosphere where people get inspired to become better themselves just because they see others doing the same. Yes, we will make a lot of money and buy a lot of cars and homes and travel around the world. But we will create a better world of responsible citizens starting with ourselves. That’s the responsibility that this success comes with and that we all are expected to live up to. Changing the world, one at a time, starting with ourselves.