Ishwar Jha

Entrepreneur, Digital Media Specialist, Technology Innovator, Speaker & Blogger. I relish the vision of creating a collaborative and participatory platform that would help enrich the lives of people. My expertise includes; - Business model generation - Lean Startup - Customer Development - Digital Strategy - Technical Innovations - Digital Product design and development - Mentoring, coaching and inflection support for entrepreneurs

स्वावलंबी

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बचपन में मेरा घर मिट्टी का था। जब मैं शायद पांच या छः साल का था तो तेज बारिश और बाढ़ जैसी स्थिति आने के कारण घर ढह गया। हमें मजबूरन मवेशी वाले घर में रहना पड़ा। पिताजी और मां ने मिलकर एक चौकी के ऊपर दूसरी रक्खी और हम किसी तरह बारिश से बचाव कर रहे थे।

उस समय खाना मिट्टी के चूल्हे पर लकड़ी से पकाई जाती थी। हमारे चूल्हे, लकड़ी अनाज सब नष्ट हो चुके थे।

मां ने चिंता जाहिर की: “बच्चे भूखे हैं। मैं जाकर परोस से कुछ उधार लेकर पका लें आती हूं।”

पिताजी ने टोक दिया: “क्या इतने वर्षों के दांपत्य जीवन में आपको कभी किसी से मांगने की जरूरत पड़ी है?”

मां ने सिर हिलाकर नकार दिया।

“आज एक दिन अगर मांग लेंगे तो जिंदगी भर सुनना पड़ेगा। लोग कहेंगे पुरा परिवार खत्म हो गया होता अगर हमने खाना नहीं बनाने दिया होता।” पिताजी ने फिर कहा।

“बच्चे भूखे हैं।” मां ने थोड़ी भारी आवाज में जवाब दिया।

“नमक चाटकर और एक ग्लास पानी पी लेने से भी भूख मिट जाती है। मैंने विद्यार्थी जीवन में कई बार ऐसा किया है। जैसे ही बारिश थमेगी, मैं जाकर दूसरे गांव के दुकान से खाने का सामान खरीद कर ले आऊंगा।”

हम भूखे ही बारिश थमने का इंतजार करते रहे। कुछ घंटों में बारिश थमी और पिताजी जल्दी से जाकर खाने का सामान ले आए। कुछ दिनों के बाद पक्के की मकान बनाने का कार्य भी शुरू हो गया। फिर, हम पक्के के मकान में रहने लगे और दुबारा बारिश या बाढ़ के कारण भूखा रहना पड़ा हो ऐसी नौबत भी नहीं आई।

उस दिन हमारे मानस पटल पर यह विचार जरूर अंकित हो गया की “मांगना, उधार लेना और चुराना हमारे लिए तो कतई ही नहीं है। अगर ऐसा किया तो मेरे पिता के अप्रतिम सीख का निरादर होगा और उनके आत्मा को दुख पहुंचेगी।”

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Six sources of enjoyment in a life

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I was reading a shloka from Vidur Niti:


अर्थागमो नित्यमरोगिता च
प्रिया च भार्या प्रियवादिनी च।
वश्यस्य पुत्रो Sर्थकरी च विद्या
षड् जीवलोकस्य सुखानि राजन्।।

It provides us six sources/means of enjoying a happy lifestyle in this World:
(i) regular source of income from your work

(ii) Having good health

(iii) A loving and soft speaking spouse

(iv) Wise, obedient and kind children

(v) Knowledge and expertise in the profession which yields regular income.

It’s going to remain relevant and timeless.

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भटकाव, ठहराव, बदलाव

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कल एक सज्जन से मिला, जो जिंदगी की परेशानियों से पिछले कुछ सालों से संघर्ष कर रहे थे और काफी जद्दोजहद के बाद अब अपने आप को थोड़ा उबरा हुआ महसूस कर रहे हैं।

“आप सब की कृपा, सुझाव, प्रोत्साहन, योग और मेडिटेशन के वजह से अब मैं ठीक महसूस कर रहा हूं।” इन शब्दों से उन्होंने अपनी मानसिक स्थिति को जाहिर किया।

मेरा भी मन बहुत ही प्रसन्न हुआ। मैंने तुरंत ही उनसे कहा:

“आपने जो स्वयं के ऊपर काम किया है, यह ठहराव लाया है यह अवश्य ही सराहनीय है।

हमारी व्यथा का जड़ ही यही है कि हम अकारण बल्ब जलाकर राख लेते हैं और मान लेते हैं के ये हमेशा प्रकाशित ही रहेंगे।

हम सोच लेते हैं कि अपने तो सदा ही अपने ही रहेंगे। यह भूल जाते हैं कि हमारा असली जुराब तो सिर्फ स्वयं से है बाकी सब तो छलावा है।

अब आपको बदलाव के तरफ बढ़ना है। आपने मानसिक अवस्था को और सुचारू करनी है। स्वयं के लिए थोड़ा सा जीना है। खुश रहना है। व्यवस्थित रहना है। व्यवहारिक होना है। वास्तविक होना है।”

वो मुस्कुराते हुए आगे बढ़ गए।

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Start Fast Finish Strong

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Let’s be honest.

If U don’t take this challenge in front of me, even though I have the intent to succeed, I will get distracted and soon drop the ball even before the new year party hangover gets over.

I will challenge myself this coming year every day to think of a radically different approach.

I will challenge myself to put my goals in front of me and pursue deliberate practice to get it accomplished, every project to be finished on time, and every assignment to be delivered with the best processes and tools.

I challenge myself to not only set up the goals, but for me to make them real as it’s gonna be everything for me.

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The entrepreneurship model is changing

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In 2010 I bid goodbye 18 years of corporate career resigning from the top job amid lots of hopes and desperation. It took some efforts to free myself from fears of loosing out because of apprenticeship habits and then I started to see the world from a different perspective.

There is something extraordinary happening in our country and the world. To experience this phenomenon, I needed to be like a free bird, it became necessary to fly to explore the voyage. Bonded inside e corporate world with a brand tag , I won’t have quite realized it.

There are 200 million youths are coming to the employment market and our current system can provide employment opportunity to only 60 million people. We need the explosion of startups, thousands of entrepreneurs and facilitators who can turn the fortune of our countrymen by bringing up their billion dollar ideas to life.

We need to correct our entrepreneurial thinking. Our belief that the vortex of entrepreneurship is to find an investor and get funded needs tuning. Our notion that be funded is like winning the Cricket World Cup must change. And those who strike funding and start living like a species from a different world should realize the ground realities before their daydreaming becomes nightmare.

If you speak to those who got funded they will tell you that they get back to being an employee. Even though you have brought in the people who share your dreams and vision, they may not agree with your process and soon it becomes all about the money. Accomplishing the financial end becomes the main driver of business. We all saw what happened with housing.com.

Entrepreneurs are suffering with it. Excellent startups began to tumble because the money seeking model is endless. One of my own startup went berserk when I begun focusing on raising money more than running the business.

A new way to enter into this phenomena is needed for fulfilling India’s success through a collaborative entrepreneurial ecosystem. Think and let me know what you think?

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You have already answered

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“Oh! Shhhh….. Really?”
One of the things I find awkward about interviewing is when towards the end, I ask the candidate, “Do you have any questions for me?” and the person says, “Not for now. You have almost answered everything.”
My head starts spinning, “Really!? I have been only asking questions since the interview began. When did I answer your questions?”
I always expect the candidates should come prepared with questions. The questions like:
Get clarity related to the job role so that you know the expectations right from the beginning.
You should know if they had this position earlier and what happened to the earlier guy on the role.
It would help if you got some ideas about the company’s vision and growth plan.
Ask about the company culture and work rules, if any.
And you should ask questions that can help you gauge what kind of people you are going to work with when you join the company.

Whether you are looking for an internship or a fresher job, These questions will help you make a better decision about what you can expect when you join them. Whether it is the kind of setup you want to associate to build your career and whether you should look for a better opportunity.

Next time, when you appear for the interview, you should be prepared to ask questions.

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Create a canvas, not a painting

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I met a business associate few days ago. I was impressed realizing the way he begin the conversation. Rather than asking for “What you do?” “Where are you from?”.

He started telling me about few of the things that he learned about me and how that influenced him to ask for the meting.
I could observe an invigorating chemistry firming up and by the time we begin discussing the business, we both were feeling of like a friend.
In all you do, create opportunities and conditions for those around you to add value to an idea. Empower them to contribute. Encourage them to improvise!

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Pray everyday

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Pray everyday so that you attract the spiritual forces to grant you.
Freedom to be yourself.
Victory to the ailments and eliminating the evils.
Fame to stand tall and hold your head high.
Capacity to destroy all the hostility that causes disruption in the life and living of you and everyone else.

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Life is What You Make It

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Last week we did a survey in our office — we asked people how do you feel working with us by voting anonymously.
65% responded Happy
20% responded Worried
and 15% responded Sad

I told them that those who feel sad should find a better place where they can turn happy because I feel sadness cannot be repaired and we are not in the business of repairing sadness. To those who felt worried, I asked them to have an appointment to discuss the way for them to turn happy.

I made a commitment to employees that let’s work together to make happy ones more happier and worried ones to turn happy while listening to their concerns and solving it.

One employee dropped me an email. We spoke and what I discovered was that the employee was worried because she was not happy with her performance and she had doubts about her own capabilities of becoming successful in her current role. I drew the analogy from the marriage system and said to her, “We marry with so much excitement but, all the fun fades so quickly. However, we don’t give up on the relationship. We gradually strengthen the relationship and enrich each other’s life with commitment to make it a fulfilling one together. If you start thinking about the job also like a marriage, it will turn out to be a much more fun and rewarding thing to pursue. Life is what you make it. It’s not a ready-to-eat food platter from which you can choose to eat only what you like.”


I could see a smile and peace on the face and hope that next month our rate of happy employees will increase.


If you want to know how to conduct similar exercise in your office, please drop me your message.

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Listening to your quiet voice

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Sometime, when you are afflicted by the situation where you are not able to make decisions – remind yourself of your favourite activities like listening music, singing, playing your favourite sports, sitting in the park or simply walking. Leave your trouble and begin doing your favourite activity.

Your mind will begin listening to your quiet voice suppressed in your heart and you begin listening the answers that would make you come out as a winner.

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Choosing between self-will and God’s will

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Difficult. Because, unless you leave the self, destroy the self, how else can you know the will of the God? How can a drop of water know about the sea unless it loses itself into the ocean?

Unless you lose yourself, you will not know what the will of God is. Once you have surrendered,

You will have no desire, you will have no desire to know either, there is no question to know, and then you will have no feeling to burden yourself to fulfill your desire either.

You are just a resource for the source to act as per the will of the source.


तेरा तुझको सौंप दे क्या लागत है मोर
मेरा मुझसे कुछ नाही है जो होवत सो तोर

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How to use your head to handle yourself

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Our mind is like a child, it wants everything whether it’s helpful or harmful and that’s why God gifted us the parents. Parenthood is a role in controlling children’s minds using care and discipline; knowing well what is good for their ward. As a grown-up, how do you control yourself?

In the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna says, “A man must elevate himself by his own mind, not degrade himself. The mind is the friend of the conditioned soul, and his enemy as well. “

We are living the world highly influenced by the material and marketing which influences our mind and our senses.

In order to make your mind your friend you build habits, focus and principles guiding you to not get attracted to greed, fear, fame or fetish.

Ask yourself:

1) How do you define self-control? Do you remember an event of the past when you won because you imposed self-control or lost because you could not?

2) Have you included practices like Yoga or meditation to build the habits of self-control? If not, what are you going to do this year?

3) Write down the events in the last one year of losing s

elf-control? What did you do to get back? What if you would not have reacted to the event?

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One thing. Just one thing.

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Curly: Do you know what the secret of life is?

Mitch: No. What?

Curly: This. [He holds up one finger.]

Mitch: Your finger?

Curly: One thing. Just one thing.

You stick to that and everything else don’t mean sh*t.

Mitch: That’s great, but what’s the “one thing”?

Curly: That’s what you’ve got to figure out.

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Hard thing about achievement

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In order to claim achievement, every individual needs to have goals whose attainment requires effort, and needs to attain success while pursuing the set goal. Our goals can be divided into three groups:


1) Easy goals that can be attained with minimal effort
2) The hard goals which require serious efforts to attain; and
3) Impossible goals that cannot be satisfied, no matter how much effort one makes.
If you look around the world today, most of the impossible things are already done and whatever is left to be done, even a child can do it. It requires incremental thinking, some serious efforts, and consistency in accomplishing it.


I think the biggest disappointment that mankind is facing today to bring the kind of challenges that can enthuse people to think and do hard goals that challenge their capacities and energies. I am into this thinking, if everything worth doing has already been done, why are we so desperately allergic to claim our spot riding on the terrain of achievement?

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Call out your calling

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You know it — You wake up every morning with a clear objective to take some steps that will get you closer to your true calling.
But, if you don’t know your true calling then you need to know it.
To know your true calling, you need to find the intersection of your strengths, interests and the social good that you wish to accomplish.
Do you know your true calling, yet?
If not then you should go and discover it as it won’t call out to you. You need to search for it.
If YES then go and do something today that will get you closer to your calling as even after knowing it, if you don’t do anything about it then it won’t get you anywhere.

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