VK Saraswat | Vijay Kumar Saraswat

If there’s one thing the whole world can agree on, it is their mutual hatred of Monday. There have been countless jokes made on the horror story that is Monday. From kids wanting to cut school to office goers cribbing to get past their weekend, Monday is probably the most ill-treated day of the week. What about successful people? Do they hate Mondays? Do you ever hear them talking about Monday woes? Is this the deciding factor between the successful people and the not-so-successful people? To be honest, it is really easy. It is really easy to get caught up in the weekend, it is really easy to let the laidback Sunday noon flow onto a monday morning, it is really easy to want to extend that period of relaxation and carefree weekend time a little longer. But it isn’t about what is easy, is it ? Often, a lot of people I meet tell me they spend half their Mondays wishing Monday didn’t happen at all. How is that helping? For office-goers, particularly those who wor...

Do you have a dream ? Do you long to one day bask in the glory of something you’ve yearned and worked for, all your life ? Do you wish to be different ? To create change ? To change the ways of those around ? Do you wish to see a miracle, or better still, create one? Our lives and dreams are constantly evolving, just as we are. With each cell that dies, and each new cell that comes to be a part of our existence - we change. In fact, for real we aren’t really the same person we were a few years ago. Put simply, every cell in our being is recycled and replaced by a new one every few minutes. So the next time someone tells you, you’ve changed, ponder on the fact that you really have. Isn’t it remarkable then, that despite all these changes in our bodies, our brain still contains all the data it should? That we can look at old photograph at ourselves and go, “hey, that’s me” , that we can run into an old classmate and relive those college memories even though we’re balding w...

Today, I’d like to share with all of you, some memorable images at the launch of the short-range surface-to-surface missile code-named Prithvi. The Government of India launched the Integrated Guided Missile Development Program in 1983 to achieve self-sufficiency in the development and production of wide range of Ballistic Missiles, Surface to Air Missiles etc. Prithvi was the first missile to be developed under the Program. DRDO attempted to build Surface-to-air Missile under Project Devil. I was blessed to be a part of this specially chosen team as Part of India’s Integrated Guided Missile Development Program. This mission was spearheaded by our ex- President, Mr. APJ Abdul Kalam. It’s been a pleasure working in his team. Definitely an experience to be savoured! I hope you all liked this post. Do comment and let me know if you would like to see more such pictures and memories of important events that I’ve been a part of.

Let go of something when you know you deserve something better. I’ve seen this quote written so many times on social media channels, and in forums. 2014 has seen a lot of posts about the beauty of letting go. For most young people this quote would remind them of  failed relationshipa, for some it could be the act of forgiving oneself for something they did and for others it could be a signal to continue in the journey of life. I’ve seen a rather different perspective of this quote. Forget about the whimsical beauty of letting go and think of it as a necessity. If we streamline our focus, isn’t letting something go simply the most natural way to make way for something better? Young India is a powerful force to reckon with, today. We are a nation whose majority of population is aged under thirty five years of age. If all of us were to follow our dreams with reckless abandon and unfailing passion, would that not make us a superpower in the next few years? The yo...

They tell us that society nurtures our dreams and aspirations and the country we live in, has a lot to do in contributing to giving life to those dreams. I’ve heard a lot of people say it is difficult to do this and that because we were born in this region. The truth is, if you are truly intent on following your dreams, nothing can hold you back - not even yourself. The things we are subjected to in our early lives are responsible for how we live out the rest of our lives - it could be with respect to our behaviour, our likes and dislikes, our attitude or even our choice of career. Some of us follow the career our parents did, we follow the family business; some of us chart our own path and some of us decide to do a whole lot of things and like the vibrancy of not sticking to just one field. For some however, something enchants them so much that they choose to dedicate their entire lives to learning it, improving it or basking in the joy of it. The something becomes m...

In my previous blog I mentioned the importance of parents supporting and guiding their children. I say that not to judge parents or parenting but to bear witness to the brilliant role my own father has played in my life in getting me to where I am right now. Idols are extremely important in one’s life. As humans, we all need something to strive for, something to achieve, someone to look up to and someone to make proud. A trophy isn’t as good if you don’t have someone to share that happiness with. My father, in all ways has been more than an idol to me. He guided me yes, but he let me make my own choices and live with them. He never let me fall but he always inculcated in me the essences to prevent me from slipping. You could do a million things, but if even one of them doesn’t make you happy, that’s a million things wasted. A lot of today’s entrepreneurs and successful people say that the Indian education system doesn’t foster individuality and talent. While I couldn’...

As I begin my first blog here, I'd like to stress the importance of parents and their dedication and support to their children, in the child's life. Everyone has it in them to be hardworking, focussed and successful. The early stages in a child's life require the utmost support of a parent; this shapes the child's ideas for their future. As parents, providing them with food and shelter is not the only support you can give. Children are emotionally dependent on their parents in their formative years; how you guide your children in these tender years, will shape their life, like how my father shaped mine. On this note I'd like to narrate my early days… Part 1 - Hit, bled and fled - The story of my primary school education I was not a very manageable child. I was terribly mischievous and concentrated more on playing rather than studying. My earliest years were spent as quite a naughty child, hardly one whom you'd envision as a scientist la...