I am a great believer of self-awareness, self-help and ‘improve yourself’ books. I have read a fair number, from Dale Carnegic to Stephen R Covey and Robin Sharma. While I can’t vouch for the extent to which these books have helped me ‘improve’, a recent self-help workshop brought me instant results. And how!
It was a two-day workshop on ‘How to make the right decision — Always’. Held over a weekend, the fee was nominal. Shaky from recent decisions that turned out badly, I decided to sign up and figure out how to take right decisions. After the preliminary formalities of filling up the forms, which incidentally included information about job profile, if any, and annual income, we were ushered into a big hall. There were about 50 of us, sitting rather self-consciously, waiting for ‘Guruji’, as he was called, to arrive. It was a bit of an anticlimax when he did turn up.
For, instead of the white or orange-robed person of indeterminate age and flowing beard, here was a middle-aged, balding man wearing white trousers and shirt, clearly pulled on in a hurry. After a brief introduction, he emphasised the need to arrive at the ‘right’ decision, the consequences of a wrong decision, and so on, frequently quoting from self-help books, which some of us were already familiar with. The participants were also given a questionnaire, which described situations, and were asked to decide quickly with a ‘Yes’ or ‘No’. These were discussed later on.
The next day, guruji continued with the discussions and in a final analysis, inferred that it is essential to have an integrated personality to make the right decisions in life. Was I impressed? As I awaited some more nuggets of wisdom, I realised a pamphlet was being circulated. It turned out that guruji was organising a five-day self-enhancement course on ‘Integration of personality for total peace and happiness’ in his ashram near Rishikesh. The ashram was fully air-conditioned, with yoga and meditation rooms, spa, gym and an organic food cafe! The cost for a five-day course was Rs 15,000 per person, ‘all inclusive’.
{{/usCountry}}The next day, guruji continued with the discussions and in a final analysis, inferred that it is essential to have an integrated personality to make the right decisions in life. Was I impressed? As I awaited some more nuggets of wisdom, I realised a pamphlet was being circulated. It turned out that guruji was organising a five-day self-enhancement course on ‘Integration of personality for total peace and happiness’ in his ashram near Rishikesh. The ashram was fully air-conditioned, with yoga and meditation rooms, spa, gym and an organic food cafe! The cost for a five-day course was Rs 15,000 per person, ‘all inclusive’.
{{/usCountry}}I discreetly put the paper in my notebook and came back. Since then, I have received a few calls from guruji’s office querying whether I am interested in the current or next batch. I could be accommodated in any batch convenient to me. I have not responded. I have stuck to my decision of not parting with my hard-earned money to attend the exorbitantly priced course.
Right decision, wasn’t it? Should I at least thank guruji?