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May 18, 2012

W.A.L.K ~ Nipun Mehta’s (Service Space.org) wonderful address to the UPenn Graduating Class of 2012

Penn grad speech: paths are made by walking (Nipun Mehta)

This is a transcript of the Baccalaureate address to UPenn’s graduating class of 2012, delivered by Nipun Mehta. Nipun is the founder of ServiceSpace..org, a nonprofit that works at the intersection of gift-economy, technology and volunteerism. His popular TED talk Designing for Generosity provides an overview of their work and guiding principles.
(Offbeat Graduation Speech Gets Standing Ovation: 2012’s Baccalaureate speaker at the University of Pennsylvania was an unconventional choice for an Ivy League school. To address their newly-minted graduates, aspiring to dazzling careers, they picked a man who has never in his adult life, applied for a job. A man who hasn’t worked for pay in nearly a decade, and whose self-stated mission is simply “to bring smiles to the world and stillness to my heart”. This off-the-radar speaker launched his address with a startling piece of advice. Following up with four key insights gleaned from a radical 1000 km walking pilgrimage through the villages of India. As he closed his one-of-a-kind Graduation Day speech, the sea of cap and gowned students rose to their feet for a standing ovation. What follows is the full transcript of the talk by Nipun Mehta.)

Thank you to my distinguished friends, President Amy Gutmann, Provost Vincent Price and Rev. Charles Howard for inviting me to share a few reflections on this joyous occasion. It is an honor and privilege to congratulate you — UPenn’s class of 2012.
Right now each one of you is sitting on the runway of life primed for takeoff. You are some of the world’s most gifted, elite, and driven college graduates – and you are undeniably ready to fly. So what I’m about to say next may sound a bit crazy. I want to urge you, not to fly, but to – walk. Four years ago, you walked into this marvelous laboratory of higher learning. Today, heads held high, you walk to receive your diplomas.. Tomorrow, you will walk into a world of infinite possibilities.
But walking, in our high-speed world, has unfortunately fallen out of favor. The word “pedestrian” itself is used to describe something ordinary and commonplace. Yet, walking with intention has deep roots. Australia’s aboriginal youth go on walkabouts as a rite of passage; Native American tribes conduct vision quests in the wilderness; in Europe, for centuries, people have walked the Camino de Santiago, which spans the breadth of Spain. Such pilgrims place one foot firmly in front of the other, to fall in step with the rhythms of the universe and the cadence of their own hearts.
Back in 2005, six months into our marriage, my wife and I decided to “step it up” ourselves and go on a walking pilgrimage. At the peak of our efforts with Service Space, we wondered if we had the capacity to put aside our worldly success and seek higher truths. Have you ever thought of something and then just known that it had to happen? It was one of those things. So we sold all our major belongings, and bought a one-way ticket to India. Our plan was to head to Mahatma Gandhi’s ashram, since he had always been an inspiration to us, and then walk South. Between the two of us, we budgeted a dollar a day, mostly for incidentals — which meant that for our survival we had to depend utterly on the kindness of strangers. We ate whatever food was offered and slept wherever place was offered.
Now, I do have to say, such ideas come with a warning: do not try this at home, because your partner might not exactly welcome this kind of honeymoon.. 🙂
For us, this walk was a pilgrimage — and our goal was simply to be in a space larger than our egos, and to allow that compassion to guide us in unscripted acts of service along the way. Stripped entirely of our comfort zone and accustomed identities, could we still “keep it real”? That was our challenge.
We ended up walking 1000 kilometers over three months. In that period, we encountered the very best and the very worst of human nature — not just in others, but also within ourselves.
Soon after we ended the pilgrimage, my uncle casually popped the million dollar question at the dinner table: “So, Nipun, what did you learn from this walk?” I didn’t know where to begin. But quite spontaneously, an acronym — W-A-L-K — came to mind, which encompassed the key lessons we had learned, and continue to relearn, even to this day. As you start the next phase of your journey, I want to share those nuggets with the hope that it might illuminate your path in some small way too.
The W in WALK stands for Witness. When you walk, you quite literally see more. Your field of vision is nearly 180 degrees, compared to 40 degrees when you’re traveling at 62 mph. Higher speeds smudge our peripheral vision, whereas walking actually broadens your canvas and dramatically shifts the objects of your attention. For instance, on our pilgrimage, we would notice the sunrise everyday, and how, at sunset, the birds would congregate for a little party of their own. Instead of adding Facebook friends online, we were actually making friends in person, often over a cup of hot “chai”. Life around us came alive in a new way.
A walking pace is the speed of community. Where high speeds facilitate separation, a slower pace gifts us an opportunity to commune.
As we traversed rural India at the speed of a couple of miles per hour, it became clear how much we could learn simply by bearing witness to the villagers’ way of life. Their entire mental model is different — the multiplication of wants is replaced by the basic fulfillment of human needs.When you are no longer preoccupied with asking for more and more stuff; then you just take what is given and give what is taken. Life is simple again. A farmer explained it to us this way: “You cannot make the clouds rain more, you cannot make the sun shine less. They are just nature’s gifts — take it or leave it.” read more

I’m inclined to side with Shah Rukh Khan …v/s MCA which has proposed a 5 year ban on him to enter Wankhede Stadium…and why IPL Chairman Rajiv Shukla may too just side with him !

I’m inclined to side with Shah Rukh Khan …v/s MCA…I blogged on this in detail yesterday…and why IPL Chairman and Minister of Parliamentary Affairs,Congressman and ex Journalist and TV Anchor Rajiv Shukla may too just side with him !

The Issue is already Political….Laloo Prasad and Kirti Azad side SRK…even  Mamata Banerjee,the CM of West Bengal has requested that MCA reverse the proposed 5 year Ban on SRK to enter Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai…BCCI is to make the final decision,as Rajiv Shukla asserts

There’s a strong business link between SRK and Rajiv Shukla’s listed Company BAG Films…and also a stink of Insider Trading in it a few years ago

Check out my blogs on this in 2010,2009 and 2008 as below

 

IPL Cricket Stink…providing a link to some bluntness

Wednesday, April 28th, 2010

B.A.G. Films and Media Ltd back to under Rs 13 from just under Rs 105…It had never deserved to shoot up like this!

Monday, February 2nd, 2009

SRK in the BAG !..but BAG not in the BAG!

Monday, July 14th, 2008 Cheers !

Tom Cruise’s Recent Playboy Interview ~ Quite Engrossing

Tom Cruise is my Hollywood Idol…we share a few things in common…Our Age for one…he turns 50 on July 3 and I a Month later on August 9…he is a  romantic who dotes on his wife,Katie…adores her…. and he’s a great Family Man too..and he’s always been adventurous and  lives Life on his own terms…it was always the ‘Movies’ for him right from his childhood

I simply loved his Playboy Interview of May 15,2012….get to know the real Tom here

http://www.playboy.com/playground/interviews/playboy-interview-tom-cruise

some excerpts of Tom’s responses to the Questions posed….

“I learned that even in times that were challenging, you have a choice whether to let problems overwhelm you”

“For ‘The Last Samurai’ I spent a year training six hours a day, seven days a week to be able to handle a sword and do it on uneven terrain, because I didn’t want to blow my knees out. You’ve got to build the body up for impact”

I like being me because making movies is all I ever wanted to do. But when I look at Bono, Springsteen, Bon Jovi or Axl Rose and hear the songs they wrote and how they perform them and the life they have, I have a greater appreciation. It takes so much work to get to that level.”

On Def Leppard’s,Joe Elliot…”  He’s a slave to rock and roll. When he’s onstage, he gives it everything. Off it, he’s looking for soulful moments in odd ways, and that’s where the comedy comes in.”

On the Stunt at High Heights of Burj Skyscraper in Dubai in Mission Impossible ~ The Ghost Protocol and that he could have done it on the second or third floor and added computer effects…” But it wouldn’t have looked the same. As great as visual effects are, it just would not have been the same experience for the audience… I started thinking of -Harold Lloyd dangling from the clock, and Buster Keaton, when you feel the danger. And look, if I’m at the third or the second floor, a fall will kill me anyway. [laughs] I might as well be on the 124th floor. At a certain point the height was the least of the challenges.”

“life is not a matter of trying to prove anything to anybody.”

 ” My whole life, I’ve wanted to take care of my family and be the person people can depend on. I feel that about myself. Do I make mistakes? Yeah. I don’t care who you are, life has challenges. Whether it’s as a father, as a man, in my work, you go through things. I want to look at those things for what they really are, take responsibility, make it right and move on. How harshly I’m judged or not judged, I don’t think about stuff like that. I feel lucky. I remember as a kid I wanted an adventurous life, and I’ve gotten it. So if someone judges me harshly, it’s okay. I don’t even judge them harshly for doing it.” read more

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