Singing your favorite song, in the way you like.

Prince Dhruva was the youngest son of King Rama Verma, who ruled part of Kerala during medieval period. King Rama Verma was a great devotee of Lord Vishnu. He named his son as Dhruva and his kingdom as Dhruva Loka from Vishnu purana. King Rama Verma loved his youngest son Dhruva than anybody else in the world. One day, King Rama Verma got to know that his beloved son is not doing good in his studies. King Rama Verma consulted raja purohit to know what he should do to make his son taller, stronger and sharper. Raja purohit advised king Rama Verma to stop Dhruva's early education in palace, and to send the prince to a monk's hermitage in the nearby village. King Rama Verma's soldiers brought the monk to his palace with state honour. The king offered a bag full of gold coins to the monk.? The monk rejected it, but agreed to make Dhruva a brave soldier who can takeover Dhruva Loka after King Rama Verma.?

Next day, prince Dhruva was in monk's hermitage along with few men guarding it. His new school. The monk asked all his disciples to leave the room. Then the monk asked Dhruva to explain why his father wanted him to get education from hermitage instead of his school in palace. Dhruva said that he was not doing good and felt that it was an insult for his father. The monk wanted to know the reason for he not doing well in studies. The empathy and gentleness in monk's face made Dhruva comfortable to share his problems. Dhruva said that he is worried because there are thousands of people suffering in his father's kingdom, and his father is not able to help them. He was also worried that his father's kingdom is week and can be attacked by the neighbouring state at any time. Dhruva said that he is not able to concentrate in studies due to his worries. The monk was amused to hear this from young Dhruva, whom his father and teachers thought is a stupid. The monk said that his class for the day is over and to comeback on the following morning. The monk assured to find a solution to address his issues by next morning.?

Dhruva came to hermitage on the following morning along with his guards and care takers. After his morning prayers and rituals, the monk was eagerly waiting for the arrival of prince. The monk came sat next to Dhruva and said that he has found a magical solution for his problems. The monk said that it should remain a secret between him and Dhruva. Dhruva agreed to it. The monk said that he can fix all the issues, if Dhruva could go to forest alone and get a flower which has no name (A flower whose name is not known to anyone). Dhruva was delighted. The monk said that Dhruva should learn the names of all the flowers known to mankind to find this unique one. He further said that Dhruva should be too good at martial arts and archery to venture into forest. ?

Prince Dhruva's education started in the hermitage under monk's supervision from the following day. His subjects were Veda, practicing martial arts and archery. Dhruva was determined to help his father and worked hard. In couple of years, Dhruva became the best in archery, martial arts and in all his subjects. He was good at hunting and trekking as well. He realized that he is a master in all his subjects, even before he realized that there is no such magical flower in the forest. Or Dhruva was wise to think about his father's problems being young. And he agreed to monk's story of magical flower, because it was his second chance after a humiliating failure. King Rama Verma was proud of his son. All the ministers in his father's kingdom admired Dhruva. A war broke out between Dhruva Loka and the neighboring state. King Rama Verma was killed in the battlefield. Prince Dhruva took the reins and destroyed enemies completely. He acquired all their territory. He imprisoned the king who killed his father. Dhruva Loka became glories than ever. In Dhruva Loka, no one suffered without food, shelter, clothing, medical care and education. ?

This imaginary story written by me has few takeaways for readers who are struggling with children's education, career, work-life balance and communication. ?

It is extremely important to listen to understand the other side of the story. You may have had the experience of your mechanic saying that the reason for the trouble in your bike is A, even before you explain it. When you say that it is not A, he will conclude that it is B. And if you confirm that it is not B, then he is sure that it is C. All these conclusions are even without listening to what you are about to say. This is because your mechanic thinks that he is professional and knows more than you about bikes and cars. ?

You may find your manager jumping into conclusion and giving solutions, even before you could complete what you are about to say. Often the solution is right, because many from your team has approached your manager with the same issue in the past. ?

Your parents may not accept your ideas and plans in life. They may oppose your decisions, because they think that they have more experience in life than you. You will not realize that your young child has the same problem which you have with your parents. You would also find you behaving like your mechanic, manager or like your parents, when someone comes to you with concerns in which you are an expert.?

The problem is that we don't listen and will jump into conclusions. We could be right or wrong in such judgements. Listening before judging and getting rid of the authoritative approach will change the way your business and relationship works. It can produce amazing results. ?

When Titanic sank, the insurance company sent a team of lawyers to study the reason for the failure of ship. These lawyers were not experts in the field of ship building. They were not Marine engineers. But the findings of these law graduates became part of curriculum for marine engineering. Thereafter, ship building went through changes to align with the recommendations of these lawyers.?

It is a competitive world. We can have competition in life. But our entire life can't be a competition. Parents needs to understand this while dealing with their children struggling with studies. Conveying ideas in a way that recipients will accept is what we call effective communication. The recipient could be your young child, your spouse, your parents, your boss in office, or it could be your valuable client. Choosing a different path than the regular one can lead to failure as much as choosing the regular path can lead to failure.? Many of those who are successful in life have had lot of failures, and we don't know it. We also do not know the time and effort put in by those to become successful. You just cannot maintain work-life balance and you don't like competition either but will end up working seventy hours a week to meet the deadline to retain job. Retaining job is important, because it helps you pay home loan, car loan and to maintain social status which your spouse and family likes. Taking a break to think, analyze and deciding what is important and what is not important will help you live a happier life. A survey in 2020 by The 7thFold revealed that 36% of Indian employees are suffering from mental health issues.?Often your greatest success comes with a burden. Please watch the below video to understand the negative effects of your over achievements on your health.?