A Decade of Existence

(Published in Banking Services Chronicle October 2003)

A week is a long time in politics. But a week hardly matters in academics. That is, if you see a week in isolation. But every week is followed by another, which in turn is followed by another. The cumulative effect is phenomenal even in academics. Especially, if this cumulation goes on for 10 long years.

Your cherished magazine, Banking Services Chronicle (BSC), has completed a decade of its existence. We are proud of our readers, who have helped it become a success—exploiting its potential for themselves and thereafter recommending it to successive generations. We are proud of our contributors, who have left no stone unturned to give their best to the readers.

The cover of our first issue—October 1993—had a balloon soaring skywards and the words: “Sky is the limit.” The motto still remains the same but the confidence level is higher. Because the BSC family—both the contributors and the readers—has attained some height. You have written us innumerable letters how BSC has been your friend, philosopher and guide. There cannot be a greater compliment for us.

German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer observed that “truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident.” With due respect to Schopenhauer, we can safely say that we never experienced the harassment associated with the first two stages. Do not, however, jump to the conclusion that we reached Stage Three from Day One. Fame of any sort has a long gestation period. The consumer has become much too cautious and does not get swayed by the mere bias surrounding a product. But we are glad to say that he has certified the quality of our product.

A child of the New Economic Policy period, BSC has believed in the mantra—perform or perish. Especially when one-third of a magazine stall is flooded with magazines catering to the world of competitive exams. In fact, competition has inspired us to bring out the best in us. We don’t do different things but we do things differently. That is why, as Shiv Khera would conclude, we are winners.

But fear alone can’t help things. Some fear generated by competition is good—like 3 to 5 per cent inflation is good for the health of the economy. Beyond that, fear may serve as a de-motivator because it leads to compulsion. So we believe in motivation that comes from within. When infused with motivation, you do things not just because someone else will do it, but because you feel this is what you should be doing, irrespective of what others think, feel, do or say.

Said Ralph Waldo Emerson, the 19th-century American philosopher: “What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.” Success is a constant endeavour to find “what lies whin us” and give it the shape that would benefit mankind.

It is ultimately this realisation of the self that distinguishes the successful from the rest of the world. Australian cricket coach John Buchanan has come to believe that players are their own best coaches. Says he: “Good players are quick to learn from their past experience. They adapt to any new circumstances that might suddenly arise.”

Once you have realised your inner strengths, it works wonders for you. US would not have been the superpower it is today if it had simply competed with its parent country, Britain. It realised its strengths of technology and work culture and towers over others today. Japan had a tremendous run of success after the Meiji reforms of 1868. And the 1990s made India aware of its competitive advantage and look how we are marching ahead.

Let us concentrate on our inner strengths. Begin identifying them. We are there to help you. But begin now. Remember Lao-Tsu: “A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step.”