Satisfying What Others Need

(Published in Banking Services Chronicle October 2007)

Thank you, dear Reader! We have entered into the 15th year of publication. Had it not been for your support we could not have crossed this milestone. The success of any publication is a two–way process. As is evident between you and us. We try to provide you what you demand. And your purchase of the product encourages us to meet your demand further. This cycle continues.

What holds good for our success is also true of success in general. The world holds you in high esteem only when you come true to its expectations. It has framed certain rules of the game and you have to abide by them. Off–side goals are only a nuisance.

This wisdom can be found in JD Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye. Its protagonist Holden Caulfield is about to be packed off from his fourth school. What is it that has made him earn this unenviable distinction? The answer lies in what his friend Stradlater says to him: “No wonder you’re flunking the hell out of here. You don’t do one damn thing the way you’re supposed to. I mean it. Not one damn thing.

Holden also realises this later on though the realisation doesn’t make him any the happier. He says: “I’m always saying ‘Glad to’ve met you’ to somebody I’m not at all glad I met. If you want to stay alive, you have to say that stuff, though.”

The secret of success then is to smile. You have to smile because the world loves a smiling face. And when you know that smile you must, why not do it whole-heartedly instead of wearing an artificial version? Try to put your heart into it and you’ll soon find a welcome change in your life.

Give to the world what it needs and success will be yours. And do so with a cheerful disposition.