Watershed Event

Heart-to-heart talk: Karun Sharma is at the extreme right (in white shirt)

Life in the Garden throws up surprises at the oddest of times – as Karun Sharma was to prove today. For no one had expected his talk this morning to be not only an eye-opener, but also open the door to an altogether new level of interaction within the Club, based on empathy and trust. It seemed like history was in the making.
Karun is a professional life coach. It is not even a month since he has joined the Club. But such is his grasp on human psychology that it took him no more than a few minutes to ferret information on some of our deepest fears and concerns that we would ordinarily not reveal, least of all in public. Karun explained that as “performance coach and trainer” he works as an enabler in overcoming those critical issues, provided of course, the person concerned takes the initiative to resolve them.
One lady (name withheld for obvious reasons) revealed that her consumption of gutka increases manifold whenever she is in stress. This dependence on tobacco, she said, had begun after a personal tragedy many years back. Today, much as she tries, she is unable to give up the habit and

Naseem Khan (r) shares revdis from Bareilly

is in fact, quite ashamed about it.
Another lady (name withheld again) confessed to being so oppressed by her domestic situation that she simply switches off, e.g. by putting on ear phones and listening to music on her mobile. When conditions become completely unbearable, she finds an escape route by “taking to the streets and walking blindly” regardless of the consequences.
A third member (again name withheld) disclosed being fed up of his grandson – a pampered teenager who is fixated on his girfriend. As grandfather, he feels it is his duty to get the boy around, but is helpless. “The fellow does not realize that he is at a critical juncture in life and girlfriends can come later,’ he complained. “I feel guilty not being able to reform him.”
Karun has no doubt ways to work around these problems. But a more important purpose of today’s session was obviously to break the ice – to hold a mirror in front of each of us and confront the issues for what they are. And the way we unconsciously succumbed, wearing our hearts on our sleeves, unafraid of being frank, even sharing personal anecdotes and offering solutions… it was clear that Karun had succeeded in no small measure.
"We should have more such events, at least twice a month to start with," concluded Yusuf Rassiwala.
Bhaswati Bose:
Very good beginning. We now have a platform to unburden ourselves without being judged. Those present were happy with the inaugural session.
Geeta Latte:
Welcome to the Big Laaf family, Karun Sharma.
Karun Sharma:
I agree with Bhaswati-ji. The first part of realization and acceptance is vital. Now we must start winning our battles.
Dilip Babani:
I am happy that Karun-ji organised the meeting so that we can recognise our bad habits and decide on our life goals. By making an effort to overcome our bad habits we can live a good and happy life.