Old ways won't open new doors!!

All my life i have heard this one saying repeated like an old cassette player stuck " When one door closes, another one opens". We have been consoling ourselves for any loss which occurs let it be at work or in our personal life. Some time back i heard someone saying something which caught my attention " When life shuts a door, open it again. Its a door, thats how it works"
I was surprised a 20 year old saying this to her friend as an advise. We have evolved and definitely the way we deal in our daily life also has changed.
But then i am talking about the tech savvy generation, people born after the technology boom, which has taken life head long and for them there is nothing known as giving up on a dream or letting go of what they want. They are focussed, they are there own role models and they are fiercely independent knowing what they want from life. The stereo type job is not what they want. They want perfect balance between work and personal life.
We at work are also dealing with the same generation. At times one can really see the gap which is increasing at an alarming rate between the generations. I had one on my managers few years back teach me how to use Whatsapp. I had no clue about a double click and it turning blue which meant the person had read my message. Now thanks to my manager i know how to use Whatsapp or any another application like a pro.
New ideas, new thinking is what makes us move ahead. All of us everyday cannot come up with new ideas, we need young people with open minds to interact and come up with ideas. I personally believe when an idea is wacky or crazy and in current situation one feels its impossible, thats the one which needs to be followed. What is obstinate does not matter, what is different and challenging will be the future. Many of our ways in handling business is becoming obstinate , its like some people are working in dinosaur era and struggling to be with the times.
I have seen myself change with times, being in client service and marketing all my life, if i look back there is a huge change in my thinking over the years. Age, years of experience is no criteria for a good concept or idea. Its always about how passionate one is about work which defines great than good or okay job done. Guess as we grow older, either we become complacent or we create this ideology of i know all. Life is about learning and the learning keeps us young and with the current trends.
There was a time as any client service person, i would say " customer is always right" but with changing trends i now say, " Customer is not always right, but give the customer due credit and with respect and diplomacy make the customer understand your point of view and the option which you are suggesting". It has worked and a good customer will always respect your point of view and be there with you. I have had pleasure to work with some amazing people. They were my clients, who with time became friends , some become my mentors and its been good 28 years of working.
An open mind will always attract new ideas and avenues, but if we stick to old ways of customer is king, is always right is there any learning or new ideas which the teams ever implement? Innovation is the key word for today's clients. The company which can come up with great ideas and new technology is the king in eyes of the customer. How many of us try this route?
Its all in our thinking, past 16 years i have been working as strategic partner with all my clients, never as an agency. This approach i know has worked for many, these teams know how to handle their clients with respect, yet put their point of view.
Maybe its time to Unthink for us to start making an impact in this new tech savvy flat world where information is the key and within 30 seconds what's happening in one part of the world is known to the world. Reacting on half baked information is more like conspiracy theory than getting all facts clear and then strategicing the way ahead.
In the end, It all depends upon our own transformation from old to new ways.

We are always one decision away from a totally different life.

Tell me a Good Lie

Tell me a Good Lie

Ask no questions, and you will be told No Lies !!

Ever wondered, why people say little white lies? Its not that intent is bad of these people. But sometimes when the boundaries are crossed by others and questions after questions seem to the conversation route, many people resort to white lies.

Some say if a lie can save someone's feelings being hurt is not a lie. A classic example is when you greet friends , we always say , Hey you are looking awesome. Or You have lost so much weight etc etc. If an outsider looks at this conversation and the person getting compliments is not to be complemented with such comments will shake their head at the lie being told. But the achievement of getting someone's confidence up and getting a smile on the person's face is worth many such white lies. Even friends have boundaries and many times we adhere to these comments as the truth will only disrupt the relation.
Its weird but such is the make believe world we have all created and white lies have become the way of life.

We have somehow distant ourselves from the reality, everyone has a bubble of fantasy around their life and that has become our reality. We choose everything other than our parents in today's world. From finding networked friends, to succesful spouse, preferred list of companies to work with and do business with, to even get oneself designer babies and where one should live etc etc.

Has the white lies taken over our life indefinitely ? Seems to me that the new definition of Truth is what we want it to be not what it is.

Cosmetic surgeons are having a field day, as one is not happy with the facial features one is born with, or the body needs to be shaped as per one's liking. Every day looking in the mirror and appreciating the surgeons's creation is the truth for that person.
Our sexual orientation is such that my success depends on who i say to be. LGBT is fighting a battle to be recognised but then many closet gays don't ever want to own. But then why does anyone care about who one loves? Will the person be less a friend, or less a son or daughter or less a professional at work?

So what is the definition of truth? I fail to understand. I say what i have to say, if one does not like it too bad, but then with my family, friends and colleagues i choose my words as i don't want to hurt their feelings. We all in the end create our own definition of truth or lie. A truth if it can destroy someone's world is worst than a lie which can save someone. 

But then there are certain boundaries which one cannot cross, respecting others and being honest to people is far more rewarding than creating illusion of love and care. 

In marriage trust is what keeps the relationship alive. If one partner is cheating, then the partner should tell the spouse about this. Its not about hurting the other one but giving respect to the spouse and letting the partner decide whether they want to be in relationship with the person anymore. This goes for all relationships. But the classic and most common one is, if a person is a bad dresser and friends keep encouraging the person by giving compliments , it's only hurting the person in the long run. Its not that one should care about what people say, but then a joker can never be a leader. A joker is to laugh at. That's what it is.

Maybe if we own what we say, if we choose lie over truth, if we believe in lie as truth will destroy us, if we believe that we cannot be honest or say our feelings to someone, if we believe that life is good with our white lies then so be it.
What ever we believe in , is what we become. As long as we have the strength to live the lie, guess that will become oneway our truth.

As the saying goes, "Truth will set you free".

The pup who made us Parents

On May 1, 2016, i got the greatest present for my birthday... a small pup who i named Sam. The naughty one, the intelligent one, the most cutest one... the one who made me a parent.

Its true, if one cannot love a dog as family, then one should never get a dog. They only know how to love, to run with your things to get your attention and to give unconditional love. Such is the story of Sam n Me.
Thats how i started writing Sam diaries and suddenly i was amazed, meeting people for the first time and they knew Sam. It was uncanny , i am at a party, meeting the person for first time and i am asked how is Sam? I read Sam diaries and they are very entertaining. Well i just write about my day with Sam. Him jumping in a fountain , playing with water, or trying to jump on a pigeon as we both tried pigeon hunting or playing with a Rottweiler and thinking its normal for all dogs to be big, when he was just 5 months old. Such are the stories which i have shared. On any given day, there is a special moment which gets a smile on my face. Sam knows how to be a performer, a born actor thats all I know.
With Sam, we realised both me and Rolf that life is not going to be same for us. He cries and howls if left alone. All of a sudden we felt we had a child. Lucky for us we don't have school pangs but other than that we are Paw Parents. Getting up at 6 am has become a ritual for me. there are no holidays. He just waits for me to open my eyes, he is watching carefully, to see the eyelids open and once i do open my eyes there is no going back to sleep. He is up and ready to go for his walk.
Sam is  a tough boy that's all i will say. Diagnosed with Hip dysplasia when he was 5 months old, got himself to break his hind leg when he was 6 months old and even with all his pain, he has beaten the odds.
Every day i learn from this little pup who is growing size but to me is always a baby. His unconditional love, his little noises when he drops his bone or ball and wants me to fetch for him than he fetching for it. Sometimes i wonder who is training whom. But then Sam is a free spirited animal, i have no intention to control him. He has wings and i want him to be who he is. He has taught me to live in this moment. His quirky little ways, his jumping and his non stop attention grabbing has made me realised, one life... live it the way you want to.
There are times when i can relate myself as parent, there were times if any of my girlfriends spoke about girlfriends of their son's and how they hated those girls for wasting time of their son. I used to laugh and tell them hey let the boy have his own life. But today i suddenly realised when Sam & I were out for a walk and this stray dog (female) was all about following Sam to be with him. my first thought was Sam stop thinking about this girl and do your job. Lets get going with nature calls first before you want to impress this dame. All of a sudden i realised what my girlfriends meant.
I had a lion king earlier, Simba my child, my little black monster, a cute black lab who was my shadow, but with Simba life was easy. He would either be at my office, or stay home sometimes alone or stay in kennel when i was travelling. No headaches and life was as i wanted to live it. But Sam is different, he is demanding of my time, hates when i have to go out, and hates more my laptop when i am working.
I never wanted to have a child, loved my carefree life, my work and travel. But then suddenly this little pup comes in my life and all of a sudden i am a responsible parent.
So i might not be The monk who sold her ferrari, but i am certainly The woman who a pup made a parent.

What if... nothing exists and we are all in somebody's dream!

Life is to live, every moment cannot be planned and every success is not guaranteed. But one thing is for sure, to err is human and we can only experience life through our mistakes. That nagging feeling, when we get stuck in the "what if" cycle of not taking chances because we are scared of the outcome.
Then one day as we look back in our life, "what if" plays a big role in shaping us. We reminisce our past, come up with different answers to the same question, yet we will never know the out come as we never took that chance.
It's like some people like seeing the world through books, while other experience it by travelling and being out there. Its always a matter of what we are willing to do makes us who we are. Some where i feel we have put so many restrictions on ourselves, some knowingly while others unknowingly. How do 7.6 billion people live in harmony? We have built a society structure of do's. We have built in religion, to ensure people move in herds. We have built in social & civic responsibility in this structure and then we have built an hierarchy to this structure. We have built money and credit, so we keep working, aspiring for a better life and never question the source of all this stupidity. Any one who breaks this is an Outlaw. Punishments are severe depending on the rules broken.
In the end, let me ask you this question : Who has made the rules for you to live your life?

Not today, but think about this question and do give it a thought.

We propagate , "Let go", " forgiveness is better than revenge", "Live life", "Change starts from within" etc etc.... so many quotes, so many thoughts.... yet who is telling you all this? This is what we have grown up with, we all are perfect example of how to live through some one's vision of controlling human mind.
But then, if there are no rules or law & order, we see how people behave. Some where this model has not worked, because Man is an animal first, evolution has surely happened and we have learnt to talk, but then even animals talk among themselves, its only we don't know what they are saying. Then why are we so scared of being who we are. Why when the law & order breaks down, half of us show our innate dna of being ferocious animals while other show them being scared and coward. Strange the way we are controlled is the way we want to control everyone.
What if, the ape had never learnt to walk straight? What if, we humans had learnt to be kind to all animals and humans? What if, we had worked towards protecting our resources than running after the money and depleting our resources ? What if , we did not exist? what if, all this is an illusion?

Will this "What if" be yet another chance which could have made a difference?
May be - May be not, we will never know.
Sometimes you wonder who is actually calling the shots in your life.

What if i fail? but darling.... What if you Fly?

Musings from my heart

The secret of having it all is believing you already do.

My heart is singing a song which has no beginning or end. Its a constant hymn which is spreading within me and i have my emotions ride on a wave which is hitting the shore and going back. Sometimes the shore is within my reach , yet i cannot find the ground.

Some one once told me "You become what you believe". First time when i heard this, i could not stop laughing. I told the person such jargon sounds good on stage, when one is motivating people. To which all i got in return was , you are too young, one day this will make sense to you . I agree i was too young and naive to understand the tides which we go through. Emotions play a big role in our growth and the one who can emote with no biased feelings will be able to ride the tides with ease.

Happy people emote happiness and so on all emotions create their own space within our life. I am not a big fan of people who are always finding faults. Anticipating a problem to find a solution is good but always finding faults for no reason spreads a lot of negative and demoralising emotions around.
I get angry a lot, when i see things going haywire or i come across some lazy genetic humans. I believe , i cannot create my clones, but i also don't want to be surrounded by such individuals.

Such thoughts play in my mind when i am looking for the shoreline, but then i ask one question : Why am i looking for the shoreline? The Shore is within me. I am the ground, whether i am restless or at ease. Its all within me. But then the cloud of doubt puts a haze around my vision and i can see no further.

When i started meditation, the most prominent thought : Who am i? came into question. My heart was laughing while my brain was trying all logical explanations of my own existence. We spend our entire life answering this one simple question. I am......
Maybe i am the existence which came into being when there was nothing. Or maybe I am a name, a whisper or a thought but in my reality i am who i believe to be. Thats when i realised "You become what you believe" From nothing i am, from everything i am.... my heart is my soul and my life is a mirage but with what i have the only constant is "I". Then the prominent question arises " Change is the only constant" so am i to believe  that "I" changes with time. My belief , my being, myself will change with time?

Over time i realised that one can be happy with minimalistic belongings or one can be insatiable with the world in their palm. The choice is always ours.

If any one of you reading this , has a smile on your face, maybe i have found someone who has similar musings from their heart. Maybe i hit a chord while you are reading this, but seriously do ask this question : What do we really believe in? Ourselves or others authentication on what we believe in.

In the end " You are, your favourite work of Art"

Cheers to Good life

Life is not a fairy tale. If you lose your shoe at midnight.... You are drunk!

How many times have we badgered or sulked in our life? Count and suddenly we realise that we made numerical system just to keep counting the badgering and negative behaviours.
How many times have we been grateful for our life? Suddenly we realise that we never got education and numerical system does not exist in us. Such is the tale of us and life.
Our best teacher, our best friend and our soul mate is our very own life. It teaches us to be patient, to be kind and foremost to be human. But then when was it that the human spirit could be tamed? Life does not expect us to be tamed, it expects us to live out our fears and go beyond our limits.
Sometimes life pushes us to test our limits, while other times we push life to live in our comfort zone.  This battle has been going on for ages, the one's who understood that life is our best companion found happiness in smallest of things.
Last few weeks have been stressful for me. Moving out of my comfort zone and leave my country was the one of the tests life gave me. Then to arrange for Sam to move with us was another challenge and in between all this was to say goodbye to my family and friends. If i can count all the sulking i did in my mind, i don't think i can fit in the zero's behind the digits. But in the end i am grateful of this move and the change which has happened.

True to this quote; " Take every chance you get in life, because somethings only happen once".

Missed opportunities which we think about, 'what if ' plays a big role in our existence. Yet we choose to be fearful of the unknown and live in circles our whole life. An invisible tangent does appear now and then for us to take the leap of faith, many let it go while the fearless souls thread on the road less travelled by.
My father celebrated his 80th birthday last week, it was a great celebration. Fit for a man who has lived his life on his terms. I am very grateful to both my parents for instilling the fearless quality in both me and my brother. My father's favourite song when ever things would not go as planned " Que sera , sera, whatever will be will be, the future's not ours to see. Que sera sera" He has been my role model, and watching him fight the odds to live his life on his terms, made me realise that life is my companion. Through ups and down it tests me and my soul can only grow if i move from my comfort zone and test my limits to be limitless.
Dear Zindagi, thank you for being my best teacher, my best friend and my soul mate.
I have learnt one very important message from my life; No matter where you are in life, celebrate it. It's either a product of your growth or a place that will help you grow.
Cheers to Today!

What is your Bucket list

"Life begins at the end of your comfort zone"
Heard this line so many times that i keep wondering when will life actually begin. Frankly, i don't even know what is my comfort zone? Is it a stable job? Or is it the precision which which we run our day? Or is it the quirky obsessive behaviour which we all showcase some time?
Regular day , regular life , regular family and friends. Some where in between the streak of madness hits us to create a bucket list. Thinks which we aspire to do but our regular life does not permit due to lack of time and motivation. Hell, we are motivated enough to make a list, but to execute it needs the tenaciousness which at times we lack.
One day i sat down to make my bucket list. I kept looking at the paper, and it stared blankly back at me. After 15 mins of this stare game, i thought times are changing, i need to have a digital bucket list. So opened my laptop and once again the blank screen was staring back at me.
What was it, that i wanted to do in my life? A question which came across, send shivers down my spine and all of a sudden i realised i was so confused with what i wanted to do. Suddenly i realised i had spend a lifetime working and what i conjured up as fun was just regular partying and going on vacation. But i had never ventured out from my "Comfort Zone".
This realisation made me silent inside, i was very upset and i wanted to have this bucket list up and running and i was out of ideas. First i thought about all the places i wanted to visit. Then i thought about the musicals and plays i wanted to see, the actors i wanted to meet, then came adventure sports and first one on list was bungee jumping following with scuba diving and rock climbing. Hence my list started getting done. But there was no excitement in making this list. Everyone makes such a list and its great to tick mark all the things one wants to do. But then another question popped up; Does this make me happy? Well the logical brain was calculating the money to be spent on this,  which meant i work harder to get this list up and going. While the heart was not convinced with this list. It was just another my need list.
These are the moments when a meditative mind helps. I sat quietly and asked myself what it is really i want from this list. What came back as answer was not what i expected but somehow my heart felt satisfied with it. "i am a tourist."
Well to travel around the world, meet new people, see new cultures and interacting with different people i guess is everyone's dream. So i have religiously followed my bucket list and with an eye of a  tourist i look at everything and everyone. Strangely once you realise , what you want, life becomes easy and fun.
My motto in life has always been "Work hard, Party harder"
Maybe in another decade i will once again sit down to make a new bucket list, but for now "I am a tourist".

Keep calm? Nope Hurry hurry!

“Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished.”.... lao Tzu

Patience is virtue and we don't have time to be virtuous anymore. Sadly we live in the new age of technology and we want everything NOW. Gone are the lazy lunches with friends, or waiting for a letter from the lover. The romance with everything which we used to relate ourselves in this world,  seems to have vanished. There is a wave of hurry which seems to be the new age mantra. Hurry or be left behind. 

Where did we go wrong with this? Human's have vivid imagination and its this imagination which creates stories for us to tell and live our lives. The romance of life was to keep these stories in books, or tell over a coffee or a campfire. Our vivid imagination could twist and turn the stories and folklore were formed. Now everything is available on the search engine and the imagination has been taken over by logic therefore we have dry untold 30 seconds of fame stories. I don't know how many of these stories which i read online will ever be remembered. I also don't know if there will be any folklore which will be told in 22nd century.

Some where in a rush to reach where? we have forgotten to tell stories. I hear a lot of marketing and brand people talking about stories of their product, or relating an incident with their product to relive the stories which we have forgotten. So now our vivid imagination which used to be part of our personal life has taken shape in 21st century as a brand communication idea. We hear every where " The art of story telling". How many remember these stories? There are workshops to teach people how to tell a story. Really!! have we lost touch with our imagination to this extent?

Budweiser on other hand from Whats up to Best buds has always created emotional stories. One of the best story till date i like is the Budweiser Puppy Commercial - Super bowl 2014 & 2015  small puppy and his friendship with the horse on a ranch. There is a story of friendship and love which is so beautiful. Somewhere the art of story telling lives. They have taken no social issue, just a plain story of friendship.

We hurry to make everything happen, but stories take time to build and once a story is formed, then it needs time to be understood, twisted and turned to become a great story to be told from person to person. But then who has this time anymore. Wake up call at 6am to start a day. Its a rushed day we go through, to meet our needs? I don't know why we rush through our day. But then there are so many things we all do, without knowing why we are doing it.

I admire people who take cooking as an art. The dedication, time required to cook a gourmet meal is simply amazing. But we have taken the romance out of cooking too, by creating 10 minute and canned food to give similar gourmet experience in less time.

Its funny on race track, no one seems to be in a hurry. Thats one sports where its fast racing which means one should be in super hurry. But the driver is in full control, drives the car fast but then the victory lap is done not in a hurry but to bask in the claps and roar of the crowd. One place, where the pit stop is timed with precision, people are fast but meticulous. Formula 1, the fastest race track is in control and in no hurry other than to have an amazing race.

We all have measured breaths to live. Our endeavour to hurry everything, is so we live more?  I always thought when one increases the speed, the heart beat increases and with that breathing increases. So in this hurry of living our life to the fullest, are we short changing ourselves, while we believe that it is for better quality of life?  As i have said before, i don't know the answers but the possibility of this being true is not for the search engine to tell you, but your heart to tell you. 

In this hurry, Are you living the life you want to?

One Last Dance

Excuse will always be there for you, opportunity won't.

Some of the best stories of success are from people who never gave up trying. In truth, one who fails but does not give up, is either as stubborn as a mule or learns from past mistakes and failures to make the dream come true.
Stories is what we have, when we look back on our achievements. Some tell the tale of dignity, some of passion, some wins and some failures but in the end the one's who believe in creating that Magik once again.... go for that One last Dance.
The best example of this was truly shown on Australian open Men final. Federer Vs Nadal. It was a spectacular match, Federer has never played better than what he did. Its also true both players have been off games last year due to surgeries and they were not even sure if they would make it to finals. But then, thats when the Magik happened in 5th set. Federer played the most outstanding game. Upon winning he has upped the level of play which is now expected from others.
Fact is since 2008, Federer has not been able to defeat Nadal and yet we saw how he claimed his 18th Grand slam title defeating Nadal.
In corporate circle, i do know one story of Mr. B.M.Munjal, after his success story of making cycles, as the age of 60 years he started with his joint venture of Hero Motors with Honda. People usually retire by this age, not start a new venture.
Steve Jobs , when he had moved out of his own company. His successors were a pale shade to his vision. On his return, made Apple the most aspiration brand.
We see so many top actresses after marriage, retire from bollywood to make a comeback sometime in their life. Many become one film wonder or fade away. But then, actress like Kajol is a breed apart. She is beautiful, versatile and talented actress who left stardom when she was the top actress in Bollywood. Her comeback film with none other than with Amir Khan in lead role was amazing. Her acting is still mesmerising. Or our above 40 brigade of actors, who are giving a run for money to all new comers in bollywood.
What makes these people so different? They all come from different backgrounds, highly skilled and when we thought they has receded in the background , they make their stories more memorable.
I believe, when a person is skilled and gifted, its very difficult to retire. They always make their comebacks more spectacular than when we think now they will or have retired.
All i can say it that there is Magik..all around us. We choose the course of our life, its the opportunity with lady luck smiling , what makes some people spectacular than the rest. We retire from one innings to make a comeback in next. To me retirement is more like a sabbatical, where the mind needs to be rejuvenated. Its all about giving back to society. No one can retire, we all in our own way keep on working,we keep upping our skills,  and we keep the Magik alive. This circle continues till our last breath.

I bow to all the spectacular people on this planet. People who believe in themselves, who are positive even when the going is tough. People who are not scared of admitting their mistakes and learning from them to be spectacular. People who help others, are humane and above all who have passion for what they believe in.

One Last dance before i put my shoes away to walk barefoot on beach.

We become what we think... look in the mirror !

"The biggest challenge of life is to be yourself, in a world that is trying to make you like everyone else"
Does this ever happen to anyone? i mean does this happen that there is a thought which passes through and if you don't immediately capture it, it finishes into the recess of our labyrinth brain? I have been experiencing this for many years and first i thought probably its age catching up, then i thought probably my memory was depleting but then i realised that its just how our thoughts interweave when we see something.
That deja' vu feeling which is ever present with many of us and yet we cannot understand where this is coming from. Our thoughts also come from deep down from our memory banks, and most of the time i have seen when i am not trying to remember anything automatically they flow. How strange can our brain be , when we try to remember nothing comes but then when we are relaxed or their is a trigger reaction to some memories by an act, or a place or a situation , thoughts flow seamlessly.

I was once told, that the inherent nature of a person never changes. Really!!! if the only constant in life is change then somewhere i fail to understand this perception about our inherent nature. By Inherent, what are we refereeing to? Is it the upbringing? education? mindset? what is our inherent nature? We evolved from apes, Man is a social animal. I have heard this consistently all my life. So is it, that our animal instincts never change? But off course how can our animal instincts change. We will hunt, we will fight, we will make boundaries and we are territorial animals only difference is that we can write our language.
Imagine if any other animal could write or have a vivid imagination like ours. Well then the real competition would have started on this planet. Right now we think we own the planet, with millions of flora and fauna having the same right.
But then we also want everyone looking and thinking alike. Imagine we can be argumentative , we can have debates, we can also be rude or fight yet we choose to mingle with like minded people. Boring if you ask me. Like minded cautious, risk taking, aggressive , sporty ..... what we are is what we look for. We also find like minded teams at work, i always thought if a person had the right attitude , skills can be taught. But i never thought that my co worker needs to have similar thinking as mine.
We have trainers for everything let it be power dressing, soft skills, giving an interview, even email writing. Now make me understand why are we creating layers over layers of ineffective people to do what? Why will any one be trained to behave in a given manner. Are we the AI which people want in future ? If we are programmed to dress, think , eat and behave what is left of us which is us?
Beauty pageants put down the rules for beauty of woman. Is size zero beauty? Every woman is beautiful in this world.
Sports have their own criteria for winning. Being a sports person has got nothing to do with winning. Its the spirit and passion which makes a sport fun.
Powerful means, few people having more money than the whole country can have and hence the gap starts. Has anyone been able to take their money with them after death?
Philanthropy is a topic in high circles, yet the one's who donate never talk about it. We are hungry for power, status , money, lifestyle.... but when it comes to helping a stranger i don't think many will even think about it. Whats in for me? Prominent question, yet so naive an individual asking this. Giving back to society is not what i will say, but making this world a better place for future generations should be the goal.
I am not sure where spiritualism comes in all this. But then, past few years i am hearing more people talk about being spiritual and are meditating.
I was once asked if i meditate, and my answer was not really, I live in a meditative state. The person thought i was being cheeky, but the truth is meditation is only a way of life. Where one finds , who one is and tries to live life as per their own rules. In a meditative state of living, there is no hierarchy or power. The only constant being us who evolve with situation and time.
Maybe the moulding of our mind over years creates these Deja'vu moments. In the end our inherent thoughts cannot be tamed and neither will we stop looking for answers which we cannot find in this plastic world.

This makes me realise what Buddha had said many centuries ago "We are shaped by our thoughts, we become what we think"