January 2025

Snapkick

Dojo Student Newsletter

“Keep cool; anger is not an argument.”  ~ Daniel Webster

Testing

All Classes: January 29, 30, 31

PLEASE ATTEND IN FULL UNIFORM AND BELT

Cockroach theory for self-development

Speech by Sundar Pichai – An IIT-MIT Alumnus and Global Head Google Chrome

At a restaurant, a cockroach suddenly flew from above and landed on a lady.  Startled, she started screaming out of fear.

With a panic stricken face and trembling voice, she started jumping, with both her hands desperately trying to get rid of the cockroach.

Her reaction was contagious, as everyone in her group also flailed about.  The lady finally managed to push the cockroach away but… it landed on another lady in the group.

Now, it was the turn of the other lady in the group to continue the drama.

Their waiter rushed forward to the rescue. In the middle of the chaos, the cockroach was flung upon the waiter.

The waiter stood firm, composed himself and observed the behavior of the cockroach on his shirt. When he was confident enough, he grabbed it with his fingers, walked outside and threw it away from the restaurant.

Sipping my coffee and watching the drama, the antenna of my mind picked up a few thoughts and started wondering, was the cockroach responsible for their behavior?

If so, then why was the waiter not freaked out? He handled it near to perfection, without any chaos.

t is not the cockroach, but the inability of those people to handle the disturbance caused by the cockroach that disrupted the ladies.

I realized that it is not the shouting of my father or my boss or my wife that upsets me, but it’s my inability to handle the turmoil caused by their shouting that disturbs me.

It’s not the traffic jams on the road that bothers me, but my inability to handle the agitation caused by the traffic jam that disturbs me.

More than the problem, it’s my reaction to the problem that creates chaos in my life.