Gifted Hands

Recently I happened to see ‘Gifted Hands’ - A movie by Jaishon Fisher. Jaishon Fisher acts as Dr. Ben Carson, an American neurosurgeon and the Director of Pediatric Neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins Hospital. In 1987, Carson made medical history by being the first surgeon in the world to successfully separate Siamese twins (the Binder twins) conjoined at the back of the head (craniopagus twins). The movie is all about the life of this legend in the book of medicine.

I was totally inspired by this movie for the fact that there were instances which depicted true faith in God.

I was terrifically moved when Dr. Ben told his patient’s parents that he prays EVERY SINGLE DAY OF HIS LIFE (When he was asked if he prays). Dr. Ben is the World’s most successful neurosurgeon, He has a wife who understands the challenges he is facing being a Doctor of such stature, and he has Children who are smart and intelligent. He has a mother who has been ever supportive and a very successful brother. The only possible flaw in his life since he was born was that he did not have a father. This was a significant issue when he was a child but with all the other blessings and his father’s absence over the years made it an insignificant issue in his life. But still he prays EVERY SINGLE DAY OF HIS LIFE!!!

If the same question is posed towards me my answer would be the same but I won’t be able to say it with such confidence as Dr Ben did. It is true that I also pray every single day but at times just to finish the job. It is like the difference between listening and hearing. I feel very lazy and tiered when it is finally time to pray in days when there are no troubles in life. I end up lying down and praying and eventually dozing off. On the other hand when there is a slight problem I am all in prayers! I am so satisfied in life when I am able to pray and for this reason I never pray that my troubles pass but just reduce them to a level I can bear them. It is a blessing to be in a situation to pray on a daily basis even without any issues in life.

Yet another instance where the power of prayers was seen in the movie is when Dr. Ben as a teen age boy was susceptible to teenage issues. He got into wrong company of friends and got involved in drug pedaling. He got influenced by his friends (Just like anyone of his age) and believed that his clothes were not cool enough and his life was not happening enough. This was when Ben Stole money from his mother’s hard earned savings and bought a Swiss knife which he thought would definitely make him look cool. However at one instance he lost his temper against a friend and took his knife out and swabbed it across. Ben and everyone around were terrified and he felt that the World was crashing beneath his feet. But the guardian angel guided the boy and to his amusement realized that the knife had hit the buckle of his friend’s belt and broken into pieces and the friend was all fine. Ben ran for his life and shut himself in his room. A treat to my eyes – The first thing he did was take the bible that was lying in his room and hold it close to his heart and cry! He cried saying “Lord! Lord! You have to take this temper away from me” and sang the song “Jesus all the world to me, my life my troy and my all. He is my strength from day to day... without him I would fall”. This is unusual for a teenager who always tries to justify himself. Only very few are gifted with such wisdom to know that the only way out of troubles is through God and can be achieved only through prayers.

A final point: “Thy will be done Lord, Amen” is what Dr. Ben prayed just before getting into the operation theater to do his very first surgery on his own. Dr. Ben was very specific about his prayers. He did not ask for success in his venture but asked the lord’s wish whatsoever it was. Due to several instances in my life I had taken a decision to follow the Lord’s will a few years ago and now I can proudly say that I am a lot happier in life doing what the Lord wants me to do. He certainly knows all my dreams and wishes but gives me the best. Being a human being I miss out on the best as it could be beyond my comprehension but the Lord always gives the best. In one of my tough days a friend very close to my heart said “Leave it to the Lord, He will give you the 1st best thing and not even the 2nd best thing”. Her words were really powerful I hold her advice very close to my heart.

Superficially the movie depicts that Dr. Ben is who he is because of his gifted hands, with special emphasis on his talents and capabilities. But a closer view with an open mind clearly shows that the gifted hand is his wisdom! His closeness to God and life through prayers has got him to where he is.

Watching this movie, I so badly wish everyday was the same for me when it comes to praying! No matter how well I do in life or how famous I become my only wish is that I be able to pray with strong feelings every night before bed!

Mohan Kuruvilla – From the State of Bihar

I always thought I was a born marketer just because I was successful in persuasion and selling but now I am getting a feeling that whatever I sold till now was just by chance...by the grace a of God! Marketing is not what I thought... It is no easy job which anyone can do!
Going into my 4th trimester in Rajagiri Business School, I was blessed by intuition and took B2B as an elective course without knowing who Prof. Mohan Kuruvilla was. It was a mere coincidence as I dint even know what B2B is to say that I chose the paper because I liked the topic! Now all I have to say is... It’s not every day that you come across such powerful words!
Does all literature wonders happen on Sunday’s in Rajagiri? Vijay Menon Sir also made his entry on a Sunday!!!
I was home for three days and laziness had already crept in me while I was travelling in a transport bus from Kottayam to Kochi where I happened to chat with my senior who gave me a brief idea about what B2B classes are going to be like! I believe she dint want to overdo her excitement so I could feel it for myself. The weak self I am was overloaded with information on how hectic the next few days are going to be and how I should sleep and eat well to keep myself up and moving for the next few days. I was so not in a mood to start the B2B classes as I was fed up of the hectic schedules with an overload of academic work. With such a dejected lethargic mood I managed to drag myself to the B2B class that started at 11am on Sunday 26th June, 2011 with a single prayer to God, requesting for my survival as I knew that 15 hours were going to be completed in 3 days!
Post 11 am, Sunday, was a plethora of live situations! Case studies are dead and buried and it becomes interesting only when they are brought alive through role plays is what the legend said. Can you believe a Man who is loaded with wisdom, enriched with information and experience acting out every case study in a class of 30 young students? Well he did!!! We, all my friends in the B2B class lived the life of a marketer in those 15 hours spread across the 3 days. I can’t remember an instance where I was distracted or where I was trying to fight sleep like I mostly do.
Is it his base voice, with which he spoke? or was it the voice modulation? He dint not stammer once ... He spoke on behalf of the receptionist Sheela, the watchman Shyamsundar, Purchase manager Yadav, R&D manager, Marketing manager and the CEO like in real life. I could even picturize myself walking up the stairs to meet the chief chef to sell edible oil. Sales and marketing became a reality in life! The ‘corporate yoga’ and everything what ‘Kotler said’ became a reality.
Prof. Mohan Kuruvilla has a very different view point towards education and the education system. We were very happy to know that he doesn’t conduct midterm exams but little did we know about the quizzes. Everything in his class was application driven. There was no mugging up or writing that had to be done. He spend the first few hours touching up on or basics, giving us better clarity on a few topics that we thought we knew... he told us how health was most important and marks were least important. He gave us the freedom to go out of classes whenever we wanted a break and promised to give us 10 minutes break every 50 minutes. He also advised us to “sleep when it comes as we don’t know when it will come next”. The beauty of his teaching was that every concept in B2B marketing was backed by a real life example enacted through a role play. 18 years with the Tata group gave him enough experience to talk about every situation that could arise in B2B marketing. He encouraged us to speak our views in class. If we dint know what to answer to encouraged us to try!
Eagerly waiting for the next 15 hours of B2B marketing....