Chase your Happiness!! Be Simply Soulful & Find your Rainbow...

Ahmedabad on 16^th March 2019, Saturday evening witnessed paparazzi, but this time it was a different purpose, that of transmitting the real message, the functional aspect of our life. LYLA is the first learning concert of India where the message was given by renowned celebrities from all walks of life. From a Bollywood celebrity to a painter, a writer to a Gay Prince of a Royal Family who was ridiculed and excluded from the family.  

Learning as the concept goes, real life teaches you more than the books do.. Life itself is learning, a continuous process, the only constant! Shilpa Shetty Kundra told about her initial struggles, how from a middle-class upbringing she evolved as a sought after Bollywood celebrity, she also told the audiences about her failed relationships which were as if life was teaching her lessons. Rather than hovering over the gloom for a long time she moved ahead as a stronger person and found her life partner. Today she is not only an entrepreneur, mother of a son, into fitness space and is the first Bollywood celebrity going to launch fitness App called “Simple Soulful”. In the end, she mentioned about the importance of focus, that when she is at work it is important to cut off from home and vice-versa. This helps a person to be not only more efficient but give justice to people around you, work, family and friends. The importance of staying focussed has also helped her ignore the trolls and noise which is created around a celebrity. She recommended Amdavadis to meditate for a few minutes before going to sleep as it calms your mind and nervous system. She also believes in finding a purpose of life with a mantra: Never Explain, Never Complain!

Chetan Bhagat, the most coveted author launched his new book “The Girl in Room 105” a murder mystery he has written for the first time. Having passed out from IIM, he never knew he will take writing as his bread and butter, therefore life unfolds paths. Hence it is absolutely essential to keep learning and upgrading your skills, no one is perfect or too old to learn. In order to walk on the successful tight rope of success and passion, he shared a simple Venn diagram with four sets, where the core intersecting aspect was Ikigai – a Japanese term meaning – Reason of Being! This probably is missing in our system when we are lost in mechanical living, especially today’s age of fierce competition, demanding environment and technology.

The other key elements which overlap and comprise the Venn Diagram are Passion, Mission, that which you love, That which the world needs and which you are good at! A very logical and simple aspect towards self-realisation, to make one’s life worthwhile. Japanese don’t have the concept of retirement; they do their work till their health permits. Iki (Life) Gai (ALIVE), and retirement means slow death.

Sanjay Rawal, a Builder by profession, also an Author and Motivational Speaker, delivered a very strong speech. A man who never excelled well in studies, but had the determination and will to be SOMETHING in life, the Universe supported his power and today from a bicycle, this man owns a Mercedes. Respecting time, punctuality, respecting our cultural values, family members is some of the mantras of his success. He has a dream of starting an education system where children have the right environment to enter into a zone of their choice... be it sports, crafts, music, literature or whatsoever. Hence, the human being is incubated in a proper environment, so by the time the child grows, he shall possess the talent or the skill which will help him pursue his passion.

LGBT liberation: the Gay Prince of Raj Pipla - Gujarat, Manvendra Singh Gohil – spoke openly about personal choices and inclinations, and how we are not acceptable to all, only bracketed by our cultural upbringing. A sexual inclination in no religious text has not been considered as abnormal nor do psychiatrists term it as a mental issue. It is our conditioning and upbringing where the society is literate in just a small bandwidth. We talk about diversity but are not open to change or diversity, we are all a bunch of hypocrites with boxed social conditioning carrying fake images with different inside stories. He stated, “For being real and accepting, I was excluded of my family and property as well, that the price one has to pay for speaking truth, and our culture teaches to be truthful, but is not open and accepting for the truth! That’s the biggest setback or irony”.

Hence, all the participants encapsulated well and projected the methodology of LYLA, a new way of learning. LYLA is the brainchild of Bhargav Shah who has combined a practical approach towards learning, away from typical textbook scores. He mentions, “As long as we breathe, we should keep learning so... Keep in Learning as Life Never Stops Teaching.” He firmly believes that as a human, it is our duty to reach our maximum potential. In order to help the society harness its latent talent, he founded LYLA – Learn Your Living Academy along with cofounder Viral Shah, Saket Tibrawal & Umang Chokhani. 

The format is a combination of entertainment and education, precisely termed as edutainment... as we need Humans in the future and not Robots!!