Nuggets Of Wisdom

Motivational speaker Dr Ushy Mohandas tells women, during a seminar in Kochi, to be true to themselves and follow their dreams

Photo by Ratheesh Sundaram

 

By Shevlin Sebastian

 

While travelling on a Delhi-Bangalore flight recently, motivational speaker Dr. Ushy Mohandas asked a co-passenger what animal he could relate to. He said, “Madam, wherever I am, I am a lion. In my office, I am a lion. Wherever I walk I am a lion.”

 

However, when he was asked about the situation at home, the man said, “There also I am a lion, but Goddess Durga sits atop me.”

 

Expectedly, the audience, at the annual women leadership conclave, held by the Women Managers Forum of the Kerala Management Association, at Kochi, recently, burst out laughing.

 

Ushy then spoke about the need to smile and connect with others. “Laughter opens up the [creative] right brain,” she says. “The brain is like a beautiful musical organ. You have to play it right. If you don’t do so, you will sound like [singer] Himesh Reshammiya.”

 

Ushy urged the women to find their true selves. “Be you. Be natural. Be simple,” she says. “The best way for a woman to get what she wants is to ask for it. We need to be smart and effective communicators.”

 

After her 25-minute speech, many women came up to her. Among them was Nandita Menon (name changed), a 25-year-old lawyer. “Your speech was great,” she says. “I am in a trance. It is going to change my life. I am going to follow my dreams.” Ushy and Nandita share a warm hug.

 

Ushy is a woman of many parts. She works for radio, trains in communications, does facial surgery for children, is an author, dentist, counsellor, a stand-up comic, an expert in meditation, and a mind and business coach.

 

Asked the most common problem which afflicts men and women, across all age groups, she says, “Stress, as well as an inability to cope. But men are able to take out their frustrations and rage by meeting friends, going for a drink or playing sport. Women, on the other hand, have repressed energy and don’t know how to express their anger.”

 

One way out is through meditation. “Though meditation originated in India, most people don’t know what it is,” says Ushy who runs an organization calledDr Ushy’s Wisdom Works. “An effective method is to watch your thoughts without judging them. Allow them to come and go. We should learn to accept ourselves at all levels.” Ushy teaches a method called Alpha Frequency Modulated Meditation.

 

Apart from careers, success, and self-hood, Ushy also talks about the need to be good parents. “I am worried about the way most Indian parents bring up their children,” says Ushy. “They put too much pressure on their little ones. They want to make them doctors or engineers. They should avoid dreaming on behalf of their children. A child should be taught to explore and discover for himself. The parent should say, ‘I am the safety net for you. If you stumble or fall I will always be there’.”

Ushy passes these nuggets of wisdom to thousands of people every month in India and abroad. Asked to compare domestic and international audiences, she says, “In the west, they have a stiff upper lip. But Indians are friendly, emotional, noisy, and distracted. They look at you, but most of the time they are not listening. So, I amplify my thoughts over theirs. I also observe their aura rather than their physical body. The body is just a sensor for the brain.” 

Ushy pauses and says, “Use your brain to the optimum. Where there's a will, there is a highway.” 

(The New Indian Express, Kochi and Thiruvananthapuram)