My Way of Dealing with Problems

As per Professor Anurag Gangle described in his article titled, My process for resolving a problem, “Such a process may include grasping the situation and context first. Then certain fundamental principles, policies, options, patience, determination, courage of conviction, making an initial decision and then a final decision to act or to act in phases for solving a problem will have to be taken care of. The process of solving almost every kind of problem is basically similar.” Here I would like to put one of my personal incidences.

It was May 17th 2008. I had to take a flight from Hyderabad to Jaipur. I started from Sikandrabad at around 6:10 pm for the airport which was 40 km away from the city. At 8:30 pm I reached the airport due to office timings and there was heavy congestion on the roads. I left my taxi and entered in the reception after crossing from the main gate security pass. I reported to the security check on the boarding counter.

I never knew that such a big shock was waiting for me. After following the queue of five passengers, I handed over my computer printout of e-ticket to the gentleman sitting there. He replied after checking the same on his computer that some Mr. Santosh (some employee of travel agent) cancelled my ticket in the morning. At first stride I was unable to understand what he said but after my request to check again he confirmed that the issue is exactly what it was. I was literally confused, the flight was at 9:35 pm and unfortunately the last flight to Jaipur. I held myself for a while, took a deep breath and tried to juggle with all the available options and finally came to the conclusion that there is no point waiting further. Otherwise I might even miss this flight. Therefore quickly I went to all the counters of various airlines offices to explore if they have any flight and also any seat available.

Finally, in the same airlines flight I found that one seat was available but I could get it for double the amount. After checking I realised that I was not having sufficient hard cash but with credit card I could manage. I bought the ticket and the security check was announced, so quickly I rushed. It was already 9:00 pm and I had to pick something to eat also because of leaving early in the evening and could not have any thing. While walking for the boarding I gave a call to my husband, quickly narrated details of the whole situation and assured him that now the situation was absolutely under control therefore he should not be worried. I felt very relaxed and thought that the problem is all over and soon I will be with my family who are anxiously waiting for me.

In this entire hustle and bustle, I was feeling very uncomfortable. So I went to the wash room to freshen up and get ready for the journey. I never knew that the hardship of the day was not yet over. Immediately, I heard the announcement for boarding. As I stood in the line for boarding, I realised that my boarding pass was missing. Again I was under the state of shock. To locate it I went back to the places where I was a while before, then looked here and there but couldn’t find it. In the meantime there were two more announcements. It was 9:20 pm and the flight attendant was heading towards me. I felt helpless for a few seconds as something has actually gone wrong with me. I was about to have tears in my eyes and could not find any solution but to request the attendant to help me. Suddenly I realised that I forgot to check the washroom. Hurriedly, I left my bag with the flight attendant and rushed to the wash room and luckily I saw that the boarding pass was on the floor under the counter which might have dropped while taking out the tissue paper from my handbag. I quickly picked it up and rushed back. It took almost 5-7 minutes and everything finished in a mechanical way which I couldn't even realise till I got into the flight and fastened my seat belt.

At last, the flight took off 5 minutes late due to my problems. My heartfelt gratitude to the almighty for giving me the patience and courage to face such problems. Throughout the journey, I was appreciating just how important it is to have patience even during troublesome situations like these.

When ever I am caught in a similar problem, I sit in silence for a while and think about all the possible options before me to come out of that state. Because I know that every problem is followed by its possible solutions. I put all these options under a quick review and prepare myself for the retrospective effects which might be good or bad. This whole process takes a few minutes to reach the conclusion but at last I feel satisfied that before taking a decision I was able to consider all the possible solutions, eventually taking a wise decision as per my abilities.

Work Cited Lt Gen Apte SS, Life Positive, How Creative dealing with problems helps personal growth, Volume, January 1998, http://www.lifepositive.com/mind/personalgrowth/transformation/problems

Professor Gangle Anurag, My process for resolving a problem, 17 December 2008, http://www.merinews.com/catFull.jsp?articleID=152566

Contributed By: Dr. Meenu Verma M. Com. (Accountancy and Business Statistics), MBA (Finance), Ph. D. (Financial Management) Dr. Verma is a Faculty Member in the area of finance and accounting at IBS Jaipur, and having 16 years of experience as an academician, consultant and researcher in reputed B Schools and management institutes of Jaipur. Dr. Verma is carrying experience as a researcher for more than 5 years with University of Rajasthan (UOR) and Indian Institute of Health Management and Research (IIHMR), Jaipur. She is the author of books titled “Financial Accounting”, “Corporate Accounting” “Wealth Management” and has published many articles and research papers in various national and international journals. She has also been nominated as panelist and jury member for the project appraisals and business plan competitions organized at national level. She can be reached at vermeenu@yahoo.com  , meenu@ibsindia.org