In both professional and personal life it is better to avoid the”yes men’’ because they have a pest effect on your life and they are a worst nightmare. Yes people never tell the truth, they talk what you want to hear, if you are of importance to them. Yes, they are smart as they can read the mind. If you have more yes people working for you, it can turn into a nightmare someday. Yes people will never tell you the whole narration as it is, they will twist the details and just finally say “yes” to whatever you say. Their aimless affirming only adds to your vulnerability. Yes people are not trustworthy because they will never suggest a different opinion. They never bring ideas to table.

But, most leaders want to be surround with people who actually like them and appreciate their leadership, this is an implicit fact. But yes-men do not surround a leader because of friendliness or affection. Yes-men crop up out of apprehension.  They do not actually care for the individual to whom they say yes always, they have no loyalties to the team or the organization. They don’t care about the success of an individual or organization. The idea about successfully moving forward does not appeal to them, the loss of a bad idea and its damage does not concern them. These spineless guys won’t try to stop the loss occurring out a bad idea. If you are surrounded by more yes guys, their visible amiability makes it even more difficult for an opposing voice to arise from fewer team members. Even in your personal life if you are surrounded by such pests who say yes to all ideas and actions of yours, think twice.  They will never stop you from doing something really stupid.

Yes men and women follow a certain predictable pattern; in a group if two strong people exist, these guys will watch the trend and support the stronger guy. These people implement blindly without using their brains. They only do what they’re told to do. They never think strategically, because they are least concerned with strategies. Always remember that you need at least few people who have courage to point out flaws in your decision making.

According to one historical anecdote Field Marshal, Sam Manekshaw said that there is a very thin line between being dismissed and becoming a Field Marshal. In April 1971, when Pakistan cracked down in East Pakistan, hundreds and thousands of refugees started pouring into India, in West Bengal, Assam and Tripura. The then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi held a Cabinet meeting in her office in which the External Affairs Minister Sardar Swaran Singh, the Agriculture Minister, Mr. Fakhruddin Ali Ahmad, the Defence Minister, Babu Jagjivan Ram and the Finance Minister, Yashwant Rao Chavan were present. Indira Gandhi summoned Manekshaw urgently. .

A very angry, grim-faced Prime Minister read out the telegrams from the Chief Ministers of West Bengal, Assam and Tripura. She then turned around to Manekshaw and asked him what he would do about the situation; she wanted him to war with Pakistan. Manekshaw answered her question with all harsh facts: it was the end of April, in which the Himalayan passes open, hence there could be an attack from China, two of his armoured division and two infantry divisions were away, one in the Jhansi area, the other in Samba and the third one in Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. He would require all the road space, all the railway wagons, the entire railway system to move the war formations to the operational areas. During the April/May it is harvesting season in the Punjab and UP, and since harvesting was in progress, they would not be able to move the harvest which would rot and create a famine situation. His armoured division, which was the biggest striking force was supposed to have 189 tanks operational, whereas he had only 11 tanks that were fit to fight. The rains were about to start in East Pakistan and when it rains there, it pours and when it pours, the whole countryside is flooded. The snows are melting, the rivers would become like oceans. If someone stands on one bank, he can’t see the other. In such a situation, all movement would be confined to roads. The Air Force, because of climatic conditions would not be able to support the army.

Manekshaw had guts: he pointed at the shortcomings in decision making of all ministers who were present in the meeting; decision making requires farsightedness and also practical move towards goals. Manekshaw put the plain facts before the Prime Minister and her cabinet ministers. Indira Gandhi called off the meeting, the ministers left, she asked Manekshaw to stay back. Gandhi asked him whether all that he said was true, he told her “Yes! It is my job to tell you the truth, and it is my job to fight, it is my job to fight to win and therefore, I have to tell you the truth.”

Courage comes in many characters, shapes, sizes and forms. Indira Gandhi gave her army chief the time he wanted to elaborate his strategy. Seven months and four days later the war began when Pakistan president Gen. Yahya Khan lost patience and ordered his forces to attack Indian troops near the border on the evening of August 3, 1971. Manekshaw had by then amassed two brigades within the border for going in the next day. Thirteen days later Bangladesh was born marking one of the high points in Indian diplomacy: in nine months the country was able to isolate the US, bring Western Europe on to our side and win over the world media.

One of the difficult things to do in life is saying no to an important person or something. Often, people believe that saying no can be considered as rude or unsocial on their part. But, not being able to say ‘’no’’ leads to greatest losses many times and distracts priories.

India is home to some valiant warriors who have set new premise for the rest of the world to follow in every era. These warriors were exemplary in their war strategies; they were brilliant, visionaries and very good humans. It requires more than absolute brilliance to be remembered for centuries. One of such brave warriors was Bajiaro Peshwa.

Bajirao was too sharp and was known for his speedy attacks; he used to never give time to his enemies to think strategies.  Bajirao established his presence from Delhi to Srirangapatnam and Gujarat to Berar over a twenty year period of his career in the 18th century. He had an inherent ability to gauge the opponent’s strengths and weaknesses and spring the trap when his enemy was not ready or was lulled. This was a typical characteristic of Bajirao. The most astonishing fact is that he won in every battle that he fought. Bajirao achieved it because he had the brilliance and he was too good in implementation.

Bajirao Balaji Ballal was the son of Balaji Vishwanath Ballal who had shored up Chhatrapati Shahu’s fortunes. A grateful Shahu looked no further than Bajirao to be his next Prime Minister – Bajirao was just twenty years of age. The other claimants were much older. After Bajirao took the reins of Peshwa, the older warriors refused to co-operate, hence the traditional Maratha aristocracy appointed Malhar Rao Holkar, Ranoji Scindia and Udaji Pawar as his primary helpers. From here began the move towards an empire.

The Peshwas were hereditary prime ministers of the Maratha Empire who had power commensurate with that of the rulers. Though Bajirao himself made administrative decisions and led the Maratha army in battle well beyond the Narmada, he was still subordinate to Shahu Maharaj, the grandson of Shivaji and ruler of the Maratha Empire.

In the first few years, Bajirao helped the Nizam ul mulk to establish his rule at Aurangabad and was honoured by the Nizam for his role at the battle of Sakharkhedla in 1724. He then went on two campaigns to the south; to Chitradurg in 1725 and Srirangapatnam in 1726. An urgent summons from his king to ward off the threat posed by the Nizam brought him back to Satara. The Nizam, had taken assistance from Sambhaji of Kolhapur had threatened Shahu’s very existence.

Bajirao was also surrounded during the same time by Nizam without his artillery at Palkhed which forced him into surrender. But, the witty and shrewd Bajirao tricked Nizam to accept all conditions. Bajirao’s battle plan at Palkhed has been described as a ‘masterpiece of strategic mobility.’ Bajirao’s brother Chimaji Appa, defeated and killed the Mughal subahdar at Amjhera and stamped Maratha authority in Malwa. This province was the link between Hindustan and the Deccan and therefore was of pivotal importance. Around the same time, Muhammad Bangash attacked Bundelkhand and threatened its aged ruler Chhatrasal. It is mentioned in the historic documents that Chhatrasal’s daughter Mastani met Bajirao and asked his help to fight Bangash.

Bajirao moved quickly through a isolated path to surprise Bangash and rescue Chhatrasal. After a siege at Jaitpur, Bangash sought terms. Chhatrasal, ever grateful, gave Bajirao a third of his kingdom. He also gave him his daughter Mastani whose mother was an Iranian woman named Ruhaani Bai.

And, that’s when a love affair engaged Bajiaro’s life. The great warrior had to face bitterness from his mother, his brother, his wife and other chiefs in the Maratha fold. The great Marathi author N.S.Inamdar in his book ‘Rau’ has painted Bajirao’s enormous life but also depicted him as a flawed figure despite his great achievements. Bajirao was ahead of the time, he wanted to give Mastani status of wife, he wanted people to respect her the way he did. But others dint want Mastani in Bajirao’s life because he was married to Kashibai. After reading the book ‘’Rau’’ one feels that people enjoyed all the good that came from Bajirao’s actions but none gave him the freedom to lead his life as per his wishes. And this is the biggest tragedy in this great Maratha warrior’s life. Bajirao evidently fought great social sanctions and political peril to stay with Mastani, and protected her from political reprisal until his death.

In the 18^th century, India was culturally and ethically so strong that even Kings could not escape the social dogmas. On one hand people were so happy with Bajirao Peshwa for being the only Maratha ruler to extend the Maratha Empire to almost entire India including Delhi and on the other hand same people hated him for having an affair with Mastani. In the end the King who gives shelter to all the poor and needy people died without a shelter. One big lesson to learn from Bajirao’s story is that people expect their rulers to follow the social doctrines, to be ethical and practice what they preach.

Bajirao died on 28 April 1740, at the age of 40. He died of a sudden fever. It seems he was on job of inspecting his jagirs. At that time, he was en route to Delhi with 100,000 troops under his command at his camp in the district of Khargon, near the city of Indore. He was cremated at Raverkhedi near the river Narmada. The Scindias built a chhatri (dome) as a memorial at this place.

It’s sad that such a great warrior’s life is lesser remembered for his heroic deeds; he is more remembered for his love for Mastani.