Salvage Lessons

It is said experience is the best teacher. Instead of experiencing everything oneself, one can learn from others experience. This is the best method to learn. We learn from our senior’s experience. Or it will be like reinventing the wheel. There are no prizes for reinventing the wheel. Reinventing is a laborious process that will cost life. Hence, learn from others experience. Only fools learn from their own experience.

History has a lot to teach. We read history to understand the aspirations, ambitions, follies and mistakes of our forefathers. Some are passable and others are disgustingly bad. We look not to repeat them. This is what we are to learn from history.

Today the Red Fort is in ruins. Though we are doing our best to maintain, it is still in ruins. Similarly, Fort Golconda is in ruins. A ruin has a lot to teach. Ruin cannot be made in a day. In order to be a ruin, it has to exist for a long period of time. For example, Fort Golconda existed for over 300 years and as we see it today, it is a work of art. Sunshine, rain, storm, wind, cold, earthquake, fire, people and time - all these worked tirelessly to make it into a ruin. Thus, making ruin in a single day is impossible.

Similarly, salvage is a work of art. Nobody wants accident willingly; nobody wants to die willingly. As Steve Jobs said - everybody wants to go to heaven but nobody wants to die. In Hinduism everyone prays the God to bless with heaven without death! Similarly, with salvage, it never wanted death, but died; never wanted an accident, but had. None wanted to ruin beautiful Mercedes. None wants to claim insurance. A salvage therefore is something which we don’t want. You don’t want your car to have accident. There are many unwanted incidents. The presence of many unwanted incidents in itself is the biggest lesson for posterity. Why don’t we learn?

Salvage teaches a life time lesson. Every new day has a different lesson. The sunrise & sunset, and the time are all same - but we witness a different salvage every day. The first lesson of salvage therefore is to live. Live to experience sunrise and sunset. In other words, salvage tells importance of life.

Salvage tells us the importance of property. For example, in Indian subcontinent - we build houses with passion. Roti, kapda aur makaan. Constructing makaan indicates life settlement. Elders ask - did you build a home? Ghar banaya kya? Banks and Govt. tell us the importance of housing. We have a concept of Grihastha ashram. Griha = house. Yet not even 1% of houses are insured. So when they are burnt or collapsed in an earthquake, we have salvage! It tells the story of dreams dreamt while building it and to live there “forever”. When there is something of value or importance, respect it. No house has fire extinguisher; none has insurance! Majority end up as salvage. Therefore, the other lesson of salvage is to respect what you love; to take care what you love.

Another lesson is to be safe. Cars, mobile phones, travel - you reach the other end of world travelling faster than the speed of sound. A simple YouTube search ‘aircraft accidents’ will show countless aircraft accidents & salvage. Be safe. We do not bother of safety; we simply don’t care. Car, truck, train and aircraft wrecks teach - Be safe. An aircraft is salvage if the pilot or engine or the weather becomes sick. Be safe. A motor vehicle is salvage if the driver or engine or weather is sick.

Salvage represents love. How much we love and care our near and dear ones. It could be family, friends, society or nation. If we were to take an average Indian, we know he is greedy. He is submerged / drowned in greed. Take two-wheeler – we find four people sitting on it. A city bus, besides being overstuffed, many would be hanging precariously on footboard. An auto is overcrowded. Two-wheeler transporting goods! Good, but at what cost? At the cost of life and property and finally salvage? Imagine the expectations, dreams and ambitions and associated with a salvaged property. Do you think the owner of the property wanted it to be a salvage?

Salvage teach us to enjoy the creation of God. More number of people are dying in road accidents & related incidents with the property being salvaged. They departed into oblivion to enjoy the creation of God. They died dissatisfied, empty-handed and with regret. It would not be out of place to say we are in the process of making the entire planet earth into a salvaged planet! The newspapers and the television talk of the temperature in Antarctica (first time in recorded history) being 210 C. Planet earth is becoming salvage. Interesting!

Salvage reflects broken ambitions of - being safe, being in a position to enjoy property, enjoying the creation, every moment of life, the planet earth and sunrise and sunset. None can change people’s attitudes. Probably they have to learn to change themselves. But we can aid in their learning. Through our patented process various utility articles manufactured from salvage property - a pen, a roadblock, a keychain, a ruler etc., with QR code printed. Scan the QR code – it will tell a broken dream; importance of being safe. These common everyday items will constantly remind, tirelessly tell, dispassionately argue of being safe. They are someone’s broken dreams and interrupted life. It tells us to be careful.

Thus, salvage is no more a means of reducing the losses of an insurance company. It has a tremendous utility lesson for all. It goes beyond insurance.