Ex Nihilo Nihil Fit is a latin term, meaning “nothing can come from nothing“.
Ancient Greek philosopher Parmenides argued against the concept of “nothing”, and postulated that “out of nothing, nothing comes”. He initially laid this concept for Cosmology but then this idea was also used within other studies, such as philosophy. For the same reason, it can also mean that if you see something, it must have come from something.
There is a similar concept in Indian Sankhya philosophy. It says that the reality is composed of two eternal principles, Purusha (consciousness) and Prakriti (matter). Even though the English word for what Prakriti means is “matter,” what it really means is “potentiality.” Things grow on earth because it has the ability to do so. This is the same Greek idea that says nothing can come from nothing..
If this ideology is well understood, it can lead to a life full of gratitude, as gratitude is one of the most important ingredients for one’s peace and happiness.
We believe that all of our accomplishments and successes are the result of our own intelligence and diligence. This may bring us short-term pleasure, but in the long run it will only bring us discontentment, dissatisfaction, and stress, because our expectations are set on success, the destination, rather than enjoying the present and putting the ego at the centre. Gratitude paves the quickest path from the self to the collective, bridging the gap between “Me” and “We.”
I have discussed in one of my blog posts, Papa did not Praise, that the life was never simple, and struggle was required to achieve the desired result. Nonetheless, when I reflect on the past 20 years, I would like to say that life took some unanticipated, miraculously positive turns at various points, without which I would not be where I am now. And I can point to such life-altering events as proof of the Ex Nihilo Nihil Fit theory.
Story 1: The Takeoff 🚀
I was working for a major IT firm in Mumbai, known as Mastek Ltd. Each morning, I’d board the company bus at around 7:30, joining my fellow colleagues for the daily commute along the Eastern Express Highway. This road, a vital artery for daily commuters like us heading to our Andheri office, was often choked with traffic.
One fateful day, as our bus moved at a decent pace, a horrifying scene unfolded before our eyes. A man and his young son met with an accident were lying on the road next to their motorcycle. They both were bleeding profusely, with the man having injury on his head, and were clearly in a bad state, but none of the traffic around them, including our company bus, stopped.
Spotting a police station about a kilometer past the accident scene, I decided to do something and asked the driver to stop the bus, so that we can carry the injured to a nearby hospital. The bus driver declined as he had a duty to ensure everyone reaches work on time. I decided to take the matter in my hands, got off the bus, and ran back to the police station to report the accident. After informing police and instead of waiting for them to respond, I took an auto rickshaw and asked the driver to take me to the accident scene.
When we arrived ten minutes later, shockingly the victims were still lying unattended on the road divider. To get them to a hospital, I convinced the initially reluctant auto (rickshaw) driver to help, offering my gold chain as reassurance. The auto driver was hesitant as they can be in trouble if a person loses his/her life during travel. There have been many cases in India, where the police hassles people to get bribe and hence no one stops by especially if the injury is bad. I must say that this was the state in 2004, from recent stories it seems that situation is different and the police recognises good samaritans.
Just as we were trying to lift the unconscious father, the police arrived. They quickly transferred him into their van and me to join. Before losing consciousness, the injured boy was able to give me some crucial information in our shared language, Gujarati, using which I was able to trace their immediate family and inform them about the incident.
We rushed to Bhagwati hospital in Borivali, arriving in just seven minutes. As the only person present who knew them, I found myself acting as their guardian, signing off on their admission forms. The father required immediate surgery, but thankfully, the son’s injuries were less severe.
Once their family arrived at the hospital, the police kindly dropped me off at my work place in Andheri. My colleagues, worried after hearing that I’d gotten off the bus mid-journey, were relieved when they learned what happened. The story was later shared by Mastek Ltd on their intranet, and I was heartened by the warm response from my team. I have attached images of some of the appreciation notes.
Years later, I visited the family. I came to know from them that the father had spent months in a coma but had ultimately survived. It was a reminder of the difference a single decision can make. That day, I didn’t just save a man’s life – I helped prevent a tragedy that could have devastated an entire family.
This happened in early 2004 and by the mid of 2004 I was in the UK to work as a Business Intelligence delveloper for one of the NHSs projects. My financial situation slowly started changing after that, just because someone said me “thank you” from the bottom of their heart, a genuine gratitude.
I came to the UK from Mastek as a BI Developer (Business Objects developer) to work on a small project for British Telecom, 16 years on, I was heading that company’s Data and Analytics architecture, globally at group level, and leading £500M analytics transformation.
Story 2: Booster Dose💉
One cold, dark night in December 2020, after a family dinner in one of the Leicester restaurants, I noticed something unusual while driving home with my wife and younger daughter. There was a car parked on the side of the road, and from the corner of my eye, I thought I saw someone resting their head on the steering wheel.
Concerned, I drove a bit further, then stopped my car and walked back to check. With mist obscuring the car windows, I knocked on the passenger side to see if everything was okay. After a few tries and no response, I knocked harder, and finally, the person inside opened the door.
I started asking some general questions to the lady at the wheel to assess the situation, and she assumed that I was a doctor. She then moved a scarf from her lap and I was shocked to see blood. There was blood everywhere below her waist. Without wasting time, I called an ambulance and tried to keep her engaged in conversation.
During our conversation, I realised that she was a Muslim lady, and wondered if my questions might be termed inappropriate and crossing cultural boundaries. However, she quickly put my worries at ease when she called me brother and told me that she had suffered a miscarriage while driving.
With reassurances that help was on the way, I ran back to my car to fetch my wife. She stayed with the woman until the ambulance arrived. We managed to get in touch with her husband and made sure they got to the hospital.
A few days later, we received a message of gratitude from the woman. She told us that the doctors had said she might not have survived that cold night in the car if she had lost any more blood. It was a humbling reminder of how a simple act of kindness can have a significant impact.
My life has genuinely changed after Dec 2020, I used to work as an independent consultant. I am now a full time employee, full of satisfaction, lot of gratitude and generally happy. My family, Mrs and daughters are progressing well in life, and are in a profession where more can be offered back to the society. I will write about this some other day.
My philosophy is simple: I believe in the power of giving, whether it’s in our personal or professional lives. While some draw distinct boundaries between these two realms, I prefer to blend them. In the Latin saying, “Gratia Dei sum id quod sum,” or “By the grace of God, I am what I am,” I find my guiding principle. This philosophy finds its roots in the teachings of the revered spiritual guru, Pramukh Swami Maharaj, who beautifully stated, “In the joy of others lies our own!”
I firmly believe that living a life of gratitude can bring about transformative changes. It is someone’s gratitude that has shaped me and brought me to where I am today. In turn, my expression of gratitude could be a powerful force in bringing joy to others, potentially changing their lives for the better.
📜Learnings
There are a couple of learnings that I thought I should make the reader aware:
My experiences have taught me that acts of kindness can sometimes be misunderstood. For instance, when you proactively offer help or donate to a cause close to your heart, your actions can unfortunately be perceived as ostentatious, an attempt to flaunt your wealth. Similarly, sharing knowledge can be mistaken for showing off intellectual prowess. These misinterpretations can be disheartening, especially when your intentions are pure. It is possible that I may have some shortcomings on my end, e.g. may not have been able to communicate effectively, which could have led the other person form a wrong belief about me. But because of this, I’ve come to stick to a principle: I only step forward to lend support when it concerns health, physical or mental, or education.
There are times when, out of genuine concern, I try to check on the well-being of acquaintances from work or other places. I reach out to them on Phone, Email, WhatsApp, LinkedIn, etc, and when they don’t respond, it’s natural to feel disheartened. The silence often leads me to worry if they’re alright, almost as if they’ve disappeared into a void. Nevertheless, I respect personal boundaries and follow a ‘three-strike’ rule. If my attempts to connect are met with silence three times, I step back and let the individual have their space.
As time goes on, my understanding will grow, but it won’t have enough strength to change my fundamental beliefs. Its purpose will be solely to help me improve how I can give my best. I strongly believe that we are all connected, and by helping others, we are ultimately helping ourselves.
I’m not exactly sure when in life I learned these principles. I can only express my gratitude and thank my parents, teachers, friends, well-wishers, colleagues, and everyone I’ve crossed paths with, for showing me the difference between right and wrong, it must be them who taught me these because Ex Nihilo Nihil Fit.
Bhavin Shukla has been working as an IT Consultant in the data space for more than 25 Years. As a Data and Analytics professional, he has worked extensively for years on complex IT Transformation Programmes within Healthcare, Finance, Insurance and Telco domains.
Bhavin is driven by a sincere desire to embrace a spiritual existence rooted in values, while genuinely striving to enhance societal culture by fostering a supportive community where we stand by each other.
Bhavin Shukla 
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