Can the end justify the means?

Being brought up in a middle class family, I have always been taught lessons in ethics and moral conduct. I grew up listening to stories of Mahatma Gandhi, Dr Rajendra Prasad, Rani Lakshmi Bai and other great heros epitome of morality. Having received high values, I married into another high valued family. My wife complements my quest and struggle to infuse our values into our kids.

Last night the whole family was watching Mahabharata and we saw how Duryodhana finally dies when Ashwathama kills the sons of Pandavas and shows him the blood stained weapons. Draupadi sees the horrific incident of her sons being killed at the hands of Ashwathama and realized the curse of Gandhari coming true. Tonight, we shall be looking at how Aswathama invokes the Brahmastra to kill Abhimanyu's unborn kids. Looking at the entire set of events we were discussing why so much of massacre? Why Krishna allowed so much of bloodshed? Why was he partial towards Pandavas – was it just his relation with Kunti that kept him on their side?

Interestingly, I was listening to BusinessSutra on YouTube featuring Dr Devdutta Pattnaik and Menaka Doshi where the question was – "Can the end justify the means?"

Looking at Mahabharata, let's revisit the question. In the end of the Mahabharata war, all the kauravas and their supporters are killed. They are viewed as the villains through out and have done despicable crimes towards mankind. Their death doesn't fills our heart with sorry but gives us happiness. At the same time, all the sons of Pandavas are also killed. Pandavas are destined to lead a great kingdom but remain heirless. Finally, Arjun's grandson Parikshit takes the crown after the Pandavas leave for their ascent to the heaven. Krishna is cursed by Gandhari to lose all his family and people in a civil war. Krishna is destined to die at the hands of a hunter in an unknown forest. So what was the end of Mahabharata? Who won? What means are we talking of to have been justified in this whole process?

Let's look at the reason for the war – an unfulfilled contract. Kauravas and Pandavas had agreed that when the Pandavas would return from their 13 years of exile they shall be given their kingdom back. Duryodhana refused to acknowledge that Pandavas had fulfilled their part. He kept arguing on technicalities. To make peace, Krishna even offered him to give away five villages to Pandavas and he still denied. When pushed to the corner, Duryodhana showed his true colors – his intentions of not being true to any code of conduct. If the peace had prevailed or Kauravas would have won, Duryodhana would become the king of Hastinapur and the entire mankind would have suffered much more. Krishna favored Pandavas to prevent this injustice from happening. So, while we were discussing about Krishna's partiality, we overlooked his intentions. Thus forgot the context within which the end was being perceived.

The epic story of Mahabharata, does not ends with the war. It has many more stories to tell. And each story, makes us think about the context and the intentions. The context changes the perspective involved. It also changes the rules and the requirements for every situation. Mahabharata helps us to identify such contexts and broaden our minds through such contradicting stories.

"Can end justify the means" – is based on the assumption that if the rules are followed, good would happen! But the rules change with context. Be careful, when you hear such large boasts or debates.

Diversity & Inclusion - 2

Thinking more about the diversity and the inclusion, I started to visualize the concept everywhere.

I was asked to take up a diversity and inclusion training at my workplace the other day. To make the matters worse, they had actually tied it to my job compliance. What they told me in the training was that we work in a multinational organization and we need to be aware of different cultures and their considerations. The training was mandated by the human resource group and requested us not to form judgments by just one or two incidents. It asked us to be cognizant of the difference in cultures and develop patience. In a subtle tone, it asked us to be able to develop the sensitivity towards others - their needs, their fears and their backgrounds.

Having said that, I wondered what is the organizational culture then? Why the same HR dept. does strives to instill a common set of values? Why are we all the time chased through the hallways for not following te corporate templates? Why should the deliverables from different teams in one organization look the same? What happens to diversity, sensitivity and the inclusion?

I found the answer while explaining the currency to my kids! I showed them the various currency notes in my possession –

Currency Name	Currency Note
Indian Rupee
Euro
US Dollar

 
You shall notice that Indian rupee has the payer' promise in 17 local languages displaying the variety in language and culture. At the same time, the Euro spans across multiple countries, yet displays the content in very limited languages. United States of America – which is also termed as the land of immigrants or the melting pot of the world, has attracted residents from all over the world. You'll see almost every language and culture in different pockets of US, yet the currency displays only one – English. Was US being insensitive to the various cultures living and prospering here? No. The answer comes from the efficiency of operations. The cost of producing the single language currency notes is far lesser than the same with multiple languages.

See the same thing in your organization, home or even with your friends. I was born and brought up in a hindi speaking place. Though, I had to move to a place for work where people only spoke Tamil. Later, I moved to another place where all work was done in Kannada. To top it all, all people I interacted with came from various backgrounds – with different values, languages and food. I found knowledge of English very efficient and helpful in establishing the common ground wherein we could connect and draw up the plans for future.

While not forgetting the wonders of mother tongue and its importance, at least there is one thing we must be thankful to British for – English. On the occasion of our 68^th independence day, call me a traitor, but I still root for the one thing that binds us together and unites us amongst all the diversity we have.

Diversity & Inclusion

My wife has already started on her project for the 68^th Indian Independence Day program in our town as well as the county. She is doing an amazing job convening the program with so many different volunteers and great helpers. Out of curiosity, I asked her the theme and her answer was "Of course, it's Diversity!" I started thinking the real meaning of the word diversity and its implications. Trust me it has been a very interesting journey through the thoughts.
Diversity means the state of being diverse or having variety to be precise. Variety can be in multiple forms – dresses, food, mannerisms, opinions and thoughts.
In the various interactions with people, systems and processes we all come across so many diversified characters on a daily basis. Yet we harp on the need to understand the diversity and understand it. This is what drive my curios and inquisitive mind to ponder. I believe diversity is a fact of life and nature. The Mother Nature supports so many living organisms – be it flora or fauna, so many non-living things, doesn't it offers diversity to us? I believe this is diversity in its fullest form. To help ourselves understand the various complex natural phenomenon, we tried to classify them in families and kingdoms. Interesting still, while we tried to study one phylum, we were still observing others and their effects. We applied the same classification (though modified) while understanding humans, their cultures and their societies. Then why did we forget the behavior and the impact of others as in plant or animal kingdoms?
Yes, diversity is not new. It has always existed and will always exist. We are just one very small miniscule creatures in the diversified nature. But what makes us superior to others is our ability to think and understand the differences. The same understanding and knowledge leads us to appreciate the capabilities of others and help us being sensitive towards others and their needs. The sensitivity leads to us being able to adjust and develop a cordial society for all to live together.
Of late many organizations have started training their staff on Diversity and Inclusion. The program is aimed at not only understanding that there may be people with diverse backgrounds but also with methods to include them all when working as a team and devising approaches to minimize the differences.
Some argue that this knowledge and the understanding came from the west. I recommend to visit the SriNathJi temple in Nathdwara, Rajasthan, India. SriNath Ji appears before the devotees 8 times a day for darshan. In each appearance he sports a new and a different outfit. All the year round, the dresses and Shriji's getup is never repeated. Quite a fashionable god? Yes he is. However, the point to note here is some of the various forms that ShriJi takes during the year include that of a 'Yavan', 'Mugal' and even 'maleccha' – forms that are not associated with Hinduism or are not viewed favorably. But look closely – the god himself is givin out the message of inclusion, sensitivity to others through the clothes he sports. When he can do so, how can we be so insolent?
Let's introduce another interesting twist to this whole paradigm – like the holy trinity of Hindu Gods – Brahma, Vishnu and Mahesh; there is a holy trinity of Lakshmi, Durga and Saraswati – the female counterparts of Vishnu, Shiva and Brahma. The three goddesses symbolize different types of wealth we can have - Lakshmi indicates the material wealth, Durga indicates the emotional wealth, and Saraswati indicated the wealth of knowledge. In our quest for materials, we are always trying to achieve our emotional quests, but somehow we forget the knowledge that gives us sensitivity towards self and others.
Hence, to really understand Diversity and Inclusion, one must try achieve knowledge of one's own culture and that of others'.

Dreams

जाग उठा हूँ मैं,
उस बेदर्द नींद से,
जो हमेशा साथ में,
कितने सारे सपने ले आती है।

उन्हीं टूटे सपनों की टीस,
अब भी महसूस होती है।
उन्हीं अनकहे सपनों में न जाने,
किस किस से बात होती है।

इन्हीं सपनों में,
सारी ज़िन्दगी उतर आती है।
कभी शिखर पे ले जाती है,
कभी खाई में पटक जाती है।

हर सपना मुझे
घाव नया दे जाता है।
जमीन के नीचे और नीचे,
दफ़न कर जाता है।

सपने सच नहीं होते,
यह मैंने सीखा है।
पर सपने ना देखूं,
यह भी कहाँ हो पता है?

सपने मन का आईना हैं,
तभी तो मैं सपने देखता हूँ।
और हर बार चोट खा कर,
अपने घाव पर आंसुओं का मलहम रखता हूँ।

जाग तो चुका हूँ मैं,
उस बेदर्द नींद से,
पर फिर से अपने आगोश में लेने को,
चले आ रहे हैं, यह काँच के सपने।

Importance of storytelling

Today we were celebrating July 4^th – the US Independence day. While waiting for the fireworks show to begin, the kids asked me to tell them a story. Even before I could start, the younger one interrupted me with a question – "Why do we tell stories? And how do you know all the stories?" the question left me thinking for a long time. Today's blog is my attempt to answer the same question with inspirations from many great storytellers.

Recently, I had come across another alumni of my college. He has taken up a full time profession of being a story teller. At the same time, a lot of other colleagues have been stressing the importance of storytelling. What is storytelling and why is it so important?

Let's first understand what is a story? A story is an expression of an idea along with the situation that helps explain the idea in a better manner. The entire scenario is laid out in such a manner that the central idea is easily understood by listener or the reader. The perception and meaning of the same idea might change from one place to the other and also from time to the other. Thus creating differences in how one values the idea as compared to the other. Remember the readers of Jane Austen refer "gay" to happiness, while the readers today have a completely different meaning for the word. Similarly, when the food in the western countries is meant to be served in multiple courses as controlled by the chef, the food in India is served as a meal – allow the person eating to create his own taste.

In our day to day life we experience multiple transactions – whether in the market while buying something or dealing with others. Negotiations happen every moment, everywhere whether we talk to our children or our bosses. Each transaction is a business of its own capacity where something is exchanged causing gain to someone involved in the exchange. The tangible value of the transaction can be measured but how could we measure the intangible value? The intangible value differs in the perspective of the parties involved in the transaction as well the ones observing the same. The key to understanding the intangible value is understanding the psyche or the thought process of the parties involved. In order to understand the psyche of someone it is important to understand the ideas that form their belief. The belief is constructed using the stories that a person hears and grows up with.

We all tell stories to our kids. Sometimes as a bedtime story, sometimes to put our point across. Many times, we tell the same story to our kids. But none of the renditions are all the same. They differ as per our own understanding and our beliefs. It also reflects what happens in our background. These are the stories that stay with our kids too when they grow up. In a large manner, these stories shape them up as well. Thus, the responsibility to make the next generation "good" lies on us.

Tell the right story, tell the right meaning and also appreciate that there might be other possible renditions as well.

An ode to parents - Janak - Janani

हरी कोंपलों में
जन्मे थे, मजबूत शाखा से लग
सपने भी तो देखे थे?
फिर, आज इन पीले पत्तों से
मुंह क्यों मोड़ लिया?
इन्हें भी तो, समय ने
यहाँ ला कर छोड़ा।
इन्हीं के तो तुम रूप हो,
इन्हीं की हो छवि।
यह तुम्हारे जनक हैं,
और यही तुम्हारी जननी। 

The story of a River

कल कल, कल कल करती,
मस्त चाल से चलती नदी,
चली जा रही सागर से मिलने।

पर्वतों की गोद में खेलती,
धरती के ह्रदय में अठखेलियाँ करती,
देखो तो सागर से मिलने चल दी।

कितने युग बदले,
कितनी सभ्यताएँ बदलीं,
नहीं बदली तो यह नदी।

सब देखा है इसने,
सब सहा है इसने,
फिर भी देखो चञ्चलता आज भी उतनी ही है।

कभी गाँव लीलती है, तो कभी सिंचाई करती है,
कभी पत्थर काटती है, तो कभी खुद को बंधवा लेती है,
फिर भी सबकी प्यास मिटाती जाती है।

जो छूट गया, ना उसका दुःख,
जो आगे आएगा, ना उसका भय,
इसे तो बस चलते जाना है।

पर्वतों का सन्देश सागर तक पहुंचाना है,
अपना रास्ता स्वयं ही बनाना है,
जन्म से वृद्धावस्था तक बस चलते ही जाना है।