HALF TRUTH

A sincere sailor got drunk, one night. This was the first time he had done so. The captain recorded it in the log, "The sailor was drunk tonight." The sailor knew this comment would affect his career, so he the captain to add that it only happened once in three years which was the complete truth. The captain refused and said, "What I have written in the log is the truth."

The next day it was the sailor's turn to fill in the log. He wrote, "The captain was sober tonight." The captain read the comment and asked the sailor to change or add to it explaining the complete truth because this implied that the captain was drunk every other night. The sailor told the captain that what he had written in the log was the truth.

Both statements were true but they conveyed misleading messages. Obviously they were half truths. So often we resort to half truths for a variety of reasons: carelessness, selfishness, to evade or pass on the blame. Never mind the reason, the result is the same: deceit.

We must be better at both, understanding as well as communicating the complete truth. We also need to examine the implications of our perceived truths. Surely if we can realise the result of what maybe a careless half truth, we will be more careful in our responses. For a half truth can be as dangerous as a lie.

Beware of the implications of half truthfulness...
Let’s BE BETTER at careful responsiveness!

- Pravin K. Sabnis

FORESIGHT

On the same day, Pedro and Ladro joined a wholesale enterprise. Both worked very sincerely. In due course, the boss appointed Ladro as sales manager but Pedro remained a sales rep. A disheartened Pedro queried with his boss about the injustice meted out to him.

The boss assigned Pedro to find out if any melons were being sold in the market. He returned with an affirmative... when asked the rate Pedro went back to get the information. Next, Ladro was given the same assignment... he returned with a host of details: the number of melons on sale, the rate, discounts offered on big purchases, inventory and quality details, etc. Pedro decided not to resign but to learn from Ladro.

It is pertinent to note that successful persons are more observant, think more and understand in depth. Every moment, they see beyond to foresee the larger picture. Every day they look beyond the day to foresee the year. And since the difference between a year and a day is 365 times, their foresight becomes a crucial ingredient in their success.

Too often we shrink the possibility of foresight to just notice only the immediate. We need to ask ourselves, how far have we seen ahead in our life? How thoughtful in depth are we? After all, those who see beyond the limiting frame are also able to stretch the success probability because they choose to be better at foresight.

See beyond, think deep and do what’s right...
let’s BE BETTER at stretching our foresight!

- Pravin K. Sabnis

WASTE NOT

A recent Hindi film showcased the modern Spanish festival in which revellers throw tomatoes at each other just for fun. It is pertinent to note that the origins of the festival can be traced to a brawl in 1945 in Bunol, where tomatoes got used as weapons. In the initial years, the authorities would round up the revellers but later they got around to organising the festival!

Inspired attempts to recreate the fest in Goa were squashed by indignant citizens who decried the criminal waste of food in a world where hunger is rampant due to food scarcity. It was heartening to note condemnation from all quarters to the event. But the larger question remains whether such public posturing will result in a conscious attempt to ensure that food does not get wasted.

So often, at parties, in hotels, in homes… food finds its way to the garbage bin. Such callous attitudes reflect a deep insensitivity to those who go hungry. A lot of modern traditions flaunt the unkind revelry of excessive waste of food. While it is good to see the opposition to the heartless event, it would be better to inculcate practices that are sensitive to the larger world that we belong to.

The planet earth is our common home. The resources – food, water, energy, fuels, ecology, etc – belong to collective ownership. When some of us abuse our privileges to waste resources; it results in the denial of the resources to the less privileged brethren. We have to move beyond condemnation of public fests that involve wastage… we must inculcate personal habits that align with that outrage.

A rising voice against waste is the right thing to do...
But let’s BE BETTER at aligning personal practices, too!

- Pravin K. Sabnis

HOPE ROPE

Trained elephants are often held, in their enclosure, by only a small rope tied to their leg. No chains, no cages. Obviously the elephant can, at anytime, break away from the bond but it does not. Actually, when they are young and much smaller, the trainer uses the same size rope to tie the elephants. At that age, it’s enough to hold them. As they grow up, they are conditioned to believe they cannot break away. They believe the rope can still hold them, so they never try to break free.

The animals can at any time break free from their bonds but because they believe they can’t, they remain stuck right where they were. Like the elephants, we too get held back by overpowering bonds of initial conditioning. We go through life hanging onto a negative belief that we cannot do something, simply because we failed at it once before...

Initial failure often tends to weigh heavy on our belief systems and prevents us from recognising our own potential. But we need to be better at not allowing failure to blur our attitude towards our own aptitude. After all, failure is a part of learning and growth; it cannot become flimsy reason to be held back in life... the conditioning rope has to be undone by holding on to hope inspired committed attempts to transform the situation!

Do not allow failure to hold back liberating hope...
Let’s BE BETTER at escaping the conditioning rope!

- Pravin K. Sabnis