One of the stories from childhood was of a musk deer which became aware of a sweet scent... seized by a passion to find out the source of the fragrance, it searched far and wide, but in vain... eventually when it lay dying, it realised that the scent it sought came from its own navel...
Unlike the musk deer who, by instinct shares its scent; we humans tend to switch off our fragrance, when we want it. Fragrance oft gets replaced by a repulsive, or at best, an odour of indifference. For us, sharing is conditional or affected by our mood. Oscar Wilde said it so well, ‘some cause happiness wherever they go, others whenever they go’.
The story came to mind on hearing of the untimely death of two exceptional teachers - Matanhy Saldanha and Kasturi Desai - who unconditionally shared their fragrance of learning as well as their passion for the cause of environment. Matanhy rose up to lead path breaking peoples’ movements and become a beacon of hope for fishermen and other activists across the nation; Kasturi latter mixed her Bengali fragarence with the Konkani flavour and won a Sahitya Academy award for translating Mahashweta Devi’s novel.
Indeed, both possessed infectious sincerity and simplicity, a must to develop the attitude of sharing. It is great to have a fragrance worth sharing. But, surely it would be better to share it than merely possess it. Unlike the musk deer, we can make the choice: of discovering our scent and of sharing it, unreservedly... like Matanhy and Kasturi!
Matanhy and Kasturi have shown us the worthy way...
Let’s BE BETTER at sharing our fragrance, every day!
- Pravin K. Sabnis
Monday, March 26, 2012
19 March blog:OPINIONATED
A Zen story tells the tragic tale of widower and his son. Once, when the father was away on business, dacoits raided, burnt down his village and took his little son away. When the man returned, he saw the burnt corpse of an infant. Assuming that his son was killed in the fire, he conducted the last rites and rebuilt his home.
A few days later, his son escaped from the clutches of the dacoits and found his way home. He knocked at the door and called out, ‘Papa, it is me... open the door’. But the distraught father thought that some kid was playing the fool. He shouted, ‘go away!’ After many futile attempts to convince his father that he was alive, the son left the village never to return again.
So often, when we take something to be the truth and cling to it such that even when the truth comes and knocks on our door, we refuse to open it. So often, we hold stubbornly and unreasonably to our own opinions. When we are opinionated we end up in an obstinate and irrational attitude and approach.
It is pertinent to note that a single story based on personal perception lead us to being opinionated. And hence to be better at connecting to the real truth, we must have an open mind that is ever ready to consider the various versions of truth. It is only when we are open to new ideas, thoughts or versions of reality, we choose to break away from the control of overpowering opinionated posturing.
Let’s BE BETTER at escaping the opinionated version...
Instead of unduly adhering to the preconceived notion!
- Pravin K. Sabnis
A few days later, his son escaped from the clutches of the dacoits and found his way home. He knocked at the door and called out, ‘Papa, it is me... open the door’. But the distraught father thought that some kid was playing the fool. He shouted, ‘go away!’ After many futile attempts to convince his father that he was alive, the son left the village never to return again.
So often, when we take something to be the truth and cling to it such that even when the truth comes and knocks on our door, we refuse to open it. So often, we hold stubbornly and unreasonably to our own opinions. When we are opinionated we end up in an obstinate and irrational attitude and approach.
It is pertinent to note that a single story based on personal perception lead us to being opinionated. And hence to be better at connecting to the real truth, we must have an open mind that is ever ready to consider the various versions of truth. It is only when we are open to new ideas, thoughts or versions of reality, we choose to break away from the control of overpowering opinionated posturing.
Let’s BE BETTER at escaping the opinionated version...
Instead of unduly adhering to the preconceived notion!
- Pravin K. Sabnis
Monday, March 12, 2012
WELL-LEFT
‘Well-left’ is a cricketing expression to indicate a batsman’s act of letting the ball go. It refers to the choice of not offering a shot and keeping bat away from ball. Great batsmen are ones who know which balls are best left alone. One such master batsman, Rahul Dravid was called ‘the wall’ for being solid in defence. When he announced his retirement from the game, there was spontaneous appreciation: ‘well left’!
Casual observers of the game find Dravid’s approach to be excessively defensive and one which slowed down the game. But real enthusiasts find such a stance to be impressive and one which makes it possible for the team to score well. Eventual statistics of Dravid’s record 24208 international runs, inclusive of 48 hundreds are a reminder of his tenacity, patience and perseverance.
Knowing what to take on and knowing what to leave alone are the characteristics of a focussed mind. Sustainable success comes from the ability to avoid yielding to every temptation. Like cricket, life is not about scoring on every ball. We must strive to last longer at the crease and go for larger scores. To be better at lasting longer as well doing well, we must know what we need to take on and what we need to leave alone.
Also, we must be better at moving on by letting go. So many organisations have declined because the leaders could not let go of their powers and positions. The urge to do everything and score of every opportunity, makes us lose our sense of perspective and focus. ‘Well-left’ is a conscious choice to be made in sync with an approach that responds differently and aptly to different stimuli.
Indeed, it is focus that makes us truly deft...
Let’s BE BETTER with opting for ‘well-left’!
- Pravin K. Sabnis
Casual observers of the game find Dravid’s approach to be excessively defensive and one which slowed down the game. But real enthusiasts find such a stance to be impressive and one which makes it possible for the team to score well. Eventual statistics of Dravid’s record 24208 international runs, inclusive of 48 hundreds are a reminder of his tenacity, patience and perseverance.
Knowing what to take on and knowing what to leave alone are the characteristics of a focussed mind. Sustainable success comes from the ability to avoid yielding to every temptation. Like cricket, life is not about scoring on every ball. We must strive to last longer at the crease and go for larger scores. To be better at lasting longer as well doing well, we must know what we need to take on and what we need to leave alone.
Also, we must be better at moving on by letting go. So many organisations have declined because the leaders could not let go of their powers and positions. The urge to do everything and score of every opportunity, makes us lose our sense of perspective and focus. ‘Well-left’ is a conscious choice to be made in sync with an approach that responds differently and aptly to different stimuli.
Indeed, it is focus that makes us truly deft...
Let’s BE BETTER with opting for ‘well-left’!
- Pravin K. Sabnis
Monday, March 5, 2012
KNOW-HOW
A trainer observed that his wife took 20 minutes to prepare breakfast, while he scanned the morning papers. Over many days, he made a note of her many trips to the fridge, to the cooking stove, to the dish rack, to the sink... he concluded that his wife’s efficiency was adversely affected by the excessive trips she made to different parts of the kitchen.
One fine day he made an effective decision of sharing his know-how with his wife. He explained to her how she could get everything done in 10 minutes if she were to follow his plan derived from his observations. Since that day, he prepares breakfast in nearly 30 minutes while his wife scans the morning papers!
Besides taking-off on my own tribe and underlining our failure to know the predicament of our spouse, the above scene makes an important statement. To be better at utility, ‘know-how’ needs to be backed by ‘show-how’. To know how to do something better is never enough, never mind the quality of observations made about another’s performance. We must apply our stated solutions to our own actions and test them for their worthiness.
Know-how is about practical knowledge on how to get something done. Know-why (the reasons) and know-what (facts) are important, but theories are confirmed only when put in practice. To state solutions is easy, but to walk the talk is prudent. Surely, it is only through real experience that we will derive the real know-how.
Let’s BE BETTER at really showing how…
Instead of stating theoretical know-how!
- Pravin K. Sabnis
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