Tourist Benefactor

In November 1991, Rudolf and his wife Elfie, on their first visit to Goa, noticed children working in fields instead of attending school, due to monetary snags. With the help of Umberto who worked at a night club, they gave scholarships to four needy students. Since then, Rudolf Schwartz from Oldenburg, Germany has empowered the education of over 2500 young Goans through his Indian Students Educational Aid Foundation.

In 1995, he started Bhumika Technical Institute for dropouts in Paliem. A good response encouraged the start of Keerti Vidhyalaya Technical Institute in Siolim  and Indo-German Techno Centre and Institute of Hotel Management at Marna. Courses offered included computer hardware, software programming, electronics, fitter, turner, welding, plumbing, motor mechanics, electrician, tailoring, air-conditioning-refrigeration, cutting–embroidery and home nursing.

Rudolf, who is a retired banker, collects money from his friends in a unique manner. He returns to Germany after every visit to Goa with Indian tea and spices. Inviting his friends for a home-cooked meal he talks to them about his organization and convinces them to sponsor needy, bright students in Goa.

There are many success stories of different students from across Goa who benefited to secure their career and support their families.

A tourist moved beyond early interventions to progressive contributions and developed an amazing team of collaborators. Rudolf united others like him and the impact is for all of us to see and emulate... to tour the land... to notice the need... to make a positive intervention... and to back it with repeated efforts by growing the tribe of selfless givers... some giving money, some giving their time and some transferring skills...

The tourist turned benefactor not just by intervention
Rudolf got others to unite to impact collaboration!

- Pravin K. Sabnis

Goa, India.

Bull's Head

One day, in a pile of objects all jumbled up together, he found an old bicycle seat right next to a rusty set of handlebars. In a flash, they joined together in his head. He welded them together to create the association with the seat appearing like the head of the bull and the handlebars making for the horns. Bull's Head is a famous artwork by Pablo Picasso, created in 1942.

Picasso brought together two things to make a third. This practice of bringing together two things is called bisociation. Arthur Koestler coined the term in order to make a distinction between the routine skills of thinking on a single plane and the creative act, which always operates on more than one plane.

Koestler states that ‘every creative act involves bisociation, a process that brings together and combines previously unrelated ideas’. While association refers to previously established connections among ideas, bisociation involves making entirely new connections among ideas..

Bisociation involves a readiness to connect to the unconnected as we approach every routine situation with an open mind. Most importantly bisociation is a constant innovation as seen in the Gilette razor which kept adding blades, springs, lubricating strips to create a greater product.

We can associate with bisociation in everything we do. Like Picasso, we first need to see the bisociation first in our mind and then put it together in reality. So whether it is in design, art, science or humour, we can choose to use our right brain and unite the parts to impact a new whole.

First envision, follow with action... that’s Bisociation…
Unite to impact two parts to create a new innovation!

- Pravin K. Sabnis

Goa, India.

KATOR RE BHAJI

Jose stood on the pulpit of the royal chapel. He faced the Queen, the King and the Court of Lisbon. Seized by stage fright, he was tongue-tied. His father, who sat below the pulpit, whispered in Konkani: ‘Hi sogli bhaji, kator re bhaji’ (they are mere vegetables, chop the vegetables). The son lost his dread and delivered an articulate sermon to great appreciation and generous applause.

From then on, Jose Custodio Faria deliberated how a mere phrase from his father could alter his state of mind so drastically as to wipe off his stage fright. This thinking had far reaching consequences in his life. Abbe Faria was one of the pioneers of the scientific study of hypnotism. He defined the power of suggestion and demonstrated the impact of ‘autosuggestion’.

So often, we find ourselves overwhelmed by the situation. We know what to say but our thoughts go numb and actions get paralysed. Seeing his son’s predicament, senior Faria was able to make the suggestion that the task was never greater than chopping vegetables. He got his son to realise that since he knew what to say, he had no reason to fear.

Self belief is empowered by suggestion. However we may not always have the benefit of someone making the suggestion. Hence, we must choose the option of autosuggestion. We must cheer ourselves on. Of course, to be good at chopping vegetables or delivering speeches or taking on challenges, we must unite preparation and practise with the power of positive autosuggestion.

We must ‘unite to impact’ practise & preparation

With the liberating power of auto-suggestion!

- Pravin K. Sabnis

Goa, India.

COMMON MAN

After high school, Laxman applied to the JJ School of Art, Mumbai hoping to concentrate on his lifelong interests of drawing and painting, but the dean of the school wrote to him that his drawings lacked, ‘the kind of talent to qualify for enrollment in our institution as a student’, and refused admission.

R K Laxman, died today at the age of 93 at Dinanath Mangeshkar Hospital in Pune. The JJ School and every Art School uses his cartoons as a learning tool not just because of his unique style but because he was able to say things matter-of-factly without ever becoming disagreeable.

And that indeed is a lesson worth emulating. To say what we ‘want’ to say but saying it in the way that it ‘needs’ to be said. Communication must not be an unbridled outlet but a responsible and responsive stimulus that keeps the scope for a continuous dialogue. And for that we must note all factors.

R K Laxman never minced words, yet he was prudent in his choice of expression. His ‘common man’ said such a lot without ever saying anything. He lives on in our collective memory as one of the finest examples of uniting indignation, criticism and irritation with the dignity of controlled wit.

‘Unite to impact’ all the factors, pay heed...

Say what you ‘want’, but do mind the ‘need’

- Pravin K. Sabnis

Goa, India.

OVER-THINKING

In Aesop's fable – ‘The Fox and the Cat’, the fox boasts of ‘hundreds of ways of escaping’ while the cat has ‘only one’. When the hounds approached, the cat scampered up a tree while the fox in his confusion was caught up by the hounds. The fable underlines the lesson, ‘Better one safe way than a hundred on which you cannot reckon’. 

So often, so many of us believe that the more we think about something, the better our decision will be. We ponder a decision for hours or even days. We keep pursing the identification of multiple options. However, research has shown that over-thinking a dilemma can actually result in a poorer decision.

This does not campaign for a spur-of-the-moment whimsical resolution. Instead, we must use the process of unconscious thought... we give the problem time to be mulled over in the back of our mind, yet do not actively think about it. In situations involving complex decisions, unconscious thought is found to outperform the more logical and analytical counterpart.

We must avoid wasting too much time going over the same points again and again in our heads. Instead, we must bring key issues to mind, and then relax and give ourselves some time to absorb it. Many of us do this already - we are often reluctant to rush into a decision before ‘sleeping on it’ - however we also waste a lot of time agonizing over the pros and cons.

Our unconscious mind is better equipped to unite the various considerations, implications and solutions. However, we tend to consciously dig up a wealth of options and often lose focus from identifying practical solutions. We must remember the famous maxim – ‘too much of analysis causes paralysis’!

Over-thinking often creates a defeating paralysis...

The unconscious mind will ‘unite to impact’ analysis!

- Pravin K. Sabnis

Goa, India.

RETALIATION

One of our school teachers had a weird method of enforcing discipline in his classroom. Every time, a back-bencher would say or do something that would infuriate him, he would shout at the one who committed the mischief and… and strike the head of the boy sitting nearest to him.

In the case of our weird teacher’s unfair retaliation, all would find it funny except the one who was unfairly penalised for somebody else’s mistakes and the others sitting in the front row who would be on the edge fearing that the odd predicament would come their way, too. The rest of us were detached because it did not affect us.

It is this detached indifference that provides bizarre logic for the indefensible. How can anyone justify the inhuman killings and brutalisation of innocents? However, terming an entire community, culpable for the crime, is equally creepy. Retaliation is the resort of the inhuman but it is born in negative thought and talk before the resultant regressive action.

It is in times like these that we should salvaging humanity by choosing resolute and steadfast solidarity of tolerant living over bloody killing. It is the battle for reclamation of humanism under attack by various arguments for retribution. We must strive for desirable peace instead of allowing the vice of retaliation to strangulate humanity.

- Pravin K. Sabnis

Goa, India.

Participation

Pedro would shy away from participating in meetings or activities of the organisation he belonged to. He would rationalize away his discomfort, saying that, ‘Participating in everything is unnecessary. I am committed to be sincere and hard working. Why should I do this silly stuff?’

So often, we hear similar justifications from those who need to operate outside their comfort zones. The refrain is: ‘connections do not matter; what matters is the value of our work,’ or ‘People who network are grovelling or full of themselves, and who wants to be that.’ These statements camouflage the actuality of the situation: that we are afraid of networking or public speaking and that we refuse to accept the real reasons of our non-participation.

Surely, if we our chosen situation was free of all anxiety and stress, it would be exhilarating to do that very thing. Fear is the hurdle that limits our belief and behaviour. It is pertinent to note that acceptance of the fear that engulfs, helps us move onto the next step in the process, which is to use our power of justification for instead of against participation.

We must stop tricking ourselves. So instead of finding reasons why something is not worth performing, we must find reasons why it is worth performing.  We must step out of the comfort cage and work on activating this tough, but important paradigm shift that will provide opportunities to grow and show exciting ways to move forward.

After all, acceptance of our comfort cage, moving to finding positive motives for involvement and eventually proactively participating will unite to impact the possibilities of success to our true potential. For the limits in our mind will limit everything we do, never mind our capability!

Recognize fear; find reasons to pick proactive participation

‘unite to impact’ the escape from comfort cage limitation!

- Pravin K. Sabnis

Goa, India.