Responsive Rage

MONDAY MUSE (29 October 2012)

 

RESPONSIVE RAGE

During our college days, my first impression of Victor Hugo Gomes was of an ‘angry young man’. But the art student’s fury was intertwined with passion. He held the emotion of hope as well as the sentiment of restlessness. Most of our generation seemed consumed by a rebellious rage, but not many were able to make a difference like Victor.

Victor’s passionate rage made him constantly step out of the confines of his boundaries. From putting together music shows to restoring and retrieving a losing heritage, Victor allowed his rage to fuel his progress towards transforming the negative situation. His anger, at the callous and careless attitude towards a diminishing legacy, resulted in the impressive Goa Chitra – a museum of implements, tools and cultural lifestyles of Goans.

Every stimulus can trigger off a wide range of responses. One of the possible responses is anger. So often, the situation is such that the rage seems natural. We get disturbed by the provocation born of dismay, disgust or distress. So easily we respond with rage, but it is pertinent to ask whether our rage is responsive.

Indignation is definitely desirable over indifference and insensitivity. But mere fury is just hot air. However, if the hot air makes a huge balloon rise and takes people along to loftier actions, then the fury turns worthy. We need to be better at ensuring that our rage is not just a reaction... it must transform into a responsive action that can strive to overcome the very cause of that rage... like Victor has!

Let’s BE BETTER at nurturing the seething rage emotion

by renovating the negative through responsive action!

- Pravin K. Sabnis

Goa, India.

PRESERVE FIRST

Last week, the Rotary Club of Panaji organised an interactive discussion on heritage. Rajendra Kerkar shared stories of blinkered attitudes towards natural heritage in the tiger habitat in Goa. Prajal Sakhardande depicted the lameness of law in protecting heritage sites. Victor Hugo Gomes shared his pain of seeing the literal burning down of ancient artefacts. Maria de Lourdes Bravo da Costa Rodrigues decried the careless maintenance of existing documents due to the shifting focus towards acquiring new ones.

The audience discovered their own heritage unfolded through the passion of the panellists. They were also exposed to the harsh reality of the destruction of age-old heritage treasures. The enduring message was best articulated by Maria who said that ‘preservation is more important than acquisition!’

The statement can spread across a wider spectrum... preserving old treasures is more important than acquiring new riches... preserving existing relationships is more important than acquiring new friends... So often, so easily we move for further acquisitions while losing out on the ones in hand. In the greed to get more, we give up on what we already possess.  

Of course, new acquisitions are not always a bad thing, if we do not lose hold on the earlier collection of assets. Let’s take inspiration from the poem ‘heritage’ by Chidi Okoye who wrote, ‘my past is my life... the mother of my future’. We must place preservation as a priority over acquisition.

Let’s BE BETTER at preserving the existing roots

Instead of senseless acquisition of newer fruits!

- Pravin K. Sabnis

Level

A young entrepreneur invested in a state-of-art service station. It was equipped with the latest technology to provide prompt service to the customers. However to his dismay, no customer entered his venture. The young man tried offering fabulous discount offers, but in vain!

Eventually, he hired the services of an expert to identify the reasons for his failure. The expert arrived at the address – a tall impressive building in the city centre. He too seemed bewildered that business was dismal in such a prime location. He looked left and he looked right, but he could not see the service station. Just then, the young man came to receive him and led him to his service station on the fourth floor of the building!!

The above story makes greater sense if interpreted in context of our own behavior with people we meet. We are forever speaking at our own level and plane of thought, when it would be prudent to speak at the level of the ones we are speaking to. Ditto for the way we listen.

We need to look at things from the other person’s perspective. The greatest human quality of empathy is born when we put ourselves in other people’s shoes. To be better at communication we must align to the level of the other person, instead of being stuck in an inconvenient level.

To BE BETTER at effective communication...

Adjust to the other person’s level position!

- Pravin K. Sabnis

LUCKY

Several years ago, at a training program, when asked to name an inspirational achiever, many mentioned Amitabh Bachchan. When asked to identify the primary quality behind the success of the superstar, a majority said that he was ‘lucky’. In response, I shared the following observations:

Amitabh is ‘lucky’ to possess a rare and resonant voice. But the fact remains that he was so ‘lucky’ that All India Radio refused to hire him because they found his voice to be mediocre.

Amitabh was ‘lucky’ to star in so many super hit films that we have lost count of his successes. But the fact remains that he was so ‘lucky’ that his first 11 films fared poorly at the box office.

Amitabh was ‘lucky’ to make such a lot of money... everything he touched was rewarding. But the fact remains that he was so ‘lucky’ that, just ten years ago, his house was to be auctioned by the banks due to bad debts.

Amitabh is a case of ‘pluck’, not luck. As his 70^th birthday approaches, he puts in more hours and efforts than colleagues do at half his age. At every high point in his career, he never sought to relax in his glory. At every adversity, he re-invented himself and attempted risks and challenges.

To be better at living, we must learn to never give up. We need to take failure head-on and not allow it to demoralise us. People, who leave their lives to the vagaries of luck, will not make progress. But those, who respond to daunting challenges with pluck, will endure!

Do not believe Amitabh when he says he is plain lucky

to BE BETTER at anything, we need only pluck… truly!

- Pravin K. Sabnis

Mahatma as motivation

"Generations to come will scarce believe that such a one as this ever walked upon this earth." Albert Einstein words about Gandhi have turned prophetic! Few believe Gandhi as a real option for modern ailments. How did the Father of the Nation get reduced to just a name for a road, a face for a postal stamp and a statue?

The man who reshaped the lives of many, who continues to inspire mankind, remains more as an idea that sounds nice rather than as a way of life to be imbibed. Virtues like integrity, non-violence, tolerance - that were once the hallmark of a strong moral fibre - are mere resource for orators. They are not reflected in the practices of those who preach them.

Gandhi used to ‘experiment’ new things, deeds, acts in his search for the truth. He believed in following the path of his heart and, where none existed, in making one. He propagated that it is better to try and fail for a cause that you believe in than to succeed in some alien cause. His was a life of walking his talk.

But to be truly motivated by the Mahatma, we must be better at knowing him. It is pertinent to note that those who adore him as well as those who trash him do it based on conditioned perceptions rather than reading Gandhi’s true ideas, reflected in his writings. We need to be touched by the Mahatma’s thoughts before it can transform into motivation.

let’s BE BETTER at discover his life as inspiration…

to truly connect to the Mahatma’s motivation!

- Pravin K. Sabnis

Goa, India.

PRAVIN SABNIS conducts UNLEARNING UNLIMITED workshops for corporate & other teams. Since 2004, he regularly writes MONDAY MUSE.  Earlier based on JCI-India President’s theme: Touch To Transform (2004), We Are The Future (2005), Speak Through Action (2006), Develop New Dimensions (2007); since 2008, ONDAY MUSE is inspired by the JCI theme – BE BETTER.

SMS

Ganesh Chaturthi is a major festival in Goa. It is occasion for the extended family to get together. Friends from all communities go visiting those who observe the harvest celebration. Warm wishes, traditional delicacies and humble rituals mark the event. But, over the years, the amount of wishes by SMS has increased while the quantity of visits has decreased.

So often, so many of us reject the option of meeting or speaking. So easily, we convey our wishes through the ‘SMS’ method. Sure, technology makes it easier, convenient and economical to communicate. But, when we use only the ‘SMS’ way, even for close relationships, then we confirm that the easy, trouble-free and cheap option is of greater importance than the worth of our relationships.

Indeed it is a happy experience to have others share our happy moments. It is great to hear Cipriano calling from London. But the neighbours, across the street, may not return the visit, even though I go over regularly. Not even a call, they will use the mechanical SMS. Relationship is a two way traffic that depends on personal touch. The overuse of the SMS can short change it.

It is pertinent to note that those who receive the maximum visitors are those who build their relationships on direct contact. In fact, the ones, who have little money, tend to be better at investing time and effort in visiting the awaiting ones. When occasions call for connecting, we must remember that SMS is a wonderful invention to be used only when real visits and direct calls are not possible or not warranted. Eventually messaging is second to real connecting.

may SMS be the last choice while messaging…

let’s BE BETTER at personal acts of connecting!

- Pravin K. Sabnis

Null Set

In algebra, a Null set refers to an empty set. A teacher mentioned the Indian woman astronaut as an example for a null set as until then no Indian woman had become an astronaut. One girl instantly exclaimed, 'Madam, one day this null set will not exist!' The same girl, Kalpana Chawla went on to fill the set!

Like the name she herself chose, Kalpana was a highly imaginative child. Stars captivated her so much that she and her classmates built a physical geography map of India covering the floor of an entire classroom in her school, Tagore Bal Niketan, and covered its ceiling completely with stars -- sparkling dots marked on blackened newspapers! In her drawing class, she would draw airplanes flying in the sky. She loved making models of airplanes during craft classes.

In college, Kalpana was the only girl to opt for the aeronautical engineering course. During admission when asked to state her second option, she replied that she had none! During counseling, teachers tried to dissuade her as aeronautic engineering had limited job opportunities in the country. Most girls had opted for electrical engineering. But, Kalpana stuck to her passion. This was the first step to much greater achievements of India’s first woman astronaut.

Imagination is important, but it is not enough. To be better, it needs to be transformed into a clear vision and backed by a motivated mission to achieve it. Null sets get filled when dreams are empowered by steadfast belief and committed actions. Indeed, it took courage of conviction for a small town girl to become the first Indian woman to straddle outer space. She died abroad the shuttle Colombia on 1 February, 2003 but her inspiration remains immortal.

let’s BE BETTER at achieving every desirable vision

null sets get filled only through committed mission

- Pravin K. Sabnis

Goa, India.