MAN’S SEARCH FOR IMMORTALITY

In one of the whatsapp group in which I am a part of, we were discussing the concept of immortality. So, I was able to realise that everyone has this innate desire to leave a mark in this planet which will be long remembered.

Stephen Covey, states that the purpose of human life is to live, to love, to learn and leave a legacy. By saying, leave a legacy he says that human beings are capable of leaving a strong footprint in this planet, by doing something significant that the future generations will remember them for.

As I ponder, on this I am able to think of a number of ways, by how human beings can make their presence felt in this earth, even after they die.

Eponym: Eponyms are terms, laws, theories or any findings named after a person. For example, Newton’s law, Darwin’s theory, Archimedes Principle are some of the many. So, people by virtue of inventing or finding something, create a name for themselves, which is forever remembered by their name.

Being an Author: Though we may die, our thoughts can continue to live on this earth as words, as long as it is worth being read. For example, Thiruvalluvar who lived over 2000 years back, is still remembered through his Thirukural, which stays relevant even today. Similarly, there are many poets, philosophers, scholars who have etched a mark for themselves by their valuable thoughts in words..

Work of Art, Music and Architecture: Leonard da Vinci is remembered for his paintings. Beethoven continues to live in the memory of people, through his symphony Shahjahan is remembered for his great work on marble - the Taj Mahal. Many Kings and Rulers, engaged in creating masterpieces of architecture, art and music,  to be remembered in the annals of history.

Statue & Memorials: Putting up a Statue or a Memorial in honour of great leader or a noble man is also an way, for that person to be remembered by the future generations.

Naming of Road or Area: It is quite common to see some road names, street names or an area in the name of some political leader, in India. For example, many towns in Tamilnadu have a Annanagar ( in memory of the past Chief Minister of the State). This trend continues.

Founders of a religion or a cult: Founders of religion or some religious cult, have attained the status of immortality through their preachings. Some examples includes:  Jesus Christ, Buddha, Mahavira, Bodhidharma and Sai Baba.

Through Charity: People donate their money or service to educational or social institution, and as a mark of honouring their contribution, a  building or a part of the building is named after them. It is yet another noble way of leaving the name, in the minds of people.

Donating Eyes and Organs: One more people continue to live after they die is  by donating the organs to a needy person. Though this may not exceed for a long time, it still makes an impact in the life of the person who benefitted by it and brings a good name for the person who donated it.

Having and Nurturing Children: One of the simple ways, a man remains immortal is by having and nurturing good children. In India, we have this concept of ancestral worship too, which makes it possible. A parent who has left a good name, fame and fortune for his family will be remembered for atleast 3 generations, which may be a timeline of 200 years.

So, my assumption is that, History doesn’t remember most of the people who lived in this earth for more than 200 years. A very few have lasted in the memory for 2000 years. So, even this concept of immortality has a time frame. But, my thought is that, all those people who are looked up as immortals today, perhaps didn’t have a desire to be an immortal. They just did their work with great passion and as a result of their achievement or contribution, they have attained this stature. So, let us just continue doing our best in whatever we do. Who knows? We may attain this stature of immortality too.

Happy Reading

D.Senthil Kannan

Article Dated May 2017

EXCEPTIONS ARE NOT EXAMPLES

Dear Readers,

One of the common debates, we tend to hear in the current context is ‘How important is education, in the success of an individual?”. The general sentiment today seems to be in favour of NO. We believe that schools and colleges of today, is not preparing leaders for tomorrow, rather it is just preparing a bunch of clerks.

While I understand the reasons for this changing mindset, I am still in favour of formal education. Let me substantiate this with some points.

I often tell people, that this country can develop into a strong nation, only when educated people enter politics and take up leadership roles. One of the counter argument, I hear when I say that, is that, “It is not necessary for a person to be educated to enter politics, rather that person should have good intentions” . The political leader often cited to substantiate this claim is, former Chief Minister of the state Thiru. K Kamaraj. While this is a valid example they are making, let us ponder as to how many such good exemplary leaders do we really have? On the contrary, can we ever discount the contribution of so many educated leaders such as Gandhi, Jawaharalal Nehru, Sardar Vallabbhai Patel or Ambedkar and so on?

Similarly, when we talk about education as an important factor to be successful in career, people tend to defend by saying, “Not necessarily “ and cite examples of people like Bill Gates, who was a school dropout or Dirubhai Ambani, who had no formal schooling.  Well, these people have undoubtedly made it great in life, but again how many of such examples do we have. On the other hand, think about the many educated people who have been highly successful in their careers, such as Steve Jobs, Narayana Moorthy, Indra Nooyi or Sundar Pichai.

In all the cases, it is clear that the educated people dominate the list of highly successful people. If we look at ratio of successful people who are not educated versus the successful people who are educated, the ratio may be something like 1:10 respectively. This is just a wild guess.

While it is true that there are exceptional cases of people, who are illiterate or didn’t have formal schooling but who have made it big in life, it still doesn’t make a valid point of contention. So, the point I wish to make is “exceptions shouldn’t be taken as examples.”

Now the question is, if that is the case, why do we often glorify such people rather than the educated and successful people. The answer is this.  These types of exceptional leaders are rare and it is a general trend that we tend to appreciate what is rare and what is not common.

Moreover, the fundamental reason to nurture these thoughts is to inculcate hope in the minds of people, who have not had the capacity to pursue academics or who have met with less academic success. That is to say, when someone is not successful in education, we don’t need to completely give up on them, rather motivate them with these examples, which give them a hope that they too can become successful people.  

This sort of inspiration still continues to build successful entrepreneurs and leaders and that is a good thing. While leadership seems to be an inborn trait, found in anyone irrespective of whether that person is educated or uneducated, Education certainly provides the competency one needs to be a more resourceful thinker and therefore lead more effectively.

So, while we admire these exceptional people, let us not take them as examples, rather commit ourselves to be a master of our craft, by conscious effort of learning and building our skills.

All of us are planted with the seed, which has an innate ability to succeed. Education is just like a nursery, which nurtures the seed to bloom into a flowering plant.  When an tested and trusted framework is available, why leave success to chance.

Happy Reading

D. Senthil Kannan

Article Dated April 2017

LESS HONKING, PLEASE

Dear Readers,

We are all aware that Noise Pollution is a big social headache, yet in a country like India it seems unavoidable. From the market streets where the vendors are shouting in the top pitch to gain attention, the pompous wedding procession with band set, marriage ceremonies with shrieking music, temple festivals playing devotional songs in high decibels,  noise pollution is uncontrollable. Adding to this is the sound of traffic and especially the insensible sound of honking.

I am an advocator of less honking, as I have seen it as a good practice in Western countries. Honking is too much undue noise and makes the street, a stressful environment to commute.  So, I generally, do not honk. However, recently there were two incidents, when I faulted on this good practice, which created undesirable consequences.

The first one was when I was driving from Courtallam to Madurai, and as I was driving through a small town called Srivilliputhur, a man was slowly crossing the road. I honked to give a signal for him, hoping that he would notice my car coming and fasten up his pace. But to my shock, he just stopped in the middle of the road and stared at me. Though, at first reaction I got a bit angry, I realized that he had the right to show his protest, like that. When I am driving within town limits, I have to be more concerned about pedestrians and cyclists. So, I stopped and waited for him to cross. We cannot expect a pedestrian crossing in a small town like, Srivilliputhur and so we cannot just get away saying, that the person must have used that. So, the general rule, we can aptly follow is to give priority to the pedestrians and cyclists, as they cannot put up with our speed and it is senseless to honk on them.

On another occasion, I was driving within the Madurai city and there was a traffic signal. The signal just changed from Green to Amber and at the speed, I was driving I could have easily passed through the signal, but unfortunately a cyclist was in front of me. She stopped the cycle the moment, she saw Amber, which is the right thing to do. But, as I was in a bit of a hurry, I honked, which put a little pressure in her to move forward. At this odd juncture,  the signal turned  Red and vehicles from the other direction, started moving in. She was in a sort of a mess, finding it difficult to cover the distance, with so many  of those vehicle drivers, honking as a sign of disapproval. I felt so bad about my act. It was because of my honking, did she move. So, without intention I had put a pressure on her, which put her in an embarrassing situation.

What I have shared is not uncommon. It happens day in and day out. People start honking at traffic signals, even before the green light would come, People are so impatient to wait. While it may sound, like an everyday affair, we need to remember that it is not right to be insensitive on the roads.

If we want, India to be in par with Western countries, our attitude should change. We need to be more concerned about fellow traveller on the road. Honking is similar to shouting at someone. It builds up a lot of passive stress, which does not feel nice at all. One of the reason, people go home exhausted is not because they are tired, but because they feel so stressed by so much of honking they get to hear on the streets.

So, let us commit to honk less or rather follow the policy, “Honk, only if you must” and make our cities, less noisy and more peaceful for fellow commuters.

Happy Reading,

D. Senthil Kannan

Article Dated March 2017

Prepare better, Perform better

Dear Readers,

Few days back, I had the opportunity to attend a residential business workshop at Kodaikanal, organised by YES (Young Entrepreneur School). The founder and Chairman of YES, Mr. Neethimohan, took us on a morning walk around the Kodai lake. During this time, he stressed on the importance of being prepared, before any task we intend to do. He said, “One of the key qualities of a successful businessman is his preparedness. This state of preparedness will help you to perform better and bring about positive and productive results”. It made a lot of sense to me.

While most of us are so busy doing thing or executing actions, how many of us spend the right amount of time for preparation. The 3 ‘P’ for effectiveness is Plan, Prepare and Perform. Therefore, preparation should precede every performance, to make the performance effective. The quality of the performance directly depends upon the quality of preparation.

Anything and everything we do at work, needs adequate preparation. It could be anything right from making a speech or presentation, meeting a customer, visiting a trade fair, attending a business conference or participating in a seminar.  We tend to think, we can manage it in the last moment, which is primarily owing to our overconfidence. But the truth is that, the quality of our performance would take a beating, when we are not prepared.

Most of you, might have watched the inaugural ceremony of the Olympics. There are a few awesome performances we get to watch, with so much of grandneur and synchronisation. What we get to see is a 10 minute performance, but behind that 10 minute performance there is bound to be 100’s of hours of preparation. So, what we clap for or give a standing ovation is not just for the 10 minute performance, but for the painstaking preparation, that went behind it.

One of my friends, in the training fraternity, tells this about school exams. He says, a student studies for 300 days, writes an exam for 3 hours and his answer sheet gets evaluated in 3 minutes. Isn’t this true? Hours of preparation, finally leads to one ultimate performance. So, isn’t it wise to give adequate time for preparation?

So, learn to make preparation a vital ingredient of your daily life, may it be for personal, social or work. Let this thought get deeply engrained in your mind that, without adequate preparation there is no great performance.

Let us say, you are travelling abroad, get to learn a few words and phrases of that country, and you would be amazed to see the difference in the type of reception, you get. You can also be prepared by checking the weather and carry the right type of clothing, checking the map to plan your travel accordingly, and so on. With the power of internet, this preparation part gets quiet easy. So, leverage it, to your best use.

As a more prepared person, you would be looked up with high esteem and people would trust you, because they know that you have done your ground work.

There is a saying. “Success is where preparation and opportunity meet”. There are a number of opportunities coming our way, but unless we are prepared to capitalise upon an opportunity, we cannot be successful. So, let us give due importance to preparation and make it a lifelong habit.

Happy Reading

D. Senthil Kannan

Article dated Feb 2017

RESOLVE TO LAUGH MORE OFTEN

Dear Readers,

New year is the time of the year when we all make resolutions. While most of you might be setting your eyes and ambitious plans and goals for the year, let me request you to add, “I will laugh more this year”, as one of your New Year resolutions.

Why Laughter? Because laughter is a healthy proposition, that will help you combat stress, in your pursuit of your ambitious goals.

So here are some facts. The average child laughs 300 to 500 times a day while the average adult laughs only about 15 times a day. So, we are laugh deprived indeed.

Laughter is a God given gift, only to human beings. Animals don’t laugh. But man is created as a social animal, who can connect with people, share his joys and laugh out whole heartedly. But what we find today is a serious bunch of people, busy with their day to day chores, who don’t even find the time to laugh. If so, aren’t we denying a wonderful gift of God?

We have often heard, “Laughter is the best medicine”, but we don’t take aid of this free medicine. Probably because, we don’t trust anything that doesn’t have a scientific proof.

I too was quite sceptical about this, until I attended a Laughter Yoga session. The experience of the laugher yoga session was so exhilarating. I could personally experience, how much better I was feeling and how active my mind became at the end of the session. This motivated me to sign up for a 5 day Laughter Yoga Trainer workshop at Bangalore, under the tutorship of the founder of the laughter yoga movement, Dr. Madan Kataria, himself.Laughter Yoga is gaining popularity and wider acceptance across the globe and is now being practiced in more than 100 countries.

I found the benefits of laughter are too huge to ignore. There are umpteen numbers of benefits, but here is the TOP 5:

   1. Laughter enhances energy levels, due to the increased supply of fresh oxygen that is made available while laughing

   

    2.  Laughter makes us feel good, as endorphins are released by our brain, when we laugh

     3.     Laughter relives stress and helps in relaxation

     4.     Laughter boosts our immunity and prevents many diseases.

     5.      It also relieves pain, by producing natural pain killers

While the benefits are so obvious, why not put it to practice. The best part is, it doesn’t cost you any money and is not a strain on yourself, physically or mentally.

In order to get the scientifically proven health benefits of laughter, we need to laugh continuously for at least for 10 to 15 minutes. The laughter has to be loud and deep, coming from the diaphragm. It should be a belly laugh. This type of laughter is possible, only when you can laugh without any reason. So, the point to remember is not to search for a reason to laugh, rather laugh just for the sake of laughing. Our brain doesn’t distinguish between real laughter and fake laughter and therefore the effects are the same. Therefore, never wait for someone to tell a joke, or do something silly to initiate laughter. Just laugh for no reason and soon you would see that you are becoming more healthy and happy.

Another good thing about laughter is that, it is contagious. So the moment we start laughing everyone around us will start to laugh too. This will create a higher vibration of laughter benefitting everyone involved.

May be you should consider having a sign board at your desk or at your bed head, which says “Did you LAUGH today?”.  This can ensure you have had your daily dose of laughter.

So, this new year, resolve to laugh more often and live a happier life than ever.

Happy Reading,

D. Senthil Kannan

Article date January 2017

ZERO IS HERO

Dear Readers,

“Zero is Hero” may sound like a contradictory phrase, as we always have the highest regard for a hero, whereas we have the lowest regard for a Zero. But I look at Zero as a real Hero, when it comes to the success of any mission. Let me try to explain my viewpoint.

We all know the number Zero is considered as one of the important inventions. Without the invention of the number zero, mathematics wouldn’t have evolved so far. Not so many mathematical theories and calculations would have been possible. Even in computers, the software programme is coded in binary language which is a combination of 0s and 1s. So Zero, is a significant digit, in spite of the fact that it does not have a value on its own.

While we all agree that zero has no value, we also know that the digit zero added to any number increases its value manifold. For instance, the No: 1 has very minimal value, of its own, but when we add zero to it, it becomes 10. When you add one more zero it becomes 100 and one more zero it becomes 1000. So, unless the Number One is supported by many Zeros its value doesn’t increase exponentially.

Same is the case with any organisation. Every organisation exists to fulfil a purpose, and the purpose can be achieved only by its people. Now let us assume that the purpose is No: 1 and the people who work for the purpose are No: 0. The purpose by itself finds little value, unless it is supported by people. Now, when we add the No: 0 to the purpose, its value increases. When we add more people to the purpose, it increases even further.

Let me illustrate, with an example. Gandhi was an ordinary man, but he grew up to so much of significance because he aligned himself to a purpose - the purpose of getting freedom for his countrymen. In the process, there were so many other people who supported him and laid their lives for the cause. There were so many martyrs of freedom, whose name are not popular. They lost their lives but in the process attained freedom for the country. To them, the purpose was more important than fame, family or even their life. According to me, these insignificant people, who lost their lives for the cause they believed in, are the real heroes. Such types of leaders are truly exemplary.

 When the purpose is bigger than the person, the person may not be significant but without the person the purpose cannot be achieved.

Also Zero implies an egoless state. An egoless state is what it takes to be a great leader. When it comes to an organisational vision or mission, the person should subdue his ego to the cause, so that the purpose of the organisation is achieved. When it comes to an argument between two people, the deciding criteria shouldn’t be “who is right?” but “what is right?” When people of a team, work with such a mindset, then the purpose becomes more easily achievable. A beautiful quote by Ralph Waldo Emerson, goes like this: “There is no limit to what can be accomplished if it doesn't matter who gets the credit.”

This is not the case today, in many social organisations,  that are meant to function to serve a purpose. They have lost its focus on the purpose as the leaders are too concerned about developing their personal identity rather than subordinate themselves to the purpose. Such types of organisations don’t serve the purpose, nor grow in value. They soon find a dooms day, with too many leaders and no followers. Without the Zeros, there is no big accomplishment.

So, let us learn to respect the “Zeroes as Heroes”

Happy Reading

D. Senthil Kannan

Article date December 2016

BE RIGHT, KINDLY

Dear Readers,

I often come across this phrase, “It is better to be kind, than to be right”. Though on a human relationship aspect this sounds correct, I have somehow not been able to come to terms with it. Does it mean, that no matter how wrong or stupid, someone behaves we don’t have the right to correct then and just remain kind?

Nowadays, the whole idea of what is wrong and what is right, has become debatable. People jump in to say, “What may be wrong for you, is right for someone else and vice versa. It is just a matter of perception or value system.” Well, all this perception stuff is fine, but still we know there are times, people are doing thing that is going to hurt them in the long run. In such a situation, is it not wise to step in and offer counsel, instead of just sitting back, in the name of being kind.? Ofcourse, inspite of all the advice if the person is still going on the wrong track, nothing can be done and he has to face the consequences of his decisions. But that should not stop us from intervening and suggesting corrective measures, especially when it is our spouse, child, parent, sibling or friend.

So, how do we give corrective feedback to someone without straining the relationship?  No one likes to hear unsolicited advice, and specially giving a corrective feedback can cause bitterness in a relationship and make the person distance himself from us.  So, how do we do it?

I listened to a youtube video by Swamiji Gaur Gopal Das, through which he shared a 4 question mechanism, of doing it in a way that we give corrective feedback to the person, without sounding offensive. So here are the 4 questions, to ask before giving a corrective feedback. Let us explore it, one by one

1. Am I the right person?:  So, how do we know, if we are the right person. We are the right person if the individual is a relative or friend. We would also be the right person, if we are an authority in that field.

2. Do I have the right motive? The motive behind trying to correct someone should be an authentic effort, which will genuinely benefit the individual and not just to satisfy our ego or to find fault on someone.

3. Do I know the right way? Many a time, the intention is good, but the way it is communicated can sound so harsh or abusive, that the person immediately tends to switch off from listening to you. So, we need to mind the tone of our voice. The issue may not be so big to flare it up so loud. What is spoken gently is often listened better than what is shouted upon. So, it is not about expressing our emotion, but explaining our intention.

4. Is it the right time?  It is human nature that we are generally spontaneous in our criticism, but slow in appreciation. It should be the other way round. When you are going to communicate something unpleasant, we need to choose the right time, which is definitely not immediately after the flaw took place, but when we are cool and the other person is cool too. This will help us to express the issue better and for the other person to take it with a better attitude.

Following this 4 question approach, I guess we can be right and kind, to a person at the same time. Give it a try, the next time you are faced with such a situation.

Happy Reading

D. Senthil Kannan

Article date November 2016