MONDAY MUSINGS SEASON 2 - EPISODE 261
Fourteen Leadership Flaws
6th May 2024
Fourteen defects a leader should avoid:
Atheism, falsehood, anger, carelessness, procrastination, disregard of the wise, laziness, gratification of five senses, autocratic decision making without consulting others, taking counsel with those of perverted insight, failure to undertake the initiatives already decided, failure to keep secrets, failure to do auspicious acts (at the beginning of an undertaking), and rising from one's seat (indiscriminately) to receive all – Valmiki Ramayan 2.100.65, 66 & 67
“Every morning you have two choices. Continue dreaming or wake up and chase those dreams.” – Carmelo Anthony
One must be conscious of and avoid these 14 flaws to chase the dreams. We discussed Atheism, falsehood, anger, carelessness & procrastination last week. The above list of 14 flaws is given by Valmiki. You might agree with most but not agree with the rest. Remember that this list has been taken from Valmiki Ramayan as given by Lord Ram to Barath which means the list includes those that are relevant at that time and for the recipient of the advice and hence some may not be applicable in modern context. The best part is that I find most of them to be relevant and applicable even now. Let us take whatever we feel relevant and leave whatever we feel not pertinent.
#Laziness – Laziness is closely associated with procrastination. One who is lazy will procrastinate for sure, but the converse need not be true always. Laziness is one cause for procrastinating but there are other causes also. Other causes for procrastination include Fear of failure / imperfection, Lack of time management, Spending considerable time on time wasters and Lack of determination. The causes could vary with each procrastinator. Identify your hurdles and address your hurdles with conscious efforts.
“It is important to remember that there are no overnight successes. You will need to be dedicated, single-minded, and there is no substitute for hard work.” – Mukesh Ambani
#SenseGratification
The next in the list is ‘Sense gratification’. What are the five senses? Five senses are form, sound, taste, aroma, and touch and the sense objects are eyes, ears, tongue, nose and skin. God has given us sense objects to perceive the senses and thus we have the right to enjoy the senses. We have a right to enjoy a good movie, a good song, good food, etc. The dharma is not against enjoying the senses which is associated with enjoying the life. Issue arises only when one gets bonded to the senses.
What is Sense gratification?
Gratification is the pleasurable emotional reaction of happiness in response to a fulfilment of a desire or goal. It is also identified as a response stemming from the fulfilment of social needs such as affiliation, socializing, social approval, and mutual recognition.
Yet another classical story, this time on how sense gratification spoiled a great king and brought in misery for his citizen. Fortunately, he understood his folly because of an incidental discovery and realization and the country is saved. Please listen to the story.
The king who became a rishi – #StoryOfRajaBhrathruhari
Bharthruhari was the king of Ujjain. One day, while out on a hunt, Bharthruhari happened to pass by a funeral pyre upon which a Brahmin’s widow had burnt herself live alongside her dead husband’s body.
On his return to the palace, he narrated the traumatic incident to his loving wife Sita, popularly known as Rani Sita. She observed that “virtuous women die with their husbands, killed by the fire of grief alone, and not by the flames of the pyre.”
Doubting the genuineness of her belief after an affectionate farewell, Bharthruhari rode into a distant village and sent back his royal robe torn and strained to his loving wife, implying some harm had befallen him.
Unfortunately, Sita Rani did not take the news well. Even before the messenger could convey that it was all a joke, the young queen was overcome by grief and perished on the spot. Widower Bharthruhari remained inconsolable for a long time out of guilty. After that tragic incident, Bharthruhari led a dull life and remained celibate for a long time. He channelized his energies towards the welfare of his people and the state. His reign, that point onwards, marked an era of significant economic as well as social progress. Lives of his subjects were beyond comfortable, while his enemies trembled in fear.
He had forbidden all pleasure for himself and was working in the palace harder. He dedicated his free time to learning Vedic philosophies of the Rishis.
His ministers began worrying that he would soon become a renunciate. Life, however, had something unexpected in the offing for Bharthruhari. To the relief of his ministers and relatives, he fell head over heels for a delightful maiden who also happened to be the princess of his neighbouring kingdom. But that relief was short-lived.
His excessive obsession with the queen changed the life of the successful and knowledgeable king and made the life of his happy citizen miserable. What happened? Please wait for a week to know how ‘sense gratification’ made the life of Bharthruhari as well as his citizen miserable. See you in the next episode of MONDAY MUSINGS to complete the interesting story.
This week’s positive news is about a differently abled railways officer Ajay K. Dixit. Ajay Dixit is an Indian Railways Personnel Service officer currently posted as Deputy Chief Personnel Officer at Bhopal. What is positive about it? Here it is:
Ajay is suffering from bilateral paraplagia in both the limbs, due to non-curable severe spinal injury and many other related problems affecting day to day life but you would not believe that he is facing these problems after knowing his achievements and his ever-positive attitude.
Ajay’s success story as an able government officer has not been a smooth climb. He was restricted to wheelchair due to an accident during his school days. He had to miss his school exams because of the treatment he had to undergo for the injuries. He took to private teaching and completed his board examinations.
He never limited himself to an ordinary job under differently abled quota. He kept trying for better things in life unmindful of his daily challenges due to his physical condition. He wrote and successfully cleared multiple competitive exams, starting with Madhya Pradesh state public service commission and ended up as a successful UPSC Class 1 officer in 2006.
He is currently posted as Deputy Chief Personnel Officer at Railways Workshop. He never takes privilege as a wheelchair bound officer. The author learnt from sources that he was considered and recognized as the best performing officer. He never allows his work to suffer because of his health issues. He never hesitates to take up field trips and attends all the meeting even if it amounts to crawling in buildings which are not friendly to differently abled staff.
It is interesting to know that he got his car remodelled so that he can drive using his hands thus limiting his dependence on others for his work.
Ajay Dixit is not ‘differently abled’ but ‘excellently enabled’ for his determination, positive attitude and mental toughness.
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