MONDAY MUSINGS SEASON 2 - EPISODE 245

Sacrificing Comfort Zone

22nd January 2024

Lots of excitement in the air about the upcoming ‘Ayodhya Ram temple consecration’ on 22nd Jan 2024. I would like to focus my attention to the teachings of maryadhapurush Lord Ram in this episode and few upcoming episodes of Monday Musings as my contribution to this historic event. That would be the best reverence to Shri Ram. As I mentioned in many earlier Monday Musings episodes, Valmiki Ramayan is the best management treatise I have ever read. Might be surprising but not exaggeration. There are valuable life lessons in every kanda of Valmiki Ramayan.

Unfortunately, I already covered enough from Valmiki Ramayan in the previous episodes of Monday Musings that it was difficult to find a new one. I finally found out that Bala Kanda was not covered so far and there are many learnings in Bala Kanda as well,

Viswamitra’s Pertinent Advice

When Rama was less than sixteen years old, Sage Vishwamitra stormed into King Dasharath’s court to ask for the boy Rama to be sent with him to fight the demons Mareecha and Subaahu who were determined to disturb Vishwamitra’s tapas by drenching the Altar of Fire with streams of meat and blood. Vishwamitra gave confidence to Dasharath about Ram’s capabilities to fight the demons and the power of guidance by himself. Dashrath was not convinced, like any other father of a 12-year-old affectionate child. Dashrath argued with Viswamitra that Ram is too young and innocent to fight the demons and offered himself and his armies to Viswamitra instead of Ram. Viswamithra was not impressed with Dashrath’s offer.  Enraged Sage Viswamitra gave the following pertinent advice to Dashrath which is a solemn advice to parents even now.

"You cannot count on the physical proximity of someone you love all the time. A seed that sprouts at the foot of its parent tree remains stunted until it is transplanted. Rama will be in my care, and he will be quite well. But ultimately, he will leave me too. Every human being, when the time comes, has to depart to seek his fulfilment in his own way."   Sage Vishwamitra to King Dasharath

To seek fulfilment, everyone must sacrifice their comfort zones. One cannot grow when constrained by bindings and or used to comfort zones. 

Five Qualities of a Student

Exam pressure is about to start for the students. My favourite Sanskrit sloka for all the students would be (Sorry a repeat)

काक चेष्टा, बको ध्यानं,

स्वान निद्रा तथैव च ।

अल्पहारी, गृहत्यागी,

विद्यार्थी पंच लक्षणं ॥

Five qualities of a good student for success are Enthusiastic efforts as that of a crow, Focus on the work as that of a crane, Alertness as that of a dog (which can be watchful even when it is sleeping), Eating less than full stomach and Ready to move out of the comfort zone.

Giving Motivation

शक्तो ह्येष मया गुप्तो दिव्येन स्वेन तेजसा || १-१९-९

राक्षसा ये विकर्तारस्तेषामपि विनाशने | Valmiki Ramayan 1-19-9

Indeed, he is capable to eradicate those demons that are thwarting the ritual by his own divine resplendence, and protected by me as well

Going with sage Viswamitra to fight the demons turned out to be the first opportunity for Ram and Lakshman to show their mettle and they proved their mettle as predicted by Viswamitra. Thus, Viswamitra became an important teacher for Ram & Lakshman. Ram & Lakshman fought the demons on their own mettle, but the guidance given by Viswamitra cannot be discounted.

Viswamitra was aware that it was an onerous task for him to convince Dashrath about Ram’s capabilities to fight the demons. Even young Ram had to be motivated. Viswamitra used an apt technique to convince Dashrath as well as Ram. He extolled the valour of Ram only to augment the confidence with the conviction about his mentorship skills. This is an excellent leadership trait. A leader must first emphasize the individual’s capabilities before harping on his/her own mentorship skill but it is important not to forget to assure the individual about his/her mentorship comfort.

More lessons from Ramayana in the next episode

GOOD NEWS COLUMN

When Seema Misra was sentenced to 15 months in prison for theft and false accounting at her post office, she collapsed in court. When she opened her eyes, she was in a hospital with sharp pains in her stomach. She was then taken to Europe’s largest female prison, in Ashford, Surrey, where she was placed on suicide watch.

Until the Misras, Seema and her husband Davinder, bought a post office in West Byfleet, Surrey, in 2005, their life was happy. But from the very first day, while she was still being trained to use the Post Office’s Horizon accounting software, she could not get it to balance the books. The system showed a shortfall of around £80, which her trainer shrugged off. 

Over the coming months the shortfalls only grew. Misra was visited by Post Office auditors who found a £4,000 discrepancy and deducted the money from her salary. In early 2008, an audit found a £75,000 shortfall and Misra was suspended and charged.

Press reports branded Misra a “pregnant thief” and Davinder was attacked by thugs who shouted racist insults at him, accusing the couple of coming to the UK “to steal old people’s money”. After four months, Misra was released for good behaviour with an electronic tag, which she had to wear even while she gave birth.

Ostracised by friends and unable to find work, Misra never lost her determination to prove her innocence. “I’m a very strong believer in God and in positive thinking, so I knew we would get justice in the end.”

“I strongly believe in positive thinking; I knew we would get justice in the end” Seema Misra

While his wife was in prison, Davinder tweeted the then-BBC Radio Surrey journalist Nick Wallis, hoping to drum up customers for his taxi business. Wallis flippantly offered to use the service if Davinder had any good story. He replied that he did – and so began a lengthy journalistic investigation, in which Wallis would bring to national attention the vast scale of Post Office prosecutions of its own staff since the Horizon software was rolled out. In 2019, Misra was one of 557 claimants to whom the Post Office agreed to pay nearly £58m in compensation after losing a landmark civil litigation case. In 2021, she was overjoyed when her conviction was finally overturned by the court of appeal and the government announced interim compensation of £100,000 to all wrongfully convicted sub postmasters.

 “Even when I was going through such hardship, just looking at my family’s faces in the morning has always given me such pleasure and I feel truly, truly blessed,” Misra said.  “I think everything happens for a reason. Maybe God wanted some strong kids to come out of this.” Misra smiled.

Life’s challenges can be immense, but we can learn from them too. Take a look at how people have adapted and grown from such challenges, and how their experience can inspire others.  -  Based on report in www.positive.news.   

__________________________________________________________________________________  Conceived, compiled and posted by Jaganathan T (www.authorjaganathan.com) as a newsletter MONDAY MUSINGS in LinkedIn