Author: S Ramesh Shankar

Born in Trichy, Tamil Nadu, India, I have been brought up in different parts of India. Graduate in chemistry and post graduate in personnel management and industrial relations. Have been a HR practitioner for 38 years in the industry and have experience in working in steel , automobiles, FMCG and engineering industry. Was head of HR for Siemens in South Asia based out of Mumbai till March 2019. Currently founded hrishti - joy forever, a social enterprise to give back to society and work as Chief Joy Officer.

Serving elders outsourced

Everything in life cannot be outsourced. While we live in a world today, where people think everything can be outsourced, it may not be necessarily true. A mother cannot outsource loving her child. While it may be scientifically possible to have surrogate mothers to deliver your child but the love between a mother and child cannot be delegated.

Today’s generation is truly a world workforce and they are willing to cross oceans to pursue their careers or interests. This is indeed a great development and good for the world order. In the past, people were scared of moving beyond their home town and then their state or country. But, now the world is the market place for people to thrive in whatever they are passionate about.

While this is a positive development, there is an increasing mindset to believe that anything and everything in this world can be bought for money. This may not be true and indeed there are many soft aspects of life which cannot be outsourced or bought with money.

One cannot buy health or happiness anywhere in the world. You may be the richest person in the world but if you fall sick, the best of doctors can do their best but ultimately there is a divine force who determines your destiny.

Similarly, you could buy everything in the world with money but you cannot buy love or care. A mother cannot outsource loving her children. Nor children can outsource taking care of their parents.

With increasing materialisation of the world, people have started believing that everything can be outsourced or bought with money. This is not true. When you are sick and lying on a hospital bed in any part of the world, you think of your family and friends and pray they were with you at that time of distress.

Parents today are generally financially independent. They can take care of their physical needs with their savings. There are care givers to take of their health. However, they cannot buy happiness or insource their joy with their grandkids.

Similarly, children may think that they are financially supporting their parents and taking care of them. Buying a house, car or insurance is not loving your parents. Imagine the hours parents spent with you as kids answering your stupid questions with all patience you need. Today, they are looking to sit and talk to you. They are not happy with video calls or yearly visits to enquire about their wellness.

The Indian culture has taught us that we need to treat “Mother as God, “Father as God”, “Teacher as God” and “Guest as God”. But , we seem to imagine that “Money is God” and it can take care of everything in life. While money can buy material things in life, it cannot cure us of all physical and mental illnesses. It cannot provide us happiness. It cannot give us love when we are desperately in need of it.

We need to realise that everything in life cannot be outsourced or bought. We cannot buy our parents nor outsource loving and caring for them. We can buy the best house, the latest car or even take them to the most exotic destinations with money but that may not necessarily make them happy as they are not looking for those in old age.

The elders look for love and care. They want someone to sit and listen to them. They want their children to be with them and visit them often. They want to play with their grand children. If this realisation does not dawn on us today, it may some day but then it may be too late. After all, everyone has an expiry date and after that, it may be of no use to regret since we can never rewind life.

Let us learn this basic tenet of life. Loving and caring is human and can never be outsourced. Neither Artificial intelligence nor any technology of the world in the future can take over these responsibilities from human kind. We also need to realise that life is a full circle and there will be a tomorrow when our own children will do the same to us.

Let us learn to love and care for those who have made us what we are today before it is too late.

S Ramesh Shankar

18th May 2023

 

Done for the day

 

We have a long and tiring day and we imagine that we are done for the day. It could happen to us at work or at home. A big “to do list” and when most of the items are ticked , we think we are done for the day.

It may not be really so. We may have forgotten some important tasks or sometimes may have postponed some tough ones ,since its always easier to tick off the easier ones ,in our list.

Life is no different. We may achieved a goal and we think ,we have arrived. It may be just the beginning of our journey ,to our next and more challenging goal.

Imagine a sportsperson winning a gold medal in a championship and hanging her boots. Does she do that ? Never. On the other hand, her practise for the next tournament begins ,even before the sweat in her racquets dry up.

One way of looking at life ,is to take small baby steps towards a larger goal. As long as our focus remains ,on the larger goal, it is fine to celebrate the small achievements, along our way. Similarly, if we plan big things on a day and succeed even in planning for the same, it may be worthwhile to rejoice.

The challenge is ,when we start celebrating even before we take the first steps, towards our goal. Like the famous words of Robert Frost – “There are miles to go before I sleep”, we need to keep resetting our goals in life ,as we progress. This way, life is not only fun ,but a wonderful journey, wherein we can celebrate the journey ,as much as the destination.

It is perfectly fine, to celebrate the small successes in life ,as this not only makes us feel good but also pumps more adrenalin in our blood ,to achieve the larger goals, later.

Another way to look at life ,is to strike the right balance between work and life. We sometimes tend to extend the line of work much beyond the working hours. It is ok to do that once in a way when there is an emergency or a difficult deadline to achieve. But, if we make it a habit, then we are more to lose ,than gain in life.

Balancing work and life is our personal and sole responsibility. This can neither be delegated upwards nor sidewards or downwards. At home, we cannot blame our parents, spouse, siblings or children for the same. Similarly, at work, we cannot blame our bosses, peers or team members for our plight.

Life is journey, wherein we need to learn to travel ,at our own pace and choose our destinations, along with way. We may sometimes reach them and at other times, may not. But, the journey continues and we cannot halt at a stop, to believe we have arrived in life.

Excellence in life is a journey, where there could be commas but never a full stop. We could even have semi-colons or colons to celebrate our achievement along the way ,but if we believe our journey is over, then we may be done.

Let us enjoy the journey of life all along the way.

S Ramesh Shankar

5th May 2023

 

Fitness vis-a-vis health

It is fashionable today to hit the gym everyday and make a statement about it. Some people take up fasting as a hobby and a fad just to show others and post it on the social media. These people may believe that hitting the gym or intermittent fasting may help them become fitter than everyone else around them.

I do agree that hitting the gym or fasting may lead to a fitter body but may not necessarily keep you healthy. Good health is a combination of fitness, a balanced diet and mental happiness. A healthy mind leads to a healthy body and the balance between the two keep you happy in life.

No wonder we read about people who maintain a six pack or eight pack body ending up in an ICU with a heart attack ,since they think physical fitness alone may make them healthy. They do not realise that anything done to the extreme could be more harmful to the body, mind and soul. Neither jogging 20 kms a day nor fasting every day would keep you healthy ,although it may make you believe that you are physically fit.

We need to realise that physical fitness alone is not healthy. The day we realise that “Health” is a combination of body, mind and soul, our approach to life will change.

I fully endorse physical activity every day and it is good for our fitness and health. I personally walk for an hour ,do yoga and play badminton everyday. You could also indulge in any physical activity you enjoy everyday ,to keep yourself fit.

But physical activity alone is not good enough. This has to be supplemented by a balanced diet of vegetables, fruits, water, proteins and vitamins in natural forms. This has to be further complemented by mindfulness – a state of mental solace. Health is always a synchronisation of body, mind and soul.

The day we realise this basic tenet of life, we may become healthy. Physical fitness alone cannot necessarily keep you mentally agile and happy in life. Health is a combination of physical fitness, mental soundness and emotional balance in life.

We should not get carried away by advertising models for health and fitness products, which display a fit body but do not necessarily guarantee you ,good health and happiness in life. We can evolve our own daily physical exercise, which we enjoy and can sustain. This can be supplemented by a balanced diet and a happy environ around us ,at work and at home.

When we hear stories of a young CEO of a multinational firm collapsing in a gym or a film celebrity ending in an ICU, who otherwise cared for his physical fitness, we may be taken aback. It is important to realise that physical fitness alone cannot keep us healthy. We need to balance physical exercise with good diet and a happy mind.

I do subscribe to a daily regimen of exercise ,of our choice. This could be supplemented by a well balanced diet of natural source of vitamins, proteins etc through vegetables and fruits. This also needs to be supported by a happy state of mind and soul.

Let us redefine “good health” as the synchronisation of body, mind and a happy soul.

S Ramesh Shankar

7th May 2023