Clarity versus Confusion

Our life every day will transcend from clarity to confusion and the other way around. Today in most circumstances, the situation is grey rather than black and white. However, we find some people, who can deal with grey as easily as with black and white.

The question before us is – “ How to evolve clarity ,in a situation full of confusion ? As I said earlier, the world today ,is more grey than ,black and white. We cannot determine most things, which are beyond our control.

It is like the gloomy weather in the western world ,during winters. When the sun shines, it is a black and white situation. Even the shadows are crisply clear. However, when the sun does not come out and it is a gloomy weather, we have a choice to crib all day or enjoy the existing weather.

In life, we always have a choice and it is up to us to decide, what clarity or confusion means to us. Nobody else in the world, will define confusion or clarity for us. If a situation is confusion, it may be worthwhile to take a step back and ask if it is only for us ,or is it for the whole world including us.

Imagine someone getting confused, on the restrictions imposed by governments, during the pandemic. The pandemic was unpredictable and the restrictions were a necessary way ,to deal with the crisis. Governments around the world, were trying their best ,to deal with the situation ,based on their daily assessment and understanding.

On the other hand, we may go on a long drive ,since the weather predicted was bright and sunny. We may be clear in our mind, that the drive is going to be enjoyable ,as the weather is going to be favourable. However, after a few hundred kilometers, there is a thunderstorm and the weather turns horrific.

We have a choice to blame the weather and regret our decision, to go on a drive with our family or enjoy the sun and the rains ,with equal fervour. Either choice, is in our hands. In one of them, we may appear confused and in the other we may be clear ,that we want to enjoy either way.

Life is no different. Some days may be sunny and other days gloomy. It is up to us to make a choice and enjoy the day ,irrespective of the weather. The weather is not in our control but the choice we make, is in our hands.

In organisations, great leaders will always be clear ,in making a choice, however ambiguous ,the situation may be. They will not vacillate in reversing their decision or making a new choice ,as the situation demands. On the other hand, brittle leaders ,will blame the environment for their failures.

Even in families and communities, parents, teachers and community leaders ,will make choices and lead the the group forward rather than blaming the circumstances or environment for their failures.

Let us learn to make the right choices in life and enjoy every day as it is. We can remain confused in any situation or be clear and move forward. It is up to us to make the choice always.

Let us learn to make the right choices always.

S Ramesh Shankar

9th Feb 2024

 

Future of children

I am a born optimist. I always feel our future and the future of our children is bright. We live in an era, where technology is galloping ahead every day. Artificial intelligence is challenging human intelligence every day of our lives.

Let us start with education. The scope of education is limitless today. We have moved much beyond the classical education system. There are multi- disciplinary approaches in every step of the education system.

The schools have multiple approaches to educating a child. The use of technology in education, is enhancing the learning abilities of children. Education is cutting across boundaries of nations and universities. educations institutions are truly turning global, to learn and share their latest research and teaching methods.

If we move to the life of children within homes, it has also developed in a multi dimensional way. Today ,children have access to information and technology ,at their fingertips. They need not walk out of their home, to know the best school across the world ,for any field of education.

Similarly if we take the field of sports, the world is the playground for children. Kids have access ,to the best training and coaches ,across the world. They can learn and train from any part of the world and practise anywhere as per their choice.

If we move to arts, theatre and films, technology has shrunk the time taken to make movies. Today ,kids can learn to make videos and films even on mobile phone and many successful films, have been launched. Access to art museums across the world ,is at the click of a button.

The one area I may be a bit concerned ,is the area of social institutions. The concept of “marriage” and “family” as social institutions ,are breaking down and hence children may not have the social net around them ,to guide and support them in times of crises or need. However, I may be wrong in my assumption and may be other social institutions may take over this role of parents and siblings.

As parents and teachers we need to ensure that children do not become overtly competitive and ambitious, which treads on the sensitive line of human relationships between peers. It is best to compete with oneself rather than with others. We need to inculcate this human value continuously, in our children. This could also result in disappointment where parents and teachers can play a role ,to channelise their ambitions and goals ,in their areas of strength rather than weaknesses, so that they succeed.

The average intelligence of the child today , is multiple fold of the past generations. The learning ability and also the ability to adapt and change ,is also much better than ,what we had experienced in our childhood.

While technology will definitely take us to a brighter tomorrow, we need to guard and ensure ,that the basic human values are instilled on the child. These could be as simple as respect, gratitude, contentment and so on. These values need to instilled by schools and parents, with equal partnership.

We also need to evolve a social and political system in society, which embraces human values and promotes them. If we end up in a highly competitive world ,where human value diminishes, then that may not be the best future for our children.

I see a bright future for our children , and responsibility to create the future ,lies on us. We need to imbibe the best of technology and embed them, with the best of human values, for a happier world tomorrow.

Let us create a future for our children, which is better and happier than what we have today.

S Ramesh Shankar

5th Jan 2024

Learn from the past, Create your future

The new year eve ,is always an exciting time of the year, where we have an opportunity, to reflect on the past and create the future of our choice. All of us ,go through a lot of ups and downs ,during the course of the year. This happens in our personal as well as professional life.

The new year is a great opportunity to reflect on the past, learn from it and move on ,to create the future we want, for ourselves. It is like driving a car ,on the highway. While, we need to look ahead at the highway and drive safely, the rear view mirror, helps us to check for any hinderances ,on the sides or any traffic from behind, before we overtake or take a turn.

Life is no different. It is almost like driving your car on the highway. The new year gives us ,an immense opportunity ,to look at the rear view mirror and learn from our successes and failures ,of the past. While successes help us rejoice, the failures give us important lessons in life.

All good things in life ,make us happy and not so good things, make us sad. Life is always a mixture of, good and bad. We need to cherish the happy memories ,of the past year and forget the unpleasant ones. It may also help, if we learn to forgive people ,who hurt us during the last year and pray for their good ,in the new year.

We do realise that neither forgetting the past nor forgiving people who hurt us ,is easy in life. However, the best way ,is to learn lessons from the mistakes we did and resolve not to repeat them ,in the future. Forgiving may not be easy but it may help us to rise ,above the ordinary.

I have never believed in a long list of new year resolutions, at any time. This is because , the longer the list, the more likely we are going to break them. I always believed in making one resolve to myself and trying to live upto it. It could be as simple as a walk every single day in the new year.

I am a born optimist in life. I always believe, that the future will always be brighter than the past. But, just believing in it ,may not be good enough. We need to work ,to create the future ,through systematic planning and diligent execution.

We need to realise ,that we are the masters of our own destiny ,in life and work. We can neither blame our family or friends ,in life nor our colleagues at work ,for not achieving our dreams and aspirations.

It may be useful to remember ,that brooding over the past may not help us ,in creating our future. The lessons from the past ,may help us to prevent similar mistakes ,in life and work.

Today is the time to sit back, reflect and chart your future.

Wish you all ,the best of everything ,in the new year.

S Ramesh Shankar

31st Dec 2024