Chapter 6 - Social Partnerships
Make Business Sense
Day 14
We need to give people a vision. Those who have a vision or a dream can go ahead and develop society. The health of a society today seems to be determined by the number of beds and cells available in hospitals and prisons.
The prisons are filled and overflowing in many of the developed countries prison occupancy today stands at 160%. They have to build new prisons in the so-called 'developed' countries.
This does not denote a healthy society. A society where a significant percentage of the student population is jailed at least once, where one in five children consults a psychiatrist, is not a developed society.
So, the health of a society depends on the smooth functioning and availability of space in hospitals and prisons. We do not need to build more hospitals or prisons.
We need to teach people how to be healthy. Charity does not seem to be a part of the language of today. We have to build the self-esteem of people.
Of course, we need to help them financially, but at the same time we have to make them aware of what they can do. We have to give them a vision. People who have a vision or a dream can go ahead and develop society.
A person becomes motivated to do something either to fulfill a need or to realise a dream. However, we lack both. We are giving our people neither a vision nor a dream about our society, our world.
To give an example of how need motivates people to be pro-active, let us recall the earthquake in Gujarat a time when everyone pitched in to help those affected.
People gathered within 2 hours and prepared 2000meals and shelters. That was to meet the urgency, the need of the hour. So, a calamitous situation, and the dire need it creates, makes people come forward and take initiative.
Alternately, they should have a dream, a strong vision about their country, their state or their village. When both these things are lacking, we will have a lukewarm, slow, under developed economy.
People in business have a dual role to play in society, like the Sun drawing water from the earth and giving it back in the form of rain. We are dependent on society and society in turn expects something from us.
We need to think what about we can do for society. About what kind of society we want to leave behind for our children - one which is more beautiful than the one we inherited, or one which is more terror stricken and fearsome, where there is a depletion of natural resources?
These thoughts, this attitude of
responsibility has to be ingrained in us and this can happen through education. Rural India does not lack resources, it's just that they are misplaced.
A white-collared employee earns less than a labourer does, in a village. But the labourer spends 60% of his income on liquor. Drug
abuse and alcoholism are two key factors that drive poverty in our country.
We need to address these issues. A third factor is violence - domestic violence and violence caused by stress, lack of understanding, and a narrow vision of life.
So much is lost when violence takes over one's life, one's mind. Success in any business is measured by the smile we have on our faces. The higher we go, the grimmer and stiffer we become.
Most of our developments are hindered by this attitude of ours, this lack of communication. Improving communication, sensitivity towards the environment, a broader understanding about inter-dependence and a long term vision are the basic building blocks for sustainable development.
Without these, our society would be like a stool without legs. The media has an important role to play in our society. Unfortunately, we have a blame culture in this country.
And we waste so much energy and time in playing this blame game. Whenever something goes wrong, we rush to point fingers at others. Of course, when there was disaster in
Gujarat, the media was at a loss.
They didn't know whom to blame. They couldn't blame the Government and they couldn't blame God because they don't believe in Him. Our failure to take responsibility does not lead us anywhere.
We cannot progress in society if we continue this way. We need to know that. Our main responsibility is to get people to be responsible, starting with taking responsibility for oneself and that is what yoga is all about.
Yoga means taking responsibility for your feelings, for your health, for the way things are in your life, and thereon, for the whole world. And I think this one principle can help nurture and sustain society in the long run.
