Also,
one cannot help but wince at the mangling that comes with the
management. In one very popular leadership book, the David and
Goliath story (extracted from the Bible) goes like this: There
was a giant who was harassing the children in the village. One
day a 17-year old shepherd boy asked, "Why don't you stand up
and fight the giant?" The terrified people replied, "Don't you
see he is too big to hit?" But David said, "No, he is not too
big to hit, he is too big to miss." The management mantra of
'different perception' is drawn from this mangled version. Goliath
was a Philistine warrior (not some village bully), chosen to
fight any one soldier from the Israelite army to decide the
outcome of a battle which would otherwise be an exercise in
wonton bloodshed. Besides, more than being big, Goliath was
clad in body armor, which is why the most memorable part of
the story is: David killed Goliath (with a slingshot) by hitting
him on his forehead - the tiniest most exposed portion of his
body. So how does one make sense of the 'too big to miss' bit?
The
point is: these repackaging, stripped clean of its core value
education in the first place and given an only-for-profit color
and that invariably percolates to the classrooms, is a shabby
and dangerous trend. Removing the spiritual color of the original
also has the unfortunate effect of removing the sheet-anchor
of value education in these teachings thereby rendering it redundant.
Indeed, like a rose plucked from its thorny bush, value education
when separated from deep-rooted spirituality (never mind that
we no longer subscribe to the latter), eventually withers and
dies.
Earlier
generations had the privilege of learning from the original
spiritual sources that invariably laid a firm foundation of
solid values upon which were built their loftier and admittedly,
the not-so-much-in-demand spiritual imports. The all-purpose
foundation however was worth its weight in gold for it served
multifarious ordinary pursuits as well. Beginning from instilling
the ethics of capitalism, and rendering harmless the fiery passion
or craving that fuel capitalism, to respectable 'interest' and
'rational' pursuits, it uncomplainingly served to instilled
a host of 'good' qualities such as a sense of discipline, conformity,
trust etc., that are just as urgently required to pursue even
outright godless endeavors.
The
results of this ill advised 'de-spiritualizing' are already
visible. The face of leadership has decidedly changed. Earlier,
the leaders were righteous and responsible men, bent on doing
good for the people at large. Today's leaders are business managers
and politicians wholly occupied in profiteering, which often
involves finding people's buy buttons and gleefully stepping
on them. Morality has been reduced to polite behavior- to vapid
'pleases' and 'thank you', the ability to discriminate right
from wrong, rewired to gauge the more profitable deal. Exploring
the 'bad' within us has become fashionable and 'letting our
hair down' and 'living life king size' has become the religion.
'Good' is looked upon with open derision and the ordinarily
upright too dragged down to licentious depths.
This
breakdown in morality has alarmed educators the world over and
prompted them to explore ways and means to address this issue.
And, not surprisingly these introspections have recommendations
the reintroduction of philosophical introspection and spirituality
back into the system. The
Dhira-Leadership through Perfect KnowledgeT is a valiant effort
in this direction. It is a one of a kind leadership program
designed with school going children in mind. It is based on
the nonsectarian and internationally accepted philosophical
base of the Bhagavad-Gita. Program in essence, teaches children
the true goal of life, to live harmoniously with nature, encourages
them to get in touch with their inner self. It will, it is hoped,
help develop future enlightened leaders and citizens who can
discriminate right from wrong, work for the greater good of
society.
