“All that is mutable in human beings (chitta) is harmonized through the cultivation of love (maitri), helpfulness (karuna), conviviality (mudita) and imperturbability (upeksha) in situations that are happy, painful, successful or unfortunate” ~
Sentence 33, Samadhi Pada, Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras.
A true manager, to be complete has to develop qualities of leadership and espouse a bigger sense of purpose and achieve a sense of fulfillment. A manager cannot work in isolation.
Maitri: An expression of love/kinship with fellow human beings. Ability to share. A challenge posed is can the young managers share their communication / language skills with those who need it and cannot afford it? Can they run evening classes for tutoring kinds from a local school? Can they engage in supporting an angawadi next-door? Can they volunteer and support Teach India?
The learning is tremendous- managing time, managing constraints, creativity, team-work, working outside your comfort zone and citizenship. This is the sharing role.
Karuna: An expression of helpfulness/ empathy/care/concern/compassion. We forget small acts of kindness. We also want to change the world. We can begin by making a difference to at least one person. Can we help the environment? Can the students execute projects/events/out-of-box ideas which will encourage others to give and for them to also raise funds/resources to make a difference? For example, can they consider a mini-project in lines of Akshaya Patra? Can they facilitate resources in the city night shelters? This is the caring role.
Is the learning any different? Yes, it will make them appreciate not to take things for granted and also be in a state of thankfulness. It will also sensitize them to society’s problems and how little it needs to really mitigate many of them.
Mudita: An expression of conviviality through giving. What can I do to make some-one’s life better? How can I use my hands to help my fellow humans? Does sweat equity help? Can I look at creatively giving my time, energy and resources? For example, can I donate blood once in six months / can I go begging for newspapers door-to-door, collect and sell them, use the proceeds to buy eco-friendly paints and brushes and go brighten up a children’s ward or orphanage? Or even install a UPS for a tribal school. Work with a Rotary initiative to deliver a service? The philosophy here is to get your hands dirty. This is the giving role
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The learning outcomes are wonderful. You become a grounded individual. You put back your equity into society. You are truly a stakeholder now.
Do you feel that these three concepts overlap? Yes they do. Is the focus different? You bet, they are. Aren't the exercises the same? On paper maybe, in real-time the focus, execution and outcomes will vary.
At the end if it all does it really matter if there is a spillover or crossover amongst the three? Not really. It is for the bigger cause.
Mahatma Gandhi stated that “The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.”