Business Sutra: A Very Indian Approach to Management (35 page)

The loss of possessions reveals who we really are

Do kingdoms make us kings? Or can we be kings even without kingdoms? Is our value dependent on what we possess? These are questions raised in the Ramayan and Mahabharat. In both epics the protagonists have to deal with the loss of fortune and exile. It is the manner in which Ram deals with it and the Pandavs deal with it that reveals everything.

The loss of his kingdom does not affect Ram. He is king with or without the kingdom. Aranya-Ram (Ram of the forest) and Ayodhya-Ram (Ram of the city) have the same mental image. His mental body is powered by Shakti from within and does not need an external Durga to validate his social body. Contrarily, the loss of their kingdom shatters the Pandavs. They panic. They feel like victims. Their mental image takes a beating as their social body is battered. They feel deprived, denied and cheated because their mental image depends on the kingdom.

In Ram, Narayan is completely awake and so he does not need Ayodhya to make him feel secure. When his wife, Sita, is abducted he is determined to rescue her, finding resources along the way. He has no army with him, yet he creates an army in the jungle, transforming a troop of monkeys into fierce warriors who do the unimaginable: build a bridge across the sea, tear down the citadel of Lanka, and defeat an army of fierce rakshasas.

The same is not the case with the Pandavs. They need Indraprastha to make them feel validated. Krishna helps them outgrow their dependence on Narayani and start discovering the Narayan within.

Often, a job has more to do with securing our social body, hence our mental image, than about the task at hand. And so, the loss of a job leads to the loss of self-worth and self-esteem. It is through things we get Durga, but like Ram we have to invoke the Shakti within us so that the vicissitudes of fortune and misfortune do not shake our faith in ourselves, and the world around us.

As the vice president (VP) of marketing, Birendra is highly regarded by his boss. He is a very good teacher, spending time explaining the principles of marketing to his team. Everyone sees him as generous and a gentleman. Until the merger takes place and the company is bought by a much larger firm. In the new organizational design, Birendra is no longer VP of marketing but made VP of market research and analytics instead. Birendra feels this is a step down. He sulks and becomes miserable. He refuses to talk to his former colleagues. He is angry and bitter unlike his former generous and gentle self. The loss of Narayani reveals the true Narayan within him. Birendra is no Vishnu; he is Indra, happy as long as things go his way, unable to take adversity in his stride.

Like things, talent and loyalty can also make us feel secure

A dog is very good for our self-image. As a pet, it adores us unconditionally, wagging its tail when it gets attention, whining when it does not, possessively barking when someone threatens us or lays claim over us. The dog upholds our mental image of ourselves at all costs. The world may or may not appreciate us, but the dog always will. It is the symbol of loyalty, nourishing our mental image.

By contrast, the cow gives us milk. It does nothing for our self-image, giving milk to whosoever milks it. The cow does not wag its tail when we appreciate it or whine when we do not. If one feeds a cow well, takes care of it, the cow produces milk generously. The cow provides for our physical body.

A cow gives us Lakshmi while a dog gives us Durga. The tathastu of talent makes the yajaman rich. The tathastu of loyalty makes the yajaman feel secure. At work what do we seek: cows or dogs? Do we seek talent that will help us achieve our goals or loyalty that will make us feel secure? What if the goal is to be secure?

Often, wealth exists not to nourish us but to make us feel secure. The idea of having more money makes us feel powerful. In fact, money is used to mark our position in society. The car it buys, the house it affords enables us to rise higher in the social hierarchy. Wealth, thus, is also a source of allaying insecurities. Lakshmi can be a functional Durga.

However, while people can be loyal to us, money and talent can never owe allegiance to anyone. That is why we need to surround ourselves with loyal people who stand by us in tough times, providing us emotional support more than anything else. Only the extremely independent or impersonal can survive in a world without loyalty.

When Santosh retired from his post as commissioner, even the peon stopped standing up to salute him. All his 'friends' stopped calling him to their parties. He suddenly realized he was a nobody. He realized that everyone had a relationship with his position and power, not with him. They cared not for him but for what he could do for them. He suddenly became aware of his hunger for loyalty and friendship. Life is, after all, not just about money and power.

A transaction is about things, not thoughts

In the Mahabharat, Karna is a talented archer who is raised in a family of charioteers. He is identified as a charioteer's son and not as an archer. In the social hierarchy, the archer has a higher status than a charioteer. In other words, he has Shakti but not Durga.

Karna longs for social status and gets it from Duryodhan, the eldest of the Kauravs, who makes him king of Anga. In exchange, Durydohan seeks Karna's talent as an archer. He hopes to use Karna's archery skills against his arch enemies, the Pandavs some day. Duryodhan is insecure about the Pandavs. Karna makes him feel secure. But is it Karna's talent that makes him secure or his loyalty?

Later in the epic, Karna learns that the Pandavs are actually his younger brothers. He is the first child of their mother, Kunti, born before marriage hence abandoned at birth. He is encouraged to join the Pandavs in their fight against the Kauravs. He refuses to change sides out of loyalty to Duryodhan, but promises his mother that he will spare all her children, except Arjun, who is also an ace archer and his greatest rival.

Duryodhan gives Karna social status as svaha, and in exchange expects his talent as an archer to kill the Pandavs. In return, Karna gives him his loyalty. In trying to be loyal to both Duryodhan and his mother, Karna ends up sparing the Pandavs and failing his benefactor.

In the friendship of Karna and Duryodhan, Narayani is being exchanged but Narayan is not invoked. Both remain insecure and needy. Neither grows in wisdom.

Rudraprakash was unhappy. He had two managers handling two of his health clubs. Mehul had worked with him for years and was loyal. Amitabh was a brilliant manager, who did what he was told, but was clearly transactional. Mehul did not deliver results but could be relied on to stay on through bad times. Amitabh delivered results but would leave when things got rough. Each one is insecure in their own way. Mehul's insecurity makes him cling to Rudraprakash. Amitabh's insecurity makes him strive to be emotionally detached from Rudraprakash. Neither is trying to change, or outgrow their fear. They rely more on Narayani that comes from the outside than Narayan that comes from inside.

A relationship is about thoughts, not things

In the Ramayan, when Ram and Lakshman encounter Hanuman for the first time, Lakshman suspects he is a demon, until Hanuman speaks in Sanskrit, the language of the educated elite.

Later, when Ram learns how Hanuman serves Sugriv who has been kicked out of his kingdom by his elder brother Vali, Ram offers to help. But Sugriv is not sure if Ram is capable. Ram demonstrates his skill by shooting an arrow through seven palm trees and his strength by kicking the carcass of a dead buffalo so hard that it flies and lands in the court of Vali.

Lakshman and Sugriv need tangible proof of extraordinariness. They focus on the resources that the other possesses. Ram and Hanuman recognize each other's worth even before proof is provided. They focus on the Narayan potential within each of them.

When two people meet, there are four things on the table: you and yours, me and mine. When yours is exchanged for mine, it is a transaction. When who-I-am impacts who-you-are, it is a relationship. Sugriv and Ram have a transaction: Ram helps Sugriv become king while Sugriv helps Ram find his wife. Hanuman and Ram have a relationship: neither expects anything from the other yet both help each other. Hanuman helps Ram find Sita and, in doing so, discovers his full potential. He transforms from being a vanar, a mere monkey, to a deity in his own right.

Manish tells his wife, Gitika, to wear a new diamond necklace to the wedding and not the one she has worn earlier. "People will notice and I do not want people to think that my business is not doing well." Gitika feels like a billboard. In the circles she and her husband move in, what matters is what clothes you wear, what car you drive and where you go on holiday. Everything is constantly measured and keeping up appearances creates huge stress. But she enjoys spending time with Rafiq and Reshma who are her friends from college. They still met in the same canteen where they hung out, never bothering with each one's professional successes or failures. As Rafiq often tells Manish, "I want to spend time with you, not your car or your cash."