Business Sutra: A Very Indian Approach to Management (47 page)

Yes, in an ideal world, we should not encourage delusions. Everything should be factual. Ravan should be told that he is being mean and petty on his death bed. But this is not an ideal world and delusions enable us to cope with the harshness of reality. Fear makes us crave delusions. Delusions grant value. Without delusions there would be no want, no market for luxury goods, no need for brands, no room for advertising.

The attendant at the ticket counter was being very rude, but Manish said nothing. He kept smiling even though he wanted to shout back. He realized that the attendant had no other place to get Durga from and so was trying to be overly imperious. If he behaved deferentially, he would get his ticket changed quickly and not be subjected to a bout of unnecessary harassment. No, this was not right. He could complain to the station manager. But that would be a waste of time. He was not here to change the world. He just wanted to get his work done and move on. So he gave the attendant a good dose of Durga and got his Lakshmi in exchange. The attendant felt like Indra in Amravati: his job gave him more than his salary; it gave him the respect that he did not get at home or from his superiors.

The Other reveals our blindness

Karna's mother, Kunti, a princess, abandons him at birth. He is raised in a charioteer's family but he learns archery and becomes a warrior of great repute by his own merit. All the kings and warriors of the land taunt him about his lowly origins. But Duryodhan, the eldest Kaurav, makes him commander of his armies on the battlefield of Kurukshetra and even compels Shalya, king of Madra, to serve as charioteer. "You who have been called a charioteer's son all your life, shall ride into battle, bow in hand, with a king serving as your charioteer," says Duryodhan to Karna.

Blinded by his victimhood, overwhelmed by Kaurav generosity, Karna does not realize the folly of this decision. For Shalya is the uncle of the Pandavs, tricked by Duryodhan into serving the Kauravs. While Shalya is legally bound to serve Duryodhan, in spirit he favours his enemies. So as they ride into battle, Shalya keeps praising Arjun and demotivating Karna.

Then, when the chariot wheel gets stuck in the ground, Shalya says, "I am no charioteer. I am a king. I do not know how to pull out wheels stuck in the ground. Only charioteers like you know what to do." So Karna is forced to abandon his bow, get down from the chariot and pull the chariot wheel out. While Karna is thus unarmed and vulnerable, Krishna directs Arjun to take advantage of the situation and shoot Karna dead. As the arrow rips through his heart, Karna sees something that was always before him but he had never really seen: Krishna!

Born in a royal family, taunted for being raised by cowherds, Krishna was comfortable serving as a 'lowly' charioteer. Social status made no dent on his mental body. Karna finally realized what really matters in life is Narayan, not Narayani, what a person is, not what a person has.

Our imagination binds us and blinds us. We get trapped in brahmanda and do not see how limited our gaze us. It makes us heroic in our eyes, but villainous to others. Karna can be celebrated as a victim and a hero. Yet, Krishna has him killed. Not because he is a villain but because defeat is the final way to open his eyes and expand his gaze. This is 'uddhar', upliftment of thought.

When Mark came to India, he noticed that most of his friends had servants: someone to clean the house, a cook, a driver, and someone to even take the children to school. "This is so feudal," he commented. Sridhar did not take the remark kindly. "Why is it not feudal when you outsource work you do not want to do to India? Are we not the cleaning ladies of the developed world? Why is hiring a servant bad but encouraging the service-industry good? When I employ a servant I am creating employment in my country. But when you outsource, you are creating unemployment in yours." Mark merely chuckled at this defensive retort but wondered later if there was a measure of truth to what Sridhar had said.

Expansion

Growth happens when we make the journey from being dependent to being dependable. This happens when we focus on who we are rather than what we have: how much we can accommodate the Other, even if the Other does not accommodate us.

Growth happens when the mind expands

Humans are called manavas because they possess manas, a mind that can imagine, hence expand. A non-expanding limited mind is identified as Brahma. An infinitely expanded limitless mind is identified as the brahman. As Brahma makes the journey towards the brahman, the mind acquires four colours or varna:

• Shudra-varna: the obedient gaze of unconditional followership, like a dog who adores his master and is eager to please him, wagging his tail when acknowledged and whining when ignored. Shudra-varna is also associated with the eternally anxious deer, seeking a herd. This is tamasguna, as it indicates the absence of thought and a preference for mimicry. It is the varna of a newborn child. Everyone is born in this varna.
  
• Vaishya-varna: the merchant's calculating gaze of conditional followership like an elephant that follows the oldest matriarch in the herd as she has lived through the most droughts and therefore has more knowledge of waterholes than the others. This is rajas-guna, as the merchant thinks only for himself.
  
• Kshatriya-varna: the warrior's dominating gaze of conditional leadership, like a lion who leads his pride so that the lionesses can hunt and bear his children. This is also rajas-guna, as the warrior thinks only for himself.
  
• Brahmana-varna: the sage's gaze of unconditional leadership, like a cow who provides milk, meant for her calf, generously to the cowherd. She is dependable so the cowherd can always rely on her but she is also independent so while the cowherd needs her, she does not need the cowherd. This is sattva-guna, as the sage thinks of himself as simply a part of a wider ecosystem, and encourages others to do the same.
  

As Bhairava, Shiva is shown giving shelter to a dog. As Pashupati, Shiva is shown comforting a doe in the palm of his hands. He is also described as wrapped in the hide of an elephant and a lion that he flayed alive. Vishnu is Gopal, associated with the cow.

A yajaman is encouraged to be like Shiva, give shelter to those who are too frightened to think for themselves. He must also be like Vishnu, encouraging those who are too frightened to think for others to expand their gaze, become more dependable. This is growth.

Every month, Wadhwa would call the heads of his various coaching classes and check how much fees had been collected. But ten years down the road, Wadhwa only checks how many of his students have passed with distinction. The old method meant that the most important department of his company was the sales department; the coaching and quality control department did not matter. With the new method, the passing of students was an indicator of how good the institute was. This demanded coaches and quality control to be very high and this made the selling of seats much easier. The shift happened because Wadhwa's gaze shifted from Narayani (share of student's wallet) to Narayan (growth of students). When students began to matter to him genuinely, he made more money than before; but it did not matter. Lakshmi for him was no longer the goal; she was but an indicator. Wadhwa thus moved from vaishya-varna towards brahmana-varna. His leadership is still conditional, but he is moving in the right direction.

Growth is about pursuing thoughts not things

In Hindu mythology, God means what we can become, that is, the acme of human potential. God is visualized either as Shiva, who can give up everything and so is the supreme hermit; and as Vishnu, who can engage with all situations in life with a gentle smile and so is the supreme householder. To be a devotee of God means to try and be like him, in other words invoke the human potential within us.

But Ravan, the rakshasa-king, devotee of Shiva, wants to possess Shiva, rather than be like Shiva. He tries carrying Mount Kailas to his island-kingdom of Lanka and gets crushed under its weight. When pulled out from underneath, he returns home shamefaced, accepting Shiva's superiority, not realizing that the hermit does not seek to be superior. Ravan may be Shiva's devotee but he does not want to see the world as Shiva does. In fact, he assumes like him Shiva also values pecking orders.

By contrast, when Sita offers Hanuman pearls, he bites the pearls to check if Ram is within them. Everyone laughs at this comment: how can Ram who sits on the throne be inside a pearl? "Just as he can be in my heart," says Hanuman, ripping open his chest, revealing Ram within. Hanuman does not care what Ram has, or can give him; he seeks to invoke Ram within him.

Hanuman seeks to realize his potential, not increase his resources. Ravan, on the other hand, does not believe there is any potential he needs to realize; he is perfect and all he needs is more resources.

Hanuman begins by serving Sugriv out of gratitude to his teacher, the sun-god, Surya, Sugriv's father. He then serves Ram without any expectation or obligation. He moves from vaishya-varna (conditional follower of Sugriv) to brahmana-varna (unconditional leader like Ram). Ravan, on the other hand, slips from being kshatriya-varna (conditional leader of Lanka) to vaishya-varna (conditional follower of Shiva).

It is important to note that Ravan is often called a brahmin, which means he belongs to brahamana-jati. He belongs to a family of priests but chooses to be a king. This does not mean he is of brahmana-varna. In the work place, we often mistake educational qualifications and institutional pedigree, which is jati, for attitude and potential, which is varna. We may not be able to change our jati, but we can always change our varna.

When asked why many public projects fail, this is the answer a retired civil servant gave, "If two tenders come, the officer will always pass the one at the lower cost. Why? Because then he will not be asked too many questions by his superiors. He knows that the price will be inflated midway through the project when it is impossible to change contractors. But he will keep quiet. Should he choose a better candidate, on qualitative rather than quantitative grounds, he will be pulled up by the audit committee and be forced to answer a lot of questions. So to save himself the trouble, he just accepts the lowest quote, ignoring all qualitative aspects." What the civil servant is saying is that the system encourages rajas-guna (lead or follow so long as it serves you) or tamas-guna (mindlessly follow), not sattva-guna. "Naturally, things are going awry." The servants of the system are turning into Ravans not Hanumans, because upstream and downstream, everyone is only paying attention to things not thoughts, evidence not intent, resources not gaze.

Growth is indicated when we prefer giving than taking

In the story of Krishna, there are two episodes of vastra haran, of women's clothes being removed. In one, which is described in the Bhagavat Puran, Krishna steals the clothes of the milkmaids while they are bathing in the pond. The women are annoyed but not violated. In the other, which is described in the Mahabharat, the Kauravs strip the Pandav queen, Draupadi, of her clothes, in full view of the royal assembly. Draupadi is humiliated and abused.

In the Bhagavat vastra-haran, Krishna is violating the law but the intent is not malicious and the mood is full of mischief. In the Mahabharat vastraharan, the Kauravs are not violating the law but the intent is malicious and the mood full of rage.

Krishna wants the women to know he appreciates their bodies, in its most natural state, wrinkles and all, without adornment. The Kauravs want to abuse Draupadi while arguing that since she has been gambled away as a slave, they are well within their rights to do whatever they please with her.

In both cases something is being taken but the bhaav is very different. Krishna takes to enable the Other to outgrow the fear that causes embarrassment. The Kauravs take to instil and amplify fear. Krishna seeks to generate trust. The Kauravs seek to establish authority. Krishna grants Saraswati while the Kauravs take Durga.