Mission or Mirage? To raise or raze?

Covering parts of the work of Ronald Dworkin* due to my studies and interest in philosophy, I have reached a stage wherein I believe that those in seats of power are taking us for a merry round, not knowing what they're chasing, while simultaneously creating a mirage in our eyes. Dworkin speaks on the words most commonly used, least commonly understood; namely, Liberty and Equality.

Ronald Dworkin's works lead to the observation that there is a strong and weak sense of liberty.

A strong sense of liberty is given by law or by democratic form of government which says that each individual has an absolute right to liberty. These rights to liberty are mentioned in the constitution in the various articles to freedom in various lands. Now, when this law is to be actualized, and given to the people, this absolute right to liberty does not work. To make matters simple, there is a simple example. Everyone wishes to drive the car on the road at his own pace as and when he wants. Signals are put up on the road, and there goes absolute liberty. This shows that to enjoy one's own liberty, the government has to divide available facility, either in time, or in space. Hence the absolute liberty (strong sense) is available only on paper (abstract) and the weak sense of liberty is actualized.

The question which arises is how much liberty does the weak sense give? That is to say, does it give more liberty, or take away more liberty in the name of liberty? If we measure the deprivation of liberty by calculating the extent of frustration that it brings with it, then we actually realize that equality actually suffocates liberty even though the government wishes to give liberty.

Dworkin says the idea of liberty is a false notion. All forms of government speak against dictatorship since it is against liberty, but they themselves practice liberty appropriately in their own societies. Once people realize liberty has not been given, it creates unnecessary tension in the individual and in society. Hence the idea of liberty should be abandoned and other social values like equality or justice must be promised and popularized.

Personally, after taking these views into account I do not know whether liberty and equality actually exist in the forms we believe them to exist - yet governments stress on liberty and equality both, but I find that to speak of liberty is to speak against equality, and to force equality is to restrain liberty.

The question is, why are we speaking of these two which are two sets not overlapping? They are two different ideals, and yes, while both are ideals, they are opposites all the same.

Are we living in a world thinking we have liberty and equality and so on and so forth, or are we simply fooling ourselves by not understanding these ideals properly, and living our lives by words blindly said by those in power, without the knowledge to suggest which ideals to follow.

*Ronald Myles Dworkin, FBA (December 11, 1931 – February 14, 2013) was an U.S. philosopher and scholar of United States constitutional law.

Kayzad Jokhi introduces himself:

I have a strong passion for martial arts, being a first degree black belt in Taekwondo (Kroean martial art), and a level 2 practitioner in Krav Maga (Israeli martial art). I enjoy reading philosophy and psychology, and wish to be a clinical psychologist. I enjoy any form of social service, nation service, and strive to bring about a change in this beautifully ugly world, which leads me to enroll in almost any form of activity which comes my way. Children are my biggest love in this world, playing with them, guiding them, feeling awed by their shining innocence, and VYF gives me this love of mine on a silver platter, helping me and these children in ways which words fail to express.

A Winner; Are you?

Life is a long and exciting trip. It takes us to many different places. We watch successful people who were once strugglers as well as people who have the intelligence to succeed but never do. Like Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi stated, 

 "Hard work never brings Fatigue, it only brings Satisfaction."

Certainly, luck has a role, but, we usually create our own bad luck by regularly getting trapped in self defeating attitudes and behaviour.

Here are some of the worst traps or rather the 6 habits of unsuccessful people:

1. Delusional thinking: Unsuccessful people constantly lie to themselves about their own life and why they are there in life instead of achieving their goals and making life better.

2. Punishing friends: Unsuccessful people often have a habit of being friendly and grateful to those who are unhelpful to them and ungrateful to those who are kind to them. The inability to make and keep friends is involved in every failure.

3. Bad manners: Losers are routinely rude. They fail to show up on time, to thank and to apologise when one must. Thus, bad manners guarantee our failure.

4. Bad attitudes: The losers often have a sour pessimistic outlook. They dislike their work. They have a lack of self confidence and a deep rooted belief that they cant do better than what they are doing. They don't understand that this way they are advertising themselves as losers.

5. Needless arguing: Some people like to argue for the sake of argument. People who quarrel like that think that by doing so they can impress others which is wrong thinking.
 

6. Putting first things last: Unsuccessful people CANT set priorities. They never seem to learn that its not a sacrifice to give up things of lesser importance for the things of greater importance. In fact, its a bargain.

Maybe, you and I have some of these habits, But remember, Winners know they can change and they do, always, with time. 

After all, the only thing that overcomes hard luck is hard work.

 

Darshini Prajapati is a Third Year Bachelor of Arts (TYBA) student in Mumbai's Mithibai College. She has selected Sociology as her major graduation subject. Darshini likes reading, trekking and enjoys going on hikes. Darshini is still searching her dreams for her future life ahead. 

Competition ~ Not a “Necessary Evil”

As a rookie mechanical engineer, Radhika enjoyed every minute of her two-year MBA programme. The only flaw was the apparently relentless competition in the class full of bright managers-to-be. Five years later and working as a Senior Manager in a large and dynamic engineering firm, she realises the situation is far worse – stress due to peer group comparisons is on the rise and is affecting productivity.

Competition is frequently treated as a necessary evil. Sometimes, the approach swings to the other extreme, with a highly aggressive approach with one’s peers.

Healthy handling of competition - need for acquiring this “Life skill”: 

Usual approaches towards competition can have the following consequences:  

• Insecurity-driven choices, leading to low job satisfaction
• Low team spirit, decreased co-operation
• Low individual and group productivity due to the above
• Stress with its consequent psychological and physical ailments
• High turnover of skilled manpower

How can we then improve things?

Running in the “rat race” without becoming a rat:

Experts in holistic living say that competition is unnecessary and wasteful. The following are four useful concepts:

• Recognize your uniqueness

Competition presupposes sameness of people whereas in reality, every inhabitant of this planet is unique. One needs to ask: “What is it that makes me refreshingly different from
others?” The answer to this question can then be used as a tool in one’s work, for useful self-differentiation. Tools such as the Johari window, the SWOT (Strength- Weakness- Opportunity- Threat) analysis and mindful journal writing are of help in discovering one’s unique traits, skills and talents.  The focus thus shifts from “Being a part of a herd and hence competing with others” mentality to “Effectively using one’s unique strengths”.

• Re-assess your goals in the light of the above

It is critical to periodically re-assess one’s goals, in the light of one’s strengths. Else, one may persist in working along avenues that yield sub-optimal results – not because one is not working hard enough but because the task is not aligned with one’s own inclinations and abilities.

For example, a very senior executive working with a nationalised bank has for long nursed dreams of becoming the chairman of the bank. He is also aware that he is very high on technical skills, such as economic analysis and forecasting, but not equally strong at “people skills”. This awareness, coupled with the realization of the duties entailed by the post of chairman, might make him reconsider his goal. Would he then be better placed elsewhere, say, as a special advisor to an institution like the World Bank, where his strong analytical
skills and knowledge of macro-economics would make him an invaluable asset? This analysis might lead to mutually satisfying outcomes for the nationalised bank, the World Bank, and the senior executive. The stress that accompanies the “compete and fight for it” syndrome vanishes, as does the frustration and subsequent lowering of morale that might have emerged if the executive had persisted in working towards the chairman’s post and not succeeded.

• Focus on efforts alone

Competition sometimes arises from a misguided sense of purpose, a fear-propelled need to constantly “look over one’s shoulder” to see what the others are doing. It helps to realize that the only thing one can truly control is one’s own efforts – not the environment, one’s colleagues or bosses, or the state of the economy. Hence one could:

a) Plan one’s desired outcome after carefully considering possible external variables.
b) Next, focus exclusively on one’s efforts .
 

One asks, “Am I doing the very best that I can?” Thus competing with others gives way to competing with oneself; the challenge is to stretch one’s intellectual, emotional and other capacities to do full justice to the task on hand, dynamic and unpredictable external circumstances notwithstanding.

• Keep the “Big picture” in mind

It helps to place the seemingly all-important presentation, project or promotion against the backdrop of life. Taking a long-term perspective before zooming into the short-term details helps to fix appropriate priorities. This weeds out unnecessary competition and the misleading “do or die” attitude that sometimes leads executives to unproductive choices.

For example, a young sales manager may be tempted to inflate his sales figures in order to go one-up on his colleague. But an understanding of the price of such an approach, legally and ethically, might help him choose more appropriate methods for bolstering sales. In the latter approach, competition becomes irrelevant; focus shifts to “Does this add up to the person I am / want to be?”

To conclude:
Competing against others, while offering the same skills as others are offering, is a choice with limited application. Other choices include complementing skills and talents (win-win versus win-lose), and constantly competing with oneself, to give the best of oneself to the task on hand. The intelligent manager may well consider stocking his basket of skills with all the above choices, to be used judiciously, as circumstances demand.

Written by: Piya Mukherjee, Director – VES Leadership Academy and Research Centre, Corporate Trainer and Life Skills Coach.

Piya Mukherjee, MMS-Fin from NMIMS, started a career in investment banking but moved, after a few years, to corporate training and teaching MBA students. For close to 18 years now, she has been working in the areas of business ethics, human values, Vedanta, life-skills and cross-cultural sensitization, with b-schools such as JBIMS, SIMSR, SP Jain (Dubai and Singapore), NMIMS and VESIMSR.
She is the founder-Director of VES Leadership Academy and Research Centre (VESLARC) since 2010.Her corporate training clients include diverse organizations such as L&T, TCS, RBI, Taj Hotels, Trident Hotels and BPCL. A contributor to the Speaking Tree supplement to the Times of India, Piya is deeply passionate about sharing everyday tips that help us apply Vedantic principles in our lives. In this article, recently carried by Business Line newspaper, she debunks the myth that competition with others is a necessary evil in our lives. Instead, she says, focus on discovering your own uniqueness and polishing that, for productivity, success and joy.

Hopelessly Hopeful

Hope is faith in a theory that things can happen if they are expected and believed in.
Remember in ancient Greece? Hope was the only spirit that was left after Pandora opened the “Box”. According to the myth, all misfortunes and grievances would escape the box and become a part of human life. Hope was the only thing present in the box which guaranteed that in all cases, circumstances humans have hope regardless of difficulty or situation. Hope is what keeps people going under harsh conditions and crucibles.
Inspirational stories of Nick Vujicic, Oprah Winfrey, Jessica Cox, Sean Swarner and hundreds more have proved to the world time and again that one should never lose hope.

The beginnings are always the hardest and once you are brave enough to step forward; there is nothing that can stop you from achieving what you begun. If someone is almost certain there is no way to succeed at something, and they manage to beat the odds, their hope bursts into a pleasant surprise. Hope helps people live. It's being able to see that there is light, despite of all the darkness. In times of darkness, you are trapped in your own fear and worries unless you have hope. It is a refuge from fear and terror. A shield that blocks your fear or thought of unlikely odds as a ray of light coming from never-ending darkness. The expectation for a better life or friendship despite unfortunate circumstances is hope. It's an expectation, maybe a desire for a family, love, to find the true meaning of life or maybe to prove that good always wins, but it all boils down to that one word: HOPE. It's this optimism, which propels you forward after falling and that something which gives promise for the future. Hope gives people a chance to live, enjoy and appreciate their lives despite struggles that are constant in reality.
Umberto Eco has aptly stated, “Often the object of a desire, when desire is transformed into hope, becomes more real than reality itself. “

Have Hope, Be Strong, Laugh Loud, Live and play hard in the moments, Smile often, Dream big and Be happy.

Hello from Anuj Tosniwal !

I have spent my childhood in Surat, a city in Gujarat, India; currently I’ve moved to Mumbai for higher education.  I have completed my SY BCom from Mithibai College, Mumbai and in a couple of months will step into my last year of Graduation. Alongside, graduation I am also pursuing a post graduation course. I wish to become either a social activist or start up my own Event Management firm. Being inclined towards social service I am a member of my college’s NSS Unit. It is also the reason of volunteering with Vivekananda Youth Forum (VYF). I love to play football and basketball (Played at State levels). I also like to participate in events so have volunteered at various college festivals and I am a member of the Mithibai Cultural Team. My Dad is my role model, my inspiration, my first Guru.

A WORD OF GRATITUDE

Hi everyone!

It’s extremely overwhelming as a volunteer to have a site where we can post our thoughts and our ideas. I am very grateful to the Vivekananda Youth Forum for considering and giving equal importance to the growth of their volunteers. Vivekananda Youth Forum has been a life changing experience.  It has not only helped me to widen my horizons but has helped me to serve my society in a better way. It has given me a lot of opportunities to interact with different kinds of people and has helped us to learn and evolve as a better person. While volunteering at Vivekananda Youth Forum I have learnt that each and every individual has the power and capacity to bring a change provided he or she has the will to do so. I’ve learnt that we must transform our obstacles into opportunities because there is nothing impossible or unachievable in life. It requires compassion and a vision along with the willpower and dedication for one to succeed in life. I would like to quote one of Swami Vivekananda Ji’s quotes “Arise! Awake! And stop not until the goal is achieved”.

I was introduced to Vivekananda Youth Forum through a couple of my friends who are a part of the NSS unit of Mithibai college. I was an ordinary student of Mithibai College who’s willing to pursue psychology, however, after coming in contact with Vivekananda Youth Forum I realised that none of us are ordinary. Each one of us is special and blessed; it’s just that we have been blessed in different ways and we must appreciate our uniqueness and our blessings.  I am grateful to my friends for introducing me to such an outstanding organisation where we not only educate children but also spread smiles on hundreds of faces through our work. I have always enjoyed interacting with kids as this interaction has given me immense amount of satisfaction. I always wanted to spread awareness and contribute to the progress of my country which is only possible through education. I believe that education has the power to not only eradicate poverty, corruption, unemployment, child labour and numerous evils but also inculcate humanity and compassion within people. I believe learning gives rises to creativity and creativity thus helps one to think in a better way and thus the ability to think appropriately helps on to be knowledgeable. 

Mitali Madhyani is a second year Arts student at Mumbai suburban’s Mithibai College. Mitali aspires to make a career as a Clinical Psychologist. She loves to cook, paint, dance and read. Her interests have lead to her strong belief that art besides being a stress buster is an excellent medium to express one’s ideas and emotions. Mrs Sudha Murty, Nick Vuijic, Mother Teresa are some persons whom Mitali has tremendous respect. She values all people who have contributed in the betterment of society and people all over the world. Mitali lives her values by Volunteering with various organisations. The above is her view on her Volunteering experience at VYF.

Welcome All !

A co-incidence, a new financial year commences in India and Vivekananda Youth Forum's Blog is created today. 

The thought of starting a blog was based on this observation: while Volunteers diligently perform their duties of teaching children, playing with them, mentoring, guiding; their own growth is often ignored, taken for granted.

Vide View is an attempt to voice thoughts, views of all the young VYF Volunteers. Following the guidance of our inspiration Swami Vivekananda, we hope to impact not only future India through children but Young India through the Volunteers.

We eagerly look forward to ideas, thoughts, words filling up this space. 

Meanwhile do check VYF's Journey, now in its 30th year of functioning here please:

Many thanks for visiting, 
See you again with some lovely posts:)