Leadershiplessons fromLeadershiplessons from

02 “Every flower is a soul blossoming in nature.”GÉRARD DE NERVAL, FRENCH WRITER AND POET

T o develop shame resilience amongstchildren, I created the first ever cur-riculum for India targeting children

between the ages of 6 and 14. The cur-riculum consists of over 40+ hours of classsessions with exercises to help studentslearn how to identify their own emotionsand why repressing emotions is bad.Theseare a few frequently asked queries (inpart 2) that I have answered...

What is guilt? When you recognisethat you have done something wrong itgives rise to guilt, and you can use it tochange yourself. There is no fixed timeor deadline that you should have inmind to alter your guilt. If someone keeps troublingme then what should I do?It is best not to react tosuch people and to theirbehaviour. When theydo not get a reactionfrom you, they aremost likely to give up. If someone uses foullanguage what should wedo ? That is their natureand their temperament. Weshould stick to ours and get onwith our lives. If possible explainnicely, but if they are not receptive donot react.

If my friend is unhappy what should Ido ?Try and understand what is botheringthem and help them find their own so-lution. How can we achieve our goals? Thereis no fixed way to achieve what you haveset out to achieve. But with focus, dis-cipline and hard work one can achieveone’s goals.

If I get less marks in my examswhat should I do? One should

take help from one’steachers and work hard-

er for the next time. I am friendly with myparents but I don’t feellike sharing everythingwith them. How do I tellmy parents what is on my

mind? One should choosea time and talk frankly

with one’s parents, tellingthem of both the negative and

positive sides to our problem. How do I know what is right or wrong?One can take advice of elders, and one

must examine one’s motives and the re-sults. How do I know a good friend ? Some-one who encourages you to do the rightthings and guides you away from mis-takes. How would you define ‘achievement’?When you fulfil your goals through de-termination, hard work, honesty andgood intentions, that is what I callachievement. I want to bring about change in certainthings that i do. How can I change myself?First, think about it. Why do you needto change? If you are a naughty child,you can decide to change your natureand be responsible. You have to acceptyour mistake first only then would youact to improve. What is the benefit of teamwork?Teamwork makes tasks easier, bringsfaster and better results, builds enthu-siasm, discipline and progress. It alsohelps to build and mend relationships. Is there a way in which you deal withfear? Try doing this — Start with iden-tifying what you are afraid of.

LEADERSHIP

Aditya Pattani, class XII, TheSri Ram School, New Delhi

QUERY?These queries were

asked by students fromNari Shiksha Niketan, InterCollege, Lucknow. Have aquery? Reach out to us at toinie 175@gmail.com or

submit online

There is no fixed way toreach your goal. But withfocus, discipline and hard

work one can get there

Multi-taskingDurga Maa with her eight handsepitomises the word ‘multi-task-ing.’ Multi-tasking not only savestime, but it also keeps us mentallyactive and agile. Multi-taskingmakes us independent of the va-garies of time and resources.

Vision & equanimityNotice any idol or statue of Dur-ga — the feature that arrestsour attention is her calm visagewhich sports big yet watchfuleyes. Big eyes are a symbol ofhaving a 360 degree vision so asto know where one needs toreach. But just knowing the des-tination does not complete thejourney. The watchfulness sym-bolises a constant eye on yourjourney to your goal.

Fearlessness & innerstrengthThe word Durga, from the rootword ‘durgam’itself,embodies fear-lessness.Remaining true to our con-victions in the face of each adver-sity, however, big or small it maybe, gives us an unshakeable innerstrength. The stronger we arefrom inside, the more fearlesswe are perceived on the out-side.These three together go a longway in ensuring success in the longrun. Goddess Durga rides a tiger— it’s a metaphor showing afearless being can go on to tameproblems and situations evenas fierce as a tiger and comeout as the winner.

AdaptabilityGoddess Durga comesto us in nine differ-ent avatars (forms)on the nine days ofNavratri. There is avery simple managementlesson hidden here. Leader-managers be ready to don adifferent hat for different situa-tions. Be yourself but adapt your style,

tone, stance, manner and in-volvement as per the situa-

tion on hand.

Be your ownstrong linkJust how one goddessbinds millions of hearts together in worship and faith — be the glue, thelink that binds people together.

Leadership is gender independentWhen all other powerful Gods failed tostop the unstoppable demon Mahishasura,the supreme being too had to take a formof a goddess to vanquish the unconquer-able. And herein lies the biggest man-agement world can learn — leadershipqualities are gender independent!

STUDENT’S SPEAK

IF I WAS DURGATODAY... I WOULD

Remind people that every-one is equal and should betreated equally. Let us stoptreating people according totheir status in the society orin the name of religion orcreed. Everyone deservesrespect. Mythology hasnever differentiated amongpeople, then why should we?

I would fight against injusticeand not be a mute spectator

to the ills in the soci-ety. I don’t under-stand peoplewho know whatis happeningis wrong but

they choose tokeep quiet. Durga

has taught me tofight.

Durga is in everyone. I don’tbelieve in paying obeisance infront of the Devi and then goinghome and treating other womenunfairly. No. For me, every ladyneeds to be celebrated everydayfor the sacrifices she has made.We need to applaud every woman.

KARTIK ARYAN

ALIA BHATT

SUSHMITA SEN

I would like toget rid ofgenderinequality.Girls deserveequal opportunities as boys.The ‘BetiBachao,BetiPadhao’ promotes this.But we need to do more.RAKSHIT DUBEY, class VIII,

Zebar School, Ahmedabad

I would like toget rid of lazi-ness and

replace withhard word.

Goals will appearonly if laziness dis-

appears. Hard work is key. RISHIKKES M NAIR, class IX,

KV AFS Akkulam,

Thiruvananthapuram

The days of navratri are dedicated tothe worship of nine forms of the god-dess. Here is what each form depicts...

1MA SHAILAPUTRI Worshiped on thefirst day:Shailaputri was the daughterof the god of mountains, Himalaya.

She rides a bull and carries a trident inone hand and a lotus in the other.

2MA BRAHMACHARINI Worshiped onthe second day: She walks bare feetwith a rudraksh in one hand and a

sacred Kamandalu in the other. This is themeditative form of the goddess.

3MA CHANDRAGHANTA Worshiped onthe third day: She is a fierce 10-armed goddess with a crescent

moon on her forehead, which gives herthe name Chandraghanta.

4MA KUSHMANDA Worshiped on thefourth day: The name is derivedfrom - ‘Ku’ (little), ‘Ushma’

(warmth or energy) and ‘Amnda’ (egg),which means the creator of the universe.

5MA SKANDAMATA Worshiped onthe fifth day: Is a four-armeddeity, who carries a lotus in two

of her arms with a sacred Kamandaluand a bell in the other two.

6MA KATYAYANI Worshiped on thesixth day: Also known as the war-rior goddess, she is considered as

the most violent form of goddess Parvati.She has four arms and carrying a sword.

7MA KAALRATRI Worshiped on theseventh day: She sacrificed her skincolour and embraced a dark com-

plexion to kill demons. She is four-armed,rides a donkey and carries a sword.

8MA MAHAGAURI Worshiped on theeight day: She is a four-armeddeity who rides on a bull or a

white elephant. She carries a Trishuland a damru in her hands.

9MA SIDDHIDATRI Worshiped on theninth day: She is a four-armeddeity sitting on a lotus, holding a

mace, discus and a book and lotus in herhands. This form signifies perfection.

Sonal Srivastava: In thecontext of any naturalcalamity, how doesknowledge of Vedantahelp us recover fromnatural disasters?■ Swami Advayananda:

Vedanta reveals one’sreal nature: we live alife of an individual, be-

ing body and mind.Vedanta tells us that our realnature is none of these, notthe body, not the mind.

When we raise ourselvesfrom the level of the prob-lem to the level of solution— that gives objectivity.Vedanta says that you and Iare the same. You becomeone with the whole cosmos.With oneness, one is able tolook at another’s difficulty

in an objective way and alsoin an empathetic way.

When one thinks of theother person as the Self, thenthe sense of ‘I am serving’is not there at all. Service is

a natural action of doingwhat is to be done, withoutthe condescending approachtowards helping others,sometimes called ‘service toothers.’ There is a naturalsense of assisting and help-ing; this is what Vedantateaches. ■

Swami Advayananda isVedanta teacher in Chinmaya

International Foundation

Someone asked Bill Gates: “Isthere any person richer thanyou?” He said: “Yes, only one.Many years ago, at the NewYork airport, I stopped at abookstore to pick up a news-paper. Since I couldn’t find therequired change, I walkedaway.A boy gave me a news-paper for free. After threemonths, in New York andthe same boy gave me anotherfree newspaper. After 19 years,I found him and asked him tocompensate for the newspapershe gave me for free.The youngman replied: ‘You can’t com-pensate it.’ I asked why,and hesaid: ‘I gave you when I waspoor.You want to give me whenyou are rich. So, how do youcompensate?’ I think thatyoung man is richer than me.”

http://www.speakingtree.in

Sameer Golwelkar

Happiness is a widelyused term that cre-ates curiosity in the

readers’ mind. What themind cannot comprehend, iteither discards or worships.Does happiness really exist?It is usually projected as astate of mind, different frompleasure and joy. Pleasurearises out of sensory gratifi-cation, is a domain of sci-ence, and has validity, relia-bility -- coefficient, a meas-

ure of accuracy along withcausality-reinforcement.Happiness is often projectedas a perpetual state of elatedemotion that is independentof sensory gratificationsand personality traits.

One usually comparesoneself with someone whoappears to be jovial, not re-alising that this may just bea personality trait. The mo-ment one compares oneselfto someone who is morecheerful, one tries to become

the other. This is the firststage of error. No efforts tobecome the other will suc-ceed, as every individual isa separate mind-body-coor-dinate and has a differentway of living and doingthings.

The absolute, uncondi-tional acceptance of realitymay liberate one from hissufferings, but no search ofhappiness can do so. Search-ing for happiness creates agap between being and be-coming, and this may giverise to a paradox. ■

SERVICE BEFORE SELFTRUE RICHNESS

Remember not the formerthings, nor consider the

things of old. Behold, I amdoing a new thing; now itsprings forth, do you notperceive it? I will make away in the wilderness and

rivers in the desert.Isaiah 443:18-119

✥Let come what comes, let go what goes. See

what remains. Ramana MMaharshi

✥Life is just a slide. Back

and forth between lovingand leaving, remembering

and forgetting, holding on and letting go.

Nicole LLyons

✥Life is like riding a bicycle.To keep your balance, you

must keep moving.Albert EEinstein

Loving Detachment

THE HAPPINESS PARADOX

SACREDSPACE

You and I are thesame. You become onewith the whole cosmos

FAQs on GENERAL ISSUES

Part 2