humility

I had a very interesting conversation with a very close friend of mine today. The topic of discussion was the positive attitude of one of her acquaintances… the amount of energy and confidence she exudes in her various interactions etc. During the course of her statements I observed that we were talking about a senior artiste. Only then it stuck me to write about the topic below :

HUMILITY


What a wonderful word ! What exactly does this mean – HUMBLENESS - Webster’s Dictionary specifies the meaning as -“ the quality or condition of being humble; modest sense of one’s own importance” . Who needs to be humble….. since it is a ‘modest sense of one’s own importance’ it follows that it is a quality which needs to be present in people who are considered important.

A man acquires a sense of importance when he is an achiever in a particular field, he has performed acts of high excellence. For a primary school student – the teacher is utmost important . In the eyes of the kindergarden school teacher is someone who is revered/ the ultimate authority. Whatever she says/requests/directs needs to be followed implicitly. A request made once becomes a matter of great importance for the child and the same is not forgotten easily. It might be something as simple as a ‘ thank you’ for fetching the duster or a warning ‘to sit down and not walk about’ .

How do children react? If the expression of gratitude or warning is made with a smiling and approachable manner , the result will be more positive . Not all situations can a teacher or any other person expected to be at their polite or pleasing best … But only when the request or observations are made in the most appealing manner there comes a very positive and effective result.

You might wonder why I have taken up the above topic for discussion. Our country is a land of a lot of great achievers in various fields – science, politics , music, dance, drama, cinema, business etc., Whenever, an incident connected with the personality is related , the information is conveyed in the defense of the artist.

Let us take the case of musicians – A number of musicians in south India are considered as exemplary. When we read the interviews or reviews of these artistes – the tone of such articles indicates the attitude of the personality. While reading such reviews and articles I find that most of the artistes consider themselves an authority on the topic which they speak . I am not suggesting that all articles reflect it …. I only said most. What is the defense for such a reflection --- the common reason attributed for such a defense is ‘ he/she is a man of substance and he is confident in his subject so there is nothing wrong when the tone of authority is evident.’ I agree , of course there is nothing wrong in the fact that the confidence of a person over his area of pursuit is reflected in his speech/interview/article – but will it be inappropriate if the same person is slightly /very slightly humble.

When we go to meet a doctor, specially a specialist we are made to wait for hours – after which we get an audience of hardly few minutes wherein after a few moments of inspection the doctor puts forth his/her diagnosis and you are dispensed with – I do not say that humility needs to come into play…. But it will definitely considered an almost unknown phenomena if such doctors spend an extra 2 seconds with the patient in a kind manner making it appear that you are thought of as a person and not another case with ……disease/problem.

Similarly, a great artiste – when encountered with a member of the public/student/ interviewer will only attain more greatness if he is considerate enough to consider or lend his ear to the person. The recipient will only feel – ‘really this person is wonderful…. Even with such talent he is so considerate …….’ Creating a need in the recipient to only emulate the great artiste…. I think the word ‘humility’ comes into play here only.

In our day to day life we meet people from various walks of life.. They hold various positions either by virtue of their qualifications/ post or knowledge etc., Very often , we excuse their attitude by way of the statement ‘ Oh! He is got substance hence, he can afford to be a snob/arrogant/feel important/authoritative etc…..’ But I feel that if such people could be slightly humble and consider us lesser mortals even if we are found wanting from their point of view… it is possible for us to improve ourselves for we should always like to improve ourselves..

Not many of you might agree with me… but then I feel in today’s world each and every small achievement is considered a Himalayan achievement thereby bringing into the personality a tint of arrogance.

distress or devastation

hai i just got sometime so i thought i need to share a few thoughts to all of you out there. the point is i had an interesting conversation with my doctor who was telling me how to tackle day to day problems without increasing our stress level and without affecting our emotional balance. Every situation which we consider serious should answer the question : whether it will give rise to distress or devastation. Majority of them will usually fall under the category of distress - since devastation has a wider magnitude and larger impact on living as such. When we realise the situation is not a devastation - but distressful.. then only we should proceed to decide as to how to handle the same.... i think this logic has been told by too many people... everyone reading this would have come across the same logic in various form like drawing a line next to the problem line so as to suggest the actual problem is much smaller . Dale Carnegies suggests that , when ever you face a problematic situation instead of worrying just think about the worst consequence we could ever face and then go about carrying out the necessary action. In spite of these logics and advises floating around us all the time how many times have we really applied the same in our real life situations. There are various instances when we would have used these very words to console or advise our friends but the no. of instances we have applied the same might be few . this is not meant as an advise but just to reassure everyone that yes all of us have problems ..... each one varies...... and it is not beyond our capacity to solve/face/ignore them as required by the situation. Every individual needs to be confident that there is nothing he cannot solve if he so desires... whether we want to actually do it ... or play the blame game and find a easy way out is our choice...... very rarely choices are taken up by fate/luck/stars or whatever ......... a small and thoughtful step will go a long way in clarifying our outlook on the situation.... so all my friends out there.... think..... before you worry ..... and dont waste time worrying...... if you are not aware of any solution which may come out of your worries.... b confident , cheerful and enjoy life with all its moments.....

Spitting in public places

hello there... i dont know how many of you read through my blog... well i have a few more thoughts to share.... one thing which i abhor since child hood is spitting on the road....... I have been travelling for more than 30 years in chennai..... i find that people invariable of the caste, sex, education, status have the most dirty habit of spitting on the roads . The people who travel the world over.. speak so highly of the cleanliness in the countries all over.. . like singapore, us, canada etc... the very same people who are not able to acclimatize themselves to the 'indian weather' are unable to get over the habit of spitting on the roads...... this only goes to show that whatever be the strata of the people unless it is enforced upon them, they do not consider it worth their while to observe certain basic sense for civic and self welfare.... there have been many incidents wherein i have seen people travelling in the luxury sedans and suvs just rolling down the windows to spit the pan / chicklets while waiting at the signal....... could these people have done the same thing else where in the world...... i have my own doubts..... in my opinion.... schools and education institution should start inculcating basic civic sense to the children write from their kindergarden stage... wherein it should be taught spitting on a public road is an unclean and unhealthy habit ... i just hope that at least then the parents are enlightened .