Some thoughts on Leadership - Management studies

The Management Science has been dealing so far with the question leadership vs management. Who is a leader? who is a manager? and like that. Now at last it seems management studies have striken paydirt by taking up the question of Followership.

The old adage goes - who knows how to obey knows how to lead. The art of intelligent obedience and following and definitely not the blind toeing. Good followership must be able to intuit the mind of leader. Not only that good followership knows how to park the ego with no loss to dignity in the dynamic flow towards efficient and effectual process. (Perhaps Sri Ramanuja can make you think not only as a manager, not simply as a leader but more so as an efficient follower when he says - Seshatva is having its pratikodi in Seshitva) That means a good and intelligent follower implies and presumes a true leader.

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But 'followership' vis a vis 'Leadership', if it should not become reductive in understanding towards cultish behaviour and if really scientific understanding should happen in the context of organisations and business, another aspect equally important is that of 'Dissenting' or 'Deviant perception' or 'differing in view'. How a leader relates to this equally creative voice as that of intelligent follower matters not less. The art of intelligent followership is a great task. And equally tough and crucial is the task of 'meaningful dissent'. Being passionate towards impersonal vision and being intelligent and aware in personal relationships, motivated and defined by the vision and energised by the goal and results calls for great personal and group intuitive empathy and order which results from such intuitiveness. 

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Large presence of Shakespeare

Shakespeare sits very large in our midst, huge and big centrally. We with all our creative pranks are only children trying to scale his laps, his back, his shoulders. We do pretend sometimes his absence sitting on his own shoulders and we proclaim also sometimes that we have outrun the Bard of Avon. We snob ourselves out with all sorts of badges, MODERN, POSTMODERN, POSTSTRUCTURAL, POST...this and that. No offence. It is our right. But universe itself has as it were connived to give us all lies at the end of day, if we are forgetting Shakespeare. But he sits cool, the Stage Bird, careless and casual in the centre big and vast. How else to react to this opening lines in A MIdsummer Night's Dream! -

'Theseus.-
What say you, Hermia? be advised, fair maid:
To you your father should be as a god;
One that composed your beauties; yea, and one
To whom you are but as a form in wax
By him imprinted and within his power
To leave the figure or disfigure it.
Demetrius is a worthy gentleman.

Hermia.-
So is Lysander.

The.-
In himself he is;
But in this kind, wanting your father’s voice,
The other must be held the worthier.

Her.-
I would my father look’d but with my eyes.

The.-
Rather your eyes must with his judgement look.

Her.-
I do entreat your Grace to pardon me.
I know not by what power I am made bold.
Nor how it may concern my modesty,
In such a presence here to plead my thoughts;
But I beseech your Grace that I may know
The worst that may befall me in this case,
If I refuse to wed Demetrius.'

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Nietzsche! you may frown

Nietzsche! you may frown
But let me speak my mind now
I overheard the morning Sun
Self-repeating the evening Sun :
'I don't shine for you to praise,
neither for anybody to appraise
I just am the way I am Zaratushtra !
I neither rise up in the morn
Nor go down in the even,
Nor I go anywhere to the darker half
To make my shine in any way useful;
Beings and things rotate around me,
part time in light, part time in darkness.
Beings are yet to become fully of light;
Perhaps they need darkness as much as light;
Whatever, please act not under apparent sight;
When you know what you can know
there the light of knowledge shines;
when you know not what you cannot
there the light of ignorance shines.'
Nietzsche! you may frown
But I have spoken what was in my mind. 

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This was written in reference to the opening section of Nietzsche's 'Thus Spake Zarathushtra'. 

some after thoughts - 

Poetry and Philosophy are perhaps the same Consciousness of opposite vectors. Poetry across sensuous reaches the transcendental. Philosophy translates the transcendental in terms of the sensuous. Or you may have it the other way also. - Poetry suggests the transcendental in the context of the sensuous and Philosophy makes sensational the transcendental

Meeting a great poem like a friend...

Sometimes you happen to meet a great friend or a great poem. One such is the paasuram, the poem of Tiruvaimozhi, TheerthanukkE.

'The Lord of Beauty sanctifies
and wins you for ever and ever;
knowing well that there is no other refuge,
mentally resolved, happy, restful in Him, the great refuge;
Satakopa of the rich land of Kurukur
has uttered these thousand sanctities,
these thousand poems pure;
of these, even this decad, if anyone masters,
that person will be worshiped
by the Eternal Citizens of Vaikunt
and those celestials will fondly
describe that person illustrious
as the walking purifiers
to their mates
in their thick moments of service
to the Great God.'

(Reflecting meekly the EEdu..)

The key word in this poem is the Tamil word 'Theerthan'.

Theertham - taan parisuddhamumaai, tannai Sparisittaarukku parisuddharaampadi paNNumatAyirRu.

Theertham - that which itself is pure and also again that which purifies whatever comes in contact with itself.

theerthanukkaRRapin - He has won over me by His beauty and has made me dislike everything else.

When the heart goes after Tirumaal
pleasures all lose their hold on me

who is crazy over Paramaatma and dislikes anything which makes one forget Paramaatma.

So intense devotion to God itself makes you detached from worldly things. That is the meaning of Theertha.

Nammazhvar's poems are personifications of such intense devotion and not only that, those who have mastered and dedicated their hearts to his poems are also forms of Theerthams.

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Unlimited Grace in the context of limitations

A beautiful poem from Kalhana on the form of Ardhanaari of Siva.

'His form seems limited
by sharing his left with the daughter
of the Mountain-King;
On His head shines the moon
limited by digits few;
And He has a weapon
with a break in the middle;
But how does His grace abounds
unlimited on every being
taking refuge in Him !'
(tr mine)

text -
வபு: கண்டே கண்ட: ப்ரதிவஸதி சைலேந்த்ரதுஹிது:
சிகண்டே கண்டேந்து: ஸ்வயமபி விபு: கண்டபரசு:|
ததாபி ப்ரத்யக்ரம் சரணமுபயாதம் ப்ரதிவிபோ:
அகண்டோ வ்யாபாரோ ஜகதி கருணயா விஜயதே ||
(அர்த்தநாரீச்வர ஸ்தோத்ரம்)

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The tension and the contrariety between the temporal and the eternal, the limited and the unlimited, the local and the universal, the atomic and the all-pervading, the imperfect and the perfect is captured poetically in the form of Siva. His grace alone is the bridge which connects the transient being with the ever-abiding. But nothing can limit that Grace, which is the only saving factor. All else, we do not know and perhaps we can never know.

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A story about Kalidasa

Sometimes the stories about the poets are as poetical and interesting. Once an ordinary person approached the great poet Kalidasa and expressed his difficulties and dire need of money. Kalidasa had an idea. 'OK today is the birthday of our King. Go and bow down before him and say 'Let you be free of three hurdles'. Definitely you will get something. Don't show in the Sabha that you are known to me or that I have given you this hint.

The person came to the Sabha and bowed before the King and said forgetting the exact words 'Let you be three hurdles!' 

What will happen? Dare any person on the face of the King say that the King be three hurdles! Poor man he forgot the exact wordings - Let you be free of Three hurdles. The King became furious and was about to order something dangerous. But the presence of mind of Kalidasa ! Kalidasa told the King 'Oh Great Emperor of the world! The poor man has said only blessings on you but he has been too economical with his words. Some poets happen to be like that. You see what he said 'Let you be three hurdles" Yea when you sit on the throne he wishes you to face often the hurdle of standing up and welcoming extraordinary scholars to your court. That means he wishes for you the abounding of world-renowned scholars in your court. It is a blessing really even though it is worded as hurdle. It is a welcome hurdle.

And again, while eating he wishes you to face often the hurdle of being disturbed by the pranks of your children, rising up on your laps, snatching your morsels of food, taking sweets away from your plates and eating themselves. Again this hurdle is a blessing in reality. This person wishes such a hurdle for you.

Again in your bed you must be disturbed by your wife and thereby you must lose your sleep in dallying of pleasure. Again is it not a welcome hurdle, a real blessing?

So it is we who must read this person in the right way.'

Wow.. the person got rewarded in extra.

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Mahabharata and medicine

Do you know Mahabharata? Yea.. you must be knowing. Mahabharata has been written in Tamil poems as Villibharatam by Villiputhurazhwar or Villiputhurar. Also by Nalla pIllai. Also there is one Perundevanar Bharatam, an old work in venba metre. But what I am going to tell is completely different.

This is Mahabharata. That too in Tamil. But it is a medical book. I will come again. This work deals with Vyasa's Mahabharata in so many parvams. Yea sure. And the story is the story of Mahabharata. But it is a medical book. :-) Perplexing?

That is the whole work which is called Theraiyar Maruttu Bharatam is loaded doubly, each verse with two senses, one of the story and one of the medical info. The prosody of Slesha Alankara has been used by Theraiyar to do this.

The book has come out in 1909 published by Mr K S Murugesa Mudaliyar in Vijaya Vikatan Press, Chennai. The book is called Theraiyar aruliya Maruttu Bharata Natakam.

மொழிந்த மருத்துப் பாரதத்தின்
முறை நாடகத்தின் உரை அருத்தம்
உன்னிச் சிலேடை இருபொருளும்
முடித்துக் கொள்ளுவார் பண்டிதரே....

மொழிந்த தேரப் பெருமானும்
உதவியாகப் பண்டிதர்க்கு இங்கு
உறுதி மரும நூல் உரைத்தான்
ஒன்றும் இனிமேல் உரையானே.

So this is perhaps the final work of Theraiyar in his series of medical works in different genres. Here in this work he has spun the epic and the medicine into one. Even the opening prayer song is doubly loaded.

வாதமாய்ப் படைத்துப் பித்த
வன்னியாய்க் காத்துச் சேட்பச்
சீதமாய்த் துடைத்துப் பாராந்
தேகத்திற் குடியாம் ஐந்து
பூத இந்தியமாம் ஐவர்
பூசைகொண்டு அவர்பால் விந்து
நாதமாம் கிஷ்ணமூர்த்தி
நமக்கென்றும் துணையாவாரே.

How very creative people have been down the time! But does anybody care for such rare things in our heritage? That too nowadays people have become highly cell-centric.

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Ideology and human goodness

Anything which makes us more human, more awakened is good. If religion makes us more broad-minded and more humane then it is good. If what we read makes us more understanding and cognitive of democratic virtues and humane vales then our reading is in the right direction. But if our religion or studies make us more narrow-minded and tradition-bound then what good can come out of it? To become an educated fool cannot be the end of a really worthy life.

The spirit and the letter of a book, that too ancient books, are always different. The letter belongs to an age which is archaic. But if understood in the best of human interests, the spirit of the book may still be inspiring. When you try to understand the spirit, the 'authorities' of the letter become tense and expect you to apply for their sanction, nod and approval. According to them, preferably, you get the whole sense of the text from them. Generally people who are meek and who want easy ways to wisdom prefer to toe their guidance. But it need not be like that, especially if you prefer to retain your freedom of thinking and self-autonomy. Your sincere efforts and meticulous study are guidance enough to make you arrive at any essential and meaningful concept of any path. So don't load any 'authorities' over your head, when you are quite sufficient as a human being.

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You see, we take to reading to gain knowledge and expand our awareness. The immediate help are the books. Thank God, not like the olden days, when to read or study a work you have to devote a considerable part of your time to get the work from others in any form. Then aids to understanding are another task in those days. If you are fortunate you may get something. But our age has crossed all such miasma. Now chances for knowledge are plenty and free. Only thing is you must have that passion and need.

But while reading there are subtle games played by us, by society and by who not and by what not. When we are deep into any subject we tend to appreciate great people who have very clearly explained things. And we feel extremely grateful when we read the original masters who have given us various theories in various subjects. But so far so good. But the matter does not end there. Slowly we idolize the authors we like in our minds and develop what is called 'hero-worship'. Any worship makes you blind to the aspects of criticism in the person or the field. We tend to attribute only great and sweet things to our idols. That is either we must eulogize or spew hatred. These extremity-addiction is another virus that slowly gets into our mind. But all these show that we possess a bad self-confidence. If we are confident about ourselves we should be more creative in our reading and that too in our reading of very ancient masters to whom we think nothing but salutations should be in our minds.

Another thing, just because we identify something wrong in what has been said by a person contemporary or old need not disturb our general attitude of like or respect to that person. Perhaps we must be more realistic and compassionate both to that person and to us.

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Swami Vivekananda's Chicago speech and Tamil translations of early decades

Some event in history becomes a sort of magnet-event, attracting the enthusiasm, efforts and involvement of contemporary and succeeding generations. Swami Vivekananda's speech at the Parliament of Religions, Chicago was one such event. Otherwise why should the owner of Anandabodhini journal Mr N Munisamy Mudaliyar ask the Tamil teacher of National College High School in Trichy, Mr E S Varadaraja Iyengar, to translate the Chicago speeches of Swamiji. This was happening in 1929. The Tamil teacher was living in Uraiyur, Saraswathy Nilayam.

Anandabodhini was given its name by His Holiness Karapatra Swamigal, who was at Sadhu Nilayam, Vyasarpadi. From 1915 it was running as a monthly, attracting a subscription of 20000, as the blurb in the backpages says. And when the translation of Chicago addresses was coming out in 1929, in the same year Sri Ramakrishna Math Chennai was bringing out a selection of Swamiji's words bearing on Nationalistic themes and about our country as .Namadu Thaainadu, selected and translated by Ra Krishnamurthy, with the foreword of Swami Yathiswarananda. In the Munnurai Swami Yathiswarananda says that the complete works of Swami Vivekananda was yet to come out in Tamil at that time, 1929 and opines that the said selection of Swamiji's words will well fill the gap in the meantime.

Already in 1921, Mr M S Nateson of Trichy brought out the Tamil translation of the paper on Hinduism by Swami Vivekananda, which forms part of Chicago speeches through The Vivekananda Publishing House, Teppakulam, Tiruchi.

I think even this itself will form a good research theme. i. e. various translations in various regional languages both during when Swamiji was living and after his time in the following decades. And also what were the reactions, informal and written or some comments occurring in some other places.

Yea .. An event having reverberations through time.

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Something about old books in Tamil

Sometimes the uncle and nephew combination works in a great way in history. One person, who is the uncle is a great poet. He has sung the great epic Ramayana in a shortened form as 'Sangraha Ramayanam'. His name is Narayanaswamy Iyer. It was in, say, before 1908. In about 1000 stanzas in Tamil Mr Narayanasswami Iyer has wrought a miracle. The diction is chaste and the flow is streaming and the imagination is cool. One example is when Hanuman returns back to Sri Rama after seeing Seetha Devi. The famous line in Kambar starts with 'Kanadanan' 'Have seen'. So also here in Sangraha Ramayanam

கண்டனன் சனகன் குலமானைக்
கடுவா யரவங் கலைமதியை
யுண்டா லனைய முகத்தாளை
உணவுன் உணர்வாய் உடையாளை
வண்டார் பொழில்சூழ் இலங்கைநகர்
வனத்தோர் மரத்தின் வடமுகமாய்த்
தண்டா மரையா லுலகேழுந்
தந்தா யெந்தாய்த் தவநிலையை.

Seen the dearest girl of Janaka
with face sorrow-engulfed
like the moon swallowed by the nodes
Her only food is awareness of Thee
seated in the grove under a tree
of Lanka facing the direction north
seven-fold world begotten by Thee
through a Lotus yea I have seen
austerity itself as a form. (Tr mine)

Mr Narayanaswamy Iyer's nephew was one Govindaswamy Iyer. The nephew has written a beautiful life history of the great teacher of Advaita, Sri Sankara. His work is Sankara Vijayam in 767 verses in Tamil. How both are competing each other in diction style and rhythmic flow of poetic fibre! This book came in 1909. One example is when Govinda Yogi teaches Sri Sankara -

நான்கு மாமறை முடிப்பொருள் நான்கையும் நவின்று
வான்க ருப்பொரு ளொன்றிட உத்திகள் வழங்கித்
தான்கு றிப்பொடு பிரணவப் பொருளினைச் சாற்றி
ஊன்க ழித்திடு யோகமுந் தெளிவுற உரைத்தார்.

Teaching the great four Mahavakyas of the four Vedas and instructing on the methods of gaining the nondual identity and giving the secret special teachings about Pranavam and clarifying the salient steps of non-bodiness in Yogic practice Govinda Yogi taught the Great Teacher. (tr mine)

Such an uncle and such a nephew... sometimes it happens so. Is it not?

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