Life is Beautiful

Samatvam yoga uchyate - Bhagavad Gita, 2:48

I understand, throughout history, nothing has killed more humans than infectious disease. It’s only a little over a decade since the last pandemic, the 2009 H1N1 struck us. Now COVID-19 threatens an even worse devastation. Among other things, it has put our otherwise fine blend of professional & personal life into disarray.

So, during the long forced self-isolation phase, the first for me, and for most others i am certain, i had decided that i would strike at the root of the highly exaggerated work-life balance by focusing only on Life, and not Work. That i will not do any professional work which clogs my mind, which gives continuous work to my brain. And, as an extension of that theory, i decided not to log into LinkedIn as well. Until, a good friend of mine shared this wonderful post by Ramesh Menon titled: Black Swans and Green Viruses – A Guide to Surviving and Thriving. Taking inspiration from the famous 2007 best-seller The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable by Nassim Nicholus Tayeb, Ramesh beautifully elucidates how this coronavirus lockdown and its consequences can be very effectively used to our advantage. It’s interesting to note that Nassim Tayeb who wrote about the consequences of unpredictable events, continues to inspire the financial world, with Universa Tail Fund, the fund advised by him delivering 3,600% returns just now, in March 2020. Ramesh summarises the four critical elements that he is going to focus on professionally, when life returns to normalcy and he gets back to work - Business Process Re-Engineering, Cost Optimisation, Digital Transformation and Change Management. His well thought through ideas are good for leaders driving, both traditional as well as new-age businesses.

He shows us how we can utilise this generous time-in-hand to build a robust plan to Restructure, Re-invent, Re-set and Rebuild our business for the future? He asks how many of us can use this time to Re-Vision and Rebuild to Revel in the Post-Covid world.

Though I should admit, I very reluctant dragged myself and logged into LinkedIn and read the piece. I found it succinct and very insightful. By the time I read and decided to add a few words of praise as a comment to the post, i found some of the doyens of the Indian corporate world, across sectors like retail, eCommerce, digital, FMCG had already done that and more. Mine was neither going to get noticed nor make a difference. 

Take a bow, Ramesh. You were always the quiet & serious intellectual in the family.

Now, i also realised, reading this can also put a few professional folks like me in a lot of pressure, because I haven’t done any professional thinking during the last 20 days, on what to do when i get back to work. I know it can be frustrating to many. Sometimes you look back and wonder, ‘did I waste my whole time?’. I mean, the entire 40 days, now that our PM has asked us to stay at home for another 20 days?!! Today, on the auspicious day of Vishu, I was looking back at the last 20 days and wondering what is it that i did, that i don’t even feel pressurised or suffer from any guilt. So, I thought I will play his alter ego and flip the ‘importance’ to the many little ‘trivial’ things that can be done during a lockdown situation. This is, in a sense, justifying all that I did (or did not) during this period. A kind of ‘Balance’. I like that word a lot.

Now, let me add another valuable insight here. For all those professionals in their fifty’s (including yours faithfully), these 40 days is the trailer of your post-retirement life. So, those suffering from the ‘fear of the unknown’ syndrome, this is as good or bad as it can get. If the last 20 days haven’t been interesting or hasn’t made you feel like a ‘feather in the wind’, then tweak and change the format for the remaining 20 days. I would advise you spent these ‘lockdown’ days enjoying doing interesting things, then you will know how to plan to spend your retirement days.

I liked the way Ramesh had knitted the words (or phrases) - Restructure, Reinvent, Reset & Rebuild into his article. Taking a cue, i decided to identify the five things i did with those glasses. That ain’t plagiarism, right?!

Warning: Read only if you have nothing else to do.

Firstly, like many, even i would have loved to have involved in social work during this difficult time. It’s not that i didn’t think how i could make myself useful to others. However, in a total lockdown scenario like this, living in a perceived hotspot location, i know there were so many challenges at an individual level to participate in voluntary activities, so I shared what best I could with a close friend’s NGO since I knew she was doing a great job and my little contribution, though insignificant, may find its way to the intended people.

With that satisfaction, i was wondering how to make this lockdown look like a blessing-in-disguise for me and people around me. I mean, imagine all those who have been working non-stop 24X7, 7 days a week, 365 days a year (I can see a lot of hands going up). Frankly, even if i didn’t literally work that way, my mind was formatted that way. There was always some unfinished professional work to attend to. To add to that, a cousin i called to check if he was was in a relaxed state of mind since he was in a WFH mode due to lockdown complained that his working hours has actually increased. So, I thought the real trick was to put all ‘work’ away. Those of you who thought so like me, please remember, you are not alone. Well, I don’t know what you did, i did the following five, among other things.

My Five RE’s

REad

I am among those people who loves to buy books. No eBooks or Kindle works for me, i love the smell of paperbacks. And i buy books which are recommended by people who i consider intellectuals (shit-load of them, to be honest) and the ones I browse through on my own or read about in different places. But, but, don’t necessarily read it regularly, religiously everyday. A few pages every night didn’t work actually. So, here I was so happy that I could read chapter after chapter without work running through my mind or disrupting my concentration. It really works. That was my experience.

So, you can read poetry, history, fiction, science, whatever. But read. I would recommend REad as the first of the RE’s. I am reading Amitav Ghosh Ibis Trilogy right now. Into my second book. What is yours?

REconnect

I am sure many of you, like me, have a whole bunch of friends, who are classified as important in our brain, but we don’t get to speak to them as often as we should. Well, actually, we seldom speak to them. They will always remain friends, but we don’t get to call them as the number of people we need to call for professional purpose every day take over that part of our prefrontal cortex that is responsible for recollection. Calling a long-standing friend or a favorite cousin or a loving sibling always remained in the ‘to do’ lists.

Connect with them. You got lotsa time to talk about so many things, silly things, things that never meant anything then neither do they now. Whatever. The feeling is so wonderful. They have time and you have time too. REconnecting is like REliving the most cherished moments.

RElax

Let me be honest, if I had shit load of money, I probably would not be involved in professional work the way i am or worried too much about what I have to deliver for someone as a professional consultant, about the impact of a pandemic on work, deadlines to meet, bank balance, et al. I would be far more relaxed. But, come to think of it, if you really ponder about life, even on a normal day, we don’t need to be worried. I mean, we overrate this phenomenon called ‘human life’. We give too much importance to ‘human life’, and by default to ‘ourselves’, ‘our work’. Not that they are unimportant by any stretch of imagination, but they are not THE important aspect of life. So, if you took time off from work, if your mind desired to get occupied with something less important than office work. So be it. Especially now. After all, this is one of those times when our Govt has mandated us to remain at home. Did you notice, even people you don’t know from Adam would have wished you - ‘stay home, stay safe’.

So, remain in a state of ‘Samatvam’.

Quoting Bhagavat Gita, 2:48 again - “Perform action, O Arjuna, being steadfast in yoga, abandoning attachment and balanced in success or failure. Such equanimity is called yoga.”

Swami Sivananda while explaining the verse says, Samatvam is having the ability to remain cheerful in adverse conditions, to have fortitude in meeting danger. Samatvam means being able to go through the routine of life, amidst the din and clamour of the world, patiently and joyfully. Samatvam means evenness of mind upheld amidst the worst of all difficulties, turmoil and calamities

Now, that was Lord Krishna advising Arjuna in the midst of a real war, it holds true in every situation, even the one your mind goes through at times. So, relax. Breathe easy. Like meditating with your eyes open through the day. Practice pranayama where your mind by default inhales, holds and exhales at a comfortable 1:1:2 ratio. Try it. Its bliss.

REjoice (and not ‘REvenge’)

You must be wondering why does revenge feature in the list of ‘things I did’. Now that I have got your attention, it is just because of a funny personal experience. We decided to move to Kerala a little before the lockdown began, foreseeing our difficulty to manage our children in an apartment in Bangalore where the office bearers (retired defence personnel’s) are perennially disappointed with civilian youngsters, and don’t like to see them roaming around within the society, even on a normal day. My sons took umbrage. They felt we denied them their rightful share of fun, during the ensuing long break when they didn’t have any plans to do anything even remotely close to academics. But we literally kidnapped them to Kerala. So, soon as the lockdown was announced both my sons swore REvenge. My elder son swore he will watch K-Movies, K-Drama and K-Pops through the day to annoy us. And my younger one said he will produce TikTok videos. They knew nothing annoys us more than that. What seemed as brutal in the beginning ended up being a pleasant experience. I thought if you can’t fight them, join them. Ended up realising that these K-Movies and K-Dramas are actually high-quality stuff. I mean, there is much more than just ‘Parasite’ to showcase K-movies. And believe you me, those TikToks he produced were hilarious. To think that we enjoyed the one where he takes a pot-shot at us, his parents, the most. This guy does have a terrific sense of humor.

Here REvenge turned to REjoice. I realise the important thing is to enjoy whatever be the challenging circumstances you are in. Never in my life did i think i would be engrossed with a K-Drama or watch any creation on what i thought was a stupid and silly social media app called TikTok. Anything can be an occasion for rejoicing

REdiscover

Frankly, for long now, beyond watering plants in the cute little balcony garden in the apartment, I have not attempted much of farming or gardening in the strictest sense. Now, with time in hand, reasonably large piece of land in front of you and most importantly, the resolve to not do any official work, it became the ‘what’s stopping you’ moment. Planting tapioca, harvesting them, enjoying many a wholesome meal from home grown vegetables, climbing tree to pick pepper, plucking mangoes and jack fruits. You name it. At this age, along with my son, i didn’t hesitate to shift a quantity equivalent to a small mini truck load of boulders from one place to the other, to recover a small patch of land for planting vegetables. Well, i did test my culinary skills too

Truly went back in time. It reminded me of my childhood days. All these were done in the past too, and forgotten. Getting to do all that over again and enjoy was a rediscovery of sorts. I am sure, at least some of you would have indulged in many such activities that brought back old memories.

Please don’t think i am trying to lecture, advise or question people who are happily working from home. Just want you to know, that you don’t need to feel guilty if you haven’t done much professionally during this time. Don’t be harsh on yourself. Unwinding is important for your career too. If you haven’t, then start now. This is the time. Our PM has given us all another 7 days at the least, which may eventually go up to 19 more days. While your thoughts should remain with the ones who are going through a very difficult time, go REdiscover yourself too – take up any old hobby, passion or activity that gives you happiness. Cooking, gardening, carpentry, whatever.

Rewind your life. Think. You will discover the sweet spot.

This pandemic should and may well be the only one we will see in our lifetime. So, could be this opportunity to ‘unwind’.