I Am Not Yet Ready

 

What is the difference between human beings and animals? Can the difference be defined with a most notable single feature? It is the capacity to think, understand and relate. The human brain works at different levels at the same time. It takes in multiple inputs, sorts and understands them, store and retrieve the required parts as and when desired. There is also the capacity to transfer these stored and accumulated information and knowledge. Some animals also display such qualities but they are to a very limited extent. Dogs and Parrots are the best examples. Other animals are also trained to do certain actions and used in shows and circus. Some of them like Elephants are used to work as well so that the life of humans is simplified and made easy. But all these meet with limited success. This basic distinction also results in the capacity of human beings being able to visualise things, plan their execution and act decisively to achieve those plans. This makes human life interesting as well as complicated! 

Human beings visualise, plan and execute those plans. This requires action or a series of actions. As a human being is executing many plans simultaneously, there are multiple sets of actions in implementation at any point in time. In case of team tasks, there are multiple sets of actions being implemented by each member of the team to achieve the common goal. 

What are the basic objectives behind all these actions? This is a very interesting question. One of our well known ancient philosophers Kumarila Bhatta has quoted from Parashara Samhita (Verse 59 of 13th Chapter) that even a stupid person will not venture into something without evaluating its utility  (प्रयोजनमनुद्दिश्य न मन्दोपि प्रवर्तते - Prayojanamanuddishya na mandopi pravartate). His evaluation may be defective, but it is another matter. This being the case why does a person act in a given direction?

Each action has two basic objectives; to get rid of some difficulty or sorrow and achieve some pleasure (दुःख निवृत्ति, आनंद प्राप्ति). Thus many actions lead to a second situation (action) to rid of an existing situation. The funniest part is that each pleasure so derived often brings its own pain either immediately or with a time lag. This leads to a further action and so on....

The above chain is very well chronicled in the birth of Draupadi in Mahabharata. 

***** 

Sage Bharadwaja is one of the Saptarshis, the seven revered sages, and is credited with immense contributions to our Vedic literature, Ayurveda and many other branches of learning. He is the son of Devaguru Brihaspati and devoted his entire life to learning and teaching. He had taken a vow of celibacy and remained a bachelor. One morning he was going to the river near his hermitage to take bath and start his daily routine. Ghrutachi, a celestial nymph (apsara) had just finished her bath in the river and came up. A strong wind blew away the thin cloth she was covering herself with. She recovered her cloth and went away. Rishi Bharadwaja saw her and for a moment his mind was severely disturbed. Surprised at the happening, but satisfied that this was due to some cosmic will of the Lord, he collected the semen in a vessel made of leaves. In due course of time, a handsome boy came out from the pot. The boy was named as Drona, as he was born not from a mother's womb but a Drona, a container made from leaves. 

Sage Bharadwaja brought up the boy by giving him proper education. The prince of Panchala kingdom, Drupada, joined the gurukul of Bharadwaja. Drona and Drupada became close friends. Drupada once promised that when he becomes the king of Panchala, Drona can have anything he wants, even half of his kingdom. In due course, Drona came to be known as Dronacharya and was appointed by Bhishma as the Chancellor of the Archery and Weapons Training School in Hastinapur. Drupada became the king of Panchala. Dronacharya married Krupi,  the sister of Krupacharya, Guru of the Hastinapur kings. The son of Dronacharya and Krupi was named as Ashwatthama, who later became an important General in the army of the Kauravas.

Dronacharya was leading a contented life with Krupi before coming to Hastinapur, without asking any favours from anyone else. Young Ashwatthama was being given rice flour mixed in water as milk. After becoming friend with Duryodhana, once he had a chance to drink the real milk in the palace. Ashwatthama demanded that he be given real milk henceforth. Krupi persuaded Dronacharya to approach his childhood friend Drupada, who had now become a king, for getting a cow so that Ashwatthama can be given proper milk. Though unwilling, Dronacharya went to king Drupada. Drupada laughed at his friend and said there cannot be any friendship between a king and a pauper. Enraged at this behaviour of Drupada, Dronacharya took a vow that he would have Drupada captured by his disciples to teach him a lesson. A new set of actions were set in motion now.

At the convocation of the Archery and Weapon School in Hastinapur, the issue of giving "Guru Dakshina" (a fee by the student to his teacher) came up. Dronacharya used the opportunity and told kauravas and pandavas that he would like them to defeat Drupada, capture and present him at Guru's feet. Kauravas went first but were defeated by Drupada and his army. Pandavas went in next and Arjuna succeeded in in defeating and capturing Drupada. Dronacharya pardoned Drupada and sent him away saying that he is now gifting away the entire panchala kingdom to Drupada.

Now it was the turn of Drupada to feel insulted. He was extremely impressed by the bravery and skills of Arjuna. He now decided that he would do something to get a son who would kill Dronacharya to get his revenge. He will also get a daughter so that he can make Arjuna his son-in-law. The twin desires now put a further set of actions in motion!

*****

The task was not an easy one. There must be some method to achieve these twin objectives, Drupada thought. He entrusted the kingdom to his ministers and set forth in search of someone who could guide him to achieve his goals. He went to the forest and found a Rishi who appeared competent to guide him. The rishi was Upayaja, a brother of rishi Yaja (Similar to Indra and Upendra, Upa meaning younger brother). After hearing Drupada's request, Upayaja refused and said that he is not willing to get involved. On repeated requests by Drupada, Upayaja said that he can approach his elder brother Yaja who may accept his request. After serving Yaja for a long time, he agreed to do a holy ritual (Yagna) to achieve the objectives. But Yaja put a condition; it was not possible for him to do it alone and his brother Upayaja should join him in the conduct of the ritual! Drupada was now again forced to go to Upayaja. Upayaja agreed to assist Yaja as it was a command of his elder brother. The two brothers made all arrangements and started the ritual.

The time was set for the ritual. Drupada and his wife Queen Prishati started the proceedings. After the initial phase, Prishati was permitted to attend to the guests and arrangements at the site and advised to be available as and when called to take further part in the ritual. At the conclusion of the ritual, a divine messenger appeared from the fire and handed over the "Yagna Phala" to Chief of the ritual, Rishi Yaja. Yaja advised Drupada to call his queen Prishati to join him to receive the Yagna Phala. When the queen was called to the site of the sacred fire, she said "I Am Not Yet Ready" to receive the Phala as she was busy with some chore and had perfume in her hands. Enraged at this Rishi Yaga shouted and said that the divine events do not care whether anyone is ready to respond to them. He said that a ritual done under the leadership of Yaja and Upayaja cannot go waste nor can it wait for someone to come. He put back the yagna phala back into the sacred fire with a prayer.

As a consequence of this, a remarkable boy of about 14 years in shining armour emerged from the fire. Following him, a very beautiful girl with dark complexion emerged from the fire. The boy was named Drishtadyumna and the girl was named as Krishnaa due to her complexion. She was later known as Draupadi, the daughter of Drupada. The one born without a mother's womb (Dronacharya) was now destined to be killed by another born without a mother's womb (Drishtadyumna). Another set of actions were set in motion now.

Queen Prishati was now crestfallen. She had looked forward to be a proud mother of divine children, but now was deprived of this distinction. She was also worried as to how the two children would deal with her now that the bond a mother had with her children she delivered is absent. She requested Yaja and Upayaja to bless her. The two brothers recognised her position and gave her a boon. "The two children will treat you as if you have given birth to them. You will enjoy all the blessings and happiness a mother can expect from her children. Shower your love and affection on them as well", they blessed her. Thus ended the saga of the sacred ritual, but it was only sowing the seeds of the future actions.

*****

In all such sacred rituals, Yagna Phala results in the couple getting children delivered by the mother, but this was an exception when the children emerged from the sacred fire itself. It is a very interesting and intriguing story. 

Is there a lesson in this for us? Revenge opens the gates for another revenge, is the first one. Forgiving and starting a new chapter in one's life is more beneficial than keeping old wounds open and seeking to settle scores with our friends who may sometimes offend us. Understanding that elders and events do not wait for us and we should be ever ready, is the second. The main objective should not be forgotten while looking into allied things, one should remember. If and when something adverse happens, one should try to retrieve and salvage whatever best is possible, as done by Queen Prishati, is the third.

Do you find any other lesson as well?

You Are Always Late

Friction at cash counters is not an uncommon sight in bank branches. Modren technology has rendered counting of cash and detection of fake notes much simpler than what it used to be some forty years ago. When cash counting machines had not yet made their debut, and digital banking and Alternate Delivery Channels (ADCs) like ATMs, internet and mobile banking were not heard of, large volume of cash had to be examined and counted by cashiers each day. Cash was to be first counted and received, then sorted into issuable and soiled notes, stitched into packets of 100 notes each and bundled at 10 packets per bundle. All this took the required amount of time and could not be dispensed with. Handling cash is different from other banking chores and a cashier is accountable for every single piece of currency note he handles. Any shortage is to be made good by the handling cashier immediately. Small denomination notes and cut and mutilated notes add to the problem. "Clean Note Policy" has brought some semblance of discipline in handling currency notes by the general public nowadays. The most important development is routing of large number and volume of transactions through paper-based and electronic payment systems. Despite all this cash handling is still a sensitive issue at bank branches.

Many branches in those days (around 1980) were working in two shifts, for the convenience of customers mostly in residential areas. Branches in market and industrial areas were working between 10 AM to 5 PM with business hours up to 2 PM. Residential area branches were working in two shifts; say 8.30 AM to 12 Noon and again from 4.30 PM to 7.30 PM. Business hours in such branches was restricted to first two hours in each session, say 8.30 AM to 10.30 AM and again from 4.30 PM to 6.30 PM. These branches worked for half a day (morning session) on Sundays and had holidays on Mondays. This was the general pattern of working hours with margins of half an hour on either side. These timings were convenient to working people and housewives as they could finish their banking transactions before going to office or in the evening free time. It also suited many staff members for various reasons. Bank managements were also considerate in posting staff in these branches. A small allowance titled "Split Duty Allowance" was also paid to the staff members to compensate travel to the branch one more time each day. 

Customer inflow (Footfall is the word used used for this nowadays) used to be high in such branches in the first hour in the morning and last hour in the evening. Staff were keen to finish the work and go home as early as possible in the evening. Transport facilities were not this advanced then. Of course, there were not such traffic jams as well. Finishing work was relatively easy in other sections as some things could be carried over to the next day. But not so in cash department as all the prescribed steps had to be completed before the cash is closed for the day and stored in the strong room. Head Cashier and Cash in-charge were the last people to leave the branch in the evening.

A customer bringing large amount of cash, that too in small denominations, was like a Red Rag before the Cashier Bull. There would be some violent exchanges. The intensity depended on the nature of both the customer and the cashier and the chemistry between them. In one of the branches where I was working as Assistant Manager and Cash-in-charge, there used to be a small exchange between the cashier and some customers almost every day. A mother does not always interfere when her small children have fights at home. She keeps a watch and interferes only when the fight tends to go out of control and one of the kids is likely to be injured. I had followed the same policy. Things were working out fine generally, except a few occasions when some action was required to cool the frayed tempers. Branch Manager usually was away in the evenings on business development calls and not available to handle such situations.

There was one customer who always came in the evening twice a week; on Wednesdays and Saturdays. He would come just before closing time in the evening and remit large amount of cash for purchase of DDs. His appearance at the branch door would immediately create some tension for the cashier and the DD writer. DD writer would manage to find the amount and prepare the DD in advance, place it on my table and go home. But cashier did not have this luxury. He had to receive, count and close the cash systematically. One Saturday evening things went out of control. "You are always late. You bring large amount of cash and always in small denominations. Why can't you come early? Why don't you bring high denomination notes?  You are always making my home going very late", he was telling the customer in a raised voice. The cashier was recently married. Had he been married for several years, he would have probably welcomed the idea of going home late.

There was indeed a need for interfering now. I called the customer and enquired what was the nature of his business. He was the proprietor of a Poultry Farm situate some 20 miles from our branch. He told me that Wednesday and Saturday were his collection days. He would be busy entire mornings in his farm looking after the birds, feeding them, collecting eggs and segregating broiler birds for delivery. After loading the eggs and birds into his delivery van after lunch, he would come into the city for delivering them and collecting payments for supplies made during the previous visits. This work would be over by sunset. With all the cash collections he would come to the branch, tender cash and buy DD for purchase of poultry feed for the next cycle. He had no control over the denomination of notes given by his customers. He politely said that he wants to come early, but his strict schedule does not allow him to come earlier than this.

I had a talk with the Branch Manager on the next day. I suggested that the cashier can be taken to the Poultry Farm during his next visit to enable the cashier to understand the problem of the customer. BM liked the idea and arranged for a visit to the poultry farm for the entire branch staff on a Sunday afternoon. This brought about a big change in the attitude of the cashier and the angry exchanges stopped. The customer and the cashier would greet each other now and carry on with their respective work. There was no early going for the cashier even now, but tension was reduced thereafter.

This episode gave a valuable lesson in people management at the branches. In the later years, during my field visits I took one or two staff members to the units, be they manufacturing units, trading ones or units of any other type. This brought staff at branch nearer to the customers and helped in appreciating the needs and constraints of the customers. 

*****

Empathy develops by seeing and experiencing things, not by mere words. People management skills are not a fixed schedule; they have to be invented and adapted depending on the given situations. Each delicate situation does indeed have some solution. These solutions have to be found by a little effort and imagination.

Executive Summary

We often hear people say "We have to take a decision" or "We are unable to take a decision". What is a "Decision"? Why decision is to be taken? What are the consequences of not taking a decision in time? How a decision is taken? What are the inputs for taking a decision? These questions do beg for an answer.

The word "Decision" is defined in many ways. One of such definitions is "the act or need for making up of one's mind". It is a mental process leading to some conclusion. This conclusion then leads to action or a set of actions. Decision making is an important requirement in any aspect of life. We are making several decisions everyday in our personal lives. Some are of not much impact on the future happenings. Some others may change the course of lives and communities. It is so even in organizations. There are defined processes in today's institutions and business enterprises for arriving at decisions. It is even said that "Not taking a decision is also a decision"!

Let us examine an example to understand the process of decision making. A loan application is received in a bank branch. This is the first set of papers that starts a file. As the application is processed at different levels in the bank, papers pile on the application. The size of the file grows. There is bio-data or information about the promoters. There can be information about the allied firms or group companies. There can be a bulky DPR (detailed project report) prepared by an expert. There would be an analysis of the DPR by another independent expert. A techno-economic feasibility study report would join these later on. Then there would be financial statements and their analysis reports. The file would arrive at the next level with a full-fledged proposal for sanction of credit facilities with the recommendations of the branch manager. Experienced experts would further add value to the file by adding some more papers. Clarifications may be called for and in reply some more papers would be added to the file. The proposal finally arrives at Head Office. Here we have some more super experts who dissect the entire file and come up with their own report and recommendations. The collective wisdom or foolishness of all these experts, super experts and ultra-experts has produced a big file with voluminous data and multiple analysis. The file is now sitting on the table of the big boss, who is the sanctioning authority. 

In respect of high value proposals, the file has one more hurdle before reaching the big boss. There would be a committee of experts to discuss and deliberate on the proposal. It has names such as "Executive Committee" or "Credit Committee" or "Committee of Experts" or some other similar fancy name. This committee vets the entire file (or it is so believed) and the big boss has one more set of papers for his perusal. Now a decision has to be taken unless the promoters have found someone else who has already sanctioned the loan or have abandoned the project by now. The ultimate result may be a simple two line letter stating that the proposal stands rejected (the second line may have been added as one line alone may appear to be curt or unprofessional) or it may be a sanction followed by a long list of terms and conditions. Of course, there would be another set of experts who analyze these terms and conditions in greater detail and come up with fully acceptable arguments as to why these conditions should not have been there in the first place. That is for another future day.

The bog boss has a tough task on his hands now. He has a voluminous file (or it could be a set of files) before him to take a decision. The issue is not different even in a computerized atmosphere. There are many files in soft form here even though the task itself is indeed hard. There are many similar sets of files before him and they all call for a decision expeditiously. How can he read and understand all this information and decide in a short time? There is no hard rule that a decision is to be taken after understanding the issues. But still the belief is that the issues are read and understood. Therefore there is a need for a tool to place on record that the sanctioning authority has indeed applied his mind on the issues involved. There is great deal of comfort in such understanding for all concerned, except those who are disappointed with the final decision. 

Hierarchies have invented a wonderful tool to answer this challenging issue. It is called an "Executive Summary".  An "Executive Summary" or "Management Summary" is a short document that summarizes a long report or proposal or file or set of files in such a way that the reader can understand the whole issue rapidly and become an expert instantly. This enables the user of the executive summary to grasp the entire gamut of underlying issues and come up with a quick decision. The executive summary has rendered decision making fast, easy and painless process, though preparing an executive summary itself may be a very painful process for those preparing it.

*****

A senior bank executive was fed up with his high voltage banking activities day after day and desired a change from the monotonous routine. He decided to take up study of literature as a diversion measure and recoup his energies before resuming the banking activities once again. He took a month's leave and went to a library to start his literary pursuits. (He was surprised to find that a month long leave was sanctioned to him and wondered how the organization would work without him for that long. But others in the bank knew that his presence or absence did not really matter). He was astounded at the volumes of books everywhere and did not know where to start his mission. It also dawned on him that there was no way he could finish even a small part of his new found hobby in the one month period. He checked on the authors of the books on "GOOGLE" and found that sage "Veda Vyasa" was one of the oldest and biggest authors of all times. He sought an appointment with Veda Vyasa which was duly granted. He met the great sage on the appointed day at the Badarinath abode of the sage in Upper Himalayas. The conversation went on something like this:

"OH mighty sage! Thank you for granting me this appointment and more than that sticking to it without excuses to avoid it. I want to study literature but do not know where to start. As you are considered first among the authors, I thought I should consult you to find a solution to my problem" (The executive should have used the word "see" instead of "Consult". Fortunately, no consultancy charges were levied as the sage did not find any use for money and did not even have a Jan Dhan Zero Balance Account as no banker went to that cold place to open his account. The sage would have found it impossible to produce the required photo identity and address proof. He has no AADHAAR as well).

"Young executive, How can I help you?" (Though the executive was old and on the verge of retirement, he was young for the old sage whose real age is not known to us....)

"I am used to reading "Executive Summary" on files and understand the contents"

"I know that. What can I do for you?"

"Can you prepare and give me an executive summary of all your literary works? That helps me to save time and understand your literary productions"

"Dear young man, you indeed appear to be hard-pressed for time. What should be the size of the summary you desire?"

"Can it be in six or eight pages? If you can make it in four, it is even better"

"Do you want an executive summary only for my works or for the entire literature in the universe produced from eternity till now?"

"That is a perfect solution to my problem, but make it as brief as possible"

Sage Veda Vyasa smiled. "I do not need even four pages and I do not need time to prepare it. I will give you an executive summary of all the literature in this world in half a verse (Half stanza). In fact I have given it long long ago. For your benefit, I will repeat it now. Listen carefully"

श्लोकार्धेन प्रवक्ष्यामि यदुक्तं ग्रन्थ कोटिभिः |

परोपकारं पुण्याय पापाय परपीडनम् ||

Slokardhena pravakshyami yaduktam granthakotibihi

paropakaaram punyaya papaya parapeedanam

I am summarizing all that is said (written) in the millions of books in half a line. Whatever is done for the benefit of others is Punya (Good deed). Whatever done that harms others is Paapa (Sin).

*****

Executive Summary is not a product of modren management schools. We can find its origin as well in Sage Veda Vyasa!

Veda Vyasa's Executive Summary

Some have the habit of saying "Where is the time?" at least a dozen times in a day.  They have no time for anything.  If you observe them carefully, they are too busy.  Too busy doing nothing most of the time.  Some busy people truly have no time for certain things.  They always manage to find time to do things they want to do.  All of us have no time to do what we are not keen to do.  Time Management is the subject of many training sessions and workshops.  Expert trainers in "Time Management" are themselves found to be poor managers of their own time.  That is quite understandable.  They teach others; not themselves.  As Laurence J Peter mentions in his famous book "Peter's Principle", "They saved others; themselves they could not save".

The real pressure on time is on the housewives or home makers.  Their peak time arrives much before or just before their children leave for school and other members of the family go for work.  If they themselves are also working in some office or establishment, the pressure is even more.  They do not even have time to eat a proper breakfast.  They could be seen eating their breakfast in the buses or vehicles while commuting to office from home.

There is true pressure on time in many work situations.  Persons occupying high positions have to attend to many important things at the same time.  They are required to read, understand, evaluate and act on voluminous reports and proposals and decide in quick time.  Over and above this, meetings eat away most of their time.  In order to remedy such situations and aid in fast decision making, the concept of "Executive Summary" is put in place.  It has become customary to prepare an executive summary, sometimes also called "Management summary", with every report or proposal.  Preparation of such a summary needs skill and experience.  Otherwise, instead of putting things in nutshell, the nut will remain in the shell - the big report.   

An "Executive Summary" is a short document that summarizes a longer report or proposal to enable the reader to understand a large body of material without having to read it in its entirety.  It differs from an "Abstract" often used in academic research, that helps the reader to decide whether or not to read the document.  An executive is condemned to read the  "Executive Summary" and decide on the underlying issue based on it.  Even if the final decision is not to decide or return the file with some queries that aid in postponing the decision.  As one of our former Prime Ministers said, not deciding things is also a decision.  It works many times; issues get solved before a final decision is taken.  Thus rendering decision making redundant.

In my post titled "Learning and Teaching" (Please click on this to read it), I had made a mention of the contributions of Maharishi Veda Vyasa to the cause of universal knowledge.  It may surprise many, but the original author of an Executive Summary is also Veda Vyasa himself!  In fact, a reference to Veda Vyasa's executive summary came up in the Constituent Assembly discussions when the various articles of our constitution were discussed and voted by the Assembly.  The discussions in the Constituent Assembly held on 19th May 1949 was presided over by Dr. Rajendra Prasad.  Those who took part in the debate included illustrious names such as Prof. K T Shah, H V Kamath, Tajamul Hussain, Nazimuddin Ahmad, T T Krishnamachari, K Santhanam, Dr B R Deshmukh and M  Ananthasayanam  Ayyangar.   Dr B R Ambedkar was replying to the debate and intervening as the Chairman of the Constitution Drafting Committee.  While moving an amendment to Article 80, H V Kamath mentioned about the bulkiness of the draft Constitution and referred to Veda Vyasa.  He mentioned about the famous Veda Vyasa's statement as under:

श्लोकार्धेन प्रवक्ष्यामि यदुक्तं ग्रन्थ कोटिभिः |  परोपकारं पुण्याय पापाय परपीडनम् ||


Shlookaardhena pravakshyaami yaduktam Grantha Kootibhihi
Paroopakaaram Punyaya Paapaaya Parapeedanam!

Vyasa is the author of voluminous literature that includes the four Vedas, eighteen Puranas and many other works.  Someone like the modern day executive went to him and told him that he does not have time to read and understand them.  He wanted Veda Vyasa to summarize all his works in a "Executive Summary".  Veda Vyasa said he would do even better than that.  Why only his works?  He would summarize the writings in millions or billions of books in half a verse.  The executive summary given by him reads thus:

Whatever is done for the benefit of others (meaning the general community) are good deeds (Punya).  Whatever is done to harm others are bad deeds (Paapa).  Simple Executive summary of a billion books!

Executive summary is not an invention of the west.  It is truly an Indian art and science.  Panini's "Shivasutras" sums up entire Grammar in some formulae that can be easily remembered.  Amarakosha or "Naamalingaanushaasana" is a full dictionary that was known to every child by heart.  "Brahma Sutras" summed up the essence of  Indian Philosophy.  These were easy to remember and retrieve.  Come with you wherever you go.  No need to carry the physical books.  No cartage or taxes.  No threat of termites and mice; no fear of a friend borrowing them and never remembering to return!