Reflections of 2021

The end of the year is a wonderful time to reflect upon what has been, where we are, and where we are going. Anybody who could have predicted this year that unfolded would have been called crazy, as who could imagine the pandemic with its consequent lockdowns, quarantines, loss, change of lifestyle, and on and on.

Much has been made about counting our blessings as we close out the year. Psychologists believe that expressing gratitude, particularly writing gratitude lists, can be very beneficial for people’s state of mind and soul.  There is nothing wrong with gratefulness, yet that seems to cut the real possibility of reflection short.

As the current year winds down, the new year brings exciting plans and opportunities. Going forward, I have made it a habit to take time to reflect during the month of December, assessing the previous year by reviewing what went well and what could have gone better, and how I can grow and change to meet the needs of future challenges. This reflection sets the stage for my personal and professional “New Year” goals.

What went well: There is a lot to be impressed with in 2021, but for me, at the top of that list are the COVID-19 vaccines, recoveries, and resilience witnessed world-over. Well, personally too I came back from the hospital with some minor physical attributions from almost a near-fatal condition.

What I wish went better: I can’t remember when we stopped listening to each other, and by that, I mean listening to those who do not think exactly like ourselves, be they our friends, parents, siblings, or kids.

I have no illusions that 2022 is going to be easy. I know that the pandemic will not be gone soon, but will eventually do, all of them do, our societies may struggle with the philosophical, and psychological polarization driven by perspectives, and the workplace will continue to be redefined, yet, I can’t help but be optimistic.

While I work on my 2022 “New Year” goals, I am pretty sure they will revolve around making the world a better place, investing in people, and being ethical and transparent.

I am Busy, I am Counterproductive!

For far too long, we have worn the medallion of being busy as the mantle of honour. We tend to see it as a good thing, to have a swelling To-do list with many things to complete, accomplish and achieve. Being constantly busy actually puts you in bad light, and may often mean being bogged down with too many plans. We may pamper ourselves by saying that this is multitasking but believe you me, it reflects the lack of planning, prioritization, scheduling, instead counter-productivity and goes to show that there are actually so many uncompleted tasks.

Being stretched thinly leads to anxiety and may lead to depression, considering we may at times perceive that we have not done anything properly. Successful people on the other hand, do fewer things and follow the principle of DOTS - Do One Thing Surely.

Pseudo Equality - A False Equivalence

Just couldn't stop myself from penning this down. We have changed a lot in our behavior towards women and the third gender. However, even the equal status of the two most prevalent fabrics of the society, men and women is far from achieved. Gender equality and gender neutrality are the two most worked upon and talked about jargon when it comes to working in advancements towards the development of women. The structural fabric of violence against women is based on patriarchy and misogyny.

On the flip side, the mere idea of feminism is being misconstrued as the idea of hating men. The correct word choice for a man-hater is a misandrist. Feminism is a range of political movements, ideologies, and social movements that share a common goal: to define, establish, and achieve political, economic, personal, and social equality of sexes.

There should be gender equality’ —a familiar line uttered repeatedly by many self-claimed modern era intellectuals, but when asked to articulate their idea and expectations, interestingly most have a different narrative, substantiated by ambiguous logic, as experienced by me -

Ladies First - counter logic, if there is equality, why should one be privileged over the other?

Women’s Reservation - doesn’t reservation make one a privileged class. How is the call for equality justified then?

Let me be a bit of a devil’s advocate in a broad sense. Gender equality means there shouldn’t be any discrimination among genders. Right? I like to define the term as ‘men and women are complementary to each other’. My argument is that gender equality means equal respect and equal remuneration in the same performance in their exclusive domain. Once you have said equal opportunity in every space, then ‘reservations’, ‘separate events’ etc. defeat the purpose.

Durga Ashtami

ऐं ह्रीं क्लीं चामुण्डायै विच्चे ॥

Durga Puja is a celebration of divine and dynamic feminine power, Shakti and her victory over the evil Mahishasura. The Durga Puja festival is one of the most societal and dramatic event filled with dance performances dedicated in the name of the deity, mythological skits and different kind of cultural performances.

Durga Ashtami is the eighth day of the Navratri celebrations. The well-known traditional belief is that when Lord Indra was vanquished, the holy trinity, Brahma-Vishnu-Mahesh, created Durga and each part of her body was blessed with strength and energies of these Gods, to defeat Mahishasura, who was bestowed a boon by Lord Brahma himself, that he could only be defeated by a female warrior. On this day, she made use of the weapons that symbolized their strength to defeat Mahishasura with her trident.

There is also a belief in some regions that Goddess Kali appeared from the forehead of Durga on this day to annihilate Chanda, Munda and Raktabija. During the Durga Puja rituals on Mahashtami, the 64 Yoginis and Ashta Nayikas (also known as Ashta Shakti) – the eight consorts of Durga, namely Brahmani, Maheshwari, Kameshwari, Vaishnavi, Varahi, Narasinghi, Indrani and Chamunda are also worshipped. On this day, women tend to take the center stage while being a stark reminder of how women used to hold a lot more power and status in ancient India. 

Durga Puja in India is much beyond the charm and sparkle of pandals and is not just limited to revelries and indulging. Durga Puja reflects the depth and richness of Indian culture and words cannot justify the grandeur and beauty of this magnificent festival. The real reason for every devotee to perform Durga Puja is the enlightenment of soul and the rejoicing of good over evil.

Come enlighten, celebrate and enjoy! JAI MAA DURGA!!

Impostor Syndrome Affects Females More?

Impostor Syndrome has long been thought to affect women more than men, particularly in male-dominated environments.

Impostor syndrome is especially prevalent in biased, toxic cultures that value individualism and overwork. We often falsely equate confidence, most often, the type demonstrated by male leaders with competence and leadership. Employees who can’t (or won’t) conform to male-biased social styles are told or made to relate to impostor syndrome, in a crude manner or in most cases, in a subtle manner.

The truth of the matter is that pretty much anywhere in the world men tend to think that they are much smarter than women. While arrogance and overconfidence are inversely related to leadership talent, yet the ability to build and maintain high-performing teams, and to inspire followers to set aside their selfish agendas in order to work for the common interest of the group often become an oversight and oft perceived unimportant perk.

The way forward is inclusive workplaces as a multivitamin that can ensure that women of all classes, color, region and skill can thrive. Rather than the focus on fixing impostor syndrome, professionals whose identities have been marginalized and discriminated against must experience a cultural shift writ large.

Leaders must create a culture for women that addresses systemic bias and racism. Only by doing so can we reduce the experiences that culminate in so-called impostor syndrome among employees from all communities and walks of life, or at the very least, help those employees channel healthy self-doubt into positive motivation, which is best fostered within a supportive work culture.

Perhaps then we can stop misdiagnosing women with “Impostor Syndrome” once and for all.

Online Education

One of the most oft-used terms after the pandemic is the term “new normal.” The new normal in education is the increased use of online learning tools and platforms. Online education is electronically supported learning that relies on the internet for teacher-student interaction and the distribution of class materials. It has quickly become the forte and future of education at all levels.

The situations arisen during COVID-19 times, has been proven that had online education systems not been in place, education worldwide would have been negatively impacted. Online education has indeed helped further educational processes than being left stand still. Live or recorded interaction with faculties, convenience of studying siting at home at any time of the day, access to live videos and recorded sessions and presentations has been made possible through online mode of imparting education. Education in the field of management at both undergraduate and post-graduate levels along with it’s due recognition by regulatory authorities has made online education emerging as the most viable method of education in the current scenario and way forward in this space.

As with most teaching methods, online learning also has its own set of positives and negatives. Decoding and understanding these positives and negatives will help in creating strategies for more efficiently deliverance and ensuring an uninterrupted learning journey for students.

Online learning brings with it --

a) Efficiency: Videos, Podcasts, PDFs

b) Accessibility in terms of time and place: Geographical Independence, Recording, Archiving

c) Affordability: reduced financial costs, learning material in soft format

d) Improved Student Attendance

e) Cutting across the bandwidth of students with different learning journey and style

But the repercussions it brings to the table -

a) Extensive focus on screen: thus reduced focus and concentration

b) Technology Issues: Internet penetration and connectivity

c) Isolation: Limited access to peers, and faculty

d) Faculty Training: up-skilling with technology

e) Health Hazards: Increased Screen Time leads to bad posture and other physical concerns

Impostor Syndrome

Think of your greatest achievements. Do you feel proud of what you've accomplished? Or do you feel like a fraud?

Does each raise, promotion or accolade bring joy? Or is it accompanied by the dread that, one day, your cover will be blown, and everyone will find out that you just got lucky?

Impostor Syndrome (also known as Impostorism, Impostor Phenomenon and Fraud Syndrome) is the overwhelming feeling that you've only succeeded due to luck, and not because of your talent or qualifications and you don't deserve your success. You become convinced that you're not as intelligent, creative or talented as you may seem. And you suspect that your achievements are down to luck, good timing, or just being "in the right place at the right time.". It is a psychological pattern in which an individual doubts their skills, talents, or accomplishments and has a persistent internalized fear of being exposed as a "fraud".

People of high ability often have a low awareness of that ability. However, that doesn't mean that they all have Impostor Syndrome, which uniquely involves a dread of "discovery." The general patterns in individuals experiencing this can be classified either self proclaimed or on behavioral basis as Perfectionists, Experts, Soloists, Natural Genius, Prodigy and Super-men/women.

Values in Education or Value Education

Education without Vision is Waste,
Education without Mission is a Burden
Education without Values is a Crime

Physical wealth is considered the hallmark of success across societies and cultures, but a person’s real success should be measured instead by the values that he or she possesses such as empathy, care, love, enthusiasm, and humaneness. Today, there is a gradual moral decline in society’s and humankind’s values. Today, there is a need to re-introduce the subject of moral values in the curriculum of Indian students, since society seems to have lost much of its faith in the ethical values of humanity.

What has been viewed for so long as a family responsibility, value education should become an important part of the curriculum of any educating body. Education imparts knowledge which in turn fosters character. 

Individual values vary from society to society, religion to religion. However, there some values like Satya (Truth), Dharma (Being true to oneself), Shanti (Peace), Prem (Love) and Ahinsa (Non-Violence) that are free from controversy and should be acceptable to all the people of the country. On the essence of religions, the Upanishads say: “Just as the milk of the cows of different colours has a single essential colour i.e. white, similarly, truth, though proclaimed by different proclaimers, is always the same”.

Think Positive

I was watching a local basketball match in our residential complex sports club. As I sat down, I asked one of the boys what the score was. With a smile, he replied, "they are leading us 53-10." I said, "REALLY!! I have to say you guys don't look discouraged or down."

"Discouraged!!?" the boy exclaimed with a puzzled look. "Why should we be discouraged when the referee has not blown the final whistle. I have confidence in the team, and we shall definitely overcome." 

Truly, the match ended 72-64 in favour of the boy's team. He waved at me gently, with a beautiful smile as he left. 

I was amazed, mouth wide open. Such confidence, such beautiful faith. As I got back home that night, his question kept coming back to me - Why should I be discouraged when the referee has not blown the final whistle.

Life is like this game, throwing challenges, pushing you down, thrusting you up, giving a few freebies.... Why be discouraged, when there is still LIFE. Why be discouraged when your final whistle has not been blown yet.

The truth is that many people blow the final whistle themselves, but as long as there is life, nothing is impossible and it is never too late. There may be breaks, time-outs, intervals, recesses but it is not yet over until it is over. Don't blow the whistle yourself.

Life is Challenge; Challenge the Negative Thoughts, Take the Optimism in your Stead. 

THINK POSITIVE 😇😇