An Internal dialogue – between me and I

That was after a few years since I drove on that road in front of Christian College on the East side that takes to Mavoor Road, a bye-lane those days that now is a busy lane. I followed a huge Volvo bus that steered in front of me all the way up. I felt it was almost difficult for me to overtake as vehicles moved this side as well with attention and difficulty to pass through. I then thought of the “Just Do It” slogan of Nike shoes, that I am glued with at my native place, Calicut. With the passage of time, the social system has undergone changes. We are experiencing new things or at least hearing about such things frequently and getting used to it. New freedom has given way to new frontiers. We begin with big dreams and high ambitions. Some of us achieve them and others don’t – but both sets are either happy or unhappy. “I love you” that used to be a murmur those days have given way to “I love ME” in loud terms. Commercially every possible item is on sale at a discount and the affordability to buy is also high. Lifestyle has undergone a variety of changes and people accept the New Paradigm easily as the group or peer pressure is allowing them to adapt and acquire at a rate that supersede thought processes. When our desires or ambitions manifest it creates a momentum of action in us. The mistake may be, in our ignorance that we tend to believe that whatever we think or dream of, will come true if we work hard for it. When boundaries are reset, freedom provides new meanings. Culture – the so called – also amends to suit the need, based on young minds and their demand on themselves. When I was a student, the model of code was totally different from what I set for my children and what is set by my children on my grandchild on a transitional model of code of ethic. This is when I got tuned to a definition on how to fit a square plug in a round hole theory and find ways and means to deal with the aspirations and execution of ideas that make our future life. The authority of the social fabric has shifted many rotations and touched a limit that we appreciate now, and that is due to the economic freedom coupled with the knowledge base of the people. The opportunities that galore with the new dimensions of business, deal with technology that embraces today’s life style are another dimension. This context is important where the grandfather was recently told by the youngster that “Your retirement salary is what I earned last month” and that focus on the wealth creation by the opportunity from knowledge based work and skill. When we use the force of ego and power our action and then drop it before the momentum of action takes over we are making a sacrifice. This causes frustration. When this happen, with vested economic authority the old boundaries cannot make any sense and loses its sensibilities. The issue that we confront has a lot to do with old mind sets with enlarged freedom and the new paradigms that rule the world. “Just Do It” or “I know my way” are redefining self-confidence and if directed through right channels will bring in more confidence and new ideas to deal and challenge the un-known - that is future. The sense of RIGHT and WRONG are no more perfect whites or perfect blacks – it runs down to a kind of grey where majority traverse with their lives. For arriving at this grey, we need to have an internal dialogue among ourselves. Then we need to interpret these with the freedom quotient and redefine new frontiers of authority that weaves today’s social patterns that mature and blend with the modern times, as we progress. That will engrave a deeper and more enduring and sustainable reality into the social fabric. Modern in outlook and deep-rooted with value system; like they say the old wine in a new bottle. Then we move away from extremes in behavior nurtured with an attitude that keeps us in between, in balance, like the grey that we heard before, a path that governs respectful and tolerant patterns of understanding of human values. If the aspirations of a strong India have to become real, we also need to monitor and generate codes with extended freedom within a new set of boundaries – this is the challenge. We live here at present and need to design what’s ahead by renewed thought processes without any bias and mis-belief of the environment so that not the perfect, but a more desirable outcome is evidenced. “True North” is the way management experts talk about the path finder compass. Let all of us define the broader boundaries of behavior in our social system to suit in terms of progress and shifted authorities generated by economic freedom, and look at True North and focus our attention to set forth new codes of ethics framed in such a way, confrontation give way by compassion and love for each other. If in this process we find ourselves falling off the wagon, or we are struggling to stay on it, let’s reduce the challenge, let’s re-visit and stay course to the cause so that the New Year will end at a better note than what we anticipate.