Bullock Cart, Mercedes, Hummer & Dog Bark

February Heat of the Year 2010 was a fiery torch & torture in an utmost interior of Punjab. We stopped by for refreshments at a simple roadside mud-bamboo architecture. We had just relished few sips of mint-sugarcane juice when a lengthy Mercedes stopped as if on a smooth silk slide. This seemingly serene event didn’t go down well with a few street dogs. They came charging in on the car and started announcing their angst in vocals. The guys inside of the Mercedes had to disappear without the sweet rejuvenation. Meanwhile the shop-wallah commented that these dogs usually don’t get to see Mercedes and hence would have been scared so as to stage the act.

Around a week back another similar thing happened. Just that this time the venue was Andheri, Mumbai and the stimuli was a bullock-cart. Treatment was almost the same from the canine species. But then they didn’t bark at the passing Mercedes a few meters away and lo!… a following Hummer met with the exact bullock-cart treatment. The security guard around commented that the bullock-carts and the Hummers are not “usual” or familiar visitors and dogs greet them with higher decibels.

‘’’’’’“Unfamiliarity breeds insecurity/fear and results in animal instinctive behavior”’’’’’

Since time immemorial, “The Familiar Vs the Unfamiliar” has been the subject of the Cartesian theater inside of the human mind too. It is not for nothing that “Change Management” has been a subject of many a pen and paper and micro-macro scopes because it bears unfamiliarity. A junction of Evolutionary Anthropology-Neuroscience will unfold that the Hundred-Trillion-Cell behemoth called “The Human” has each cell constantly processing varied stimuli for fear or security both individually and in outsourced manner [through nervous system].

This being true at the Cellular level, also has profound presence at the Individual Human entity level where different concepts made by the society invoke love or fear. Researchers at leading Universities have studied “In-Group” Vs “Out-Group” nature of humans at workplaces. The word “Cut-Throat” competition delivers both literal and metaphorical knife to most corporate employees thereby daggering co-operation, camaraderie, trust, and happiness @ Workplace. Ironical as it seems that though the success and sustainability of a Community [here read Corporate] lies in the free-flowing companionship amongst its members; however because of the “unfamiliarity”, the Selfish Darwinian Gene influences people’s con-duct.
Indian Shaastras have two maxims: “Shraddhavan Labhate Jnan” [Faith bestows Wisdom] and “Samshayaatma Vinashyati” [Doubting calls Disaster]. At the intersection of these two is the deeper truth which hints at most people projecting “pretence” instead of their “usual true natural self”. Imagine when one “pretence” meets another “pretence”, would there be any familiarity? Doubts lead people to project a non-reality which backfires in the long run.

Self-familiarity or in other words self-discovery is a life-long self-education series [known as Swaadhyay as mentioned in Niyama of Ashtaang Yoga] that demands attention of community leaders. It is hence the job of the Community Leadership to create platforms that help people open up, express, and discover themselves. Upanishads that are said to be the corollary to Ancient Vedic Texts are distinct pursuits of helping people discover themselves. Upanishads run into thousands of verses and hundreds of stories and this significantly underscores complexity of the humans and the vastness of self-discovery as a subject.

“”””””Insight:  “Self-Familiarity=Self-Discovery pave familiarity with Others”””””””

THE Race catches you, Rules not reasoned;
The Ace charms you, so never you’re seasoned.
It costs a second, To snatch…claim trophy on shelf;
It costs a Lifetime, Yet unworthy the price of knowing Self;
This Cover needs Discover; This Vent… an Invent;
Deep Inside is the Life…to be lived and to be meant.