Special issue with the Sunday Magazine
From the publishers of THE HINDU

Well-being : March 12, 2000

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The challenge of change

Raghu Ananthanarayan

The author has a Post Graduate degree from IIT, Madras. He has done a deep study of human processes along with an intensive study of yoga.

Man is confronted with the reality of globalisation, exponential growth of knowledge and an unprecedented rate of change. Till the early 1900s, the pace of change was slow with technology and ways of living remaining more or less the same during the best part of an individual's lifetime. When change in technology and the context of one's living is slow, it is possible for us to arrive at a balance between values and deeper aspirations and external transactions with the world around us. Thus the discovery of a wholesome movement between the inner and outer life of an individual, and the development of the culture could take place naturally.

Sujoy Das/Fotomedia

Well-being is a consequence of having found appropriate and adequate responses to the challenges life throws up at an individual level, or in groups of people. Today, however, discovering this wholesomeness is difficult. It becomes necessary therefore to delve into ourselves, discover that which is eternal and human and find ways of meaningfully deploying it in our work and life.

Flux and change are not adequate words to define today's reality. They do not capture the range and complexity of the changes we are experiencing. New technology and rapidly changing technology is at the heart of this flux. When large groups of people undergo such change, it is important to look at one's treasures of wisdom and examine critically what one must retain and what one must redefine in order to be viable and vibrant as we move into the future, without losing our cultural positives.

In the past, one of India's strengths was its ability to assimilate other cultures as they entered the country. Digging back into our values and changing, through introspection and reflection, has been the way in India. Many of the key principles that were at the heart of the Independence movement came from a redefinition of the Gita. Tilak and Gandhiji wrote new commentaries that were the need of the times. Gandhiji took this forward by formulating a whole new way of leading a revolution. Unfortunately, we have not been able to take this direction, in our race to industrialise the nation.

Today, it becomes important for us to attempt this mode of change once again. The yoga sutras clearly state that transformation that is lasting, comes out of meditative processes. Externally pressured change, change in form and content that is intellectually forced are temporary.

The Mahabharata is a great treasure house of concepts. One of the central themes of the text is the relationships and role-taking modalities of the five Pandavas. The unique abilities of each, the conflicts and dilemmas created by the different propensities of each of the brothers and the resolution of these differences which in turn are embodied in Krishna, the complete man (Purna Avatara Purusha).

Using these basic principles, we have tried out the idea of a "Koodam". In English we refer to this as a camp meeting, and its structure is circular. Non-judgmental and reflective listening is encouraged. Issues, problems, conflicts, dilemmas that are experienced by the community are aired. The underlying patterns and meanings are grappled with - we often use the ideas that come out of Yoga, the Ramayana and the Mahabharata to understand and explain the patterns. Through these intense discussions, individuals and groups realise how to redefine meanings for the future. They realise and articulate how the community process will change. Introspective dialogue helps the group to uncover old meanings and assumptions that are restrictive and confining. Recognising these and re-defining the new path becomes the process of creating the "oughts" of the future. Values and beliefs are reinforced and the behaviour expected from their adherence is redefined. Deep renewal takes place and there is a great energy that emerges both at the individual and group level. Through a combination of dialogue and insight, the community comes up with a resolution of issues.

D.V.Jainer/Tlelepress Features

A team of facilitators which worked with a government department found extraordinary changes initiated by the members of the department through a series of Koodam meetings. They are typically large groups of 80 to 100 who meet periodically. Functional and hierarchical differences are cast aside. Through a combination of self-expression and reflection, a new consensus emerges. New roles get defined and individual heroes emerge from the group.

The author also worked with about 80 senior managers from a business organisation in a very similar mode to help the group re-anchor its values and regenerate itself to meet future challenges. The collective passion and commitment that emerged at the end of the Koodam was amazing.

The problems we encounter in helping people through yoga-based practices are many. Some see yoga as a philosophical and religious practice; for some asana and pranayama are the beginning and end of yoga; for others it is a therapeutic practice. Its down-to-earth quality and its relevance in everyday living is not appreciated by many people. The wealth of wisdom and power of the paradigms contained in the sutras is not well known.

The assimilation process that we talked about becomes important in the sense of well-being in which change is managed. New forms and ways cannot be grafted on to individuals and in their work with organisations. Imitating or blind acceptance creates distortions in the person and they lead to a lack of well-being. It is important today to attempt a dynamic way to assimilate change. Though they are powerful "ways" to managing change rooted in Indian thought, the average Indian today responds to the challenges in front of him/ her with inadequacy and lack of self worth.

Case Study 1

Stress management programmes were conducted in a leading multinational company. The programmes were designed on the basic premise that human waste is the nucleus of all organisational waste. It is pervasive and invisible. Using the framework of Yoga Sutra (Sutra 33. Ch 1), we identified the following sources of human waste.

1. Ill health and irritability: Ill-health robs the person (and the organisation) of large chunks of time simply because the individual has no energy to act. Irritability is a close companion of ill-health. It leads to a cascade of emotional disturbance when a member of a team (particularly a senior member) is irritable. Energy and focus is lost.

2. Self doubt: Often, a person-in-charge of teams and resources, has to make judgments that have a large impact on the organisation. Such moments are called "defining moments" - they define the identity and role of the individual and the organisation. They define its future. The ability to confront such moments meaningfully is founded upon the individual's ability to answer basic questions: "Who am I?" "Why am I here? "What is our purpose/ my purpose?". Self-doubt leads to a huge wave of negative consequences.

3. Inability to listen: A complex set of factors that include bad health and lack of inner anchorage lead to bad listening, defensive listening, status conscious listening, reactive debating etc. Good listening is the basis of all improvement processes. Good listening leads to careful and appropriate use of resources.

4. Inability to persist: Choices made do not instantaneously become results. One has to traverse a journey. This calls for a long-term mobilisation of one's abilities - sustained concentration and action.

Once we had defined the problem, we chose the solutions also based on the yoga sutras and yoga practice. However, the contemporary mindset needs logic and proof! The weeklong programme brought together allopathic doctors, ayurvedic practitioners, social scientists and behavioural scientists along with the Yoga teacher.

The typical day started with a simple Asana and Pranayama course followed by meditation. Key Yoga sutras were then explained in a way that they kindled self-enquiry. This was followed by theoretical sessions where the overview of research on stress, the allopathic view of psychosomatic illnesses and Ayurvedic practice specifics of food habits, were shared with the participants. The afternoon of three hours each were spent on experiential learning sessions that helped participants review their stances in life. Insights from the Yoga Sutra were imparted to the participants through these intensive group work sessions. Story telling and use of mythological role models helped individuals understand themselves and discover their own ways to generate well being.

Case study 2

Let us look at another example to illustrate how concepts from Yoga and Vaastu can be applied to organisations. We have used these ideas to work with several NGO, Government and industrial organisations. The underlying principles are as follows:

1. Change must be founded on introspective dialogue.

2. Individuals must meet and relate without roles and position in order to experience belonging. This is clearly illustrated in the Vaastu tradition. In town planning, space is given for community gathering and celebration in which individuals meet without carrying their work roles and status. In temples, this gathering takes place where the individuals are invited to listen to stories that bring out the essential truths. In dwelling also, this space is created for coming together and renewing the human context.

3. Changes in role behaviour happen only through a re-anchoring in shared values.

The ideas of "Sakala, Sahridaya Samavaadam" (with one's faculties, with resonant heart, with a meeting of thought) defines the Indian form of dialogue. Such dialogues were undertaken during Rajasuya Yagna or Ashwamedha Yagna, when the chakravarti of the time, perceived social disturbance that could lead to disruption. Elders would sit and dialogue over the nature of changes confronting the land, new social structures and norms to live by and evolve a new definition of values and practices. Panchayats are a smaller form aimed at a similar process. The need for such spaces is enshrined in the Vaastu Shastras also.

Sankhya has given us a fundamental idea of how systems function. It uses three terms: Gati, Sanghatna and Niyati to define this, Gati - constant change, Sanghatana - an interdependence of all the elements of a universe and Niyati - order and rhythm as change unfolds.

In our history, we can see many instances of the social institutions fora being used at critical times. One of the last great attempts at this type of Samavaada was attempted by Harsha to evolve a resolution between Hindu, Buddhist and Jain thought. The attempt did not succeed. Many of Gandhiji's ways of creating consensus reflect the core principles we have discussed so far. In recent times, we have not been able to reconcile personal and systemic demands made by technology with the traditional ways of building communities and defining behaviour practised by the ancients. There is an urgent need to day for a thousand experiments of the kind we have already attempted so as to discover a way that is "culture-specific (Indian), but contemporary in form". This is the only way to put an end to "Macaulay" thought and behaviour in this country.