"One good action is better than million good intentions; because we judge ourselves by our intentions, but others judge us by our actions" - so says my longtime school & family friend - Seemaa *- on FaceBook today.
To me, these words are precious pearls of wisdom.
Blame it on education, age, economy, IQ - and other such true, invented or conveniently attributable factors - humans, particularly those from the so called elite / intellectual class or pretenders seem to take to cynicism pretty easily. This is quite evident from nature of messages that I get to glance from other networking forums, which allow my mailbox to keep getting bombarded with middle aged erudite (but not always esoteric) criticism of how systems are bad, and how elite individuals have done well in life mainly due to our their individual calibre without much of a help from systems they've been part of.
The age old adage " Pen is mightier than the sword' seems to rule the roost and guide networkers to pride ( verb) in their analytical ability & articulation skills, beside serving as an outlet to cater to their competitive urge(s) & creative juice(s). Writers write lots of good stuff as to what should Governments, Systems & Individuals do to remedy unfavorable situations and make life better on the planet. A common knee-jerk in some cases is to propose forums & sub forums for more writing and analysis.
Seldom, do we see thoughts or intentions becoming actionables or implementables. Writing, counter writing & more writing seems to be the real trip , for not only does it satisfy the Maslow(ian) social & esteem needs of the individuals, but also provides excellent opportunity to further improve upon or maintain their already good writing skills.
While most of it makes for good reading or feeling good when the intentions sound good, it is worth pondering if thought leaders have it in them to be the great action men too. Are both - thought & action - possible in a class of individuals, albeit serially if not together?
I like to think most fellow bloggers on this forum as thought leaders & my intention on this blog is definitely not to catalyze action, but to spur further thought on the concluding portion of my friend's remark ".....but others judge us by our actions". Do we care for judgment??
* Just for a background, Seemaa Middya assists Corporates and Individuals as a transformation agent . She runs her own consultancy and her experience includes about 7 years of being associate / partner of the well known trainer & hypnotist Santosh Babu, also known as the trainer with a snake, besides teaching in school for 21 years.
To me, these words are precious pearls of wisdom.
Blame it on education, age, economy, IQ - and other such true, invented or conveniently attributable factors - humans, particularly those from the so called elite / intellectual class or pretenders seem to take to cynicism pretty easily. This is quite evident from nature of messages that I get to glance from other networking forums, which allow my mailbox to keep getting bombarded with middle aged erudite (but not always esoteric) criticism of how systems are bad, and how elite individuals have done well in life mainly due to our their individual calibre without much of a help from systems they've been part of.
The age old adage " Pen is mightier than the sword' seems to rule the roost and guide networkers to pride ( verb) in their analytical ability & articulation skills, beside serving as an outlet to cater to their competitive urge(s) & creative juice(s). Writers write lots of good stuff as to what should Governments, Systems & Individuals do to remedy unfavorable situations and make life better on the planet. A common knee-jerk in some cases is to propose forums & sub forums for more writing and analysis.
Seldom, do we see thoughts or intentions becoming actionables or implementables. Writing, counter writing & more writing seems to be the real trip , for not only does it satisfy the Maslow(ian) social & esteem needs of the individuals, but also provides excellent opportunity to further improve upon or maintain their already good writing skills.
While most of it makes for good reading or feeling good when the intentions sound good, it is worth pondering if thought leaders have it in them to be the great action men too. Are both - thought & action - possible in a class of individuals, albeit serially if not together?
I like to think most fellow bloggers on this forum as thought leaders & my intention on this blog is definitely not to catalyze action, but to spur further thought on the concluding portion of my friend's remark ".....but others judge us by our actions". Do we care for judgment??
* Just for a background, Seemaa Middya assists Corporates and Individuals as a transformation agent . She runs her own consultancy and her experience includes about 7 years of being associate / partner of the well known trainer & hypnotist Santosh Babu, also known as the trainer with a snake, besides teaching in school for 21 years.
Great blog post Pinaki! I couldn't have agreed more, we do a lot of talking and very little action. Indians need to walk the talk, one good action is better than million good intention and it is better to light a candle than to curse the darkness.
ReplyDeleteWhy should one perform an action with the desire to be judged about it? Is it different from vanity at that point?
ReplyDeleteMaybe you can educate others on some of your actions that could qualify as examples of right action.
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Ramki
"absense of evidence is not evidence of absense" -- Carl Sagan's quote
Ramki, you have a point, why worry about being judged- isn't this what Bhagwad Geeta says- Karam kiye jaa fal ki ichha mat kar ai insaan..Of course it is contrary to the other belief that says you should be result oriented! I guess a happy middle ground needs to be found, be result oriented in your own ways, but do not worry what others would think or not think.
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ReplyDeleteRamki Boss, kudos due to you for spotting the Carl Sagan quote. Just as it appeals to me, the astrologer(s) at home shall surely like it when confronted with debate with rationalists. “Absense of evidence is not evidence of absense” – This becomes a collectors quote for me.
ReplyDeleteYou raise a very pertinent point as to why should desire for judgment be a motivation for action. The answer, in my view could be “Majboori” or helplessness. Its like saying unless judged, there is no opportunity for showcasing & promoting one’s cause, maybe to serve another goal like feeding one’s family through job earnings. When one performs an action for self, one need not be subject to other people’s judgment and even if people judge, one doesn’t really care about the outcome. Its like “I am Kishore Kumar – I sing Film songs – for my livelihood - I bother about feedback from public and from my music director. But I also sing Bade Ghulam Ali Khan ghazals ( little known to the world) – but I sing them for myself – I don’t care about being judged – I don’t want to make money by releasing a remix album on Bade Ghulam Ali “. Two different cases, desire for being judged as my motivation for action is exists in one case while it is absent in the other case.
Society or systems thrust judgment upon an individual especially when the individual is looking to get something in return from it. In some cases, it becomes an unavoidable dependence for the individual – to qualify for gains from the society while in a few other cases, it could be letting oneself being dictated in order to survive.
The elite is also not immune from this societal or systemic pressure. When the elite does well enough to cover / secure himself or herself for rest of their life, they comes to a position to call their own shots, which in some cases is vanity and in many cases just a cool assertion of freedom. However, when you depend, you let yourself be judged. In such situations, it is not vanity but it is dependence, it is helplessness.
So far as educating others on actions that could qualify as examples of right action – all I have to say – I am too small a fry with respect to achievements in academics or profession. But, people close to me – in family , among friends or colleagues at work – if they model their behavior with respect to any action that we take ( however minor) – it educates us as to realizing that maybe, we took the right action. Good actions I guess look good in retrospect once feedback happens. Maybe, I would say – a honest attempt is as good as a good action.
Niraj, thanks for the encouragement. This is my first ever writing for a blog & it has happened largely due to your pushing me to write one. Be passionate in work and dispassionate about results - after multiple GPLs, detachment is not a bad thing to practice. But believe me, it is very difficult to work in a third party mode & almost impossible to live that way. We are humans and are subject to react emotionally more often than not, not realizing that the results ( good or bad) is governed by the the one who audits the pan balance of our karma - our good deeds ( actions /intentions / thoughts) & sins.
You are correct. When there is dependence, there is judgement, fear of being judged, and "folding into mainstream".
ReplyDeleteIf I hear you right, if we are dependent on an image of "my country, the best", then we also tend to judge by critiquing. "Just improve, don't talk about it" is good advice.
As for Carl Sagan quote, the proof/evidence burden is quite tough for pseudo-science, you shouldn't be worried about it being misused much. It is however, a wakeup call to the silent minority who conduct action without regard to being judged.. the likes of Shireesh, Alok. Sometimes evidence helps.
as ever,
Ramki