THIRUKURAL on MOTIVATION

THIRUKKURALS  ON  MOTIVATION

"Motivation" (ஊக்கம் ) is the inner urge in the mind to achieve the  aspired goals. We all have read the book of Vincent Norman Peale ,

'The Power of Positive thinking". It is printed in 41 languages and sold more than 20 million copies. The book  says," Feeling of confidence depends upon the type of thoughts that habitually occupy our mind." Thoughts that occupy our mind determines our quality of life. Mind is always filled with positive  and negative thoughts, the success in life depends upon the type of thoughts that fill in our minds. Our  thoughts and motivations are the architect of our destiny. 

Thiruvalluvar says in the Kural   593

Those who are with high  motivation , even if they lose all their possessions,  will never feel desperate.

ஆக்கம் இழந்தோம் என்று அல்லாவார் ஊக்கம்

ஒருவந்தம் கைத்து உடையார். ( 593 )

Motivation is a  bundle of  enthusiasm , zeal , will power , diligence , initiation , inspiration , self determination , etc which are the features of mind. If these are in mind , even if all the wealth is lost , nothing is lost. Such persons will emerge like phoenix birds  by their will power and high motivation.

Kural 772 says- A person who went for hunting , killed many rabbits by using arrows, holds  arrows in one  hand and hunted rabbits in another hand and returns home. Another person who went for elephant hunting, after many efforts could not kill one, he returns with his failed spear in his hand. Thiruvalluvar says, the failed spear is worth holding than the successful arrows. 

The spear that missed  to kill an elephant is worth holding ( in the hand )

than the arrow that killed a hare ( rabbit ). 

கான முயல் எய்த அம்பினில் யானை

பிழைத்த வேல் ஏந்தல் இனிது (772)

Jemsetji Tata started Asia's first and India's largest  Iron and Steel industry , Taj Mahal Hotel, Electricity generating plant, etc,  all were elephant hunting.  He never went for rabbit hunting . To-day TATA sectors are the largest private sectors in India.

For highly motivated people losing is the first step to win. It should not  be forgotten that great failures are the high motivations. 

This is what Thiruvalluvar says, a failed attempt on an elephant is much better than a successful attempt on a hare. Any failure is the stepping stone to success. A person should not stop at a failure, he should remove the causes of the failure and try again and again till the success is achieved.

Alfred Nobel was experimenting on developing Nitroglycerine as a safe explosive. In 1864 there was a  major explosion in his factory which killed his brother Emil and a few others. The Government authorities asked him to close the factory.

Anybody would have been  discouraged and dropped the project, but Alfred Nobel through his  self motivation determined to continue. He considered the failure as the first step to success.He hired an anchored small ship in the lake Malaren and continued his efforts, developed safe detonators, made huge money in the business, instituted NOBEL PRIZE, which is  the greatest prize of  the world to-day. 

To excel  in a business, high motivation should be developed. In organisations, the manager should keep his team always highly motivated to reach the goals.  'Start moving' and 'Stand moving'  both need  motivation, only  when there is a start , there will be a move.

 In the kural 596 Thiruvalluvar talks about high objectives -

The objectives and aims should  always be fixed high,

Even if not achieved, those  thoughts should not be changed. (596)

உள்ளுவது எல்லாம் உயர்யு உள்ளல் மற்றது

தள்ளினும் தள்ளாமை நீர்த்து.

Alfred Nobel did not change his objectives when his brother was killed .

His high objective of developing  safe detonator was  finally succeeded.

.

Any motivation is governed by mind sets, to some students any attempt of motivation to learn mathematics go in vain, but every student wants to learn motorbike riding or  computer  operating. Why ? it is the mind set, it is the driving force in the inner mind to learn certain interesting subjects. 

Those who want to motivate others , should know their mind sets and then decide the approach to be adopted.

Self motivation ( intrinsic ) is very important for those who hold high ranks, in critical time , they have to motivate themselves  through auto- suggestions and solve the issues. 
External motivation ( extrinsic ) also will be helpful in certain cases, applying right motivational techniques  will fetch good results.

In the Corporate companies, status, job security, remuneration, recognition, perks etc give high motivation to the employees. Absent of these factors  will lead to total demotivation. In fact good motivation will lead to higher morale of the employees

Prof Stephen Hawking suffering from motor neuron disease is wheel chair bound with a very limited physical power,  but authored the top seller  book, ' A brief history of Time " .His will power and high motivation had made it possible.

 Deaf and blind Helen Keller became a successful author, lecturer and a political activist in US by her extremely high motivation.

A mind without any motivation  will never take any one to any height . If the motivations are high,  the achievements will also be high. A small pond of three feet dirty water can not bloom a lotus having thirty feet stem,  the stem will grow only till the surface of water. Similarly, to achieve a  higher level of  success,  the motivation level should also be high. 

This is explained in the kural 595.

The stalk (stem) of a lotus plant grows upto the water height,

The achievement of a man goes upto his mind's height. (595 )

mind's height = level of motivation

வெள்ளத்து அனைய மலர் நீட்டம் மாந்தர்தம்

உள்ளத்து அனையது உயர்வு.

  

வெள்ளத்து = water ,      உள்ளத்து = mind ( will or motivation ) 

" தண்ணீரின் உயரம்தான் ,பூவின்  காம்பின்   நீளம் இருக்கும்,

உள்ளத்தின் ஊக்க உயரம்தான் , ஒருவனின் உயர்வு இருக்கும்."

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THIRUKKURAL 102 &110 on TIMELY HELP

Thu, June 17, 2010 7

 THIRUKKURAL  on TIMELY HELP

In 1915, after returning from South Africa ,  Gandhi started Satyagraha Ashrama

in Ahmedabad. First time in his life he faced financial crisis, there were no funds for the next month maintenance. At that time an unknown  person met him and told him that he wanted  to help the ashrama. Gandhi confessed to him the financial crisis.The unknown man came again next day and left an envelop in the ashrama. Gandhi found Rs 13,000 ( in 1915 it was a huge amount.) Gandhi writes in his autobiography that he has never met him again. Knowing the gravity of the crisis, he had helped the ashrama with a huge amount , It was not a mere help, it was a  'timely help', unknown man  was a noble soul.

'Help' is different from 'timely help,' sending some money to an orphanage every month is a help, but spontaneously helping during a critical time without expecting any reward is timely help.

Here time and help are combined, Einstein combined Space and Time and made it Space-Time continuum and redefined many of the  established theories in physics and cosmology. Thiruvalluvar combines time and help and uses the terminology 'timely help'( காலத்தி னாற்செய்த நன்றி ), which gains a new dimension and gives a deeper
meaning.

From an orphanage,  an 85 years old lady  in a semi coma state was brought to a hospital in  US  . She was murmuring the name' Edward ', hospital volunteers traced  lady's grand son Edward and brought him. He was 25 years old ' rough and tough ' guy, caught hold of her hand and sat silently. Reasoning out that her grand son had come, she held his  hand tight for more than eight hours  and peacefully passed  away .

The young man came out , took a cigarette and started smoking, he was  a chain smoker but remained without smoking for more than eight hours, it was a great sacrifice. Then he  told the truth to the hospital authorities that  he was  no way related to her, when the volunteers were searching in vain for one  Edward, he  decided to give a peaceful death to a dying old lady. 

He gave the peaceful death  to an unknown  old lady,  it  was  a ' timely help'. He is a noble soul.

In 1965 one of my friends decided to migrate to Bangalore from his native place and obviously he was in a deep financial crisis. Realizing his difficulty,   I gave him an envelop  with some cash and forgotten it. In 2000 April, he retired from his service,  by that time he had become financially sound, blessed with children and grand children. On the day of his retirement he had arranged for a prayer meeting and  a dinner, I  was also invited. In the end, he offed me a tray full of fruits along with an envelop.

I came home and opened the envelop, it was a very old envelop, there was some cash and a letter mentioning, " this is  the same cover  which you gave me in 1965, there was Rs 1200 in it, it was a big amount because the cost of one sovereign gold at that time was less than Rs 100.  I made use of the amount to pay  the deposit for the rented house, to-day I own that house, .It was a TIMELY HELP, which I can not repay in any form. To my satisfaction I have enclosed some amount, please accept. I was preserving the envelop for so many years, Whenever I saw the envelop,  it reminded me  of  your " timely help."

In the envelop I found ten times of Rs 1200 , I was shocked. We had helped so many people in our life, but only a few are grateful.  Later on I compensated the amount in a different way.

Thiruvalluvar says  in the kural 102 about the timely help. 

When the time at which a help is done is considered,

Even a small help  becomes greater than the world. ( kural 102 )

( Help has to be always weighed with time )

காலத்தி னாற்செய்த நன்றி சிறிதெனினும்
ஞாலத்தின் மாணப் பெரிது.

காலத்தி னாற்செய்த = Timely help

A five hundred rupees help to a sickly man to buy a life saving medicine is much more than a five thousand rupees help done for his funeral.

India's military intervention to liberate Bangladesh was a 'timely help.'

SOS signals from distressed ships are the cries for 'timely help'.

SOS drugs prescribed  to patients are meant  for  'timely help' 

Even the decision taken by  US President Truman  to drop atomic bombs on Japan during the Second World war was a ' timely help' to the Allied forces to win the war against super aggressive Japan. If war had not ended, Japan would have  done more damage to the world countries. It was unfortunate that the bombs killed lakhs of  people but the second world war came to an end. Even though the usage of atomic bombs is not agreed by right thinking  people, it appears,  "the end justified the means." ( Machavelli) 

The parameter for the 'timely help'  is the ' time '  more than the help. 

Even the least help becomes greater than the world,  if it is done during  a critical time.

Those who  have done timely help are ' noble  souls', whether a  help or timely help, if  forgotten ,  according to  Thiruvalluvar there is no salvation for them.

Kural 110

There will be salvation for those who have forgotten all other virtues,

But no salvation  for those who have forgotten  the ' help'  done by others.

In this Kural Thiruvalluvar advises those who have received the  helps to be grateful

My friend who returned me the envelop  with multipled amount after so many years is an example for this kural. He had not forgotten the  help, " he is a noble soul."

In Tamil

                                         

எந்நன்றி கொன்றார்க்கும் உய்வுண்டாம் உய்வில்லை
செய்ந்நன்றி கொன்ற மகற்கு. (110)

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THIRUKKURAL 675 ON PROJECT PLANNING

Thirukkural on Project Planning 

It is wisely said, "Any plan is better than no plan". In modern competitive world, planning is the first and the foremost step to start any project or business. Effective planning with proper project will give birth to a successful project.In fact project planning is a part of project management.There are defined stages in project planning. In modern days Gantt Charts are widely used. It is a bar chart that explains the start and finish dates including the dependencies in project. This chart will help to monitor effectively the progress of a project.In kural 464, Thiruvalluvar gives a general guidance to be adhered before starting any project,

" The project in which the issues are not clear,
    No person afraid of public disgrace will start."
தெளிவி லதனைத் தொடங்கார் இளிவென்னும்
ஏதப்பா டஞ்சு பவர்.( 464)
தெளிவி லதனை = Projects in which the  Issues are not clear
Only after clearing all the issues ( existing and foreseen problems ), a project should be started. 
Before starting a project, consider the expenditure, the return , the profit  and then proceed,( 461)
அழிவதூஉம் ஆவதூஉம் ஆகி வழிபயக்கும
ஊதியமுஞ் சூழ்ந்து செயல்.( 461)


In the kural 675, Thiruvalluvar identifies five factors to be considered while planning,


"Treasure, instrument, Time, deed and place of execution,
   Consider well these factors and then start the action,"

பொருள்கருவி காலம் வினையிடனொ டைந்தும்
இருள்தீர எண்ணிச் செயல்.( 675)
பொருள்= Treasure, கருவி = Instrument,  காலம் = time , வினை= Deed, , இடம் = place

1)Treasure ( Capital or Stakeholders of modern days )
Treasure or capital is the foremost criteria, insufficient capital will abort any progressive project. In modern days ' Stakeholders' who sponsor a project are very important, potential stakeholders should be identified and a good relationship should be developed.
2)Instrument ( Man power, material and machine )
Instrument includes men with required skills sets, material, machine, etc.
3)Time ( Suitable period )
Time includes accurate Time estimation, setting dead line etc. Also Time includes season or period, YK2 project can not be planned now, its period is over.
4)Deed or Action Plan (List of activities )
Deed or action plan includes list of activities, preparation of priority list etc.
5)Place of execution , Suitable location to execute the project should be identified. Any farming should have good source of water, manufacturing should have effective transportation and labour cost etc.In modern context BPOs at India provide for the skilled labour at reasonable cost. Manufacturing products in China for low cast labour. Top IT Industries in Bangalore and Silicon Valley ( US ) for its good weather, etc

Considering all the five factors, a project should be devised, properly evaluated and probed to see whether the project will be successful or not. Successful project should be executed keeping in mind certain unexpected hindrances.In kural 466 Thiruvalluvat cautions that even  with a well conceived project plan, the project may ruin, 
"A project will fail, 
if a manager does what he should not and 
fails to do what he should" ( Kural 466)
செய்தக்க அல்ல செயக்கெடுஞ் செய்தக்க
செய்யாமை யானுங் கெடும்.(466)

செய்தக்க அல்ல செயக்கெடும் = If a manager does what he should not , the project will fail.

செய்தக்க செய்யாமை யானுங் கெடும் =  If a manager  fails to do what he should , then also the project will fail.

In another kural 676, Thiruvalluvar cautions about the hindrances that might arise while a project is executed.
Whether political or social or business enterprise, efficient project management is very much essential. But certain risk factors may slow down or detail the project, able and efficient management will lessen the chances. Managers  with substantial experience will clearly examine the various risk factors that might arise  apart from the fine finish of the project and expected profit or benefit.

Consider well the end, hindrance and benefit,
then fittingly start the project" ( kural 676 )

"consider well the hindrance " is the risk analysis", which demands successful  "risk management."

முடிவும்/ இடையூறும் /முற்றியாங்கு எய்தும்
படுபயனும்/ பார்த்துச் செயல்

முடிவும் =  Final outcome  or end , இடையூறும்  = Hinderances  , படுபயனும்= Benefit or profit
Consider the above factors and start a project
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THIRUKKURAL 561: On Modern Penology

Thirukkural on Punishment

It is a wonder that Thiruvalluvar speaks of modern  Penology in the kural 561. Penology is the branch of criminology that deals with prison management and prisoners rehabilitation.

In ancient days capital punishment was commonly given by the kings. Capital punishment is the death penalty (capital in Latin is head, removing the head is capital punishment, Capital city is where the head of the State/ Government is staying and functioning) Socrates (469-399 BC) the great Greek philosopher was accused of impiety (irreverence towards God ) and given hemlock (poison) as a death punishment. Jesus Christ was sentenced to death by crucifixion by Romans accusing blasphemy (disrespecting God).

Punishments like flogging ( whipping ), canning etc are  corporal punishments,  these  punishments are even to-day prevail in Islamic countries. these are also known as physical chastisement (inflicting pain in the body). From time immemorial punishments  have been given to the law breakers in all the societies.. In those days crushing the head by using elephants, stoning till death, burning till death etc were the different forms of capital punishments. During the French Revolution Guillotines were used to behead the rich and the clergy.

In modern days for executing capital punishment,  the following methods are in practice, hanging till death, making use of electrical chairs, administrating lethal injections, etc.18th Century people reacted against the severe punishments. Italian born philosopher Cesare Beccaris (1738 - 1794) founded the classical school of criminology and gave revolutionary thoughts, in his book, "Crimes and Punishments " he condemned tortures to the criminals, argued against death penalty and insisted punishment in proportion with the gravity of the crime with an aim to rehabilitate the offenders. He is considered to be the father of 'modern criminology'. In  2004 nearly 81 countries abolished death penalties., India is yet to do it. Mahatma Gandhi killer Nathuram Godse was hanged at Ambala in 1949. Indira Gandhi killers Satwant Singh and Kehar Singh were hanged in Tihar jail in1988.

Modern concept of punishment is rehabilitation of criminals.Through rehabilitation they are corrected and made good citizens. Even the  death penalty is not to be executed if the sentenced is sick or wounded or mentally retarded. etc. Modern thinking is that the offenders should be punished only after proper trial, the accused should be given enough opportunity to defend himself, the crime should be proved beyond doubt,the punishment  should be appropriate to the crime committed . It should aim to rehabilitate the  offenders in such a way that they would not commit further crimes. In some countries there are open jails to rehabilitate the prisoners which function as correctional institutions .In fact in many countries the jails are called correctional Institutions.

In India the minimum age for criminal responsibility is 7 years, which means a child below that age can not be held responsible for any crime and punished, this  age differs from country to country, UK :10, Spain : 16 etc. Juvenile offenders (below 18 years) are sent to correctional homes or reformatory  schools,  not to the prisons, education and vocational trainings are given in the correctional institutions (previously called- Remand houses)

Thiruvalluvar in the kural 561 says exactly what the modern thinkers say on punishment. Proper enquiry should be made on the charges leveled,. If found guilty, the punishment  should be given in  appropriate to the crime committed. The punishment should aim to rehabilitate the criminals such that  they will not commit the crimes again.

What the western philosophers  like Cesare Baccaria, Jeremy Bentham, John Howard had advocated  in the 18th century on 'punishment ', Thiruvalluvar had enshrined   in  the  kural 561. To-day punishment given is not to take a  revenge on offenders but to rehabilitate them.

After equitably examined the crime, appropriate punishment should be given such that  they will not  commit the crimes again. (Kural 561)

Equitably = fair, unbiased, impartial

தக்காங்கு நாடித் தலைச்செல்லா வண்ணத்தால்
ஒத்தாங் கொறுப்பது வேந்து.( 561)

So the aim of punishment is deterrence ( which means preventing occurring of crimes) and prevention of crimes. Punishment should be given for correcting the criminals, not to take vengeance on them. 

In simple terms the kural  561:

Punishments given should aim to correct the law breakers.

That is what Thiruvalluvar had postulated 2000 years ago. This is what 18th century philosophers of  the west  had advocated just 300 years ago. 

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