How to deal with the present ‘Corona scenario’ in a matured way?
Neither the business scenario, nor the health scenario…
Nor the governance of government, or this live webcast, we don’t have a perfect scenario right now in the world.
We can see a blessing even under these circumstances, in all the aspects and all the dimensions of life, or we can find a reason to complain.
And keep complaining, keep cribbing all the time about everything.
Generations to come in history it will be written that you and me were a generation that passed through a time, where the world experienced a transition where, from the most powerful man in the world to the most enlightened soul in the world, to the poorest of the poor, to the most immature, to the animals…
Everybody had to go through a transition where nothing is perfect, this scenario is unprecedented. Everybody can blame everybody now.
Blaming comes when you feel you are not in control. Whether it is the president of a country or a prime minister of a nation or an individual, the moment you feel you are not in control of the situation, we search for what and whom we can blame.
So we can do that.
We can blame China for the virus. We can blame the government for not dealing with this properly. We can blame certain events that happened in the country for whatever has happened. We can criticize, we can do whatever it is.
Even the medical fraternity considered corona warriors, so much criticism, there is so much about hospitals making money… In a world of social media where everybody judges everybody, whether you’re an atheist or a theist, to all theists, let me say this.
If God ever has to help anyone in the world, he can only help through another human being.
Human beings are instruments of God, divine instruments of God. Divinity touches human life only through a chosen instrument, and the chosen instrument here is people!
God, through teachers teaches you, God, through doctors saves your life, God, through enterprising people provides you with a job and God, through a teacher explains life to you.
Every time anybody in any form has reached out to you, they are divine instruments, no question about it.
Without God, we cannot. Without us, God will not. God plus a human being, miraculous combination.
We can keep blaming.
We can show such cynicism, sarcasm, negativity, pessimism.
But this is not matured living. I received an email yesterday. It goes like this.
“Because Mughals have ruled us for two hundred and fifty years and British have ruled us for hundred and fifty years, Indians are not naturally entrepreneurs.”
So here I am working for an Indian entrepreneur who has now come and told me, due to COVID situation, you have to take a salary cut. Am regretting that I am working for an Indian entrepreneur.
Employees are struggling, so are entrepreneurs! At least employees are struggling, there is an entrepreneur to take care. Entrepreneurs are struggling, there is no government to take care.
So if inflows do not happen, and the economic scenario world over is very bad, very bad… Entrepreneurs will have to make the decision. In fact, trust me, the scenario for a lot of entrepreneurs if they simply close down the business with immediate effect…
They will not become poorer.
A lot of entrepreneurs are still holding on to their business, knowing very well it’s not going to be a profitable scenario, it’s not going to help them.
But there are hundreds of thousands of employees and their families which are dependent on the organization.
These are the people who have stood by me in our growth phase. So now let me stand by them.
And if they decide not to close down the business, scenario two!
They have to let go of a few employees and at least reduce the cash outflows so that it’s manageable.
Because unless the economy revives itself, we are only talking in terms of slow death. In how much time will they die is the only question.
So in case they have to drag this longer, they have to take measures to cut down the cash outflows.
And probably the only way to do that is maybe lay off some employees. Scenario three, don’t lay off employees, they might have to cut salaries. It’s like how a diabetes doctor at some stage decides that he has to amputate a finger or a portion of the leg to protect the rest of the body.
We might have to divide this entire sacrifice so that at least the organization can be saved. It’s not an ideal scenario.
And maybe scenario four is a combination of both. Some people are laid off, some people take a salary cut, and this should not even need explanation.
Anybody who is in a senior management level, anybody who has been an infinitheist for a long time, will have the basic maturity.
This has nothing to do with Indian! This is a global scenario. Some atheists had, in taking to social media and they were all saying, “Look at the power of the virus.”
“It has closed all the temples.” And one of those evolved, spiritually evolved souls so beautifully replied to this cynicism saying that, “True, virus has stopped people from coming to temple, but it’s also true, so God has turned every home into a temple.”.
We need maturity!
So to conclude, I don’t think we have an ideal scenario. Every time life demands us to make a compromise or a sacrifice, we can react to the situation. The pinch is hard on everybody. As individuals, as entrepreneurs, the pinch is hard on everybody, but I think it’s time for us to show certain maturities.
Maturity one. Just because you are not in control, don’t start blaming.
That’s a very immature response to life. Just because you are not in control, don’t start blaming.
Maturity two. Expecting anything ideal in a non-ideal circumstance is only going to lead you to unwanted emotions.
The scenario is not ideal.
Maturity three.
But this need not become an excuse for you to be the best that you can be, in spite of all these constraints. You can take care of your health. In spite of all these constraints, you can develop your competence and be future-ready.
God cannot reach out to creation without picking up another creation as his divine instrument.
So every time your life has been touched, every time you said my prayers were answered, your life was touched and your prayers were answered through a divine instrument chosen by God and through them only you were touched. And just recognizing this, the way you look, whether it’s teachers or doctors or parents or friends or employees, everything will change in those moments.
Everything will change in those moments.
There’s no time for selfishness right now.
The scenario right now in the world is, even if all of us, to a marginal outlook become unselfish…
On the collective strength, we will sail through this.
But under the circumstances, if all of us stoop down even marginally a little more selfish, all of us will struggle a little more in this phase of life.
Dr. Robert Schuller would say so beautifully. “Unselfishness turns even burdens into life and selfishness turns even life into a burden.”
Collectively, we all need to be a little unselfish, and that’s the only ray of hope.
That’s the only light at the end of the tunnel for all of us.
