Management in Sanskrit literature

A few weeks back my brother sent me a lecture delivered by Prof. B. Mahadevan who works at IIM Bangalore. The topic is "What constitutes good management - Lessons from ancient Sanskrit scriptures" delivered as part of the "Sanskrit and Science" series. The first couple of paragraphs unfortunately a bit dry (probably due to the transcription of a lecture) and hence I promptly shelved it for a later time. While on a flight today, I came across the article that I had almost forgotten, and I am glad I took the time to go beyond the first page.
In the lecture, Mahadevan lists five primary qualities for a person pursuing management skills, namely

1. Ability to visualize the big picture
2. Systematic approach to problem solving
3. Attitude towards learning as a way of life
4. Managing short-term vs long-term conflicts and
5. Having leadership traits

I think this is a fairly neat and relatively concise way to look at management skills. He goes further to explain how each of these concepts is explained in various Sanskrit scriptures and how they are relevant even in this day and age. Here is a quick rundown.

Ability to visualize the big picture

One of the striking quality of Hindu scriptures is the concept of providing multiple viewpoints to a single idea, thereby providing an option for the reader to pick and choose the idea he sees close to his mental picture, while still achieving the same goal. There are various philosophies within the Hindu system that talk about salvation, although the path taken is completely different. It is interesting that the ancestors have thought of these myriad possibilities and listed them rather than emphasizing on a single idea.

In one classic example, the vishwarupa (literally magnanimous form) of Lord Krishna in Mahabharata is described as "the light shining from a thousand sunrises", an expression that Robert Oppenheimer quoted when witnessing the first atom bomb blast. There are numerous other examples where the vastness of time and space are explored in detail while sitting in a corner of this world.

Such "big picture" thinking is now deemed as an important quality for a good manager.

Systematic approach to problem solving

Mathematics has been embedded in various Sanskrit literatures. Not only have they thought big, they have also taken pains to categorize the vastness and also provide a proper system to calibrate it. Even more amazingly, in Rig Veda, one of the most ancient Sanskrit scriptures, the speed of light has been calculated as 3.020263x10^8 m/s, an extremely close approximation of the current definition!

As Mr. Mahadevan surmises, this systematic approach seems to stem from the spirit of inquiry that is encouraged within the scriptures themselves. Scriptures such as Katha Upanishad and Prashna Upanishad are written in a question-answer format, that promote this idea strongly.
As an example, Mr. Mahadevan quotes a stanza from Lilavati by Bhaskaracharya, where proper nomenclature is given for number systems ranging from 10^0 to 10^17. Remember, this was written hundreds of years ago!

Similarly, in Bhagavatam, another popular Sanskrit scripture, nomenclature has been given for time ranging from 10^-6 seconds to 10^17 years.

Learning as a way of life

Sanskrit and pretty much everything else in the past was taught in Gurukulams, literally meaning the teacher's residence. In the past, learning happened by way of apprenticeship, wherein the students will stay at the teacher's place for a prolonged period of time and learn various skills.

Mr. Mahadevan quotes an amazing verse that defines the idea of learning: Learning is one fourth taught by teacher, one fourth learnt by self-reflection and thinking, one fourth by group study, and one fourth is learnt over time.

This, I feel, is an excellent and probably a very accurate way to think about how we learn. Personally, when I was in college, I used to learn part by reading by myself and part by doing 'group study' with my friends, which I felt greatly enhanced by learning as well. A similar conclusion was reached by Sugata Mitra in his experiment "Hole in the wall" (the idea behind the book Q&A by Vikas Swarup, which was the inspiration for the Oscar winning movie, Slumdog Millionaire). I hope to expand on this in another blog post.

Understanding that learning is something that happens over time and not just in an instant provides a level of humility and also alerts one to be constantly on the lookout for new knowledge.

Managing short-term vs. long-term conflicts

As Mr. Mahadevan states, Hindu philosophy itself is one long conflict between short-term goals and long-term goals. The idea of living the current birth while reincarnating multiple births before reaching salvation provides a great analogy for this concept. The concept of karma accumulating over time and birth and the prospect of managing it well in this life to facilitate future ones is not dissimilar from a manager weighing in short-term gains to long-term gains.

Leadership traits

Finally, every manager needs to have some leadership qualities (which unfortunately, is lacking in most politicians today). As Mr. Mahadevan shows, Sanskrit scriptures explain the idea of leading by example and having an emotional balance in multiple places to highlight this idea.
Over the years, I have wondered why Indians (and Asians in general) tend to be more 'doers' than 'leaders'. While I have thought that it was mainly because of the submissive past (most Asian countries were colonies of the Western world), it looks like the root problem is more because of the educational system that is in place in these countries that focus more on rote learning instead of creativity. While the Western world seems to have rectified this error (after all, the current system is based on British learning system), they seem to now have erred too much towards creativity, thereby creating a void in analytical skills. It looks like what we need in our educational system is a right balance of the two.

So, if the ancient Sanskrit scriptures contain so much wisdom over a wide range of topics that are relevant even today, why aren't people, especially Indians who are close to it, look at them with vigor?

As Mr. Mahadevan states at the end, Sanskrit can nowadays be learnt in two phases of life - one as part of collegiate and graduate studies by students taking special interest in the subject, and two, as an adult who has established a secure future by other means. Since the Indian society largely favors careers oriented towards a secure job (such as IT, medicine, and engineering), it would be very hard for students to make Sanskrit literature as their career.

So, the only other and probably the most viable option is for professionals who have a secure job (the same IT, medicine, or engineering) to take up Sanskrit at least as a hobby and start learning so that they can unlock many more mysteries that it may hold.

On a side note, I have also wondered why the people who have provided so much wisdom preferred an oral mechanism of passing on the information through generations instead of a secure written mechanism. I have an idea why, and hopefully that'll be the topic for another blog!

In the meanwhile, I strongly encourage you to read Mr. Mahadevan's lecture, excusing the spelling mistakes at the end and relatively dry start. It's well worth your time. My only niggle is that the transcript does not explain the verses he quotes in more detail.

Vermont Teddy Bears - not as USA anymore?

After a gap of a few years, my wife and I traveled to the New England area to see the fall colors. I have always enjoyed going to Vermont/New Hampshire area (have been there 4-5 times now). The natural landscape is spectacular, especially during this season, the people are very friendly, and more importantly, the area still carries a lot of rustic charm that seems to be eroding in the urban areas. If anyone wants to visit the 'real' USA, at least as imagined based on past classics that are still popular in India such as Archie comics, this area is a great place to start.

Our trip was quite productive, with lots and lots of fall colors everywhere and the weather cooperated beautifully. We tried to go through as many of the local roads as possible, hoping to catch a glimpse of the fall colors in all its splendor. Ironically, I felt the colors were far more vibrant along the interstates (especially I-89 and I-91) than the local roads. One exception was the loop of Burlington-Hanksville-Waitsfield-Waterbury, which was amazingly beautiful with extremely vibrant colors - I highly recommend the drive.

I have always been pleasantly surprised by the ingenuity and local entrepreneurship in this region, the two most famous being the Ben & Jerry ice cream company and the Vermont Teddy Bear Company. In the face of increasing globalization, these two companies seemed to stand bravely, protecting the American brand proudly. However, during this time, I had a bit of a shock to find both these thoughts shattered somewhat.

Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream Founded by two friends a few decades back, B&J was awarded the "Small business persons of the country" award a way back. The guys started the company small and grew fairly big. I was quite disappointed to hear that the company is now owned by Unilever - a fairly huge conglomerate of companies.

While they still seem to do their best to keep the 'local' flavor of the company alive, I cannot but help feel that commercialization has taken over this company as well. Thankfully, the ice cream still tastes the same :)

Vermont Teddy Bear
This is probably my biggest disappointment and the reason for this post. As some of you may or may not know, "teddy bear" got its name from a cartoon depicting "Theodore "teddy" Roosevelt", former American President, an avid game hunter, who could not bear himself to shoot a cub tied to a tree (by his cohorts, as he was not getting any wild animal that day).

Since then, teddy bears became quite popular. One day, a person named John Sortino wanted to get a teddy bear for his son and found that he could not buy one that was made in USA, thereby starting his own company to make some.

The company has prided itself in its small-town values and 'Made in USA' brand. Having been deluged every day with products from Asia, I was happy to do my bit to promote local products and suggested to my wife that she get herself a bear, even though it was slightly over-priced (fair enough, since they don't mass produce stuff and the quality is good).

Here came the shocker. In the "build-a-bear" section of the company, half of the options were 'imported' (read 'made in Vietnam')! The other half were all a new type of bear concept called 'Flattie' - which honestly, looked as if a Teddy Bear was put under a steamroller.

There was absolutely no decent 'made in USA' option that we could buy. As I looked at others around me, including all the children, everyone was making a beeline for the 'imported' options, as they looked more like teddy bears and less like flattened pancakes.

Worse, there was a 'charity' bear (buy 1 and they give another to the local fireman's association or something similar). I was quite impressed and thought I'll get one of those - only to find that they were also not made in USA!

I mean, why promote the company as "made in USA" when half the options are not so and the ones available look nowhere like teddy bears? Calling them 'exchange students' and 'imported' does not make it any better or glorified. It's still not made in USA.

I still pressed forward and picked up a 'flattie' hoping that when stuffed it'll look somewhat like a bear - no dice. It still was as flat (esp. the nose/mouth area) as it was put under a steamroller.

At the end of the day, I walked back with a heavy heart, light wallet (the 'imported' ones were the same price as the 'local' ones), and a flattened bear - not the feeling I was hoping for. I am sad that yet another 'local' company has succumbed to the globalization.

UPDATE: A day after I posted the blog, Wendy from the company was kind enough to respond to the post and clarify some of my statements. As she mentions, the issue I had was mainly with the "friend for life" section of the factory and not the entire store itself. There are definitely a lot of authentic bears to choose from. It also appears that the 'flatties' are available only in the store and not elsewhere. I am definitely very impressed with the courtesy of the staff as well as their professionalism and wish them the very best in future. Oh, did I also mention that all teddy bears have a 'life-time' guarantee (except if you put your teddy in a dryer)?! That's something you don't see anywhere else.

Maslow's hierarchy of needs and Yoga Chakras

A while back, I wrote how Darwin's theory of evolution seems to be codified within the ten avatars of Vishnu in Hindu scriptures long before Darwin was even born. The point was that we need to take a closer look at our respective ancient scriptures and texts with a more serious outlook without dismissing them outright as irrelevant.

Yesterday, I came across another instance where I think what the Western world had identified is something that has existed for ages - it's just that nobody bothered to take it seriously in modern times.

Maslow's hierarchy of needs

Case in point is Maslow's hierarchy of needs. I have come across the hierarchy a few times in popular science non-fiction books on psychology and brain function. Postulated by Abraham Maslow in 1943 after observing different types of people, it lists 5 types of human needs, stacked one atop the other. The theory is that one cannot move to the next level in the pyramid unless all the needs below it are satisfied. Here's a quick snapshot of the hierarchy.

For example, one does not worry about safety and morality when survival is at stake. Similarly love flourishes when one is secure. Finally, one tends to think about self-awareness only when the other needs are first taken care of.

Yoga Chakras
Maslow need not have wasted his time on research. The same concept, in an even more expanded form, is codified in the Hindu scriptures in the form of Yoga Chakras.

Chakras, as described in the Yoga Sutra (Sutra = Scripture) is embodiment of various forms of energy stored in a human body. The concept of chakra is mentioned in the Rig Veda, one of the most ancient Hindu scriptures, and were later made popular by the Sankhya philosophy (of which Buddhism has its roots). The scriptures state that a body needs to ensure that the energies are balanced at all times, failing which various forms of ailments (mental and physical) may arise. Channeling the energy properly (also described as channeling the 'chi' in Chinese spiritual texts) can help one attain enlightenment or freedom from this material world.

Now, how does this compare to Maslow's hierarchy? Let's first take a look at the chakras.

Each chakra is associated with certain qualities which represents the corresponding energies. They are

1. Muladhara: Located at the end of the spinal cord, this deals with survival instinct.
2. Svadhisthana: Located in the lower abdomen, this deals with feelings and sexuality.
3. Manipura: Located near the stomach, this deals with self-power or basic intellect.
4. Anahata: Located near the heart, this deals with love.
5. Visuddha: Located near the throat, this deals with learning and expression.
6. Anja: Located between the brows, this deals with self-awareness and insight.
7. Sahasrara: Located at the top of the head, this deals with enlightenment or wisdom.

Looking at the two hierarchies side-by-side, you can see some amazing similarities:

Muladhara and Svadhisthana are related to Maslow's physiological needs.
Svadhisthana and Manipura are related to Maslow's Safety needs.
Anahata maps to Maslow's need for love and belonging.
Visuddha maps to Maslow's need for self-esteem.
Anja and to an extent Sahasrara maps to Maslow's self-actualization.

Unlike Maslow's needs, it does not stop there. Like most other aspects of Hindu literature, the chakra has multiple facets embodied in one simple codification. Here are two other facets to the chakra that are even more amazing.

Each of the chakras are located next to or are associated with a hormonal gland or organ in the body that has close correspondence to the activity described in the hierarchy.

Another explanation is that each chakra is associated with a light spectrum component, essentially spelling out the colors of the rainbow.

Apart from these, the chakra is also associated with a representation of the lotus flower, with each chakra having different number of petals. I am not sure what the numbers represent though, but am curious to find out. The overall chakra concept is also represented in the Kundalini form of yoga, which deals with channeling the energy through these chakras to achieve enlightenment.

I wonder how many other symbolisms are embedded in our ancient scriptures that we have since dismissed as heretic or irrelevant based on the bias and prejudice we have developed over the last few hundred years. I only hope that we have the sensibility to wipe the slate clean and look back with an open mind.

As the Zen philosopher Shinryu Suzuki said, "In a beginner's mind, there are many possibilities. In an expert's mind, there are few."

A case for corruption

Everyone in the world (barring the politicians) decry the need for a corruption free society for the betterment of humanity. However, I think in some cases, the existence of corruption has actually been a boon rather than a problem, obviously unintentionally. I can think of two good scenarios.



Better health As a kid in India, we used to get milk from the local milkman and occasionally from a government run co-op depot that used to sell milk in packets. There were only two choices - cow's milk or buffalo's milk - and both of them organic, whole milks.

It is an open-secret that milkmen generally make money by diluting the milk with water to increase the quantity for the same price. While this corrupt behavior was lamented upon by my mom and pretty much everyone else, it was accepted as something that you just can't get rid of.

Cut to the current day - I purchased a gallon of whole milk a couple of days in expectation of my friend's visit with his 2 year old kid. Obviously the kid didn't drink the whole gallon and I had plenty left. I made a cup of coffee only to realize that I had only the whole milk and not the regular 2% that I use. So, I did the natural thing - diluted the whole milk with some water so that it is not as 'rich' and 'fatty' - at least in volume.

So, in essence, the 'corrupt' practice that the milkmen followed were in fact indirectly helping us by reducing the fat in the milk, which is now considered as a good thing!

Government Health Care India, having socialist roots thanks to Nehru, the first Indian prime minister, has both private and public health care systems. Government-run hospitals are available for almost everyone to have basic health care without need for any insurance and mostly for minimal price.

Currently, there is a big debate raging in the US about government-run health care option and how it will throw all the private practices out of business. Coming from a country where this is in vogue, I say that it does not happen, thanks to the general idea of corruption that is linked to the government!

While I think that most doctors are honest and carry their business like any other place, the bureaucracy surrounding any government institution has created a perception that Government hospitals are inferior to private hospitals and hence have lower quality of care. As a result, those who can afford private care (such as middle-class and higher) tend to avoid government hospitals, while those in real need (lower-middle-class and below) opt for the option as they cannot afford anything else.

So, in an indirect way, corruption has actually helped provide universal health care, although not in glowing terms!

Social equality No other mechanism than corruption has created a level of social equality in developing nations. The power that is usually attributed to CEOs and politicians can be seen in almost all levels of public service - from hospitals to police to ration systems to pretty much everything else. Since most of these positions are held by middle-class citizens, in a way corruption has made them as powerful as the upper-class citizens. Everyone has to bribe everyone else for one form of service or the other - what better way to create social equality?!

Can you think of any other scenarios where corruption has had an unintended side of being perceived as helpful?

PS: While I am not a fan of disclaimers, I do want to say that the above piece is meant as sarcasm (if it was not obvious already) with a tinge of truth than be considered as a defense for corruption. Obviously the drawbacks far outweigh the 'potential' advantages, but I am curious to know if there are any!