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                                DHARMA AND THE WORK CULTURE AND ETHICS OF INDIA.

A few years back I had an excellent experience, when I was in Kolkata to get my Masters degree certificate from Kolkata University. Actually I as an Indian also a part of the same system and am no saint when I say that I had lost my Masters Degree certificate and that necessitated me to go to Kolkata to get the duplicate copy of the original certificate. I went to the University office at sharp 0900hrs only to find the chairs are empty and desks are strewn with heaps of what looked like official documents everywhere. When I enquired about the gentlemen that I was supposed to meet the janitor told me that the gentleman will only occupy his seat at 1030hrs. Fine, I had one and a half hour to browse through various books store that line up college street. College street was the seat of Indian intelligent elite and the seat of Indian independence revolution during the early 1900s. Raja Ram Mohan Roy, Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar, Michael Madhusudhan Dutt were the luminaries of that time and era and all were stalwarts of Kolkata University. Standing in front of the same University 100years later, I was about to enter the office building and the time was just 1030hrs when I came in front of the same desk and I saw a gentleman occupying the chair, looking at some photographs of a wedding ceremony and was having a very animated discussion with another gentleman who was sitting beside him.

“Excuse me sir,” I said but he refused to look at me. “excuse me sir,” I said the second time and little loudly and this time he looked at me and said “don’t you see I am busy” I was angry at him but I had to get my work done so I was polite enough to tell him that I have come all the way from Mumbai to get this work done. He smirked at me and as though he is doing a great favor to me he took my application and without even reading it told me to come tomorrow. I told him that I would be highly obliged if he can give me the certificate by the same evening and to this he said that he is too busy to get it done in one day. To cut the story short I got my work done through my brother’s contact on the same day, BUT this whole episode exemplifies the dilapidating work culture and ethics in India. There are examples galore but we are yet to look into ourselves and question why we as Indians have such poor work ethics and culture in our country. Whereas when we Indians go abroad to earn our living we excel in all fields and we are termed as the most hard working groups. In USA Indians are working as scientists in NASA, as engineers and software experts and doctors of reputation. In fact Indians are among the most prosperous communities in USA. Indians are very diligent, reliable, loyal and perseverant workers outside Indian soil but inside India the story is somewhat different.

Once when swami Vivekananda was in Dakshineshwar with Sri Ramakrishna Paramhansa an interesting incident happened. A young boy of about eleven years old came to dakshineshwar Kali temple and met Swami Vivekananda. He wanted to serve the Master,( Ramkrishna paramhansa ) and be a devout disciple. Swamiji was very angry at him and told him that his temple and devotion lay in the football field, by which he meant that his job at his age was to play and that is the only way to show once devotion and allegiance to God. He said to the young boy that playing in the field with full concentration and honesty and positivity is the dharma. This incident also exemplifies the work ethics as mentioned in the scriptures. The philosophy and culture of India is one of Ananda or Bliss. “From Bliss-Absolute we have come; in Bliss-Absolute we are rooted; and to Bliss-Absolute are we destined,” says the Taittiriya Upanishad. It is not a message of pain, agony and distress. Pessimism is unknown to India’s culture. It is a culture of exuberant positivity of approach, an approximation to God in the end, who is the greatest of positivity. Life is held to be a movement from joy to joy, and it is this that we call the evolutionary process of the soul. It is movement from a lesser truth to a higher truth, which is a better way of putting things than to repeat the hackneyed tradition that we move from error to truth.

Historically Indians were definitely very diligent, perseverant, intelligent and sincere workers as is evident from the epics Ramayana and The Mahabharata. In Ramayana the entire epic teaches values, ethics and morality and the importance of selfless work. In Mahabharata the same values and ethics and morality concerning work culture is taken to another plane where Lord Krishna says one must work with all his love, passion, intelligence and not think of rewards. He says, “act without expectation” The moment we start thinking of how my actions will reward me I tend to loose the value ,the passion, the ethics of the work. With these values all Indians grow up but somewhere down the line these values were lost completely. The only guiding principal in doing once job seems to be the monetary compensation. These values and ethics in work culture during those times provided with a perfect work life balances. I have been writing about values here and I need to elaborate on values as to what do we mean by values. These values ultimately lead to Dharma.

Values are ideals that guide or qualify your personal conduct, interaction with others, and involvement in your career. Like morals, they help you to distinguish what is right from what is wrong and inform you on how you can conduct your life in a meaningful way. Values can be classified into four categories: Personal Values, Cultural Values, Social Values, Work Values.

Personal values are principles that define you as an individual. Personal values, such as honesty, reliability, and trust, determine how you will face the world and relate with people. This is very important attribute of a person as this becomes one of the guiding principal in work culture and ethics

Cultural values, like the practice of your faith and customs, are principles that sustain connections with your cultural roots. They help you feel connected to a larger community of people with similar backgrounds. In a work environment this attribute has some bearing but it is not a hindrance in maintaining a positive work culture and ethic.

Social values are principles that indicate how you relate meaningfully to others in social situations, including those involving family, friends, and co-workers.

Work values are the most important of the four. What do we understand by work value or what constitutes the work value. Strong Work Ethic ,  Employers value employees who understand and possess a willingness to work hard. In addition to working hard it is also important to work smart. This means learning the most efficient way to complete tasks and finding ways to save time while completing daily assignments. It’s also important to care about your job and complete all projects while maintaining a positive attitude. Dependable and Responsible, Employers value employees who come to work on time, are there when they are suppose to be, and are responsible for their actions and behavior. It’s important to keep supervisors abreast of changes in your schedule or if you are going to be late for any reason. This also means keeping your supervisor informed on where you are on all projects you have been assigned. Being dependable and responsible as an employee shows your employer that you value your job and that you are responsible in keeping up with projects and keeping them informed of the things that they should know about. Possessing a Positive Attitude,  Employers seek employees who take the initiative and have the motivation to get the job done in a reasonable period of time. A positive attitude gets the work done and motivates others to do the same without dwelling on the challenges that inevitably come up in any job. It is the enthusiastic employee who creates an environment of good will and who provides a positive role model for others. A positive attitude is something that is most valued by supervisors and co-workers and that also makes the job more pleasant and fun to go to each day. Adaptability, Employers seek employees who are adaptable and maintain flexibility in completing tasks in an ever changing workplace. Being open to change and improvements provides an opportunity to complete work assignments in a more efficient manner while offering additional benefits to the corporation, the customer, and even the employee. Adaptability also means adapting to the personality and work habits of co-workers and supervisors. Each person possesses their own set or strengths and adapting personal behaviors to accommodate others is part of what it takes to work effectively as a team. Honesty and Integrity, Employers value employees who maintain a sense of honesty and integrity above everything. Good relationships are built on trust. When working for an employer they want to know that they can trust what you say and what you do. Successful businesses work to gain the trust of customers and maintain the attitude that “the customer is always right”. It is the responsibility of each person to use their own individual sense of moral and ethical behavior when working with and serving others within the scope of their job. These values are the dharma and the spirituality of one’s self. Values and spirituality are central to the moral philosophy of human civilization and its legal institutions. Traditionally, values and spirituality are considered to be the prerogatives of the religions and they are viewed as being embodied in the family unit. Every religion in this world has preached these values irrespective of their geographical location. If this is true that these values are been inculcated to every human being from the time they are born then why do we see such dramatic changes in the work culture and ethics now a days?

Religion today appears to be shaking from its very roots, because the edifice of the popular religion is built on a sandy basement and has no substantial support at the bottom. The so-called religious man does not really believe in God. The religious mind has taken advantage of its apparent belief in God or concept of God as an instrument in the personal fulfillment of its wishes and ambitions. To most of us, God is an instrument, not the aim or goal of life. Our asking for God is not because He is all-in-all, but because He is a tool for the fulfillment of our ulterior motives. We have desires and desires, in all the levels of our personalities. We are made up of desires: “Kamamayoyam purushah”. We do not possess or have desires: We are made up of the desires. Every fiber of our being is constituted of desire alone. Therefore, this desireful personality contrives a tool in the form of the concept of a God in Paradise, in Brahmaloka, Vaikuntha or Kailasa, for its own fulfillment. God’s existence is travestied; it becomes a blasphemy of the very notion of God. We are told, again and again, that God is the goal of life and not a means to the satisfaction of the needs of the individual. The most dramatic results you will see in any country, any group, or nation, is when each individual takes responsibility for his or her personal growth, self sufficiency, and inner connection to God. Until God is first in the individual, people will operate from a level of personal interest instead of seeing all as a part of the ‘whole’ of God. When God is first, the life of the individual becomes an example and inspiration of the ‘way’ to be which is stated in all the Scriptures around the world. The essential purpose of each religion and faith is to be a way to show higher knowledge with human interpretation as inspired from the Divine Intelligence within. The experience of higher consciousness establishes the basis for maintaining peace within oneself, which creates peace naturally in one’s environment. From this level of higher consciousness, this advanced education crosses the boundaries of traditional education in an innovative and dynamic way. The spiritual understanding shows the interconnected value of all life which creates and sustains unity. Through this integration, the individual has a greater sense of responsibility; this effects the environment and maintains non-violence through the appreciation of the inner and outer values of life. The combination of meditation, spirituality and education will provide the foundation for even greater economic potentials through the individual’s comprehension of obligations to family, society, and government. Spiritually, the individual feels a sense of belonging to humankind through the direct experience of “Oneness” within; crossing boundaries of prejudice and creating harmony in one’s family, community, nation, and extending into a global view of unity.

You cannot have an economically sustained society without the personal experience of inner peace. Higher intelligence and the experience of peace within give a self-referral understanding of non-violence, promoting personal productivity in all areas of life. Compassion combined with understanding of the spiritual teachings will reveal through direct experience the greater values for all life.

Thus when we talk of dharma, religion and vise a vise work culture and ethics we must look into our religious scriptures. The scriptures have the answer to create an environment of proper work culture which will allow personal growth, which will enhance social upliftment, and which will give a proper work life balance. In today’s management the style in which the MNCs function is at times very ridiculous. They follow a system of 1x2x3 which means you as one, you are given the salary of two persons and the work load of three persons. One can never get a proper work life balance in such conditions. No dharma in this world has preached such work culture but sadly such is the culture which is prevalent now because both the organization and the individual are looking to maximize the pleasure quotient, organization, by showing more profit and individual, by earning more salary. The deterioration of the work culture is not only in India but is a worldwide phenomenon.