What Does it Mean to be Indian?

Work is an integral part of our lives. In the discipline of physics, work is defined as the application of energy. In the context of human life, work is the application of our physical, mental, emotional energy to maximize our sense of well-being.

The difference between life and non-life on the one hand and the difference between all other forms of life and human life on the other hand helps us to understand the context of work.

Human life is seen as the highest stage of evolution in nature.

Biologically we have evolved the maximum in the size and complexity of our brain which has given us human intelligence, while our physical energy has been reduced compared to our biological evolutionary ancestors – the apes.

All forms of life are part of the complex food web of nature – and all forms of life need food to survive.

Plant forms of life make their own food in their bodies through photosynthesis whereas animal forms of life predate on other forms of plant and/or animal life for food. Survival of the species – growth and reproduction – is the basis of work in all forms of life but in humans work takes on a different significance because of the unique development of the human brain.

Humans have to spend energy to find food for survival. From the earliest stages of cave dwellers finding food as hunter gatherers, humans have evolved to learn to grow food as agriculturists. This has been the predominant mode of work of humans for centuries and millennia.

But work for humans has also taken on the meaning of nourishment of the brain and mind – the use of intelligence, as well as nourishment of the heart – the use of our feelings.

Our intelligence has enabled us to grow food and intervene in the natural processes of evolution to direct the growth of certain species of plants and animals for our own benefit – unlike other life forms which do not intervene in the natural processes of evolution to change them. Similarly, our intelligence has enabled us to develop a variety of weapons to prey on various plant and animal forms for our benefit. This process of evolution of human intelligence is a continuous one and our work continues to intervene in the natural process of evolution.

What is called as human progress is the outcome of our work.

We can live in harmony with nature or we can try to control nature for our benefit. We can live with the uncertainty of nature by integrating our lives with nature or we can make efforts to reduce the uncertainty of nature and divorce our lives from it. The application of our muscle power, our intelligence, and our capacity to create machines has been used to reduce the uncertainty of nature. This is where understanding the meaning of being Indian becomes important.

Recorded history of the Indian peninsula shows our affinity for using our muscle energy to the maximum in our work – our artisanal skills have been encouraged to flourish and we have developed elaborate manual processes for producing a variety of goods and services for our benefit.

What has made it possible for our being the only living civilization today, of all the ancient civilizations?

The way we have integrated work and our understanding of nature, our understanding of machine energy, our application of the human intelligence to seek inward enlightenment and delve deep into our spiritual consciousness, our sense of being a whole-part in the infinite cosmos have something to offer in enabling us to understand our sustained civilizational continuity from ancient to modern times.

What kind of work activities help to integrate our lives with nature?

How does the concept of karma help in making responsible work choices?

What is entropy? What is the contribution of increasing number of machines in our lives to the overall entropy in the system?

How can we create balance between the inner and outer worlds at:

• a personal level?
• a family level?
• an organizational level?
• a societal level?

What is the impact of artisanal production systems and industrial production systems on:

• scale of operations?
• design of work organizations?
• societal structuring?

Are we losing our civilizational memory of the above?

Mind itself is the cause of human bondage as well as liberation

Peace comes from within. Do not seek it without

They who give, have all; they who withhold, have nothing

Avarice is the root of all evils

If you conquer your mind you conquer the world

This body is for service to others

Excess of anything is bad

There are three gates to self-destruction: lust, anger, greed

Character is the most precious ornament

Those who break the laws of nature may flourish,
become rich and secure, overpowering their enemies, but then they will perish from their roots

No one is born a friend or enemy of another. Friendship and enmity develop for reasons

Being unethical, getting into debt, and
forming opinions are easy to do, but all have the potential to destroy even the strongest of men

• Karma is a uniquely Indian concept.
• ‘Nishkama Karma’ the elaboration of which means ‘You have a right only to your actions and not to the fruits of your actions’ – is a uniquely Indian insight which provides an anchor to the whole concept of work and its various ramifications.
• Cyclicality and circularity are internalized in the structuring of work in society.
• The societal structuring identifies four fundamental categories of work and workers – brahmins, kshatriyas, vaishyas, and shudras – thinkers, warriors, producers, servers – this represents a very holistic understanding of the macro reality of sustaining society. The constant flux between the ascribed and achieved status of people in society based on these categorizations reflects the continuous churning in society.
• The individual life structuring also visualizes four stages – the four ashramas of brahmacharya, grahaastha, vanaprastha, sanyas – student, householder, hermit, renunciate. These four stages provide a frame of reference for individuals to balance various demands of and from the ‘self’ and the ‘others’ in society.
• The role of community in the world of work is central in the societal structuring.
• The ‘secular’ and the ‘sacred’ are intertwined to reinforce each other, to reinforce unity in diversity, to reinforce integration with nature.
• The integration of the micro and the macro reality is facilitated by linking the inner and outer worlds in a cycle of action and reflection.
• The boundary between the ‘self’ and the ‘other’ is recognized and reinforced in many domains as can be seen in some key ideas like:
  • Vasudeva kutumbhakam
  • Atithidevo bhava
  • Bahujana sukhaya, bahujana hithaya cha

Being Indian means understanding the value of these building blocks of work and life and re-interpreting them in the context of the modern world to maintain the unbroken civilizational thinking which has continued till now and carry it forward into the future.

Societal structuring and the division of work between individuals and groups of individuals is a very visible differentiator between the countries of the East and the West in the modern world.

The modern ‘corporation’ has become a strong focal point for organizing work in the West – this is being encouraged to become the dominant model for all countries of the world.

Modern corporations are structured for maximizing industrial modes of production and provision of services. Centralization of systems of functioning is inevitable when organizations become large in scale of operations. Homogenization of patterns of living can be viewed as an unintended consequence of these processes.

How do we promote ‘diversity’ and how do we integrate ‘unity in diversity’? Artisanal modes of production and provision of services have a lot to offer in this regard – the countries of the East and India in particular have been able to sustain artisanal production in continuity from ancient to modern times.

We need to learn and appreciate the value of artisanal systems instead of looking down on them as ‘backward’ by viewing them from the lens of the modern corporation. If we use the lens of ‘sustainability’ and ‘built to last’ we will be able to understand the systems of scale of operations, structured diversity, integrating uncertainty, and living in harmony with nature which anchor artisanal skills and modes of production and provision of services.

Gandhiji said ‘The earth provides enough to satisfy every man’s need but not for every man’s greed’.

Today, work has become equated to economic activity. The modern economy focuses on the forces of ‘greed’ and ‘fear’ to energize people to accumulate more and more material wealth.

How can we mediate the forces of ‘greed’ and ‘fear’ with the force of ‘need’? This is the most critical challenge humanity is facing today.

How can sustainable consumption co-exist with greed and fear?

How do we emphasize and underline the term ‘for all’?

C. Panduranga Bhatta has interpreted the edicts of Emperor Ashoka to define his vision as ‘To achieve the material and spiritual welfare of the whole world’. How can we operationalize this vision in the context of the reality of the modern world? Is it possible to achieve this vision without factoring in the force of ‘need’?

If we appreciate the significance of these insights, we can reclaim them as our anchors to show how the earth can provide for all.