Struggle for survival
Author : C.P.Hariharan
Email id.:cphari_04@yahoo.co.in
Previously we struggled for freedom. Now, we are struggling for survival. Problems are part and parcel of our life. Problems persist in one form or the other from the cradle to the grave. We are living in a problem oriented society. For solving any problem we need to take stock of the situations through introspection. The tool of SWOT analysis comes handy in solving our problems. We should be aware of our own strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats clearly. Then only we can find solutions to our problems. SWOT analysis augers, bodes well with the personal, professional and social situations. There are four types of problems internal problem which is our own making and external which are not in our hands, micro which are specific to us and macro which are common to all. We can only control our actions and reactions as regards external problems.
Problems tend to galore. Even before we could solve one problem yet another problem crops up. Problems come at a stretch and never come alone. We will find ourselves in an awkward situation like zero budgeting i.e. starting right from the scratch, picking the pieces.
Just as every coin has two sides, just as there is day and night, we have to face both the positive and negative happenings in our life and take into our strides in proper ways.
Hence, we should be aware of environmental turbulences that exert their continuous influence on us.
There is a saying when going gets tough, tough gets going. More often than not, we face tough times in life. Good and bad times take their turns in our life. Running away from problems does not provide solutions. Rather, we have to face the situations boldly. As we cannot avoid tough times, managing tough times becomes imperative. We have to provide for rainy days during sunny days.
We live on hopes. We should try our best and leave the rest to God. We fail only when we stop trying.
We should do introspection on daily basis to know where we are standing, where we have gone wrong and how can we rectify and how can we improve upon as compared to our rivals.
Gone are the days when families were colossal in size and joint family system was in vogue. Nowadays, nuclear family systems prevail. Nobody owns responsibility for anything. We have to take responsibility for everything. We have to be totally independent. We have to take care of ourselves. We have to provide for our future so that we will be able to manage when we get laid up. Such kind of anxiety is very common nowadays. Life poses so much of threats and challenges. Nobody has time for anybody. Everybody is on the rat race for accumulating wealth.
Thus, the term independence has assumed a new meaning that we have to be totally independent and do all our tasks on our own. Nobody will either click a mouse or else pick up the sticks or lay them straight, or pick up an iron ore without consideration.
For any work, the condition of those who can work independently need only apply is being attached as a string. We should learn the job while working rather than depending on anybody else .We should choose reliable training institutes in case we need training.
No TA or DA will be allowed is a permanent clause in call letters. This saves the time of typing the call letter at the least for this clause.
Once upon a time, principle of “vasudaiva kudumbakam” i.e. the concept of world is one family prevailed. A feeling of oneness was all pervasive. Today, that kind of bonding, excitements are conspicuous by their absence. People in general have so much of materialistic possessions, still happiness remains like an elusive rain. Smiling faces are rare to find.
We do not know who our neighbors are. Social inter action has come to a standstill. We come to know about our neighbors only when the earth quake strikes.
As success rate of striking a business deal or getting into an employment varies from 5 to 10 % in the wake of cut throat competition, much of our time goes astray despite our best trials. Getting into a job is not so easy. Retaining the job is still more difficult than getting into a job.
Once upon a time, people could manage with the interest income from accumulated funds when they retire. But, with the interest on fixed deposits keeps on decreasing day by day, this option has also been closed for ever. This means we have to work even after retirement.
Just as we cannot judge a book by looking on the cover of the book, we cannot judge people by looking at them apparently as we have not treaded in their path. Hence, we should shed judging others. We should not come to sweeping conclusions about people or else write off them. Each of us has some latent talents and the same should be tapped to the optimum for our growth and development.
We have to face the situations as they occur. Everything cannot happen as we wish.
Time management is quintessential to solve our problems. There should be a timeframe within which we should execute our tasks to attain our aims.
In competitive environment we need to please as many people as possible. We need to preempt competitors’ actions to keep them at bay.
Cribbing or nagging does not solve any of our problems. Rather, it only aggravates the issues.
Prayers and meditation help us to recover from frustration and help us to be independent.
World has changed a lot. Change is the only unchanging thing in this changing world. For coping up with the changes we need to change. We cannot change the world. Those who can adapt to changes will only survive. Any attempt to change the world will be of no avail. It will turn out to be a mere exercise in futility like straightening a dog’s tail or else changing the direction of north facing yantra which tend to revert to their original positions. We have to accept things and people as they are.
With the advent of information technology, our life styles have undergone a sea change, a paradigm shift. Repetitive tasks are being done by computers only.
Ten to five jobs no more exist. We witness people starting their work at six pm. This has become very common. Time and education has no value in our society.
In metro cities we stuck up in jams and chunk of our time gets dissipated away in jam.
Because of severe competitions, corporate performance has come down like anything which is reflected in movement of share prices.
Moral values show a declining trend. Straight forward people are being exploited.
We do not find systematic ways of working in it’s strict sense of the term systematic. But, more often than not, we see things at sixes and sevens. We zig here and zag there. Little bit of messiness is resorted to as an allowance to cope up with unforeseen contingencies. A sort of freewheeling opportunism, a flexible way of planning prevails over conservative rigid planning.
On the whole, even if the scenario seems to be gloomy and spells poised disaster and collapse of our economy, we should think that every cloud has a silver lining.
People prefer to live in cocoons of community and they do not look beyond. It is like birds of same feather flock together symmetrically. Cooperation among people takes a back seat. We are living in a mutually exclusive society. Need of the hour is cooperation for survival.
Penning down our problems solves half of our problems. For solving any problem, in the first instance, we should be aware of the problems. Well begun is akin to half done. When problems come on our ways we should think that this will also pass as nothing is permanent in this world, not even problems. Each and every problem has got a solution. If there is a will, there is a way. There is a saying in Malayalam “A jackfruit, jack of all fruits bears fruits even in it’s roots, if it so wishes”.
Author : C.P.Hariharan
email id.: cphari_04@yahoo.co.in
