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Publication: The Economic Times Mumbai;Date: Jun 17, 2011;Section: Corporate Dossier;Page: 26

MANAGEMENT mythos

NOT QUITE A DOG EAT DOG WORLD

DONT CREATE A WORLDVIEW WHERE THERE ARE VILLAINS ANDTHERE ARE VICTIMS, AND TAKE DECISIONS ACCORDINGLY, SAYSDEVDUTT PATTANAIK

Devdutt Pattanaik

As she was being chased by the tiger, a deer ran up mount Kailas, the abode of Shiva, and sought refuge, Save me from the evil

tiger that hunts me every day. Shiva took pity on the deer and gave her shelter in the palm of his hand. The tiger who was pursuing

the deer saw this and shouted, Excuse me, what will I eat now? Why do you feel sorry for the deer and not me? Is it because I have

sharp teeth and claws? What about my hunger and the hunger of my children? Dont we merit consideration? If I dont hunt the deer,

what will I eat? Would you rather that tigers starve and die? Shivas consort, the goddess Parvati, who is Annapoorna, the provider

of food, therefore decided to give the tiger shelter.

Hearing about this, a rat that was being pursued by a serpent entered Kailas and also sought shelter. So did the serpent chasing

the rat, for if the rat is given protection who will feed the serpent? Ganesha, the son of Shiva and Parvati, gave shelter to both, the rat

and the serpent. The peacock who was chasing the serpent, now wondered who will take care of his needs. Kartikeya, the other son

of Shiva and Parvati, took the peacock under his care.

And so it is, atop Mount Kailas, the divine family of Shiva and Parvati and Ganesha and Kartikeya provide shelter to predators and

prey. They see the point of view of the predator and the see the point of view of the prey. They see the fear of predator that haunts

the deer and the rat and the serpent. They see the fear of scarcity and hunger that haunts the tiger and the serpent and the

peacock. There are no villains. There are no victims. There are only creatures trying to survive. And atop Kailas, everyone finds aplace.

This visualization draws attention to the laws of the jungle. Nature does not favor any animal: everyone has strengths and

weaknesses, and the one who runs fast survives. But humans judge: we take stands, divide nature in predator and prey, choose to

protect one over the other, deeming one more worthy of need than the other. We seek to improve on nature, and so go about

creating culture, a place where the weak get protection, where the strong are restrained by rules. We create a worldview where there

are villains and there are victims, and take decisions accordingly.

The union had called for a strike at a key Industrial unit. The owner, Shyam, was furious. They have become highly polit icized.

They dont want to work. They just want to create trouble, black mail us with more demands. We have met every condition we

could, he told his father, Anirudh, who had long since retired. Shyams grandfather Govind, had established the factory in British

times. And he had been struggling to keep it afloat since the laws and regulations had changed since post-Liberalization. His

products were no longer the monopoly in the market. There were local competitors and the threat of Chinese products loomed large.

Dont they know how easy it is to shut the factory down! he screamed.

Meanwhile the union leader was shouting, They are forcing us to strike so that they can shut the factory and finally sell the

factory land. They dont care for us. They just want to exploit us and then throw us aside when there is nothing to exploit. Let us rise

up and fight. Their children study abroad while our children cannot even afford to go to college.

Anirudh tried to explain to Shyam that a confrontationist attitude helped no one. Everyone comes from need. While he was seeing

the union leader and the striking workers are villains, and himself as a victim, they were seeing him as a villain and themselves as a

victim. You both are behaving as if your survival depends on destroying or domesticating the other. For him you are the tiger. For

you he is the tiger. When two tigers meet they fight over territory by showing their teeth, taking care they dont actually hurt each

other with their claws. But when two humans, imagining the other to be a tiger, meet, there is bloodshed on either side, with each

party feeling self-pity and self-righteous. Be ware.

But neither Shyam nor the striking workers believe that Kailasa is a possibility where both parties can be comforted. Both believein the jungle where one party has to die. They genuinely believe in the Western construct, Its a dog eat dog world out there!

[ The author is the Chief Belief Officer of the Future Group who can

reached at devdutt@devdutt.com]

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