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EPILOGUE TO ‘THE AMAZING HUMAN MIND’

 

While many of the activities that we go through in our day-to-day life are institutionalised – family practices, education, profession, sports / entertainment and hence they have certain established regulatory frame-works. However, in a democratic country like India, one can create their own framework for conducting life as long as it does not hurt the individual, other human-beings, established institutions and environment at large.

After my graduation, during the last fifty years I have taken several avatars, ten to be precise – Research & Development engineer in the area of electronics (1973–84), parttime student and entrepreneur (1974–83), turned into a full-time serial entrepreneur manufacturing and selling electronics products across India (1984–93), exporter representing interests of Small and Medium Electronics Industries in Karnataka (1994– 2001), researcher in the area of entrepreneurship (2002–9) which fetched a doctorate, Rotarian engaging in Community Eye-care projects (since 2003), Advisor / Mentor to Higher Educational Institutions (2008–17), independent director in a Company’s Board (2009–20), Founder and Chief Mentor, Impact Foundation, a Business Incubator for Start-ups that could create social impact (since 2014), and a writer (since 2016).

There is an old proverb – the rolling stone gathers no moss, which sounded a warning bell for persons who are unsettled, wanderers who don’t take responsibilities. But, today it is associated with adventure, freedom and being creative.

I strongly believed in the concept of living in the present and focussing on the job on hand. I had never nurtured a sense of competition, nor had feelings of guilt or regret. Having born and brought up in a typical Indian middle-class, joint-family system, I was generally duty-conscious deep inside, from my very younger years. This enabled me to take care of my ancestral home and modify it in several iterations spread over thirtyeight years (1976–2014) to suit family requirements. Perhaps, it may be due to managing the ancestral home and being with my elders, imbibed in me a strong sense of ethics in whatever I had dealt with. This helped me in facing various crises, both in business and family situations. 

The four elements that I had considered important to attain a strong mind are the following:

– Developing resilience 

– Nurturing relationships 

– Sense of purpose 

– Secular anchor of faith.  

Based on my experience of attaining greater satisfaction through planning and implementing service projects (evident from the longest duration of time that I have spent in this area as compared to other areas), I can confirm to the fact that, if one could identify a purpose that’d benefit larger cross-section of needy (people, environment) and get sincerely involved in the process of implementation, the chances of deriving fulfilment in one’s life are much higher.

~~~

June 1st, 2023 | Ravi 60 

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