Obeisance
The Chair in which the Author’s Mentor Rev.T.S.Avinashilingam Chettiar, Founder-Director, Sri Ramakrishna Mission Vidyalaya, Coimbatore sat and advised, guided, shaped and moulded the Author for 36 years from 1955-1991 into an Educationist and a Leader.
VOLUME VIII – CONTENTS
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GROUP INSTITUTIONAL HAPPINESS
When Gandhiji was travelling to London in a ship to attend the Round Table Conference, one evening as he was walking on the deck, an English man asked him, “ Mr.Gandhi , when do you think you will die?”. Immediately Gandhiji replied, “When i lose my sense of humour.”
In any group, there may be a person who is a good mixer, a star, a centre of attraction who lights up the atmosphere and lightens the mood of everyone by his well-meaning sense of humour. When a speaker adds a dash of humour in between his speech, he gains added attention. This applies both to the classroom as well as to any office.
If the Principal or Head himself/herself has a great sense of humor, then every one working there feels happy and the work becomes a joy and if some of the employees have it, then they spread cheer and warmth all around.
The Principal was talking to a teacher and after some time he asked, “Are you keeping track of what I say?”, the teacher replied, “ Sir, you are a Rajdhani Engine and I am a goods wagon “. Meaning thereby that he was too fast to be understood. Immediately the Principal had a hearty laugh, apologised to him and started speaking slowly. If that principal didn’t have a rich sense of humour, the situation would have become explosive.
When Rajaji was the Chief Minister of Madras Presidency, in 1952, he told the assembly, “the Communists are my enemy number one and the PWD number two.”
At once the leader of the Communist Party stood up to object. Before he could say anything Rajaji intervened and said,” my dear friend, if you change your colour to white I will become your friend” and the whole assembly including the Opposition leader roared in laughter.
When the PWD Minister said something in Rajaji’s ears, the Communist member asked Rajaji, “Is the minister refusing to change his colour?” And Rajaji replied,” No, he told me that he has started looking through my spectacle and that if looks better,”
Once in the Parliament, the Prime Minister Pt.Jawaharlal Nehru said ,” Aksai Chin is a barren area not even a blade of grass grows there”. At once Poloo Modi got up and said, “My head is completely bald. Does it mean that it is barren and useless? “Nehru at once interjected saying, “ we are all very glad to know that Piloo’s head is not barren and there is something useful inside it”, and moved up to him and appreciated him for his remark. This type of exchange used to enliven the Parliament proceedings of those days.
once an Asst. Commissioner and the author went to a K.V. for inspection. The Asst. Commissioner was a short-tempered person. He asked a student of class V pointing to a neem tree outside and asked, “ Can you tell me how many leaves are there in that tree?” Without batting an eyelid, that boy (son of airforce officer) replied, ninety eight crores seventy six lakhs, fifty four thousand, three hundred twenty one sir”. Taken aback, he asked the boy,” how do you know?” The boy replied,” I have climbed the tree and counted. If you want to cross check you can also do so sir”. Immediately, the author, trying to salvage the situation said,” thank you, my dear son for saving us the trouble of counting. Your calculation should be correct. We accept it.”
The author was the student of Kulapathi Sri.S.Balakrishna Joshi, Headmaster, The Hindu Theological High School. Chennai. When he was studying in class XI (the highest class), one day in the assembly the H.M. announced the demise of a teacher and declared a holiday. Next day the author standing in the last row near the entrance to the Head Master’s room, told his friend,” how nice it will be if it is announced that the H.M. has died and given holiday for two days “. No sooner did he finish saying that, than he felt a hand on his shoulder and heard the H.M. saying ,” my dear son, I am sorry I am unable to oblige you!” What a great sense of humour!
Smile is infectious,there is an old saying,” Think and grow rich; laugh and grow fat,” in a school the Principal who was a great humorist used to put up jokes in his room as well as in the staff room and library. After some time, the staff and students started supplying him jokes for display and everyday people started looking at the board.
Another Principal organised a humour club once a month on the last working day in every class when all shared harmless, pleasant jokes.
The author had the pleasure of working with a number of teachers who had a fine sense of humour.
A great thinker Henry Ware Beecher wrote:-
“ A person without a sense of humour is like a wagon without springs, jolted by every pebble on the road”. An atmosphere of humour and mirth at the work place increases job satisfaction.
In the school every morning the staff were greeted with a humourous note tucked on the notice board. They found it a good way to start their work for the day. At the end of the day the staff should go home smiling. Anything humourous about the work, colleagues, Principal will titillate the staff. An able and astute Head may be strict with his colleagues, but still enjoy a joke over a cup of tea. Don’t mistake that humourously oriented staff’s productivity will be less and that they may not be serious about their work. All the staff mentioned above were excellent teachers and very meticulous in their work.
Given below are some samples of humour about the Principal, teachers and the classroom situation. Gather more of this type and share with your staff. Then you will find how much lighter the load appears and how enjoyable all of you feel about the work.
A Principal told the teacher “you should remember that the students and parents are always right and we are always wrong. It will help you if you start from that position”. One teacher asked “Suppose they are wrong and we are right”. The Principal said,” Then I am sorry they will overtake you”.
The author told a Principal “Use tact, but don’t advertise it”.
A Principal told a teacher, “The half yearly exam. results have come. Now also what escape route you have already planned to cover up the poor performance of your pupils?.
The teacher said,” Sir, I taught well. But they didn’t understand well.
The Principal laughingly said. “Sir, do you remember a statement you would have heard your Professor saying in your B.Ed class “ If the student has understood it means the teacher has taught”.
An Asst. Commissioner asked a Principal if he would like to be deputed for a seminar on “ Time Management”. The teacher replied, “Much as I would like to, but i am unable to find the time to do so.”
One teacher was caught red-handed sharing some of his school’s special ways of coaching with the Principal of another school. When questioned, he replied, “don’t call it stealing trade secrets. I prefer to christen it as ‘sharing of information’ ”.
A Principal was telling another Principal who enquired about a teacher in the former’s school (a relative of the latter).
“ He is trying not to allow his routine work to come in the way of his career ambitions”
the General Secretary of the teachers’ association was asking a lot of questions to the Principal, who intervened to say.
“ what all you ask is wonderful
why don’t you also come up
with good solutions for them”
A Principal and a Correspondent were interviewing some candidates for the post of computer teachers. One candidate who answered well was asked finally, “ What salary do you expect” The candidate replied, “I am not worried much about salary as long as you can give me equal to what Bill Gates earns!”
A higher officer was worried about the presence of two many committees in the office. So he told his P.A.,” i want to form a committee to explore ways and means of doing away with too many committees”
It was an interview for the post of a Principal. One candidate told the interview board, “ I have always been used to a fat salary and minimum work because i was a Dean”
When the author went to see the Director of School Education in a State, he found a small board which said.
“Motorists always slow down after they see an a accident”
Meaning thereby that only after a problem arises, the Principals sit up and have a close look at things around them.
One Principal was reprimanding a teacher for indifference and negligence. The teacher said, “ I may not be competent. But I don’t allow that to affect my work in anyway”.
In the staff room just before the monthly staff meeting was to start, a teacher told another, “When our principal says ‘i wish to make the long story short, we should be ready for an hour into his oration”.
Immediately another teacher said, “i don’t mind attending the staff meeting, because i get an opportunity to get some sleep”.
Another teacher said, “Our principal can give the same speech in every staff meeting, but he is never tired of repeating himself”.
One Principal asked another how he handled stress. The latter replied, “I have perfected the art of managing stress by tackling problems one nano second at a time”.
An officer told a Principal who was charged for lying some information, “A damaged truth always comes in crutches. You have to tell a dozen lies to cover up one lie. It requires a lot of courage to tell the truth. But it requires a lot of intelligence and imagination to tell a lie”.
two teachers had studied law, also company and mercantile law. They said to their H.O.D, “We both have studied law, we miss very much the arguments in our classes because the students simply listen and go”.
A teacher who got an award was telling his colleagues in the staff room “I got this award for using least amount of profanity” What an achievement!
A Ph.D candidate appeared for interview for the post of Principal. The Secretary asked, “We are an equal opportunity employer. So having a Ph.D won’t be a disqualification for you”.
In an interview for the Principal’s post, going through the resume of a candidate, the Chairman of the Board said, “In your C.V.you have said that you prefer flextime as you do not have any attachment to the ‘principle of punctuality’. You will perfectly fit into this school as we want a supervisor to conduct surprise checks on the night watchman”.
One P.G.T. who aspired to become a Principal told his Principal, “I want to make a good future”.
The Principal told him, “Look, you have to continue in this job before you can think of making a future out of it”.
The Secretary of a school asked a candidate, “Why did you choose M.Com instead of M.C.A. after your B.Com”.
The candidate replied, “I was searching for an opening for my creativity. So I took up accounting”.
An Officer told a Principal, “You have a blunt tongue. A blunt word can be razor sharp and create a lot of enemies for you”.
The author went to inspect a school. At the end of the inspection, he felt sorry for the Principal because it was no fun for the Principal to be in a school where none belonged to him. A teacher told the author, “Our school is a cricket team the Principal is batting and we are all fielding”.
The author told a Principal who used to get angry very often. “Remember that a place which faces a turbulent weather can’t make a safe landing”.
The author’s cousin was a student of the Madras Christian College. He told him an incident in Mr.Muller’s life. Mr Muller was a Scot. Normally the English men don’t like the Scots. One day an English man asked, “Mr.Muller, “I hear that in your place human beings eat only the oats which we feed to our horses“. Mr.Muller replied,”Yes, that is way your horses and our people are able to work very well”.
The author was observing a History class. The teacher was teaching about the Second World War. He told the class a joke published in an English Monthly.
A reporter went to Hitler and asked him the secret of his success. Without replying to his question Miller asked a soldier standing nearby to jump down. Without asking why, he immediately jumped a height of 50 feet.
Hitler said, “This is the secret of my success,”. The reporter asked, “O.K, He is a soldier. Will an officer jump like this”.
Immediately Hitler asked a Colonel to jump. When that officer was about to jump, the reporter ran up, stopped him and asked,”You too?”
The Colonel replied with frustration writ large on his face,“Bullshit. To jump to death is better than serving this person”.
it was an Economics class. When the teacher was narrating the successful career of a banker, a student got up and said,“If I were that banker and somebody asked me the reason for my success, i will say ,”Only 3 words”- Taking Right Decision.
If my friend were to ask me again what I gained by that, i will say in one word “experience”. And if he were to ask again, “How did you gain good experience?”, i will reply again in 3 words” Took Wrong Decisions”.
The teacher was explaining how to paraphrase a passage. One student asked, “Every sentence seems to be important. Then how to reduce.”
The teacher replied, “Think that you are sending the whole passage by telegram to U.S.A. at your own expense and start. Then you will automatically shorten the passage into one containing only the essentials”
A beautiful example easy to grasp!
At home a mother (working as a teacher) was going on asking her son something. He shouted, “Don’t nag me like this to do your homework, you have Mixie, Grinder, Microoven, washing machine, fridge etc. But my home work is not like that, I have to use my mind only!”
A Physics teacher started his class on Atoms telling an anecdote about Einstein. “It seems when Einstein was involved in the preparation of the atom bomb along with others, he said:-
“If I succeed in my effort to make an atom bomb, Americans will say that I am an American. And the Germans will claim me as a German. If I fail, Americans will call me a German and Germans will call me an American!”
A teacher was teaching about the meeting between Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa and Swami Vivekananda. One day it seems a young man came to Sri Ramana Maharishi and asked, “I have read that as soon as Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa touched Swami Vivekanantha he attained Nirvikalpa Samadhi. Like that can you also take me to that state?” Sri Ramana Maharishi homorously asked, “Are you also Vivekananda?”
In the hundreds of essays contributed to the National Youth Day Competition organised by Sri Ramakrishna Math, Chennai, apart from the beautiful ideas given by the students, there were some interesting howlers also like this:-
a) என் பள்ளிக்கு மாவட்ட ஆட்சி தலைவர் வந்தார்
b) ஆசிரியர் நமக்குக் கற்று கொடுப்பார்
c) படிக்கும் முன்பு சாமியைக் கும்பிட வேண்டும்
d) பத்து வருடம் கழித்து நீ உன் படிப்பை மேற்கொள்ள முடியாது
e) மன்றங்களில் சேர்ந்து கொள்ள வேண்டும்
The total result of all our activity should be happiness. But happiness is a very difficult and elusive word to define. A five figure salary, lot of perks, good status, power, fame, wealth, health, continuous upgradation of position, house, foreign degree, intelligent children, foreign trip, posh car:- all these are assumed to be indicators of happiness. The question is –are all these permanent? We think all these could give happiness. But all this is passing happiness. But however much you have of these, you have, you don’t feel satisfied.
Is there an undeniable, everlasting happiness? Rousseau once said that if you are able to digest well what you have eaten, that is happiness. Each individual will have his/her own benchmark of happiness. Such as freedom to do, ability, association and self evaluation. Money alone does not bring happiness. Beyond a level, money becomes a burden. A higher standard of living or a higher standard of life- which will give you happiness?
The king of Bhutan declared that his goal was to increase the Gross National Happiness and not just GDP-Gross Domestic Product– this is what Buddhism has taught him that he must help this people realize that the final aim of life is inner happiness and not external happiness
In November 1961, when the author visited the Ford Automobile Factory in Detroit, U.S.A, he was taken on a tour of the assembly line. At one point, as each engine came on the conveyor belt, it stopped. The person sitting there takes a hammer like thing and gave a hit on a particular part of the engine. Then it moved. On enquiry, the author found that the person had been performing the same work for the last 23 years and that he was an expert in that job. He knew the exact spot, exact pressure to be applied and exact timing of the hit. He had refused a promotion saying that because of his work every engine is certified okay. That joy can’t be compensated by any amount of higher monetary compensation. He said,”After work I go to my small happy family, beautiful home and lovely son. God has been very kind to me. What more do 1 need?
In Chennai the author once traveled in an auto. He found the driver very cheerful and asked him whether there was any special reason for his happiness. The auto driver said,” Nothing special today. Everyday is special for me because Lord Ayyappa is taking care of our family very well. We are very happy with what he has given us. I go to Sabarimala thrice every year to pay my gratitude for what he has given me. I don’t overcharge any one. I at once return anything left by a passenger. I personally know many important people because of my work and manners. This is God’s work which I am doing. I am happy he has chosen me as his instrument to help his children.
This is the ultimate sign of happiness!
Can you build in your school an atmosphere where there is mutual acceptance, admiration and appreciation among the staff? Can you develop a collective consciousness among them? Help them move towards a more meaningful life. Help them to rediscover themselves-who they are, what their goals are, what are their interests-all that make them what they are. Help them locate those things that excite and stimulate them. Help them to enjoy the act of giving and sharing and becoming a part of larger unit or giving a little time to wipe off the tears of someone:-
Institutional social responsibility. Help them to think only of the positive sides of their colleagues, make your school a haven of peace and joy to which children and teachers are eager to come in the morning and reluctant to leave in the evening.
The author found such an atmosphere in the Rishi Valley School at Madanapalle, Sri Ramakrishna Mission Vidyalaya, Coimbatore, Sri Ramakrishna Mission School, Narendrapur, Calcutta and Kshatriya Vidyasala Girls’ High School, Virudhunagar.
More than the glory of cent percent results in the final exams, take all efforts to increase the gross institutional happiness. You have to go out of the way to create an ambiance where your staff would feel that it is their duty to contribute to the institution’s welfare and success.
Gross institutional happiness will grow when you exhibit “candour”, when you help your staff to open up without holding back their opinion, not to be silent lest they should offend their higher ups, not willing to be a source of confrontation and not apple-polish what they want to say. If you allow them this freedom, you will get more ideas. If you allow ideas to come up to be discussed threadbare, to be chiseled and shapen, then you can do away with boring presentations and endless hours of yawning. This act of yours will release your staff room from their psychic chains.
As Jack Welch, C.E.O of General Electric Co. says:-
“Give them voice and dignity
Voice–opportunity to speak out their minds.
Dignity-respect for their work, effort and individuality.
Many normally don’t open up because they feel they can’t and secondly because they are not invited to. Have “work out” sessions where uninhibited, the staff will come out with a cascade of ideas resulting in an explosion of efficiency. In a session like this you will find some outshining others, some with richer experience. When you hear everyone with respect and patience, everyone feels happy and the happiness of the whole team is greater than the sum of happiness of individuals.Because it creates an ethos of exuberance. At one stroke you would have dismissed the fatal “boss knows all” culture.
As Jack Welch said:
“They want it and you need it”
it is said that the hospital’s mission is to provide excellent patient care from the patients’ perspective. Similarly you should provide excellent “student care” and staff care from their perspective. Your concern for their physical welfare, professional growth, academic progress, personal welfare and personality development. Your compensation plan in different forms go a long way in promoting this happiness. The former Chairman and C.E.O of Reliance Electric (quoted by Jack Welch) seems to have observed:-
“Show me your various compensation plans. I will show you how your people behave.
Get into ‘everyone’s skin’, be really concerned about what they are doing, take the hill together”.
The author was delighted to see the Chief Manager S.B.I, Tiruvanmiyur branch, Chennai leaving his chamber periodically visiting the various counters where the rush is heavy and helping the staff in their work, without calling the peon, take a paper personally to the staff and hand it over explaining what he wants to be done with it. When you don’t “sit” with your staff, you lose something of great value and benefit.
Have you ever celebrated the successes of your staff? Not the customary annual lunch on the last working day. When you find good work accomplished, have you favoured him/her with a nice family outing or a couple of tickets for a good music concert during the December season. These small manifestations of your appreciation will go a long way in boosting their morale. The author used to pass on all the complimentary opportunities he got, to the staff like this, such a celebration indicates recognition. Don’t be a workaholic not to savour these precious moments.
The author could not find a better definition of happiness at work than what is found in the campus of the IISC – Indian Institute of Science at Bangalore as described by the director prof. P. Balaraman:-
“The staff can’t find a better place to work. However low down the academic hierarchy nobody would tell another what to do. Each one marches to his own tune. People should be involved in their work and feel the happiest when they do so. The happiness of a greater number of people contributes to the ambiance of the place.”
When the author was in U.S.A in 1962 February, he asked the public relations officer of a factory if he could remember any incident which he can’t forget. He said “some years back when our production went down we hired a management consultant to study the situation and recommend measures to increase the productivity of our workers. He went around and then at the end of the day gave us a sealed cover containing his recommendations and asked us to open it the next day morning and implement his suggestions. He charged us $1000/ as his fees. Next day when we opened we found two suggestions:-
- Install a full size mirror.
- Appoint a young lady as the supervisor.
We were surprised but as he was a reputed person, we diligently implemented his suggestions.
After some time we found that the workers came to the factory very trim, daily looked into the mirror before starting their work, and were very careful about their work as they wanted to impress the lady supervisor. “Quarrels and conflicts and disagreements among them vanished completely. We saw an atmosphere of happiness in the factory”
that was happiness!
May God help you to build your school on these lines towards gross institutional happiness.
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VOLUME VIII – CHAPTER – 1
ONE WHO KNOWS
(DIMENSIONS OF THE LIFE AND WORK OF A PRINCIPAL)
881) One who knows that bureaucracy was invented by Germany was exported by Britain was reacted by India.
882) One who knows that the real power of a leader is when he unleashes the capability of the people around him and how he can build an institution that can change as fast as change itself.
883) One who knows that no society outperforms its institutions and no institution outperforms its aspirations.
884) One who knows that in one team he may be a leader and in another he may be follower.
885) One who knows that today it is about how he captures the collective genes rather than how he finds the individual genes.
886) One who tells his staff that by just having a number(% age) tagged to a student is not more valuable and authentic than what your personal experience and interaction with the student can reveal.
887) One who quotes to his staff Pico Iyer (travel writer) who says while knowledge is a wonderful thing, the illusion of knowledge can be more dangerous than ignorance.
888) One who advises his staff about the need to develop in the pupils both “systems thinking” and “complete thinking” – the former helping to recognise the shape and nature of biological entity and the latter helping to “look deeper into the parts of the system as well as the whole and to realise that while equations, formula and diagram may be useful for basic understanding, they have to prepare the students to be prepared to be constantly surprised by the things they do not and cannot see”.
889) One who tells the students that a small difference of even .01 will matter much in a competition to reveal a great student from a good student and that is where the teacher’s role plays an important part as a coach.
890) One who tells his staff what will tire them is not lot of work but the many things they have left incomplete.
891) One who tells his students that there are 3 types of people
- a) those who make things happen.
- b) those who watch things happen.
- c) those who wonder things that happened.
-(James a. Lowell)
And advises them to become the first type.
892) One who advises his students to imagine the life they dream to work confidently in that direction and then he will meet with success unexpected in ordinary times.
893) One who tells his students that when the Chairman of a company prepares tea for the first time it is a moment of success for him and so also if a musician speaks in public for the first time it is a moment of success for him and so also they should try for their first time effort in different fields and taste success.
894) One who tells his students that some time a little fine tuning by the coach- a knee bend, the angle of the racket, the position of a part of the body or the tilt of the head – will make you a great player and asks each to find in respect of what they require fine tuning and get it.
895) One who tells his pupils that the human being is the only creation capable of leaving a legacy and leave his foot print that will last after his departure.
896) One who asks his students that they should aim at their life being recorded and not be a statistical entity.
897) One who tells his students that the dash (-) between date of birth and date of death in the obituary column represents all that one has done in this life and so advises them to make their lives meaningful and memorable.
898) One who asks his students to say everyday.
“Without God, i cannot
Without me, God will not’
I shall give my fullest
Doing the rest is his job
If I fail to do my fullest
Then God will take rest.”
899) One who advises his students that with the quality with which they perform, every action should be of the highest order.
900) One who advises his staff that when they do their work as their choice they will enjoy it and on its completion have a sense of fulfillment.
901) One who does not treat the staff who disagree with him as enemies of his ego.
902) One who asks his staff
To be the booster rocket till they can float on their own
To be their ignition key till they can ignite themselves
To sow the belief in them till they can develop self belief
To be the propeller that moves them forward.
903) One who tells his staff that even as there are so many shapes in Geometry, each serving a purpose. You will have different intellectual, emotional and social shapes in your class.
904) One who knows that if he makes the child go his way, it might have made him happy, but will take away the happiness from the child and the class.
905) One who asks his staff to understand that every child is unique and has the right to stay that way diffrent from others.
906) One whose spectacles don’t see two pictures but only one.
907) One who is “love” in human form because he is ego free and “self-less”
908) One who has detached attachment and total dedication to the cause of teaching with faith in the process, which, when it is correct, will take care of the product.
909) One who feels it is his privilege to interact with unfettered minds and it is priceless and invaluable.
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It is enough if Prema is cultivated, the Prema that knows no distinction between oneself and another, because all are but limbs of One corpus of God Almighty. Through Love alone can the Embodiment of Love be gained. Here, no scholarship is needed; in fact, scholarship will be an impediment for it caters to egoism and it breeds doubts and the desire for disputation and laurel of victory over others preening themselves as learned. – Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba
