One ounce of Practice

Few days back, I boarded a bus for my way back home from office. Since, the bus was moderately crowded, I could avoid the jostling but was unable to manage a seat for myself. Suddenly a lady in her 60’s started to murmur something in a tensed voice. On concentrating, I heard that she has boarded a wrong bus. At that point of time, my human empathy went to hibernation and I simply did not think even for a moment the kind of predicament that lady was facing then. My self-interested mind was roving round the thought of occupying the seat which she will immediately vacate. But fate has its own way. I could not manage to occupy her evacuated place. Saw the lady conversing with the bus conductor and found that both of us have the same destination and that she is not aware of this particular route. The crowd became thin and both of us got to sit beside each other.  In spite of the assurance given by the conductor, she was still very much nervous, anxiously gaping out of the rickety window unable to identify anything. Looking at her, I remembered my own terrible sense of road direction. I tried to reassure her and further added that I will accompany her till the last stop and will help her in boarding another bus or auto from that bus stand. She was so glad…relief..yes..that is what I saw in her eyes. She was going to visit her daughter. Throughout our journey, she kept telling me about her daughter, and so many things. In our next bus, I offered her my seat (see the quirk of fate!). Again she was so thankful. She ended up buying my fare and bidding me goodbye with full of blessings.

It looks like any regular incident in our life but we do sometimes fail to notice the significance of these apparently insignificant things. When we are good to others, we are best to ourselves. Whenever any work is done without any hope of personal gain, however tiny act it may be, it is bound to fill our heart with inner joy. This feel good factor is highly important as it ultimately leads to happiness and upliftment of a person in Karma-Kshestra (Field of Action). In yogic parlance, the deepest fulfillment through selfless act is called Karma Yoga.

In HR parlance, this too has a profound impact. In everyday life any kind gesture creates a deep impact. It creates wealth in our Emotional Bank Account (EMA). One of the major deposits in EMA is attending to little things. It is the step in building trust on a relationship. But this should be practiced with full honesty and not just to do it for the sake of any obligation. Initially it is not important to focus on the result. Focal point should rest on our acts which should be done without any fakeness. Gradually long term result will unfold itself in beautiful colors. Whenever any problem crops up, we should not feel agitated or tensed. We should look at these problems as golden opportunities to build up EMA. In maintaining Employee Relation, EMA plays a vital role. The emotional resources that we gather help us to save the Employee-Employer relationship and this prepares the groundwork for a healthy Organization.  To summarize I would refer to my title. As it goes..one ounce of practice..is better than tons of theory.