The right experts?

The funny thing about advice is that you really respect only that advice which vibes with what you yourself want to do especially when the results of following the advice are either long term or indeterminate. You know, like you have the choice of becoming either an engineer or a doctor...choosing one negates the possibility of the other and you can never be certain that choosing the other would have led to a better outcome. So he who tells you to do what you want to do is the better adviser as far as you are concerned. (As opposed to your wanting to become a musician instead of an engineer when you are tone deaf...now THERE it is tough to convince yourself that you would have starved equally as much if you had chosen to become an engineer.)

When it comes to determinate and relatively short-term issues, though, you tend to think that the better adviser is the guy who helps you to successfully fight fires. In other words, he who sorts out a current problem is that best adviser for you. Tiru sort of agrees but...

UtraNoi neekkki uraa amai murkaakkum petriyaarp penikkolal - Tirukkural

Cherish those who help sort out current problems and protect against their recurrence - Loose Translation

Now, yup, Tiru does feel that it is important to have advisers who will help you to sort out your existing problem. But he sets a higher bar for cherishing them. They not only have to sort out current ills but also help you to put in place systems to avoid recurrence of the same problem.

You know, that's a huge ask. It is easy enough for you to see how someone has helped you put out a fire. It is much tougher to see how he is helping you when he has you install fire extinguishers here and sprinklers there. All you can see is that he is increasing your costs, taking advantage of the fact that you have had a fire. You probably have a sneaking suspicion that he is taking a cut from the chaps selling you all those devices.

Even if you do avoid all those dark suspicions, it is difficult to look on with respect at a person, who is busily running hither and yon, doing things that are not relevant to any current problem. The chap who is helping you put out the next fire is the guy who has your respect currently. The chaps who are with you helping you put out fire after fire...now THOSE are the ones worthy of respect; worthy of cherishing.

I mean, like, the firefighter is a hero! Whoever gave medals to the guy who put up the firefighting systems?

Charity

Charity, for most of us, begins AND ends at home. Which is a pity, really, because the world is increasingly becoming a place where wealth concentrates and disparity widens between the haves and the have-nots. Wealth redistribution by diktat generally tends to have more negative consequences than positive - after all, if I cannot hold on to my wealth for myself and my progeny, I might as well not bother to earn it, no? The only other means of redistribution is of the voluntary kind. Which is where charity kicks in.

Tiru, though, is very particular about what he accepts as charity.

Variyaarkku ondru eevadhe eegai matrellaam kuriyedhirppai neera thudaitthu - Tirukkural

To give to the poor is the only charity; all else is given expecting recompense - Loose Translation

Well, for one, we all expect that 80G thingy (IF it is still there under the new dispensation) where your donation gets you a tax exemption. THAT actually makes it more attractive to give your charity to an 80G registered NGO than the local beggar; the latter, after all, cannot give you an 80G certificate!

The point is that Tiru is into what goes on in your mind. The determinant of your character is your motive in giving the 'charity'. When you give it to the truly poor, who can give you no recompense at all except their gratitude, you can only be guided by a charitable impulse without any admixture of any other selfish emotion (UNLESS, of course, your spouse is clicking you giving the charity so that you can post it on Instagram, which is an option that Tiru could not have thought of in his day). You give to NGOs with multiple motives, including perhaps getting into the good books of the chap seeking you to donate.

Be that as it may, we cannot turn snooty and refuse anything except 'true charity'. I mean, even if you do manage to get the rich to donate merely in order to preen about it, it is all good. The money can still come in handy to feed the poor, no?

So, there! It is all well to WANT people to be truly charitable. BUT it is good enough for Society to ensure that people want to masquerade, at least, as being truly charitable!

Know thy self?

If only I had a penny for every time some guru of success talks of 'Know Thy Self', I'd probably not need them...other than to tell me 'Know Thy Self' and adding a penny to my vast coffers. I mean, I rank this 'Know Thy Self' alongside 'Don't think of mangos'. Advice someone to do the impossible in order to achieve whatever and you can maintain your status as a guru indefinitely. After all, your advice would have made him the next Warren Buffet if only he could have avoided thinking of mangos or known himself or whatever.

I mean, come on! I cannot even tell you confidently that I had THIS haircut because I love my head half-shaved and NOT because of peer pressure alone. (Not ME you literal a******. Everyone knows that I need no barber's help to have a half-shaven head; So what if it is the wrong half for today's fashion?) AND you expect me to know things about myself that even my mom probably does not know.

And, yet, Tiru also wants the same. So, yeah, he is promising me that nothing will be impossible for me IF...I can achieve the impossible first and know my own self!

Olvadharivadhu arindhadhan kann thangich chelvaarkku selladhadhu il - Tirukkural

If someone, knowing what he can do and also the knowledge and tools needed to do that job, attempts diligently, there is nothing he cannot achieve - Loose Translation

Now, actually Tiru is not promising the impossible. I mean, yeah, he is promising that you will not fail at what you do but that comes with a precondition...that you will not attempt anything for which you lack the ability/power to do. So, within the limits of what you CAN do, nothing is impossible for you.

Which, yes, brings us to the first condition - that you should KNOW what your limits are. You may find some limits easy to identify - if you are a visual dud, you are hardly likely to think of yourself as the next Picasso or whatever. If you are tone-deaf, you do not aspire to the seat of Mozart.

The problem comes when you can do a bit of it. As in, if you are good enough as a bathroom singer, can you recognize that THAT is where your talent ends? That Hariharan or Sonu Nigam is not in danger of losing his place? Or recognize that a talent at fluently writing "In reply to..." may not suffice to win you the Booker Prize? I mean, you MAY not have sufficient talent OR, perhaps, it is just a matter of persistently honing it so that you can scale those heights. How are you to KNOW?

The second condition - of knowing what knowledge and tools are needed for the job AND the implicit statement that you need to acquire them - IS not merely doable but essential. I mean, it is all OK to sleep and dream of a princess falling into your lap and the king gifting you his kingdom but try PLANNING to have all that happen and you will either make it possible OR you will shift to more realistic dreams.

AND, yes, once you set out you need to have the patience, the diligence and the courage to persist with it despite the inevitable setbacks. Without all that, you will still not be sure of success.

But, yeah, it ALL starts with the impossible - KNOW THY SELF.

Crime and Punishment?

It's a funny thing about punishing crime and/or mistakes. Invariably, the one on the receiving end of the crime wants revenge. (AND if anyone is mealymouthed enough to say 'Oooh! THAT's bad. You ought not to seek revenge' it normally is someone who has not been a victim of a crime OR a victim of THAT crime) What of mistakes, then? Well, if you have had to suffer consequences arising out of that mistake, like your boss tearing strips off your favorite skin because of your subordinate mucking up the addition of two and two, it is inevitable that you would want to tear strips off your subordinate's skin in return. AND, yet, as I have parenthetically indicated earlier, there are virtue signalers who could go so far as to consider ANY punishment as vengeance-seeking.

Tiru, though, does not side them. Not in toto, that is.

Thakkaangu naadi thalaicchellaa vannatthaal otthaangu oruppadhu vendhu - Thirukkural

Only he, who neutrally judges a crime and metes appropriate punishment to ensure that the crime is nor repeated, is a fit leader - Loose translation

Yeah, yeah, Tiru said 'King' not 'Leader' but the fact is that, if he were around today, he would not pop up and scream that he meant it only for King Charles and not for Joe Biden OR Elon Musk or whoever. So, there! (In fact, he MAY probably say that he meant it more for Rishi Sunak and NOT for King Charles!)

The thing about both crime and mistakes is that, unless there are negative consequences, they tend to be repeated. After all, even with the Commandments, we are a species that say that the most important commandment is the Eleventh: 'Thou shalt not get caught'. Which, in effect, means that we fear not the sin, only the consequences. AND, thus, if you would drive behavior in desirable channels then you necessarily need to visit consequences upon those who commit undesirable acts.

The point also is that the punishment should be proportionate. Disproportionate punishment will not have desirable consequences. I mean, if someone steals a million dollars and your punishment is going to be 3 months community service, do you really feel that it will stop such crimes? On the other hand, if someone is caught in a minor traffic violation and the punishment is seven years hard labor, what do you think will happen to the automobile sales in that country? Would you get drivers for the public transport?

As would be the case in a company. Excessive punishment would lead to an exodus of employees; too lenient a punishment would lead to an inefficient operation.

Punishment is a form of feedback. Treat it as such and you'll know to measure it out appropriately. Give in to either your impulse to get your own back OR to think that ALL punishment is revenge, and you'll get a malfunctioning community.