Character

Character
[Lecture delivered at University of Engg & Management, Rajarhat New Town in INSPIRE Workshop
of
Dept of Science & Technology, Govt of India on 9th Sept 2015]
Om sahanavavatu, sahanau bhunaktu
Saha veeryam karavavaha
Tejasvinaavadhitamastu maa vidvishavahai
Om shantih, shantih, shantihi.
Good evening. You know, I was sitting over there and observing all that was happening here. I
was feeling sad that these volunteers had to shout at least a dozen times to you all to remain silent. There
was a volunteer who even said that she needed pin-drop silence! And I saw that you all went on as though
these volunteers did not even exist! That made me sad. That also made me think. Perhaps you people do
not understand English. You see, these volunteers were speaking in English and you people did not
respond as expected. This is not your home. You are all in a workshop. You all need to know better than
that. So, should I speak in Bengali or English or Hindi? What language would you all like? In a group,
many speaking at once: Mixed; English & Bengali.
Fine. Before I begin, I shall introduce myself to you and explain why I am here today. I come
from Belur Math. I am sure you have all seen Belur Math. (All answer Yes.) Swami Vivekananda
established that Math over a 100 years ago. There are many educational institutions in that campus. One
of them is a Diploma College, a polytechnic, called Shilpamandira. Do you all know what a Polytechnic
is? (Many answer No.) It is an Engineering College. You enter there through a State level Entrance
Exam after you complete your Class X. anyway; I am here for talking to you about a very important topic
today. This workshop you have all been attending deals with Science and Technology. I am here to
stimulate your thinking along a different, but closely related line of thought.
I will begin by asking you a simple question. You all know milk. I want to know from you all
can milk be kept in any container, or is there some particular type of container that it should be kept in? I
will need details from you on this.
1st student: The container should not have any holes. [All students laugh]
2nd student: Milk has lactic acid. So the container should be non-reactive to lactic acid.
3rd student: The container should not have lime products in it.
4th student: The container must be clean.
So, we have four answers. I agree with all of them. The container must not have holes, or all the
milk will flow out! That is very important. Then, there should be nothing in the container that will react
with the constituents of milk. Then, one boy said that the container should be clean. What exactly did you
mean by that? What will happen if the container is dirty?
4th student: The milk will get spoilt.
Do you see that? Milk is a wonderful item. Left to itself, it is quite all right. It is perfectly all right
as long as it is the cows body. Once it comes out, the container in which it stays assumes paramount
importance. Milk is by itself full of the best nutrients. It has the whitest color. Yet, it depends entirely on
the container that holds it. That container must be absolutely clean. Else, with all the wonderful qualities
that it possesses, it becomes useless. Remember this point that I raised now. We shall now go to another
different point.
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Most of you are from Kolkata. You have all seen the Ultadanga flyover near the Airport. It is a
brand new flyover. And one portion of it, over the sewage canal, has collapsed. You must have read in the
papers these days that a bridge in Tehri had collapsed two year ago. And the Engineers, who had designed
it, from IIT-Roorkee, have been arrested yesterday. I once asked my students in Shilpamandira why that
overbridge in Ultadanga had collapsed. One answered that the design was faulty. May be. I asked if there
could be any other reason, or if that was the only one. Then another student said it could be because substandard items were used. Another boy said that it could be because standard operating procedures were
not followed. And a couple more reasons that are technical came up. Then one boy said it could be
because there was something wrong in the people involved in the project!
Now, that answer stopped me. You see, certain Govt Depts. would have been involved, like the
PWD or the Metropolitan Corporation. One cannot become an Engineer in such important State Govt
Departments if you are not a good engineer. Then, these Govt Depts. dont generally do the work
themselves. They contract the job off to some very good private company, most probably a MNC. Again,
one cannot dream of becoming an Engineer in such reputed companies if one is not good technically. So,
the best Engineers were involved in the project. What then went wrong?
Yes, there must have been something terribly wrong in some of the persons involved in executing
the project. Remember, these people were just like you and me. They too attended some school and
college. Why was this problem in their personality not detected then? Or was it? If it was, why was no
remedial action taken?
Let this idea too remain in your mind, for the time being. I will come back to it later. I will raise a
third line of thought before you now. You all know what a hypothetical question means, dont you?
(Many Yes are heard).
Fine. I will ask you a hypothetical question. Supposing you have nine bad boys. Just play along
with me here. Dont enter into hair-splitting polemic about what bad means and if I can specify what
bad boy means. Even though we all feel these terms good and bad are vague, we all also know which
category to throw a boy into when we observe him for a few days. So, let us suppose we have nine bad
boys. One good boy joins him. What happens?
Many answer together: He becomes bad soon.
Very good. We indeed see that. Now, another hypothetical question. Suppose you have nine good
boys and one bad boy joins them. What happens then?
(The students couldnt come to a consensus on what happens, some saying that he changes all the nine
boys into bad and some others saying that the nine boys bring him around to be good.)
Let me tell you what happens. That one fellow will ruin all the good boys. I have seen such
instances innumerable times. That is the reason why your mothers get into a fit when they learn that you
have become friends with a rogue. Actually, your mother should have been confident that you would be
able to bring that rogue around along with all your other good friends that she has approved of. That
doesnt happen, does it? Dont you see how it is so with apples, or onions, or potatoes? Put just one bad
apple in a bag of good ones. Those good ones should have been able to make this bad apple good. But this
world doesnt work like that. Bad things are highly infectious.
Now, we have three separate lines of thought before us. Milk cannot be kept in any and every
container. The container that holds milk needs to meet certain conditions. Else, the milk is spoilt for no
fault of its own. Secondly, one may be technically very sound, but if something is wrong in his
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personality, he becomes a curse to his society. Thirdly, there seems to be something in bad boys that
seems to compel others to become bad and that same thing seems to be absent in good boys, for we
seldom see good boys compelling other boys to become good. This something I have been hinting at in
these three lines of thought is called Character.
Everyone has character. Character can be good or bad. All of us have character. Is it good or bad?
Who knows? Who keeps a track of whether my character is becoming good or bad? Not schools, not our
teachers, not our parents, not our friends. No one keeps a track of that for us. I alone can do something
about my character.
Strength of character can be there in both good and bad people. Yes, even bad character can be
very strong. Take the example of Krishna and Duryodhana. People believe that Krishna was God
incarnate. I ask you, how come he couldnt convince Duryodhana to give up even five villages?
Duryodhanas character was indeed very strong. It was strong enough to resist the influence of God
Himself! It was bad, no doubt, but strong all the same.
Be very clear about one thing. No one around you can help you in this matter, of your own
character. Not your parents, not your teachers, not your friends, not even God can do anything about your
character. Your character is shaped entirely by what you do and think. Others may, at the most, point out
that your character is good or bad, but no one else can do anything about it.
I am not going to give you any short cuts or techniques today. All I am interested in is making
you all aware that there is something in you, which affects your entire life, all aspects of your life. And
that vital something is called Character. I want you to become aware of this something called Character in
you. It is my belief that once you become aware of it, you will know what next to do.
Now, I will give you a couple of minutes to think about what I discussed here today. Then the
house will be open for question-answer session. You may ask me anything you wish to know regarding
what was discussed here.

How do you define character?

o I do not like to define anything. If you are interested in a definition of the term Character,
please go to some standard books on personality development or some such thing. There
you will find a formal definition of the term. What I am more interested in is making you
aware of what actually character is. When we study about character from a book, what
happens is, we study it objectively. We study it as if it belongs out there. I am more
interested in the character in us, the something in me, that is affecting everything about
me.

I am unable to concentrate on my studies. How do I improve that?

o Listen to a story. There was once a lion in the jungle. He was training his little one about
the job of being the King of the jungle. The cub was all starry-eyed listening to its father
wax about the greatness of being a lion. It learned that lion was the most powerful animal
in the jungle. The cub had seen a deer far away, eating grass. This deer had big antlers.
Deer had always impressed the little cub, with all its great big antlers. The cub asked its
father, Are you really more powerful than that deer over there, with its big antlers? The
lion laughed at the cubs naivet. Of course, my child. Deer is our food. We are
immensely more powerful than them. Just watch how I hunt him down. Saying this, he
started chasing that deer.
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Now, the deer was keeping one eye on the lion & cub duo out of the corner of its
eye, while grazing. Lions always spelt trouble. The moment it saw the lion running, the
deer also started running. When deer runs to escape, you must have seen on TV that it
runs in a zigzag manner. This deer too ran in like fashion and managed to escape. The
lion had to return dejected to its cub. The cub was confused. Father had boasted that lions
were more powerful than deer, but had failed to catch it. The lion came back and said
somberly, Look here, son. There is a lesson for you in what just happened. I ran in order
to impress you. The deer ran to save his very life. Hence he escaped.
Do you understand? Why are you studying? Is it to impress your parents? Your
teachers? Your friends and relatives? Are you studying because it is something that you
need to do as a student? Dont you see any deeper meaning in studying at all? Forget
concentration then. These motives will never take you far. It wont bring out the best in
you. The day you become aware that you need to study in order to build your own future,
your mind will automatically get concentrated.
Once upon a time, there was a village. A carpenter built houses for the last 35
years in that village. He was about to retire soon. So the Village Council met and decided
that the carpenter had to be given a gift for his services. The Chairman on the Council
called the carpenter and said, We are very happy with the services you have rendered us
all these years. We have decided to give you a gift when you retire. Before that, there is
one last job we need you to do. Look at this huge pile of wood. Use it and build one last
house for us, please. The carpenter cursed his fate and went about his job. Somehow,
with half a mind, he built a house, in a most shoddy manner. He really didnt like his job
and wanted to be free from it as soon as possible. Finally, on his retirement day, the
Chairman handed over the key of the last house the carpenter had built saying, This is
our gift to you. You built it as your last job. Please stay in it for the rest of your life.
Imagine the reaction of that carpenter. Our life is also similar. What we do now is what
we will have tomorrow.

Supposing we see one of our friends committing a mistake, should we point it out?
o I will ask you another question in return. Even if you know that by pointing out the
mistake, that friend will leave your company, will you still go ahead and tell him?
(Some said Yes. Many were silent.) Look here. There is a way in which you
can say the hurtful thing in a non-hurtful manner. Try to learn that type of speaking. It
will help in a big way. Do you know the story of the King & the Jester? You see, there
was once a king who had a very bad temper. His kingdom was attacked by the
neighboring king. Nobody wanted to break the news to the king because the king would
behead anyone who brought him the news. So, the minister sent the court Jester to break
the news to the King. And the Jester was a master in twisting words but conveying the
intended meaning. He approached the King and said, Maharaja, our neighboring king
has attacked us. I went to the border area to check what the situation is. When they saw
me, they attacked me and beat me severely. Do you thing I kept quiet and accepted
defeat? No. Then I was attacked severely by them. Then they attacked me. Again I was
attacked severely by them. The King understood the situation and was not angry on the
Jester!
So, we need to point out the mistakes our friends commit. But we need not hurt
them. As we grow to be adults, these are some skills of communication we need to pick
up. We shall learn to speak in ways that will convey harsh truths in a palatable way.
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We often face the dilemma of whether something we are about to do is right or wrong. How do
we decide?
o One way is to keep a fund of information on how others have dealt with such situations.
All our elders, our teachers & parents have had to face such situations in their lives. Ask
them and learn how they dealt with such dilemmas. Then there are the great persons of
history. They too faced such situations and came out unscathed. Keep a data-bank of their
lives. Refer to them when you face such situations. Then, there is the extreme situation
where you face a dilemma and you dont have any clue of what to do from experience or
from what you have read and heard. What do you do in that case? Simple. There is a
voice inside you speaking all the time, telling you to do things and telling you not to do
some things. Depend on that voice. It is the only way out in such cases.
Of course, that voice in all of us is not so dependable at the moment. There was a
hostel and dinner was laid out on the table. Boys came in a line and took as much of the
dishes they wanted. That was the system. That day was a double treat day. Two special
items were there on the table apart from the regular items. One was a chocolate cake and
another was fresh apples. In front of the chocolate cake, a board said Take only one. God
is watching. A warden saw that one boy was taking three apples and was encouraging
his friends also to take as many apples as they wanted. He went up to the boy and said,
You know that is wrong. Wont God see what you did? What does your inner voice tell
you? The boy innocently answered, Take as many apples as you need. Nobody is
watching. God is busy watching the chocolate cake!

We face a problem at home. People at home are devoted and expect us to go to Temple and pray.
If we dont, and if we get bad marks in the exams, they are quick to point out that it happened
because we dont go to Temples. What do you prescribe for us? Do you prescribe Bhakti Yoga or
Karma Yoga for us?
o I prescribe neither Bhakti nor Karma. I only talk about Common Sense. You have a
brain. Why not use it? Most people believe in God because God is a good scapegoat. We
all attempt many things. We fail in many of them. Whom to blame? Bring in God. Very
handy. You know, I put in my best effort. But I failed. Now I realize, I should have
believed in God. God is not gracious on me. I tell you, these Gods that you pray to for
getting marks and passing exams, none of them ever went to school and had an education
like us. How can they help? They know nothing of what we are going through here. What
use is it to pray for these things? Depend on your own abilities. And the fun is, the more
you use your abilities, the more they grow. You dont need a god to help you with your
present activities. Now there may be some here who are devotionally oriented. Such
people wont ask such questions. They have worked out a way to pray and get things
done in their lives. If you however have a doubt whether you should pray or work, then I
say, forget god and the devil and philosophy and start working hard. Look at the western
people. They dont believe in auspicious moments and dont even have an almanac. How
wonderfully successful they are in their endeavors! They of course plan well. And
execute that plan sincerely.

Often, we understand that a particular habit we have is wrong. But we are unable to leave it.
How do we change wrong habits?

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Character
o

Habits cannot be left by an act of the will. Well, for most of us, that is impossible. The
rare few that it is possible to stop a long-standing habit, well, they wont be asking this
question in a workshop like this! For people like us, all we can hope to do is replace one
habit with another. You all know the policy of Reward & Punishment. When you
observe that you are going to start indulging in the habit that you want to change, you
will have to substitute it with another replacing habit. If you are successful, each time you
may give yourself a small reward. If you fail, you must punish yourself. Nothing works
on our mind like pain. Give yourself a small, but incisive pain every time you relapse.
Your mind will very soon understand what to do. You all know the famous story of
Birbal and the cat. King Akbar once said that there are a few things in this world that are
certain, like, the fact that cats love milk. Birbal countered it by saying that cats can be
made to hate milk. Akbar was intrigued. He said he wanted Birbal to prove his assertion.
After a week, Birbal brought the Kings pet cat in his hand and asked the King to offer it
a bowl of milk. As soon as it saw the bowl of milk, wonder of wonders, the cat simply
jumped out of Birbals hands and ran away! Birbal explained that for the last one week,
he would offer the cat a bowl of boiling milk. Every time the poor cat tried to sip its
favorite milk, its tongue was burnt. Day after day when this happened, the cat learnt that
milk always scalds its tongue. And that is how Birbal trained a cat to despise milk!
This practice of inflicting pain on oneself in order to train ones mind has been
called Tapas in our ancient scriptures. Students are said to master this practice of
Tapas during their childhood. This is the only way I know for leaving a bad habit.
Let me tell you that knowing something is bad for us wont make us leave the
habit. Take, for instance, the example of smokers. Do you think smokers do not know
that smoking causes cancer? They know it very well. Yet, that knowledge will not stop
them from smoking. If they however inflict some pain on themselves every time they
smoke, very soon, they will kick that habit.

Does society make man or does man make society?

o There was once a man who wanted to train his son in Geography. He tore up the map and
gave the pieces to his son to join them together. The boy finished it on no time. The
father was very surprised. He asked him, How did you finish it so fast? You seem to be
an expert in Geography, I see. The boy replied, You saw the world map and tore it up. I
saw that on the page behind the map was the face of a man. I fixed the face and behind it,
the world map got fixed!
So, set the man right first. The society will get all right by itself. There is no such
thing called society apart from the individuals in it. Society cant be set right independent
of setting right the men in it.

That is the last question I can take in the allotted time. So, now we come to the end of our session.
I am very happy that UEM has taken this wonderful initiative that is benefitting so many students. I must
also thank these young students of UEM & IEM, who are themselves work-in-progress, but are serving as
volunteers for their next generation. I wish you all the very best in your life. I hope to meet you all again.
Om shantih, shantih, shantihi.
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