The Dignity

 

      Photo by P M Dalwade

It was about five decades ago.

I came to Ahmedabad and NID.

I met Giraben, the then executive director.

I found her formidable.

It wasn't because she was a minimalist talker.

She was very simple.

Short and frail.

Nothing to indicate that she was a great lady.

That she was an architect who worked under the legendary Frank Lloyd Wright.

That she belongs to India's giant textile industry family.

That she played a key role in establishing NID.

That she was the founder of the world's finest textile museum.

Ignorance on my part. 

Quiet dignity on her part.

Two factors made me carry highest respect for her.

One is the Calico museum.

The meticulous care and detailing where no one can equal her.

The other is the following incident.

Narrated to me by Dasharath Patel. Here it is in my words. 

.......................

In the late sixties, NID undertook a historic 'Nehru exhibition ' project.

The prime minister's direct interest.

World's well known designer Charles Eames was brought to NID to lead.

The whole project team worked in one spacious hall.

It was an open office system.

Every morning Eames used to go to each member to check the work.

That particular day he went to a new recruit draftsman.

The young fellow could not follow what was said to him.

Eames explained again and again but no avail.

Finally Eames lost his cool and scolded him.

Rather harshly and loudly.

The young fellow was in tears as it was a public humiliation.

Eames left the hall in a huff.

The news reached Giraben who was resting at home.

Her health was often delicate.

She phoned Eames and asked if the news was true.

When it was confirmed, she asked him to apologize. 

She knew Eames' stature as the world’s greatest designer.

He was prime minister's guest.

The young draftsman on the other hand was insignificant.

But, is that the point?

The point is dignity.

"If not..." she continued softly, politely but firmly.

"We thank you for your kind service so far. Now, I am afraid, we may have to do the exhibition ourselves, poorly perhaps.  Your accounts will be settled immediately and your return passage to U.S.A. will be arranged. My due respects. So long." 

.......................

That afternoon when the project studio opened, it was a touching scene.

Charles Eames entered the studio with a bouquet of flowers.

He went straight to the young draftsman whom he scolded earlier.

"I am sorry for my misbehaviour in the morning.

Will you please accept these flowers as a mark of friendship and forgiveness?"

The young fellow was in tears. For a different reason now!

.......................

Giraben passed away few days ago.

But our reverence for her lives on.

 

S Balaram 20.7.2021

In Praise of: Wasting Time, Working Less, Being Slow and Fooling Around

 

Any one you talk to today will say that he/she is very busy and packed with work. Let us leave aside those who say it as fashion or as a result of inner insecurity or work holism. It is a fact that all of us rush breathlessly from one task to another, often multi-tasking and constantly under pressure. We feel ashamed to say “I am doing nothing”, which is work-shaming. We also constantly feel sorry that we have not achieved much.

Is it really necessary?!

What is achievement? Is it worth burning yourself up fast?

If you do one thing at a time and if you do it slowly, you can enjoy it. Life is not a running marathon. When you eat your food slowly; not distracted by TV or cell phone or any other thing, concentrating on the taste, noticing the colour and texture of the food, the aroma and the warmth/cold, you will relish it. Gobbling up hurriedly is just filling stomach without any pleasure.

If one gobbles up an ice cream in a hurry or drinks wine in one gulp, there is no joy of eating or drinking. The real pleasure is in having them in small sips/bites, leisurely; taking as much time as you can.

In the act of love making, the longer you make it last, more you delay the climax, better the (orgasmic) pleasure. A soft, gentle speaking will appeal to the heart better than a fast blast.

If you do few things; calmly, chances are that you will do them well.

Zen way is doing work slowly. The world famous Tea ceremony of Japan is to prepare tea very very leisurely which gives the practitioners spiritual benefit.

From slowness to few things and from few things to nothing. You must have a break from the “busyness”. That break should not be having vacation travel or booze party or taking drugs. That is nothing but another kind of busy life and another kind of tension leading to addiction.  That break should be doing absolutely nothing. Not even thinking.

Some may call it meditation. You may call it whatever you like but it should be totally different. No talk, no work, no thought. Don’t be afraid of “Doing nothing” or just sleeping or just eating. Work shaming is as bad as body shaming. Is meditation waste of time?

Faster breathing or faster doing leads to shorter life span. Recent research states that stress is one of the main causes for decreasing your immunity and making your body susceptible to all forms of virus. Yoga practice always calls for slow and deep breathing which improves health and longevity.

Modern Science proved the strong influence mind has on body. Extreme fear causes sweating, sexual thoughts cause erection; and sight or thought of your favourite food causes mouth-watering. The well known placebo effect cures incurable diseases. According to famous psychologist Carl Jung; “thinking is difficult, that’s why most people judge”. If only you resist the urge to judge, you can be calm enough to think.

Modern medicine says that sleep is the food for the mind and increasing insomnia (sleeplessness) is the cause of many illnesses. Natural sleep is essential for recharging our brain cells.

It is natural to smile when one is happy because of a real live event or recollection or anticipation of a happy event. Modern behavioural science states that the reverse phenomenon also happens. Mind follows body too. A smile even forced, will create pleasant sensations in the person. Laughing clubs are based on this principle and their popularity proves this fact. Great British Economist E.F.Schumaker said: small is beautiful. I say smile is beautiful.

Creativity thrives on fooling around playfully and tinkering with things. Life is not worth living if you do not smile, laugh and not fool around playfully.

To sum up: I want you to be happy and mentally sober. I ask you to be slow, work less, waste time, say hell with achievement and fool around.

I am dead serious about it. By constantly thinking of past or fearing the future, we contaminate the present. For many, past is a pest of bad memories and future is a torture of fears. If you think of happy memories only of past, imagine a hopeful future and treat present as present from god; try to change what you can and accept gracefully what you can’t; we will have no mental tension at all.