TEAM  WORK  IS  THE  ONLY  WAY   -   BOSCONET THOUGHTS

I have been doing a course in ayurveda for a few days. In parts of its practice, two people are working on you, standing on either side. If you keep your eyes closed, you can imagine that they are just one being with four hands controlled by one brain. The speed, rhythm, pressure, direction, …. of the four hands are so beautifully synchronised.

The team that wins is the team that works as a team – almost like one single organism. The captain of the German team in the World Cup in Brazil said it beautifully. “We did not have the best player of the tournament. The best player does not win; the best team does.”

Even a sport which is as much a one-man show as it can get – chess – is actually a team sport. BOSCONET’s brand ambassador, Viswanathan Anand is accompanied by a full team of assistants, specialised in various aspects, who help him win.

The days are far gone when a single person, a genius, a hard worker, could lead the pack in a contest. Even Nobel prizes are shared achievements these days. Success in innovation is the result of the joint efforts of a well-knit team.

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WOMEN  IN  THE  WORKFORCE   -   BOSCONET  THOUGHTS

In rural India participation rate of men in the workforce is 54.3% against 24.8% for women. In urban areas the corresponding figures are 54.6% and 14.7%. Overall, in our country, the participation of men and women in the workforce is 54.4% and 21.9%.

If women are not at work because they are giving their full attention to their children, how lucky our children are! Perhaps it is also because they are less educated and have less skills. Perhaps men refuse to allow their women to have a career of their own. Perhaps employers have sexist prejudices and do not want women among their staff.

If these latter are the reasons, it is unfortunate. What a loss to the economy; what a waste of human resources; what a speed-breaker to the development of our country. Above all, what disrespect and injustice towards half of humanity!

I am also wondering what the exact definition of ‘workforce’ is. If it includes all those who work, what exactly are more than half India doing? – studying? Growing up? Gallivanting? Living as parasites on the work of others? Enjoying the fruits of the sweat of their progenitors?

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PAY  ONLY  WHAT  YOU  WANT  TO   -   BOSCONET  THOUGHTS

It would be so wonderful if we could pick up something in a shop and pay only what we sincerely thought it was worth. Would that shop be able to survive? We do have the tendency to overvalue our products and services and undervalue other people’s goods and work – a version of “The grass on the other side is greener!”

At the initial stages of BOSCONET the director inducted five new staff. There was a three-day process that offered them opportunities to show their knowledge and skills. At the end the group was asked to suggest in writing what each of them should be paid – for oneself and for the others. The salary was finally decided using a series of calculations based on their suggestions.

In a second similar exercise, for the self-assessment of the staff this year, the director asked all the staff whether they themselves were being paid enough and to mention who, in their opinion, was being paid too high and who too low. Each one wrote that he/she was paid well and that everyone else was paid also the right amount as per their knowledge, skills, responsibilities and contribution to the organisation. It is, of course, not easy to say whether they were all being honest or only trying to please the director!

Well, five hotels in Paris, France, have decided to leave it to their clients to decide what they will pay for the facilities and services they received, according to their own calculation of what they were worth. Wish them well. Let’s hope, it works and the hotels can stay in business. Wish them success.

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A  10 –YEAR  OLD  MAY WORK  -   BOSCONET THOUGHTS

The law in Bolivia used to allow children to start working from the age of 14. A new law passed this last week allows children as young as 10 years to start working under parental supervision provided they also go to school. From the age of 12 they may work under contract.

A sponsor of the bill says, “Child labour already exists. Rather than persecute it, we want to protect the rights and labour security of children.” The president of the country also worked as a boy, herding llamas. He says there is no alternative in a society where half the population is poor.

The opposite opinion is that “Child labour may be seen as a short-term solution to economic hardship, but is actually a cause of poverty.”

It is a pity Bolivia has decided to march in a direction directly opposite to that of the rest of the world. May all children all over the world have opportunities to study and be allowed to enjoy their childhood.

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STEPHEN  HAWKING’S  SUICIDE  ATTEMPT   -   BOSCONET  THOUGHTS

In 1963 doctors diagnosed Stephen Hawking as suffering from Motor Neurone Disease. He had only months to live. About 5% of its victims do survive over a decade. Hanwking is alive even today.

In 1985 Hawking had pneumonia. He had a tracheotomy and a tube was inserted through his throat into his windpipe. He could not speak any more. “I admit that when I had my tracheotomy operation, I briefly tried to commit suicide by not breathing. However, the reflex to breathe was too strong,” he said in an interview to BBC the day before yesterday. At present he cannot even breathe on his own. He is permanently on a ventilator, but he has no desire to end his life on his own.

Stephen Hawking is a theoretical physicist on a par with Albert Einstein. The 72-year-old is a professor at Cambridge. His contribution to our understanding of the universe is immense (I hope you have read his book – A Brief History of Time).

The discussion on euthanasia or “mercy killing” is a very complex one. Do we let God – or nature – decide how long people live or does the person in question or the people around her decide when she can no longer have a productive or ‘happy’ life? To what extant should we use medical science to prolong a life that seems to have become merely vegetative?

TOO  FAT  TO  DIE !   -   BOSCONET  THOUGHTS

A 50-year-old woman in Nanjing, Jiangsu province of China, was facing a lot of problems. Finally, last week she decided to put an end to it all by committing suicide. She went and jumped into a two metre deep river.

Seeing a body floating in the river, the locals called the police. They were happy to find that the woman was still alive. The woman was so obese that she could not sink into the water. She could not drown herself.

Obesity does seem to have this ONE benefit but, that is certainly no reason whatever to aim at being obese. It could kill you in many other ways!

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WAR  AS  ENTERTAINMENT   -   BOSCONET THOUGHTS

“Sderot Cinema” is the caption the journalist gave to a photo he took in Israel. He shot a picture of about a dozen people lounging in plastic chairs outside the town of Sderot, and eating popcorn while they watched and cheered Israeli soldiers bombarding the plains of Gaza.

As we walk the streets of our cities and towns, we do not even ‘see’ the people living on the footpaths, the children working in tea-stalls, men, women and children looking for scraps of paper, cardboard and pieces of metal, and a hundred other similar scenes. We have been passing by such things from our childhood and we have become immune to them.

When people sit – popcorn in their hands – and watch live the bombarding of human habitations, we realize to what depths our insensitivity can go.

May God forgive all of us; may He help us become more human; may He enable us to put ourselves in the shoes of people who suffer within our sight.

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A PRAYER  FOR  WEST  AFRICA   -   BOSCONET THOUGHTS

West Africa is facing a serious crisis, and it will probably get worse before it gets better. Ebola has broken out and by Friday 539 had died. It started in Guinea. Since it had never been seen in West Africa earlier, people thought the high fever was the result of the familiar malaria. When deaths occurred they saw no reason not to touch their bodies, as is the custom in the local culture.

Ebola is the most terrible and frightening disease known to humanity. Patients bleed from the ears and nose, and in some cases from the skin all over the body. A touch of the sick person’s body or corpse could be sufficient to get infected. I remember watching on Belgian TV in the 90’s doctors and specialists from the WHO in space suits, dealing with bodies, clothes, bed linen and hospital equipment that had the slightest possibility of having had contact with patients. That was somewhere in East Africa then.

This outbreak has spread from a village in Guinea to its capital and to two more nations – Liberia and Sierra Leone. 

The people of these countries need immediate help from experts to prevent a disaster for the entire population, including all of us in all countries, however far from them. We are not experts. We do our share – PRAYERS.

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WOMAN  OF  STEEL, RUPA   -   BOSCONET THOUGHTS

Rupa’s origins are in Ghasoli Village of Muzaffarnagar. Her mother died and her father remarried. They made her leave school when she was in class VI so that she could “help them with the house work”. When she was 15 her step-mother poured acid on her face! Was she envious of her step-daughter’s beauty?

Rupa is now 21. She lives in a shelter for acid attack victims in Lakshmi Nagar of East Delhi. She is helped by a “Stop Acid attacks” volunteer, Atul Kumar, the founder Alok Dixit, and a group of students of fashion design.

Rupa has stitched a few clothes, and each new one is better than the previous one. She is at the point of opening a boutique of her own where her clothes will be displayed and auctioned. She is determined to earn her own living, and pay for the numerous reconstructive surgeries she still requires (She has already undergone 11 of them!)

A woman of courage. What a waste of the gifts God bestowed on her. What a waste of her courage itself. Why should she have to use her courage merely to live a normal life when she could have used it to tackle many other challenges that face our nation! Why do we hurt people who can do no harm to us, and hurt them in such terribly inhuman ways?

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WHISKEY  FOR  LOYALTY  TO  GERMAN  FOOTBALL    -   BOSCONET THOUGHTS

Putul Borah from Karbi Anglong District of Assam is loyal to his favourite team – Germany. He has followed their play all the way from the 1980’s. In 1994 Germany showed all promise of winning the world cup. Borah happened to be in Kolkata (Calcutta then!) days before the finals. He bought a bottle of Passport Scotch whiskey (for Rs 630 even in those days!) to celebrate the expected win.

Germany lost to Bulgaria, 2 -1. Disappointed, Borah buried his bottle of scotch in his backyard. Borah is now all set to exhume his Passport (without any court order for this exhumation!). He has constructed a special pavilion in his home, from which he watches the games along with his wife, 10-year old daughter (who are supporters of Argentina!) and his friends.

Will he get to enjoy his 20-year-old scotch? Whether he does or not, we can’t but admire his loyalty. If only we could be equally loyal to our wife/husband, to our family and our values!

BEAUTY CELEBRITY from Don Bosco -ROBERT NAOREM    -   BOSCONET THOUGHTS

Robert Naorem, 28, is a true celebrity – a top beauty expert of India. His skills are in great demand for films, fashion shows, beauty pageants like Femina Miss India, Cheerleaders of IPL cricket teams, Brand Promotion of various products, artists, models …  

He did his schooling at Don Bosco, Imphal, Manipur. A silent guy, yet very bright, Robert’s taste for beauty developed into skills for creating beauty.  

In 2008 he established the Robert Academy at Bangalore for make-up training. His two dreams are to showcase the beauty of typical Manipur costumes to the outside world and to promote youngsters interested in the fashion industry.

He keeps growing. He is currently doing a PhD course to crown the M.Phil. in Psychology he already has. He lectures part time in CMR College, Bangalore, and in NIFT (National Institute of Fashion Technology), Bangalore.

Don Bosco is glad to see Robert’s progress. He has reason to be proud. He has made us proud. Congratulations! 

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CHILDREN  GONE  MISSING    -    BOSCONET THOUGHTS

In 2013, a total of 6,494 children were reported as gone missing in the city of New Delhi, an average of 18 per day! 78% of them were traced out. The remaining have never again been seen or heard from till now. 

It is alleged that some are sent to the gulf countries to work as domestic servants, others to in roadside dhabas; some are to be raped, others are forced to get married. At least 1000 per year are gone for ever – from the city of Delhi alone!

The DON BOSCO NATIONAL FORUM FOR THE YOUNG AT RISK (the national network of the services offered by Don Bosco to street children in 87 towns of India) has a tracking system developed with support from UNICEF. 300 partner organisations, including our own centres, enter into this computer software all the information they can get about missing children. Data is fed in also of any ‘found’ children. The software throws up possible matches.

The site now has data of some 3 lakh children gone missing. Our record is of tracing out some 30% of them so far. Some State governments have adopted the system for state-level use. Hopefully, the central government will take it up and use it all over the nation.

EVERY LOST CHILD IN AN UNACCEPTABLE DISASTER !

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BEST  ACTRESS – GEETANJALI  THAPA – Don Bosco STUDENT !

Geetanjali Thapa recently won the National Best Actress Award for her performance in “Liar’s Dice”. She did her studies in Don Bosco School, Malbasey, Sikkim – a product of Don Bosco’s principle, “Give the best to the poorest.” Malbasey is just a small village in a remote corner of East Sikkim.

She is very attached to her alma mater, visits frequently and remains in steady contact with the Salesians and teachers. She passed out from Don Bosco in 2004. Her acting career started in 2010.

Within her short career she has acted several other films such as: White Lies, I.D, Monsoon Shootout, That Day after Everyday”. She has also featured in commercials for L’Oreal, Maggi, Boroplus, and Move. Her films have been screened at the Cannes Film Festival 2013, Sundane Film Festival 2014 and Busan Film Festival 2012.

She also won : Best Actress Award at the New York Indian Film Festival 2014 for her performance inn Liar’s Dice; Best Performance Award at the Los Angeles Film Festival 2013 for I.D; Best Actress Award at the Imagine India International Film Festival at Madrid 2013 for Monsoon Shootout. 

The school is as proud of Geetanjali as she is grateful to the school. It is, indeed, a tremendous achievement both for Geetanjali and for Don Bosco Malbasey that her talents could be nurtured to high levels in such a small, remote village.

Well, THE BEST TO THE POOREST !

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PENNIES  FALLING  FROM  HEAVEN    -   BOSCONET THOUGHTS

“Pennies do not fall from heaven; they have to be earned here on earth,” said Margaret Thatcher. Manmohan said the same in different words, perhaps quoting someone else, “There is no such thing as a a free lunch.” A long way back – 2000 years ago – St. Paul, the apostle put the same thought in his own way, “He who does not work, neither let him eat.” “Give work rather than alms to the poor,” said Tryon Edwards.

Hand-outs and charity that lowers the self-respect of a person and destroys his possibility to use his capacities is no act of love. We should neither expect nor give a hand-out, except to those not in a position to earn anything – little children, the terminally ill, those severely handicapped whether physically or mentally.

A million received for no work, but in charity or through a lottery, is not worth a dollar earned by the sweat of my brow.

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JESUIT  PRIEST  CULTIVATES  RICE !  -  BOSCONET THOUGHTS

We are told that there is a 60% chance of a drought this year. India has 16% of the world’s population and 4% of its fresh water. We have the largest area under rice cultivation, a water-intensive crop. The “System of Rice Intensification” (what a name!) holds out hope. Under SRI a hectare of land could produce 8 tonnes (2.1 is the current national average!).

For SRI we do not need new rice varieties, we use less fertilizers and agrochemicals, and only about half the usual amount of water is required. In ideal conditions, a hectare under SRI has been known to produce even 15 to 20 tonnes of rice!

SRI was first developed 30 years ago in Madagascar. It was introduced – with excellent results – in Tamilnadu in 2000, in Tripura in 2002 and in Bihar in 2007.  If only the technique could be used in all our rice fields all over the country! This is the right year to do so.

Interestingly, SRI is the brain-child of Fr. Henri de Laulanie SJ, a Jesuit priest. What can the Jesuits not do! That reminds me of Bro. Alex Gonzalves of the Bombay Province of the Salesians of Don Bosco. He implemented a watershed project in two districts of Maharashtra which had been declared dry zones by the government. Every dry season owners of even large plots of land would migrate to the towns to do coolie labour to help their family survive. The people of 22 villages now grow up to THREE crops a year on their land! BOSCONET has published a book about Bro. Alex.

What can the Salesians of Don Bosco not do!

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CHANGE,  INNOVATE  OR  DIE !  -  BOSCONET THOUGHTS

Yesterday, Alexander Stubb, the Prime Minister of Finland said Steve Jobs took away all the jobs in his country. He quoted the president of the Swedish bank Nordea who had said, “We had two pillars … the IT industry and the paper industry. The iPhone knocked out Nokia and the iPad knocked out the forestry.”

This reminds of various occasions within the last century when very prominent and successful people saw some innovations as passing fads that would soon be forgotten – innovations like the motor car!

Change is inevitable, and innovation is the need of the hour. It is difficult and even painful for everyone to accept and adapt to some innovations around us. This is much more so for organisations. The better structured and organised they are, the more reluctant they are to change, adapt, innovate and remain relevant.

However, WE CHANGE, ADAPT AND INNOVATE, OR WE SHALL DIE!

MARKETING  HUMANS

“Budget Maids”, “Smart workers”, etc., are shop names in some markets of Singapore. What is available for sale in these shops are the services of young women as housemaids, home nurses, babysitters, etc.

Women from the Philippines are often marketed as “smart” and those from Myanmar as “compliant”. Some of them cradle a baby doll to show how they are skilled in looking after babies. Others push a wheel chair up and down so that customers can see that they can care for the elderly.

Some people see this as human trafficking; others look at is the equivalent of writing up a CV and posting it on a website. Some see little difference between this practice and that of the women in the red-light areas of some cities, displaying their assets and promising hot action. Others think this is a legitimate way to offer oneself for a decent job.

Is it any worse than groups of men congregated at strategic points in so many towns all around the world, waiting for someone to come and hire them for work for the day? On the other hand, are not both these practices demeaning and lowering the self-esteem of those who have no other option to earn their livelihood?

What are we to make of it?