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priate for me, renounced as I am in a
public gathering by my husband, who
is no longer pleased with my virtues.î
Lakshmana, prepares a pyre in deference
to the wishes of Sri Rama.
Walking clockwise, Sita, approaching
the blazing fire, respectfully bowing
down to the gods prays: ìAs my heart
never turns away from Sri Rama, so
may the god of fire, the witness of the
world, protect me on all sides. Since
Sri Rama takes me to be corrupt,
though of unimpeachable conduct, let
the god of fire, the witness of the
world, under such circumstances,
protect me on all sides. In as much as I
have never been unfaithful in act,
thought and speech to Sri Rama... , let
the god of fire in that case afford protection
to me. Since the glorious sungod,
as also the daytime and the twilight
and the night as also Mother
Earth and others too likewise know
me to be richly endowed with good
character, let the god of fire protect
me.î
Any other woman when exposed
to such repudiation in the presence of
the world, an insult that is beyond endurance,
and left to entirely defend
herself, would have simply wilted out.
But Sita, knowing the source of her
energyóher impeachable character,
her virtueópulls up herself to reprimand
Rama about the language used
by himóa noble husband against a
noble wife. Even in such tiring situation
she could muster energy to protest
that she was not her own mistress
when Ravana touched her, and upbraid
Rama: ìIt was not because I
wanted to touch him and see how he
felt, that I came into contact with him.
It was forced upon me. Donít you see?
And yet you say these things to me...î
Though her heart is wrung by the utterances
of her beloved Rama, she
could, as the poet says, display
vadanmuditpurnachandrakant
vimala sasankanibhananaaóa
moon-like calm faceóonly because
she is so sure of her virtue from which
energy flows into her answering the
accusations boldly and meaningfully
to ultimately come out of the distress
successfully.
Positive Framing
It is commonsensical that the ëframesí
people use to view the world around
them and process experiences do
make a critical difference to the outcomes
of life. And, professional outcomes
are no exception to this general
rule. Research indicates that optimists
see the world more realistically than
pessimists do. And it hardly needs to
be stressed here how crucial it is for a
leader to be optimistic to make right
business decisions. Research also
shows that optimists are not afraid to
frame the world as it actually is, for,
perhaps, they are sure of their ability
to manage the underlying challenges
by moving their teams quickly to action.
As against this, pessimists tend
to feel helpless and to get stuck in
The ‘frames’ people use to view the world around them and process
experiences do make a critical difference
to the outcomes of life
downward spirals that result in energy-depleting
ruminations.
Optimists are driven by two fundamental
notions: one, positive framingóaccepting
the facts of adversity
and act to counter them; and two,
positive thinkingóreplacing the adversity
with positive beliefs. Hence an
optimistic person will be better placed
to handle the news that he is having
canceróbeing confident that he can
handle the prognosis, he rushes to collect
all the relevant information and execute
treatment plans, while a pessimist
would simply gets paralyzed with
fear. We come across one such incident
in Ramayana where Valmikiís Sita
demonstrates the benefits of optimism
in a grandiose manner.
In Aranya Kanda, when Ravana,
who comes in disguise as a sanyasin,
LEADERSHIP
declares himself and announces his
evil intention, Sita bursts out in a fit of
uncontrollable indignation. But even
in that anger she does not lose her optimism.
Indeed, accepting the reality,
she makes an attempt to defend herself
and in the process, she eloquently
speaks about her husband: ìDo you
know what kind of person my husband
is? He is unshakable like the
great mountain Sumeru, he is invincible
like the great Indra, he is imperturbable
like the great ocean. To him
do I belong utterly, body and soul. In
Rama all the excellences dwell together;
like the banyan tree, he affords
a wide sweep of umbrageous protection;
his word is a bond; his lustre is
fadeless. To him do I belong utterly,
body and soul. Strong-armed, strongchested,
he has the tread of a lion, he
has the majestic mien of a lion, he is a
lion in manís shape. To him do I belong
utterly, body and soul. His face
has the charm and effulgence of the
full moon; with the blood of royalty in
his veins, he has complete control of
his senses and sense-organs; he has a
mighty resplendent soul. To him do I
belong utterly, body and soul. Do you
realize what you are doing? In desiring
me, the devoted and worthy companion
of Rama, you are a low jackal desiring
a lioness far beyond your reach.
You can no more touch me than you
can touch the radiance of the sun. I
guess you behold trees all bathed in
gold, as they say doomed persons do,
for you are doomed if you dare to desire
the beloved of Rama. You desire to
draw the tooth of a famished lion. You
desire to draw the fang of a fierce hissing
cobra. With a feeble arm you desire
to lift the huge Mandara, prince of
mountains. You desire to drink the
halahala, poison, and escape with
your life. You desire to cleanse your
eye with a sharp needle. You desire to
lick a swordís blade with your tongue.
You desire to swim across the sea with
a stone round the neck. You desire to
snatch the sun with one hand and the
moon with the other. You desire to
carry a blazing fire in your cloth. You
desire to walk on a row of pikes with
steel points. What disparity there is
between a lion and a jackal in the forest,
that disparity there is between
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EFFECTIVE EXECUTIVE