Are You A Thinker Or A Sage?

My two and a half year old Boston-born grand nephew was taken on his first visit to India. At Chennai, the highlight of the day for him was the evening at the beaches of the city He clearly enjoyed the sand, the water and the relief from the summer heat. This boy was curious to know what a desert was now that he knew about the sea. “A desert is a very hot place with lots of sand,” he was told.
Promptly came the response, “I have seen a desert.” The family was astounded.
“Where?” they asked in chorus.
“At Elliot’s beach,” replied the kid. We laughed uproariously.

This incident brought home to me another lesson on the differences between the East and the West in the way people think; in fact this is the subject of my next book titled, Can Indians Think?

Let me cite some other instances. A Japanese company entered into a contract with an Australian company to buy millions of tonnes of a commodity, let’s say sugar. Within days of the contract the international market and price for sugar fell precipitously. The Japanese called for a re–negotiation of the contract. The Australians refused saying in effect ‘a deal is a deal.’ The Japanese felt this was unfair. The Australians felt it was business after all. What are the chances that the Japanese will do business thereafter with that Australian company?

At a discussion on the violent incidents in connection with the Nano car project at Singur, some people argued that the farmers were being unreasonable – they had been offered financial compensation, their sons were promised a job in the factory but was it logical that the farmers should let their land be acquired? Is logic all there is to life?

I have often written articles and books on thinking skills and have emphasized the importance of logic. Some readers have protested that I seem to be laying too much stress on logic and ignoring emotions. If I have given this impression then I need to improve my communication skills. I believe not only in logic but also in intuition, emotions and more importantly in non-logical creative thinking that I teach to corporate executives. My website tells you more about this. It has been conclusively proven that a person whose emotional centres are damaged due to trauma and only his logic centres are functional, CANNOT TAKE DECISIONS!

Eastern thinking tells us that it is more important to be reasonable than to use logic and reason. In the Singur case my stand is as follows: Try suggesting to a Mumbai-based executive to shift to — say Chennai, in his own company on a promotion with better salary and perks. The executive will leave the company rather than shift to Chennai (until recently at least). When asked for the reason he will shower a torrent of criticisms at Chennai without the benefit of having ever visited the city! I agree this is not universally true but you would be surprised at the response. My point is that even people in cities have their attachments to their city, locality, friends, way of life and will resist if they are asked to move to another location .

In Mumbai people are even attached to the specific train they travel in everyday. My friend Ashok will commit suicide rather than NOT travel by the 8,37 Andheri fast to Churchgate. Why blame the farmer whose family has been attached to the piece of land for thousands of generations. To say that money and a job in the factory ought to be sufficient may sound logical to the urban planner but is not reasonable to the farmer.

There is a story about a school boy who used to walk from home to school every day. One day some illiterate ruffians decide to check if education makes a boy smart. They offered the boy a choice of coins: a fifty paise coin or one rupee coin. The boy selected the fifty paise coin, bought a chocolate and enjoyed himself. This exercise continued for several days to the continuing amusement of the ruffians who firmly concluded that education did not make one smart.

An elderly observer decided to question the boy,”I think you are a smart boy,” he remarked.
“I think so too,” said the boy.
“Then are you not a fool for choosing the coin of lesser value?”
“Not at all. Those guys are fools.”
“How so?”
“The day I chose the one rupee coin the game will stop.”
Western logic would tell the kid to take the one rupee coin. Eastern wisdom tells him otherwise.