Join us on Facebook Chinmaya Udghosh - Think Globally Act Locally
From this month, CHYK Singapore has started a collaboration with Chinmaya Udhgosh, the Chinmaya Mission Newsletter. With their permission, we will be publishing articles from the newsletter on the CHYK Blog, with the intent of bringing the mission's philosophy to the youth.
It is disheartening to learn about the way in which our human race is systematically damning our world into a hostile and uninhabitable place. We read about the innumerable animals that have been wiped off from the face of this earth and of many more becoming ‘endangered’ species. It is said that 20% of polar ice has melted in the last 20 years. Closer home we see terrorists claiming innocent lives almost every week. Poverty is still rampant inspite of ‘India shining’ in the IT revolution. Depression and suicide rates are rising. The chaotic traffic is claiming thousands of citizens every year…
What do we do about it? Do we just read the news and say ‘I can’t be bothered’? Or do we drop what we are doing now and join the Greenpeace or ‘save the polar bears’ campaign?
I faced a similar dilemma some years back. The issue was medical education. The fact is 80% of doctors work in the cities where only 20% of the Indian population lives. Doctors and health care delivery systems ignore the rural areas. I felt the current medical education system was responsible for this malady. I started to lobby for this cause in real earnest…till I met a senior professor - a real wise Jambavan! He listened to me patiently while I cried hoarse about what needs to be done globally to set right this urban-rural divide. After I finished, he asked me. ‘Son, what have you done to change this trend in your hospital? Are you guiding the youngsters in your institution?’ I realised, because I was so busy thinking about the problem ‘nationally’, I didn’t have the time to start even a teaching schedule in my own hospital. ‘Go back and initiate small changes in your hospital. Do it well,’ he advised me softly.
There are thousands of things in this world that are clamouring for our attention. Unfortunately, there isn’t much we can do about it. Stephen Covey calls this the ‘circle of concern’. On the other hand, there is a small area where we can make genuine changes and this is called the ‘circle of influence’. We have to diligently work in this sphere if we want to impact the world in any way. Every person who has made great changes and achieved huge success has started in this way, in their own small circle of influence. From Mahatma Gandhi in Sabharmati ashram, to Narayan Murthy of Infosys, examples can be multiplied. The serenity prayer states this very eloquently:
God! Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
Courage to change the things I can,
And the wisdom to know the difference.
We are not mere islands in this universe, and we have to heed that inner call to act to usher in changes around us, and try and make this world a better abode. That can be achieved only by starting small and working consistently towards our chosen goal. TRY! Think globally! Act locally!!
It is disheartening to learn about the way in which our human race is systematically damning our world into a hostile and uninhabitable place. We read about the innumerable animals that have been wiped off from the face of this earth and of many more becoming ‘endangered’ species. It is said that 20% of polar ice has melted in the last 20 years. Closer home we see terrorists claiming innocent lives almost every week. Poverty is still rampant inspite of ‘India shining’ in the IT revolution. Depression and suicide rates are rising. The chaotic traffic is claiming thousands of citizens every year…
What do we do about it? Do we just read the news and say ‘I can’t be bothered’? Or do we drop what we are doing now and join the Greenpeace or ‘save the polar bears’ campaign?
I faced a similar dilemma some years back. The issue was medical education. The fact is 80% of doctors work in the cities where only 20% of the Indian population lives. Doctors and health care delivery systems ignore the rural areas. I felt the current medical education system was responsible for this malady. I started to lobby for this cause in real earnest…till I met a senior professor - a real wise Jambavan! He listened to me patiently while I cried hoarse about what needs to be done globally to set right this urban-rural divide. After I finished, he asked me. ‘Son, what have you done to change this trend in your hospital? Are you guiding the youngsters in your institution?’ I realised, because I was so busy thinking about the problem ‘nationally’, I didn’t have the time to start even a teaching schedule in my own hospital. ‘Go back and initiate small changes in your hospital. Do it well,’ he advised me softly.
There are thousands of things in this world that are clamouring for our attention. Unfortunately, there isn’t much we can do about it. Stephen Covey calls this the ‘circle of concern’. On the other hand, there is a small area where we can make genuine changes and this is called the ‘circle of influence’. We have to diligently work in this sphere if we want to impact the world in any way. Every person who has made great changes and achieved huge success has started in this way, in their own small circle of influence. From Mahatma Gandhi in Sabharmati ashram, to Narayan Murthy of Infosys, examples can be multiplied. The serenity prayer states this very eloquently:
God! Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
Courage to change the things I can,
And the wisdom to know the difference.
We are not mere islands in this universe, and we have to heed that inner call to act to usher in changes around us, and try and make this world a better abode. That can be achieved only by starting small and working consistently towards our chosen goal. TRY! Think globally! Act locally!!
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