Cap of Good Hope!

Recession! Not quite what we expected huh! The dream run, Bull Run, ball of a time… and countless other descriptions of the times gone by all sound distant now, a far cry!

People losing jobs, inability to pay up the credit, no taxes, no revenue to the government, no money in the market, no cash available to extend credit, no new enterprise, banks and companies going bankrupt and people losing jobs, it has come a full cycle. This economic situation has affected everybody, left, right and the center (literally and metaphorically speaking). People grappling with the situation are getting hooked up to anything that remotely sounds, looks or feels hopeful about it.

Look at the 2 million strong gathering for the inauguration of the 44th President of the United States. Do you think they came to see an African American take oath? Not entirely! They came to witness what “audacity of hope” could achieve!

They had come to witness the miracle that was, hope, which fuelled a single man to achieve whatever he did for himself, his family and his country. They see a messiah in Obama and expect him to lead them out of the shambles. I call him a messiah because rarely in the history of mankind have individuals exhibited such courage and been an embodiment of hope during difficult times. Whenever they did, they were immortalized as a messiah. Though he does not have a magic wand to weave and alleviate the situation, at least people think that there is something new to get excited about, something which they could use to sleep over on a difficult night.

Not just Obama, there are people who have looked up to their spouses, family, friends, colleagues, mentors, bosses... So what makes someone a messiah or at the least a mortal who people could look up to in times of hardship? Well, as you might have guessed by now, the answer is HOPE.

I recently came across an e-mail forward which read, “Hope – it is the feeling which you have when you go to sleep without knowing if you will wake up the next day but still have plans already made for it”. No hope is good if you do not trust it. A similar e-mail forward had this following story which was really intriguing. “Trust is a feeling that a one year old child has, when u throw him up in the air & catch him again…he still laughs n enjoys it…in case he doubts, he will cry when u throw him in the air, that means the child is doubting on your capabilities… and whether you would really catch him or not.” Same way...only people who do not have trust in hope, worry during troubled times!

So a positive thought process, the ability to look at the brighter side of things, a good hope with the trust of the little child is the key.

During an interesting conversation with my uncle, I gave him what I thought was a predicament. It goes like “If you ever are in a situation where you, your wife and your father were drowning, and if you get a chance to wish for one person who could be saved, whom you will pick?” – Without a hesitation he replied – “Me”. I was stupefied at the answer and more so the speed at which he answered.

His reasoning was simple. If he was gone, then he wouldn’t need to be worried as to what happened to the other two. And if he were alive, he was confident that he could do at least something about them… Subhash Ghai a renowned Indian film maker once said “Unlike in cinema and everything else, there is no second take in life” – So, if one believes that all they need to worry about is their life and everything else in life can be reclaimed, they sure can relieve themselves of the entire emotional burden which they carry.

I have had few such occasions thankfully as an emancipator. I have tried my best, over a cup of coffee, a mug of beer or across the table. I have shared whatever positive I came across and hope to have instilled some confidence, and positive mindset.

Some of my queer perspectives about this whole new situation did lighten up a few souls.

For example, the social stigma (in India) around “losing a job” is getting eroded by the day. Not long ago before the lay offs became the news of the day, it was a sin if you lost your job. People were worried to such an extent that they committed suicide for losing their jobs. But now, it is OK for someone to loose a job. The society at large understands the situation. In fact retrenchment is discussed in a lighter vein.

Let us take a look at the spending habits. The young generation of Indian BPO and IT folk who started with lavish spending has been caught on the wrong foot in their very first step. They have learnt a simple but valuable economic lesson “Do not spend more than you make” very early in their lives. This is a significant development.

I had a chat with the director of finance of a large multi-national. He had some interesting insights as well. According to him, a down turn in economy is good. This is what differentiates the boys from men, the mediocre from good whether it is companies, people, and technology or as a matter of fact just about anything. He said that this is the right time for some brilliant ideas to flourish. People will now look at the fundamentals of anything and just not the speculation in the market.

So if one were to derive an inference, it is the right time for us to differentiate ourselves. Do whatever we had been wishing to do. To take up endeavors which we had feared might fail. As FDR said during similar times, “We have nothing to fear but fear itself…”

Nothing to worry about other than our own life and wearing the cap of hope with the feather of trust of a one year old kid will make us “The Emancipator”.