We are moving from Sruthi, Scripts, to Digital, now to Artificial Intelligence. Something that augments human natural intelligence. It is gaining power, speed and utility day by day. We see some coders being asked to leave. Some writers, translators may have to go. Data gatherers to go. Basic data analysers to go. More and more. We have to be AI literate. We have to get some customized AI work for most domains. Basic AI may be free. Advanced AI access is charging some fee. The fee itself is going down. More investments into AI are flowing. More start-up AI patches are emerging. The AI market is getting crowded. Merger deals with extra-ordinary pay offs are taking place. Content creators, super logicians may be still in demand. OpenAI is hiring a content strategist offering a salary of up to $3,93,000 a year. AI may have to go a long way to get a good fix on human touch – handling nuance, cultural resonance, brand personality, tone, authenticity, context, originating algorithms rather than mimic.
Teacher. Educator. Mentor. Guru. Learning facilitator, coach, inspirer, motivator. Formal, informal, without even being aware – either the teacher, or the student, or both. Overwhelmed with greetings from students, trainees, participants in learning/orientation. In fact, they made all the difference in quantum progress in my learning, usefulness and relevance; and in the ways I pass on this to others. Apart from the teachers themselves. Eternal gratitude to all of them. Guru Sakshaat Parabrahma tasmai Sri Gurave namah. Teachers who transcend telling, explaining, demonstrating, inspiring. Set a direction.
Family, friends, associates, co-learners; school at Gundrampally; Gurukulams – Sarvail, Nagarjunasagar, Warangal, Anand; Learning ecosystems – tribal and marginalized communities-groups, commons collectives, participation groups, philanthropic fraternity, women-elders-disabled self-help movement(s), farming-farmworker-weaving-other livelihoods families, enterprises. Their support entities. Some of them went beyond their call of responsibilities, association. Intensity, time extent. Damodar Reddy in Gundrampally; Ramana Murthy, Srinivasa Reddy, Sridhar, Venkataiah, et al in Sarvail, Sagar; Peers at Warangal; Legends at Anand – Kurien et al; Unsung heroes with tribal communities – Manohor, Anuradha et al; And so on so forth. They all taught and are teaching us to help and seek help to help.
Most celebrated teacher of India – Bharat Ratna Dr Sarvepalli Radhakrishna(n), 137 [5 September 1888 – 17 April 1975]. President of India, 1962-67. Vice president of India, 1952-62. Ambassador of India to Soviet Union, 1949-52. India representative at UNESCO, 1946-52. Vice-chancellor (Banaras Hindu University, 1939-48; Andhra University, 1931-36). Professor (University of Calcutta, 1921-32; University of Oxford, 1936-52). Philosophy Teacher since 1908. Nominated for Nobel Prize, 16 times for Literature; and 11 times for Peace. Received Templeton Prize. Most influential and distinguished philosopher. Bridge-builder between the East and the West. Co-founder, HelpAge India. His philosophy: Advaita Vedanta, spirit of Abheda, being grounded in intuition and experience. ‘ Vedanta is not a religion, but religion itself in its most universal and deepest significance’.
According to SR: The best minds in the country should be teachers; Reading a book gives us the habit of solitary reflection and true enjoyment; When we think we know, we cease to learn; A life of joy and happiness is possible only on the basis of knowledge.
His key books include: The Philosophy of Rabindranath Tagore; Indian Philosophy; An Idealist View of Life; Gautama the Buddha; Eastern Religions and Western Thought; Religion and Society; The Bhagavadgītā: with an introductory essay; The Principal Upanishads; A Source Book in Indian Philosophy; The Brahma Sutra: The Philosophy of Spiritual Life. K Satchidananda Murty et al’s ‘Radhakrishnan: his life and ideas’ is one of the several SR’s biographies.
All of us in the organizations, particularly, need: vision, purpose and direction; fulfilling, satisficing work; respect and trust; listening leaders; leaders being with us through thick and thin; useful feedback; achievement/contribution recognized; fair treatment; development/growth opportunity; increasing responsibility; transparency; protection from pressure(s); empathy; sense of ownership; team that takes us in wholly; work-life care; openness and safety.
We may not like to miss reading ‘last lecture’ of Randy Pausch, a professor of computer science at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; named to the ‘One Hundred Most Influential People in the World’. He talks about his dreams; helping other people enable their dreams; what lets us to achieve our dreams; lessons learnt along the way. Randy spoke when he is on his way to move out of having pancreatic cancer with some 3-6 months left to rest in this world, probably. Incidentally he lasted 10 months after the last lecture. More than 3 million copies of the book, in 29 languages.
What lets us achieve our dreams: parents, friends, mentors, seniors, colleagues, associates, peers, students helping us. All the wonderful people we meet on our journey forward. They help us to achieve our dreams. We need to do the same, help others to achieve their dreams. We need to have fun, even in the extremely toughest situations. We should not lose our childlike wonder-curiosity. We cannot expect loyalty, without being loyal. Loyalty is a two way street.
We may ignore everything people say and only pay attention to what they do. How they help others. We should not give up. We cannot get there alone. People have to help us. Telling the truth. Being earnest. If we make a mistake, let us not hesitate a minute, to apologize. Not just in words, but through deeds. Let us show gratitude. For the help we are receiving in a variety of ways.
We may not complain but just work harder, smarter, longer. Let us be good at something and be a master of some skills, tools, expertise, and knowledge. And keep practicing them. We become valuable. Everyone could help. We need to find the best in them. We may have to wait a long time, sometimes days, months, or years, but people show their good side. We need to remain ready, prepared. Opportunities, help comes along soon.
If we lead and live our life the right way, the karma takes charge and dreams become real for us. Right way life seeks living truthfully with integrity; taking risks; looking for best in everyone; making time for what matters; be ready and prepared always. Let us not skip having fun, being happy. With vigorous commitment to engaging students, associates, trainees, mentees at various levels, in various ways including being a role model, style of conversations-interactions, tasks-assignments-projects, offering experience(s) in multiple appealing ways.
Can we roll-out in hybrid integrated roles: human, friend, colleague, associate, guide, coach, teacher, mentor, student, and mentee? Can we have and be glued to a strong inner compass? Can we discharge our life offices with usefulness? Can we have exemplary devotion to our circles? Can we be open to accidents, accidental elements taking us forward? Can we get augmented human natural intelligence, accessible to all? Viral scale capacity? For N-living.
Yes, we can. If we coexist, flowing. Leading, learning, loving. In N? rsiyoga for 7L.