Chowa – the quest for balance

"Maut ka kuan" or “Well of Death”, is a well-known Indian street carnival show that involves motorbikes riding fast and almost vertically inside a giant wooden well.?Apart from the apparent skill of the rider, there is a scientific basis behind this seemingly death-defying stunt. When a bike moves on the wall, there are several forces in play. These include the gravitational force, which acts downward from the bike on the walls, the frictional force that the wall exerts against the tires of the bike, and the normal reaction force, a perpendicular push-back by the wall surface when it receives a force. There is also the centripetal force, which is directed towards the center of the circular path that the bike traces. All these forces combined with the continually shifting speed and velocity of the bike are what maintain the rider's balance. Interestingly, there are a fair number of women riders who participate in the Maut ka kuan, busting the myth about biking being a masculine sport. Click here to experience some colorful scenes and the hair-raising Maut ka kuan stunt from the annual Pushkar fair.?

So, what does this have to do with the Japanese term Chowa that we are discussing today?? Chowa loosely translates to "harmony'' or ''search for balance''.? Irrespective of whichever stage of life we are in, we experience this constant struggle to find balance in our life.? The things that we wish to balance keep changing – during our school/ college life it is about finding time for sports, friends, or now more aptly nowadays, social media while juggling studies and grades. As we grow older, our responsibilities change, and then it is about meeting the demands of a growing family, our health, elder care, etc. whilst trying to manage the pressures of a job.?

In the corporate world, work-life balance is a big differentiator of workplace attractiveness, with the best employers trying to lure and retain talent by offering work-from-home, flexible work hours, parental support, and other well-being benefits.? In the past couple of years, the pandemic has led to previously unheard-of trends like the "Great Resignation" or "Quiet Quitting"; research shows that these have been fuelled by employees re-evaluating what they want from work and life and deciding that a 9-to-5 job no longer meets their needs of flexibility, autonomy, and overall fulfillment.?

This is what Chowa is all about – the ongoing act of recalibrating ourselves and our needs in the search for balance.?In this constant flux, how does one achieve Chowa? Unlike in a chemistry equation or an accounting statement, there is no one solution to balancing your life. It's about being able to recognize what brings a sense of imbalance in your life and taking active steps to address this in a timely manner.?

Finding the appropriate balance is as much about the journey as it is about the destination?

Chowa is not something we can get to; it’s a state of mind. It’s the realization that life is not stable but in constant motion.?Your notion of Chowa might change from day to day, sometimes within a day too.?It is important to recalibrate and focus your energies in the direction that makes the most sense.?It also involves being flexible about the choices you make, to be able to restore balance in those areas that matter most to you.?

Work while you work, play while you play?

One trick to achieving Chowa is to compartmentalize.? Keep your personal matters separate from your work-related ones. When you are at work, there is no point fretting over the unwashed laundry at home, or vice versa.??

Being focused on one thing at a time improves the quality of your work.?By eliminating any distractions, compartmentalizing ensures that your thought processes are discrete and efficient. Emotional imbalance is the root cause of most stress; being less stressed allows you to be happier.?

The power of "No"?

Juggling a career and a personal life will inevitably involve some sacrifices. It isn’t possible to accommodate every family occasion, school event, or social activity alongside a busy work calendar. Just as there are sometimes vitally essential meetings to attend at the office, some personal commitments should also be deemed unmissable. ?

Everyone has limited time on this planet and a fixed number of hours each day. That's why it is critical to make appropriate choices and stick by them – that means the ability to turn down something as confidently as being able to agree to something else.?Remember, when you say "Yes" to one path or option, you are automatically closing the doors to other possibilities. Use your ''No-s" and "Yes-es" wisely.?

To thine own self be true??

Shakespeare's Hamlet immortalized this phrase, as part of a father's words of advice to his son who is leaving home.?This phrase means staying true to who you are and having the self-belief to stick to your core values and principles without worrying about others’ opinions. ?

Chowa is all about being authentic to yourself and ensuring that you seek the balance that matters to you, not to others. Many of us tend to please others and keep our own priorities on the back burner.?Instead of looking for validation from someone else, take charge of your life and pay attention to your needs. This is similar to the airline safety instruction to “put on your oxygen mask first, before helping others".?Be purposeful about your choices and what they represent.?

Moments that matter?

Hollywood has long realized that memories are all that we carry forward and look back upon in this journey of life. Hit movies like 'Total Recall' and 'Inception' have played upon the idea of planting false memories; likewise, 'Men in Black' and 'The Bourne Identity' have used the theme of robbing people of their memories to change the course of their lives.??

Extending this idea further, ensure that you identify those critical moments that matter to you and make them memorable – these could be events like your wedding anniversary or your child's sports day in school, a monthly lunch date with your best friend, or even some precious ''me-time" that allows you to indulge in your favorite hobby. Ensure that your commitments to honor these moments take precedence over all other secondary conflicts. If you can regularly practice creating such a list (mental or written) of items that are important to you, it will start becoming an inner compass that will guide and validate your choices, thus ensuring a more harmonious daily life without the inner guilt and conflicts that arise from internal dissonance.?

Have Fun!?

Coming back to the Maut ka kuan example we started with, Chowa is all about balancing various forces to stay upright, and at the same time enjoying the thrill of the ride. Use these secret tips to Chowa and don't forget to have fun while preparing yourself for whatever life will throw at you next.?

After all, life is the most dangerous stunt of all; no one comes out of it alive!?