Monday Musings - Episode 140 - Story of mistimed celebration

MONDAY MUSINGS SEASON 2 – EPISODE 140

17th January 2022

#StoryOfMistimedCelebration

After completing the mission of locating and meeting Seetha Mata, the troupe of vanaras led by prince Angad were returning to convey the happy news to Lord Ram. On their way back to Kishkinta, they came across a gorgeous garden. It was Madhuvan the favourite garden of Sugriva filled with honey laden trees and climbers. The honey was famous for its sweet intoxicating nature. Sugriva’s maternal uncle, the mighty monkey Dadhimukha guarded that picturesque and spacious garden.

Vanara sena wanted to taste the honey in Madhuvan and asked their leader Angad for the permission. Angad gave them approval after consulting the elderly statesman Jambavan.

Vanara soldiers enjoyed their halt at Madhuvan drinking nectar, jumping, laughing, rolling and dancing. In their inebrieties, they started damaging Madhuvan. Alarmed Dadhimukha interrupted them and fought with some. The monkeys overpowered Dadhimukha and attacked him by hitting him with their nails and biting with their teeth.

Dadhimukha ran to the king Sugriva and reported their misdemeanour and the silence of prince Angad. Dadhimukha expected Sugriva to get angry and pronounce punishment to the monkeys. To his surprise, Sugriva was delighted on hearing the news from Dadhimukha and addressed Lord Ram

“If my vanara troupe is courageous enough to destroy Madhuvan, they must have definitely met Seetha and are on their way to convey the good news to us. They must have taken the liberty to enjoy their success. Let us wait to receive them”.

Dadhimukha went back to Madhuvan and conveyed Sugriva’s message to Angad. Angad realized their folly and requested his team to halt the celebration and start for kishkinta at once. The monkeys accepted the suggestion (not diktat) of their leader and left to meet Lord Ram.

This part of the story is given here exactly as it is narrated at the fag end of Sundara Kandam of Valmiki Ramayan (sargams 61, 62 & 63 of Sundara Kandam). ?Is it not an avoidable distraction like that of a song and dance scene in an Indian movie? ?Lord Ram is waiting with bated breath to hear the results of the. Time was running out. What is the need for Valmiki to waste 3 sargams in describing a stupid drama of ‘drink and dance’ and inappropriate behaviour of a group of monkeys? I could see the rationale. There are few very important management lessons from this seemingly irrelevant story. Yes, not one but many.?Let us look at them one by one.

What is #InstantGratification?

Instant Gratification is the urge to enjoy immediate gain against the advice of the rational mind like a kid wanting to eat irrespective of the time or place. Is it limited to children? Unfortunately, Instant gratification is present in adults as well.?Typical example is the urge to open and read the messages from the smart phone in the midst of an important office meeting.?Does it sound familiar? Do you notice this in your meetings? Most important question ‘Do you do that in your meetings?’ Pay attention to your hands and eyes in your next meeting. If you have done it without you realizing it, you can be sure that you are being driven by ‘instant gratification monkey’.?Yes.?That is why probably, Valmiki illustrated it as the behaviour exhibited by the monkeys at Madhuvan.

What is #DelayedGratification?

Delayed gratification?means resisting the temptation of an immediate reward, in anticipation that there will be a greater reward later. It’s a powerful tool for learning to live your life with purpose. It’s linked to impulse control.

#WhyDoWeLookForInstantGratification?

Humans are wired to seek pleasure and avoid pain. This is why children seek instant gratification. But as we mature, this desire is countered by the “reality” principle, or the ability of humans to consider risks versus rewards, by which we’re able to delay fulfilment – especially if the later reward is greater than the one we’d get immediately. Our behaviour is driven by the two principles, Pleasure Principle & Realty Principle

#Id,EgoAndSuperEgo

According to #SigmundFreud's psychoanalytic theory of personality, the id is the personality component made up of unconscious psychic energy that works to satisfy basic urges, needs, and desires. The id operates based on the #PleasurePrinciple, which demands immediate gratification of needs. The id is the only part of the?personality that is present at birth. ?This primitive component of personality existed wholly within the unconscious. ?

As children mature, the ego develops to help control the urges of the id. The ego is concerned with reality. It helps ensure that the id's needs are met, but in ways that are acceptable in the real world. The ego operates through what Freud referred to as the #RealityPrinciple. This reality principle is the opposing force to the instinctual urges of the pleasure principle. Instead of seeking immediate gratification for urges, the reality principle guides the ego to seek avenues to fulfill these needs that are both realistic and socially appropriate.

The last component the superego tries to perfect and civilize our behaviour. It works to suppress all unacceptable urges of the id and struggles to make the ego act based on idealistic standards rather than realistic principles.?

According to Freud, the key to a healthy personality is a balance between the id, the ego, and the superego.

#InstantGratificationMonkey

The control exerted by Instant Gratification is commonly referred to as Instant Gratification Monkey. Why? Is it because the first documented execution of instant gratification was by the monkeys, in Ramayana?! We will see the details in the next episode of Monday Musings newsletter.

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Monday Musings newsletter is authored and published by Jaganathan T (www.authorjaganathan.com) every Monday. Please subscribe to the newsletter 'Monday Musings' in LinkedIn to read every week.

Watch the interesting and useful interview with @BhoomaVeeravalli about her book #FireletsGlimpsesOfBharathi'sPoetry, Translation of select poems of Mahakavi Bharati in English at SathyaMithran Youtube channel, https://youtu.be/RohZ24Hersc