RAMA AS A LEADER

Today is Rama Navami, celebrated as the birthday of Lord Rama. The occasion is celebrated with traditional gaiety and fanfare in most parts of the country. The name of Lord Rama has significance not just for religious purpose. His life and times have been recorded in many versions of Ramayana in several languages and are read and recited by millions, not just in the country but in faraway places like Fiji, Mauritius, Trinidad, Suriname and many other parts of the world where Hindus reside in sizable numbers. What Rama stands for may have many dimensions, but his leadership attributes can offer many lessons for the modern-day society. Leadership, in fact, is a widely discussed subject in most of the social sciences, particularly political science, sociology, psychology, and management. Yet, the irony is that the concept has been neither understood nor practised in the perspective in which it should have been. Many management theorists are of the view that leadership as a concept has been talked the most and understood the least. Everyone thinks he is a leader and management schools are proud to proclaim that they make leaders. Leadership training is also a big business as trainers, consultants, and self-proclaimed experts are found to advertise copiously about their leadership training abilities. Alas, despite so much leadership talk, the problems of society increase due to leadership failure. Learning from the life of Lord Rama may be an effective way to learn the art and science of leadership practice. Lord Rama’s life itself was a great lesson on leadership. Rama is attributed with five basic leadership qualities. The first is Tyaga Vir, that is, a person who was strong enough to sacrifice personal interests for upholding the right values. He preferred to leave the lure and lucre of the throne of Ayodhya to keep his father’s promise. His second attribute is called Daya Vir, that is compassionate. He possessed a heart full of empathy and is called the Karunamaya — full of love and compassion. The third attribute is Vidya Vir, that is full of wisdom. He was not an egoist like the modern-day leaders and would put larger interest above all. He is also called Parakram Vir, that is a person full of valour, who fights for the right cause. And the fifth attribute, and the most important one, was Dharma Vir, a person who chooses the righteous path, always upholding it. In his actions, he always proved that he possessed these qualities. His wisdom, his sagacity, his humility, his righteousness were all reflected in every act of his. He never forced his way on the people and was a participative democrat in the true sense of the term. Like a real leader, he inspired people, laid down the ground rules and gave full freedom to the people to act. Contrast this with some modern-day leaders, who are more of wheeler dealers, striking deals for personal gain. His humility is worth emulating when the modern world is throwing leaders with bloated egos. Look at the leaders today — full of vanity and arrogance. The qualities of leadership in the people in present day leadership positions compare more with Ravana than Rama. Look the way he dealt with Shabari, or the boat man or even the ocean God — exemplary conduct. Learning leadership is better done by studying Ramayana than attending those highly advertised and costly leadership training programmes that are more about tricks than true spirit.