Avurudu awakening amidst an avalanche

 

Monday, 11 April 2022

We are about to witness a different Avurudu this year. Having been battered by a planetary pandemic, the multi-faceted economic crisis has intensified in creating havoc. The reaction from the public, is like an avalanche gathering increased momentum despite the opposing forces. In such a context, Avurudu can be seen as an invitation for awakening, individually as well as interactively. Let us discuss further.  

Overview 

The recent events locally and globally with regard to a regime change has been an interesting phenomenon. Fuelled by social media and fermented by a hashtag campaign, it gathered the young generation in particular to the streets. The way such protests are persistently continuing appear as a “human avalanche.” 

An avalanche, according to the National Geographic, could be a mass of snow, ice, and rocks that fall rapidly down a mountainside, which can be deadly. Disastrous avalanches occur when massive slabs of snow break loose from a mountainside. The mass of snow shatters like broken glass as it races downhill. These hazards can travel as fast as cars on a highway, up to 160 kilometres per hour. Once the avalanche starts to slide, it continues down the avalanche track, the natural path it follows downhill. After avalanches, large clearings or missing chutes of trees provide clues to an avalanche’s trajectory.

A human avalanche in action

The hashtag campaign targeting the resignation of the head of state, has been traced to a social activist who spearheaded the decent regards the way the people matters are handled. When the general public have been battling in multiple fronts owing to the lack of petrol, diesel, gas, kerosene, milk powder and electricity, it was the beginning of an avalanche with more masses representing different strata of the society getting involved. 

It is a clear sign of a new “tech-savvy” generation in action and also a rejection of traditional politicians who appeared to score points by simply joining them. How the expatriate community came forward in different parts of the world with protests, in stark contrast to the behaviour demonstrated during last presidential elections, is indeed amazing. The way an avalanche causes dramatic change, the expectation is to challenge corruption, irresponsibility, power-hunger, self-centeredness, and stupidity of opportunistic politicians at the helm.

Advent of Avurudu 

Avurudu invites us to awaken ourselves. Typically, it is the time to rejoice, relax, reflect, and reinforce. Celebrating as Sinhalese and Tamils alike is the central key. Collaboration, consensus, and connectivity are all coveted concepts associated with Avurudu. Cheerful, optimistic and an open mindset can be a good starting point. I know, it became challenging with the COVID-19 home-locked experience. Now, it appears to be more challenging amidst economic woes. 

In order to change for the better, we need to recharge ourselves. There is no better time than this festive season to do so. I am talking of the need to take care of physical, mental, emotional, social, and spiritual dimensions of our lives. This is an opportune time for renewal, an awakening to the reality with focus on being better. We need an awakening in each of the above facets, in making the coming months a meaningful period of prosperity. 

Awakening physically

Avurudu games traditionally had been an invitation for us to stay physically fit. This time it is different. The human body is the vehicle that takes us through the journey of life. Being healthy and fit are of utmost importance, despite our constant negligence of them. Finding quality time for physical exercises on a regular basis will be one sure cure for physical inactivity. Perhaps, confining to the home front would have given you ample time and space to reignite your exercising routines. 

Having a healthy dietary pattern, in opting to be fit than fat, is another vital need. Avoiding tasty yet unhealthy food is not so easy. Wasting food while millions are starving worldwide should be stopped at least in our family front. Now, make the decision to allocate time for it, and to respect the commitment. That is what an awakening is all about.  

Awakening mentally

Avurudu invites us to sharpen ourselves. As Stephen Covey highlighted as one of the seven habits of highly effective people, “sharpening the saw” is essential for growth and success. Ensuring that knowledge and skills are regularly updated and upgraded is what we need to focus on. The wide range of webinars during the past few weeks is a sign of a thirst for knowledge in using available time wisely. 

Tom Peters gave a challenge to US managers a decade ago. Look back to the past six months and see whether you have acquired any new knowledge or skills. If the answer is “no,” you are stagnating with a blunt saw. As the Digital Journal tells us, the rate at which knowledge is becoming available is doubling every year and, on a curve, predicted to rise even faster. What we discover with regard to COVID-19 day by day is indeed illuminating. 

With the internet as a vast ocean of knowledge offering a variety of informal learning approaches, learning has become a part and parcel of our lives. Despite occasional fake and hate news, we can learn something sensibly from social media as well. As Socrates said a long time ago, we learn from “the womb to the tomb.” 

Awakening emotionally

Avurudu is a time to strengthen positive, constructive emotions. This became acute amidst the COVID-19 pandemic where psychologists advocate us to embrace more enthusiasm despite the existing doom and gloom. Same is applicable in the context of the extended economic crisis as well. There are people who have successfully passed their exams but have miserably failed in their lives. Being aware of constructive emotions as well as destructive emotions, surrounding our lives, is the first step. Laziness and anger are two common examples for destructive emotions. Enthusiasm and determination are common constructive emotions. 

As experts on Emotional Intelligence (EI) say, self-awareness should lead to self-regulation. That is when you are in control of your emotions and then channelling them towards achievements. This is especially true if you are at an organisational leadership position. As Daniel Goldman, who popularised the concept of EI advocate, leaders should be 70% more emotionally intelligent than the others. This is a fitting time to show that in both words and deeds. 

Awakening socially

Avurudu unites the nation and socially bonds the country. As we know, no one is an island. Human beings are social animals. Human connectivity is an essential requirement for any community to foster. In a high-tech world, where speed is a key factor, high-touch dimension of relationships should not be neglected. I have seen many achievement-oriented executives who have “married” to their jobs whilst their neighbours are taking care of their families. 

A renewal should ensure the fostering of relationships with the team at work, and more importantly with the team at home. This is a golden and opportune time for us to do so. Building better relationships, taking quality time off from your work to be with your loved ones, and involving in voluntary work are some of the popular activities in this respect. 

This was challenging in a time where social distancing was strictly regulated. Now it is a different challenge. Being more social conscious on what is going around. Rather than allowing the opportunistic politicians to further ruin a fragmented nation, hope for a new beginning with a robust and transparent system is looming large. 

Awakening spiritually

Avurudu is very much associated with religious traditions. Moving beyond rituals, it is a time where we revisit and reinforce our values. As we are constrained in visiting religious places this year, it gives us the opportunity to be more “inward bound.” That highlights the central connect or the underpinning for the above four awakenings that we discussed. It is what I would prefer to call as spiritual awakening. 

There is a difference between being spiritual and being religious. One can visit a temple, kovil, mosque or a church every day, but at constant loggerheads with neighbours. Being spiritual is much deeper in moving beyond rituals in being righteous. It required a set of values that governs your behaviour. Honesty and integrity can be the commonest examples. Harmony between your set of values and the corporate values of your organisation will ensure long term association of you and your organisation. The COVID-19 home-locked experience helped us to strengthen our value base in truly living them in the spirit of humanity. Now it is how we extend it to strive for a fresh beginning towards a better Sri Lanka. 

Awakening to awesome results

Awakening of one’s physical, mental, emotional, social, and spiritual dimensions should lead to better understanding of oneself. Jim Loehr and Tony Schwartz in their seminal HBR article titled “Making of a Corporate Athlete,” describe vividly the importance of physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual “capacities.” According to them, organisations cannot afford to utilise their employees’ capacities, while ignoring their physical, emotional, and social wellbeing. They offer us further insights in these aspects:

“In a corporate environment that is changing at warp speed, performing consistently at high levels is more difficult and more necessary than ever. Narrow interventions simply aren’t sufficient anymore. Companies can’t afford to address their employees’ cognitive capacities while ignoring their physical, emotional, and spiritual wellbeing. On the playing field or in the boardroom, high performance depends as much on how people renew and recover energy as on how they expend it, on how they manage their lives as much as on how they manage their work. When people feel strong and resilient – physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually – they perform better, with more passion, for longer. They win, their families win, and the corporations that employ them win.” (Loehr and Schwartz, 2001)

The key point here is the need to have a balanced approach towards performance. Awakened employees will assure their commitment towards assigned tasks in achieving the expected results. Moreover, they will become better human beings, and not “human doings or un-doings.” 

The way forward

The “human avalanche” that is active might take different dramatic turns. Every day is crucial in that sense. Rather than resorting to violence, genuine expressing of the voice of suffering people in all fronts is what is desired with a view of driving change for better. “It is difficult to say what is impossible, for the dream of yesterday is the hope of today and the reality of tomorrow”, so said Robert H. Schuller.

We need to go beyond festivities to ensure focused action leading to future revival. It is healthy people who should strive hard to recover a terribly ailing economy. May the different Avurudu this year herald an era of economic revival with engaged and enthusiastic people who are genuine in their words and deeds. Then only the true effect of the human avalanche cleansing the nation from all undesired elements will be seen. 

(The writer is the immediate past Director of Postgraduate Institute of Management, and can be reached through ajantha@pim.sjp.ac.lk, ajantha@ou.edu or www.ajanthadharmasiri.info.)