by S Mallika, Senior Manager - Corporate Communications, Chemplast Sanmar Limited.
If you have problems with your PC or laptop, whom would you call? If you have trouble handling the fancy mobile phone you bought, whom would you run to for help? There are no prizes for guessing. The youngest kid around is the one who would come in handy. While the grown-up knowledge hulks of the world grapple with Minesweeper and Solitaire and struggle with the humble mouse, the little nimble fingers (coupled with nimble reflexes as well), are out on the international gateway, gaming with someone half a world away, racing on digital tracks, strategising for digital games. Welcome to the world of broadband, technology, optic fibres, communication and more! Our little fledglings are more adept at such technology than us, the current generation, who are witness to the development of that technology.
One Sunday morning, while on an international call, unable to bear the badgering from my little son, I gave him a chance to speak. When I suggested that the call meter was running way too high, that he should end the conversation, he agreed meekly. The moment I stepped out of sight, this illiterate little fellow, who could barely read and write, pressed the ‘Redial’ button and continued with the conversation that was rudely halted minutes earlier! Marketing gurus are indeed foxed when it comes to profiling the audience for WAP-enabled marketing campaigns. If the moms in the house decide consumer durable purchases, tech upgrades are clearly decided by the Chintus and Chotus of every household. The point being driven is this. These ‘tech-savvy’ Chintus and Chotus are getting into the workplace at a very early age. These are our future, fast-paced managers and every one of the present generation executives will, at some point or other, interact, work-with, or deal with these gizmo wizards with brand new knowledge. They have the most advanced and fastest media and technology to access knowledge.
The playing field is already uneven and fast paced. In this scenario, can we afford to be complacent with whatever ‘knowledge’ we acquired some time ago? Don’t we stand the risk of becoming new-age dinosaurs if we fail to upgrade our skills and knowledge?
The current era is one of speed, of man on a vehicle of speed, racing against time. Speed in thought, speed in communication, technology to ‘speed up’ things, processes to bring us ‘up to speed’- Speed, fast-track, on the move, in motion, 24/7. Now in the current fast-paced evolution of the future, can we stand still with time-tested methods and ideologies? There is no time for user-guides or chronicles to rely on. Current knowledge would quickly get transmuted into new knowledge. One has to continuously feel the pulse for new knowledge and be in sync with the process of transmutation all around- morph ourselves in tandem with the changes around us or we would lose the edge.
The very thought of new knowledge ruffles up the comfort zone we are so familiar with. This familiarity doesn’t breed contempt – it breeds insecurity. New knowledge simply calls for a shift in perspective and this makes the rest easy.
Richard Bach’s famous lines can be interpreted as an impetus to gain new knowledge. “ What the caterpillar sees as the end of this world, the master sees as a butterfly.” Each time we feel stonewalled with old knowledge, there is a tendency to hold on to what we have, hoard it and make it inaccessible. Loosening up and shifting perspectives throws up a whole new possibility of unexplored knowledge ahead of us. We can get an edge if we tap into this unexplored knowledge zone. The sky is the limit to upgrade and seek knowledge. And apply this knowledge to add value to all our actions.
Welcome to life living on the edge. Keeping pace with changes around us and upgrading knowledge are imperative these days. When the Earth was made, it didn’t come with an instruction manual or user guide. The evolutionary process was paced evenly, allowing us to experiment, learn and assimilate new knowledge.
The account of the Dasavatara intrigues one endlessly. Grandma’s rendition of the ten avatars made you sit up and marvel at them. Looking deeper, I have often wondered–if the chronicles of the evolutionary process of the Earth were to be ‘unearthed’ it would be adapted from the Dasavatara; the world was replete with natural calamities, earthquakes, under-water and space forays, need for ecological balance, barbarians and stone-age civilisations, intelligent civilisations, best practices for mankind, conflicts, chemical and nuclear weapons, mechanised flight, psychics, telepathy, every development that we are familiar with today has an allegorical mention.