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Is Learning All About Skilling Up?

The recent Reskill and Transcend theme of Samanvay 2017 made me a little nervous. There were these bunch of young professionals, most of whom have never set foot inside an organization yet, talking about reskilling. And here I was, almost 30, in an existential crisis of almost losing relevance. The major reason behind it is the changing perception of technology taking over every ounce of human need in accomplishing a task. The brain says its not true, the heart agrees but where then is this fear originating?

I do not think technology is for all to fear. Learning technology is like learning how to use fire or the wheel. Just so fire was created did not mean who did it prior went out of style, it was the how that changed. The how is what is skill, the why, on the other hand, is much more fun to know, appreciate and enhance.  This, however, does not mean the role of skills is discounted, it only puts it in its place. A persons skills, or the lack of, account of the maximum volume of thoughts in the mind. I took up a Yoga Teachers Training course recently and in the beginning of it I felt very weird being in that group of people who could fly like a butterfly and sit like a rock, and here I was someone who could not bend front or back with finesse. The reason I was there was to finally start using Yoga as a tool to communicate with the world around me, to relive pain and introduce peace and happiness to the people I share this little world with. I thought learning the asanas would be the skill I needed, but what I ended up learning there was much more than what I could even imagine.

When I felt it out-of-place-ness of, my presence there, I had a flight intention. I thought I’ll go back and return next year, I even thought of the right excuses. The gurudev there, a tranquil man, spoke me out of it by convincing me to try to continue, at my own will. How, I am still yet to figure out. That motivation in me to experiment staying longer helped me with two things, which I later realized. One, it removed the fear of failure and created a sense of addiction to the accomplishment of trying something against my peripheral instincts. Two, it showed me how I can let go of the thought that everyone around me exist to evaluate, judge and reward me and my actions. I ended up completing the course and, more importantly, making friends in this world who spoke my language, which I now realize how rare a phenomenon it is.


Learning is not about acquiring the skill, it is about identifying a new skill, like finding a playground and its reading its rules. It is about letting go of thoughts like “am I good enough for this playground and game?” and “is the playground good enough for me?”. My journey to IIT began like that. There were questions on if I am right for the place and there were even questions on if the people took the decision to let me in were right. However, I know now, the courage and humility the journey has so far given me may not have been the same if I had stuck my status-quo. The signs of learning are simple, it humbles, it elates and it resonates. These signs show me that I am learning, and when I realize I am learning, it feeds the curiosity to learn more and kills the fear and doubt of whether I can. Learning, so, is about learning to realize our place on the learning curve, and then give it the right gear to move up.

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