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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