A New Definition of Work for the 21st Century

Former RBI Governor Y.V. Reddy's compilation of essays reflects on the generational divide in attitudes towards work

- Rajrishi Singhal

The word "work" has become loaded with meanings, weighed down by multiple connotations and teems with social divisions. But what is work? Some view it as a four-letter word signifying a quotidian preoccupation, the root of a humdrum existence but an unavoidable necessity. Others see it through the lens of privilege and entitlement, a ticket to material achievement and status. Many find it an opportunity to do something different, make a difference to society. Philosophically, work is viewed as the converse of not-work, which can be play or leisure, thereby investing both work and not-work with certain value sets.

In the New Shorter Oxford English Dictionary, lexicographers have dedicated close to two pages to defining "work." The opening definition is instructive: "A thing done, an act, a deed, a proceeding; spec. (specifically) one involving toil or strenuous effort." Interestingly, this definition is not about an occupation, employment, or even a profession. This is in complete contrast with what work has come to signify in modern times, both as a principle and as an activity, something that is automatically assumed to be a lifelong vocation.

Work, Wisdom, Legacy, a collection of essays compiled by former governor of the Reserve Bank of India Y.V. Reddy, seeks to find some meaning of the activity known as work by asking two simple questions. One, why should one work? Two, how would the generation that worked in the second half of the previous century explain work to youngsters born in this century?