Being In The Present

Can we hone the ability to be mindful?

- Dr Smita Dabholkar Singh

 Situation 1  Neela barged into Sarita’s cabin. They were colleagues at a leading firm in the telecom sector. “What happened Neela? You seem quite disturbed,” asked Sarita. “When I left your cabin in the morning, I happened to meet Mr Mohan and I greeted him. But to my utmost surprise, he seemed to feel offended. Forget about greeting me back, he simply gave me a look that was nowhere close to being polite. Since morning, I am feeling very bad. I wonder what made him give me that kind of a look? He was in my department earlier and was quite cordial. Now that we do not work together on projects, he refuses to even show minimum courtesy? This is the second time I have experienced such treatment from him. A new project is just round the corner. I hope he is not a part of my team.”

The above scenario could just be a happenstance. But what if it is not? What makes people/employees believe they can get away with their behaviour? Is it that so long as it does not affect their appraisal it is fine? What about the 360-degree performance appraisal? Forget about the formal system, what about the negative publicity through word of mouth? Some may say that it may be because Mr Mohan could be lost in his world and could not have really noticed Neela. But is this absent-mindedness fine? Was it not important for him to take care of that moment? Taking care of the moment can have a terrific impact on the other person whom we are with and therefore on our combined future. Some mindfulness would have helped Mr Mohan. What do you think? Let me give some more examples.

Situation 2