In Indian culture, we greet everyone with a ‘Namaste’. That
was until a few years ago. ‘Hi’ and ‘hello’ have since replaced this
traditional greeting. As a change proponent, I was not too concerned about this
trend. That is, until I was made aware of the meaning of namaste by a
non-Indian. When you say namaste to someone, you are basically saying, “The
divinity in me bows to the divinity in you.” Such a small word, but such depth
of meaning.
Many years ago, I remember looking up a university
prospectus and seeing a course on Conflict Management. It was about managing
workplace conflicts and a specialised segment on international conflicts. If
you Google ‘conflict management’, this term appears alongside words like
leadership, decision-making, communication and social skills, etc; making us
believe that conflict management and resolution are restricted to the corporate
sector.
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But the more I think about it, more convinced I am that we
need to learn to manage and resolve conflicts from childhood. Have you noticed
how little children get into fights, then one of them starts crying and
complains about the other; parents jump into the fray and the argument blows
out of proportion. Or how about the time a you got into an argument with a
waiter? Or the time you stopped someone from littering the beach and they
shouted back at you? Closer home, think about the conflicts between you and
your loved ones. We need to manage conflict in every area of our lives. Why
then, are only a few students studying conflict management, its techniques and
styles? Why aren’t we taught to manage conflicts since childhood?
According to me, ’namaste’ can be a powerful tool in
resolving conflicts. If you acknowledge a divine spark in someone else, before
you choose to shout at them or vice versa, would you not think twice before
letting lose a barrage of expletives at them?
A month ago, a man in his twenties, on a motorcycle, talking
on his phone (yes, riding his bike one-handed) and without checking for
oncoming traffic, rode out of his housing society gate. As it happened, I was
driving by in my car just then. I had to suddenly swerve to avert colliding
into him. He, having more important things to attend to on his phone, was
unaware that he’d just been saved a trip to the hospital and police station
(isn’t it against the rules to be on the phone when riding?). I overtook him
and continued driving, when all of a sudden I became aware of incessant honking
on the passenger side of the car. Looking over, I saw this man alongside the
car hurling choicest curses at me, all because I had blocked him from
overtaking me on a particular stretch of the road.
Imagine, if he had to first say ‘namaste’ and then swear. I
am sure it would be difficult for him to be abusive. Similarly, if I had to
correct him, I’d be lesser abrasive, if I said ‘namaste’ first and then pointed
out how I’d saved him from injury. Instead of shouting at each other, we’d
actually have a reasonable dialogue and make an attempt to understand each
other. Conflict management need not be encased in management jargon. It starts
with a humble ‘Namaste’.
