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How does one cope with tension?
"WE WOULD like to send our employees in teams on an experimental basis to undergo Vipassana. Having understood what it is, I am convinced that it will release tension, condition mind and improve productivity."
This is the response from the General Manager, Dinakar Raj of the Premier Instruments & Control Limited (PRICOL) in the city. The Vipassana team conducted a day's brief course for industrial employees recently in its pursuit to anchor the meditation technique. It conducted a four-day programme covering both employees of the Government and industrial personnel in different institutions including Bharathiar University.
Their senior teacher, Shivappa, an M.E. from Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, was here to do his bit towards anchoring the concept. His profile makes interesting reading. Shivappa, 65 now, worked as an R&D engineer in Kirloskar Oil Engine Works, Pune and went to Europe.
Dressed in a white kurta he looked a far cry from the widely travelled technologist. Attracted first to J. Krishnamurthy he gravitated to Vipassana and has been active in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka for the past few years in the capacity of an Area Teacher.
"I started my small-scale unit in Bangalore manufacturing special purpose engines. I ran it for 20 years producing surgical gloves. I was particular that the relationship with the employees must be transparent, free of suspicion. Then came the paralytic stroke. I underwent Vipassana taking the advice of my brother, who is a doctor. I am fully recovered now."
He spoke without the symptoms of the physical trauma he had undergone. Meditation for nine hours from 4 a.m. in the form of meticulously observing one's breath is a tough ask. And to undergo the rigours for 10 days may seem like climbing Mount Everest to many professionals on the move. "The objective is to build harmony within. We are not asking one to attain the stage of Nirvana," says Shivappa with a smile. "Anger and tension are only the summit of biochemical reactions in the body inducing negative behaviour. Concentrating on breathing is only a way to controlling mind and convert one from the state of misery to happiness."
Adverting to the high rate of suicides among young professionals, especially in Information Technology sector in Bangalore, he said "the debris in mind affects quality of work because it keeps the sub-conscious under siege. Mind becomes blank at times." This applied to accidents on the work spot in factories also.
The four-day programme in Coimbatore was a reasonable success. Among the 100 who turned up at the meeting in Bharathiar University on August 19 were clinical psychologists and Physical Education teachers. Over 70 turned up for the course at Nehru Vidyalaya. "We have conducted 110 courses in 14 years in Bangalore, besides gypsy camps in Mangalore and Shimoga. Four courses were held in Belgaum jail. Some prisoners responded so well that whenever they saw me and the four teachers they would salute us," he said.
The objective is to strike at the root of psychosomatic problems. Their centre in Bangalore caters to children in the age group of 7 to 17 years.
By K.S. Subramanian
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Life
Chennai
Coimbatore
Delhi
Hyderabad
Kochi
Madurai
Thiruvananthapuram
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