As we near our independence day, I wonder how freedom has been interpreted in our country. Most of that interpretation has followed a faulty school of thought. Freedom has been largely interpreted as a liberty to engage in anything, which is fine but for the fact that one very significant point has been missed in this entire euphoria of freedom. That has been simply, that my liberty or freedom should not encroach upon the liberty of someone else. In most civilized societies one’s liberty ceases to exist when that person encroaches upon the liberty of others but not in our nation, sadly. Hence anyone digs-up the road or puts-up a wire to the nearest electricity pole, organizes dharna, protest, bandh, holding the larger public to ransom; there are others who think it is fine to engage in deciding the liberty of others and also curbing the same and hence issue moral directions, warnings or diktats.
Many of our organizations are also not free from such ‘free-wheeling’ . After all organizations are mini-representations of societies. But such interpretations of freedom can only cause more and more disenchantment and disengagement. Respecting the liberty of the other person is the only way to secure liberty of oneself. Nations, organizations, managers, leaders cannot fail to appreciate this larger truth.
Anyways, Happy Independence Day, in advance…
3 comments:
The degree of liberty in an organisation plays an important role in engaging employees. For Eg there are companies such as Mphasis which blocks most of the sites except the parent company websites which at times makes the employees face look like :( whereas there are companies such as SAP Labs which does not restrict in any websites.In fact there are many companies who has utilised this in a productive way, for eg. having an internal blog/chatting site where employees discuss any thing or every thing right from their current problems till the best practices of the organisation. This becomes a meaningful source of getting to know the employees better, fosters bonding between cross department employees etc.I think it depends upon on the risk taking ability of the company in proving the liberty. Companies who does not provide such kinds of liberty may be does not want to take the pain in case of misuse of liberty whereas companies who grant liberty does not spare anyone in case of any sort of misuse. Hence the degree of liberty if channelised in a productive will result in engaging employees to a large extent.
Liberty comes with a responsibility. Whoever encroaches on the liberty of others while availing one's own, flouts this responsibility and consequently should lose his/her liberty. The degree and duration of such loss should be determined by the same measure as he/she has inflicted on others.
Thanks for your comments Dev.
Best,
Debashish
Very well said sir,
What I believe is .... there is one thing common about every man and women who has ever walked the face of earth. People, every where, in every culture and in every generation are basically the same in this respect.
It doesn't matter whether they lived in developed west, still developing east or in forgotten corners of Africa. People all around the globe yearn for one thing,and that unannounced feeling is the feeling to be FREE..... the sense of FREEDOM....which is a yearn of every heart, the quest of human spirit.
So,on Independence Day unlike all politically correct definations pertaining to the Indian history, what should be celebrated is the feeling of being "Free"..freedom to pertain, percieve all that you desire and crave for under the noble sky.
"Give me freedom or give me death" is a statement of intent that was engraved on the heart of every man long before Patrick Henry ever made it.
when I hear today , that women empowerment is taking lead, or norm laid to hike up literacy, people outcasting to say their hearts out.. freedom of press to express ( i just rhymed ;))
Each and evrything is all my perspective of freedom.. the way i define it..
When a person has this freedom ..when he can lay under the sky ( be it be the sky of west or east),,what matters is the unchecked, unprecedented flow of thoughts, that have the potential to BUILD, INNOVATE, GROW, LEAD..with the sense of responsibility!! Be it be individualistic or referring to an organization's liberty.
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