Short course that changed my life’s course
I STARTED LOVING THOSE WHO WERE OVERWEIGHT, APPRECIATING AND VALUING THEIR QUALITIES OF THE HEAD AND THE HEART, SPECIALLY THEIR OPENNESS, LARGE HEARTEDNESS AND THEIR PRACTICAL VIEW
Idisliked people heavy on the scales. This probably impelled me to put the potbellied policemen, working under me, on the mat, literally to do front rolls and back rolls and a host of other acrobatics till they brought their body mass index (BMI) within limits.
The dislike continued for quite some time. Then, it so happened that as a deputy inspector general (DIG) in the police, I was deputed to undergo an in-service training programme or a vertical interaction course at the Harish Chandra Mathur State Institute of Public Administration, Jaipur, commonly known as RIPA. We were 20 Indian Police Service officers from different state cadres from the rank of superintendent of police to director general.
On the last day of the weeklong programme, a guest faculty speaker, who was a professor of behavioural sciences, addressed us. He gave us a questionnaire to be responded to. On the basis of our responses, the professor divided us into two groups, consisting of 10 each, and made us sit separately. He named the groups as A and B. Each was asked to write as many attributes of the other as we had perceived during the week’s interaction. I was a part of Group A.
As I looked around, I found that most of the officers in the other group were heavy weights, literally, and those in my group were light weight or even feather weight.
The professor collected the sheets after were done, went through the same cursorily and then handed over A’s response to B and B’s to Group A, to be read and pondered over.
Our group members were taken aback to see what the others had written about us. We had been described as conceited, sincere, anxious, shorttempered, impatient, unpleasant company, aggressive, argumentative, excessively ambitious, workaholic, too sensitive , status-conscious, and punctual to a fault. We already knew what we had written about the others such as, talkative, not true to their words, flirts, untrustworthy, jovial, carefree, sloppily dressed, illmannered, unpunctual, relaxed and gluttonous.
Then, the professor took over and explained: “Persons in both groups are nature’s creations. Both live and prosper in this very world. Both are two sides of the same coin. Understanding this basic principle will result in better inter-personal relations, leading to maximising potential to achieve of organisational goals ”
He added: “A and B are the basic personality phenotypes. There can be varied combinations and sub-classification. The notion that A type people are more prone to coronary heart disease is not conclusively proved but a linear relationship between the two most probably exists. Behavioural therapy, yoga and meditation may help improve the condition. But most of all, A and B should bond together, irrespective of differences in personality types.”
That short course changed the course of my life. I started loving those who were overweight, appreciating and valuing their qualities of the head and the heart, specially their openness, large heartedness and their practical view of the matter and the world.