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Focus more on presenting yourself than the looks!

- I have read so much about Maslow’s hierarchy of needs but I am not sure if it works for everyone. I mean there are exceptions like spiritual people. I don’t think even you bother about the lower order needs much! What do you think about it? —Vandita

Yes, they do! However, unlike some who equate looks with a certain kind of facial/body feature, tone and colour of the skin etc, what interviewe­rs look for is something different. What matters is the way you carry yourself (poise, balance, neatness), the way you are dressed (elegance, cleanlines­s, choice of colors, polished shoes etc) and the hygiene (no foul smells; hair, if any, in place; absence of habits like biting nails, picking nose etc.). The way you present yourself leads to a primacy effect, and if there is something particular­ly distractin­g about your mannerisms, it can spoil your chances. So don’t worry about convention­al definition­s of “looks” and focus on how you present yourself.

Bollywood singers Mika Singh, Abhijeet Bhattachar­ya and standup comedian Raju Srivastava enthralled Lucknowite­s during the Music Mantra Superstar Night held at Smriti Upvan, Aashiyana on Friday. The show witnessed a strong audience turning up for the entertainm­ent night.

Before their performanc­es, all the three celebritie­s paid tribute to CRPF soldiers killed at the Pulwama terror attack. The audience too paid tribute by flashing mobile lights. The trio also expressed their happiness on the safe return of Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman.

Abhijeet opened his performanc­e by a special song ‘Hawa chal rahi hai, kahani keh rahi hia…Aur, Abhinandan aya’. He Abraham Maslow gave the need hierarchy that is both elegant and intuitive, but, has not stood up to psychometr­ic tests. Maslow posited that people have five levels of need and they are hierarchic­al. The lowest needs are the physiologi­cal needs that include food, water, shelter etc. The next level is safety needs, both from internal and external threats, followed by social needs of belongingn­ess. The fourth level is esteem needs while the highest level is the need for self-actualizat­ion.

The problem with Maslow’s hierarchy is twofold. One, he argues that only one need is operative at a time, and two, that a person moves on to a higher level need only when the lower order need gets satisfied. As you pointed out, spirituall­y inclined people dedicated another number ‘Kabhi yadon main aao, kabhi khwabo mein aao’. Later he presented his chartbuste­r songs ‘Badshah’, ‘Suno na’, ‘Tauba tumhare yeh ishare’, ‘O majhi re’, ‘Main koi aisa geet gaun’ and ‘Tumhe jo maine dekha’. may not conform to this hierarchy, neither would some artists, literary people that we know of. You are kind to include me in that category, so thank you. I see this as problemati­c too.

Alderfer provided a rather interestin­g alternativ­e theory termed as the ERG theory. He clubbed the two lower needs of physiologi­cal and safety together and called it ‘Existence’ needs. Then he

Earlier, comedian Raju Srivastava made mesmerized the audience with his hilarious acts. His mimicry act inspired by Amitabh Bachchan’s cult film ‘Trishul’ left audience in split.

Last, to hit the stage was rockstar Mika Singh. split the esteem need into two: esteem in the eyes of others (also called status), and esteem in the eyes of self (self-esteem). He clubbed social needs and status together to form ‘Relatednes­s’ need. Finally, he clubbed self-esteem and selfactual­ization together to form Growth needs. Further he posited that multiple needs can be operative at the same time. Then he brought in another interestin­g concept of

He made the audience shake a leg on his groovy numbers which included ‘O lakdi aankh mare’, ‘Laga gaye 440 volt’, ‘Jumme ke raat hai’, ‘Sawan frustratio­n-regression. He argued that if a higher order need of a person is frustrated, then the person regresses to a lower order need. This, to me, resonates more closely with what I empiricall­y observe.

Have any questions about life, management, philosophy, education, literature, yoga, mountainee­ring in India, or psychologi­cal issues or all of these? Ask Himanshu Rai. He is the Director at IIM Indore, an author, mountainee­r, yoga enthusiast and a Sanskrit scholar. Mail at askhimansh­u@htlive.com

LOOKS MATTER IN AN INTERVIEW! HOWEVER, UNLIKE SOME WHO EQUATE LOOKS WITH A CERTAIN KIND OF FACIAL/BODY FEATURE, TONE AND COLOUR OF THE SKIN ETC, WHAT INTERVIEWE­RS LOOK FOR IS SOMETHING DIFFERENT...

Disclaimer: The responses in this column given by me are based on my learnings and experience. They should, by no means, be taken as a substitute for medical/profession­al help. main lag gai aag’, ‘Tu mere agal bagal’ and ‘Heer to badi sad hai’. The evening was organised by Prabal Events.

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 ?? HT PHOTOS ?? Singer Mika Singh and (right) audience flashing mobile lights and a patriotic performanc­e
HT PHOTOS Singer Mika Singh and (right) audience flashing mobile lights and a patriotic performanc­e
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 ??  ?? Raju Srivastava
Raju Srivastava
 ??  ?? Abhijeet Bhattachar­ya
Abhijeet Bhattachar­ya
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