In India, Gurucharandas enjoys a
special reputation in the corporate world and the rising middle classes. After Narayan Murthy he is perceived as one important corporate leader who tends to think always in ethical terms. This is very rare in India where paradoxically we see two extremes: on the one hand, wealth creation and especially doing business were until very recently considered unethical activities and on the other, there is high tolerance for violation of ethical code even in day to day activities.
In nineteen nineties, Gurucharandas published, “India Unbound”, an important book that traces events leading to opening up of Indian Economy and the unfolding of the process of wealth creation that followed in its wake. It is an insightful study of how Indian economy responded to the economic reforms and how that led to unleashing of a powerful process of wealth creation. More importantly, it was a sociological description of a people who , after getting used to socialism for quite some time, were exposed to free market capitalism which combines two contradictory principles: one, enjoyment of ever increasing new wants and two, rigors and pain that accompany the process of wealth creation.
Economic liberalization of the early nineteen nineties did unleash powerful productive forces in action and it accelerated the process of wealth creation in this country. But productive forces and power also brought unpleasantness and pain. The whole process was accompanied by an indifferent style of governance,
corruption, corporate greed and perhaps beginning of crony capitalism. If the government and its labyrinthine bureaucracy took upon itself the responsibility of promoting business, the proximity between business and politics at times crossed the reasonable limits and they tended to collude to present worst cases of corruption. People who live on the periphery of the affluence, and
worst still those who live outside the realms of market and wealth, are victims of these new evils. Further, productive forces, even in their pristine form, are truly children of market and they inflict unmitigated cruelty on the weak and the most vulnerable. Surely, after putting in action the forces of wealth creation what was necessary was a moderating spirit of ethics and accountability. Capitalism, especially market driven capitalism, may be a powerful engine of growth and development but it requires a working framework in which society has to evolve a political, social and economic consensus that saves the society from the excesses of capitalism itself.
For last several years after finishing writing
of “India Unbound”, Gurucharandas was working on the theme of ethics for a
modern capitalist society. He was unhappy about the manner in which ethics is given a go-bye by the economic players and those in charge of governance. And this often left him wondering about the future of society that does not adequately address the issues of ethics. At the same time he was also, on a personal level,
fascinated by our ancient scriptures and especially “The Mahabharata" and its ethics. These two cognate interests led him to take up the study of ethics, especially the study of what constitutes good in a fast transforming capitalistic society like India. Thus, Gurucharandas wants to know if "The Mahabharata" offered any principles of ethics and behavior with which he could get insight into the present day problems of corruption and corporate greed, and if any corrective prescription can be found in our own tradition. His book" The Difficulty of being Good" tries to answer these and other ethical issues of
capitalism. This book explores the subject of what
constitutes good in human life and how one may attain it. He discusses the question of
good and bad in the context of Mahabharata, giving many examples and presenting
many case-studies from the celebrated epic.
This book and the subject itself are both very ponderous issues and present great challenge to the author. Gurucharandas is sometimes clear and at times very vague in coming up with a concrete framework in which we can hope to resolve these ethical issues. There are two major issues that he presents with reference to a number of case studies :viz. the subtle concept of Dharma and the process through which the individual discharges his obligations in accordance with the perceived Dharma. He says that the concept of 'good' itself is very subtle and that it is very difficult to lay down a very concrete model or framework for ethical resolution of issues.
Dharma is nothing but the whole gamut of roles, responsibilities and duties that a human being is supposed to discharge as he holds a position. There are often contradictions in various roles and responsibilities. Man does not have only one role to perform. He is simultaneously performing a number of roles, some private and some public. He is simultaneously a member of a family, member of an organization, member of local community, a national citizen and a citizen of this world and lastly a human being. Each position has some duties, responsibilities and a reach of values that circumscribe his role. These roles are often overlapping and yet a man has to ponder and think intensely on his position several times before he makes a decision, for some of his decisions may be very complex. When the CEO of a company manages the company, he does so on behalf of a number of stakeholders and interest groups and still the company has certain responsibilities to the society and the world outside his company. He holds a position of a trustee and more importantly, he cannot use that position for advancing his own personal interests at the cost of the company. Such decisions and the process that leads to a decisions cannot be concretely laid down in a framework. And hence he Gurucharandas says that Dharma and the concept of Good are very subtle. Gurucharandas presents a number of instances and gives examples from the Mahabharata to illustrate his point. At times he goes back and forth on the merits of the Mahabharata in an attempt to provide a concrete ethical framework.
At other times, however, he somewhat brings himself to convince that Mahabharata does have an important message for our age and says that the Mahabharata presents its message in a negative way. He says that Mahabharata demonstrates bad effects of bad actions; by presenting a series of disasters, it teaches what one should refrain from doing.
This book and the subject itself are both very ponderous issues and present great challenge to the author. Gurucharandas is sometimes clear and at times very vague in coming up with a concrete framework in which we can hope to resolve these ethical issues. There are two major issues that he presents with reference to a number of case studies :viz. the subtle concept of Dharma and the process through which the individual discharges his obligations in accordance with the perceived Dharma. He says that the concept of 'good' itself is very subtle and that it is very difficult to lay down a very concrete model or framework for ethical resolution of issues.
Dharma is nothing but the whole gamut of roles, responsibilities and duties that a human being is supposed to discharge as he holds a position. There are often contradictions in various roles and responsibilities. Man does not have only one role to perform. He is simultaneously performing a number of roles, some private and some public. He is simultaneously a member of a family, member of an organization, member of local community, a national citizen and a citizen of this world and lastly a human being. Each position has some duties, responsibilities and a reach of values that circumscribe his role. These roles are often overlapping and yet a man has to ponder and think intensely on his position several times before he makes a decision, for some of his decisions may be very complex. When the CEO of a company manages the company, he does so on behalf of a number of stakeholders and interest groups and still the company has certain responsibilities to the society and the world outside his company. He holds a position of a trustee and more importantly, he cannot use that position for advancing his own personal interests at the cost of the company. Such decisions and the process that leads to a decisions cannot be concretely laid down in a framework. And hence he Gurucharandas says that Dharma and the concept of Good are very subtle. Gurucharandas presents a number of instances and gives examples from the Mahabharata to illustrate his point. At times he goes back and forth on the merits of the Mahabharata in an attempt to provide a concrete ethical framework.
At other times, however, he somewhat brings himself to convince that Mahabharata does have an important message for our age and says that the Mahabharata presents its message in a negative way. He says that Mahabharata demonstrates bad effects of bad actions; by presenting a series of disasters, it teaches what one should refrain from doing.
This may all seem very interesting; however, there
is nothing new that comes up at the end of the book. One expects that Gurucharandas would come up with a new formulation
of the problem of ethics needed for this country or for the new capitalism in
these extraordinary times. Gurucharandas has a philosophical bent of mind and this has further been shaped by his philosophical studies at Harvard where he was a student of John Rawls. And, therefore, readers would expect him to formulate first the problem of ethics in Indian society and to provide some answers and insights that would at least give some indicative answers drawn from the Mahabharata. However, he does not come up with anything,
finally. That the Dharma or the Right Ethics is a very subtle thing is the only
conclusion (and yet according to me a very important one) he draws from the rambling three hundred pages. Does a serious
discourse on ethics in the post-liberalization era in this country has only
this to offer?
But I would not blame Gurucharandas for this. Like all important issues in life, ethics in our public and corporate life also would require subtle discernment and insights. But more than this one wonders whether ancient traditions anywhere and in any part of the world can provide straitjacket answers to the present day complex problems and issues, especially ethical issues. Traditions are an important source to resolving such complex issues, for it is the departure from the proximate tradition or accepting new social structures and values and the tensions that result from the confrontation between the tradition and the modernity that many ethical issues stalk in our face. A good way to resolve such issues could be reformulating the problems and examining them in the dynamics of the evolving modernity. And in this exercise of reverting to traditions and sometimes even to ancient texts becomes inevitable. But the problem with the ancient texts such as Mahabharata is that they themselves, as a part of the tradition of the people of this country, have evolved over time. Each epoch has its own way of attributing meanings to the stories and the actions of the actors in the stories in accordance with the ethos of the times. Under these circumstances looking for ready-made solutions and algorithms in the Mahabharata that can resolve the ethical issues of modern hybrid capitalism as practiced in this country is a very difficult proposition.
But I would not blame Gurucharandas for this. Like all important issues in life, ethics in our public and corporate life also would require subtle discernment and insights. But more than this one wonders whether ancient traditions anywhere and in any part of the world can provide straitjacket answers to the present day complex problems and issues, especially ethical issues. Traditions are an important source to resolving such complex issues, for it is the departure from the proximate tradition or accepting new social structures and values and the tensions that result from the confrontation between the tradition and the modernity that many ethical issues stalk in our face. A good way to resolve such issues could be reformulating the problems and examining them in the dynamics of the evolving modernity. And in this exercise of reverting to traditions and sometimes even to ancient texts becomes inevitable. But the problem with the ancient texts such as Mahabharata is that they themselves, as a part of the tradition of the people of this country, have evolved over time. Each epoch has its own way of attributing meanings to the stories and the actions of the actors in the stories in accordance with the ethos of the times. Under these circumstances looking for ready-made solutions and algorithms in the Mahabharata that can resolve the ethical issues of modern hybrid capitalism as practiced in this country is a very difficult proposition.
But Mahabharata is not alone in
demonstrating its inability of alleviating the modern paralysis of ethical
decision making. No other ancient text
anywhere in the world has that capacity of resolving moral and
ethical issues that we face today. A lot has been written and is being written on Chinese Confucianism and it is being argued that Confucianism preaches moderation, prescribes standards of behavior for bureaucrats and endorses subtle art of governance. But obviously, Confucianism does not resolve modern day ethical dilemmas in China. People go back to history and
visit classics in all earnestness to find if the ancient texts can be a guide
to resolving the present day ethical issues and ethical dilemmas. This,
however, generally does not help, though excursion through history and ancient
texts do widen the scope of our mind and prepares it to accept responsibility. They broaden our canvas of
thinking and in turn expand
consciousness and help in understanding issues over a long period of
human existence. These are of course rich rewards of visiting past. To expect anything more than this from our history
or our ancient texts is to deny to the evolving life pattern the gifts of rich
complexity and innovative ways of evolution.
Anyway, I remain thoroughly unimpressed by the
book and I am disappointed that it takes one nowhere, and the issues of corporate
greed and corruption in this country do not get adequately addressed to. Gurucharandas is an insightful and thinking author and with the success of "India Unbound" readers had great expectations from him. It appears that the author had set out an
ambitious plan of writing on ethics of present times with reference to Mahabharata. However, he does not come even near to
formulating the question of ethics.
Of course this is not to say that what he has written is of no use. He studies the Mahabharata carefully and closely. And there are some meaningful insights that he shares with his readers. He cites good scholars on Mahabharata and we must admit, mentions a few things that may be new and fresh. However, he has lost a good opportunity of formulating the question of ethics in our social, political and economic life today. Sometimes he is discussing the Mahabharata, and at other times the present day corporate world with its ethical issues. But the reader who follows him through finds himself more confused as he proceeds further.
Of course this is not to say that what he has written is of no use. He studies the Mahabharata carefully and closely. And there are some meaningful insights that he shares with his readers. He cites good scholars on Mahabharata and we must admit, mentions a few things that may be new and fresh. However, he has lost a good opportunity of formulating the question of ethics in our social, political and economic life today. Sometimes he is discussing the Mahabharata, and at other times the present day corporate world with its ethical issues. But the reader who follows him through finds himself more confused as he proceeds further.
