Ripeness Is All

(Published in Banking Services Chronicle May 2004)

“Ripeness is all.” Shakespeare’s words in King Lear carry weight. The weight of ripeness and maturity. The wisdom that comes after a life full of sound and fury. When man concedes that there are more factors of any event than he thinks of. When he begins to distinguish between an arrogant outlook and a positive one.

It is the wisdom that often comes too late. When man is on a success spree, he thinks nothing of the obstacles. He jeers at any negative suggestion made by those around him. He loves to be fawned upon. Success goes to his head and he becomes proud. Or, in several cases, he feigns humility and becomes proudly humble. The world is his at the moment.

But all winning sprees come to an end. Even the Titanic sank. Even Napoleon was imprisoned. Even Steve Waugh’s Australia were humbled. And when failure strikes one suddenly seems to be deprived of the gift of gab. The edge of the winning formula has been blunted. The fullness of success is replaced by the hollowness of failure.

“Success—failure—introspection—wisdom” is an almost inevitable chain. It can be said to be the baptism of humanity. All of us go through it, sooner or later. Success gives us happiness, no doubt. But this happiness is boisterous. And in the absence of wisdom, it may soon become tiring. It is only when wisdom permeates success that an atmosphere of serenity is created. And you become naturally, ripely happy.

So it is better if wisdom dawns upon us sooner. At the same time it should not be hurried. Look at our Indian democracy. It has taken time for wisdom to dawn upon it. If you look at the 2004 elections, you can distinctly feel a sign of maturity in the democracy. In the past few decades I have seen emotions being roused on the election eve—Emergency hataao; Indira laao; sympathy wave for Rajiv; Bofors scam; resentment against Mandal; Ramjanmabhoomi-Babri Masjid; etc. But this time there is no such wave. This election is not being fought on the basis of emotions.

There is a distinct change even in election propaganda. Instead of spitting venom, leaders are getting logical. Addressing an audience in Haryana, deputy prime minister LK Advani said, “Vote for BJP and its allies. If you are unhappy with us, vote for Congress and its allies. Voting for any other party is wasting your vote.”

Or, look at the way India and Pakistan have maturely restored their cricketing ties. And even Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray is playing the lamb. The tiger who had exhorted his boys to dig up the Wankhede pitch in Mumbai and the Ferozeshah Kotla track in Delhi to protest Indo-Pak cricket, is silent this time. Says he: “Vajpayee wants to do something, let’s give him a chance.”

More than tolerance, wisdom leads to an understanding of others. Sealed borders do not benefit us, the country now knows. So we have embraced globalisation. And to do business, we need more wisdom. Says Tarun Das of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) on doing business with China: “Unless there is a broad understanding of each other’s customs and traditions, including food, clothes and films, we are not going to be able to do business easily. We (the Indians and the Chinese) need to be friends.”

Ripeness, maturity and wisdom lead to openness. You lose ego and therefore have nothing to hide. A mature teacher does not hide his ignorance. Nor is he afraid of questions being hurled at him. He knows the difference between being an encyclopaedia and a teacher. An encyclopaedia gives you information. While a mature teacher lends clarity to the information.

Ripeness is the readiness to welcome diverse views.