WORK AND COMFORT by Late Y. S. Satya

WORK AND COMFORT

Y.S. Satya, CES, IIT, Delhi

Context

Place: a classroom in IIT (Indian Institute of Technology) Delhi, India

Time: 3-4pm

Activity: 1^st tutorial exercise of EEE (Environment, Ecology and Energy) class, a discussion

Objective:

1. Clarification of certain ideas,

2. Maitri (friendship) between students and teacher

Topic: Progress

A Dialogue

Student: Man has made so much progress

Teacher: What is progress?

Student: More comforts

Teacher: What is comfort?

Student: We want to do less work

Teacher: Comforts refer to our body

Student: Yes

Teacher: That means keeping the body fit

Student: Yes

Teacher: How can the body remain fit? For this, fresh water and air are required. Proper temperature, humidity, pressure, light, sound and airflow are also needed. This is ENVIRONMENT. Flowers, butterflies, chirping birds, trees and animals also help keep our body fit. This is ECOLOGY. We also need nutrition for growing and maintaining our body. This is ENERGY. Thus, fresh environment, rich ecology and bountiful energy are, of course, required. To keep the body fit we also need to do work. What work?

Student: Work to strain our body muscles e.g. exercise and games

Teacher: Yes, so that our muscles remain active and do not degenerate. Let us think of some experiments. Suppose you are asked to lift a stone, take it there, bring it back and so on, just strain your muscles. How long can you do it? How much do you like it?

Think of another activity, which gives enough strain to our body and also is Meaningful and Creative. Will you like to do such a work? How much? How long?

Obviously, we like to do meaningful work. We don’t want to do useless work. Meaningful work we like to do more and more. In fact, continuously. The only limitation is our body strength it gets tired. It needs rest. Okay, we take rest, we sit, lie down, and sleep. Once the rest is complete, we again continue doing meaningful work. How long? Forever. In fact that is what we want to do. Only meaningful work.

This also defines the fitness of the body. A body is fit as long as it is useful for a meaningful work. It is unfit if we cannot use it for meaningful work. Without this meaningful work, “Keeping the body fit” cannot be defined.

In conclusion, it turns out that we want to do more and more work; we take rest only due to body limitation. A healthier body means the capacity to do more work.

Nobody wants to do less work. Less work implies either the body is not fit or we do not find meaning in work. Let us think of another experiment. In good health and fresh mood, take a day’s leave and decide to do No Work. Just don’t do anything. Say to yourself, “I want less and less work, doing less work is comfort. Let me do no work today”, that is, let me to remain most comfortable.

This experiment will reveal that no healthy and fresh person wants to do NO WORK, nor wants to do meaningless work without interest. Therefore it is a misconception that progress and comfort implies doing less work. In fact PROGRESS could and should only mean doing more and more meaningful work. What is the MEANINGFUL WORK? Yes, that is THE QUESTION? And this has nothing to do with physical comfort. In fact, physical comfort and in turn, body fitness and for that clean environment, flourishing ecology and rich earth (energy) could be defined only if the above question is correctly answered.

Obviously this question does not pertain to physical body only. The work MEANINGFUL refers to the human mind. We shall call it Jivan (self) because the word mind is not sufficient. Mind of course is included in Jivan (self).

Thus, Jivan needs the MEANING. It explores meaning in harmonious evolution for the entire nature including all human community.

There are these five meaningful questions:

1. How can I, as an individual, remain continuously satisfied, full of happiness and enthusiasm?
2. How can I be well behaved and responsible in my family? How can my family be always rich (Prosperous) and loving?
3. How can my family and I participate in National Affairs? How can this entire world remain problem free and full of happiness for all?
4. All these animals, plants, insects, water, air, soil, etc. (Nature) can be bountiful and beautiful?
5. What is this entire existence (Astitwa)? What is this purpose and meaning in it (Prayojan)? How is this achieved? How do I relate to all this? Do I have any real freedom? What for and in what form?

All these five types of questions have to find mutually consistent and complementary answers.

All the students went into deep thought and left for the next class as the time for class was over.