Leadership in Business

© Copyright 2012 Satish C. Bhatnagar.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the written prior permission of the author.

ISBN:

978-1-4669-3427-6 (sc)

ISBN:

978-1-4669-3428-3 (e)

Trafford rev. 06/05/2012

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ABBREVIATED READERS’ COMMENTS

I HAVEN’T been back to India for 11 years. I have been wanting to; but your walking episode discourages me even more. Baldev Singh/Yuba City, CA

You are inspiring me to start writing… Harpreet Singh/Silicon Valley, CA

Hi Dr. Bhatnagar, I never would have guessed that this side of you exists! Your writing is fresh and brings a great deal to life, despite the topic. I will forward a more detailed response on Tuesday. Take care, Renato

What was your enlightenment? Actually seeing misery in hospital makes one a bigger philosopher than a whole day in place of worship. Watching cremation or burial gives one bigger lesson in spirituality than a day of meditation. Rahul/Austin, TX

I am enjoying your discoveries. It is very interesting to read what you have to offer. Matt.

I read both of your recent Reflections together and was surprised how a person of your stature can shuttle from abysmal to buoyant. However, the Flight wala is amusing and reflects how you can make best use of whatever you have and not only this you make it intellectually stimulating as well. I don’t know whether I am intellectually fit or mature enough to comment on your reflections, however I wanted to do it. Please do always keep me on your mailing list. Jagjeet

Subba Rao Bhai Ji is a Great courageous and thoughtful soul! It is difficult to find such living enlightened saints. He really deserves the honor of Nobel Prize. Sundrani

Bad English is bad English! It is no excuse for creativity! Dr. A. R. Bhatia

Maybe you should have worshipped Maxy. Hindus also worship their gods. I don’t see how you can compare communication with god to talking to a car! One is worship and belief and the other is simply eccentricity. And yes it was a fine machine—your car. Will need some work on the suspension soon though. Anir.

Your letters wake me up about different aspects of our life and society. Thank you for adding me on your E-Mail list. Atul Majmudar

Bhatnagar Sahib: Mathematics and Philosophy are not that far apart after all. I think many people think and feel the way you do but they do not give expression to these emotions. Some time it is even scary to think openly about these issues. This was a well-written and thought out piece, Ved P. Sharma

Very apt observations. To remain as optimistic as possible, try to philosophize on what others have which we are not fortunate enough, realizing that no one has it all, be grateful for what we do have… . in short contentment and a dedication to some cause beyond our personal life is the key to happiness. Very human to forget!! Regards. RAJA

EPSILONS AND DELTAS OF LIFE:

EVERYDAY STORIES, VOLUME I

DEDICATED TO

Ishwar Chandra

(1937 - )

SATISH C. BHATNAGAR

ON A SPECIAL TITLE

Titles of the books are very important to me—like that of a typical woman picking a dress for her wardrobe for an evening function. It takes several weeks for finalization. I involved my students and colleagues by writing a following Mathematical Reflection on the title alone:

"Last week, I asked my students, in Discrete Mathematics I and Calculus III courses—about what is conveyed by the phrase—‘epsilons and deltas of life’. They simply demurred. A few of them said that they had heard of epsilon and delta in the definition of Limit in a previous calculus course. Yes, that is where I too encountered them first. It was in 1957, in my third year of college—55 years ago! The English letters, ‘e/E’ and ‘d/D’ correspond to epsilon, ε / E and delta, δ / Δ. Linguistically speaking, they are the 5th and 4th letters in their respective languages. This linguist correlation is historical, as English may be the second or third derivative of Greek and Latin languages via the Roman occupation of Greece in the 3rd century BC.

"I told my students that, as a latter-day writer, I love to coin new words and create new phrases. It is an extension of doing any research. In fact, a creative work is bound to spill over into other walks of life. It is in this spirit, a new phrase, epsilons and deltas of life, is being introduced. It will eventually find a place in the lexicon. Its usage reminds me of the current draw on Mexican ‘salsa’ for anything, hot & sexy and ‘enchilada’ in communicating something like ‘a whole thing’. They were not heard of 20 years ago.

"This phrase is intended to capture what is conveyed by ‘The Nitties—Gritties of life’, ‘Nuts and Bolts of Life’, ‘Commas and Periods of Life’. As a matter of fact, each one of them was considered as the title of my third book at different stages of its compilation. But they lost to ‘Epsilons and Deltas of Life’. Reason is obvious—it alone sounds mathematical! One may say—why to be hung up on mathematical—for selling a book?

Fifty plus years ago, I chose college teaching of mathematics as my profession. I was in India then. Often, I am asked questions on this choice—like ‘do you like/love it?’ My response is like this: If you have been in a relationship with a person, place or principle for over 30 years, then either you are in love with it, or have faked a chunk of life away"!

"In fact, I go a step further. After 40-50 years in a profession, it cuts deep grooves into the psyche. With awareness, it can become a window of life—a paradigm. That is what mathematics means to me now. It broke out 20 years ago, when I first offered an honors seminar, Mathematical Thinking in Liberal Arts—exploring bridges with music, visual arts, humanities and law. This seminar was offered there times. It has intellectually emboldened me.

I ran a small survey on this phrase. It made little sense to people in India. In the US, April is a month of mathematical awareness. Public is either in awe or appreciation for math. The phrase is well received, though it may not be fully understood. It is an extension of American love for ethnic foods, music, apparels, travels—and what not. Last night, I told a friend in India that this won’t be the title of an Indian edition of this book. Realistically speaking, what good a gourmet food is, if it is not enjoyed by anyone? A book is not a journal. I have written it for public consumption intended to last for a long time!

(April 13, 2012)

ABOUT THE FRONT COVER OF THE BOOK

This is the first time that I decided to write a Reflection on the designing of my third book. The front cover of the first book was put together by my son and ‘daughternal’ granddaughter. As for the second book, it was hurriedly designed by me with the help of Trafford’s art department. It is well received. This time, I enjoyed designing the cover for the third book. In brief, dominant white color, with sporadic snowflake bluish tinges in it, captures the essence of philosophy and characteristics of philosophers. The pictures of Pythagoras, Bertrand Russell and Hardayal Mathur are very much personal to me!

Pythagoras (570-495 BC) is the one of the four immortal polymaths of ancient Greece. The other three are: Socrates (469-399 BC), Plato (428-348 BC) and Aristotle (384-324 BC). A word is called for Archimedes (287-212 BC) too, who is considered as all time great mathematician, scientist, engineer, and inventor. Only Isaac Newton comes close to him. They all have influenced me in varying degrees. Pythagoras truly set an intellectual tradition rolling in by combining the study of mathematics, philosophy, metaphysics and natural sciences. On a small scale, it has turned out to be a story of my life too.

Pythagoras’ music of the sphere, his Theorem and Golden Ratio stand out in the minds of any thinking person. He is equally known for founding an academy named after him. Pythagoreans had divine belief in natural numbers that they explain the secrets of nature. The members took an oath of secrecy to its beliefs. Eventfully, it proved that the excess of everything is bad—when the existence of irrational numbers forced its one member, Hippasus of Metapontum to commit suicide, be drowned, or murdered. The Academy survived several centuries, though, this incident happened 100 years after its founding.

It must be added that Euclid (323-283 BC) was all mathematics—his genius was to lay the axiomatic foundations of geometry. The Elements, Euclid’s magnum opus, became a benchmark of mathematical rigor for centuries to come. Anyway, Pythagoras remains as the earliest great mind of Greek antiquity. Incidentally, he was a contemporary of Confucius (551-479 BC) in China and Buddha (563-463 BC) in India.

I tried to connect myself with an Indian mind of antiquity, but there is no trace of anyone! Indian heritage went through so many upheavals due to the subjugation of the Hindus by various Muslim rulers and European colonizers that only shreds of evidence exist before 500 AD. It is a monumental task to re-create a history of India going back to 600 BC, when minds, like Buddha, flourished in India. Foreign subjugation robs a nation not only of its resources but also of its heritage. Scattered evidence of mathematics and sciences, as found in the Vedas, indicate that great minds did thrive in the BC era.

The name of Bertrand Russell (1872-1970) was on the lips of college kids in India of the 1950s. His essays were included in every anthology used in English courses required for all four years. I still remember Russell’s line in an essay: fools build the houses and wise live in them. Years later, I realized and practiced its merits—like, it frees the young to pursue opportunities in different lands without encumbrances of home ownership.

Galib, a nickname of Madan Lal Garg, my college friend, was an avid fan of Russell, and we often talked about Russell’s writings. Russell influenced me on many fronts—as the greatest mathematical logician of his decade, a prolific writer of par excellence, a world teacher, man of convictions, and renowned pacifist in the last two decades of his life. In 1968, I devoured his three-volume autobiography. He wrote the third volume two years before his death, at age 97. His spans of longevity and productivity are equal!

From his autobiography, his relationships with women stand out in my mind. Each occasion of divorcing a wife coincided with a cusp in his intellectual development. Throughout life, he was rumored to have liaisons with the women of high society into which he was born in and grew up around. His controversial stands acted as magnets!

Russell would have won the Fields Medal in 1920 for his seminal work in mathematical logic—leading up to 3-volume, Principia of Mathematica (1910-1913). But the medal was instituted in 1936! However, he won the 1950 Nobel Prize for Literature, and missed getting the Nobel for Peace! During the 20th century, no other intellectual was more recognized in every continent and in every nation to the extent as Bertrand Russell was.

Not surprisingly, Russell’s essays and my Reflections have some intersection. Both are centered around an immediate incident—be that physical, mental, or social. Often, there is an element of provocation to the readers to think anew. His essays on marriage and morals, written after his US visit, became classic—pieces of originality and boldness of his mind. For his social and political stands, he was often at odds with the UK and US governments. He was an ultimate non-conformist.

Hardayal Mathur’s impact on my life runs deep, wide and long. He is popularly known as Lala Hardayal (Lala is honorific title). For putting him in relative perspective, let me go back to the other two. Pythagoras is an all time intellectual mind that no literate person can escape his influence. Russell’s dominance of 20th century’s total landscape of intellectual, social, political and philosophical was so pervasive, that no sensitive person was easily spared of his influence. The story of Hardayal’s influence on me begins from my home. Bhatnagars and Mathurs being members of the Kayastha community, his name was on the lips of every family member. Kids were told of his phenomenon memory and securing first class first distinction in every exam. It inspired me for academic success.

However, no elder ever told me of his political activities, his exile from India and banishment from India. His book, Hints for Self Culture (1934), banned in British India, remains very popular. I first read it in 1962 and liked it so much that I used to gift it away on weddings and birthday celebrations etc. Any idea or person, liked in youthful years of life, continues to sprout later in its different phases.

My diverse intellectual interests are traceable to Hardayal. Much later, I understood that his book was like a manifesto for the making of new generations of Indian intellectuals so that they could understand their political subjugation and fight for liberation. Anyone reading it is awed by the ‘giantness’ of his mind and calls for action.

In the history of India, most Kayasthas served their Muslim and British masters in high administrative positions. It goes back to nearly 500 years. When my historic awareness broadened, I was, at times, ashamed and embarrassed of the roles of my ancestors.

However, Hardayal is a rare exception, and he exponentially rose in my esteem. During his stay in the US, he taught in Stanford University, organized Indians, and founded the Gadar Party in San Francisco for the liberation of India. Even at this point of my life at 70+, Hardayal continues to inspire me with his benchmarks in scholarship, leadership and social activities.

April 29, 2012

PS

About my picture on the back cover: The photo for the first book was taken in a Bathinda photo studio, the second one by my younger daughter Annie, and the third one by my niece, Shweta.

TIME FOR A PHILOSOPHIC PREFACE

My first book contains Mathematical Reflections, and the second one is a compilation of Reflections that are historical in nature. The next choice was sequentially simple—it is to bring out the first volume of my Reflections that comprises philosophical types.

First: What is Philosophy? To the best of my knowledge, philosophizing an act or thought is inherently unique to human beings only. Unlike sensory delights that are easily understood, philosophization may be construed as a pleasure of intellect for leisurely few.

At the age of 70+, I have developed relatively a pragmatic point of view of philosophy. For me, philosophy is a distillation of experiences. This distillation is an infinite extension of fractional distillation, a chemical process for separating particular compounds from a mixture at increasingly higher temperatures corresponding to their boiling points. This technique fascinated me so much at the age of 17 that it became embedded in my consciousness. It is a joy to apply this technique in life—viewed as a mixture of experiences. With maturity of mind, one can bring them out to tackle life problems and extract gems of thoughts.

Pure vs. Applied: Yes, like mathematics, popularly divided into pure math and applied math, philosophy too has its share of such a division—pure and applied. Every young initiate is sucked into this controversy. My understanding tells that anything understood purely pure eventually finds a utilitarian attribute, and thus turns into applied. In my mind, applied philosophy goes off from a routine scenario, but the pure one stems out from the assumptions of esoteric concepts.

Where are my philosophical moorings? This question has to be addressed thoroughly. First of all, a Hindu mind is essentially philosophical—irrespective of profession, education and age. By and large, it is passive when it comes to taking actions in life. This characteristic is also due to some historical realities related to the last millennium. Aside from that, look at the number of Hindu scriptures—the four holy Vedas contain more matter than the scriptures of all other religions combined.

In India, kids and adults are routinely observed engaging in informal philosophical and religious discussions. During my college days (1955-59), incidental study of Swami Ram Tirath’s volumes (1873-1906), In the Woods of God Realization, had a formative influence on my mind. Swami is an honorific title of a male Hindu monk and ascetic. Incidentally, Ram Tirath was first rate mathematics student and professor, but he quit the profession for a monastic order after a chance meeting with Swami Vivekananda (1863-1902). During the years, 1902-04, he also preached Hindu philosophy in the US.

Traditional Hindu society is super ritualistic. But I grew up in a reasonably non-ritualistic family and in an open atmosphere of Arya Samaj advocating formlessness of God. Arya Samaj is a Hindu renaissance movement started in 1875 by Swami Dayanand (1824-1883). In every culture, rituals of an organized religion, theology and philosophy are all integrated. However, lately in the US—God, religious rituals and theology are not a part of the academic circles of philosophy and psychology. Consequently, any discussion of ethics and morality ends up dry and shallow.

While growing up in India, frequent meetings with my celibate maternal uncle, Swami Deekshanand (1920-2003), a renowned leader of Arya Samaj, pushed my thoughts towards a broader philosophy of life. After my settling down in the US, spending a week with him during India visits, used to be a highlight of my trip. A book on his life is on my agenda of publications.

Something very tangible happened in the fall of 1961. Himmat Singh Sinha, a philosophy lecturer and my colleague in Government Rajindra College, Bathinda, introduced me to the pleasures of philosophy of science at a time when I was studying Einstein’s Theory Relativity on my own. It was a kind of revelation, as to how the cutting edges of science become philosophical inquiries naturally. It is weird in a sense that one does not have to have technical knowledge of the sciences to become a student of philosophy of science!

Another milestone in the study of philosophy came during 1965-67 when I started my PhD (unfinished) in Mathematical Seismology in Kurukshetra University (KU), Kurukshetra. At the same time, my wife, a month after the birth of our first-born daughter, started her MA in philosophy from Punjabi University, Patiala. All the textbooks and notes needed for her courses were checked out from KU library or borrowed from Himmat Singh Sinha and his friends. The graduate textbooks, being written by foreign authors, were very expensive in India throughout the 1960s. For example, a particular math textbook was priced at half of my father’s monthly salary!

Every 2-3 weeks, I used to undertake a 3-hour train journey between Kurukshetra and Patiala, for family reasons and taking out, or bringing back philosophy textbooks. It was during these trips that I would browse them, and sometimes read them aloud to my wife. Our infant daughter demanded attention too! To make it short, philosophy gradually seeped into my thoughts, studies and writings. Amongst a few corollaries, I am a charter member of SIGPOM (Special Interest Group Philosophy Of Mathematics) of MAA (Mathematical Association of America).

The schools of philosophy, whether eastern and western, are not my cup of tea. Moreover, any claim of originality on a philosophical thought is very different from an industrial patent, a mathematics theorem, or a scientific principle. No one can truly claim ownership of a so-called philosophical doctrine. I may not be able to delineate a school of philosophy, but can confidently expound upon it. The western philosophical thoughts, relative to the eastern ones, are far more grounded in social, political and economical conditions.

My philosophical excursions took a quantum leap during my KU stay when I first read the books of J. Krishnamurti (1895-1982). Rajneesh/Osho (1929-90) appeared like a meteor in the firmament of the sky. Galib, a close friend of 55 years, introduced me to Rajneesh’s thoughts and oratory during my 1975 visit to India—the first after an absence of seven years. In a nutshell, Rajneesh’s philosophical expositions feel like a drink of quality scotch. Krishnamurti can be described as an ultimate pure philosopher, and Osho as a consummate applied philosopher, or mystic. They have enriched my thoughts. No matter what, with this philosophical armor, I feel very confident about venturing into newer horizons of life! However, for me, philosophical flights always remain subservient to the deductive reasoning of mathematics.

What is my Philosophy? A long-time friend and retired English professor asked me to explain my philosophy in this Preface too. It is a good suggestion. When analyzed, then it really raised more questions. Is it a philosophy of my life? I have explained what philosophy means to me. Philosophy of life has to be different from the objectives and missions in life, as they are functions of years in age. What I used to think of life in my 20s has little to do with my pool of thoughts at the age of 72 years now.

Philosophy of life may be viewed as being closer to the approaches towards various aspects of life. For instance, I have written on philosophy of my teaching. And this question can be applied to any activity. Nevertheless, philosophy does go beyond technicality of an approach—integrating ethics, morality and vision into its transcendent nature. And whatever is my philosophy, it really comes out through ninety-two Reflections included in this book. Needless to say, philosophy is also tied with insightfulness in any routine of life.

What are the contents of this book? Let me say at the outset that the contents do not look like any passages from philosophy textbooks. On the contrary, every reader will be able to identify with some scenario that prompted me to write that particular Reflection. The subtitle of the book, EVERYDAY STORIES says in all. Invariably, a reader would say it to himself or herself, I know it, I have thought of it, I could write it too, etc. Yes, it is at that very moment, I take the reader to a new level of delight and understanding. That is my forte—making an ordinary situation look extraordinary.

For some convenience, ninety-two Reflections, written through the year 2008, are divided into three