Opinion Why Sachin’s bat speaks to him

I kept thinking: Why does Sachin’s bat speak to him? How does an inanimate object,defying all rational logic,acquire a life force of its own and begin a special conversation with him? The only way I can unravel this magic is by taking recourse to karma yoga—the philosophy of action or work. All positive action,when it is performed with total dedication,commitment and concentration,and as a grateful offering to the Almighty,not only reaches higher levels of perfection but also becomes artistic. In the process,it humanises the instruments of action,so much so that the instrument becomes indistinguishable from the performer of the action.

This can be experienced most palpably in the works of all great performing artists,but it is true also about all work done by ordinary people who are completely engrossed in it. If you have attended a concert by Pandit Shivkumar Sharma or the late Ustad Bismillah Khan,you must have felt that the artist was in a secret conversation with his santoor or his shehnai,in the same way that Sachin is in dialogue with his bat. Kishori Amonkar is a vocalist,but when she sings she makes you feel that she has become dissolved in the sound of her own creation,as if the sound itself is coming from a distant,mysterious,non-material source. Similarly,watch the whirling dervishes attentively and a time comes when you feel that the human forms have disappeared and all you are seeing are some white circles,revolving around themselves in a celestial pattern,their movement merging into the accompanying music in an inseparable spiritual moment.

What is the verb that comes closest to describing such moments? Self-engrossed? Self-immersed? Entranced? I think the two Sanskrit words,tanmay and talleen,best capture the experience.

As I said,although such self-immersive experience is common in the domain of great artistic and sporting performances,one can also see it in the work of master craftspersons,artisans,scientists,engineers,doctors,teachers and all devoted labourers. Alas,such people,and such moments,are few and far between. Leave alone delight or bliss,most working people don’t derive even basic satisfaction from what they do. Work for them becomes a burdensome occupation,which they continue doing for some extraneous reasons.

One of my areas of study is how human labour,in all its diverse forms and situations,can be made more fulfilling,and how every worker can find happiness in his or her work,by attaining some degree of self-immersion. In other words,how can workers,employees,executives and professionals overcome what Karl Marx,in his highly insightful theory of labour and capital,called “alienation”—alienation from one’s own work,from one’s instruments of work,from the products of one’s work,from one’s organisation of work,and from society as a whole.

Last week the Internet helped me discover a remarkable thinker on this subject. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi,(pronounced ‘Chick-sent-me-high-ee’),a psychologist of Hungarian origin teaching in the University of Chicago,has developed a theory called ‘Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience’. He postulates that people are most happy when they are in a state of Flow—a state of concentration,mindfulness or complete absorption with the activity at hand and the situation. He describes “Flow” as “being completely involved in an activity for its own sake. The ego falls away. Time flies. Every action,movement,and thought follows inevitably from the previous one,like playing jazz. Your whole being is involved,and you’re using your skills to the utmost.”

“Flow” is a culture of working where attention,motivation,the situation and the person’s skills meet,resulting in a harmonious and productive work experience. People who are in “Flow’ do not make distinctions between work and play,since their inner state of being brings them peace and fulfillment in everything they do and in all their human relationships and life themes. Thus,Csikszentmihalyi presents a psychological theory of karma that tells us how to be “alive here and now and at all times”.

Sachin Tendulkar’s batting is a perfect example of the “Flow” theory. It explains why he continues to play his game with the same enthusiasm and energy as he did when first entered Test cricket at age 16,two decades ago. When a reporter once asked him when he plans to quit cricket,his reply was: “When I stop being happy while playing.” May he continue playing for several more years. And may he not only give us many more opportunities to savour his matchless artistry,but also make us reflect on that intriguing question:

Why does his bat speak to him,and how can we too make our own work tools speak to us?

sudheenkulkarni@gmail.com