398. "Count Your Chickens Before They are Hatched"

A Management consultant is speaking this idea. Perhaps he has published a book with this title. It is directly counter to our traditional wisdom. I agree with the wisdom of the ages and what this title says. Let me explain how both are true. Sri Aurobindo says that each truth has its opposite which is also true. What is the truth in each statement? A space shuttle was launched and was scheduled to land in a particular place and at a particular time. It did land in the earmarked place and at the expected minute. How does that happen? When you know ALL about a work as perfectly as it should be known, it happens at it is expected, down to the minute. When you plan a work in which your knowledge of the parts is incomplete, you cannot predict the results. If the Mind is unexpectant, it loses the capacity to interfere. Absence of interference accomplishes. The author of the above book advocates that India can equal the USA in income in 2025 A.D.

It is a laudable aim. I may not entirely agree with the process he suggests. But, the great wisdom behind the title is striking and fascinating. We have hundreds of examples in life but we do not look at it that way, nor do we draw the lessons from them. There are many villages where you can leave the house unlocked, go out and return after a week. Nothing will be missing. It is so because there is culture in the place. In any office, the coming inspection introduces PANIC. There are a few offices where inspection is NEVER prepared for. It passes off like any other normal day because in that office on any given day, the work is normally completed. Haven't you known friends who for a long time have not uttered one bitter word to each other? These are rare but are true.

Where affection is saturated, work is routine, duty is respected, stealing has been forgotten for several generations, where friendship grows in richness with every passing month, i.e., where MAN is civilised and cultured, the chickens can be counted before they are hatched. A Tanjore farmer visited a coconut farm of salty soil and brackish water where 600 seedlings were planted. After a good initial growth, 480 died. The Tanjore farmer said, "In our place, if one seedling dies it will be a big question, probably because it will come as a surprise to the entire population." In Tanjore the soil is rich, and you can be sure of every seedling surviving. We can count the chickens earlier if our psychological makeup is rich.