Faith

I visited a place of pilgrimage called Palani in Tamil Nadu in India yesterday.  It was another day at the Palani Temple - 450,000 devotees coming from across the country. As the chants "Vel Vel Vetrivel, Vel Vel Veeravel" filled the air, the atmosphere was just electric.  It was charged with absolute positive energy. The pilgrims had to wait 4.5 hours in a long queue that snaked around the temple to catch a less than 10 second glimpse of the idol.  As I was talking to few there I heard how they had walked over 50 to 60 kms to visit this temple - and they got a less than a 10 second glimpse of the idol.  Got me wondering...why do so many people do this?  What makes them walk these long distances, get jostled around in the crowd, keep chanting the name of Lord Muruga and finally see the idol for few seconds but walk out feeling absolutely thrilled?  One of them told me that while they may get only few seconds to take a look at the idol, they have only thought of good deeds and thoughts and lived with God for all the hours that they waited to see the idol.  The fact that they all walk out happy is what I call faith.

Faith, like love, is not driven by the brain but by the heart.  They say, both faith and love, are blind.  There is a lot of emotion attached to faith and so, any amount of rationalising does not really change too much of the outcomes.  Could not these devotees who walked for hours and waited for hours to catch a few second glimpse of the idol of God not have done this at home? Could they have not just prayed to a photograph of this idol which I am sure they will have at home? Are they fools to go through this arduous exercise? No, definitely not. This has to do with the emotion in each person...with the feeling of being one with God.  And it is this faith that makes them do these acts.  I saw people of all ages at this temple...from the really young to the really old.  I saw people in wheelchairs.  It was just amazing to see so many people - all looking towards the Almighty.

Faith makes us do such extraordinary acts.  It drives us in many ways.  In the Tamil Movie "Dhill", the director builds a very strong character who defies all physical odds to start walking again after he is beaten up and many of his bones are broken.  The character in that movie displays extraordinary faith in himself to be able to do anything. And when he wills, he finds the way.  As they say, "Where there is a will, there is a way." 

The dark side to this faith is what I see in terrorism.  Just imagine the courage it would take to give up your life for a cause. That is what these terrorists do.  From the suicide bombers to those who kill thousands of innocent people, it is faith in some cause that drives humans to behave like this.

What this shows me is that this faith in a cause or in someone or both results in extraordinary acts.  This is because this faith drives an amazing attitude to make things happen for the cause and/or the person.  This is the faith that leaders in organizations can harness.  A good leader with a clear vision can instill tremendous faith in the people and that translates in to a very positive attitude.  I have experimented with this concept where I have worked on a clear vision with expectations that are easily understood by all.  I have then empowered people to achieve this vision - i.e. put faith in people.  Once people saw me put faith in them, they in turn put full faith in me, the vision and the expectations.  This created positive energy all around.  And this positive energy resulted in a multiplier effect that is not easy to put in words - it has to be experienced...felt inside each one of us - very much like faith!!!