There is the FUNDAMENTAL TRUTH on which Adwaita Vedanta Is based: ‘NonDuality’ Now modern management calls it INCLUSION but is it possible for all of us to be totally INCLUSIVE in our relationships with the world? Reminds me of a dear friend who used to be so polite and apologetic even at our weekly playing card sessions of harmless no-stakes rummy at college. He would feel reluctant even to take a toilet break and when forced to, he would groan loudly, leaving the game while someone was shuffling the cards or dealing them with the same three words that were a figure of speech, almost in their paradox. He always said: “Include Me Out!” Of course, he meant, don’t deal a hand in this round but the irony of the words stuck in mind all my life. Can we “include” someone “out”?

Much like the moronic joke of the dumb village school teacher who only knew one command in English, “Get Out!” So evidently when he wanted to call a student to get back into class, he stepped out of class, pointed into the class and yelled “Get out, get out!” Till the poor child got “included out” into the classroom again. Practically it does seem difficult and even impossible to be totally inclusive in our thinking and become totally all-embracing in our identity. However, it is possible and I have met one such person, in my life, whom I simply address as The Master! It does seem possible at least, to keep it as an ideal though we may not reach socially, but is worth striving for as a society.

The Master once said : “The rich may throw money over the wall to the poor, but how many will use the money to bring down the walls?” We need to accept that it takes all kinds to make up the world and this disparity is what makes opposites attractive to each other. The problem starts with the reactor agitation of the mind to the differences that one sees. Fight, fight, fight for what you got. Or, is it, fight for what you lost? Include me out of this debate!

Are we human beings like machines that are built for happiness, but programmed for failure, designed for happiness but running on sadness mode by default? Worth a thought. Listening to the likes of Dr APJ Abdul Kalam, who also achieved this inclusiveness, one would always believe it is possible to achieve the impossible. Simple to be inclusive! But is it easy? Nice thought to work on ……