I recently revived a Mahindra Scorpio (an Indian SUV) from near-death condition to a powerful car it ought to be. And it gave me a very important lesson – that its humility which sustains power.
The first day of driving the Scorpio made me feel very powerful. Big car, elevated sitting, wide view of road, the sheer momentum that I was in control of, made all other vehicles look very tiny, destitute, and helpless. I was driving fast. Adrenaline was high. As if I were a bulldozer running at high speed through the road; capable of razing down anything that would dare come my way. Free will. Supreme power. Lord of velocity. Ferocious. Biggest of all…… MOST POWERFUL.
Just a few minutes of that adrenaline rush had gone by, when a big bus passed me from the right.
And the image of the bus driver appeared before my eyes. If my earlier feelings were based on truth, then the bus driver ought to be at least 5-6 times more powerful than me.
Ego shattered, adrenaline suddenly soaked up, replaced with hormones of shame and despair… I was brought back to reality. The relative-ness of reality. And the realization that despite all the knowledge that I had apparently acquired, a simple object of power could delude me.
What really is power? Based on my experience above, I can surely say that however great the power may be, it still is an illusion. And the earlier one realizes, the better. Even then, I would define power as the ability to influence/control something. That “something” could be a small object, a person’s feelings, an organizational machinery, or the entire national resources.
The next question I needed an answer for was, “if I know that power is indeed illusory then how should one behave when in power?” To answer this, Scorpio experience again came to my help. The best way to deal with power, I realized, is to deal with humility.
A bus driver is the most powerful person on the roads. A humble bus driver can be useful to others – to passengers and to other vehicles. A bus driver under illusion of power can create havoc on the roads. He needs to be sensitive about the smallest of vehicles around him – bicycles, motorcycles, pedestrians. For this position of power, he also needs a wider perspective. That’s why the bus driver is seated higher than other drivers.
In this co-existential world, if someone has the chance of being more powerful than others, can he really afford to be arrogant and misuse the power? No. Arrogance and misuse will just pave way for destruction! Either destruction of the structure that created that position of power, or destruction of the person who got the chance to be in power.
That probably is the reason why the most powerful god (Shiva) who has the power to destroy all three worlds, is also the most humble (Bholenath). Also, the most powerful living person I know on this planet, is also the most humble I know. His humility could be the reason why he hasn’t stopped rising in power since the time he started 'driving' about 30 years ago.
