The myth of perfection

The Mahabharata, that vast mirror of Indian life, reminds us that wisdom lies not in the impossible pursuit of absolutes but in mastering the art of approximation — in knowing what works, when, and why

Much has been said about the quest for perfection, and everyone is encouraged to go on working till that perfection is achieved.  The story of actual life has many messages other than this. Typically, pure gold is supposed to be worth 24 karats. It is equally true that pure gold, when it is 24 karats, will not hold, and to make it a usable product, there has to be a mix of alloy, and the gold cannot be more than 22 karats in the product.

This, in effect, means that when one is talking of an ornament of pure gold, it is assumed that the content of gold in the product would be less than 100 per cent. In fact, the measurement of pure gold to form the ornament, as indicated above, is uniformly supposed to be less in measure.  Absolute terms do not apply.

So also, in real life, perfection is not acceptable in absolute terms because operationally, it does not work. The best of efforts requires accounting for some reality, as reality can vary from activity to activity and indeed from situation to situation.

Illustratively, when people talk of speaking the truth, the capacity to speak 100 per cent truth is dangerous, and listeners very often do not quite accept truth in its entirety. The question is: if 100 per cent truth is not acceptable, then how much of the truth is acceptable? These are often written off as settled questions, but they face everyone's query at many steps of human deed. The prescriptions are unaccommodating and demand perfection. The operational situation requires compromises that no one can be certain of.

Even religious preachers and those who claim to be moral guardians are not known to articulate any definite guidelines. The result is a situation where practices, sometimes essentially local in character, become prevalent. The trouble, however, is that when approximations come into play, there is no standardization of approximation. This can and does lead to intolerances and sometimes reversible aberrations.

These sometimes can and do become even beyond minor modifications.  This is an essential gist of management, and this is where practices become more dominant than merely maintaining the 'correct posture.' This essentially makes life an art.  Indeed, nothing succeeds like success.

In current times, the story of the Mahabharata is a telling example, even where exceptions are there. The reference is to repeated references to a higher cause and moral justice. The pursuit of the objective is not lost in a pedestrian quest for righteousness. This does not throw morality out of the window but takes a higher view of the same. The narrator often can and does express implied disapproval, but then leaves it to the judgment of the reader. Such being the facts of life, the consensus of a group regarding what it considers tolerable and acceptable becomes a hallmark of correctness and otherwise.  This is the power of group dynamics.

The narrative of the Mahabharata is a sterling example of how "approximation" so often carries the day and technical accuracy is lost among the many contenders. Indeed, like everywhere else, the victor takes all, and the vanquished can only wish to live to see another day.

That having been said, it does not alter the idea of the bull's eye. While being in archery, nobody approximates the archer's efforts to hit the bull's eye, and no one would say that even if he approximates by 20%, you are within the acceptable limits. The bull's eye remains the bull's eye.  Perfection indeed has its place.  Its content is often determined by the context.

What, then, is the message that the entire debate, discussion, and analysis falls back upon? What indeed is the concept of judgment? What is right or acceptable depends on situation to situation, context to context, and sometimes even the person's cognitive ability. This leads us to an important conclusion: namely, the realization that human judgment is superior to all other analyses, whether it be of everyday life or archery. Practical life has only experiences to serve as guidelines, and there is no greater touchstone than 'what works.'

That is where the text of the Mahabharata is such a tell-tale story of life itself. There is a Bengali proverb to the effect: "Jaynay Bharatiya Senay Bharaty" (that which is not in the Mahabharata is not in India). Epics are not unique to India, but the epics of India are transcendent and beyond many epics from different parts of the world . Truly being an Indian is the compendium of much global wisdom. The crux is that it is also what is doable and achievable through traditional learning or otherwise.

It is about time to draw attention to the traditional learning modes of India and try to convert them for use by modern Indians. This will certainly enrich and level up the approach to artificial intelligence. That may be another story.

The writer is an internationally acclaimed management consultant.