The world may say “Knowledge is Power”, “Wealth is Strength”, “Beauty is Virtue”, but Bhagavan Baba always emphasizes that Character is Power, it is the supreme virtue that each one needs to cultivate which will confer on him/her everything else. If every individual strives to cultivate a good character, there will materialize morality in society and eventually peace in the world. In H2H, it has been our constant endeavour to help in this process by sharing real life stories of people who have constantly trodden this path with confidence. All of these articles have appeared in the Harnessing the Heart section of H2H which are available in the Archives page.

The current quiz is designed to enable you to revisit some of these stories which are a constant source of inspiration and wisdom.    

1. In Harnessing the Heart - Part 2: A Conflict of Duties, from the Dec 2007 issue, we shared a story of Mr. Dev Taneja, the eldest son in a family of 6 children, who after his father passed away, had immigrated to Canada and pursued the career of Certified Accounting to assist his mother in the upbringing of his brothers and sisters in New Delhi, India.

“Sometimes it is difficult to make a choice between one’s material progress and our duty or dharma…In 1988, I was in the final year of my accounting designation of Certified Management Accountant (CMA) program, at which time I received the news from India that my younger brother was getting married around the same time as the final examination I was required to take in order to complete my CMA degree. 

“For various reasons my family in India had no option to change the date. The schedule conflict seemed inevitable. I had the dilemma of either attending the wedding and shouldering my responsibilities as an older brother in the absence of our late father, or pursuing my career goal.  If I missed the final examination I would have to take four more courses to finish my degree as the Society of Management Accountants changed their rules and restructured the program after that year. I appealed to the Director of the Education Department of the Society to make an exception, but my appeal was denied. Meanwhile, my family depended on me to attend this wedding to fulfill the role of a father.  I was caught up in a dharmic dilemma. I had to prioritize.”

What decision did Mr. Dev Taneja take?

A. He gave priority to his career.
B. He sacrificed his career and gave priority to his family.
C. The family was able to change the dates of the marriage after all!
D. The exams got postponed!

2. In Harnessing the Heart Part 3, from the February 2008 issue, an alumnus of the Sri Sathya Sai University, Mr. C. B. S. Mani shared how the final benediction he received during the Convocation from his Divine Alma Mater influenced his choices as a conscientious manager in corporate India, and also how he made his best career move ever by adhering to the tried, tested and true teachings of Bhagavan Baba: Sathyam Vada, Dharmam Chara, meaning “I shall speak the Truth and tread upon the path of Righteousness”.

While working in his Bank, one day Mr. Mani realized and noticed just before lunch time what a big mistake he had made in his calculations…“I went home for lunch but not even a single morsel of food went into my mouth. My mind was flooded with questions. What should I be doing? Should I confess? Or, should I just let it be, as most likely nobody might even notice it?”

Mani ended up admitting his mistake. But what was the consequence of this action?

A. He learnt to be extra careful in his calculations in future.
B. It affected his reputation at work.
C. His boss became very vigilant of all his dealings.
D. It made him more confident of doing the right thing.

3. In Harnessing the Heart Part 4, from the March 2008 issue, Mr. Karthik Ramesh an alumnus of the Sri Sathya Sai University, shared his experience when he was sent on a work-related trip to Africa and how at the Airport, the corrupt airport staff demanded $500 in return for a boarding pass citing “excess baggage” as the reason, until which, he would not be allowed to board the aircraft!

“I was really in a dilemma as I had to make it to Dubai the following morning, and my conscience would not give in to paying bribes to the airport personnel.

“In such a situation, I prayed to Swami to show me some light through His Teachings and separated myself from the queue moving my luggage to a corner. As I opened my luggage, I traced the reason for excess baggage to a number of instant cook vegetarian food packets that I was carrying along with me, since I was strict vegetarian.”

How did Mr. Karthik Ramesh finally get his boarding pass?

A . He threw away all the food packets to decrease the weight.
B. He had to sell his watch for $500!
C. He gave away all the food packets to the security guards.
D. Swami appeared as an airport personnel and issued him a boarding pass.

4. In Harnessing the Heart, Part 7, from the June 2008 issue, Mr. Hiten Morarji, who was born and raised in Luton, UK, candidly shared the hard choices that confronted him when he first experienced the freedom of living on campus at university.

“I was totally absorbed with the social life at the university and doing things with my friends became my only priority. ‘There is nothing wrong in enjoying life to the full’…I told myself. I thought I could handle and get the best of both worlds – i.e. get an education and have a successful social life.

“Inevitably the consequences of my lifestyle came back to me. I failed my second year education, and was on the verge of being thrown off my course… I realized gradually that my parents had always had my well-being in their hearts, and that I had abused the independence I had gained. I needed to change, but my dilemma was ‘how’?

“I cried ‘Oh my God, what have I done, how have I ended up like this? I had not earned marks, I had earned remarks’. Not knowing how to fix this situation, I prayed to Swami for guidance.”

After working hard and rebuilding his life, what important lesson did Mr. Morarji learn from this experience?

A. The importance of family values.
B. Friendships will always get us in trouble.
C. We make our own destiny.
D. What matters is only self-confidence.

5. In Harnessing the Heart, Part 9, from the August 2008 issue, we presented an invigorating and deeply personal story from Mr. Sathya Jambunathan, who shared the challenges of conforming to the highest levels of values and ethics, while working in the top ranks of a world class sales and marketing team. In that environment many untruths are considered ‘normal’ and unethical business practices ‘necessary’. He described how he avoided tarnishing his conscience or compromising his values when faced with rather uncomfortable and awkward corporate situations, and how by doing so, he had become a role model for his colleagues.

“Many a time I used to be overlooked for important final stage deal negotiations. Once, in the midst of an important business deal, which if won would be a landmark deal for my company, at the penultimate stage the client found a glitch which although not too big to be worried about, was never mentioned to them.

“This glitch never had the potential of breaking a network, but did have the potential of breaking the ‘trust’ of the client. The question now was as to who will tell the client that this was a genuine oversight on our part.”

When the team picked Mr. Sathya Jambunathan to convey the ‘glitch’ to the client, what was the end result?

A. The company lost the deal.
B. The client said he trusted his words more than anyone else!
C. The client negotiated another deal.
D. The company had to let Mr. Sathya go for losing the deal.

Dear Reader, did you like this quiz? Is it too difficult? Is it interactive enough? Would you like more such quizzes? Please help us in serving you better by writing to h2h@radiosai.org mentioning your name and country. Thank you for your time.

- Heart2Heart Team