The Hidden Agenda

Three things cannot be long hidden –
 the sun, the moon, and the truth. 
— Buddha

Few years back, I received an email saying that I have been selected for some prestigious award, and I will be receiving the same from some eminent person in a large gathering. I was intrigued and when I tried to find out more, they wanted me to financially sponsor a part of the event.

In another instance, a person from a monthly magazine, called me and asked for an interview. I was excited and when I took it little further, I realised that they wanted me to place an advertisement in their magazine.

Few days back, I was invited for a function as a Chief Guest, and during the meeting a number of donation appeals were placed, before me.

I am sure these sorts of incidents, must have happened to you too. This is what we call a hidden agenda.

A hidden agenda is the ulterior motive of doing something. It is not explicitly stated, but the intention is revealed only after some amount of time. The hidden agenda formula is not always bad. It is not pure manipulation. Sometimes, it is just like a sugar coating on a bitter pill, making it easy to swallow.

However, this approach has made people to become a little suspicious, about any new things coming up or being implemented.  So, when there is any new Govt policy, or any technological development, or when two political leaders meet or when any new foreign investment comes into a country, the first question we tend to ask is “What is the hidden agenda?”

Though this form of approach may sound sceptical, a little bit of caution, seems to be necessary today, in a world where it is easy to be manipulated. While we could ignore the small ones, like the one’s mentioned above, there could be a few things, which can have long term consequences.

When British started the East India Company, for the purpose of procurement and export of tea, we thought it was only a business, but never knew we will be enslaved with the British rule for almost 200 years.

Similarly, when China gave soft loans to countries like Sri Lanka, they did not know that soon they will occupy some territory and make it their own.

Online businesses are giving far better deals than local retailers, to grab the customers, only with the ultimate intention of killing local competition and then dominate the market.

Social media platforms are available for free, only for them to extract your valuable data and sell it to someone else.

So many things happening around us, seems to be in the good interest of people, but we have to be aware of the intentions of the person, company or country doing it.

One of my friends, Dr. Gifty often says this - “If something sound too good to be true, then it is probably not true.”

The greatest power available to humans, is the power to question. This can bring to light the truth This can help us to take some precaution and proactive steps, before something gets too late, to be amended.  

Probably, you have heard of a few secret societies such as the Illuminati, who decide how things should move forward in the world. They have some vested interest, which they want to protect or enforce, for which they may use dubious means. So, wherever there are questions which are suppressed, ignored, or have controversial viewpoints, we can sense that there could be a hidden agenda.

However, we needn’t go to the extent of sounding like a paranoid. When we tend to suspect everything, we might end up blocking all progressive measures, happening around us. It is not good too.

Let us just exercise some caution, so that we don't become pawns in the hands of someone.

   D. Senthil Kannan,

   CEO, PALMS Training & Consulting (P) Ltd., Tuticorin.

   Author of "Transformational Thoughts" - A Journey of learning 

   Email: senthilkannand@gmail.com

 

Cherish your Uniqueness

I read a book by the title “Stumbling on Happiness” by Daniel Gilbert. In the book, the author says that Uniqueness is overrated. He says all humans have similar needs, desires, temperaments, and experiences, yet we all tend to think that what we are experiencing is unique. While I was able to understand what he meant by that, I was not able to come to terms, with the statement that Uniqueness is overrated.   I am someone, who values the uniqueness of a person or a thing so much, that this statement was not in alignment with my thoughts or rather contradictory to my belief. This made me to ponder, a little further to see if there is some sound logic behind my belief.

Well let’s look at God’s many creations. God is so creative that he did not create two identical people or objects. It is so fascinating, but it is true.

Let’s first look at an object of nature – the tree leaves. Though all the leaves look the same, there are no two identical leaves in the planet. There is likely to be a slight difference either in colour gradient, shape, size, texture, or the veins of the leaf. Though we generally say that the colour of leaf is green, we know the myriad of shades available in a single colour. Humans have given names to 295 variants of a single green colour, but many more green colours exist, which is so hard for us to differentiate and label.

Similarly, if we are to look at humans, there are no two humans who are the same. Even, those who we call as identical twins, if we observe them closely, we will realise that there are a few minor differences between the two.  Not just twins, there has not been any person exactly like you in the past and there will be no one like you in the future. The current population of the world is about 7.7 billion, but in the lifetime of this planet it is estimated that over 105 billion people must have lived and died. And yet we cannot find any two people with the same fingerprint or retina, which helps to differentiate people.

I read this fascinating fact somewhere, “If you shuffle a pack of playing cards properly, there is a good chance that the exact order of cards you have in our pack has never been in the history of universe. Because the number of permutations possible is around 8 followed by 67 zeroes. If the permutation and combination of just 52 cards can be so much, just imagine the number of permutations and combinations, that is available at the disposal of the creator.

When we talk about human race, we predominantly classify them as white, black, brown and yellow, but the amount of permutation and combinations we can do with these 4 are so many. If God can make so many modifications in leaf, with a single colour green, then how many more he can do with so many colours at his disposal. And remember that the colour of the skin is only one component of a human construct. There are so many other components too.

Perhaps, the only thing we can mock God, is for not being capable to create two identical things. Only humans and robots, can replicate identical things in a factory environment.

As Humans, we are also God’s creation and so we must bring forth our creative potential and be proud of our uniqueness and our ability to create unique things. So according to me, Uniqueness is not overrated but underrated.

We should not compare ourselves with others. Comparison is the thief of joy. By comparing ourselves with others, we are discounting our uniqueness. We are made differently, because we are meant to be different, think different and do different things, that is going to contribute to the whole.

I read this beautiful quote somewhere. "You are a masterpiece - A master's piece". Yes, there is only one you. Of course, in this world, no one is indispensable, but at the same time I believe no one is replaceable. No one can be you. You are once in lifetime wonder. Cherish your uniqueness!

  D. Senthil Kannan,

  CEO, PALMS Training & Consulting (P) Ltd., Tuticorin.

  Author of "Transformational Thoughts" - A Journey of learning 

  Email: senthilkannand@gmail.com