04/13/2024
Today is Sajna Divas (Birth of Khalsa, Khalsa means pure) and wishing you all a .
Its not only a special days for but for humanity. Over 400 years ago, world was dealing with Authoritarian Rulers and there was no strong democracy in sight. Word of the Kings was the rule of the law. India was also going through same situation, where every dissenting voice was suppressed, either by putting in jail or killing it. People were divided into various sects (Roman Empire after effects), and it gave to a birth of one of the World’s Most Successful Social . Its called Khalsa, means Pure.
Sikhs’s 10th Guru (Teacher), Guru Gobind Singh (he became Singh later) sought Five volunteers from the crowd who are ready to scarifice their lives for common good. 5 Men stood up (from oppresed classes) assuming they will be going to die, and crowd assumed they had died in the tent where they were taken One by One.
When they got out of the tent, they were dressed in new clothes and carried new Identity. They were the First 5 Baptised (Khalsa) Sikhs. Neither of the 10 Gurus were actually Khalsa. This created a hierarchy where a followers of the faith were given TOP place, higher and above of any Gurus.
Then, Guru Gobind Rai Ji sat down on the ground and begged to become Khalsa. First 5 Sikhs asked him what would he would be willing to do for the humanity, should they allow him to become Khalsa. He promised them that he would sacrifice all his family, including himself for thr common good. After getting this promise, he was blessed with an honour to become Khalsa and was allowed to use Singh (means Lion 🦁) in his name.
World was witnessing unusual scenerios, a Leader of an Organization putting himself down in front of its followers and begging to get included in their quest for equality and fight against injustices. This inspired everyone, and rest is a history. It changed the face of earth and brought concepts of equality, that every human being is equal and there should not be any discrimination based on religion, s*x, color of skin or language.
Its a lesson for many Executives. If you truly want innovations in your organizations, allow change and ideas to come from bottom up within your organizations. Let your employees take risks, and build capacity ground up 🆙.
Top-Down approaches are rarely successful.
Teams wish you a Very Happy Vaisakhi.
