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Value Addition
NOTES
Ethics

Sample Essays
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Sample Essays
It is not the mountain we conquer but ourselves (Edmund hilllary)
Intro 1: Edmund Hillary and fellow mountaineer Tenzing Norgay were the first two people to reach the summit of
the tallest peak on Earth, Mount Everest, in 1953. The grueling expedition required extensive planning and the
climbers displayed remarkable self-control during the ascent. Hillary reportedly summarized the lesson of the
adventure with this eloquent quotation: It is not the mountain we conquer, but ourselves. It can be well ascertained
by the fact that Hillary did not conquered the mountain per se, mountains are very much there even after decades.
Hillary conquered himself, he conquered his fears, emotions and aspirations
Intro 2: The story of Rani Laxmi Bai, the valour and courage she depicted against the British despite of knowing
the fact that she could not withstand the British army
Intro 3: story of Thomas Edison, Thomas Edison tried two thousand different materials in search of a filament for
the light bulb. When none worked satisfactorily, his assistant complained, “All our work is in vain. We have learned
nothing, Not sure if we can use an electricity properly. Edison replied very confidently, “Oh, we have come a long
way and we have learned a lot. We know that there are two thousand elements which we cannot use to make a good
light bulb.”
Brainstorming:
❖ What do we mean by ‘mountain’ and ‘conquer ourself’ in this context? (only for understanding)
❖ Why is it important to conquer ourself?
➢ Ex. Where people did that and have been successful
➢ Ex: in different spheres (social, political, economical, individual)
➢ Ex: at different levels(individual, social, national, international)
❖ Why people are not able to conquer themselves?
➢ Consequence of this inability
➢ What needs to be done?
Body:
❖ Explaining the quote after Intro
➢ Mountain: challenges in life ( poverty alleviation, climate change, economic growth, patriarchy,
corruption, casteism)
➢ conquer ourself: ( overcoming fear, desire, greed, anger, jealousy, hatred , aspirations, )
❖ It is important to conquer ourself as at individual level: ( it will ensure we don’t become the prisoner of our
emotions , we our able to overcome problem of cognitive dissonance, we don’t become delusional and hence
our capacity to discriminate between right and wrong is not crippled, sense of joy, happiness, satisfaction,
inculcation of values of integrity, social status/ prestige gets enhanced as we our able to walk the talk)
At societal level: social harmony, ram Rajya, inclusive society, unity in diversity, tolerance
❖ Putting examples from History-till date
❖ Battle of Saragarhi (12 Sikhs vs 10000 Afghans)
❖ Buddha and Mahavira
❖ Ashoka winning oneself after Kalinga War
❖ Razia Sultan
❖ Mohandas Gandhi
❖ Malala Yosufzai
❖ Phogat Sisters
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❖ Mary Kom
❖ Deepa Karmarkar
❖ Hima Das
❖ Usain Bolt
❖ Milkha Singh
❖ Dasratha manjhi
❖ Societal: Abolition of Untouchability, Abolition of triple talaq, decriminalization of 377, transgender act etc.
❖ National level: LPG reforms, Nuclear test, OBC reservation, bank nationalization
❖ International level: French revolution, abolition of apartheid, jasmine revolution
❖ Economic level: LPG reforms in India (Manmohan Singh)
❖ Technological level: ISRO, Nuclear Test by India
❖ Political level: constitutional status to panchayats, Abrogation of Article 370, operational police action (wrt
integration of Hyderabad)

The body should consist of examples possibly in chronology.

Opposite side of Quote
❖ Examples of those personalities who failed to conquer themselves, talk about the enemy within
❖ suicide by CCD Founder
❖ Corruption cases where people fail to conquer their material desires
❖ Crimes (Economic/General)
❖ Ex. From Epics of Mahabharata, Ramayana (Ravana, Duryodhana)
Why we are not able to conquer ourself?
❖ Faulty socialization ( family, school, media )
❖ Lack of ILC
❖ Selective exposure
❖ Lack of role models
❖ Desire for immediate gratification
❖ Conformist tendencies
❖ Fear of consequences
Then we should write how right kind of values can be inculcated and Emotional Intelligence can be developed.
(penultimate conclusion)
The idea of
❖ E – Emotions
❖ A – Attitude
❖ T – Thoughts
❖ Buddha had many beliefs on what you should do to conquer yourself. The four noble truths talk about Dukkha
(suffering/impermance/temporary), the cause of this is thirst (materialism and desire for something that you
don't need or of the utmost importance). The third noble truth is to try to extinguish thirst and reach a state of
nirvana. The fourth noble truth is to follow the eight fold path (which has eight rights. For example the right
of concentration). To become wise, be ethical, and have mental discipline. Buddha encourages to meditation
on each right of the eight fold path.
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❖ The Samsara (Buddhist philosophy) talks about trying to rid yourself of ignorance, thirst, and anger. Once
you've gotten rid of these things you will reach a state of nirvana.
❖ The Idea of nishkama karma
Concl 1: Can link to the Intro of the Essay
Concl 2: self conquest is the greatest of all victories
Concl: “To conquer oneself is the best and noblest victory; to be vanquished by one's own nature is the worst and
most ignoble defeat.” Plato
To conquer oneself is a greater victory than to conquer thousands in a battle. Dalai Lama

WISDOM IS NOT A PRODUCT OF SCHOOLING BUT OF

THE LIFELONG ATTEMPT TO ACQUIRE IT

Intro 1: Are you Mr. WISDOM OR A Mr. FOLLY?

Intro 2. As of today, Gautam Adani is the richest man in Asia and the sixth richest man in the world, with a net
worth of $121 billion. However, Gautam Adani is a college dropout. He was in the second year of his graduation
from Gujarat University when he dropped out of college to pursue his entrepreneurial dreams.
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Azim Premji was the former chairman of Wipro Ltd. He was 21 and was studying at Stanford University when he
got to know about the untimely demise of his father. He had to drop out and come back to India to take care of his
family business. Since then, he has grown Western India Vegetable Products Ltd. (now Wipro) to unimaginable
heights.
Savitri Jindal is the chairperson emeritus of O.P. Jindal Group, whose interests include steel, power, cement, and
infrastructure. She has never had any formal education and yet heads the company successfully and has a net worth
of $19.8 billion.
All these stories indicate hat wisdom doesn’t only come from formal education but learning from our experiences.
It is a lifelong process of successes & failures , ups & down which ultimately give is wisdom.
Intro 3. Thomas Edison: this guy was expelled from school because his teachers thought he was too slow to learn.
After his expulsion, Thomas studied at home from his mother. She taught him to read and write. He worked hard
and experimented a lot, until he invented the light buld, motion picture camera, and stock sticker, which the world
relies on today.
Intro 4. The Wright Brothers: this people invented a flying machine and flew the first aircraft. These great scientists
never completed secondary school. They were expelled. Orville Wright once said, “there is little hope for advance
if we believe that reality is fixed and only accepted truths are true”.
Intro 5: Start interpretating the Quote
“Learning from experience is one of the most fundamental and natural means of learning available to everyone
… All it requires is the opportunity to reflect and think, either alone or in the company of other people.”
BODY
What is Wisdom: the ability to use your knowledge and experience to make good decisions and judgments
What is Wisdom: You cannot learn wisdom at school. It's is not a subject like math or science that can be taught
in a straightforward manner. When you live your life, you automatically gain wisdom from the experiences you go
through and the lessons you learn. By living life, you are attempting to acquire wisdom, and as you do so, you
automatically gain it.
Knowledge is gathered from learning and education, while most say that wisdom is gathered from day-to-day
experiences and is a state of being wise. Knowledge is merely having clarity of facts and truths, while wisdom is
the practical ability to make consistently good decisions in life.
Wisdom is the ability to make correct judgments and decisions. It is an intangible quality gained through our
experiences in life. Timeless. Wisdom is "Who we are" vs. "What we do" Wisdom governs choice, pursuit of
knowledge, communication and relationships. Wisdom defines and refines our character. "Character is simply who
we are and is the persona and identity of everything we do."
Wisdom comes from observing experiences and learning from them in a way that affects future decisions and
behavior; it is the capacity to see the truth of a matter, in spite of any illusions or distractions. For example, someone
might spend beyond his means and end up in unnecessary debt, but if he is wise this will only ever happen to him
once, as he will have learned from his mistake; in the future, he will save his money before he spends it carelessly.
An even wiser person might avoid such a mistake altogether by listening to the wisdom of others or by wisely
choosing to seek information (knowledge) on how to properly manage finances.

Four levels of learning:

❖ Knowledge = I can remember information I’ve been exposed to.
❖ Comprehension = I can grasp and understand that information.
❖ Application = I can apply that information in practical ways.
❖ Wisdom = I can discern and judge properly as to what is true and right.
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The Importance of Wisdom

❖ But why so much fuss about wisdom? How does it make our life different or change it? Well, wisdom takes
us above the loop of feelings, emotions, and the whirlpools of envy, restlessness, and anger. It brings peace to
the heart and to the mind as well. It is only through wisdom, that one may realize that forgiving others bad
deeds, ignoring their faults, and being kind and accepting to all is the highest and truest virtues of all human
beings.
❖ Wisdom is the germination of the seeds of empathy, compassion, and kindness. It is the eruption of
unconditional love toward every soul, whether human beings, animals, or trees. Wisdom gives us the ability
to see the beauty and real power of nature.
With Examples mention how it helps
❖ Lord Ram
❖ Lord Krishna
❖ APJ Kalam
❖ Satish Dhawan
❖ Churchill
❖ Sun Tzu
❖ Successful Bureaucrats who used wisdom to solve crisis
❖ Recent BNPL Ban
❖ Green Revolution
Folly: As wisdom is Missing
❖ Ravana
❖ Duryodhan
❖ Satyam Scam
❖ Corruption in Bureaucracy
❖ Wars
❖ Sri Lankan Crisis
❖ Pakistan Crisis
❖ Sub Prime Crisis
POLITICAL ASPECT
❖ Bihar Movement was a political movement initiated by students in Bihar , many of the country's top leaders,
across parties, began their political journey from this movement. Experience gained from student politics
turned into great leaders
ECONOMIC ASPECT
❖ The Indian economic crisis of 1991 was unprecedented both in terms of the intensity and duration. This
resulted in most important experience for our country that India must learn from its economic crisis - financial
capital flowing from abroad has to be used judiciously otherwise it would create a huge amount of debt burden
for future generations. Plus enough forex reserves are essential.
And today India is one of the fastest growing economy and with one of the largest forex reserves.
❖ Nikhil Kamath is the co-founder of Zerodha. He began trading at the age of 17, after dropping out of school.
From starting his first business at the age of 14 to taking a job at a call centre at the age of 17 to co-founding
Zerodha to becoming one of the youngest billionaires in India, Nikhil Kamath has come a long way.
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SOCIAL ASPECT
❖ Mahatma Gandhi, another pragmatist, writes in his book Nai Talim that ‘work and knowledge should go
together’. Children should be taught craft (work) not mechanically but scientifically (with reason and
evidence) as it would develop the intellect of the child. The most revealing statement of Gandhi’s educational
philosophy is when he says, ‘the brain must be educated through the hand.’
❖ Sonam Wangchuk model of schooling
❖ Norti Bai sarpanch in a village , is a pioneer. Having led a village in Ajmer in the state of Rajasthan out of its
woes over five years of a revolutionary term, it’s safe to say that this woman knows her stuff. And most
interesting part is she is illiterate but has lots of wisdom gained through the years
TECHNOLOGICAL ASPECT
❖ When Darwin first presented his research on evolution, it was met with little enthusiasm. He continued to
work on his theory of evolution when all of his colleagues called him a fool and said what he was doing “a
fool’s experiment.” He learned from his mistakes , gained wisdom and ultimately led to the most important
theory of evolution.
❖ ISRO ‘s capabilities in space programmes has been well established through years of wisdom gained through
failed projects
HOW TO ACQUIRE WISDOM: The Process
Wisdom must be ACQUIRED THROUGH LIFE ITSELF. And that acquisition requires two things:
❖ Time
❖ Dedication
Confucius once said, “By three methods we may learn wisdom: first, by reflection, which is the noblest;
second, by imitation, which is the easiest; and third, by experience, which is the bitterest.”
The wisdom of this ancient sage certainly applies today. As a matter of fact, it can help make the purchase of life
insurance efficient and satisfying.
Reflection: Think about who is important to you. Think about their needs. Think about your legacy. Think about
what it will cost to find that legacy.
Imitation: Identify people who have successfully designed their life insurance coverage. What choices did they
have? What was the basis for their making the decisions they did?
Experience: Take a step. Many people often buy life insurance in stages. The policy you have today may not be
the same one you need in ten years. Don’t be afraid to adjust to changing circumstances.
To obtain wisdom one must have good judgment, pure confidence, and knowledge. When a person has obtained
these three traits then and only then, will a person experience true wisdom and yes it is a lifelong process.
Induced through
❖ Self Observation
❖ Socialisation
❖ Mahatma Gandhi, another pragmatist, writes in his book Nai Talim that ‘work and knowledge should go
together’. Children should be taught craft (work) not mechanically but scientifically (with reason and
evidence) as it would develop the intellect of the child. The most revealing statement of Gandhi’s educational
philosophy is when he says, ‘the brain must be educated through the hand.’
❖ Sonam Wangchuk model of schooling
❖ Bhagavad gita – sthita-prajna
❖ Samsara (Buddhist philosophy) talks about trying to rid yourself of ignorance, thirst, and anger.
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❖ Goleman’s EI
❖ Plato’s PK
❖ Vicarious Reinforcement
❖ Punishment and Rewards
One cannot acquire wisdom without investing time. Wisdom isn’t found in the young because the young haven’t
lived long enough to acquire it. But we don’t acquire wisdom through YEARS ALONE. Wisdom is only acquired
when there’s dedication to acquiring it. It doesn’t come quickly or easily. It comes to those who value it and seek
it. It doesn’t become the possession of the lazy or passive. It only comes to the active and determined. Wisdom is
not like a diploma or degree you’re granted when you’ve met the course requirements. Wisdom is dynamic and
always changing. Wisdom is less like marble and more like a plant. Always growing, always changing, always
adapting.
Conclusion 2: Connect it with some Goal
❖ Moral
❖ National
❖ International
Quote: Nothing in the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity (Luther
JR)

PYQ 2019: Wisdom finds the truth

“Ekam Sat Vipra Bahudha Vadanti” Truth is one, wise people call it by a different name. [Upanishads]
❖ The idea of truth has perplexed sages, philosophers, scientist among the others since ancient times. Above
conclusions from Indian tradition is about the one truth which is an abstract idea. It finds concreteness in its
multiple manifestation in the world. Realization of this is even more imperative in current highly globalized
and multicultural world with more hyper exchange of ideas among people from diverse backgrounds.
❖ Upanishads see truth as a journey which is travelled by wise people gaining wisdom from reasoning,
knowledge, experience and experiment.
❖ The essay explores first the idea of truth, secondly the role wisdom plays in us towards our quest of truth,
thirdly the consequences one faces in one’s wisdom less pursuit of truth and lastly how should one cultivate
wisdom to realize the truth.
❖ The idea of truth is one but it is abstract .our experience of it is partial and relative .Truth gains umpteen and
diverse meanings due to difference in purpose of enquiry of facts and difference in equipment of information
gathering, followed by different analysis and inference.
❖ Though idea of one truth is abstract but is qualified with ethical and moral framework. This truth finds
manifestation in values like Non-violence, Humanism, Tolerance, Swaraj, love for all, equality, justice, and
liberty.
❖ Gandhi also considered truth as absolute however he considered our understanding of it as partial. Hence he
adopted non-violence and satyagraha as methods to reach out to other truth by understanding other’s
viewpoint. He found the manifestation of truth in the idea of swaraj in which individual is governed not by
external stimuli but my internal moral compass and values creating a just and equitable society.
❖ Similarly life of mother Teresa can be seen as manifestation of that abstract idea of truth in our world where
she showed utmost compassion, love, empathy, care to the most downtrodden community and worked
tirelessly for their upliftment.
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❖ In addition to the above, there are some inconvenient truth that our humanity is facing presently like climate
change, water crisis, declining area under forest, nuclear proliferation and increasing risks from non-state actor
in both physical and cyber space. Acceptance and action upon these inconvenient truth requires travelling on
a tough journey.
❖ This journey of truth is not easy and it requires a charioteer to guide us through various falsehoods, overcoming
self- pride and seek ends which lies on the foundation of moral and ethical framework and works for the benefit
of all mankind.
Wisdom as charioteer towards truth
❖ Wisdom is admixture of knowledge through reasoning and introspection, quality of being humble as well as
courageous and taking decision based on moral considerations.
❖ First and foremost component of wisdom can be seen as reasoning or questioning. It is the ability to question
the status quo, taking decisions based on objective facts. It is about respecting other gender, their choices, their
sensitivities not surrendering to prejudices and stereotypes. Reasoning provides us a vehicle to move from
accepted old truths or conventions accepted in [Link] socrates called “an unexamined life is not worth
living for”.
❖ For instance: practice of Sati, auspiciousness of widow, desirability of child marriage find no place in modern
civilized society. it is wisdom through reasoning that help society to move towards values of releasing dignity
of the individual and respecting women’s rightful place in society which is nothing but part of our journey
towards idea of truth and this journey towards truth continues with #metoo movement , pinjratod movement
which seeks to increase space and voice of women in public sphere.
❖ Similarly, wisdom of world leaders after 2 world war led them to realization of truth that true prosperity lies
not in conflicts and war rather in cooperation and creating a world platform for countries to discuss and debate.
❖ Second quality of wisdom is linked with the idea of Humility. The value of humility is key to the idea of
wisdom, Socrates said that you are wise if you don’t claim to know anything. He leads to cultivation of value
of tolerance, patience. The evolution of Indian civilization over the year. it was the transition of Mandana
Mishra from being a knowledgeable man to a wise man when upon defeat by shankaracharya in shastratha, he
humbly accepted his defeat and gain knowledge from shankaracharya .Similarly ,the idea of “sarva dharma
sambhav”, Indian version of secularism stands as a role model for western world which is seeing influx of
migrant and creation of multicultural societies. The very relative nature of understand of truth makes wisdom
though humility an imperative in our pursuit of truth.
❖ The Third and one of the foundational components of wisdom is that it is based on ethical and moral foundation
.technological disruption in contemporary world makes even more deployment of ethical principles in our
scientific pursuits. Ethical principles play an important role in pursuit of truth as unethical means will lead to
division among society, waste of public resources and brings, violates the dignity of individuals which is
against the very ideas of truth. Example: CWG scam, 2G scam, recent crisis on NPAs in the banking sector
highlight how unethical act bring misery to people and society as a whole.
❖ Wisdom helps us in better understanding of the world and human life, making right judgments and decisions,
finding the right course of actions in different [Link] helps people to protest against injustices,
seek justice for the vulnerable and discriminated lead society on a righteous path.
❖ Hence, PLATO considered wisdom as one the key to idea of justice. He conceptualized the idea of philosopher
king to emphasis the point of wisdom needed in society so that all people in the state can realize the truth.
Seeking truth without wisdom
❖ Considering one’s truth as the absolute, world has shown it has led to holy wars of medieval times to communal
riots of present.
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❖ Without wisdom, the claims to truth or when pursuit of truth is fraught with many challenges .Ravana a high
knowledgeable person lacked wisdom quotient and end up committing undignified act of capturing another
person’s wife and paying the price in the end.
❖ Seeking truth without wisdom in later Vedic period brought about the birth of Jainism and Buddhism who
opposed superstitious ritual as unnecessary and undesirable to realize the truth.
❖ Without wisdom, claims of truth have been molded for the benefit of few which has given rise to orthodoxy,
Brahminical domination, caste discrimination, horrendous act of untouchability etc. Godman syndrome in
contemporary is just a reflection of molding of truth and abandonment of wisdom by both leaders and
followers.
❖ Similarly, Abandonment of wisdom and acceptance of fact that “Success is the sole earthly judge of right and
wrong”- led to genocide, bloodshed, violence, and eventually the Second World War. Hitler is said to have
committed suicide. A brave and passionate leader like him died like a coward because he resorted to bravado
and jingoism rather than wisdom.”
❖ Instead of wisdom, mind of leaders are filIed with falsehood, propaganda, and fake news and gag rules with
the help of state police and army. It seems that the human Civilization, blindfolded by competition, success,
power, wealth and hegemony
❖ Reasons of lack of wisdom in society is due to the crisis in education which is mostly skill oriented and the
education systems do not aim at wisdom in any direct and meaningful way. This is one of the reasons for the
existence of a big accomplished middle class bereft of ideas on change and courage to speak out on important
issues.
❖ Crisis of value is evident in society where increasingly broken home , decreasing values like compassion ,
empathy , tolerance etc. are witnessed . This is against the idea of wisdom and certainly does not lead us to
realize the truth.
❖ Further, Consideration of materialistic gains as the ultimate truth of life is what makes people bereft of the real
truth as they lack wisdom. We see highly advanced countries or cities witnessing increasing number of crime
against women. Regressive practices like dowry , domestic abuse find even more presence in well off homes
.Haryana one of the most prosperous state in India registers one of the worst sex ratio and also as economic
survey highlighted problem of poor sex ratio of last birth leading to conclusion of existence of not only missing
girls but also unwanted girls .
❖ Now a pertinent questions is how to acquire wisdom to reach up to truth? It will require our education system
to be built on the bedrock of ethical and moral principles to create such students who can possess the ability
to separate right from wrong, see the meaning of long lasting happiness, and develop inquisitiveness and
curious approach in learning. The idea of education to become windows instead of mirrors for everyone lies
at the bedrock of acquiring wisdom.
❖ A culture of tolerance, brotherhood, cooperation, scientific temper must be encouraged and promoted by all
stakeholders in society.
❖ As discussed earlier, the inconvenient truth of world also need wisdom in the form of acceptance of fact based
scientific research, a humble approach that upholds the interests of vulnerable and an ethical foundation so
that it leads to greater good of all people.
❖ Hence to conclude it can be said that, the idea that truth is one and wise see it differently highlights the core
of the idea of truth and how people differing in their socio-economic-culture ‘milieu’ interpret these core ideas
in their respective spheres. It is the wisdom which acts as sound driver in our journey to realize this truth.
Through wisdom only one can accept the inconvenient truths and act accordingly which is in greatest benefit
of mankind.
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A MAN IS BUT A PRODUCT OF HIS THOUGHTS , WHAT HE THINKS HE BECOMES

Introduction
❖ Hitler’s alternative to science and politics was known as Lebensraum,
which meant “habitat” or “ecological niche”. Races needed ever more
Lebensraum, “room to live”, in order to feed themselves and propagate
their kind. Nature demanded that the higher races overmaster and starve
the lower.
This thinking made him inflict the great ever genocide in human history.
❖ Mandela understood that forgiveness is better than revenge and justice is
better than reconciliation. This thought converted into an attitude of
humility and compassion and manifested into post-apartheid policy of
Mandela.
❖ Valmiki’s real name is Ratnakar. He was a hunter but after marriage, it
became difficult for him to manage the expenses and hence he moved to dacoity. He would rob people and
would kill them. Sage Narad helped Valmiki to transform into Lord Rama’s devotee.
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Body
Actions of a person are largely determined by her thought
process. One’s thoughts are the first engagement points with
the society. Thoughts impact behaviour as well as the attitude,
while moulding the actions. It therefore, becomes very
important for the thoughts to be fixated to a compass of
morality and conscience.
Political aspect
❖ Fringe political groups have ideology of superiority of
their particular community / region. Their thoughts of ‘us’
vs ‘them’ results in violence against minority groups. Eg:
Cow related lynching.
❖ Political ideology during our freedom struggle as given by Gandhiji was based on truthfulness and non
violence and that was reflected in actions of leaders and various non violent movements.
Economic Aspect
❖ Economic Benefit
❖ Economic Crime
Social Aspect
❖ Individuals’ thinking has become more self centred under the impact of increasing individualism and
consumerism, this has further led to the individuals’ detachment from the community and society.
❖ Mono dimensional definition of success in form of materialistic gains or thought process that success is only
measurable in monetary gains if one of the biggest reasons for corruption in our society.
Technological Aspect
❖ Same nuclear energy can be used for peaceful uses like generation pf electricity or for producing & using
deadly bombs. Use or action , depends on basic thought behind it.
❖ India - US nuclear deal 2008 was signed even when India wasn’t member of Nuclear supplier group , because
of India nuclear ideology ‘ No first use’ credibility. Our ideology / thoughts are well aligned without actions
in international arena.
Environmental aspect
Bishnoi women breastfeed orphaned antelope fawns, and men patrol the land to ensure no animal is harmed or
hunted. The community believes in - "sir santhe rukh rahe to bhi sasto jaan" meaning "even if our head gets chopped
off to save a tree from being cut, it is a small sacrifice for us."
Inculcate Right Thought Process
❖ Self Learning
❖ Role of Family
❖ Society
❖ Mass Media
❖ Religion
❖ Reinforcement of Thoughts
❖ Conditioning
❖ Imitation
❖ Role Taking (imitation)
Conclusion: can be taken from above 2 topics
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There are better practices to best practices

ANECDOTE
Mobile phones were invented as early as the 1940s when engineers working at AT&T developed cells for mobile
phone base stations.
Mobile telephony has a long history that started off with experiments of communications from and to moving
vehicle rather then handheld devices. Today we have swanky touchscreen phones. There wouldn’t have been soo
much development if researchers would have stopped thinking wireless phone in 1940 was best practice. Instead
with each year something better was introduced.
INTRODUCTION
A best practice is a method or technique that has consistently shown results superior to those achieved with other
means, and that is used as a benchmark.
Best practices can be useful for very straightforward tasks such as making dinner. Washing your hands is likely
something most people can agree is a best practice before making a meal. There may also be specific steps that you
want to take in preparing all meals — with some meals having their own best practices to get quality results.
Best practice is often used as a standard. Once we govern that standard with a policy and then a procedure, we
impose a limit on our ability to be innovative and creative. We also tend to set procedures as to what it takes to
change procedures — so there is often an added barrier or step to even consider an improvement.
The idea here is quite simple, if you are always aiming to simply align with best practices, you ARE stifling the
innovation and room for improvement.
QUOTES
The journey is never ending. There's always gonna be growth, improvement - Antonio Brown
The biggest room in the world is the room for improvement - Helmut Schmidt
Everything is perfect and there is always room for improvement - Shunryu Suzuki
Body
Better practices means there is always room for improvement
❖ How political systems which were thought to be best for that time , eventually gave way better systems. Eg:
Monarchy at one time was most prevalent system and divine rule of king theory was propagated , eventually
with time better system which was participative i.e. democracy.
❖ Rights in democracy were previously denied to women , women suffrage came a lot later after a movement.
Denial of such rights was seen as a best practice due to conservative rationale.
❖ Economic systems primitively were based on barter system which moved on to money as legal tender to now
digital currency.
❖ Social media was seen as the greatest development of our times. With everything at our fingertips Social media
was seen as the thing but today there is buzz around Metaverse. It is going to be next big thing , bigger than
social media.
❖ Internet started with slow dial up connection , although this was seen as the groundbreaking invention of that
time but researchers didn’t stop there. Result was different generations of cellular technology: 1 G to future 6
G.
❖ Green revolution was based on ground breaking HYV varieties but we moved forward from here to GM crops
, a much better version.
❖ Journey of TV technology from cathode ray tube to LED.
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Better practices mean you are avoiding the way the category behaves.
❖ Ikea is a furniture store that doesn’t sell assembled furniture. It was a radical idea when the business started.
❖ Cirque du Soleil created a circus without animals. It didn’t follow best practices for circuses but redefined
what a circus could be.
❖ When everyone focused on the best practice of the design of a shoe, Christian Louboutin focused on the soul
– in their red color.
Conclusion
We have to keep moving forward no destination is final . We might feel that we have reached best possible scenario
but there is always a room for improvement.

How to ensure that there is always room for improvement?

Determine strengths and weaknesses: Try to work on how strengths can be further accentuated and how
weaknesses can be minimized.
Adapt: Always adapt to new scenarios , one thing can be best during one time but needs to change and adapt given
new circumstances.
Open to constructive criticism: One should always be open to criticism by new set of eyes . A new perspective
will always help us strive for something better.
Continue learning: Learning is a lifelong process , improvement can come only if we are open to learning from
anywhere and anyone.
Character of an institution is reflected in its leader
Pointers:
1. This essay can be categorized as “quote” based essay , hence it should be an example heavy essay to
substantiate your points.
2. Additional Examples can be used throughout essay and one can be picked up to introduce essay as well
a. In mythology: Lord Ram leading to establishment of Ram Rajya
b. Many examples of leaders from freedom struggle and their values still present .
c. ISRO → Satish Dhawan how it later on shape individuals like APJ Abdul Kalam and K Sivan
d. Election commission → introduction of TN Seshan and how he transformed EC to promote electoral
integrity of Indian democracy.
e. Similar example can be seen with Judiciary , CAG
f. In corporate one can talk about Tata trust or Wipro and Ajim Premji Foundation
g. In NGO, one can give example of Sunita Narayan and CSE [Centre of science and Environment] helping
in environmental governance
3. Negative examples:
a. In Mythology: Ravana who ruined Lanka ,Dhritrastra in kuru empire
b. Ramalinga Raju → satyam scam → work culture destroyed.
c. Similar example of leadership of Lehmann brothers leading to 2008 crisis
d. Self-fish Leadership of league of nation by Britain and France led to weakening of institution and
ultimately led to war
e. Example of policies of Mao like cultural revolution shaping the lack of freedom of speech and expression
in china
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4. Try to use some of above examples or others to substantiate your points . So that evaluator can also connect
with these examples.
I fondly remember the time when a new gym center was opened in my residential society. It had fitness equipment
for people who want to run and also for the people who wanted to lift weights, that is it catered to all types of fitness
enthusiasts. Now you might think that why is this important, this is significant because applications to open the
gym memberships were submitted before the new secretary of the housing society was elected. The newly
appointed secretary was a Health and fitness enthusiast and hence got a new gym centre open for my society
members. This just goes to show that the character of an institution is reflected in its leader as the new gym center
was opened by the newly elected members of the society under the new leadership rather than the old members.
Now what do we understand by the term character? Characters are features by which we identify or distinguish a
certain entity like in this case an institution can have character like an honest institution, an institution which serves
its people. This brings us to the definition of Institution, institution in this case can be understood as a group of
people working towards a specific goal. As you must be aware every institution is headed by a leader this leader
decides the trajectory of the organization Like a CEO of a company or the Prime Minister of a country. Hence, we
can define the leader as someone who guides the organization into a certain direction and works for its growth.
Since we have understood the terms involved, we shall see various facets of the topic “Character of an institution
is reflected in its leader”. Firstly we will see with an example how leader shape the character of an institution and
how character of institution is reflected in leaders. Secondly , we will also discuss how strong institutions also shape
individuals . We shall also briefly see what happens when the character of an institution and its leader do not match.
In the end we shall contemplate on how to build good leaders.

Character of an institution is reflected in its leader

If we see historically there have been ample examples where the leaders have changed the course of the
organizations. Considering the communist Chinese policies on dissent and free speech we can see that the people
are not allowed to simply speak their thoughts. This can be seen in the recurring Hong Kong protests, protest by
Taiwan and the most important of all the Tiananmen Square incident. Now if we see the policies followed by
Nelson Mandela, we can see that his approach wants to bring people out of suppression and provide them with the
freedom from apartheid. So, we can see how two different policies by two different leaderships resulted in
Development of different types of institutions.
If we come to the history of Indian subcontinent, we can see that one of the Mauryan leaders, Ashoka presents two
different characters. Earlier Ashoka voice extremely focused on expanding his empire but you too change in his
nature Ashoka turned to peace and tolerance. In the latter stages of his life Ashok are after converting to Buddhism
focused on Peace and tolerance and public works rather than blindly expanding his empire. This change in the
institution of Mauryan empire under Ashoka shows that with the change of the leader of the institution changes its
functions and character. Although in this case the leader was one and the same, but his nature changed.
if we come to India’s freedom struggle then we can clearly see the approach followed by Mahatma Gandhi and
Subhash Chandra Bose. while Mahatma Gandhi was focused more on peace, nonviolence satyagraha and non-
cooperation. Subhash Chandra Bose was focused more on violent means of independence although both of them
wanted the same thing that is independence of India from the britishers but differed in the path towards it.
If we come to sports, we can see the attitude of Australians under Ricky Ponting. His method of open aggression
and mental bully of the opponents was quite famous but that is not so much in existence now as the leader of the
team has changed. One more example that comes to mind is the difference in approach and hence the behavior of
the team under MS Dhoni and Virat Kohli. MS dhoni Is popularly called as captain cool and without Kohli is
identified as an aggressive. Both of them had different effects on the team. under Dhoni team was much calmer and
more composed and under Kohli it was more aggressive.
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If we see politically that government officials of the constituency Or a country work better if the leader of the
Constituency or the country is working hard. we can Taking samples of our current dynamic PM who has waged a
war against open defecation this has led to many institutions working towards the goal of open defecation free India.
Another example can be taken off Mr. Laloo Prasad Yadav who was known to be punctual due to which the
functionaries of his Department also used to arrive on time.
Socially if we see that the leader is sensitive to the concerns of women Then the institution working under that
leader what develop respect for females. This can be seen from the example of Canadian Prime Minister Justin
Trudeau who has inducted equal number of females in his cabinet. This is bound to bring a change in the way of
the working of the Canadian government and is an inspiration for us all.
Now this relation between the nature of the leader and the character of an institution Can be found anywhere in a
leader institution set up. certain leaders want to use aggression or the policy of stick while dealing with their
subordinates. We also find leaders what lenient towards their subordinates and allow few mistakes of the
subordinates and to be human is to err.
Therefore, we see that across time and sectors the Character of an institution is being reflected in its leader, but
does only the leader affect the institution? That does not seem to be the case, in many instances the leaders
when join the new institution become just a part of it. For example, many people join government services to
change how things are done but after a few years for various reasons become part of the same system. Sad but a
reality, nonetheless.
Now that we have seen the relationship between leaders and institutions, we shall see the reasons of this phenomena.
Hence, we see that the character of the leader percolates down to the institution and the institution behaves as if it’s
the leader itself.
But what happens if the character of the institution does not match is leader which is leading the institution? if
experience tells us anything this will lead to poor quality of delivery of service. Now what to do if this is the case?
One option is to remove the leader which was done in the case of Cyrus Mistry as he was let go because the way
he worked was not the way Tata group of industries worked. Another scenario can be that the leader changes
the character of the institution itself. This can happen when an organized(systematic) person Is dealing with an
unorganized institution. This has been shown many times in popular media.
After being aware of the relation between leaders and institution and being aware of the reason , we will see the
need of good leaders.

Importance of good leaders

Definition of a good leader can be subjective, but it can be agreed that a person who is ethical, sensitive,
pragmatic, practical, aware, team player, patient and so on can be called as a good leader. and we need good
leaders because in the end good leaders and good institutions will take humanity forward. As every person who
wants to get anything done in this world needs to deal with an institution. Hence, it's extremely important that the
institution serves purpose for which the person has approached it and in an Ethical manner. Hence good leader of a
good organization leads to a better world and bring hope, that is why we need good leaders.
Next begs the question how to make good leaders. This can be done from the very childhood by providing moral
education. By frequent visits of leaders who have had positive effect on society in school. I still remember the visit
of a renowned athlete which made me more interested in the game and I became captain of the national team for
that sport in a few years. Another way is to increase membership of institutions like National Cadet corps which
inculcate vital leadership qualities. We can also include development of leadership in syllabus of examination as
UPSC has done in the syllabus of ethics paper. Lastly, Training. Training of new recruits can be undertaken to
develop leaders for that particular institution, which is why services like IAS, IPS, IFS, IFoS have separate
academies for extensive and intensive training.
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The head is inseparable part of the body similarly the leader and institution are inseparable. The leader is the path
giver and guide of the same path. They are both an organic whole. Which is why good leaders being the need of
the hour as future holds a lot of challenges as COVID-19 epidemic has shown. Its time we all invest in making and
selecting good leaders for they are the future of the world.
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