October 11, 2021

Navratri Day 5: Goddess Skandamata – Fifth form of Durga

Embodies: Wealth, health, Prosperity, and compassion

Goddess Skandamata is worshipped on the fifth day of Navratri, she is given utmost importance, and all devotees offer veneration to their favorite deity. Skandamata has four hands and holds four weapons in them. She has a lotus in her right hand, a spear in the middle, a chakra (disc-like weapon) in her left hand, and a shield in her other left.

It is said that Maa Skandamata will bless her worshippers, leaving them rich in every way. Worshipping this deity brings instant wealth and prosperity without any effort. 

Skandamata the mother of Kartikeya is known to be a kind and compassionate goddess. Many leaders tend to be transactional with their team members and not go beyond understating their life apart from work. Each leader should strive to be a compassionate and connected leader than a contact leader. 

I would like to take a leaf from my book of how a leader should be a connected leader with this powerful story.

An Indian monk was interviewed by a journalist from New York.

Journalist — “Sir, in your last lecture, you told us about contact and connection. It’s really confusing. Can you explain?

The monk smiled and deviating from the question asked the

journalist: “Are you from New York?”

Journalist — “yeah…”

Monk — “Who are there at home?” The journalist felt that the monk was trying to avoid answering his question since this was a very personal and unwarranted question.

Yet the journalist said: “mother has expired. Father is there.

Three brothers and one sister. All married…” The monk, with a smile on his face, asked again: -

“Do you talk to your father?” The journalist looked visibly annoyed…

The monk - “When did you talk to him last?”

The journalist, suppressing his annoyance said: “maybe a month ago.”

The monk: “Do you brothers and sisters meet often? When did you meet last as a family gathering?”

At this point, sweat appeared on the forehead of the journalist. Now, who is conducting the interview, the monk or the journalist?

It seemed that the monk was interviewing the journalist.

With a sigh, the journalist said: “We met last at Christmas two years ago.”

 The monk: “How many days did you all stay together?” The journalist wiping the sweat on his brow said: “three days…”

Monk: “How much time did you spend with your father, sitting right beside him?”

The journalist looking perplexed and embarrassed and started scribbling something on a paper…

The monk: “Did you have breakfast, lunch, or dinner together? Did you ask how he was? Did you ask how his days are passing after your mother’s death?”

Drops of tears started to flow from the eyes of the journalist.

The monk held the hand of the journalist and said: “Don’t be embarrassed, upset, or sad. I am sorry if I have hurt you unknowingly…

But this is the answer to your question about “contact and connection. You have ‘contact’ with your father but you don’t have a ‘connection’ with him. You are not connected to him.

The connection is between heart and heart… Sitting together, sharing meals and caring for each other; touching, shaking hands, having eye contact, spending some time together… you brothers and sisters have ‘contact’ but you have no ‘connection’ with each other….”

The journalist wiped his eyes and said: “thank you for teaching me a fine and unforgettable lesson”

 This is the reality today. Whether at home or in society or at work everybody has contacts but there is no connection. No communication…. Everybody is in his or her world.

Let us not maintain just “contacts” but let us remain “connected” caring, sharing, and spending time with all our Team mates to understand them beyond the workspace.

The monk was none other than Swami Vivekananda.

Om Devi Skandamata Namah

Shubh Navratri

Srikanth Ram, a life and business coach, is also the author of the No 1 Bestseller “Leadership lessons from 22 Yards”- An interesting comparison of cricket and corporate stories for entrepreneurs and leaders to create high-performance teams and a winning culture.