The organizational/corporate equivalents of prominent characters of Mahabharata

Even though I have yet to read the Mahabharata fully, the stories and characters of the epic have always impressed me and influenced me. Of course, I have read a number of discourses on Mahabharata, starting from Kuttikalude Mahabharatham(Children’s Mahabharatha) and many books written on various characters of Mahabharatha in Malayalam or translations into Malayalam from other languages like Hindi, Marathi etc.A chapter, which was part of SSLC Malayalam syllabus from a book(Bharataparyatanam) written by the great critique from Kerala,, Mr.Kuttikrishna Marar was the starting point. The moment I had some money saved from my monthly hostel allowance, I procured the book and must have read the content at least 10 times. I have always been impressed by the intellect, determination , love and care of Devabratha (who later  came to be known as Bhishma for the sapath  or pratigya he took for taking care of the interests of his father),by the heroic deeds of Arjuna & Karna, the friendship of Duryodhana, the dharma way of Yudhishtira, and of course the naughty but all encompassing and dispassionate view  of Krishna……..The list is endless. And what impressed me more that each of these characters represented many aspects of the good or the bad, the right or the wrong  or some kind of traits that exist in human beings.

Many  might have thought that these were stories of the long-gone era, but as a discernible observer of organizations, you may find that many of these characters are alive and kicking. And in today’s ultra-competitive environment that exist between corporations or other organizations or between people of the same organization, you may find the existence of the full-blown modern versions of them.

If you observe your organization, you may find a number of these characters existing in your organization. You may find a  Sakuni, in you midst, who tries to instigate many around them with their at times even innocent-looking comments or remarks. Anything happening around them , they try to interpret in their own negative ways and even advise some others  with how to interpret them. Organizations have their own Duryodhanas, who fall prey to such interpretations or advices. For example, the Sakunis  may spend a lot of time analyzing mails send by others  and  attribute meanings which the sender might not have even imagined to exist. They influence the receivers of the mails with the unfortunate connotations leading to a spat or at least a misunderstanding between two friends. Even though  Duryodhanas are more straightforward and dharma-oriented(according to me more so than the Dharmaputra / Yudhishtira), they are highly influenced by the likes of Sakuni who knows where  and how to tickle their  weak spots).

Of course, the organizations have their own Bhishmas, who puts forth their verdicts as the final word on dharma. Taking the email simile, the organizational Bhishma may even put strictures on whether such mails be sent or who to mark copies.

The organization also may have Viduras, who takes a dispassionate view of everything and just serves the King as they  are duty-bound; they may do so even when they know for sure that the King is not necessarily doing the right thing.

Disclaimer: If anybody in any organization identify him/herself with any of the characters mentioned above, it is only accidental, even though it might validate my analogy.