Theory of Karma is not only a guiding principle to live
one’s life by. The theory which teaches to create right CAUSE to bring the
desired result (EFFECT) can be applied to our professions too. All it requires
is determination, perseverance and hope.
I experienced first-hand the actual proof of this theory of
CAUSE AND EFFECT when my friend and I ventured on an unknown path to hike with
full hope and determination that we would find our way.
My friend and I decided to hike the hills of North Lantau
Island. The hills of Lantau are rugged and harsh and we are occasional hikers
for fun. On the public holiday of
Dragon’s Boat Festival, all we wanted was a light hike to use the holiday and
do some easy 4 to 5 km shaded walk on a sunny day. We chose Section 11 of
Lantau Trail but landed up on the Olympic Trail around 3:00 p.m. After walking
down some distance, as per the directions, we came at a point with two paths but
no direction. One path was across the circumference of the hill and the other had
steps going up. We decided to take the steps up. There were 11 sections of 52
steps each. These steps were along a concrete water drainage but we had no idea
what to expect after reaching uphill. Once we climbed all the steps, we came
across a sort of dead end, except a narrow pathway going up which appeared to
be traversed once in a while and also gave an impression of a dried spring.
We decided to take that pathway. It was a steep climb full
of stones, large and small. We could not find anyone going up or down. We had
only one water bottle each and had no idea of the steep climb up and the amount
of water we would need on the way. However, we kept going with some concerns like
where will we reach, how far is the top, can we come down the same way
(climbing down will be difficult due to steep slope), need to reach down before
dark as it was already around 5:00 p.m. etc. As we continued to move ahead, the
climb became increasingly difficult, and we were getting breathless easily, and
had to ration our water due to limited supply.
After some time, we came across a couple climbing down and
this assured us that we were not taking a completely unknown path and also that
it was possible to climb down. We talked to them to find out where would we
reach if we keep on climbing up. Though they knew little English, we were
encouraged from whatever little we could understand from them. The important
aspect was we became hopeful and this created determination though the climb was
very tough.
After a while, we met an Indian couple who were climbing down
too. They told us that they normally do
this route. From them we came to know that the top was still about half an hour
hike. This helped us to take a decision that we could continue to climb up
without worrying about it becoming dark. Again, our efforts (The CAUSE) created the
EFFECT to have hope and determination. By now it was about 5:45 p.m. and we
came across few more people who were climbing down. Still not sure when we would
reach the top, we were very exhausted; water in our body and the bottle was
depleting, and lots of doubts if it is prudent to go on.
Then a miracle happened. We bumped into an Indian who was actually
climbing up in our direction even at that hour, and not going downhill. Obviously,
we started to talk to him and were extremely surprised to know that for the
last 15 years, he does 35 KM hiking every weekend and this hike was a warm-up
for the next morning 35 KM hike. He very
much appreciated our efforts to be on a very tough hike that many people find difficult
to do even though he had seen few healthy elderlies on this trail too, which surprised
us. He gave us tips to cover our heads, continue to sip water and not to put steps
very hard. He agreed to guide us down through the other side of the hill (by
slowing down his speed) and also offered to show us one more easy and good hike
route once we reach down. He showed us a spring where we could refill our water
bottles. Finally, with his direction we came down. We hiked about 15 KM and the
80% of this was climbing up and down.
The point here is that our efforts kept us giving hope and
determination to complete the hike with support from the universe which came
our way since we continued to move, create cause, and take help and support.
But why am I telling this story here? On a blog related with
corporate compliance? Because in all spheres of our life it is we the
individual who has to create the CAUSE to bring the EFFECT we want to see in
our life. The same holds true for our professions too. For instance, in the
compliance function we regularly come across situations with no apparent straight
forward solution and such situations require a judgement call. How to make a
judgement call in such situations? For this, it is necessary to dig and seek
more and more information on the facts of the case and apply the regulatory
provisions to these facts to appreciate the possible implications. This
invariably leads to finding possible solutions which balances and minimize the
risks for the stakeholders. That is, it is necessary to create the CAUSE to
come up with an effective solution i.e. EFFECT. When proper and effective cause
is not created, it leads to unsatisfactory and unconvincing solution, customer
dis-satisfaction and weak audit trail i.e. undesirable effect.
