Decision Making

  

                                                                         

Prafulla Kumar Mohanty

Often people complain of indecisiveness bogging them down.Such persons are advised to consult psychiatrist, especially in America. Indecision is not a mental disorder or an existential dilemma where an individual hangs between life and death. At worst it is lack of courage to face the consequences of one's decision. At best it is postponement of an action to avoid something catastrophic. But in either case it is moral cowardice. The best illustration of indecision in literature is given by Shakespeare in Hamlet. The prince of Denmark wouldn't have been an ambassador of death had he acted immediately after his supernatural exposition to his father's ghost. So many lives could have been spared had he taken the decision. But Hamlet delayed, postponed because he wanted to be equipped, with moral and rational justification for the act as he had a conscience- Thus conscience makes cowards of us all. The converse of indecision is quick and prompt action by taking a decision in a split second. There are many people in history and literature who have been decisive. The best illustration from history is Gandhi whose decisions were judicious yet heroic. He could have organized an armed rebellion in  the company of Subhas Chandra Bose,against the British masters. But he choose the core Indian values of Truth and Non-violence which are more potent and  powerful than the instruments of violence and carved out a different course of history. But one may ask:Was his decision right in agreeing for the partition of India? The two Nation Theory is chasing the sub-continent for the last 70 years like a gory nightmare. Still the end is not in sight.

Any decision taken after due cogitation or off the cuff has consequences whose nature is not predictable as the consequences are revealed at a distant time and space over which the person taking a decision has no control. Should we then think that decisions are pre-destined? Each action in history or in the life of a person has a life of its own. Destiny and free choice of the doer compliment each other when the person acts. But once the arrow is released it develops a pre-destined will of its own.  If the target is hit,the decision is lauded. If it misses the target the doer or archer bites the dust.

But in our normal day to day life we must not procrastinate. Even if the consequences  are predictably disastrous one must act: For inaction  could be more painful. The Kashmir issue is a case in point. Instead of suffering the thousand cuts which Pakistan is giving us we should dare the enemy for a final bout. Decisions have to be taken, however, challenging the consequences be otherwise we will languish in our own stupor.