THE PRISM

Alexander, the Great, the king of Macedonia, lay on his bed writhing in pain and high fever. He was delirious and suffered from body aches which were continuously increasing. He was all of 32 years and a ruler who was at his peak. He ruled over a dominion that stretched from the Balkans to the Himalayas and from Egypt to the Caspian Sea. His empire was vast and he had achieved its geographical expanse by working hard and tirelessly with his 50,000 strong Army. He had been a born leader and orchestrated an unprecedented military campaign as his Army captured swathes of land. He was powerful and intelligent. Aristotle was his tutor and he inherited a strong kingdom and an experienced Army from his father King Philip, who was assassinated in 336 BC. A young and charismatic General Alexander stepped into his father’s shoes and moved his campaigns far and wide to reach the ends of the World. He would only stop where he met the Seas.

In his lifetime, young Alexander suppressed many a revolts. He galloped and surged till he reached the Kingdom of King Porus in the Gangetic planes. It was at this juncture that his well oiled battle machine faltered and revolted against his wishes to conquer any further. Alexander’s General Coenus pleaded with him to let go the soldiers to see their families back home. Alexander, though young, but was wise. He understood the pulse of his battle fatigued soldiers and turned south marching along the River Indus. He started retracing his steps back to his own lands. The retreating Armies lose their battle hunger and the tired minds let go of themselves. Even in his retreat, Alexander experimented by commissioning a fleet to explore the Persian Gulf shore under his Admiral Nearchus, while he led the rest back to Persia through the more difficult southern route along the Gedrosian Desert and Makran. Alexander reached Susa in 324 BC, but not before losing many men to the harsh desert.  

It was in Babylon that a mysterious illness hit a robust 32 year old Alexander. He developed a fever and lost the power of his speech. The last days of his life were full of pain and agony. His vision, probably, was failing and his internal chemistry was going from bad to worse with each passing moment. Bleary eyed, he was struggling and floating between his own thoughts. The prism of his mind was getting blotted with darkness. He could barely wave his hand as his soldiers walked by him to have a final glimpse of the maverick that Alexander; the Great was when he led them across lands of this planet. He had led them with his winning streak but now he just lay on a bed and awaiting his last breath. The soldiers passed by him and Alexander was left alone with his excruciating pain and agony. Finally, the moment arrived on 10/11^th June 323 BC and Alexander’s prism became dark.

The World is composed of a plethora of colors. A riot of color runs all across the planet in almost every aspect of Mother Nature. Humans love colors and hues. Happiness is symbolized with colors and the visual senses epitomize a Prism as colors make their impact on human minds. An occasion is turned colorful and the prism effect takes charge of the venue as lights glow. Similarly, the human mind is also like a great prism. It has the unique capability to scatter or integrate the procedure of thoughts. After all, it is the process of thoughts that leads to final actions and behavior patterns. A cluttered mind keeps on hitting dark prism patterns and the actions clearly reveal the colorless patterns. On the other hand a robust and thinking mind scatters its thinking pattern evolving positive patterns.

In today’s ever evolving and chaotic World, the characteristics of Prisms are easily visible in every field that humans operate. Each organization reflects its tell-tale patterns as humans steering the proceedings reflect the thoughts evolving out of their thinking Prisms. It can be clearly correlated that the patterns of light and human minds have many things in common. Some of the vital and similar traits include focus, clarity, integration, coherence, reflection, refraction and resolution. Human minds at every level of an organisation need to possess all the traits to achieve a synchronized performance. When the aim is set, it must be shown clearly to the performing team members. Once the aim is clearly visible and its values understood, then, the Prisms inside human minds can synchronize to achieve the focused approach. Organizations hit rough patches not because they falter but because its constituent members lose the characteristics of their own Prisms.

A clear Prism reflects a single incoming beam of light into an outgoing stream of colors. Similarly, a clear mind takes in an idea and diversifies it into a grand strategy. Alexander, the Great, was a top shot CEO much before many humans can even imagine holding such a position. He traversed more than 10,000 miles, fought 70 battles without losing his ground and had an Empire stretching from Egypt to India. His Prism had an extensive clarity. He had a good tutor in Aristotle and he picked up the best from him. He developed the rare art of generating a flexible grand strategy which he amply reflected as he conquered varied cultures and kept his armies challenged for almost 11 years. His Prism took him to greater heights but there came a point when his Prism became dark.  His conquests led him to a grand belief that he was invincible. He kept his Armies on a constant move but failed to recognize that they needed to slow down and connect with their own families to remain charged. After all, Alexander was a young and robust 30 year old top honcho who was raring to go on endlessly. He had not defined his limits and maybe no one could guide him. He also, maybe, he did not know where to take the well deserved pit stops and rejuvenate energy to make the Prism clean and reflecting. He probably crossed the thin dividing line which can lead to failures. It was one such moment when his Army revolted and his General Coenus had to exhort Alexander to clean his prism. He did the needful as his General exhorted, but somewhere he had fostered enemies who eventually led to his untimely end. Who knows what Alexander, the Great, would have achieved had he been able to lead his Armies out of Macedonia again after a well deserved rest.

 

Times and tides never remain the same and there is no harm in clearing the Prisms at regular intervals. A clear Prism would always diversify the incoming single ray into a maze of colors. An introspection of the circumstances can enable humans to understand the condition of their own Prisms. Keep the Prisms clean, stable and shining to spread the maze of colors. After all, happiness follows success and success can always be achieved by minds which are positively radiant. Life is like a Prism and what one sees depends on how the glass is turned.