‘EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE’- NEED OF THE HOUR?

‘EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE’- NEED OF THE HOUR?

 

Everyday,
the morning news is full of startling and gory incidents of violence,
intolerance, jealousy, revenge, and brutal killings.

 

It
is felt that it is high time that we, as teachers and
teacher-educators, researchers, educationists and devotees of our
respected Vallalar -Sanmargees give it a serious thought, and try to go
deep into the root cause and see if we can, in some way, help in making
a group of teachers/ children, more conscious of their emotional
literacy and lead them towards a ‘Quality’ Life.

 

 The
emotional quotient is the very dangerous one than global warming and
Natural disasters, as it is closely connected with activities and
behavior of the people.  

 

At
this point a very relevant question comes to our mind—After all, what
is this “Emotion Intelligence” that we are talking about?      

 

The
ability to monitor one’s own and other’s feelings and emotions, to
discriminate among them and to use this information to guide one’s
thinking and actions.”

            Despite
this early definition, there has been confusion regarding the exact
meaning of this construct. The definitions are so varied and the field
is growing so rapidly, that researchers are constantly amending even
their own definitions of their construct. But in general, it is
accepted that all emotions are in essence, impulses to act, the instant
plans for handling life that evolution has instilled in us.

 

 

The
very root of the word emotionis motere ,the Latin verb “to move”,plus
the prefix “e” to connote “move away”, suggesting that a tendency to
act is implicit in every emotion.

 

That
emotions lead to actions is most obvious in watching animals or
children; it is only in” civilized “adults we so often find the great
anomally in the animal kingdom, emotions-root impulses to act-divorced
from obvious reaction. In our emotional repertoire each emotion plays a
unique role, as revealed by their distinctive biological signatures.

 

However, lately researchers have shown how each emotion prepares the body for a different kind of response?

 

Taking
‘Anger’ for example, it is said that blood flows to the hands, making
it easier to grasp a weapon or strike at a foe ; heart rate increases,
and a rush of hormones such as adrenaline generates a pulse of energy
strong enough for vigorous action. This compels me to narrate a factual
example which happened a few months back in NOIDA. Two young boys were
in a bike and stopped at the Ice -cream vendor’s kiosk. They asked for
a particular flavour which incidentally the vendor did not have. First
they argued for a while and then out of sheer rage and anger they drew
out a pistol and shot at the man point blank and instantly fled in
their motor bike.

 

This is a situation which, the action of the boys, if analyzed, would lead us to the model of Thiruvarutpa First chapter ( காம உட்பகைவனும்) and Thirukural 13 Chapter(அடக்கமுடைமை) which
talk about ’self management’ as an ability to control one’s emotion,
namely ‘anger’, and adapt to the situation. It would not be out of
point to take ‘Fear’ as a very common form of emotion which again can
drive a person to respond in an impulsive and negative way.

 

  

A
classic example of this is when young students commit suicides with the
fear of may be bad results, facing his peer group, facing his family
and the society at large. This is so common in today’s life when
children are so much under pressure of doing well in the board exams.

 

When
we analyze this situation we find that with fear blood goes to the
large skeletal muscles, such as in the legs, making it easier to flee.
At the same time the body freezes for a moment, circuits in the brain’s
emotional centres trigger a flood of hormones that puts the body on
general alert, making it edgy and ready for action, and attention
fixates at the threat at hand, the better to evaluate what response to
make.

 

This
leads us to the fact that the mind works in two levels—Emotional and
Rational. These two fundamentally different ways of knowing interact to
construct our mental life. One, the rational mind, is the mode of
comprehension we are typically conscious of,: more prominent in
awareness, thoughtful, able to ponder and reflect. But alongside that
there is another system of knowing:impulsive and powerful, if sometimes
illogical—the emotional mind. There is a steady gradient in the ratio
of rational-to emotional control over the mind. Many times it is seen
that the emotions have a potent hold on the mind and intuitions guide
our instantaneous response in a situation when our lives are at peril.

 

 

Finally,
I would like to wrap up by enforcing the fact that Education without
values does not create or develop a child’s and Students’ total
personality, to lead a ‘ quality ‘ life. Education is moulding of both
the head and the heart. We need to compete for Knowledge and Wisdom
and not for grades only. This broad-based knowledge can be imparted to
the children, right from pre-school stage, with a suitable curriculum
of Thirukural &Thiruvarutpa to support it.