Over 600 personnel of the country's premier disaster mitigation force, NDRF, today underwent a special meditation session at the Vigyan Bhawan here under the tutelage of Art of Living (AOL) founder Sri Sri Ravi Shankar.
The spiritual guru, as part of the special session on 'Inner Strength and Disaster Resilience', also delivered a 'pep talk' to the men and women of the force even as he fielded questions from them that ranged from stress to having an irritating boss.
After holding a 15-minute meditation session, where the personnel were made to shake their hands and heads and take deep breaths, he asked the officials in uniform to practise "mental hygiene" in order to remain stress-free and happy.
Regarding the irritating bosses, Ravi Shankar advised the NDRF men and women to see it as an opportunity to hone their communication and other skills, adding people in top positions should remember that stress travels from top to bottom and hence they should exhibit a cool behaviour.
"I would prefer a difficult boss as by working under him ones' personality shines and communication skills are enhanced....Tougher the boss, the tougher will be your communication skills. You should consider this crisis as an advantage," he said.
The AOL founder added that the "biggest deficiency" of our education system is that it does not work for personality development and better communication skills.
During the event, Union Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju said the jawans and officers of Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) like the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) work under strict timelines and hence get less time to rest.
Indicating towards the recent incidents where jawans took to social media to air their grievances, Rijiju said "errors happen due to stress" but it is essential to have good mental fitness.
He lauded the NDRF, which held the event as part of the celebrations to mark its 12th Raising Day few days back, as the "world's most professional emergency force."
NDRF Director General R K Pachnanda said the session was planned exclusively for the troops of the force who continuously keep moving, from providing succour from one disaster hit area to the other as part of their charter and duties.
The 12,000 personnel strong NDRF was raised in 2006 and works under the command of the Union Home Ministry.
Disclaimer: No Business Standard Journalist was involved in creation of this content
