THE VAULT

​ Emotional intelligence (EI) is the art of harmonizing the heart’s passion with the mind’s clarity, a dance between  dil  and  dimag  that echoes ancient wisdom. Below, I substantiate each EI insight with Sanskrit quotes from timeless texts, blending their profound philosophy with practical steps to deepen the heart-brain synergy. These quotes, drawn from scriptures like the  Bhagavad Gita ,  Upanishads , and other Indian wisdom traditions, illuminate the timeless relevance of EI. 1.    Self-Awareness: The Heart’s Mirror, the Mind’s Lens EI begins with recognizing emotions (heart) and understanding their roots (mind). The heart feels joy or sorrow instinctively, but the mind names and contextualizes these waves. Self-awareness aligns the two, fostering clarity.  “Ātmānam viddhi  (Know thyself) mentioned in  Mundaka Upanishad  (3.1.9), urges introspection to understand the self beyond fleeting emotions. The  Upanishad ’s c...

October 1985, the first of the month—a date etched in the golden annals of ambition. The hallowed grounds: State Bank of India Training Centre, Pataliputra Colony, Patna. This was the dawn of our odyssey, the sacred threshold where we, the eager probationary officers of the 1985 batch, gathered to ignite the flame of our professional voyage. A whirlwind of 25 luminous days lay ahead—immersion in knowledge’s forge—before we ventured forth to our inaugural branches, armed with the alchemy of theory transformed into practice. Amid the sea of unfamiliar visages that sparkled with promise, a few beacons of familiarity pierced the horizon: Aditya Nath Jha, Mithileshwar Jha, Prabhash Kumar, and the late Mohan Lal Gupta. Aditya, a childhood comrade woven into the tapestry of family ties, I hailed by his intimate moniker, Mukund—a whisper from yesteryears that bridged the chasm of time. Mithileshwar and Prabhash were echoes from Netarhat’s verdant classrooms, fellow travelers on academia’s wind...