By Joey Aguilar/Staff Reporter

The economic module being used in the world today has to be “re-crafted” to serve humanity, Indian yogi and mystic Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev has said.
“This is the time to understand and regulate commerce in such a way that it serves human wellbeing and it should not work against us,” stressed Vasudev, also the founder of Isha Foundation, an international non-profit organisation that has 2mn volunteers.
He was speaking at the Qatar International Business Women Forum yesterday in the presence of HE the Minister of Energy and Industry Dr Mohamed bin Saleh al-Sada, Qatari Businessmen Association chairman Sheikh Faisal bin Qassim al-Thani, Qatari Business Women Association vice-chairperson Aisha Alfardan, other dignitaries and business executives.
Citing an example, Vasudev said he has attended numerous economic conferences and many people who refer to India as an emerging market also think of it as a subject to exploit.
“But if you see it as 1.2bn people, you would see how to serve them. If you serve them they will be your market, they will be your resource, they will be your partners and it is more of an inclusive way of doing things and it will be long-lasting,” he noted. “If you come and exploit me, I will get rid of you the day I can get rid of you. If you come and make me your partner, get involved in my life, I will never want you to go.”
Stating that economic modules have developed out of certain compulsions at one time, Vasudev said he believes that the economy has to re-engineer itself to fit into people’s lives.
He compared today’s economic engine to a man cutting the branch he is sitting on. “If he succeeds, he will fail - that is the kind of module we have set up. Our idea of success is being one step ahead of somebody else who has already made a mistake,” he said.
Recounting a session called “Recession and Depression” during the World Economic Forum in 2008, he noted that the problem was clearly reflected on the reactions of billionaire economic leaders who were “carrying long faces”. He said they were depressed because they lost a few billions in the last three months.
“The way they have structured the economic engine today...if we fail we will be depressed, if we succeed we will be down. So, it is better you think or we re-engineer the whole economic processes on this planet,” he added.
About leadership, Vasudev stressed that a leader - in business or elsewhere - can see what others cannot while sitting on a higher perch.
“If you don’t see anything new, if you don’t see anything fresh that others cannot see, for sure you will become a subject of ridicule,” he said.
During the forum, the Indian yogi reiterated the important role of women as business and economic leaders or partners, saying they have a “privileged position” from where they can sit back and look at what is happening.
He said a woman has developed a capability in herself, which “other eyes could not see”. A man’s day-to-day race with somebody else has kept him so busy that he cannot see anything, it was observed. “Vision is a very important part of being a leader, that you are able to see something,” he said.
Due to technological advancement, the physical strength of an individual does not matter any more. “Now there is no such thing as male and female on the planet as you can sit in your home and access the world, everybody has the same access,” quipped Vasudev, adding that people have the resources and technology to address every human problem.