Chapter 13: The Value of Work (PDF)

13 CHAPTER The Value of Work When you are doing any work, do not thin...

13 CHAPTER The Value of Work When you are doing any work, do not think of anything beyond. Do it as worship, as the highest worship, and devote your whole life to it for the time being. — Swami Vivekananda 1. What are the different types of The Big activities that people engage in? Questions 2. What is their contribution to our everyday lives? Anu and Kabir were playing in the park when they saw their neighbour, Geeta Aunty, getting out of a taxi. She was returning home from work and was in her uniform. A pilot in the Indian Air Force, she is the pride of the whole town. Kabir, Aunty’s uniform looks a lot like the one I saw at your house yesterday, but the colour is different. 13 ― The Value of Work That uniform on the hanger belongs to my grandfather. He retired from the Border Security Force and now spends his time... 183 13_100724_v8_.indd 183 11-Jul-24 4:29:51 PM... providing free... tending to our... running errands for the Geography classes to the vegetable garden, and... home. neighbourhood kids... My parents run Maa is usually back by Do you remember my a shop that sells the time we return home elder brother Rohan? You uniforms and other from school. She also met him when he came to Exploring Society: India and Beyond ready-made garments. contributes to a voluntary pick me up from school. Appa leaves early in the group that teaches He is a software engineer morning and Maa joins knitting to the women in and works in a company Economic Life Around Us him in the shop after we the community. that makes computer leave for school. applications. On the weekends he volunteers Wow, Anu, everyone around us does to teach computer skills so many things every day! to those who have joined the youth development programme of the nearby 184 college. 13_100724_v8_.indd 184 11-Jul-24 4:29:56 PM  LET’S EXPLORE What activities did the people in Anu’s and Kabir’s story engage in? Mention them in the table given below: Character in the Activities they story are engaged in Different types of activities, like the ones discussed above, are divided into two groups or categories: economic activities and non-economic activities. Economic activities are those that involve money or are performed in exchange for money or money’s worth for the Money’s parties involved. For example, a business person selling worth: The monetary school bags in the market, a farmer selling produce in value that the market, a lawyer arguing a case and earning a fee, a a person places on truck driver transporting goods from one place to another, an object 13 ― The Value of Work workers employed in a car manufacturing factory, etc. based on the benefit that they derive from it. Market: A place where people engage Fee: A payment made to a in the exchange of goods and services. person or organisation in People may exchange goods and exchange for professional advice services for other goods but in most or services. For example, a fee markets these are exchanged for money. paid to a doctor and a lawyer. 185 13_100724_v8_.indd 185 11-Jul-24 4:29:56 PM  Non-economic activities are those that do not generate income or wealth but are done out of feelings like gratitude, Left to right, top to bottom: A business person selling school bags in the market Farmers selling their harvest in the market A lawyer arguing a case A truck driver transporting goods from one place to another Workers employed in a car manufacturing factory love, care and respect. For instance, parents cooking food for the family or helping their children with schoolwork, youth taking care of the grandparents, family members helping in the renovation of the house, etc. Exploring Society: India and Beyond Left to right: Parents cooking food Economic Life Around Us for the family Mother helping her children with schoolwork 186 13_100724_v8_.indd 186 11-Jul-24 4:29:58 PM  Left to right: Youth taking care of the grandparents Family members helping in the renovation of the house LET’S EXPLORE In the table given on page 185, did you notice the third empty column? Label this column ‘economic / non-economic activity’. Now classify them according to the nature of activity. Salary: In Anu’s and Kabir’s story, Geeta Aunty, the Air Force pilot, A fixed receives a salary. She serves the country and performs an regular economic activity too. Anu’s brother, Rohan, works for a payment generally software company and is given a salary for it. Over the paid monthly weekend, he also volunteers at the youth development by an employer programme of the nearby college, where he teaches to an computer skills to young adults. This is a non-economic employee. activity. THINK ABOUT IT “ When Kabir’s grandfather voluntarily teaches the neighbourhood kids for free, is that an economic activity or a non-economic activity? How is it different from your teachers teaching you at school? Discuss 13 ― The Value of Work with your classmates. “ What are some non-economic activities that are important to you and your family? Why are they valuable? 187 13_100724_v8_.indd 187 11-Jul-24 4:29:59 PM  Types of Economic Activities Kavya was excited to go to her aunt’s house in the village of Kamlapur. On the way, she saw that a highway was being built near the village, and the construction site was abuzz with activity. Large machines, such as excavators and bulldozers, were being operated by dedicated technicians. This new highway promised to reduce the travel time to the nearest town from five hours to just two hours. Kavya thought that she would be able to visit her aunt more often once the highway was ready, since it would take less time to travel there. Happy with this thought, Kavya ran to greet Exploring Society: India and Beyond her aunt and to eat the delicious jalebis that she had made. They were Economic Life Around Us joined by Kavya’s uncle, who had just returned home from work. He is a technician in a construction company and operates a bulldozer. He receives a monthly salary for his services. The next day, Kavya’s aunt woke up early to finish her share of the household chores and left for work. She is 188 13_100724_v8_.indd 188 11-Jul-24 4:30:00 PM  employed at the village post office and is paid a monthly salary. In the evening, after her office work, she also conducts online classes to help students prepare for school exams. She charges a weekly fee for these classes. On the weekend, Kavya visited a local mango orchard with her aunt to have some delicious mangoes. There she saw Sahil, a farm labourer who was using a tractor to till a farmer’s land nearby. He earns Wage: a daily wage for his efforts. He gets some payment for his A payment made by the work in cash, and the remaining part of the payment in employer the form of mangoes of equal value. The mangoes that he to the worker for receives as a part of his work are called payment in kind. a specific period of time. THINK ABOUT IT Payment On your way from home to school today, can you recall the in kind: A non-cash various economic activities that people are engaged in? In 13 ― The Value of Work payment what ways do you think those people are paid? that is received for the work As we now understand, economic activities are those that performed. have value in terms of money. Economic activities also add value at each stage of the process of transforming some- thing into another form. This is called value addition. 189 13_100724_v8_.indd 189 11-Jul-24 4:30:01 PM  Let us take the example of Kavya’s father, Rajesh, to understand this. Rajesh is a carpenter who buys wood from a nearby market for ₹600 to make furniture. He uses special tools and other materials for building the furniture. Rajesh sells a chair for ₹1,000 each in the market. Exploring Society: India and Beyond Economic Life Around Us The wood for the chair costs ₹600. So, what is the remaining ₹400 (₹1,000 – ₹600) for? It is the monetary value of Rajesh’s skill, time and effort, which went into making that chair. Rajesh has added value to the wood by turning it into furniture. From buying the wood to selling the chair, these activities involve payment. They are, therefore, a part of 190 economic activities. 13_100724_v8_.indd 190 11-Jul-24 4:30:02 PM  LET’S EXPLORE Put a  against those activities/professions that you think create monetary value. Can you add two activities and examples of money related value creation to the empty rows at the end? Example of Activity / Profession money-related value creation 1. Baker 2. Tailor 3. Farmers repairing their tractor 4. Doctor 5. Parents cooking dinner for their family 6. Scientist 7. Person taking care of a sick grandparent 8. 9. The Importance of Non-Economic Activities While non-economic activities may not involve money, the value they generate is important in our lives. 13 ― The Value of Work Sevā: selfless service We see sevā in many places such as temples, gurudwaras, mosques and churches. For instance, langars or community kitchens at gurudwaras serve food to every visitor for free. These practices foster a sense of satisfaction and gratitude 191 13_100724_v8_.indd 191 11-Jul-24 4:30:02 PM  for what we have, and they are also a way of contributing to society without expecting anything in return. Temple distributing prasād to devotees Langar at the Golden Temple The strength of community participation The Swachh Bharat Abhiyan is based on the collective efforts of all Indian citizens to keep our surroundings clean. Individually, we keep our homes and surround- ings clean. People have also come together to clean up streets, roads, Swachh Bharat Abhiyan parks and other public places or community areas. Together, Exploring Society: India and Beyond these efforts lead to a clean home, neighbourhood, society and nation. Another example of collective Economic Life Around Us community participation is the celebration of Van Mahotsav (the festival of forests) in India to promote awareness about the value of trees and the conservation 192 Van Mahotsav 13_100724_v8_.indd 192 11-Jul-24 4:30:04 PM  of forests. The initiative brings together members of the community for tree plantation drives. THINK ABOUT IT “ Many communities in India have similar practices that involve community participation. Can you identify a few from your area? “ We celebrate many festivals in India. During these festivals, people gather to organise all the various activities. They decorate the place together and share the food that they cook. Are these non-economic activities? Why do you think they still hold value? “ Can you identify community programmes that have been undertaken by your school or in your locality? What did you observe during these programmes? Before we move on... Æ In this chapter, we learnt about economic and non- economic activities. Æ We also learnt about the value addition that economic activities create. Æ We understood how non-economic activities contribute to social welfare, personal wellbeing and enhance the overall quality of life. Questions, activities and projects 1. How are economic activities different from non-economic activities? 13 ― The Value of Work 2. What kind of economic activities do people engage in? Illustrate with examples. 3. There is great value attached to people who are engaged in community service activities. Comment on this statement. 4. What are the various ways in which people are compensated for various economic activities? Give some 193 examples. 13_100724_v8_.indd 193 11-Jul-24 4:30:05 PM  Noodles Exploring Society: India and Beyond Economic Life Around Us 194 *‘Noodles’ is our abbreviation for ‘Notes and Doodles’! 13_100724_v8_.indd 194 11-Jul-24 4:30:05 PM