The present-day young generation is being increasingly attracted towards personality grooming programmes. Scores of young men and women, and even teenagers, are joining grooming institutes and spending hefty amounts with a view to improve and smarten their personalities. Many such places charge as much as ten to twenty thousand rupees for 5-7 day courses. Nevertheless, the youth are not getting the desired benefits. In spite of all the labor and expense, their personalities fail to develop the magnetic pull which they so cherish, or the character traits which could ensure their success in life. The famous maxim "All that glitters is not gold" is proving right in regard to these institutes. There is, however, a positive aspect to this phenomenon. It signifies an increasingly strong desire in the youth to refine and reshape their personalities, their awakened awareness about themselves and their growing sense of responsibility towards life. This pleasant trend gives a sense of hope. Lucky indeed is the nation whose youth is alert about their overall personality development. They appear to have realized that now-a-days labor by itself is not sufficient for opening the doors to success. The psychological impact cast by the personality, too, is important. If we want to make a mark in the world, we will have to cultivate some specific attributes in our personalities. The first of these is effective witnessing: That is, objectively witnessing with deep understanding what occurs or exists before and around. Only those who have this penetrating understanding are able to utilize their strengths effectively. Witnessing requires a very keen and perceptive vision; a vision, which is free from the defects of prejudice and ego-sense and whose essence is what the scriptures call 'neer-ksheer-vivek', that is, the subtle discriminative power. We should be able to assess, in the very first meeting, the general temperament, firmness of character, grasp of the subject matter and foresight of the person whom we are meeting. It is this discerning ability, which will tell us how we can deal with the concerned person in the best possible way. If we are able to do this, every encounter will become an educative experience. This method is particularly effective in times of interviews, etc.

- courtesy Akhand Jyoti