Q.Using Maslow's hierarchy of needs, analyse what kind of motivational forces might have motivated the great mathematician S.A. Ramanujan and the great shehnai Maestro Ustad Bismillah Khan (Bharat Ratna) to perform exceptionally in their respective fields. Now place yourself and five more known people in terms of need satisfaction. Reflect and discuss.

Ramanujan and Ustad Bismillah Khan are best understood as examples of individuals whose extraordinary, sustained achievement reflects self-actualisation — an intrinsic drive to realise their fullest potential in mathematics and music respectively — while still needing lower-level needs (safety, belonging, esteem) reasonably met along the way.

Maslow's Theory of Self-actualisation organises human needs into an ascending pyramid: physiological needs (hunger, thirst) at the base, then safety needs (freedom from physical/psychological danger), then belongingness needs (love, being loved, seeking others), then esteem needs (a genuine sense of self-worth), and, at the very apex, self-actualisation — the motivation toward the fullest possible development of one's own unique potential. Maslow described a self-actualised person as self-aware, socially responsive, creative, spontaneous, open to novelty and challenge, possessing a sense of humour, and capable of deep interpersonal relationships. A lower level dominates as long as it stays unsatisfied; only once it is adequately met does the next level take over — which is why Maslow observed that comparatively few people ever reach true self-actualisation.

S.A. Ramanujan (the self-taught mathematical genius) and Ustad Bismillah Khan (the legendary shehnai maestro) are widely regarded as examples of individuals whose life's work reflects self-actualisation — an intense, sustained, largely intrinsic drive toward realising their fullest creative and intellectual potential in mathematics or music respectively, often continuing to pursue their craft with the same passion regardless of external recognition, material comfort, or difficult personal circumstances. This does not mean their lower-level needs were irrelevant — like anyone, they needed food, safety and supportive relationships (Ramanujan's mentorship by G.H. Hardy, for instance, reflects both belongingness and esteem support) — but the driving, defining force behind their extraordinary, sustained achievement is best understood as operating at the self-actualisation level: pursuing mastery and creative expression as an end in itself.

The second part of the exercise — placing yourself and five other known people (real or public figures) along the hierarchy — is a personal, reflective exercise: for each person, identify which level of the pyramid currently dominates most of their attention and effort (someone worried about daily meals or safety is working at a lower level than someone absorbed in creative or intellectual pursuits for their own sake), and explain the reasoning honestly rather than assuming everyone aims for the top.