August 28th... Flying visit to Chennai..

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Out of the net for three days. Fying visits to Chennai on 28th and to Erode on the 30th. 29th was Shravana Poornimaa, day for License renewal .

Went to Chennai for inauguration of ABVP Karyalayam. There was a day long meet of old workers of Vidyarthi Parishad. Recall of memories is always a refreshing experience. Probably, that is the reason why many want to live with 'glorious' old memories. Those days when our only asset was Enthusiasm at its best. Karyalaya, funds, facilities like vehicle, phone, etc. support, numerical strength, and other resources were on the lower side. Peanuts, Tea, Walk, long and short ones. Nevertheless, it was a great experience with high level of affectionate team working and sharing, hectic activism, great dreams. Nagpur Sangam Chawl Karyalayam was a tiled hut, but was always full of students. Similar in Chennai Ezhumbur Karyalaya. Now, there is no paucity of resources. We have best Karyalaya, powerful support, access to political power, vehicles at our disposal, inter-connecting communication network, funds,. Yes. To retain Enthusiasm and Team-work, an affectionate one at that, despite all these resources is , is a Big challenge. Longevity and utility of an organization depends on this one Challenge.

We see this phenomenon in families too. Families struggle to meet basic needs but remain together. There is lot of sharing, support, mutual love and affection. Progress at material level is a natural phenomenon and it happens over a period of time. Each member of the family contributes his own mite towards progress. The family now owns a house, a few vehicles, comforts, and each member bringing in earnings. When the members sit together and recall memories, there are so many, memories of the days of sharing, days of struggle, days of bringing out the best in one-self, love, affection and mutual support. Yes. To retain mutual love, affection, support despite all the comforts, luxuries, and affluence at your disposal is the biggest challenge for the Family.

This requires conscious and continuous effort. Usually, this not seen. I meet so many who recall 'good-old days'. They say, "we stayed in one room, six of us. To go out into the society, work day long and bring in cash in the evening was a hectic effort. Food was not so rich. Every occasion, when you require extra funds, like a festival or sickness, or mishap, was a big big challenge. But we always came out of those situations successfully with mutual support and sharing. There was music, joy in life in our family. Now, I have a huge bungalow for two of us, but ..." and follows a deep sigh..

This is where the concept 'EXPANSION' comes. Expansion of our world from a smaller 'My Family', 'My Children' to encompass a broader unit, say a street, a village, a tribe, a community, etc. Once this expansion is successful, all our resources are for this expanded family. The enthusiasm returns, joy returns, with return of 'sharing'.

There is a word of caution. This effort to 'expand' can not be left for 'post retirement' days. It is to better to start at a younger age.

This seems all the more difficult, for organizations. Things change. Many of the old practices and programmes become irrelevant. Infusion of new blood is a big challenge. Right Balance of Ideal and Mundane efforts is a big challenge. and but yes, this is Possible, if there is continuous and conscious effort....