Team GB vs the World

It hit me at the Olympic stadium on Friday 10^th August 2012, whilst watching all the other countries alongside Great Britain compete against each other in the running events and Men’s Pole Vault that there is always another view to things that we miss. The whole atmosphere was beyond amazing to experience, sitting between German and Kenyan supporters you’d think we would have become competitive spectators, but the first second into the evening, a feeling of togetherness came through.

 From a T.V screen we are all focused on:

What is our team doing?

How fast will our team run?

How high will our team jump?

How far will our team throw?

Our minds are only concerned on how well our team does and how it competes against other teams, after all it is a competition. But let’s not forget, what we see on the screen if just from one angle at one time. It misses what goes on around for the same seconds. Being in the stadium, was a different experience in itself. There, a British supporter did not only focus on the British athlete performing, but observed and cheered on all athletes. What made me smile most was when Steven Hooker from Australia, got the crowd cheering and encouraging the other athletes even when he was not able to go further on the pole vault. The spirit inside the stadium was of one.

This reflects back to many of the communication activities we have been doing over the past weeks. When people ask those questions:

‘What have you been doing this summer?’

‘What is SIP?’

I understood that one standard answer for all is just not enough. How is a person not aware of Sangh able to understand all the jargon that we Sevikas and Swayamsevaks talk on a day-to-day basis? How do you explain Sangh to them? They don’t settle for ‘a football club’. Going further into it, how do you question yourself and the involvement of Sangh in society? In our heads, we may make sense why we attend Shakha and why we belong to such a deeper organization, but which other person does it make sense to?

Your mother and father? But they lived a different generation.

Your Shakha peers? But they again have different thoughts.

Your friends outside of Shakha? Well their opinions are such that they don’t come to shakha.

However, from doing this project and hearing what these Karyakartas have experienced, it has pushed me to think from other perspectives more. I am not saying having an opinion or looking from one angle into things is wrong, it shows a focus, something you can go deeper into and build a passion for. But sometimes, it is good to take a step back, observe from all angles, take in all perspectives and reflect.