Write for Change

Society today has problems. Economic and emotional depressions, terrorism, climate change, racism, crime, disappearing resources, increased consumerism and poverty to name but a few. As a modern thinker you know that the only way to overcome these obstacles is to change the way society thinks and acts as a whole. You know what the ideas and solutions for change are, but your voice alone goes unheard, you need a stage upon which to educate the masses. That stage is the Book for Change. A book compiled by men and women just like yourself, dedicated to opening the hearts and minds of all who read it, changing our outlook on life for a better humanity.

This is your opportunity to become one of today's new breed of thinkers, the chance for you to get published and present you ideas to the world. Visit TheBookForChange.com to get involved!

Setback

While looking at the Nutritional Content of SSV I thought why not attempt to try and solve the problem from a more grassroots level i.e. by trying to implement a healthy eating scheme within Shakha. However there is a big difference between having an idea, talking to others about it and actually going ahead with such a plan. From talking to others there seemed to be a positive reaction to such a scheme yet when it came down to the crunch everyone had things to do on that particular day.

It does become slightly dis-heartening when you put in effort to try and change things even slightly and yet the response isn’t there and although I did feel like this for a time I decided there is no point in ruing the chance but instead to create another chance and look at what can be improved upon to make sure this does not occur again. So I’m trying to strip it down to basics and think what would entice me to such a scheme...

Graduation

Graduation is a strange time, emerging from the student slumber and awakening into the ‘Real World’. Up until this point we have been coaxed and guided into certain paths yet by the time you throw your mortar up to the heavens, you are expected to know which path you would like to continue to follow.

For me personally it was only during the final year that I started to actively think about my future and my career for myself rather than simply following what had been set forth in front of me. Many of us are set on auto pilot and although we like to think we decide a great many things for ourselves these decisions are cropped and shaped by others. Thus there is an element of conditioning which occurs resulting in individuals wanting a high paying job in order to purchase a large car/house/clothes/gadgets etc.

I observed this through conversations post graduation with many questions being monetarily centred which seems to be all too telling of our society at the moment where revealing your aspirations to be larger than simply receiving a large pay check to be somewhat strange and not fitting in with people’s expectations.

This may have arisen through the desires of individuals increasing up until they reach a point where when such desires are met, no happiness is felt from them. This is paralleled in a story within “The Kite Runner” where Amir (the protagonist) writes about a man who finds a magical cup and when tears fall into the cup they become pearls. By the end of the story the man who started off poor but happy, tried to find ways to make himself cry and ends up with his wife lying next to him and a knife in hand crying uncontrollably.

Progress and Problems?

Whilst researching for different ways of taking the Sangh Sandesh Interactive I have compiled a short questionnaire to aid in my research which can be found here:

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=tJuAfY3FSD4xt2sJjfiRZg_3d_3d

The questionnaire and its answers shall enable me to hone the wants and needs of swaysevaks and sevikas in relation to the Sangh Sandesh. The main problem shall be the time limit in which responses can be taken as if responses are taken too late I shall not have enough time to research the feasibility and act upon such points.

With regards to the Nutritional content of SSV the main problem I have faced so far is assessing the calorific content of such foods since there are many websites and walkthroughs on how to calculate the calorie intake of most ingredients yet when it comes down to Indian dishes this task is much more difficult. Especially since with Indian dishes there are generally no set ingredients with most participants that I have asked on how they create the same food giving varied answers. This is another obstacle which has to be overcome in some manner.

Abhyas Varg C: Day 2

After a tiring and immensely hot first day the four of us awoke to what would be the hottest day of the year. As the previous day we began with Safai where Sonal and I tidied the kitchen and with Janak and Avnish clearing out the cellar, followed by prathna and meditation. One particular instance which stuck a chord with me was the reading, which at first was difficult to digest but then Ramji gave an example which made it abundantly clearer. He stated that once mobile phones are charged they work very well but sooner or later the charge fizzles out and thus requires another charge. This was paralleled with ourselves and our drive to complete a project or sangh work. I remembered when I finished my first year of SSV and I was revitalised and raring to go, yet after a while the drive seemed to be overridden with other thoughts, hence this example exemplified the importance of re-energising oneself.

After breakfast and the introduction to a crazy invention which I renamed limarmalade (lime and marmalade) we started on our first activity of the day. The four of us walked along to a nearby park where we met Phil a member of the environmental branch of the council where we were given litter picks and bin bags. Our first impressions were that the park was relatively clean and we wouldn’t find much litter around yet after a few minutes we soon realised how mistaken we were. As soon as we started actively looking for litter we saw just how much rubbish there actually was and by the end of the session all of our bin bags had been full to the brim with waste. As a result of the session I felt gratified although with a tinge of disappointment I had not carried such a simple exercise before. The session apart from giving me sweaty hands also made me think about our society and our projects, that we weren’t to look just for the sofa in the middle of the street but to look deeper below the surface while also challenging the problem at its source such as a kids litter program.

When we came back to the Karyalay we discussed Community, with it being the unification of people through a commonality, yet there are many in our community who are in our blind spots i.e. those who we often ignore or forget such as the postman. We should attempt to engage as many people as possible in our community especially filling those blind spots.

We then went on to make the SIP rules, briefly they are as follows:

1. Be impeccable with your word
2. Don’t take criticism personally
3. Don’t make assumptions
4. Always do your best
5. Active listening
6. Stay in contact to share ideas and progress
7. No inhibitions: say what’s on your mind but remember the situation you’re in

‘There is no power for change greater than a community discovering what it cares about.’ From this quote the question was asked 'What is todays Salt?' which when put in context means what is the issue which faces the community today which shall bring the community together since generally people come together when there is something to fight for. Gandhi-ji’s salt march is an example of this where there was a tax imposed by the British on the production of salt which breached their human rights and thus brought together communities. This particular question seemed to be on my mind for the majority of the day with few answers appearing however this is an aspect which we Sipites shall no doubt consider in depth in our own towns.

We also discussed the concept of Active Listening which is essentially putting yourself in the shoes of the speaker to see the point they are trying to make from their perspective without any of your own personal bias.

After lunch from Hot ‘N’ Spicy which seemed to only have cob on the menu turned out to be rather tasty and fufilling before our next session which was about communication. Here we were put through what approach and what language to use when taking to different audiences about SIP, for example when taking to perspective employers to not use the terminology such as HSS but cut to the facts with the skills you have obtained and success of the project. Also the manner in which you speak is very important since an air of positivity about an experience reveals a lot more than simply speech.

We were then joined, unbeknown to us, by Sachin Nanda, Sudhir and Amritji Chandegra and we were put to the test and questioned about SIP and Sangh beliefs. If you had told us we would have faced such an onsaulght about beliefes we hold close to our heart then we wouldn't have believed how difficult this part of the session would be. Yet it turned out to be one of the most difficult points of SIP thus far but also revealing areas we must improve upon. We fell into a trap of using terminology they were not used to and also maybe reacting to hastily rather than pausing for a moment to think about what we really wanted to say and how it should have been presented to them. It seems sometimes things are felt better than they are articulated.

After this shock to the system we slightly more prepared for the second challenge when Vinod came in to talk to us about a scheme held in Leicester aimed towards youngsters with a political mindset. We then went about explaining Sangh and SIP better than previously yet still falling into some traps. From this session we learned to always be prepared and more importantly to simplyfy our arguments and beliefs and package them in a way which is easier to understand by others.

After all of this we would have been forgiven to think we would have had a nice simple dinner prepared by Dharmesh and Dipvandener but instead we were given the task of making dinner with a budget of £10 for 7 people and including a small aubergine. Such a task didn't seem that difficult to myself since I have been used to this through the experience of University. We ended up creating a feast which included brushetta as a starter with pasta bake as the main and a dessert of rasmala (which was left from saturday by NHSF's own Miten)

After such a hectic day we ended with Dharmesh not eating the food we had lovingly made for him, a recap of the day and looking forward to some well deserved rest.

Unexpected start to SIP

After a night of unprecedented heat and lots of tossing and turning further enhanced by the fact I was using a hoody as a pillow since I had forgotten to bring one, the day had finally come, the beginning of SIP. Awaking at 6.30am was something which I had not been used to as of post exam celebrations and as the rest of the SIP participants will tell you I am not a morning person yet I was ready to get stuck into the first activity after breakfast.

There we all were, sitting eagerly awaiting the start of a new venture, a new exciting chance to aid Sangh in an innovative way, when Dipvandana and Dharmesh walked out of the room! The four of us thought they would be coming with something they might have forgotten to bring and thus in that time we sat and chatted, got to know each other before resting our eyes on the table in front of us. This table had many different objects on it but the one which took our collective eyes was the big red and white board game which takes everyone back to their childhood: monopoly.

We became caught up in the game for about an hour which helped break the ice between us four, even forgetting Dharmesh and Dipvandana were gone. As the start of the second hour began we decided to make a start on our projects and discussed ideas with each other and writing out initial plans until the session was complete.

This first session was named Choice, it was our own choice to play monopoly and mess about at the start but we then decided on our own terms to start working upon our projects. This would be replicated when we went back to our own towns since we would not be micro managed but our progress would be down to us. This was not the way we envisaged the start of SIP but we all felt we had gained something from it especially the new ideas and perspectives of our peers and we looked forward to the rest of the sessions hoping they were to be as imaginative as the first.

My SIP Project

Namaste,
One of the projects I have taken on for SIP is to take the Sangh Sandesh interactive, i.e to use the technology available to make it leap of the screen or paper and thus easier to engage than just a standalone piece of literature.

I have talked to many people so far including friends and family and even those who you may not even think to ask such as the shop assistant at your local corner shop and even your driving instructor. These individuals are still a part of our community and thus still have valuable experience and knowledge that may help in such projects. As expected there were the myriad of usual answers such as using facebook and twitter to expand readership yet from the unusual sources such as through the simplicity of children I have found various other methods including the use of sms text, humour and even quizzes.

Furthermore I have uploaded the Sangh Sandesh through a simpler pdf web viewer to encapsulate the magazine feel with a simple turning of a page. Have a look for yourself here with the latest issue.

http://issuu.com/sanghsandesh/docs/ss_apr_jun09_web