The Chaos Within - Outside with the chappals
I leave for Sri Lanka today to renew my visa.
As I have done so many times before, I leave DISHA with Avinash at the helm. Safe hands.
This journey is not just about a visa. It is about a rediscovery of will. Strength. Laughter and tears. My first steps. They need to be taken again. And again. The eternal return of the first steps. Its the same with DISHA. The Wake Up Pune campaign and Celebration of Life event on the 1st of December will end. Then, the first steps need to be taken of our new beginning. We did this last year. We have to do it again.
New beginnings can be tiring. It would be easy to continue that which is not necessarily old. The beginning too, is not necessarily new, or fresh, just... a reaffirmation of why we are here, and what we hope to acheive.
You can see Mikey do this at Sahara Aalhad. In the couple of weeks almost that he has been here the centre feels him. Not just the Aalhad team and the clients, the very centre, the walls, the floor, the door, the murals. It is a reaffirmation of what Aalhad wills itself towards. It is not about one man. Yet, sometimes one man or woman is required to make it not about one man or woman. Sometimes one man or woman moves us from the I to the WE.
About a week ago at the Aalhad office we were discussing the problems we face as NGOs, both internally and within the larger NGO network.
Subharna came up with a concept for a sign: "Check your ego at the door."
Brilliant! What was the Marathi translation? The literal translation sounded tame. Finally Salim pipes up: "Leave your ego with the slippers." See literal translations do not work. But basically, the Indian culture is to remove footwear befor entering a house of office, and so, the ego stays outside with the chappals!
To reaffirm our passion and commitment and will... and all else it takes for us to do what we do... egos have to stay outside with the chappals. And sometimes... so do we... until we learn. Until we reaffirm. Until we are ready to take those first steps. Again. Fuck. Again.
As I have done so many times before, I leave DISHA with Avinash at the helm. Safe hands.
This journey is not just about a visa. It is about a rediscovery of will. Strength. Laughter and tears. My first steps. They need to be taken again. And again. The eternal return of the first steps. Its the same with DISHA. The Wake Up Pune campaign and Celebration of Life event on the 1st of December will end. Then, the first steps need to be taken of our new beginning. We did this last year. We have to do it again.
New beginnings can be tiring. It would be easy to continue that which is not necessarily old. The beginning too, is not necessarily new, or fresh, just... a reaffirmation of why we are here, and what we hope to acheive.
You can see Mikey do this at Sahara Aalhad. In the couple of weeks almost that he has been here the centre feels him. Not just the Aalhad team and the clients, the very centre, the walls, the floor, the door, the murals. It is a reaffirmation of what Aalhad wills itself towards. It is not about one man. Yet, sometimes one man or woman is required to make it not about one man or woman. Sometimes one man or woman moves us from the I to the WE.
About a week ago at the Aalhad office we were discussing the problems we face as NGOs, both internally and within the larger NGO network.
Subharna came up with a concept for a sign: "Check your ego at the door."
Brilliant! What was the Marathi translation? The literal translation sounded tame. Finally Salim pipes up: "Leave your ego with the slippers." See literal translations do not work. But basically, the Indian culture is to remove footwear befor entering a house of office, and so, the ego stays outside with the chappals!
To reaffirm our passion and commitment and will... and all else it takes for us to do what we do... egos have to stay outside with the chappals. And sometimes... so do we... until we learn. Until we reaffirm. Until we are ready to take those first steps. Again. Fuck. Again.
posted by Deep Griha at 12:17 am
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