Right from his entry into RSS fold through a shakha, each volunteer or swayamsevak has clear understanding that the mission and the organization are bigger than the individual. And, that nation is bigger than the organization. Work is organization oriented, not person oriented. This message comes through time and again in meetings, decision making and conduct of individuals.
There was a camp a few years back. A senior activist and head of Sangh’s Juhu area, Vasudev Valecha, a successful industrialist and also a major supporter for local organizations in many ways, was to participate in the camp. He came one hour late due to a traffic jam while he rushed from the airport directly. He was disallowed entry. His junior colleague went to the senior most in-charge of the camp, Bhaskar Rao, and requested him to make an exception for him, trying to buttress his argument by mentioning his dedication and benevolence etc. etc. Chief of the camp was unmoved and said, “How does it matter? Discipline is discipline”, and Valecha ji was sent back. To top it all, he returned back all the way back to city without raising a ruckus and never did he complain about this incident, kept on working with full energy till his last breath.
There are such examples at all levels. The activist is trained through out to sublimate his ego for higher goal of nation building for which organization is the medium. It is not easy to ingrain this state of ‘egolessness’ or genuine humility in an age when even the friend’s friend of a nephew of a municipal corporator can threaten a police on duty with “don’t you know who am I?” I know of friends like Milind and Ravi who gave prime 4-5 years of their lives as prachaaraks and are on back-slapping terms with many ministers, but are back to their humble life style and working selflessly for the society, not expecting anything for the years devoted for nation building.
This overall simplicity and humility of the activists from young to old is a humbling experience for any person. When the ego of a manager becomes bigger than the purpose of the organization, even commercial organizations fail or suffer badly. Case of Lehman
Brothers is too new to be recounted here. We are aware that ego of the CEO in not agreeing to terms of rescue of the beleaguered corporation led to the collapse of not only Lehman but the whole financial system of US, leading to an unforeseen major global disaster. Social
organizations split or become dysfunctional because of this curse. Ego is further boosted by propaganda or personality promotion. This is the reason why RSS people shun propaganda and media consciously. Though, this has affected its image as its critics’ comments have gone unchallenged. It has also resulted in sustained growth of organization, human resources and a sense of joyful brotherhood which is envy of its critics.
Subsuming Personal Choices to Organizational Goal
I have seen people giving up on their pet hobbies due to their pre-occupation with a
responsibility RSS has given them. I have endless anecdotes about such change in a person’s priorities. I will just recount one interesting story. A renowned art director or Raj Kapoor era, Shanti Dev tells us that he refused to go to shakha in Lucknow as it clashed with his flute classes. One day his prachaarak late Deendayal Upadhyay jokingly told him, “Shanti, don’t listen to your shikshak and carry on with your music lessons. After all, when the country is on fire, you can play your flute!” This was prior to independence. Young Shanti dropped his flute lessons from that very day and resumed his attendance in shakha.
Most of the prachaaraks, generally, have great academic credentials and could have been great professionals had they not given up these worldly pursuits. Many a talents of senior activists are subdued towards the greater goal. There are very few exceptions to this
philosophy and such people have done very well in the fields they have gone in. I can talk of late Sudhir Phadke, a highly respected music director and singer from Maharashtra as an example. Though, I personally believe that such talents should be allowed to grow and make a place for themselves in the society and serve society in a different way. But, if such people heed to a higher calling, well I am in a minority! And one has to admit that unless there is focused devotion to nation building exercise and readiness to sacrifice self interest in any way, it is not an easy task. Call of a higher goal will ultimately override all other
considerations. A volunteer is reminded that service to motherland cannot be a ‘time pass’, to be taken up at a ‘suitable free time’.
Things will happen only when this service itself becomes the prime goal and every other pursuit is tailored to that end. An evocative Sangh song reminds one that, “it is easy to be a moth and burn oneself over the glowing flame of love, but it is very difficult to be a lamp that burns self, atom by atom, to give light to others. Path to dedicated service is, indeed
difficult.”
I recall a gentleman, Vijay Swami, an engineer with a decent job and good life in Pune. He went to hear a talk by a missionary of Vivekanand Kendra. After hearing him talk about Arunachal Pradesh and Vivekanand Kendra’s work there, he felt that there was a higher calling than the mundane satisfied life he was living. He left his job and went there. He is living there for more than a decade now and is like a citizen there, working with locals, running schools, dispensaries etc. Currently, he is heading a new project for a University there specializing in Ancient traditions and Tribal cultures.
Nurturing and Promoting Talent
One of the secrets behind sustained growth of RSS as an organization is recognizing a talent and nurturing it. The promotion of a volunteer through the organizational ranks as an activist and a senior worker is strictly based on performance and his dedication. The senior activist (kaaryakartaa or worker) of a particular locality or region keeps a watch on the work being done by junior activists and recognize their talent on different parameters. The next job is to persuade that person to take up a responsibility.
It is amusing that RSS is the only organization where a promotion is dreaded by an activist. Reason is that he would have to work harder and dedicate more hours of his day to day life for this work. Never in my experience, have I found a person being promoted due to his closeness to a senior. Nor have I found a deserving person being overlooked because of his social or economic status. Yes, there can be some mistakes when an unsuitable person is picked up. But, all concerned people understand that it is human to err. When something like this happens, the affected person jokes that “he was falsely accused of having a quality which he didn’t possess!” It is possible that a person may be given a responsibility sometimes because there is nobody better available at the time. But, it is striking that the person ‘accused’ of having a particular quality, then works hard to acquire that talent and deliver results. It doesn’t surprise anybody when a physical instructor is promoted to be an
intellectual trainer; or a good singer is made responsible for catering arrangements of a camp. The underlying lesson is that if a person has decided to dedicate a major part of his life for the organization and the society, he will surely work hard to acquire any talent that is required
to fulfil his mission. This horizontal movement across the different disciplines is not very common in other organizations though there may be exceptions.
Shunning Organizational Politics
Sometimes, two people in a team don’t see eye to eye on many issues, nor does their style of working match. They may have heated arguments during meetings which sometimes carry outside too. One is amazed when a worker proposes the name of the same person, with whom he has had serious differences, for an important assignment. This is because he feels that he is best suited for that responsibility. I have gone through such moments myself. Organizational politics is firmly eschewed. A Sangh poem says, “The ultimate goal of this path is not rising to higher positions of power.” There are cases where a person was removed from a post if he was found to be behaving in a way contrary to expectations from his
position. The case of late Vasantrao Oke, prachaarak of Delhi during and after partition is well known in Sangh lore. He was one of the most powerful public figures in those times. He had an imposing personality. But, when it was felt that his ego was getting better of him and he was treating himself as bigger than organization, he was transferred by Guruji, the then RSS chief, to another position. He was so incensed that he resigned and left the organization. The reconciliation happened after decades.
According supremacy of organization and the mission, conquering personal ego for higher objective, promoting talent irrespective of personal likes and dislikes has led to a robust organization and team of workers difficult to find any other social organization.
Shri Balasaheb Deoras, the third Sarsanghchaalak of RSS, used to call swayamsevaks, ‘Dev durlabh’ team of workers, i.e., a team that even gods would find difficult build.