I love corporate leadership. Unfortunately, this style of leadership has not reached my social world and I doubt very much I am going to see it before I die. I know that it would not materialize but I want to be foolishly hopeful.
It is good to get involved in social and cultural groups including political and religious organizations since they are mechanisms to develop the individual and by extension the community and nation. I have worked with several religious and cultural organizations and have benefited tremendously. I have not only met dedicated volunteers but also acquired new skills that have contributed to my growth and development. I also learned the value of social skills to build and strengthen team work which contributes tremendously to the realization of goals that would have been impossible without the widest cooperation.
One project that stands out is the struggle to develop Indian Arrival Day. May 30, the anniversary of the arrival of Indians aboard the Fatal Rozak, was identified by Ramdath Jagessar as the birthday of the Indian community. Several organizations including the Hindu Seva Sangh, Indian Review Committee, the United National Congress and the Maha Sabha worked together to popularize and educate the population on the historical significance of the date. Ramdath Jagessar, Sat Maharaj, Haripersad Harikissoon, Trevor Sudama, Kamal Persad, Basdeo Panday, Raymond Pallackdharrysingh worked inside and outside of parliament to build and strengthen awareness.
Similar success was experienced much earlier in 1952 when the Maha Sabha came into being. Its school building program was a milestone to put Indians on the road to literacy. The was followed with the birth of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) in 1955 under the leadership of Bhadase Sagan Maraj. This engagement of the PDP succeeded in strengthening our democracy.
While the above revealed the potential of a people when united, at the same time we must acknowledged the disintegration that happens when there is infighting. I have experienced first-hand senseless division of organizations, thus weakening the effort to bring positive welfare to the community.
Leaders, in their anxiety to appear successful took their jahaji bundle and their few goats and sheep to start their own farms. Today, the definition of a successful organization is a one-man show with a band of followers to carry out his every command. In this scenario social issues such as poverty, single parenthood, poor nutrition, and other social disadvantages are never addressed.
The egos of the leaders usually run afoul with the community of devotees being the biggest losers as leadership today is less about service to the members and more about accolades on the leader and activities not rising beyond the chanting a few mantras, singing a couple of bhajans and relishing a sumptuous vegetarian meal. At the end of a Satsangh, the talk among devotees is not the content of the discourse but the taste of the meals served- “the salt in the karhi a bit too high,” … “the roti like silk…it is the best” or the “mango was a bit sour.”
How to develop and strengthen this corporate mindset is never challenged. It is the one man-one woman/ Ravana-Putna leadership style that spell doom for the Hindu community. This Ravana-Putna style leadership is more about allaying the fears and insecurities of the leader than building institutions to serve the welfare of the community.
Luckily, the Hindu mindset is highly individualistic, with not everyone walking off the cliff. It is this identification with the growth of the individual that would save us in the long run and not the Ravana-Putna style insecure leadership that prevails to massage the ego of the leader. Nevertheless, amends would have to be made to ensure that Hindus work as a team to address community and national challenges. If this is not done it will spell disaster in the community and there will be only losers. It is inevitable that Hindus work together for their own survival and benefits.