Remember the adage ‘A family that eats together stays together?’ Well, it’s none other than the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) that is trying to revive the concept of ‘family time’ with its project, “Kutumb Prabodhan”, or family awakening.
“Under this, all family members must meet at least once a week and have at least one meal together,” says RSS’ Ravindra Joshi, the coconvener for the project and a retired professor of economics. The project has been rolled out in all 42 “prants” (provinces) of the country.
RSS karyakartas when travelling stay in the homes of colleagues, rather than in hotels which is their way of getting to know each other’s family. Kutumb Prabodhan is another step towards deepening family ties.
There’s more to Kutumb Prabodhan than just sitting and dining. “We are also promoting the idea of having discussions between family members,” says Manmohan Vaidya, RSS’ Akhil Bhartiya Prachar Pramukh, or publicity chief. But those powwows have to be of a certain quality. “They must go beyond politics/film/cricket,” adds Vaidya.
So what should the tete-a-tetes be about, then? “Family members can discuss about one’s family tree, gods and goddesses, sanskriti, dharma, or desh bhakti,’’ offers Joshi.
And no smartphones on the table, please. “Initially we are beginning with the idea of staying away from TV and mobile phones for an hour,” says Joshi. But the idea is to not make it ritualistic. “Sehej roop se samaj mein parivarik prem ki bhavna lana is pravadhan ka uddeshya hai (The aim of the project is to inculcate love and family bonding in the society in a natural way).”
Like many projects, Kutumb Prabodhan too will be rolled out in, well, phases. In the first, the objective is to get immediate family members to sit together. “Later we will try to get neighbouring families to join in,” explains Joshi.
The possibilities thereafter are, of course, endless. After all, as far as the RSS is concerned, the Hindu Rashtra is one extended family — or, Vasudhev Kutumbakam.
Courtesy: Economic Times
