दिल से संवाद :)

Contributor: Shashank Kalra

Samvaad for the last 2 years has been a healing space for me and like last year, I waited for the email to register for the same. As we learnt that Heritage School (that hosted Samvaad each year) will not be able to host it this year, Prakhar suggested that Youth Alliance should host it. I was uneasy of the idea, not wanting to break the pattern. But it turned out, as we got the opportunity to co-host Samvaad VI, together we decided to serve with whatever we had to create a space nurtured with love, empathy  and compassion at our sacred place, Gandhi Ashram, Kingsway Camp, Delhi. Later we came to know that through a spiritual conspiracy we became the means for Sadanand Ji and Late Nirmala Didi’s dream to make Gandhi Ashram a retreat center to host such spaces, to be fulfilled in part. It was gratifying.

Samvaad for me is so much about the circle. The principles that values each individual’s presence as a unique gift; and when each one offers her/his gifts, a community is formed, wherein each one is enriched. Samvaad started with the Parable of the Stone Soup; but it manifested in practice way before. It was beautiful to witness how each member of YA team in the week prior to Samvaad, brought their unique gifts forward. Gandhi Ashram offers a lot of opportunities to serve. One of us picked up the broom to clean a huge courtyard, another one to clean a really dirty toilet, third one to wash and wipe the hall floor. Some used their art to create gifts with heart; one of us to organize food and another to go around procuring the necessary stuff. All of them in their spirit of Seva (Service) and Sadhna (Spiritual Practice). I have just begun to explore and understand the depths of Seva  and Sadhna, serving with awareness during Samvaad, was an experience of both these things to me.

I feel Samvaad is special because of a lot of reasons, mostly the way it is designed.

First, Working with Questions: Each one is invited to bring a question, answer to which will set them free. In other words, a question that shall help them move forward from the crossroads. Examining the questions opens the possibility of a vulnerable dialogue. While answers being fixed, becomes barrier to it.

Second, Focus on Listening with Curiosity: Sadanand Ji shared that Dialogue is not a conversation or debate, it is like sitting at different points near the river and describing to each other what we see. And when we acknowledge and value the ‘Not Knowing’ in us, it leads us to create a fuller understanding of truth or its multiple facets. Each time we were in the groups of three, listening created a space of healing and collective evolution. We learnt to hold multiple realities while being rooted in what each one of us believed. 

Third, Unpredictable Outcomes: Samvaad doesn’t aim at producing predictable outcomes/end result. It just creates a space, where each one learns what they are ready to learn; which to me is anyways true, no matter how much our education system aims at teaching us x,y,z things, we learn what we are ready to learn. This is rooted in the uniqueness of each human being.

Lastly, Content in the service of process and process in the service of relationships: This year’s theme was Learning and Leadership and we didn’t just talk about leadership, we practiced it. Sometimes by stepping outside our judgments and learning to listen to the other; sometimes by being vulnerable to let others into our journey. Like Ravi Bhaiya asked, ‘Who in this room is not a leader?' expanding the definition of Leader.

One of the things that struck me was bringing together the idea of oneness with collaborative leadership. I have come to theoretically believe in oneness and have been understanding experientially and cultivating the spirit in my own little ways for a couple of years but I never saw it playing a role in building our capacity for collaborative leadership. It dissolves the gross boundaries of separation to give a way to meaningful collaboration.

You just don’t give a hug, you receive it too. While Vibhuti and I welcomed each participant with a hug, I felt the warmth with the feeling of togetherness.

Towards the conclusion, we had a conversation around gratitude. I went upto Sadanand Ji and shared that I really appreciated the way he is able to listen with curiosity to each person and make everybody feel important, to which he replied with certain conviction and emphasis, ‘Because everybody is important’. It just struck with me deeply. Yes, each one of us is equal and a very important creation of the creator and deserves to be loved and listened to.

In the end, I was touched by the honesty with which everybody in Youth Alliance Team shared what they felt during the whole experience. Ravi Bhaiya had beautifully and aptly put learning during the time in three ways:

• Learning from each other, 
• learning with each other and 
• learning from ourselves in the company of others.

I am grateful to Sadanand Ji, Kranti Ji, Ravi Bhaiya, Mahesh Ji, Ruchi Ma’am, Prerna Ma’am for planting the seeds of Samvaad that are blooming in different ways.

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Find some pictures of Samvaad VI on this link. Find the documented blog of Samvaad IV (2014): https://samvaadblog.wordpress.com/