KARSEWA; Live Management School

When I thought about writing of KARSEWA, I had thoughts on team work and co-ordination in mind, but now as I sit and think a little deeper on it, I realize that it is one of the live Management lesson that a person can go through but before I do so I would like to mention that I have not earned master’s degree in Business administration and hence what I relate here may or may not be in relevance to management lessons as per your qualification.

 For those who have heard about the word KARSEWA but are unaware of the meaning I would take this opportunity to guide you through it.

• In Sanskrit KAR means hand, and hence if you break the word and read, it would mean any voluntary work done by hands.
• According to Arabic Dictionary Q’ar means going deep and hence the Voluntary services provided to clean the tank/pond in the premises of Gurudwara is also termed as KARSEWA.
• If you break the word in Hindi it just means doing voluntary work.

By now you would have understood the meaning and many of you would also be relating it to many voluntary service provided at various religious places and not just Gurudwara’s

After completing almost two third of the round around the tank in Gurudwara Bangla Sahib I decided that I want to participate in this holy Ritual hence I gained permission from mom and asked her to sit at a side while I continue with my wish. At first I didn’t know what exactly am I supposed to do and how do I join in services that were already going on, were people performing the task sufficient for it or would my assistance be of any use. I got into this confusion because I didn’t find any one who was holding responsibility to assign work.  After wandering for around two minutes I decided to join the group who was taking water out from the tank and passing buckets to each other which was finally poured into the outlets or thrown on floor to clean it. I stood at the line which was passing empty bucket back towards the pond, you may laugh on it but the thought that I had in my mind while allocating this task to myself was that I would be able to do this easily and for longer time. While doing so I realized the importance of proper handover process and how important it is to carry on with the task till the time you feel the other person has held his responsibility firmly. How a seen and unseen communication and co-ordination is important to complete the task flawlessly. Had I not been monitoring if the person ahead and behind me have handed over the bucket to me and I have made a grip on it and the same way round to the person whom I was handing over the bucket we would have end up dropping it and hurting the other person, additionally we would have broken the current flow and impacted the time at which the task was getting completed. One amongst us who I would say had excellent leadership skills decided on which direction to move the chain so that we cover maximum area around us. He also motivated the team by chanting Guru’s Name and ensuring people around followed his voice. In between when his voice fainted few of us could still manage to chant at the same rhythm for he had already set a tone for us. When I realized that they are too many people joining my line and I am really not needed there I decided to pick the broom and start cleaning the floor now for optimum utilization of manpower was important.

People around constantly monitored need of the hour and welcomed the inflow and outflow of members without creating  any ruckus or cross questioning, they just gave quick briefing which was mostly through sign language and continued with their task.

 I may end up writing much more on this but you would soon lose interest hence I urge you to be a part of one or the other voluntary services in life for some lessons are better learnt through personal experience than books. Situation handling skills are best learnt through self-experiences.

Manisha Dawar