October 23, 2005

NRIPA, a Non-starter

The initiative of Mr N D Bhagavan, a public spirited NRI parent (who has a New Jersey-based son), to put in place an NRI parents association in Mysore remains a non-starter. The response has been lukewarm. No more than seven NRI parents have evinced interest in such networking.
Mr Bhagavan announced the NRIPA move in ‘Star of Mysore’ some three months ago. This was followed up with a website item, which evoked some encouraging response. Mr Bapu Satyanaryana, welcoming the move, shared his thoughts with us in a 11-point message e-mailed from Portland, Oregon (where he was then visiting his daughter’s family). A microbiology student at Eastern Kentucky University, Mr Ashwin Das, thought it was a wonderful idea, and informed his parents in Mysore about the NRIPA initiative.
Yet, when it came to filling in a prescribed form, in confirmation of their interest, Mr Bhagavan had heard from no more than seven NRI parents till last month, when he went abroad. – ‘I reckon it prudent not to proceed until my return to Mysore (in March next)’.
As the saying goes, man proposes, God disposes. When Bhagavan proposes, Mysoreans dispose it.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I am not comfortable with the word 'non starter', the starting got 'stalled' for 2 reasons:
1)I feel that the I did not adequately bring out the Nripa's ' support to members ' theme, and probably many felt that 'here goes one more' to waste our time and money.2)Whenever any new group is established, the sponser or leader has to spend adequate time and efforts to make it start and perform for an uninterrupted, reasonable period.Unfortunately my other preoccupations which took away most of my time did not give me the time span needed to launch / sustain Nripa in Mysore, before leaving for USA.
I did not have the comfortable feel, that if I start the process and leave at the initial stage, it will be sustained by the balance few. I feel it prudent to launch it when I have more time after I return to Mysore and be able to develop continuous interactions and achieve consensus on primary issues / objectives, with atleast a dozen members, with whom I can speak using first names or initials.

So, I shall be relieved and at peace if you use the word 'stalled' in place of word ' nonstarter'.