I think we all have moments in our lives which stand out in our memory.
The Sangh Meets have always been a part of mine.
It started off as six. Four brothers, and two sisters.
Growing up together, they moved from a small town in Punjab to a suburb in
Dehradun. One by one, the six children passed into adulthood, and began to move
out. They separated, not out of want, but from the need to pave their own way
in life.
Soon, each one was caught up in the struggles and events of
life. They began to spread, both in distance, and in numbers. Six eventually became
20, reaching out into distant corners of the country. They tried hard to keep
in touch in an age where phone calls were expensive, and internet non-existent.
That was, until, one of them decided to take matters into his own hands, and to
stop waiting for an occasion to bring them all together.
In the year 1992, five siblings received a simple message
from the eldest brother – “Let’s meet.”
And so they did.
Packing up their bags for a week, a caravan of 20 adults and
children converged at the small town of Chail near Shimla. Their agenda was
simple – to spend a week with family.
At that point, I doubt any of them knew what they had
actually embarked upon. They hadn’t just come together – they had started a
tradition, one that would continue for years to come. Their lives would
continue to evolve, and they would soon find themselves spread across different
parts of the world, but one thing would remain constant in their lives: the
desire to be with family.
The Sangh had come alive.
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Two weeks from now, the family will converge yet again at a
new location, marking the beginning of 16th Sangh Meet.
