KVMAA Long-term

I have been thinking of about the happenings of the past month when I was "found" by my classmates, introduced back to the group and accepted back into this wonderful club. To cherish and reminisce on the good old times has been un-filtered joy for me and has energised me like nothing else ever has since I left school in 1980. However, I am starting to feel a bit worried and uneasy about the long-term. Let me explain what I mean. As i have watched me or newer members of our old alumnus initiated back in, I couldn't help notice people going through distinct phases that I call DCBA (ABCD in reverse, if you will) for lack of a better terminology. Let me explain....... Clearly, the first phase starts with... Discovery - the phase when one is "found" by his/her classmate(s) and re-introduced to the group. Both the person discovered and the group get a momentary high and it is a joyous reunion a la a Manmohan Desai flick. This phase passes quickly to the next which is Cherish - This is where one goes through all the old mails and starts to share his memories of friends, school, teachers and the like and events start to unfold. A lot of checks on identities and facts happen at this stage. The feeling is still joyful but a bit moderated. This with time leads to the third phase which is Belonging - I see most of the people after the first few weeks of discovery moving into this phase. There is a sense of belonging to the group and occasional interactions but with a sense of short-term purpose to get some things done, say for the local meet or the big Alumni meet etc. Some are more passive and probably read the mails, feel good and satisfied with their sense of belongingness. Many of us are all in this phase in one way or another at present and will remain so for many more months to come. Thanks to the Vizag meet of Dec, we would all be re-energised and recharged and will keep it going for many months. No problems thus far....... What happens in the long term? Yeah! i hear someone saying "in the long term we are all dead" but wait....... the natural evolution could be to a phase of Apathy - as we run out of things to share and speak of or do or discuss. When this happens, I am worried, we will inevitably start to become apathetic except for occasional meetings at local chapters and a few emails once in while. Mighties..... think...... What do we do now..... today... to prevent this from happening in the near future. By sheer destiny or otherwise, we have created here an unprecedented source of positive energy that seems to be getting bigger and stronger by the day. How do we grow it, tap into it and keep it self-sustained in the long-term. To keep it simple, in my opinion, we need at least 3 things - Context, Commitment and Continuity. Context for me is a larger purpose or a mission for our KVMAA. It could be social responsibility issue - primary education, health, women's empowerment that in some way gives back to the community, or helps formulating or influencing thought, public policy on a broader canvas. In my view, if many of us connect up to this concept and are ready to COMMIT some of our own time, we could ensure CONTINUITY of this wonderful forum under the umbrella of this larger mission.