What is your mission?
The content emphasises the importance of having a mission, highlighting the commitment and responsibility it entails. It showcases the exemplary courage of soldiers like Captain Vikram Batra and Captain Bana Singh, who epitomised selfless service for their country. The text also discusses the broader concept of missions within various societal contexts, including environmental efforts by individuals like Jadav Payeng, and government initiatives like the Clean India Mission and poverty alleviation programs. It underscores the necessity for organized, passionate collective efforts to achieve significant goals, while contrasting meaningful missions with superficial resolutions that often lack commitment.
Table of contents
Key Takeaways
- The article emphasizes the significance of having a mission. It showcases examples of courage like Captain Vikram Batra and Captain Bana Singh.
- It discusses various societal missions, including environmental efforts by Jadav Payeng and government initiatives like the Clean India Mission.
- A mission requires organized, passionate collective efforts to achieve significant goals, contrasting serious missions with superficial resolutions.
- Personal missions can also lead to significant changes, like eliminating bad habits or aspiring to publish a book.
- Ultimately, a mission symbolizes a serious commitment that should not be used loosely, unlike typical New Year’s resolutions.
Introduction
Mission! A word that pumps iron in the body. It gives a sense of responsibility, working in tandem and cohesively to achieve a goal. A reminder that persistently pokes to not forget the goal. The goal is always in sight, and a determination to achieve it.
Bravehearts
(1) Captain Vikram Batra
It was the mission which in 1999 caused Captain Vikram Batra, PVC, to recapture Point 4875 in Kargil. Renamed “Batra Top” in his honour, the peak is a testimony to his missionary zeal. Showing indomitable courage, he laid his life in the service of the motherland. He had pledged that either he would return after hoisting the Tricolour or be wrapped in it. Such was his zeal, exemplary courage and love for his motherland that fueled his passion.
(2) Captain Bana Singh
In the same vein, the story of Subedar Major Honorary Captain Bana Singh showcases a deep passion. It also demonstrates love for the country. Bana Singh faced many challenges, including treachery and extreme weather conditions. He successfully recaptured a post located at an altitude of 21,500 feet during the Siachen standoff in 1987. The enemy deceitfully named this peak Quaid Peak; after recapturing it, the peak was renamed Bana Peak. This location is the highest battlefield, where brave soldiers stand guard, enduring temperatures that plummet to minus eighty degrees Celsius.
Mission needs focus
Mission needs a highly organised and motivated action. It can’t be compared with petty things of life. It involves massive, coordinated action by a team of dedicated people. They are warriors of a cause. Working in “Mission Mode” refers to a coordinated and focused work by a person or a group of people. It involves any coordinated effort to achieve a larger goal that affects the majority of society.
(1) Soldier
A soldier is always on a mission, during war or any calamity. Their mission is to save compatriots and the country from natural disasters. They also protect against calamities and keep public order if need be. A warrior works to achieve the goal of a missionary task. It is necessarily not related to defence, but can be any field that requires focused and concentrated efforts.
(2) Green warrior
A “Green Warrior” has a missionary goal. The goal is to make the Earth green by planting and tending saplings until they become trees. Jadav “Molai” Payeng, known as the “Forest Man of India,” single-handedly transformed a barren sandbar. He created a green belt along the river Brahmaputra in Assam. He started planting trees at the age of sixteen. His mission was to convert the barren patch into a green forest teeming with life. An environmental activist, he moved on unfazed to his mission. He received motivation from himself, without wishing for anything in return. It propelled him. His selfless service resulted in a green patch. His mission is still continuing.
Passion for a cause
A passionate person must have a strong wish to contribute to society. They should have a broader perspective. It is essential to have a fervency for the cause one believes in. Some can be passionate about revamping the flawed education system. Some others worried about the ailing medical system of the country. People often raise their voices against the flaws and irregularities. Unorganised or under the influence of parochial forces, the dissent becomes blunt. It is difficult to make people come together because of many factors. The prominent one is the vicious, selfish mentality, which doesn’t let people come together.
Mission Mode
Taking a task like a mission and dedicating oneself fully to achieve that is termed “Mission Mode”. It is a phase when individuals, groups of individuals or institutions work in a coordinated way. They take the given task as a mission. Mission Mode calls for dispassionate and total involvement in a cause. There are areas which demand wide public support and financial backup. Programmes related to poverty alleviation and the cleanliness of the cities are but a few.
Government involvememt
Tasks that need concerted planning demand a lot of money. Most importantly, they need Mission Mode to succeed. They can’t be successful at the individual level or in a small enterprise. The gargantuan task is unachievable without the government’s involvement. The government take up programmes, schemes and projects for the welfare of society.
(1) Clean India Mission
Clean India Mission (“Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan”) is one such program by the government. It showed the results. Cities started becoming clean. People sensitised, causing their perception to change. Encourage people to dispose of their garbage in the designated bins and the mobile garbage collecting units. Open defecation eradicated, and the construction of toilets encouraged by giving incentives. Proper sewage disposal and treatment taken and completed. (Swachh Bharat Mission)
(2) Poverty alleviation
A welfare government works for the good of society and people. Among other welfare programmes, poverty alleviation is one. It is a massive task taken up in Mission Mode. PM Modi urged departments not to work in silos. A new work culture developed where accountability was fixed. The results had to show, and they did.
(3) PMGDISHA
Another program is PMGDISHA (Pradhan Mantri Gramin Digital Shiksha Abhiyan). It is aimed to make about six crore rural people aware of digitisation. (My Scheme) These are massive programs which affect millions of people across the country. Unlike a simple scheme, it involves huge money and Nan power. This is a Mission Mode program. The aim of the mission is to make digital education available to remote areas of the country.
Personal missions
(1) Leaving bad habits
On the personal level, a mission can lead to a drastic change. It can result in a paradigm shift in an individual’s behavior or pattern. Leaving bad habits like consuming alcohol, smoking tobacco, or using narcotics can be a daunting task. Eliminating these unwanted habits can feel like a mission. They are harmful to public health. These habits also negatively impact overall society.
(2) Creative missions
Someone can have an aspiration of writing a book and getting it published. They work hard to achieve it. For some, it is a mission to finally see their book on bookstands. They long to feel a printed book in their hands. The impending writers with compelling inspiration of becoming a published writer draw them into Mission Mode. They get fully involved in it until it is done. Their hard work pays dividends, and ultimately, they feel not only happy but accomplished. It is really an achievement for them.
Epilogue
Mission is something that shouldn’t be used loosely. It is a serious task and should be used sparingly. To put it another way, it is not like the New Year’s resolution, which is easily broken. Promising to control diet, wake up early before dawn, study hard for exams, or avoid useless commotions are weak promises. Most people fail to keep these promises. It has become a routine. The New Year’s resolutions are becoming a vogue. It serves no purpose. Mission is a concerted, serious task, and it needs to be taken seriously.
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