February 2008 Edition
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SUCCESSION is always a tricky thing to handle. The perception is that we Indians are not good at it and that we have little respect for organisational structures, shy away from accountability, get too emotional and so on and so forth. This may or may not be true about us as a people as a whole. But there is no escaping the fact that in India succession does not happen effortlessly, be it in the corporate sector or among NGOs. Organisations tend to revolve around individuals and as time passes they mirror their predilections, power equations and social networks.
Now, to be fair, it is just human to want to hang on if the going is good. But if organisations are created for bigger goals than individual ambitions, the challenge is to structure them so that the mantle passes ----- at all levels. How much can one do for a cause or a brand or a business after a point? Others are needed to bring in new energy and refresh the sense of purpose --- especially so when public money is involved.
We felt it would be a good idea to showcase Darshan Shankar’s decision to give up the directorship of the Foundation for the Revitalisation of Local Health Traditions (FRLHT) for precisely the reason that he is at the acme of his success. He does not need to hand over 15 years of hard work just when everything he has strived for is falling in place. FRLHT is poised for great things.
But Darshan seems to have prepared meticulously for his departure. A team of secure and efficient professionals is in place. They are equipped to take FRLHT forward. Darshan’s successor, DK Ved, also comes from within. He has the confidence of the others and a commitment to FRLHT’s future. Even more interesting is the transition plan document being prepared by KRS Murthy, former director of IIM Bangalore, on the organisation and the course that it can take. Darshan will continue in an advisory role because he has been key to raising funds and promoting FRLHT. But about the succession there will be no doubt.
FRLHT is a rare organisation in the social sector. A mere idea 15 years ago, it has gone from conserving medicinal plants in the wild to setting up a modern Ayurveda hospital, a laboratory, a crucial herbarium and has been instrumental in influencing national policy on traditional medicine. It is ready for market linkages that will make it self-sustaining. When I first met Darshan in the nineties, FRLHT was in some kind of city office in Bangalore, a flat if I remember right. Now it has a five-acre campus and a huge pool of talent. One thing, however, has not changed: the passion with which Darshan told me about his cause at that first two- hour meeting. At 56, he is much older, but just as intense. What a wonderful way to step down.
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