In development practice, community-based models have consistently relied on collectivism as a primary approach to address shared concerns. Issues such as education, water, and natural resource management require people to come together. At its core, collectivism is a process. It begins with acknowledgement-the willingness to recognise a problem as shared. This is followed by the act of coming together. Meetings and collective spaces play an important role here. Through samvaad, or dialogue, uninformed assumptions can be questioned and clarified.
However, the process of collectivism also requires time and patience. It is not built overnight. Coming together has to translate into working together. As communities move from discussion to action, there are also disagreements, conflicts and concerns. It is in this process that relationships deepen, and trust begins to take root. This interdependence strengthens the foundation of collective action.
One of the ways in which Seva Mandir has engaged with collectivism is through its work on the commons. Commons-such as grazing lands, forests, and water resources-are shared assets that serve entire communities. Their preservation depends not on individual effort, but on collective responsibility.
Bringing people together to manage shared resources makes their preservation beneficial and continuity, possible. At the same time, the very act of working on commons strengthens collectivism. Each reinforces the other in a cyclical process: for all, by all.
Yet, this process faces resistance in the present context.
There is an increasing shift towards individualism, often accompanied by a decline in community-centric ways of living. Patience is becoming harder to sustain. Dominant narratives today suggest that individuals can move ahead on their own, overlooking the fundamental reality of interdependence.
In such a context, it becomes important to reassert that true independence is not detached from interdependence. The two are not opposites, but deeply connected. A harmonious and sustainable future depends on recognising this balance.