Vision Poem

I recently found this show-cased prominently on all walls indoors at a nearby hospital. (Rane Hospital - Chembur - Mumbai)

Mission

Leadership through excellence in Healthcare

...

Vision

Respecting every life through advanced technology, professional approach and human touch

...

Value Statement

Every Life has value

I have found similar forgettable vision statements in other city hospitals as well, and cannot tell one from the other. Its as if someone googled "vision statement templates" 7 minutes before a deadline and gone on with their lives.

In stark contrast, here is a verse from Sahir Ludhianvi's 1958 song - Wo Subha Kabhi To Ayegi - "That dawn - has to arrive sometime"

Majboor Budhapa Jab Sooni

Rahon Ki Dhool Na Phekega

...

Masoom Ladakpan Jab Gandi

Galiyon Mein Bheekh Na Maangega

...

Hum Mangne Walo Ko Jis Din

Sooli Na Dikhayi Jayegi

...

Woh Subah Kabhi To Aayegi...

Loosely translated...

When helpless old age

Won't have to struggle on dusty abandoned roads

...

When innocent childhood

Won't have to beg on dirty narrow lanes

...

When we who demand this new order

Wont find a noose around our necks

...

That dawn - has to arrive sometime...

---

Sahir's poem is about disruption, optimism and lays out a rough road-map for a new world order. This is start-up stuff. It like a shot of adrenaline. It invokes imagery. It employs metaphors.

Maybe leaders should shun their templates and elevator piches and hone their vision, not in prose, ppts or 18 m Ted Talks but in Sahir-like expressions. Not in vision statements but maybe in songs or "Vision Poems".