Why Prabodhan ?

On May 28th 2016, the birthday of Veer Savarkar, the then Hon’ble Defence Minister Late Shri Manohar Parrikarji spoke to an overflowing auditorium at the Lokmanya Seva Sangh – it was perhaps the first time that the doors of this venue had to be closed after accommodating people in two halls. The motley group that organised that talk – Prabodhan Manch Parle – is now an Association of Persons (AoP) – and continues to grow in every sense.

In this age of information overload, it is difficult to get an unbiased and yet knowledgeable view on any matter in the public discourse. Media, in any form, is perceived to be prejudiced and hence incapable of presenting a balanced view on topical matters. Prabodhan Manch Parle, is a group formed by like-minded professionals who sought to address this gap. The group believes that this gap can be addressed through lectures, discussions, interviews and debates organized in an open and unbiased environment – something that’s ensconced in the AoP’s formation note. In short – through प्रबोधन.

The group meets every Friday and has now established a rigor and decorum in its meetings as well as conduct. In keeping with the demands of the current situation the meetings have moved online and the programs are now Webinars. Prabodhan Manch now commands a committed audience across various forms : an audience of touching 900+ for its programs; more than 1050 for its Webinar, a database of over 2500 people for in person viewing, over 7500 viewers subscribed to its channel on YouTube . More importantly, Prabodhan Manch decided to ‘crowd source’ donors through its audience and now has more than 150 donors and over one fourth of them have made repeat contributions.