Prelims

Half Title Page

Intergenerational Harmony

Title Page

Intergenerational Harmony

Unleashing the Strategic Power of Generational Synergy

By

Arpan S. Yagnik

The Pennsylvania State University, USA

United Kingdom – North America – Japan – India – Malaysia – China

Copyright Page

Emerald Publishing Limited

Emerald Publishing, Floor 5, Northspring, 21-23 Wellington Street, Leeds LS1 4DL

First edition 2024

Copyright © 2024 Arpan S. Yagnik.

Published under exclusive licence by Emerald Publishing Limited.

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British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

ISBN: 978-1-83549-161-4 (Print)

ISBN: 978-1-83549-160-7 (Online)

ISBN: 978-1-83549-162-1 (Epub)

Dedication

I dedicate this book to Daya, Nick, Sebastian, Alena, John, and Imad. They provided the initial sunshine, water, and nutrients for the idea of Intergenerational Harmony to germinate.

I dedicate this to my nieces and nephews: Saumya, Shreya, Hetvi, Rutvi, Urja, Hridit, Nisarg, Pranshu, Sharanya, Amay, Aashriya, Aarohi, Hitaay, Surya, Kahan, and Aanya. They are the future generation of my family, Bharat, and Earth.

I dedicate this book to the young tribal children of Anand Niketan Eklavya Residential School in Kaprada, India, whose rejuvenating presence and unhinged laughter strengthened my faith in this work. They are the future of Bharat and Earth.

And finally, I dedicate this book to the generations that have arrived and gone and the generations that are yet to arrive to go.

Foreword

This project is a comet in my life. It appeared out of nowhere and has illuminated my life for the past two and a half years. I hope that now as it moves out of my hands, it illuminates many more lives and generations. It started with the sensitization that every organization I was affiliated with was trying to include youngsters and everyone was struggling. Why was everyone struggling, I had no idea. But once I firmly knew that this was a problem, I decided that something needs to be done about this.

The first opportunity presented itself when I found myself working with a very small group of incredible individuals to plan a global gathering for Initiatives of Change. All the members of the global movement were invited to participate in it. I proposed Intergenerational Harmony as one of the three options for a theme that the event could be anchored around. Everyone gravitated somehow toward Intergenerational Harmony. The work began and many more came forward to lend their helping hand. The culmination of the work came in the form of a three-day event with a vast array of participants from all time zones. The thematic aim of the three days was to increase Intergenerational Harmony by reducing generational biases.

This three-day experiment in increasing Intergenerational Harmony was insightfully successful. I got a firsthand idea of what it is to organize such purposeful events and what level of positive and negative outcomes can be derived from it. I was enriched and energized, but most importantly, I realized that organizing events that focused on Intergenerational Harmony, even on a smaller scale, is tremendously important for organizations and enterprises of all sorts. The need for this was greater than I had imagined initially.

After this experience, as I grew more convinced with the need to bridge the gap between generations, I started thinking of ways to do so. But there did not exist a framework or a guidance tool to do so. Being an academic, I thought of one of the most obvious things to do. Think and write. And that's how the journey began. ERTH was conceptualized and is offered in this book to all those who want to organize small or big events in their family or religion or enterprise or classroom to enhance Intergenerational Harmony.

I now put this book in your hands with the hope that it illuminates aptly to help Intergenerational Harmony materialize and enhance around and in you.

Acknowledgments

I acknowledge the patience of all those with whom I have shared the idea of transforming my idea into a book. I am forever grateful for the encouragement and guidance supplied by respected and revered Prof Sheth. His words were, “Arpan this is important. Get it out as soon as possible.” I also acknowledge Madison who got this project onto a runway. I acknowledge the interest and enthusiasm that Daniel Ridge had in this project from the get-go. His confidence in the merit of the project meant a lot to me when I had little to go. I acknowledge the entire editorial team who has worked on this project. I acknowledge all the people in my life who do not belong to my generation for enriching me and my understanding about multigenerationality through your presence in my life.