The inspiration to write this article has come from observing a mango tree for the last seven years. Close to my room in the Universal Solidarity Movement (USM), Indore, there is a mango tree, and whenever I look outside my room, I see it first. I have been observing it since it was a sapling. Sometimes, the tree was an object of my reflection. Looking at it and reflecting on it has helped me learn some lessons.

For about five years, the tree was growing, and I could observe the signs of growth. When it started yielding fruits in the fifth year, its growth seemingly decelerated, and in the year 2023, I couldn’t notice any signs of development on the tree. In the fifth year, it yielded only three mangoes; in the sixth year, 20 to 25; and in the seventh year, about 200 mangoes. The dasheri mangoes it yields are very delicious. In 2023, we shared some mangoes with our friends and neighbours with a note which read: “Mangoes from our Tree”.  

The most important lesson I learned from the mango tree is that one can bear maximum fruits with optimum growth. Maximum growth does not guarantee maximum fruits. After a particular point or milestone, growth or expansion may not yield proportionate fruit or result. After that, the focus should not be on growth or expansion but the result or effectiveness. The second lesson is that proper growth is essential to produce fruits, especially abundant fruits with quality. Without growth, the tree will not have the capacity to produce fruits. A malnourished tree can produce only low-quality fruits, and that too in small numbers. These two learnings apply to individuals, organisations and institutions.  

As a student of Economics, I learned about the Law of Diminishing Marginal Utility. The law states that all else equal, as consumption increases, the marginal utility derived from each additional unit declines. Marginal utility is the incremental utility increase resulting from the consumption of one additional unit. With the consumption of each unit, the satisfaction derived from each unit increases till a particular point, after which the additional satisfaction derived from an additional unit tends to decline. This apex is called the optimum or optimal point. In other words, an individual or organisation’s growth or development cannot be limitless. Along with growth or expansion, one should pay equal attention to impact or effectiveness. After the point of optimal growth, the focus should be on effectiveness and the influence it creates on society.

The mango tree was growing for five years. Whatever nutrients it received were used for its growth. In the fifth and sixth years, yielding fruits consumed some nutrients, and development used up the rest. In the seventh year, yielding mangoes devoured the bulk of the nutrients and only a pittance for maintenance. The mango tree needs resources in the form of nutrients to maintain itself and produce fruits, but after a certain age, its focus is not on its growth but on yielding fruits or its usefulness to others.  

When we apply this principle to an individual, it is common sense that a person has to invest in themselves in human resource development through education, skill development, etc., if they want to contribute to family, nation and the world. After graduation or post-graduation, society expects a person to do something worthwhile in the field of their choice. If that person goes on only collecting degrees and accolades without contributing, they are useless to the family and society. We come across many individuals who continue their studies or research along with their service and significantly contribute to society.    

The optimum theory of population also states that after a particular population size, an increase in population will not result in an increase in national wealth or per capita income. The originators of the theory state it as “Given the natural resources, stock of capital and the state of technical knowledge, there will be a definite size of population with the per capita income. The population which has the highest per capita income is known as the optimum population”.

In other words, the state is underpopulated if the per capita income is low due to having too few people. There will need to be more people, especially people in the working age group (16 to 65), to use a country’s resources efficiently. Many European countries are facing the phenomenon of underpopulation. Currently, China is also on the brink of facing underpopulation because of the rigorous population control it has followed during the last few decades.

If the per capita income is low due to too many people, the situation under these circumstances would be overpopulation. The country would require resources beyond its reach to provide its people with a decent standard of life. Many underdeveloped countries have overpopulation. In the case of India, the population growth is almost at a replacement level: the birth and death rates are balanced.  

Many religious congregations in India are facing a crisis of vocation. Calls to religious life have drastically reduced. Of course, efforts must tend towards increasing the quality of vocations. But, in a scarcity of vocations, there could be a temptation to compromise with the quality of vocations. If religious congregations and dioceses succumb to this temptation, the result could be very damaging.

Religious congregations and dioceses must examine whether they produce fruits in proportion to their growth and expansion. After giving the new commandment to love one another, Jesus told his disciples, “I appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last” (John 15:16). What is the lasting fruit in the case of dioceses and religious congregations? The number of students passing out of their educational institutions, the number of people using their hospitals and health care services, and the number of people who benefit from their social and charitable institutions are, to some extent, fruits or results. But they are not necessarily lasting fruits.

The lasting fruits, based on the teaching of Jesus, are the number of people whom the priests, religious people, and people who work in Christian institutions and organisations can influence with the values and ideals of Jesus. The people they can touch and transform are the lasting fruits.

During the last ten years, I have had the opportunity to visit many Catholic schools in different parts of India, especially in northern and central India. What I have noticed is something disturbing, if not worrying. Only a few priests and sisters are involved in teaching. No priest or sister is involved in the teaching mission in some schools. All are busy with administration. Without interacting with students and parents, how will the disciples of Jesus be able to influence them?

Having interacted with the students and parents, I get the impression that education in many Catholic schools is only an efficient service, but not an effective one because many parents and students are of the view that they are paying the school and in turn, they are getting good service, in the form of good results in the board exams. Nothing more, nothing less. It is just like any other service expected from an efficient service provider. Hence, they don’t feel any obligation or sense of belonging to the school where they studied. That could be why the alums of a school don’t support the school management when anti-social elements attack the school. Of course, there are a few exceptions to the phenomenon mentioned above.

What could be the reason for the inability of those who manage the schools to influence students and parents? Why can’t they touch the hearts and minds of the people they serve? It seems they haven’t learned the lesson from the mango tree I mentioned at the outset. The dioceses and religious congregations focus mainly on expanding and multiplying institutions. I have come across some schools with more than 4,000 students. The school management continues increasing the number of divisions without paying much attention to effectiveness because there is a demand for admissions.

Unfortunately, the school management doesn’t evaluate the impact their education mission is creating on the people, especially students, parents and teachers. Based on my limited study, I have concluded that if a school has three divisions for each class, from nursery to class twelve, with forty students in each division, the school can be economically viable, and the principal and the staff will be able to pay attention to students and parents. Beyond three divisions in each class, the school may not become effective, even if it is efficient.  

Education in India is becoming a business, and competition is a part of business. In the rat race for being at the top regarding Board exam results, one often forgets that education is a mission to transform individuals and, through individuals, society. Failure to balance the expansion and multiplication of educational institutions on the one hand and effectiveness in the form of influencing various stakeholders, especially students, on the other hand, seems to be one of the severe drawbacks of the mission of the Church in India. There is an urgent need to shift the focus from growth to effectiveness.

Any mission becomes effective when those involved can touch the hearts and minds of the people they serve. Let all those involved in any mission learn from nature the vital lesson: OPTIMUM GROWTH WITH MAXIMUM EFFECTIVENESS. May this lesson provide some food for thought for the leaders of the Church in the New Year 2024?