Reflecting on February

It has been a month since returning from the south, and a lot has happened! But first I left out the last stop. The trip down south was one to remember, ending in India's "most progressive" city, Bangalore. India's silicon valley nicknamed the "green city" had European style malls, the beginnings of a skyline forming, and "cool couples" that, don't faint, hold hands...in public! Ohhh Gohhhd! But it was a nice city with a beautiful, large botanical garden. Here are a few pictures:





Over the past month, I have been living in Ahmedebad, Gujarat's cultural and commercial center of 6 million people, and the city that Mahatma Ghandi built his Sabarmati Ashram, one of the important centers of his independence movement and the starting point for his famous salt march. The 600 year old city is cut down the middle by the Sabarmati river, on one side the narrow winding streets, old bazaars, and medieval mosques of "old city" contrast with the opposite side of the river, where cosmopolitan universities, shopping malls, paved highways, concrete bungalows and apartment towers are a testament to the changing times.

In this town, I have experienced and learned first hand so much about the ancient, timeless roots of Indian culture, the strong traditions of my Gujarati heritage, and the issues of modern India (and thus modern man and society); I have also seen the power of those who dedicate themselves to building a community, their community, to better and empower all people in it, in the face of the desperate injustices that plague all societies. I have glimpsed the infinite wisdom of the Vedic scriptures and felt the urgency of what needs to be done now, today. There is no better place than India to understand the complexities of life, the contradictions in human thought and society, and the layers of our shared history (not just east or west, but as the human race). It is also a great place for answers. Calm down Indian people that are reading this... its not the best place for answers because only Indians have the answers to life's tough questions. Staying in India, you are confronted with these questions everyday, and here there are thousands and thousands of different perspectives to answer these questions.

India has been a refuge for ideas and thoughts for thousands of years, a safe place for those persecuted because of questioning authority. From the scientific to the spiritual, spanning the religions of the world and the most modern advancements, India is a crazy blend of seemingly endless contradictory thoughts and ideas, yet somehow (for the most part), they all come together to form a society that takes pride in "having room for everybody". Recent trends of Hindu nationalism disturbingly seem to threaten India's accepting culture, but hopefully in the upcoming elections their movement will continue to weaken.

But along with the availability of fulfilling answers in endless variety, India does not allow you to forget or escape the complex realities of life. Poverty and desperation is not a "for 17 cents a day" commercial that can be switched off, it is a shack in the shadow of new 20 story building. The social tug-of-war between the pressures of ancient heritage and modern materialism loom large, especially within the youth of the country and the huge middle class. Finally, there are just SO MANY PEOPLE, and thus there is so much going on at once, its hard to find your individual place in such a large, interconnected society.

"India is the best of humanity and the worst of humanity" says Sarah MacDonald in Holy Cow (a great book). I experience this first hand everyday with my daily schedule. At the Ashram, we wake up at 5:30am for two hours of yoga and mediation followed by an hour long session on the essence of Vedanta; pure knowledge, everyday I see the world in a different perspective. Then, I grab a rickshaw or hop on the municipal bus and ride through the city to the banks of the Sabaramthi River to the NGO where I help out; on the way, I glimpse the realities of the developing world and the cruel stigmas that are often a result of the corruption of the same concepts I learn in the mornings. However, I arrive at my volunteer site where a small group of young Indians born abroad is now back in India for a year working with Indicorps, a grassroots development organization that connects the Indian diaspora back to India. In Ahmedabad and across India, over 30 Indian kids from abroad have come back for a full year to live in and work with struggling communities, from helping rural village women start their own businesses to improving maternal health in city slums. Indicorps focuses on grassroots improvements, where one Fellow engages one small community, for a year of personal growth and intimate change. This isn't the more "glorious" and much easier work of raising money and donating it to a cause, this is the hard, one-on-one interaction that inspires real, long-lasting change. It is an interesting journey each day, starting from the philosophical base, riding through the highs and lows of modern India, and finally to a unique vision of our shared responsibility in addressing the issue of our society; none of these three aspects are independent of each other, and seeing ideas in action, for better or worse, runs throughout the various phases of my day.

Okay, I feel like I am rambling, haha, but before I head out to travel again, I will try and post some pictures and stories of specific experiences that I have had while in Ahmedabad. I hope everyone has a safe spring break!