On our recent trip we
saw the highlights of Northern India: Old and New Delhi, Agra and Jaipur. These
are huge teeming cities. Agra, the smallest of the three and considered a
medium-sized city, is over 4 million in population. Delhi and Jaipur are each in
the 15-20 million range. Delhi is the capital of India and Jaipur is one of the
more up-to-date “modern” cities.
In Delhi we were able to see the familiar sites
of Mahatma Gandhi’s home and site of his assassination, The War Memorial (India
Gate) and the President’s house, as well as the Baha’i Lotus Temple. In Agra we
visited, of course, the Taj Mahal. In Jaipur we visited the Amber Fort and rode
elephants to the top, we rode rickshaws through the old “pink” city – including
the Palace of Winds, watched a demonstration of Oriental rug dyeing and
weaving, and visited a gem shop where we saw a demonstration of gem cutting and
polishing. Throughout it all we were able to eat the most wonderful food in the
world! The worst we had in the most depressing of eateries was absolutely superb.
We couldn’t have been more pleased and sated.
However, because of the populations we
encountered we also witnessed the extremes of poverty there. There were people
living in hovels and shanties not much better off than the roaming animals
living around them – cattle, pigs, goats, sheep, dogs and cats. I asked our
Guide about them – living in abject poverty in the middle of bustling cities.
He told me that India (over a billion people) was really two countries – urban
and rural.
The urban India consists of about half of the
population. It is moving forward while fighting all the typical “modern”
calamities – smog, zoning, traffic and infrastructure issues that plague
growing metropolitan areas. Rural India is backward, has resisted change, is
culturally stuck 75 years ago, is untrusting of education and health care
initiatives, and wants to remain existing as their forefathers did. But it
isn’t working anymore. They cannot make a living. They no longer can totally
exist in a rural barter economy. Their children will be less prosperous and
sufficient than they. So, they are moving to the cities. Some have sold their
meager farms to developers and, believing they are rich, move to the city to
live a “life of luxury.” But they have absolutely no life skills for urban
living. They spend most of their money on a down payment for a small house or
condo with no idea that they have to make monthly mortgage payments. When those
payments come due, they are bewildered and lose all they have recently
acquired. Hence, the hovels and shanties we saw, as well as the begging and
attempts to sell trinkets.
It was awful; it was fascinating. It was a
living crucible of urban versus rural adaptation to a globalized economy in the
Information Age. Although it was more stark and severe, it was a fuzzy,
in-your-face mirror of the urban/rural divide we are seeing emerge here in the
U.S.
However, many, if not most, of these
impoverished displaced rural folks were also vendors plying their wares at
every opportunity. Around the more famous tourist sites we saw permanent
“gypsy” villages of clapboard shacks and shanties. They were attempting to be
as clean as possible but they were relentless in their desire to have me part
with a few coins in exchange for their trinkets. Some of the times I felt
exactly as a piece of rotting meat must feel watching the flies begin to gather
around.
Quite often there would be larger, more robust
vendors who would push their way to the front to hawk their goods. I noticed,
however, that the other vendors would simply move out of the way to wait their
“turn” to get in front of me. Where was the anger? Where was the: “Hey, you, I
was here first. What are you doing?” I tried to imagine this in New York, Boston,
Chicago or Saint Louis. I couldn’t. There would be fistfights, shouting,
shoving. A melee. Police would get involved. People would get hurt.
But not in the India I saw. Why?
They are a serene, gentle and accepting people.
I think it is their heritage of Buddhism and Hinduism. They accept – they are
aware without fear – without guilt for their circumstance. There was no
evidence, as there is here, of a seething underbelly of hate, anger, resentment
and fear. Their gentle acceptance was palpably evident – even amidst the
throngs of vendors. I could “feel” it. I was impressed.
Last week in A Course In Miracles (ACIM) a
Japanese lady who has recently joined our group mentioned that she was told,
when she asked “What is ACIM?” that it was a course in Buddhist and Hindu principles
couched in Christian language. That description really resonated with me – in
light of what I had just experienced in India.
These observations and explanations helped me.
I hope it is helpful to you as well.
Although these messages are mostly for me,
thanks for listening to me and getting to know me – warts and all. As always,
feel free to forward this message to your friends, family, and those
accompanying you on your spiritual journey.
Don
#1 Oct 2016
Copyright 2016
