From Maayan Ravid

Volunteering to write the second blog at the conclusion of our first week in India, I thought I would know what to report home. I thought I would have some new insights and clear understandings, but instead only more questions are added to the curiosity that lead me here, and more questions continue to arise every day. I will share a few of these questions here and tell a bit of our experience thus far.

I would like to open with a quote from the book I am reading here: "India- A Travel Journal." The book was written by Ezriel Carlebach, a descendant of German Rabbis and one of the main figures of early Israeli Journalism. He opens the book with a quote from his discussion with the late Indian leader Nehru. Carlebach asks him: "Well then, what should we do?" and the latter responds: "That is a typical Western question, an Indian would ask: What should we be?"

Part 1: Indian Delhi

Our first Shabbat was spent in Delhi where two things became very clear, very fast. The first- We are in one of the biggest countries in the world, both in size and population. So many people, so many cars, so many colors, so many smells, so many rickshaws, so many storefronts, so many beggars, so many gods. So much noise, makes us seem very small. The second understanding- This is a different world, what some may call the 3rd world, and our Western Standards are challenged everywhere: manners and etiquette, personal space and hygiene, garbage and pollution, standard of living- under a tin roof or by the roadside; standard of driving- even worse than in Israel; or other social standards- like the overwhelming statistic of 23 million children between the ages of 5-14 employed in the Indian workforce.

It makes you wonder: How does this harsh reality still exist in what we perceive as the "modern" "enlightened" world of the 21st century? How do forces like capitalism and globalization affect those on the "other" end of the production line? What does "Made in India" actually, really mean?

Part 2: Tibetan Dharmsalah and joining the cause

In Dharamsalah we are staying at the Tibetan Children's Village, about 8 km above the town of McLeod Ganj. It houses hundreds of Tibetan children who escaped from Tibet in hopes of education, a better future, and freedom from oppression. These young refugees, far from their parents and homes, are raised together as a family and community. The long drive up here is not just a mere change in scenery- from the Indian Delhi city skyline, to the tropical jungles and monsoons of the Tibetan lower Himalayas. This transition means entering a completely different community, social discourse, and purpose of our presence.

This region is the "home away from home" of the Tibetan refugee community. Since being forced into exile by the Chinese overtaking of Tibet in 1959, they were granted permission by India to set up their exiled community here and in other settlements. This is where their religious and political leader H.H. the Dalai Lama lives and preaches; this is where their government in exile sits and attempts to provide some normalcy to its followers. There are approximately 130,000 Tibetans living in exile. They are not recognized by the UN as refugees. They do not have passports and must renew their interim residency annually with Indian Immigration registration. They have been doing so for the past 50 years. They are a stateless people.

In the midst of the ongoing struggle and growing frustration, there are beautiful expressions of human perseverance. Their continued adherence to peaceful and non-violent struggle, lead by the preaching of their religious leader, is inspiring. The sprouting individual initiatives and commitments to a shared cause of leading a free and independent existence in their own historic land, touching. Both make me examine our more cynical, aggressive reality back in our homes.

Part 3: Some thoughts to wrap up with

Being Jewish and Israeli, I can't help but relate this experience to our own history, as a people who were, for so long, stateless. I can't help but think of the generations of Jews who yearned to return to their homeland, who suffered persecution and limitations of their basic rights. The countless Jews who struggled to establish a country that I can today call home, where I am lucky enough- to live and believe- freely.
Ultimately, I don't think it should be a matter of luck or chance. Adopting and Indian approach I would like to ask not "what we should do?" but rather "What should we be?"

I still believe we should be a light among the nations, in the fields of human rights and the fight against injustice. We should be a people and a country that remember our past, draw the right conclusions and act! Act not only for ourselves, but for others in plight, living beside us, among us, or worlds apart.

Wishing us all a Shabbat of Peace and sending positive energies from Dharamsalah, India

Shalom, Maayan