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"I offer you
peace. I offer you love. I offer you friendship. I see your
beauty. I hear your need. I feel your feelings. My wisdom
flows from the Highest Source. I salute that Source in you.
Let us work together for unity and love."
M K Gandhi
"Everybody can be great...
because anybody can serve. You don't have to have a college
degree to serve. You don't have to make your subject and verb
agree to serve. you only need a heart full of grace. a soul
generated by love."
Martin Luther King, Jr.
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Dear Volunteer,
As you consider
making a journey to India, I’d like to take this opportunity to
share a bit of my personal life experience and shed some light
on the motivation behind Taj Global Understanding.
My Indian story
dates back to 1992, when I first visited India as a high school
student from a small town in Virginia (USA). I had some
relatives who worked at the United States Embassy in New Delhi
and hence based myself in North India for the short two week
trip. There were three particular experiences I had sought.
Those were visiting the Ganges River and seeing the Himalayas,
visiting the Mahatma Gandhi Memorial, and spending one night
with a poor Indian family. I accomplished none of these. The US
Embassy had ‘advised’ against my going North as per a political
disturbance and I was ‘advised’ NOT to spend the night with a
typical Indian family as I might pick up a health related
infection. I also got a stomach virus and ran out of time to
visit the Gandhi Memorial.
Flash forward to
the year 1998. With only two bags, I left the United States and
made a brief stop in London, before arriving in the Himalayan
foothill town of Dehra Dun, Uttaranchal. From that day forward,
life changed. Over much of the past 7 years, I have gained a
tremendous amount of life experience, grown and matured, learn
to appreciate a different culture, as well as reflect on my own
country, the United States of America.
Of the many
experiences over these years, there are two events that stand
out and prove to be pivotal. The first is the Gujarat Earthquake
of 2001. I sat at Gandhi Ashram in Ahmedabad Gujarat watching a
Republic Day Celebration as the ground started to shake
violently. It was a natural disaster in which thousands died. In
fact, a building very near to me collapsed and many lost their
lives. The earthquake brought me to a remote desert community on
the Pakistan border where I engaged in rebuilding traditional
mud homes and other humanitarian work. The village was comprised
of both Hindus and Muslims coexisting peacefully and simply in
this dry and arid region. I lived through 3 months of summer
temperatures reaching 120 F, sand storms, and eating only
potatoes every day. Beneath these extreme and harsh conditions,
I witnessed humanity. I realized for the first time that despite
having a different language, food, and culture, that both the
Villagers and I were very much the same.
I was having
breakfast in Virginia on September 11, 2001, and watched the
live coverage of the World Trade Center terrorist attacks. The
relevance is that I was in the middle of producing a stage play
entitled ‘EKTA’ (Unity in Hindi) with 14 teenagers from the
Ahmedabad slums, a program linking the lives of Gandhi and
Martin Luther King Jr. Our cast was all Hindu; however, in March
2002, I found myself in the middle of the Hindu-Muslim riots
that plagued the city of Ahmedabad and Gujarat State. A country
watched as a city engulfed in violence. I watched as a mob
destroyed my favorite restaurant, which happened to be owned by
a Muslim family. I learned of story after story of innocent
victims of both the Hindu and Muslim faith.
As an American
who has spent a great deal of time in India, I have often found
myself representing the ‘stereotypical’ American. I have
encountered many misconceptions about the United States, its
culture and its people. These are not always negative; however,
they are just plain wrong. Many of these images are created
through the media. For example, Americans are free minded.
Americans are disconnected from their family, parents do not
care for their children. Americans are not conservative or
religious. American food is tasteless.
During my visits
back to the United States, I find that a ‘stereotype’ too exists
of India. India is perceived as a land full of poverty, a jungle
book, and more recently of a land on the verge of a nuclear war.
These are not broad generalizations, but are only a glimpse into
the type of experiences had over the past seven years.
Through the
creation of Taj Global Understanding, I invite you to discover
for yourself the Truth, to share yourself and your life with the
people of India, to gain an insight into your own country, and
to begin to foster human links and human connections that will
ultimately translate into a more peaceful world. It all starts
with that very first step.
Look forward to
seeing you in India soon!
In Peace,
Brad Baldwin,
President, Taj Global Understanding
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