India Day

Today, August 15, is the national holiday of India. It is also a time when many Indians wander to sacred sites in order to obtain blessing. Thus, there are crowds around here today.

In the morning, coinciding with Aurobindo’s celebration, was the morning bonfire at the Matrimandir. This is a time for reflection as the day opens. The bonfire is light before dawn breaks and carries through as the day begins to unfold. You can hear the morning birds announcing the beginning of the day – some are birds that you will not hear at other times. It is interesting to think how little we stop and hear what occurs in nature at various times of the day. We become so busy with our routine, that we fail to notice that mother nature too has a routine.

We are supposed to be part of the natural routine – sleep, wake, rest, eat. Our other activities so preoccupy us that we have lost sight of where we belong in the universe. Maybe that is why we are so neglectful of the planet – we have detached from the life giving element and simply abuse it for our own egoistic purposes.

Today, India has made a national goal of bringing plastics under control. This is a laudable goal given that the countryside is littered with plastics. It is a big part of the garbage by the roadside that cows eat and the lowest castes pick through

In my activities here, I have come to see that there are many parallels with how inter personal violence unfolds in families. In particular, I have seen the challenge of how difficult it is for a woman to leave an abusive relationship. There is the real risk of being an outcast in the community. But for many women, the problem of economic dependency is an insurmountable obstacle to leaving in a country where the social safety net looks nothing like what we are used to in Canada. In this area, there is a need for emergency housing for a woman leaving but there is also a need for long term support systems.

It is in this, that I see how much inter personal violence is a worldwide problem. I recall a year and half ago being in Turley and speaking with activists from various countries within that region. They too spoke about the challenges. Activists here raise the subject and so do the media.

I have yet to see a country that has found a way to overcome these patterns. They are profoundly woven into the fabric of so many societies, including ours in the west. What might be different, is our willingness to openly talk about it although the secrecy of it within families can be as much a silent barrier in the west as here.

This is a topic a long way from resolution and requires that we continue to openly speak and write about it.

This brief heavy rain did not satisfy the earth which soaked it up rapidly. This dry land is desperate for more rain