There
are times when the question is what and how? The question
is why? There are several
answers and yet no single, precise answer. And questions
persist. I do not have the answer; it is somewhere out
there. I can keep searching and yet I won’t find
it. I can sit still and it may just come to me. At times,
I have to search because it is ordained that I have to
search – I must go through the search so that I can
learn to be equanimous in the face of pain, anxiety and
above all, uncertainty. At times, the answer comes easily
because that’s how it was always supposed to be.
It
is difficult to understand designs. Perhaps one does not
even have to put one’s
head to them because the answer lies in doing what you
have to do – each one of us has to traverse our own
journeys. I cannot say that I carved out the road – I
simply followed! The difficulty is in admitting that I
simply followed. For this, I have to let go off ego. I
have to be able to transcend the ‘I’ and submit
to something greater than me, someone higher than me. I
don’t want to call it God because I do have an ego
tussle with God. But I would like to explore …
17th
November 2003
Zainab
Bawa,
on the 23rd night of Ramadan
|
A Global PeaceWorks Journal
New Delhi 2003
by
Zainab Bawa
This
journal is available for download
in PDF format (without
photos)
Life
is quite an interesting business these days. At times, it appears
like a burden because we are all so involved
in the rat race. Our
day is usually quite something – it passes by so quickly that
by the time I know, the day is over. I don’t know what I have
achieved in the day. Usually our achievements for the day are counted
in terms of number of tasks completed. We feel comfortable in a structured
lifestyle. Any room for emptiness is often quite unnerving.
From December
5th to 14th 2003, together with 28 people, I had an experience
which is difficult to describe in words. Yet, the task
that I want to undertake here is to re-create that beautiful journey
in words, as best as I possibly can. I also hope to be representative
enough as I compile this experience into a report.
The
opportunity presented itself to us in the form of Global PeaceWorks,
an independent,
non-profit organization, which
was cooperating with
and supporting the Delhi Peace Summit. Eric Wenzel and Khorrum
Omer put together the first interfaith service project for
Global PeaceWorks.
30 of us participants from different countries came forward to
be part of this project. Each one of us came with our own
set of expectations,
assumptions, hopes, and even fears about a new country and a new
culture, about the kind of people we would meet. We each brought
with us a value which added to the diversity of the group. That
was our great strength – our diversity – not
only in terms of the different countries and faiths that
we represented, but even
our ages, right from 17 to nearly 50! And one of the aspects of
this experience was that we never did feel the inter-generation
gap among
ourselves.
We started
pouring in for the program from 4th December. As I saw each new
face, I wondered what was in store. I remember
clearly
Titus introducing himself to me with a warm smile and I felt quite
comfortable.
Often I feel that our fear is of the ‘other’. We are
skeptical, judging, and suspicious – it is an almost animal-like
initial survival instinct, but the challenge, and true courage
I feel, lies in being able to move beyond these initial feelings
and
opening up the mind and heart.
By the time
lunch was served on 4th, each one of us was responsible for one
or the other preparatory tasks for the program. Some of us
were filing papers, some printing sheets, some of us working on
the schedule. The activities picked momentum on the 5th as more
people
poured in and we began to ready the works and ourselves for the
introductory session on the afternoon of the 5th.
Some of the international participants who had arrived during the
wee hours of 5th morning were taken to the slums of East Delhi in
Jaffarabad, Janta Colony. Here, Chetanalaya, a partner of Global
PeaceWorks for this project, works to bring about harmony between
Hindus and Muslims. Anthony David is spearheading Chetanalaya. Our
work as Global PeaceWorks volunteers was to help Chetanalaya to build
a community center which would serve as a model of people working
peacefully together. This slum in East Delhi (known as Janta Colony)
was our work site for the rest of the project.
During the introductory session, 4 guidelines were made clear:
1. This
is an interreligious and “meta-religious” project
2. This is a peace-making event
3. This is an intercultural event
4. We are interdependent
a
group meeting of participants to
review their vision
for the project
|
I don’t
know how many of us actually remembered these rules. I, for one,
recollect them only now, when I am compiling
this report.
But I know that each one of us adhered to these rules very naturally,
irrespective of whether they were consciously present in our memories.
Interdependence was a strong feature of our group. We supported each
other as each one of us went through our personal journeys of reflection
and change.
Thereafter, we had a session where we were paired off and had to
introduce our partners. This was a good ice-breaking exercise.
After this, Eric assigned specialized tasks to each member in the
group. Gayatri was made responsible for medical care of the group;
Roshan was put in charge of the food and menu; Titus, Chad and Piya
were responsible for the morning devotional sessions, and so on. Later
in the evening we had a session with Father Freddie D’Souza,
director of Chetanalaya and one of Anthony David’s colleagues
who came to talk to us about Chetanalaya’s work. He gave an
insight into the problems which the community was facing. At the
end of his talk, we had a discussion about the situation in the community,
the work done by Christian priests in India and the persecution that
some of them face. Questions were raised; a discussion ensued. I
personally feel that it is important to question things happening
around us, particularly in an environment where people of different
faiths are present. This gives us an opportunity to clarify our assumptions
and doubts (and even melt from some of the previously held positions
and stands). To my mind, this is interfaith communication, which
then paves the way for interfaith dialogue. After
dinner that evening, Khorrum Omer’s friend from Delhi
University came to talk to us. He is a classical singer and he sang
some songs in the various classical traditions for us.
By the end of the day, each one of us were tired and ready to drop
off to bed, perhaps one of those days when you feel that the bed
was the greatest invention of mankind!
Reflections from my diary for 4th and 5th December: I
don’t know what I am doing here. Am I in the right place?
Did I make the right decision to come here?
It is difficult for me to talk religion in public. People here are
different. Will I be able to fit in? I
guess I need to wait and watch …
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