I Re-Imagine

A little tired

In contemplation

I swing from peace to restlessness

Doubt and uncertainty

clound my thoughts

With mixed emotions

I walk by South Bank

Watching the lights 

London comes alive

as darkness engulfs

In a distant,

I hear strumming

a street musician

deep in his music

plays the guitar

my heart listens

in silence.

A few songs later

as I start to walk by

I hear a familiar tune

I stop in my tracks

Its 'Imagine'

he heard my heart's turmoil

He plays The Song

That has defined me

defined my journey

defined my dream

I re-remember

I re-Imagine

I re-build my faith

I re-Imagine

With peace my in heart

strength in my soul

I walk on. 

Imagine by John Lennon - The Lyrics

Imagine there's no heaven

It's easy if you try
No hell below usAbove us only sky

Imagine all the people living for today
Imagine there's no countriesIt isn't hard to do

Nothing to kill or die forAnd no religion too

Imagine all the people living life in peace
You, you may say 

I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only oneI hope some day you'll join us
And the world will be as one

Imagine no possessionsI wonder if you canNo need for greed or hungerA brotherhood of man

Imagine all the people sharing all the world
You, you may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only oneI hope some day you'll join usAnd the world will live as one

Eisenhower Fellowship: The Story of The Beginning

It is beautiful how the dots connect and life always has a way to bring you to the place where you seek to be or where you need to be.

The story actually starts in 2007 or atleast that's how far back I can remember it. I am sure it started much before that. An article written about Dream A Dream in a newspaper caught the attention of a person from Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) who wrote to me and invited me to his office for a meeting.

In anticipation for some funding for Dream A Dream, I land up at his office on my rickety Bajaj Chetak scooter and signature business clothes. As I walk into the reception area and ask to meet this gentleman, the secretary is a little perplexed and asks me if I have an appointment with him. I say yes and yet she does not seem to believe me. She goes in and announces my arrival and I am escorted into this very senior and warm gentleman's office. He takes one look at me and looks very confused. He asks, "If I am Vishal Talreja?" just to make sure and I answer in the affirmative suddenly doubtful if I had worn something wrong or had some lunch leftover on my face or clothes.

The gentleman says he was expecting someone much much older than me. Definitely not someone who looked younger than his son. I blush a little and try to make the best impression possible. He listens to me with patience and warmth and I like him very much for giving me this time and listening about my work. 

Anyway, to cut a long story short, I am invited to speak at the CII conference at Bangalore where another gentleman from ITC listens to me and later sends me an invitation to speak at the National Human Resources Development Network (NHRDN) Conference in Kolkata. I agree in prospect of meeting many potential corporate donors at a single platform. A senior person from the ITC office is reaching out to me and taking care of my stay and logistics and it all seems very strange to me. I get an opportunity to stay at the Chairman's guesthouse where the ceiling is as high as two floors and I have a person taking care of all my needs. I feel special and overwhelmed. I speak at the conference and I must have left a deep impression on the organizers and participants. This is 2007 or 2008.

In 2012, I get an email from this senior gentleman from ITC whom I met in 2007/2008 and he invites me to participate in another NHRDN Conference as a panelist to talk about Youth in India. I agree out of deep respect for the hospitality and respect they accorded to me in the earlier conference. 

I sit on this panel with 3 others with much experience and wisdom. I am thinking in my head, "If there is one idea that I can leave this audience of 300 people or one thought that will make them reflect or One opinion that will make them question their view of their world and explore a different view, what would it be?". I believe it could be if they start looking at Youth as Empowered Citizens of this vibrant democracy and active players in shaping our country and world around us. I share my ideas and as I answer questions at the panel, there is a senior gentleman from Aditya Birla Group sitting in the audience and he asks me a question.. 

He says, his biggest concern with young people in India today is that they don't seem to have any fear of anything. In earnest honesty, I answer, the biggest strength that Indian youth have today in this complex and rapidly changing world is that they are fearless and if anything, lets nurture that. 

At the end of the panel, I end end up having lunch with this wonderful gentleman and I enjoy our conversations deeply. As he leaves, he says he would like to nominate me for the Eisenhower Fellowship. Till that moment, I hadn't heard of this fellowship. 

I go back to Bangalore, do some research and it seems like just what I needed at that moment of my personal learning journey. As promised, he sends me an application form and gives me 3 days to complete it since the deadline had just passed but he thought my candidature might be quite strong. I work on this intense application over 3 nights and off it goes. I soon get invited to an Interview with the Eisenhower Fellowship Alumni Network in India and then an interview with a global representative.

And voila, In a month or so, I get a message of selection to the prestigious Eisenhower Fellowship Multi Nation Program for 2013. Their website says, Eisenhower Fellowships identifies, empowers and links outstanding leaders from around the world, helping them to achieve consequential outcomes across sectors and borders. Eisenhower Fellowship provides a transformational experience leading to lifetime engagement in a global network, where dialogue and collaboration make the world more prosperous, just and peaceful.

I didn't understand the true meaning and impact of the above words till now when I have completed my intense 7 weeks in the Fellowship, traveling to over 14 cities in the US, meeting over 85 individuals, all inspiring and insightful and most importantly making 21 friends for life from 20 different countries as my colleagues in the Fellowship.

As they say, our life is a series of dots and when connected it all makes sense and brings you exactly where you were meant to be today. I wonder how the dots of my EF experience will shape my future. I am eager and excited to find out. 

Homeless at Home

Every country has its set of unique challenges and problems. We have no right to make judgments against a country’s challenges with dealing with its problems. A lot of us in the Eisenhower Fellowship program have come across Homeless people in the cities we have travelled to – be in Washington DC, Chicago, New York, Seattle or San Francisco. The sight has surprised us, disturbed us and sometimes even made us question the values of this country. 

My colleague Yuhyun from South Korea empathetically shared her experience of observing a homeless family in Chicago and how not a single person came forward to support them. She challenged us in asking the question deep within ourselves about where have the great American leaders gone who spoke about liberty, freedom and justice.

A few days later I came across a news item which said that a certain facility had let go of all its patients with mental challenges and they had now become homeless. I am not sure if I grasp the issue completely but I have heard many reasons in my conversations with many people. Some say homeless people choose to live on streets, some didn’t want to be in institutional care and preferred the streets over the being confined in a facility, some are mentally ill and have been abandoned, some have serious alcohol or drug abuse challenges and some have been in conflict with the law and now don’t know what to do with their lives. Maybe all the reasons are true, some of them definitely are.

However, it continues to bother me that a developed nation like America has not been able to effectively deal with this challenge. I am wondering why. I doubt it is the lack of funding. Could it be a lack of willingness. Could It be that the problem is very small in the context of larger issues inflicting our society. How can it be small when it is related to dignity of another human being. I wonder.

The same homeless people on many other occasions have shown care, friendship and love towards each other and towards me, a complete stranger. As I walk through the streets of big cities and sometimes at night, I have met relatively harmless people going about their business. They might be loud with their conversations but never threatening. In my first week in Philadelphia, I saw a whole group of homeless people gather around the Benjamin Franklin way. As I was wondering what was going on, I saw a van park nearby and a group of volunteers from a local church had brought food for them.  The food was served with dignity and it looked hot and delicious. Chinese food was on the menu. One homeless person even asked me if I would like to have some. I politely declined. Soon, I saw another van stop nearby with more food. As I walked past it, the food looked cold, the bread hard and the smiles from the volunteers missing. The food was indeed quite bad as I saw quite a few people dump it in the garbage. In all these, there was support for each other, there was sharing and sometimes even some people giving up their own food for someone else. I saw a young Asian looking teenager get some food, eat it and even asked someone to take his picture on it. I saw a young couple, looking very much in love, sharing a meal. I wondered why they were homeless. I saw many with mental challenges, struggling to eat but eating anyway.

In Chicago, In Seattle and In San Francisco, homeless people everywhere. A Taxi Driver in Seattle shared with me that I might find more Homeless people in San Francisco because they migrate from northern cities on hordes to escape the cold. It was indeed true. In San Francisco, I sensed anger and resentment at being homeless. I sensed entitlement. I could see Homeless people get very angry if we walked past them and give them something. I watched in silence and wondered.

Another lens I observed with curiosity was how they can live their life with so little as possessions. They carry their possessions with them usually in a bag or suitcase on a trolley and some very fascinating and layers of clothes to keep warm. Wish I could put all my possessions in a suitcase and keep life simple. However, I rather that it be my choice or a choice made for me.

As I attempt to close my blog. I can't think of anything intelligent to say. I am only left with questions, observations, perceptions. I guess some questions need to stay questions. 

A Speck

We are, after all, less than a speck in the grand and ever evolving narrative of the universe. Spending a few moments at the Grand Canyon overlooking 2000 Million years of the supreme being’s story, I felt tremendously important to be a speck in this grand, magnificent story. And, also realized that the stresses we carry are just not worth it. We are only and only 80 years of tens and thousands of millions of years of an ever changing narrative. Felt relieved and much less burden. 

Taxi Drivers in Amreeka!

There is something quite engaging and beautiful about interactions with Taxi Drivers in the US. There are emigrants from other countries and there are people whose past few generations have grown up in US. 

There are whites, latinos, African americans, Asians and each have a story to share. They love conversations with their passengers and sometimes give you nuggets of wisdom that is quite brilliant.

An Indian from Haryana who has been here for just 3 years talked about how he plans from move from driving a taxi to driving trucks because there is more money and a long-term career in truck driving. An American, might be in his late sixties gives me his views on the homeless people about how they migrate from the north to the south (mostly hitchhiking) because it is warmer in the south. Which is why one sees more Homeless people in San Francisco as opposed to Seattle.

On a question I asked about discrimination against African Americans in the US, the driver said that the African Americans do not wish to mingle, they wish to stay within their own neighbourhoods and communities. This I thought was a strong statement but was fascinated to here an honest comment about how he saw it after all the diplomatic comments I had heard in many many meetings.

An Ethiopian driver realizing I was Indian went onto to mention MithunDa and Govinda, famous movie stars in India in the 90’s era and start singing “I am a Disco Dancer”. I was so pleasantly surprised and happy and totally thrilled to hear him say a few Hindi words and give me a big broad smile. I, ofcourse, didn’t want to break his excitement by saying that the above actors have long since become old and are not so popular in India anymore. I guess I wanted both of us to stay with our happy feelings.

Another time, a driver dropping us to the airport became a self-proclaimed tour guide and gave us interesting tit-bits of places along the route to the airport.

A really old driver who was once taking all of us and our bags to the airport was struggling to put our big bags into the trunk and when I offered to help him, he declined saying he will be fine. I could not see him struggling and just decided to help him anyway and without saying a word we felt a deep connection.

I have really enjoyed my cab rides and my conversations with drivers. They have entertained me, given me insights, shared their stories and their wisdom. I have felt a deep human connection with them and they have helped me feel welcome in their cabs. All I can say is, Thank You!

Irene

I saw her from the corner of my eye. Silent, graceful and almost unnoticeable. She looked easily over 70 and fit and healthy. Her hands were wrinkled and her eyes had seen a lot through the years. A little hunched back, she walked with a slow steady step. Irene is a cleaner at the Grand Canyon Cafeteria. 

Coming from an Indian cultural upbringing, my first reaction was that someone of her age should not be working cleaning at a Cafeteria. I quickly realized that was a judgment. Maybe, she chose to work there. Maybe, she loves being around people and maybe she enjoys her work at the Café. It helped me reduce my pain a little. I kept imagining if my grandmother had to work like this in her old age, I would not have liked that. But, maybe, it is alright for old people to work here. Without judgment, I continued to observe her as she went about her work with grace and calm.

She walked slow and we sensitivity. I noticed that she worked as if she was completely invisible, never coming in the way of the diners. I wonder if many noticed her. I realized none had. The perfunctory ‘Thank You’ was more out of habit than intention. People came in and went out, hardly noticing and acknowledging her presence. At one time, she was holding a heavy tray of trash and when she noticed a family coming in her way, she moved to the side holding the heavy tray waiting for them to pass. They didn’t notice her standing there.

She thought me, in that instant, to be mindful and to slow down and observe life as it happens. She observed this family and did her job. They didn’t and went about their business. I wonder what else I don’t notice in the business of my life. The hundreds or possibly thousands of people like Irene who are mindful to me at inconvenience to them.

How do I learn to slow down and observe life. How do I say ‘Thank you’ with intention. How do I invest in things that are truly important and learn to leave out the noise.

As I walked away, I looked at her and told her, ‘Thank you for taking care of me.' and then silently, "Thank you for reminding me about my grandmother and giving me a lesson on life."