I’m sipping my 3rd cup of tepid camomile tea and
gazing, in contemplatory mood, out across an endless sea of rooftops, stretching forever
and eventually into a subtle smog.
A procession with frenetic drummers in making its way along
the street below, but I’m far too high up to see what’s going on.
The metro, which runs across the city on a sky-track,
rumbles past over my shoulder. Ibiza music floods our smart restaurant and a
large Indian family near by chatter excitedly over their extravagant Sunday
brunch, while the chirruping of a thousand car horns acts as a screen-saver to the
day…. and every day, here in Bangalore, a city of over 4.3 million humans.
The past week has delivered the usual onslaught of emotions,
impressions and internal muddle that I always feel when arriving in a new
culture. My last trip to India was in 2009, which feels a lifetime ago. But it
feels weirdly good to be back.
This time we’re here at the invitation of M&S, to train
in 2 textile factories. To give everyone involved a taster of the EL training,
as before we’re only been in Africa, in the agricultural sector of the
business. So, they want to see if it will work here.
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| The young women and girls sang their scriptures to us, accompanies by our friend Sridhar on the drums |
This past week I’ve been fascinated by the lives of those around me. …. the woman hauling baskets of sand on her head heads to a building site, the girl tapping on my window at the traffic lights pleading with me with gentle persistence to buy a balloon from her, the man in the gutter with no legs calling silently for alms, the focused seamstress at her machine making one of 1,000 lumber jackets for GAP, the tiny, old woman taking her offering to the temple (she goes twice a day).
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| The make massive knives from old pipes or train parts |
They crafted the swords,
sabres and armour and followed the armies around. But, there’s little call for
these things today, so they have slipped into the pain of poverty and their
amazing talents and skills are fast being lost.
Our new friend Rishi and his wife Rima have been working
with the whole community, trying to help them develop new skills to make extra
income and teaching the children computer skills.
They live very simple lives
(25 to a small house), draw water from a well hole every other day (water is rationed)
and, like us, worry about their children and their future.
I’m reflecting today on how we are all knitted together in a
shared humanity of suffering, struggle, spirituality and survival. But mostly
I’m flooded with a sense of how I have so much to learn from being amidst this
amazing people group; a massive continent of 1.3 billion people. I see that
it’s rich in so many ways.
In particular I see that everyone takes his or her spiritual
growth seriously. They are not afraid to talk instantly about things of the
heart and to discuss any aspect of personal growth.
They rise at 5.30am to
meditate every day (and often it’s 4.30)….why?
Because it matters to them, to train the mind and still the
spirit, to learn how to spot and control the ego and make peace with themselves
every day.
Yesterday I finished THRIVE, by Arianne Huffington. I could share so much from it...what a great book. But here is how she ends (sorry it’s long, but do read it):
“If we’re lucky we’ll have about 30,000 days of life...and the truth is we can't thrive and lead the lives we want (as opposed to the lives we settle for), without going inwards....life is shaped from the inside out.
So let’s stop living in the shallows, stop hurting our health and our relationships by striving so relentlessly after success as the world defines it - and instead tap into the riches, the joy and amazing possibilities that our lives embody.
And it doesn’t matter what your entry point is, or what form your 'wake-up call' takes. It could be burnout, sickness, addiction, the loss of a loved one, the end of a relationship, a line of poetry that stirs something ineffable in you, or a scientific study about the power and benefits of slowing down, getting more sleep or meditation or mindfulness that speaks to you. Whatever your entry point is - embrace it!
....there are almost no worldly signals reminding us to stay connected to the essence of who we are, to take care of ourselves along the way, to reach out to others, to pause to wonder and to connect to that place from which everything is possible.
Archimedes said, “Give me a place to stand and I will move the world”
So find your place to stand - your place of wisdom and peace and strength. And from that place, remake the world in your own image, according to your own definition of success, so that all of us - women & men - can THRIVE and live lives with MORE joy, MORE compassion, MORE gratitude...and yes, MORE love.
Onward, upward ...and inward”
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| The ancient clan of weapon makers and our new friends Sridhar, Rishi and Rima (back row, 3rd, 4th & 5th from the left) |
- JB
