Arise and Awaken O Indiaspora
March 14, 2024
#BeTheChange #FromIndiaWithLove
The Indian American community stands as a beacon of achievement in technology, medicine, business and leadership. Yet, amidst our triumphs, 2024 has unveiled a grim reality: in just the first two months of the year, ten students from our community have died to violent murder, suicide, and drug overdose. In addition, an entire family has committed suicide, and a motel owner has also been brutally murdered. These events have stirred anguish and fear among families, friends, and the community-at-large.
These incidents serve as a stark reminder: violence knows no bounds in America today—it strikes regardless of skin color, socio-economic status, or political stance. It is time for us, the Indian American community, to rise and become the beacons of hope, healing, peace and solace.
A Personal Awakening
In 2016, a close friend endured racial abuse in Texas. It was a wake-up call for me — I realized my passivity toward violence until it had now touched me personally. That evening, I went to the nearby bookstore and purchased the autobiography of Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. to learn how the nonviolence principles would have been implemented during the Civil Rights Movement. To my pleasant surprise, the book had an entire chapter about Dr. King’s transformational journey across India that he had undertaken to learn the strategies and teachings of Mahatma Gandhi. In a speech given on All India Radio during that India trip, Dr. King shares about the impact of this sojourn.
I did not know anything about this! The Indian American in me… started dreaming!
I wondered whether sixty-five years later, could the Indic wisdom of nonviolence (or Ahimsa) that is embedded in every aspect of India’s rich cultural tapestry still provide hope and a new path towards healing to reduce the violence in America!
From India with Love
Inspired by Dr. King’s transformational odyssey in India, we produced a documentary film to showcase the real-life experience of six victims of violence from across America during their sojourn to India. The common denominator that bound them during the sojourn was their unique exposure to violence and their desire to reinvigorate the conversation about nonviolence in America. The group included: a single mother whose son was brutally murdered in a tragic school shooting (Sandy Hook) and her best friend, a former gang member (Los Angeles), a high school educator (New Jersey), a social entrepreneur, and a music scholar (both activists for the Black Lives movement from Oakland).
The film showcased how the immersion in India empowered them with tools, wisdom, and inspiration to find healing, solace and rejuvenate their commitment to becoming stronger ambassadors of peace and nonviolence in their community. Watch the film here.
Sojourns to India
The documentary film has inspired many American leaders to join our curated two-week sojourns to India to build their leadership capacity to promote nonviolence in their organizations and communities. The participants have included US Mayors, Police Chiefs, former gang leaders and survivors of violence. Some testimonials of past participants are here.
If our work resonates, would you like to invite the Mayor or Police Chief in your community or the Principal of your own child’s school to join these sojourns?
Cities4Peace
After hosting a premiere of the documentary at Paramount Studios, Deputy Chief Dennis Kato (Los Angeles Police Department) invited me to design a novel approach using Indic wisdom to reduce violence and enhance trust between LAPD officers and community members in South LA. This was one of the most humbling moments of my life – to be invited as a peace consultant by one of the most reputed police departments in the world.
During the groundbreaking work that followed, we designed a training program based on Sudarshan Kriya (or SKY practices) for former gang members, victims of violence and LAPD police officers. Through interactive discussions and group processes, the program focused on empowering participants to heal from trauma, resolve conflicts and actively promote peace.
