Tom Brayak - Christmas visit to India 2017

Dec 24, 2018 

Mumbai, India

 Dear Friends & Family,

It's 10:30 am and I'm sitting outside in shorts & a T-shirt (temp Is 78°F, 25°C), inhaling the distinctive smells that can only be India, and looking at tropical trees & plants, listening to binds  & hawkers & traffic — the usual sounds of India, and trying to get myself into the Xmas spirit  without snow in a country where Christians are a small minority. Perhaps a grand endeavor you  may think: but, actually, in this area of Bombay (Bandra), there are many Christians & churches,  and many houses decorated for Xmas. And, in fact, these days, Xmas is observed— if not celebrated—by many Hindus, too, so you'll see many shops & stores decorated with a Xmas  theme. India itself recognizes holidays from Buddhist, Hindu, Muslim, and Christian faiths.  

It's 47 years now since I first came to India as a peace corps volunteer (PCV) with all the  enthusiasm and idealism of youth, hoping to change the world. The world & India has certainly  changed, perhaps due in some minuscule way to our efforts here back then, but most certainly  mainly due to other factors having nothing to do with us.  

I've now been back to India between 15 & 20 times, and my observations of the changes have  been of a gradual nature, thus not standing out as much as they otherwise would — kind of like  the frog in the gradually heated pan of water acclimating until eventual death. However, on this  visit, Mitzi & I were accompanied by Deborah, also a former PCV, this being her third return trip. To her, the changes were substantial & remarkable. 

She & I went back to the state on India's east coast where we'd worked those many years ago:  Odisha (that's the new name, Orissa was the old). Many names have been changed from the  British-i-fied ones of that era to ones closer to the names in the original languages: Bombay  now Mumbai, Calcutta now Kolkata, etc). We met up with old friends and it is obvious that each succeeding generation has a higher standard of life & education.  

We visited the charity that Gerry & I help to fund through the Father Fleming Foundation (assistance to lepers & handicapped children, and community outreach health & welfare). There is definite improvement in the leper colonies with zero—yes zero— new cases occurring! Now it's just the elderly left with leprosy. Otherwise the colonies are just like any other village. Handicapped cases are also decreasing due to nutrition &education (many deformities are due to malnutrition during pregnancy: cerebral palsy is often due to improper delivery during home births). Deborah was moved & impressed by the positive cheerful attitude of the children: and that always affects me the same way and gives me a reality check and good grounding in how fortunate I really am in life—something so easy to lose sight of in our day to day lives of ease.  

Let me end by saying that after experiencing many different peoples & cultures this year, my belief that we are all way more alike than different has been reinforced even more. Stereotyping and marginalizing is not the answer to anything and will always lead to more troubles & problems in the future. This realization is by far the biggest benefit of travel and it is my wish to all of you that travel will be in your future!  

As always, I'll leave you with several favorite quotes I've come across this year:  

“You are not here merely to make a living. You are here in order to enable the world to live more amply, with greater vision, with a finer spirit of hope and achievement. You are here to enrich the world, and you impoverish yourself if you forget the errand” Woodrow Wilson  

“If you're the smartest person in the room, you're in the wrong room.”   - Unknown 

“The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place”. - George Bernard Shaw 

I hope my words in this letter do not fall under that category!   

Peace & a blessed Xmas to you all! 

Tom