I overheard a conversation between Dick and Jana, a Russian woman who is volunteering at Ama Ghar this week and who now lives - where else - in San Francisco. She was talking about something that happened to her in Russia in 1964, when Dick said, "Wait a second! In 1964 I was sitting on a ship in the Bay of Pigs hoping the Russians wouldn't blow me to bits!" And yet here they were, the Russian and the American, sitting on a porch in Nepal, with a shared love for 38 children.
Similarly, we were on a small boat (12 people) in Doubtful Sound in New Zealand a few years back, and our favorite couple among the other passengers were Japanese. We learned, after getting to know them a bit, that he was ill with leukemia - because he is from Hiroshima, and his mother had been pregnant with him at the time the bomb was dropped. We were horrified, but he just smiled and said, "It isn't your fault - you weren't there." And there we were, Japanese and Americans, watching dolphins, drinking wine and enjoying each other's company.
Each person on this planet has so much in common with the others - and yet we continue to create conflicts. What a mystery - why do we have so much trouble understanding each other? This reminds me of what Salman Rushdie's Mogul Queen says about visiting foreigners in the court (from his novel, The Enchantress of Florence):
"The world is not all one thing. We are their dream," she told the King, "and they are ours."
"But imagine," said the King, "if we could awake in other men's dreams and change them, and if we had the courage to invite them into ours. What if the whole world became a single waking dream?"
Today I'm in Bangkok with my friend Bonnie, who's having some minor surgery, and Dick is in Nepal. He had a wonderful expedition on Sunday (photos at left), traveling to a temple in a remote mountain village with Uma, one of the Ama Ghar staff who is a very devout Hindu. I spent today exploring the streets of Bangkok, hearing sounds of temple bells, smelling fragrant flowers and the charcoal smoke of food stalls.
The world is not all one thing. We are their dream, and they are ours.
lovely musings. and some wonderful photos from dick's trek. Glad you're having such a wonderful time. jody
ReplyDeleteCathy and Dick,
ReplyDeleteI am so happy the blog is back with your words, pictures and adventures. It is so sweet what you are doing with the kids in Nepal. Cathy, have fun in Bangkok, it is such a magical city with some of the most beautiful temples and ahh... the floating market!... Enjoy! :)