Questions for Humanity

"Self-interest is but the survival of the animal in us. Humanity only begins for man with self-surrender."
Henri Frederic Amiel



For the past two weeks I have been traveling in Bangladesh. Prior to that, I spent two weeks on a pan-India train ride. The lack of posting has partly been because I've been traveling and partly because I've been transforming, seeking answers to questions that—if I'm lucky enough, will appear to me in this lifetime. In Bangladesh, I spent a week in the villages of Munshigonj talking with and listening to villagers affected by increasingly saline soil as a result of environmental catastrophes. While visiting, I met some amazing young men. These men served us at the Shushilan training center where we stayed. Although they were ambitious—they had dreams of leaving Bangladesh and becoming solvent enough to live comfortably and give more to their families—most of them never finished school.

I sat down and spoke with Roni, a 20 year old  who left school in 8^th class. We talked about our lives and I asked him where he wanted to travel. Unfortunately, the leisurely undertone that I intended the question to rest upon was met with a strict work mindset. Roni wanted to work in Dubai. He wanted to be able to take care of his family—they came first. He shared with us his monthly wages. He makes Tk 3,000 a month, approximately $35 dollars. Of that, he gives $23-29 to his family and pockets the remaining $6-12.

He told me that he wanted to work at this training center so that if, by any chance, a foreigner came, he/she would like Roni enough to want to bring him home. Later that evening, I sat up in bed and began to wonder what we could have possibly done to have been born into our families—into both our social and financial arrangements. Had my mother not immigrated to the US in the early 80s (because of an arranged marriage) I could have lived the same fate as Roni.

Often times, for lack of self-awareness and exposure to people like Roni, we (westerners) continue to loathe certain conditions of our lives—coveting lives richer in material wealth or fame. Make no mistakes, Roni, Bappy and Billal (two other workers) have bubbling personalities who are happy to simply have each other. From afar, I watched the collaborative, dependent nature of their relationships. Who was I to call them poor? Who defined this term? If the definition of poor didn't exist, how would Roni, Bappy or Billal classify themselves? I realized that while their restrictive wealth had been a deterrent, their simple and simply led lives leave lessons that many can aspire and should pay attention to. 

If I could ask humanity a question, I'd ask many—what can two people leading radically different lives learn from each other? How can we improve relationships and live sustainably? How can we better deal with the cards that we are dealt? How can cross-fertilize experiences, drawing ourselves closer to each other?

The light in the eyes of Bangladeshis will beat in my heart always. I've come back to India a more enlightened person, more aware of people living around me and charged with the inspiration to do something. Charity isn't what people need, what they need is the knowledge and tools to build a better future.