Their journey started months ago. But 15 student from Mount
Madonna School are just days deep into their journey In India. It’s
goin got be a trip of a lifetime. Their two-week venture is known
as the Vidya Dharma (Path of Knowledge) Project – part of MMs
teacher Ward Mailliard’s two-year
”
Value in World Thought
”
program.
Their journey started months ago. But 15 student from Mount Madonna School are just days deep into their journey In India. It’s going to be a trip of a lifetime. Their two-week venture is known as the Vidya Dharma (Path of Knowledge) Project – part of MMs teacher Ward Mailliard’s two-year “Value in World Thought” program.
For the next two weeks, Morgan Hill MMS students will write about their experiences as they travel India – including a meeting with the Dalai Lama, no less – and send photos straight from the scene. You can read and see more about their travels at right here.
Emma Fladeboe, MMS senior
April 20, 2011: The depth of the conversation with Mani Shankar Aiyar today was incredible. After reciting 200-plus years of historical content both adeptly and articulately, he addressed many issues facing India, the U.S., and the world as a whole.
Every concept or example he used he would later apply on a broader or global scale. We asked him about democracy in India and he said that unlike America or the United Kingdom, “India promptly translated independence into freedom for its people” and that, “I would regard democracy as India’s single greatest achievement.” He then went on to talk about the need for a “world democratic order.”
The way he spoke made me want to know, want to read, want to travel. He could take a historical event, pull a concept from it, and then using his ideas and philosophies, apply it to a greater historical context. It was amazing to follow the progression of connections his mind made.
For example, we asked him about the situation between India and Pakistan. He traced the issue to the conflicts of post World War II and the onset of the Cold War. As the U.S. and Soviets made their distinctive divergence, other countries were faced with the dilemma of alignment with either side. Pakistan got involved in what he thought as several messy military pacts with the United States, while India joined the supposedly “immoral” nonalignment movement. According to Mr. Aiyar, after the Soviet threat was eliminated, the U.S. began to accept India as the secular non-aligned country that it was becoming. Pakistan, on the other hand, was a Muslim state that remained militarily involved with the United States and began to have religious splits within its own state. His proposed concept around these historical connections was that we all need to be independent. We can work together when we have mutual interests and not work together when we don’t. He echoed the ideas of Nehru’s “peaceful coexistence”. I agree with Mr. Aiyar in that I think countries in the world today need to focus more on their own on goings on rather than that of others abroad. At times this seems impossible to me. Why? Because humans have inherent self-interest, they want things, and in much the today’s world they need “power” to get those things and they often find political justifications to get them.
Mr. Aiyar gave an example through a personal experience. He told us how he attended the premier of the movie Gandhi with Coretta Scott King. There was a scene where police on horses were chasing Gandhi and his followers. Gandhi instructed his people to lie on the ground and to be still. When the horses approached they then stopped. Mr. Aiyar told us that he expressed to Dr. King’s wife that he though that scene unrealistic. She replied that, on the contrary, it was the most realistic. She told him a story of how when her husband and some of his followers were protesting, police dogs were set on them. Martin Luther King then instructed them to stand perfectly still, and the dogs backed off. “Man is the only animal that attacks without being attacked.” Mr. Aiyar said. I believe this and his beliefs on this human concept of power to be both interesting and dynamic.
Aiyar said, “There are many problems in trying to solve world issues mostly by the misuse of force. What is power?” he asked us, “What is meant by power? Why do we pursue power?” Is it the ability to kill other people? Force others against their will? Influence others? With a strong stance on nuclear disarmament, Mr. Aiyar gave the example of the nuclear weapon as the ultimate example of lunacy that occurs with human desire for power and dominance. He concluded the discussion of power with a focus on the people and a redefining of what power has become in the minds of many humans today. “If you empower people as they are and where they are, that is how you become a powerful country.” He emphasized the significance of being an individual when he said, “You don’t have to follow the crowd. If you are doing something that’s good for the world, people will follow you.” He ended our time together with an allusion from a favorite Robert Frost poem of mine. “Two roads diverged in a yellow wood. I took the road less traveled by, and that has made all the difference.”
Maya Guzman and Emma Peterson, MMS seniors
April 20, 2010: Yesterday, in our interview with Ambassador Timothy Roemer, he talked about a variety of things but the three key points he made regarded religion, the universal value of caring for others, and education.
Ambassador Roemer said that the United States can learn from India because India has established a common ground between all religions. He said that for the most part each respective religion is able to exist peacefully and respectively together. For example, on October 2nd over 50 religions gather at Raj Ghat to celebrate Ghandi’s birthday. It is a time when each religion has the chance to collectively pray for peace.
Ambassador Roemer talked about how the United States can learn from India’s enthusiasm at the polls. India has a 75% voter turn out. Voter turn out in the United States is usually around 50% and sometimes even less. In India people often travel long distances just to vote. They vote for their individual voices and freedom; they appreciate and utilize their role in democracy.
Ambassador Roemer moved on to talk about the common universal values of dignity and respect. He said that everywhere he has travelled he has noticed that people never cease to care for others.
Lastly, Ambassador Roemer discussed the importance of service. He was inspired by our trip and said that by visiting India we would be exposed to new experiences and a learn about the world in a different way. He believes in the power of education, saying “Without education we will slip behind other countries.” He emphasized that education will protect us and provide the United States with the tools we need to continuously be a world leader. Ambassador Roemer thinks that the United States needs to be more flexible and allow things to change in our education system. “We need to utilize all skills,” he said. He asserted that people learn in different ways, some by reading, some by writing, and some by seeing a movie. If we take advantage of all these methods, we will be more successful in the teaching of American youth.
Danielle Quinn, MMS senior
April 21, 2011: Ashram Day! Today we got up at 4:20 a.m. to pack and get ready to go to the Ashram. We were all very excited to meet and play with the kids, and also see where our classmate Soma grew up. We left the YWCA in Delhi at 6 a.m. and headed for the bustling train station. The train ride takes 5 hours to get to Haridwar in the north.
While on the train it was amazing to see the villages, huts, people, animals, thriving culture, significant amounts of trash visible everywhere, and various degrees of poverty. It was a very eye-opening experience to some of the beautiful aspects that rural life has to offer, as well as the difficult reality of those who are impoverished. We got off the train in Haridwar and drove twenty minutes by bus to the Sri Ram Ashram.
Once there, we were greeted by the little ones and some of the older girls (everyone else was still in school). The little girls were so adorable and just melted your heart! I am excited to spend the next three days here, and to get to know all the kids.
