Arise and Awaken O Indiaspora
#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.
Since then, this transformational work was also done in several other communities across the U.S. with diverse partners like the Los Angeles County Office of Violence Prevention, Orange County Community Foundation, Washington DC Dept. of Health and Human Services, etc.
If this work resonates, would you like to bring this unique peace building program to your community?
Be The Change
When we hear of acts of violence like a mass shooting, or a suicide or homicide, most of us feel helpless. Since violence happens so often, we may have become desensitized and immune. Some of us may also have realized that inaction is no longer an option, but we may not know what we can do. In order to help those want to be part of the solution, we have produced an online learning module called “Be The Change” to promote peace and nonviolence. You are invited to watch the module (use our well-wisher code 2024BTC50) and if you feel inspired, we can empower you to facilitate a screening of this module at your child’s school or at your work to spark conversations and foster mental wellbeing.
The module consists of an edited version of the documentary film, the peacebuilding work in Los Angeles, an Indic framework for healing from trauma and guided breath and meditation practices to enhance mental wellbeing and build inner resilience. The module has so far benefited thousands of teachers, nurses, police officers, and young people to reduce stress and improve mental wellbeing.
Call to Action
America continues to grapple with division and polarization. Violence is so pervasive that there is a desperate need for solutions that promote healing and assist in finding common ground. Prayers and candle marches are simply not enough. We cannot afford to remain bystanders.
India's culture and wisdom, rooted in nonviolence and community, offers a beacon of hope. As Ambassadors of Indic traditions and values, the diaspora must come forward to become champions of hope, healing and peace.
Our silence is complicity, our inaction, acceptance. By taking this responsibility, the Indian diaspora can strengthen its influence and aid India’s aspiration to become a ‘Vishwa Guru’.
The time to Arise and Awaken is Now.
About the Author
Mandar currently manages Cities4Peace, a strategic consultancy that promotes peace in cities and communities across the world worldwide. Prior to this, Mandar was a Visiting Scholar at George Mason University. He has Produced & Directed From India With Love - a documentary film that promotes the message of nonviolence in the world.
Mandar has worked at Shell for nearly two decades and managed Shell's Gamechanger social innovation program. While at Shell, Mandar won the Ashoka League of intrapreneurs award for designing and facilitating an innovation learning program at Shell to over 2000 colleagues.
For over two decades, Mandar has studied, practiced and taught meditation based leadership programs for the Art of Living Foundation and the International Association for Human Values.
For more about his work; visit his website or connect with him via Linkedin.
