She jogged past me this morning, and in the moment when my eyes fell on her I both noticed her for the first time, and realized I had seen her nearly every morning I came to the park for a walk. She was cute; small in stature, but not slight - "healthy", as the locals say, referring to that weight which is neither too much nor too little. But what struck me, my experience of India being very mono-cultural up until several weeks ago, was her ethnicity. The shape of her face and eyes indicated that she may be coming from a northeastern state, or perhaps Nepal. I felt a squeeze of pain in my heart...how typically foolish of me, to assume I know someone's story, just by looking at her. Perhaps her life here in Delhi was great. But according to stories and statistics, it was also possible that she was living vulnerable to prejudice.
Regardless, it probably was safe to assume that at some point in her life, maybe not so long ago, she had reached the crossroad that so many of us all over the earth do. The road ahead continued on much as her life had thus far. But to the left and to the right were other roads, leading away from places of familiarity, of heritage and family, to big cities of anonymity, new experiences, and - the biggest and maybe only draw for many - work.
Into the overflowing cauldron of destiny and disaster that is the capital city of the largest democracy in the world, thousands of people jump every week. Nearly every emigrating soul coming is someone who felt they really didn't have a choice at the crossroad. Men and boys, whole families, sometimes women alone and at risk, pour across the city limits, leaving behind villages with dead economies, and farms that just can't quite sustain.
Where is the City that will embrace, inspire, build up? Where is the City that will receive with gratitude each perspective, each gift that is brought, and transform it all into a Beauty and Goodness that will never stop growing? Instead, the cities of the earth so often chew up these desperate and displaced ones and spit out their bones.
I don't know why this woman awoke all this raw emotion, nearing to a hopelessness, this morning. Especially because when she looked at me, with those eyes of an outsider, I didn't see all the anger, the angst that was boiling to the surface inside of me. I saw gentleness and a mirrored interest in this fellow troubadour. And she smiled at me. She jogged past me, panting lightly in the cool morning air, and smiled.
Regardless, it probably was safe to assume that at some point in her life, maybe not so long ago, she had reached the crossroad that so many of us all over the earth do. The road ahead continued on much as her life had thus far. But to the left and to the right were other roads, leading away from places of familiarity, of heritage and family, to big cities of anonymity, new experiences, and - the biggest and maybe only draw for many - work.
Into the overflowing cauldron of destiny and disaster that is the capital city of the largest democracy in the world, thousands of people jump every week. Nearly every emigrating soul coming is someone who felt they really didn't have a choice at the crossroad. Men and boys, whole families, sometimes women alone and at risk, pour across the city limits, leaving behind villages with dead economies, and farms that just can't quite sustain.
Where is the City that will embrace, inspire, build up? Where is the City that will receive with gratitude each perspective, each gift that is brought, and transform it all into a Beauty and Goodness that will never stop growing? Instead, the cities of the earth so often chew up these desperate and displaced ones and spit out their bones.
I don't know why this woman awoke all this raw emotion, nearing to a hopelessness, this morning. Especially because when she looked at me, with those eyes of an outsider, I didn't see all the anger, the angst that was boiling to the surface inside of me. I saw gentleness and a mirrored interest in this fellow troubadour. And she smiled at me. She jogged past me, panting lightly in the cool morning air, and smiled.
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