Many people returning from a trip like the Principia India abroad might say that it changed their lives. In fact I have said this many times. But I think it would be more accurate to state that the trip unfolded a part of our lives that we could not have accessed otherwise. By this I mean that it continually illustrated before our eyes a picture of life that could not be found anywhere else. India revealed to us people living their lives in ways “foreign”, but not beyond our comprehension. When a poor family in a Mumbai slum invited Palmer, Kim, and I into their home and insisted on feeding us dinner, we had never seen generosity of this magnitude. However, by nature of our common humanity, we could understand that generosity. We could see the generosity in ourselves and perceive what it would be like to express it as completely as this humble family did. In this way, members of the India abroad learned about the world and about themselves during the India program.
For example: Ben, Palmer, Sarah and I learned from a legless man in Delhi that not everyone is a product of his experience. Some people make the choice to live joyfully because they realize their happiness cannot be contained within and therefore cannot be limited by their material condition.
The same sun shines on the Mississippi as the one that rises over the land of Gandhi and Ganesh. But watching the sun set on an Indian desert horizon will color a new page in your life like no experience in North America can do. Likewise, people in India endure hardships much like Americans do. But watching Indians struggle and triumph will teach you lessons about yourself and about your people that you may not find at home. Humanity is your people, and you have yet to discover them until you walk with the camels.
