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Published: September 18th 2009
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I am at a really beautiful part of South India right now, Pondicherry! This place was colonized by the French for decades up until 1949. The architectures here are really French, a lot of the buildings look like boutique shops. And yes, there are French restaurants! Of course the chefs aren’t French, but the Indian chef is a master at making French food. I finally ate something that wasn’t curry or Indian! Haha, don’t get me wrong, I love Indian food but it’s been a long while since I ate beef since nobody here eats it. So the buildings are French, some restaurants are French but mostly everything else is Indian!
I want to share something with you that might change your perspective on something. For the past 3 months in India, it has been monsoon season (rainy season) but unfortunately, it hasn’t rained at all here for them. It’s devastating to their farmlands and villages. Monsoon season used to be something that they complained about because it just kept pouring and now, they’re basically praying for it every night. But it doesn’t come. I just finished watching a bollywood movie, Lagaan (sooo good!) and the village people are all
the beach
the beach is right infront of where im staying at. Its so nice, everyone comes out at night and chills at the beach. dancing happily when it’s about to finally rain and then… it doesn’t! Rain is so essential. If I was to ever believe in God, Allah or Vishnu it would be because of the divine gift of rain. Think about it. The villages I visited in Philippine and Africa had to travel at least 10 km to reach a river to fetch water. Not only that, they had to heavily balance it on their heads and walk back… with only one container of it! Also, as we’ve all seen from the movie Erin Brakjovic, contaminated water is lethal to our bodies. Think about the time when you were playing sports in the heat and you were absolutely desperate for water… now think about not getting it for weeks at a time.
Fresh water is something that we take for granted and it really is precious. Just ask Rachel, she’s working for a non-profit organization that’s fighting to provide clean water for people. But damn, if there was ever a miracle for me to believe in, it’d be rain. It’s fresh water right at the front of your house! You don’t need to travel 20 km to get just one
bucket of water, you get 20 buckets of fresh water right outside! I remember my first Vesta trip to Philippines and it started to pour… I thought everyone in the village would just run back to their houses and keep dry. Nope! There were kids running outside to dance in the rain, the moms scurried to place their empty buckets to retain the rain water and some people were out with their soaps to take a shower in the rain. I’ve never seen so many happy faces when it rained. Kev and I couldn’t resist, we joined in on the fun… we went out and took a shower then we danced with all the kids while we got soaked. It was such a powerful moment, I can’t explain it fully. Wyclef Jean once sang When it rains, we shower! Ooooh baby, fight the power! They were rejoicing over the raindrops! The Filipinos explained it to me.. when it rains, it allows them to drink, to shower, to do laundry, to boil food, to farm and even to flush the toilet. All of this from rain and they don’t have to travel a long way to the river. But the miracle
of the rain is where it comes from... the ocean! The salty water becomes fresh water. You’re telling me that the sun boils the ocean hot enough so it evaporates , leaves the salt behind while the rest of the water steams into the air, then the clouds carries it across to land, the water condenses into droplets and then falls from the sky right down in front of us? From the great ocean to me? That’s a pretty heavenly gift, especially when you really need it, right?
All my life, I’ve dreaded rain, hated that it ‘ruined’ my day and even sang ‘rain, rain, go away, come on back another day~” but it’s time to see beyond just myself. I’m genuinely happy when it rains, not for myself but for all those people who depend on it. No point in moaning about it, just see the bigger picture, it’s helping more people than just you. Isn’t that what philanthropy is all about? Being selfless and wanting the best for others? I believe if you can truly appreciate something that helps others and not yourself, then you’re honestly selfless. You can still enjoy the day even if it is
a little bit wet outside. I just wanted to point out the good side of rain because we’ve become so spoiled by it that we only see the negative side to it!
Here’s a funny quote that some of you might take offense to but it just shows Dalai Lama’s attitude towards the nature of life. When Dalai Lama came to Taiwan to support the Taiwanese after the devastating Typhoon Merokat (very recent) a reporter asked him, “ The typhoon has ruined thousands of people’s houses, farmlands and fish farms… what do you think about it?”
He replies ,”
Well, I guess a million fish are now free.” Haha, some ppl seriously took this the wrong way.
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rachel
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dude ... the Dalai Lama, he is ridicuously free - both mind and soul, body.