I went on the long trip to my birth land because the NRI
Welfare Society of India invited me for the Hind Rattan Award. I also wanted to
take this opportunity to talk about my passionate purpose and desire to eradicate
domestic violence through my book, Learning to L.I.V.E.
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| (L to R) Vijay Sampla, Minister of Social Justice and Veera Mahajan |
Hence the journey started. I packed my bags with clothes,
shoes and toiletries for a 12-day trip. I also packed a lot of books and
magazines. I was receiving the award for my work with Malibu Chronicle, so of course
I needed enough copies of those to share, and for show and tell. Since I was there I wanted to find any other possible
opportunities for the growth and celebrity of my favorite publication!
The program was very well organized. I had the opportunity to meet and have
conversations with dedicated organizers, many honorable dignitaries and
wonderful and successful delegates from around the world. We had many formal
events where we heard about all the positive things India is doing to make NRIs
(non-resident Indians) feel comfortable to come back to visit and do business
in India, or to collaborate with Indian companies. Also, it was exciting to see
how people from India (like myself) are creating history and doing wonderful
work around the world. In case you didn’t
know, I am the only person (male or female) of Indian origin in the United
States to ever own and run a mainstream magazine like Malibu Chronicle. I am very proud of it. It’s great to see that
India appreciates and is proud of what I’m doing. It was an honor to be called for the Hind
Rattan Award in New Delhi, India along with a few very accomplished Indians
around the world.
After the award ceremony, we as a group went to Jaipur. On our way, we took a little detour to go to
Agra for Taj Mahal. There is nothing
that can compare to Taj. If you go to
India, you have to see The Taj, the white marble temple with the tomb inside.
It tells the story of the love of a 17th century king for his
beloved wife. I am amazed how much
talent India has and had centuries ago. Jaipur is the pink city and has amazing
architecture. As we traveled, I noticed
that, while poverty was still evident, people were not begging. Instead, the
cities were vibrant with people selling products and food everywhere. I
definitely want to go back with my sons one day.
Towards the end of my trip, I was able to go to Haridwar and
Rishikesh, holy cities only a few miles away from where I was born. In
Rishikesh, I walked on a hanging bridge over the river Ganga that I remembered
walking on with my father when I was eight years old. He crossed the entire bridge with his eyes
closed because he was afraid of heights, but he still went with us.
It was nice to go back for business and for personal
reasons.
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| On Lakshman Jhoola (hanging bridge) over river Ganga in Rishikesh India |
This trip encouraged me to have my book, Learning to
L.I.V.E. translated in Hindi, the national Indian language. The founder and organizers of NRI Welfare
Society, Gurinder Singh and Deepak Singh, have a publishing house in
Delhi. It was nice to spend more time
with them and their families in India. I
feel blessed that we have become good friends now. They agreed to have my book edited, formatted
and published in Hindi in India.
Another good outcome of this chain reaction is that this
experience also encouraged me to have my book, Learning to L.I.V.E. translated
into Spanish. The Spanish translation
should be available here in the USA very soon.
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