Monday, February 8, 2016

My exciting and humbling trip to India



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.
(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.
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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