Thanksgiving 2020

Eons ago, I landed in the great ol’ USA. What a wonderful journey!

I thank the great ol’ USA not only for providing me bread, butter, shelter, shoes, and a smartphone during the journey but allowing me to achieve my potential.

I continue to imbibe American spirit: fairness, equity, justice, generosity, courtesy, scholarship, service, can-do attitude, entrepreneurship, and more. I don’t claim to have mastered the spirit. But I continue to move in a positive direction; don’t ask my wife, she may not agree with my assessment. She will say, “Come on. You are regressing, so many senior moments.” Guilty as charged! Aging impairs hearing, vision, memory, libido, on and on, but aging has made me wiser, I believe.

O thy wisdom! Hopefully, experiences and problem-solving will continue to add more layers of wisdom.

Experiences in this country make me sing “America the Beautiful”. While the majestic views from Pipe Peak inspired Katharine Lee Batesher to pen the patriotic song, Americans' friends and citizens' acts of kindness make me utter ‘pranam’ (respectful homage) not only to them but this good ol’ USA.

Friends of all shades, whites and hispanics, encouraged and spent their precious energy and time to teach tennis to my kids as if they were their own loved ones. Mr. Gonzales, purposefully I changed the identity, devoted his energy and skill to help my kids to compete in the Pinewoods Derby of Boys Scout.

When we, the family, faced unprecedented obstacles, I called my brown brother, blood brother and white brothers, I am calling them brothers whether they like it or not. They, without flinching, jumped “How can we help you?” They helped genuinely not, just with empty words.

Mr. Washington, an Afro-American, in his 70s inspired me with his work ethic. In spite of severe COPD, he continued to work. My wife and I invited him and his wife for dinner which we still reminisce about.

Now I have been infected, not with SARS CoV 2 but a writing bug. “I can write.” Am I hallucinating? Probably considering English as a second language for me. Numerous people have subjected themselves with smiling faces to read, edit, and comment on my boring, uninspiring, turgid prose. Thank you, my beta readers.

To this country of such considerate souls, I salute, I applaud, I appreciate on this Thanksgiving. Thank you motherland! You will call me a liar because I was not born here. I will not listen to you. I have spent more years here than in India. I will fudge and call great ol’ USA my motherland.

Both mothers, India and the USA enjoy a solid foundation of democracy, secularism, and freedom of the press. Are the systems perfect? Of course not. Even a beautiful building, when examined carefully, will show imperfections in bricks, roof tiles, marble, and so on. Let us continue to work on imperfections; the buildings need renovation, additions, deletions, and at times, overhaul.

Incidentally, democracies such as the USA, Western Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Israel, India, Japan, and a few others get dissected from head to toe for their defects such as injustice to minorities in their countries, past misdeeds including colonialism, war crimes, etc., some genuine and others’ perceived. After thorough dissection the light microscopic examination to pound on them gives the pleasure to critics. Next, electron microscopy is employed to finish demonization and denigration which does not help any party. Oh yeah! Some benefit, they line their pockets or advance academically at elite universities or seize the power or enjoy the 24x7 limelight. How often we hear about destructive discrimination of minorities such as Christians, Zoroastrians and Jews in Iran, numerous Middle Eastern countries and Northern Africa.

We shall curate current chaos in our country rather than indiscriminately blaming everything and everybody in sight. I, for one, urge those who feel discriminated against and aggrieved not to engage in the violence. The constitution allows citizens to protest peacefully. Hurting or killing innocent people; and vandalising and destroying properties will not help citizens to achieve their goals. Ms. Urooj Rahman and Colinford Mattis threw a molotov cocktail into a police car in the Fort Greene neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York. Fortunately, nobody occupied the police car then. Surprise! Surprise! Ms.Urooj Rahman is listed as a human rights lawyer. May I suggest to my black brothers and sisters that they don’t need outsiders’ help, especially if they employ violent methods.

I thank law and order personnel: societies with poor law and order do not progress, become poorer, and people die prematurely. Those misguided shouting ‘Defund the police’ shall live in Somalia for six months to realize they need police so their loved ones don’t get raped, maimed, or beheaded.

The law and order establishment allows us to sleep soundly at night in our homes, and children to play in the streets, playgrounds, and sports fields without fear. What will happen to my family’s shopping habits if anarchy takes over? I am talking about my shopping habits and not my wife’s!.

Does the law and order apparatus need modification, refinement, and innovation? Of course. Just like our smartphones continue to evolve with sophisticated cameras, longer-lasting batteries, gorgeous screens, and more features, we need to continue to evolve our law and order apparatus. For example, remotely controlled robots powered by artificial intelligence can diffuse an explosive crime scene with less injury to police and suspected criminals. Give a chance to entrepreneurs to dream up better solutions. We do not know what technology will bring us. Maybe eyes in the sky, roaming satellites can be called on to focus on a crime scene so that veteran police officers can guide the rookies in the field.

To protest against ‘police violence’ we need to remember what Mahatma Gandhi remarked, “An eye for an eye will leave the whole world blind.” Voting to bring in desired changes, non-violent protest, and other methods will bring in better policing, not only for blacks but also non-blacks.

Mahatma Gandhi, a fragile stick-like figure, dressed in a loincloth, marched with a bamboo stick with his fellow Indian women and men; at times, he fasted till he developed ketosis and almost died. Employing non-violence satyagraha, he bid goodbye to a British empire, a mighty empire where the sun never set. In the process of liberating India, great Gandhi also catalysed the liberation of women. If you have met Indian ladies, you know they are sassy, articulate, socially smart, and liberated. I can attest after living with my wife for many years, she is much smarter than me; please don’t tell her.

In our great ol’ USA, Martin Luther King studied Gandhi and employed his faith as a Christian minister to proclaimed “…when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual: Free at last! Free at last!” I believe if he were alive today, he would champion rights of Blacks, Whites, Browns, Purples and he will chase away the narrow-minded groups talking about rights for only one group. He will fight for the uplifting of poor Whites and Browns.

Ceasar Chavez, like Mahatma Gandhi who fought for the rights of textile workers in Ahmedabad in 1918, united Mexican American farm workers to improve their lot. Today if Ceasar Chavez was alive, he would fight for clean air for all of us, including Delhiites who breathe in pollution 24x7.

Mahatma Gandhi advised, “Be the change you want to see in the world”. Or I can complain about this country till my veins on my forehead burst. But where will I move for safety and security?

Which country would I choose if I were a Christian American, Egypt or Colorado?

Jewish American, Pakistan or Colorado?

Muslim American, Saudi Arabia or Colorado?

Hindu American, Pakistan or Colorado?

Buddhist American, Afghanistan or Colorado?

Atheist American, Bangladesh or Colorado?

Chinese Buddhist, Malaysia or Colorado?

Black American, Mauritania or Colorado?

Hispanic, El Salvador or Colorado?

In November 2020, militant Islamist beheaded 50 people in Cabo Delgado province of Mozambique. But such massacres barely gets mentioned in the mainstream media which keeps magnifying minimal discrimination in democratic societies. For example, so many negative stories about India. But still, India tries its best to protect the minorities: Mohammad Kasim Stimberwala and Ubed Ahmed Mirza plotted to blow up a synagogue in the town where I grew up. The government of Gujarat nabbed the culprits and put them behind the bars. May I confess, I did not know a synagogue existed in my town.

When it rains, it pours. Law and order protests! Forest fires in California! Monster COVID-19 pandemic! We can vanquish all these problems and more including pandemic with unity, perseverance, entrepreneurship, and innovation. The pandemic produced untold misery, disruption, loss of businesses but allowed us to reflect on ourselves. At least, I spent more time with my wife even if she didn’t like it.

Recently, I thanked my gods for my health, wealth, and wife by lighting the lamps; I celebrated Diwali.

With all its warts, the great ol’ USA experiment has so far worked. We need to thank our good fortune and continue to refine our systems.

Gracias! Dhanyawad!