Tattva

Sri Krishna in the Bhagavad Gita addresses his beloved devotee Arjuna: “With a vision of affecting the liberation of men/women, I have inculcated three yogas or methods, namely, that of knowledge, selfless work, and total surrender or devotion. There is no other means anywhere.”

As two armies confront one another and clash on a battlefield where Arjuna passes through a dreadful phase of melancholy and regret, Duryodhana is not ready for any compromises. The outcomes of a solution by the incarnation of the lord himself proved ineffective. Sri Krishna says to Arjuna, “Your only duty is to act and not to hanker after the fruits thereof” (Gita Chapter II: 47). Such seva, or “selfless work,” is essential in life. An attitude of selflessness, preforming actions with a selfless discernment, is what is needed for one to attain the purity of mind. One can argue that the goal of life is not peace of mind and that one does not necessarily need to desire a peace of mind. However, to attain all the pleasures and happiness in life and thus achieve moksha or liberation, karma yoga is necessary. My own happiness and my pleasures in life are secondary when it comes to helping those who are less fortunate than I am. Being an engineering major and a collegiate athlete, one can say that I do find peace of mind in the selfless work that I do for the community, but even such seva came to thought when I started reading the Bhagavad Gita.

The Bhagavad Gita has been the root of all of my actions in life, especially when it has come to seva or karma yoga. Born in India and brought up in the United States, I have been both around poverty and wealth. However, it was not until my current freshman year in college that I have been personally motivated to do something that made a difference in the community and in someone’s life. After ending a long day of school, work, and running, I finally came to my dorm room to finish a verse of the Gita, but the thought of the man I met a few days earlier who took his time to explain his homelessness still lingered in my head. At the time, I immediately donated twenty dollars out of my pocket, but I realized that money does not solve everything. Feeling helpless, I met with a few community leaders to perhaps use my passion for running and my spiritual knowledge as a way to help people escape the pain and struggles in their lives. While this idea was still in my head, a remarkable thing happened. At the Indian Student Association Benefit Dinner, “Eat to Educate,” Dr. Sree Sreenath of the Case Western Electrical Engineering and Computer Science department gave a presentation about the Bhutanese Empowerment Project. Soon after listening to his presentation, I approached him very enthusiastically to learn about the history behind these refugees and I realized then that the problem needed immediate attention.

Spending the rest of the event with Dr. Sreenath gathering directions and information about some of the refugees living in Cleveland, I took the RTA Train to the west side of Cleveland and visited some of the refugees the very next day. As I entered the basement of the apartment of one of these families, I felt like I was back in my homeland, feeling very close to my roots. This one particular family welcomed me very graciously as they had been told that morning that I was coming. As I sat down and introduced myself as a student from Case Western Reserve University, they gathered around me very eager to listen to what I was saying. I tried to approach them not as a volunteer of an organization but as a friend; a fellow descendent from the same part of the world who is willing to do his best to help with the situation they are faced with. In other words, I wanted to be their path to the “New World.”

As I have come to understand the problems of these refugees, I created a plan for each of them and advised them on what I think they should do and the path they should follow. For example, a very bright 11th grader, Daya, was sitting next to me and had no idea how to get into college. Putting myself in his shoes, it was hard to imagine being so motivated and eager to work hard and study hard without having any knowledge of the tools available. So, I made him a checklist of things to do such as taking the SATs and acquiring letters of recommendation. I am also currently working with him on his admission’s essay in which I advised him to write a story on his amazing journey to America and his perspective as a refugee. Many of the refugees I have met are among the brightest people I know. For example, Bhim and Hari both have their Bachelors Degrees in mathematics and chemistry, respectively. Hari’s brother, who is on his way to the United States, has a Masters in physics. Though they have much expertise and a high level of education, they are living in a new country working for a minimum wage, not knowing what they can make of themselves. Seeing this really motivated me to help these individuals find their paths to success. As Dr. Sreenath would put it, “The talent is there, the education is there, but they need someone to help them become acculturated with this new society, a new community, and this is where students like you come in.”

The stories I have mentioned in this article are only a few of the many. The United Nations expects to have more than a staggering 60,000 refugees in the next few years coming in to the United States, the largest refugee project ever undertaken by the U.N. The Bhutanese Refugees Project consists of 30 families – 109 people in Cleveland and 24 families – 100 people in Akron. Most of these refugees need help acquiring basic needs such as education, vocational training, and women empowerment. Some of the projects that volunteers like myself and other students from Case Western are working on are Project “Vahan,” or wheels –  helping them earn a Drivers License, Project Vani – teaching English as a Second Language, and Project Bala – providing children with a  cultural education. These are just a few of the various projects that are designed to serve the refugees. Sewa International volunteers like Dr. Sudesh Agrawal are also involved in helping these refugees through yoga and meditation. Just last week Dr. Agrawal and I visited a library basement where we plan to teach the refugees yoga – such as Surya Namaskara – and engage them with my spiritually and intellectually inclined discussions on the Bhagavad Gita. Many of the incoming refugees in the next few years will be facing the same world that Bhim, Hari, Daya, and many others are currently facing. As young Hindus born and brought up in the United States, having come from the same part of the world as these refugees, we all have a duty to fulfill. Whether that duty is to provide these refugees with strength and hope through tough times by simply talking to them or to actually go out and find them jobs, we all have the tools, the knowledge, and the power to help those less fortunate than us, help these new future generations live the American Dream.

Sai Santosh Kolluru is an undergraduate student at Case Western Reserve University. He is majoring in mechanical and aerospace engineering with a minor in astronomy. He is also a varsity cross country and indoor and outdoor track runner for his university.

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This entry was posted on Sunday, March 1st, 2009 at 10:58 am and is filed under Reflections. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.