I Wonder What Nehrwan Chering is Doing Today?

Lately I've been thinking about the contrasts in my life in the Western world and the glimmer of life that I experienced while in India.

Love it or hate it, India left an unforgettable impression. It is a place full of struggles but equally full of hope. Poverty, overpopulation, poor infrastructure and social services, caste discrimination, and droughts balanced with spirituality, happiness, entrepreneurial spirit, diversity, love, and pride.

In the West, we have all that most Indians can only dream of yet some of us are lost when it comes to human spirit. We stress about the latest pandemic, work, school, relationships, minor injustices, mortgages, money, etc. Some of this stress is legitimate and necessary but all in all we have it pretty easy. So why is it so challenging to think about the upside? If we divert some of the energy we spend on stress to harnessing the energy of our inner spirit, we could become incredibly positive forces.

In the Himilayas, we stayed in an area that had just emerged from 8 months of being snowed in. We were fortunate to stay at a guesthouse where the owners lived on the 2nd floor. They had a daunting task ahead of them: capitalize the small window of good weather to grow and gather their food and wood for the rest of the year and make a bit of money from tourists coming through on their way to a greater destination. The women toiled on the fields each morning. The elder's body was L-shaped from years of hunching over. Perhaps I was blissfully unaware of their true feelings due to the communication gap but I like to believe that they were truly grateful and happy. Their smiles could melt the coldest of hearts. In particular, the little 10 year old boy in the family Nehrwan Chering was so full of pure spirit and joy. I often wonder how he's doing.

On this beautiful Remembrance Day, it's probably pretty cold and snowy where he is. The pipes are frozen, water needs to be boiled for a quick splash bath, wood is burning in their poorly ventilated communal unit, and they're carefully conserving their food. Yet I am almost certain that there is great love in his family and community, and that Nehrwan is blazing the most uplifting and brightest light from the core of his inner spirit.

If it's so easy for this family in such an adverse situation, it should be just as easy for us to drop what we're doing, take a moment, and share our brightest within to everyone around.

Namaste.

Picture 1- Super kiddo/ master entertainer Nehrwan
Picture 2- Enjoying the beauty of fall