India Awaits

I've never had the desire to visit India. I don't like the culture of extremes - I don't like the oppression of women and the poor, I don't like the gaudy materialism of the rich, I don't like the stifling heat, I don't like the smell of sandalwood.

Yet, here I am off to India. I am going because the opportunity came up last minute.

My friend Jill and her husband have been working on agrarian land reform in India for many years. They urge the Indian government to implement laws that will give India's poorest the right to own land so they can have greater self-determination over their livelihood. Part of Jill's work has been to organize a month-long march of thousands of India's landless in peaceful protest of the government's inaction.

On October 2, Ghandi's birthday, 25,000 people will start their march from Gwalior, India. They will reach the Delhi Parliament around October 28, where the marchers will be met by 100,000 others for a peaceful sit-in and hunger strike.

Rights of the landless in India has not been one of my causes. But as I learn more about the march and its participants, I see that issues of property ownership, poverty, and women's rights are cousins. The last two I do have interest in, whether they are issues in our community, in Canada, or the world at large.

I believe we ought to raise the bar so we can elevate the quality of life from the bottom up. We ought to be able to satisfy our physiological, safety, love and belonging, and esteem needs, regardless of economic situation. What Maslow calls deficiency needs that when satisfied, lead to growth and self-actualization. So I am happy to walk for the rights of the poor and women.

Going to India at this time also means I have a structure for my visit and I will be travelling with people I know. The daily walking and reduced food consumption will be good for fitness and health.

And then there is the part of me that is going just because I want to and I can.

So while I have no real compelling reason to go to India, I am leaving Toronto October 3 and joining the march October 5. No, no, I won't be doing the sit-in or hunger strike.

During the march, foreign guests like me will be given roofed accommodation with access to hand washing and washroom. Each day, we will walk 10 to 17 km and get fed at least once. They tell me to carry a small, light backpack only, with two to three changes of clothing. I have reduced all my needs into a school knapsack. No lugging of beer, wine or cold fizzy lemon drink for this picnic.

Organizers tell me they expect to have internet access every two or three days. If that's the case, I will provide updates and photographs of the march so I can take you on this grand adventure with me. Please write often so we don't get swallowed up in the heat and dust of India.

If I have no internet access, then this may be the only record of the march and my trip that I make. In that case, be well, everyone. I will see you when I get back. If I get back.