We were 40 in number, from the East and the West, stretched from side to side behind a knotted rope in a rice paddy, with a bundle of rice plants in our hands. Each of us stood in the calf-deep water behind a knot, and as the rope holders on each side of the paddy moved a step or two forward, we dropped another rice plant into the mud beneath our knot.
It was typical rural India. Humans working together with a bit of ingenuity, doing as well or better than expensive and inaccessible machines. The task went quickly and well. Only the anxiety about creatures in the muddy water that might take a fancy to a toe, detracted from the sense of mutual accomplishment on the part of those of us from the West, new to such a cooperative experience.
We were in Vedchhi, at the Institute for Total Revolution, founded by Narayan Desai. Narayan grew up in the ashram community of Mahatma Gandhi, as his father was Mahadev Desai, Gandhi’s personal secretary. Twenty of us from the West had joined an equal number of participants from all over India to learn more about the nonviolence of Gandhi from someone who had a front row seat in those nonviolent campaigns for Indian independence.
Like many others in the group from the West, I had come expecting to learn strategies and techniques for nonviolent social change campaigns, as well as disciplines for arrest and possible imprisonment. Our conception of nonviolence centered in protest activities that forced those in power to consider alternatives.
Our days were spent in doing bread labor, like preparing and serving meals and keeping up the campsite. We sat together five times a day under the banyan tree, for morning and evening prayers and three study sessions. We were fascinated by stories from the ashram and the independence struggle, but as the days wore on and the end of our time together approached, some of us were wondering when we were going to learn more about nonviolent activities for social change.
Then the program was over! My co-leader and I sat down with Narayan and his Indian co-leader to evaluate the program. Narayan was the first to speak. “I was impressed with the way the group cared for the sick,” he said. It was true! One of our number had been in bed for practically the whole program. Others sat with him, shared their learnings as they happened, brought him food and companionship.
As the evaluation continued, focusing on interactions in the group, the way people dealt with interpersonal conflicts and group activities,it began to slowly dawn on me. Our conceptions of nonviolence were different. Narayan was talking about nonviolence as a “way of life.” It was all inclusive. It included your daily prayers and how you planted rice with others. It was how you did the dishes and cared for the sick. Nonviolence was intent on giving rather than getting; on “our way” rather than “my way.” Nonviolence was about making your adversary your friend.
As I write this, I’ve been wondering, “have I written about this experience earlier?” And then I answer, “so what if I have?” I need to be reminded again and again that nonviolence is a way of life, and I expect that others need the reminder as well.
As we are surrounded by the news of the day, as always, violence makes the headlines: school shootings; mall shootings; police shootings; accidental shootings. Or, we have Russia and Crimea; China and Hong Kong; Afghanistan; Iran/Iraq; Israel/Palestine; Sudan; Yemen; it goes on and on.
The fact is, violence is an aberration in human relationships. Violence is not the human norm. Most human interactions are nonviolent, even across the divisive lines of race, ethnicity, culture and religion. Nonviolence seldom makes headlines. It is sometimes an afterthought, to leave you with a modest bit of hope in the midst of your despair.
Nonviolence as a way of life recognizes and affirms all of those people who are doing the daily bread labor. How could society exist without them? They clean and bake and plant and get their feet muddy. They tend the sick, especially vigilant and responsive in times of pandemic. They teach and engage our children in creative and life-long learning activities. They help resolve conflicts and place addicts on the road to recovery. They plan healing ceremonies and offer prayers for the greater good. They create beauty in art and music. They offer a kind word, a helping hand or a simple smile that changes a mood or a mind.
These are some of the nonviolent activists that are daily making for a livable planet. Let’s not ignore their response to the issues of the day. Be encouraged, nonviolence is a “way of life.”
