[postlink]https://beenaroundtheworld.blogspot.com/2010/04/toothbrush-person.html[/postlink]endofvid
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Soon after leaving India, my Global Studies professor Don Cogniat approached me about taking part in a student panel the next day during Global Studies class. He asked me to share a 5 minute story about an individual that I’ve met while in port that has touched or inspired me in some way. I’ve met some great people in the countries I’ve visited so naturally it was difficult to choose a single person, but I was able to narrow it down to two people, John “Lambo” Bowdre in China and Neha’s grandmother, Nani-ji Saroj. I chose these two individuals for completely different reasons. If you remember from my Shanghai entry, John was the Alpha that I met in China. After studying abroad at Shanghai University his final year in college, he decided to turn down full-time offer at UBS to relocate in China and set up his own entertainment/music venture. I was inspired by the tremendous amount of courage it took to make the risky decision to not only turn down a secure position for an uncertain future in a foreign country. I also admired the fact that he was able to harness the relationships he formed while studying abroad. It was the contacts that he made within the Shanghai nightlife and entertainment scene that enabled him to set up his own business. In such a short amount of time, he was able to set up and grow his business and bring his little brother over to China as well. At the same time, I was also touched by nani-ji Saroj’s charitable and selfless spirit. After much thought, I ultimately decided to share nani-ji’s story. After the discussion, Don asked the entire class to think of someone that has touched them and write a letter about how that person has inspired them. He called this our “Toothbrush Person” because he wanted us to think about this individual every morning when we brush our teeth and reflect on how they changed us. My letter was basically a synopsis of the story I shared with the class. Here is what I wrote about nani-ji:
While in Hyderabad, India, I met Nani-ji Saroj Maheshwari and was extremely moved by her accomplishments and contributions to the lives of others. She struck me as a women that truly lives her life for others. She married at the age of 15 and since then her life has centered around her family. Her husband and she live a comfortable but modest life and her children/grandchildren do very well for themselves. She could have decided to simply leave it at that and spend the rest of her days enjoying her life and the fruits of her labor, but she didn’t.
At age 60, she decided that she wanted to give back and help create opportunities for others to advance. So she set up orphanages and a small microfinance bank for need women and families. But she didn’t stop there. She also built a women’s college for impoverished women in and around Hyderabad. While I’m sure many people would love to do something like this, very few people actually take out the time, put up the money, and make the sacrifices needed to actually establish a school. We were able to visit the school and take part in a short general assembly that had been called in our honor. I along with 6 of the other students I was traveling with each gave a brief speech to the kids. We were greeted with a lunch reception that had been cooked by some of the students in the hostel. Neha and nani-ji even made a banner with our names on it. I was able to talk to some of the girls briefly and find out their names. One of the girls said, “bye sister” as I left, and that really took me by surprise and touched me. The girls were all so beautiful , spirited, and genuinely excited to have us. At the end we helped pass out sweets that were purchased on our behalf. It was a great day and certainly an experience I’ll remember for the rest of my life. The school has been in existence for over 9 years now and completely sustains itself off of private donations. It currently houses and teaches over 400 girls age 16-20 from extremely poor families. These women have gone on to pursue graduate degrees , start careers, and build their families; opportunities that they likely would not have had without this school. Nani-ji’s story and contributions have made me realize just how important it is to never stop giving and never lose sight of your dreams and passions.
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[starttext]
Soon after leaving India, my Global Studies professor Don Cogniat approached me about taking part in a student panel the next day during Global Studies class. He asked me to share a 5 minute story about an individual that I’ve met while in port that has touched or inspired me in some way. I’ve met some great people in the countries I’ve visited so naturally it was difficult to choose a single person, but I was able to narrow it down to two people, John “Lambo” Bowdre in China and Neha’s grandmother, Nani-ji Saroj. I chose these two individuals for completely different reasons. If you remember from my Shanghai entry, John was the Alpha that I met in China. After studying abroad at Shanghai University his final year in college, he decided to turn down full-time offer at UBS to relocate in China and set up his own entertainment/music venture. I was inspired by the tremendous amount of courage it took to make the risky decision to not only turn down a secure position for an uncertain future in a foreign country. I also admired the fact that he was able to harness the relationships he formed while studying abroad. It was the contacts that he made within the Shanghai nightlife and entertainment scene that enabled him to set up his own business. In such a short amount of time, he was able to set up and grow his business and bring his little brother over to China as well. At the same time, I was also touched by nani-ji Saroj’s charitable and selfless spirit. After much thought, I ultimately decided to share nani-ji’s story. After the discussion, Don asked the entire class to think of someone that has touched them and write a letter about how that person has inspired them. He called this our “Toothbrush Person” because he wanted us to think about this individual every morning when we brush our teeth and reflect on how they changed us. My letter was basically a synopsis of the story I shared with the class. Here is what I wrote about nani-ji:
While in Hyderabad, India, I met Nani-ji Saroj Maheshwari and was extremely moved by her accomplishments and contributions to the lives of others. She struck me as a women that truly lives her life for others. She married at the age of 15 and since then her life has centered around her family. Her husband and she live a comfortable but modest life and her children/grandchildren do very well for themselves. She could have decided to simply leave it at that and spend the rest of her days enjoying her life and the fruits of her labor, but she didn’t.
At age 60, she decided that she wanted to give back and help create opportunities for others to advance. So she set up orphanages and a small microfinance bank for need women and families. But she didn’t stop there. She also built a women’s college for impoverished women in and around Hyderabad. While I’m sure many people would love to do something like this, very few people actually take out the time, put up the money, and make the sacrifices needed to actually establish a school. We were able to visit the school and take part in a short general assembly that had been called in our honor. I along with 6 of the other students I was traveling with each gave a brief speech to the kids. We were greeted with a lunch reception that had been cooked by some of the students in the hostel. Neha and nani-ji even made a banner with our names on it. I was able to talk to some of the girls briefly and find out their names. One of the girls said, “bye sister” as I left, and that really took me by surprise and touched me. The girls were all so beautiful , spirited, and genuinely excited to have us. At the end we helped pass out sweets that were purchased on our behalf. It was a great day and certainly an experience I’ll remember for the rest of my life. The school has been in existence for over 9 years now and completely sustains itself off of private donations. It currently houses and teaches over 400 girls age 16-20 from extremely poor families. These women have gone on to pursue graduate degrees , start careers, and build their families; opportunities that they likely would not have had without this school. Nani-ji’s story and contributions have made me realize just how important it is to never stop giving and never lose sight of your dreams and passions.
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