midnight angels

Going to India in 2004 was the best decision I ever made in my life. Aside from seeing the beauty in the people, the way the country still manages to move forward even as they are driving on the lines rather than between them, the trip was well worth it because I met a girl called Malini.

Malz is the type of person who has boundless energy. She's a radio host, media personality, and writes a social column in a local daily. India is obsessed with celebrity, so being in the middle of it takes a lot of patience and drive. She recently started this new segment of her show called Midnight Angels. It's a way of spreading good karma to the world. The concept is simple. With many voices, much can be accomplished. Using her forum of radio and sites like facebook and the like - Malz challenges the many members to accomplish certain easy tasks. Some discussions are simple things that may make a big difference; just yesterday, one person brought up the fact that they had too many plastic bags in their house, and what could we do to recycle them effectively. A recent challenge that Malini put forward was to suprise someone with a gift. Sounds easy, right? Sounds like something you should already be doing? But are you doing it? Did you? If a group of people is bothering to spend time putting good karma into the world, will it matter more? Will it make more of an impact?

Whatever the result, I have to say I'm glad Malini exists. Just the simple idea of trying to make life better is worth living for. When I was in that country, we suffered the boxing day tsunami. Even though I was on the west coast in Mumbai, it was devastating to think that entire villages were simply gone. There were towns that just didn't exist anymore after those waves. And knowing that the infrastructure of India wasn't built to withstand anything like that natural disaster, was part of the horrible truth of the story. Yet the government refused aid, saying that of all the countries in the area, they were the largest, with the biggest economy and that the aid should be given to countries in dire need. It wasn't a western reaction that I was used to. There were certainly people who could have used the aid. But the reality of India is that there are always people who need help there. The huge gap that divides the super rich from the super poor is astounding and hard to understand. Then you begin to realize that because of the many strict religious beliefs that involve caste systems and such, that some of these people will never ever leave this country. Some of these people will never ever know that there is a reality different from theirs. And on the other side of the coin is that for most of them, life is not that bad. Even the poorest people wear their brightly coloured fabrics and show off their wedding jewelry.

Maybe it's some of those differences that I see in Malini. Her energy is so pure, and so sure-footed, it's possibly one of the furthest things from western culture that I see. There is no cynicism.

I'll be looking for someone to surprise with my midnight angel challenge tomorrow. Bringing a little Indian hope to Canada...