by Anita Mendiratta | Nov 30, 2016
It was only 3 weeks ago.
It is hard to believe it was only 3 weeks ago when so much of the world woke to a shock they will never forget, yet one that so, so many wish that they could.
The map was red, undeniably, unquestionably, irreversibly red. He had won. The Republican candidate was now to be referred to as ‘President Elect, Donald Trump’.
Hundreds of millions across the US, and the world, woke to shock. Time-freezing, ‘you will never forget where you were when…’ shock. The people had spoken. The American elite will no longer lead. Now it was time for the power of the people to rise, and govern. The relieved souls: US-based in the main.
For the rest, it was shock and awe. The dawn was to bring a map bathed in blue. The responsibility of the right to vote was wisely to rise over the unprecedented theatrics of the 2016 US Presidential campaigns. The moment of truth was to reveal a choice in favour of experience, stability, global sensibility, and decency over disruption and disrespect. The polling booths were to be the moment when the country (and world) switched channels, resuming regular programming, the reality show having come to its final, dramatic episode.
But it was not to be the case.
Sunrise brought the rise of dismay. And angst. And tears. Could this be true? Have the American people chosen this man, this character, as representative of the nation’s vision, identity and ethos?
2016 has been a year beyond fiction, beyond feeling, and beyond logic, in so many ways.
First came the continued tragedy of the Refugee and Migrant crisis. Then Brexit. Then the US Elections. The people have spoken once more. And their words, their wishes, are expressions of a desire for profound change, with separation at the centre of their sense of stability, security and future opportunity.
The feeling of ‘how can this happen? really was like deja vu all over again……
Which begs the question: what do the events of 2016 say about us, each of us, as a citizen of the global community? The choices we make in terms of:
- What attracts our attention?
- What pokes us in the eye, stirring up our compassion?
- What forces us to take a stand, taking action?
- And at the same times, what goes unnoticed?
Today, months after Brexit, days after the US Presidential Elections, seconds since the latest crisis, our attention is pulled in so many directions. But actually, none at all. The intensity of activity turns to a numbness. There is just so much noise that it is simply easier, and understandable, to cover one’s ears and walk away.
But if there is anything that Brexit, the US Presidential Elections, and so many other tests have proven, we cannot, simply cannot, turn away. What may seem the path of least resistance is, in fact, the path of apathetic abandonment of responsibility.
What is happening is not ok.
What is being ignored is not ok.
Turning away, covering our ears, walking on, is not ok.
Never, ever, should it take the lifeless body a tiny Syrian toddler named Aylan on Turkish shores to draw the attention of people of the world to the plight of others. ‘Syria’ has become a symbol of abandonment. ‘Trump’ has become a synonym of populism. ‘2016’ has become a page in history punctuated with disbelief…the ‘Word of the Year’ most consistently expressed in 4 letters, the first being an F, the rest best not put in print but rightly assumed.
So where are we now? What have we learned? What difference will 2016 really make?
If anything, one can only hope, it will be the need to do everything possible, sometimes defying instinct, to not turn away.
There is too much, too too much, happening every day everywhere around us, trying to create a global community of enemies. That is not who we are, and who we are meant to be.
Whoever we are, wherever we are in the world, our blood reveals immigrant ties. Our hearts reveal hope for a safer tomorrow.
Our better angels are fighting tirelessly to rise above. Because all lives matter.
Copyright: ANITA MENDIRATTA 2016
by Anita Mendiratta | Oct 10, 2016
To watch / read / listen to the debates, discourses, digs, documenting, and painful dispatches from campaign offices in this year’s US Presidential election is truly historic. In so many ways both the Democrats and Republicans are making history. Personalities and profiles of the candidates are unprecedented. Some of the reasons were expected – the first woman at the helm of a party in the presidential race versus the first outsider and self-funding her opponent. One a lifetime in the political arena, the other a lifetime in the boardroom. One an assumed contestant for the 2016 presidential race, the other a complete shock in participation and now pole position.
Yet there are similarities – both are deal makers, though each with profoundly different agendas, styles, and bottom lines. Both possess gravitas and grey hair in their respective areas. Both love their families, flowing in their affections and fierce in their protection. And both are in it to win it. Never before in the race for the White House has the competition been more diverse, nor divisive.
As hundreds of millions are spent in the countdown to election day, the equivalent of GDPs of small, struggling nations, messaging grows more acutely focused on the courtship of voters, building on bases, seeking to appeal to undecideds, imploring the need for all Americans to exercise their democratic right and responsibility to vote, to step forward and help shape the future of their nation’s economy, psyche, and one hopes, unity.
To be at this point in the race is to be in a period of intense noise. The media blitzes are expected, the massive spends a cost of doing business and praying for the return on investment, be it party funds, supporter donations, or personal wealth. This is nothing new. The new highs in spend are what they are. They are expected, and accepted.
What has been a great shock to the political system, and the people of the US, and dare it be said the world, has been the shocking, simply shocking, lows that the presidential race has reached, and continues to reach, with each passing day. Attacks on the opposition have become abusive, personal fur tearing and assaults on character and capabilities eclipsing professional agendas and policy perspectives. Social exchange has gone into freefall.
Painfully, embarrassingly, the vocabulary of the US presidential race, candidates, critics and commentators (official and those simply socially empowered with 140 keystrokes of opinion, qualified & verified or not, American and worldwide) alike, has become the stuff of tabloids, tantrums, bullies and brothel owners.
Credit where it is due – it is one candidate in particular who built his party campaign off of hurling offenses and building fear. Now a party nominee, the hateful and hurtful rhetoric has reached new highs, the national elections vocabulary new lows. Still, whether one’s one words or echoing those of another, to give such language, such sentiment oxygen, is to magnify the mess.
Back in the day when both candidates were children, to use the language used so freely and so unashamedly today, by those in the race and then magnified by the population at large, would have both candidates and all speaking such soiled language, grounded. Four letter words, hate speech, bullying – these used to be prohibited, punishable. And yet today, as the race reaches its climax, the entertainment of the race has stripped the candidates and the American people of a filter. Speaking one’s mind, regardless of prejudices and paranoia, had become applauded as being honest, being anti-establishment, being what is going to be what makes a nation great again.
But what happens once November 08th has come and gone. How will Americans look at one another as they look to their respective futures? Together, after pushing so far apart? Hopeful, after declaring oneself so hopeless? Safe and secure at home after being so overtly singled out for as unwelcome?
And what about once one crosses US borders? How does the world now look at this nation that has declared war on itself, one turning free speech into foul exchanges that cheapen the overall image and sense of ethics of a people? How does one maintain a seat at the table when they have shown absolutely no regard for table manners?
What we are seeing now is beyond comprehension. There are no words for what has become acceptable language. Whatever the outcome of the presidential race, the image of the position of the ‘President‘ has been bruised. The dark, painful colours of this fight will take years to fade, exceptional effort to heal, though no question scars will remain.
The scars? A society that allows such open, unedited, abusive and offensive language as everyday language. Walls have been built and bridges destroyed across the nation’s psyche, simply through words. Bricks and mortar were not needed.
Still, as the sun rises on November 09th, with ballots having been counted into the wee, dark hours of the morning, the victor announced and ballots safely discarded, how dearly, desperately, one can hope that thrown away with the ballot papers will be the rhetoric that was used to rip people apart, Americans recognising that from this day forward, greatness as a nation comes through a desire to be better first and foremost through how one looks at, speaks with, reaches out to the person standing right beside them, whether they were voting right, left, or in the middle just 24 hours before.
It’s not ok. And it is not an evolution of the times that must be accepted. Americans are better than this. We are all better that this. Decency is not a political policy, nor a position, nor a platform. It is a simple code that should, at a cellular level, be shared by all nationals, political preferences aside.
One can only pray that as the sun rises on November 09th, words of unity and respect will be be reawoken. America, the world, is better than this.
Saying a prayer……x
Copyright: ANITA MENDIRATTA 2016
by Anita Mendiratta | Sep 4, 2016
One year ago the image of baby Alan Kurdi washing ashore gripped the world. The desperate quest of his Syrian family for freedom and safety ended up in this tired, overtaken rag doll image becoming a reflection of the plight of the Syrian refugees. A little angel forced our attention.
One year on. And where are we now? Has his life been honoured by lives protected? Lives saved?
Has the call to the global community for compassion and accommodation been heard? Has the message been able to make its way through the year?
Painfully, it appears not.
Immediate response to the image of lifeless little Alan on the shores of one of Turkey’s tourism beaches was citizen outrage and political action. As hearts opened across the globe, and hashtags acted as a voice imploring a humanitarian response, policies were put in place to open doors. European leaders, some but not all, showed an ethical leadership and unity unseen for quite some time. Their show of courage and conviction within political leadership was needed, immediately, not later, as day after day thousands of desperate, journey defying refugees arrives on the shores of the continent. Tiny children. Tired parents. Too many to count. Too many tears to see through.
Hearing of the struggles for life, hundreds of millions worldwide watched as flimsy, water-defying boats arrived in Europe, and the journey of the refugees continues. The long walk to freedom. Hundreds and hundreds of kilometers were taken on without hesitation by the refugees remarkably on terra firma. Germany, Austria, the UK, France…anywhere, actually. As they say, beggars can’t be choosers. Thousands of kilometers away from Turkish shores, refugees began their trek to their so dearly hoped for final places to rest their tired hearts, souls and soles.
The world was finally watching. And yet the reality is that long before baby Alan washed up on the shores of Turkey, refugees had been fleeing from Syria to places promising simply safety. Millions. Millions the world chose not to see as it was not on their shores.
And then reality bit, hard. As waves of refugees arrived into Europe, doors began to close, along with hearts. Policies were changed, promises fell, compassion faded. And # activism moved on to the next issue, the next crisis, the next popular outrage.
Still, while the world looks away, the global refugee community continues to fight for freedom, dignity and safety. The numbers of refugees making the terrifying journey since little Alan’s death has reached almost one million, with close to 6000 lives lost – those that we know of. This past week, in a period of just 30 hours, an estimated 6,500 refugees made the terrifying crossing of the Mediterranean, including a pair of five day old twins born on the waters thankfully finding themselves on the dry shores of Europe, and in the headlines of global news. The survival of these two little souls has been called a ‘miracle’, the story squeezing the hearts of the world. Likewise the image of little Omran, the young boy pulled out of the rubble of an airstrike on his neighbourhood in Aleppo. His family chose to stay. He survived. His brother, however, did not.
Children, fragile children, have become what it takes to get the world’s attention, to care.
But does the world care enough to not look away?
The care, compassion and action of the world can be so much more. We who can make a difference must stop looking to the lives of refugees for stories of miracles – we must create the miracles that their life stories so desperately, courageously seek.
The policies of governments across the world accepting, or rejecting, refugees are a direct reflection of the wishes of their citizens. It is the opening, and closing, of hearts and homes on safer ground that is determining the fate of the refugees – courageous souls simply seeking to find a way of looking towards tomorrow with confidence that they will see the sunrise. Are changes needed to systems and structures to take in refugees and make them productive, appreciated members of society? Absolutely, this we know to be true. As is needed ways of identifying those taking advantage of the suffering of others to drive their own agendas, gaining access to be able to do damage to societies simply trying to do good.
As opportunities and issues across our world continue to bring people together, the refugee crisis has rightly been called ‘the moral test of our generation‘. To fail this test would be profoundly shameful.
Today, right now, here’s how you can help: http://edition.cnn.com/2015/08/28/world/iyw-migrant-how-to-help/index.html
And please, please, do not look away…..x
Copyright: ANITA MENDIRATTA 2016
by Anita Mendiratta | Aug 15, 2016
To watch the 2016 Olympic Games is to watch magic happen. Day after day, event after event, new records are set, new dreams are realised. Coaches, families, friends and funders cheer from surrounding benches and bleachers as young spirits ignite, turning years of tireless training into seconds that will last a lifetime. Some win, some lose, all are top of their game, whichever part of the Games in which they are participating. Tears fall, the pain of Olympic moments caused by both physical and emotional highs and lows. Through it all, ignited spirits glow strong.
Even those losing out on their goals for gold will forever feel a golden fire within their hearts. They were there when the Opening Ceremonies saw the world’s flags and finest athletes walk the stadium surrounded by a world of applauding admirers sitting right there in the venue, or the tens of millions sitting in their homes and offices watching from across the globe. Their Olympic moment can never be taken from their hearts, their life stories.
For all athletes the road to Rio has been a commitment beyond compare. All else was put on hold – at times it felt as though their lives depended on it. Those around know only to support – be there, supporting in silent strength, unless loud rallying of effort and energy was required to keep them moving forward, looking upward.
Their moment is all that matters. The rest of their lives can wait.
For the average athlete, superhuman in their strength of ability, hardships are assumed to be few. The fundamentals are assumed to be taken care of – a roof over their heads, a meal in their bellies, a team of professionals guiding their every move, a sense of peace that they are safe in their place in the world. Focus can afford to be selfish. There is little reason to fear anything but failure when tomorrow comes.
But for one team competing at the 2016 Olympic Games, fears they faced tomorrow were far beyond athletic performance. The assumptions of home, health, safety, security, and selfishness do not exist.
Home is no longer a place they can go – it no longer exists.
Family? Not 100% sure.
The future? Again, not 100% sure.
Such is the flame, the view of tomorrow, that is held in many of the hearts of the ten athletes that make up this year’s Olympic refugee team – the first ever refugee team in Olympic history. Without a nation state, still they have remarkable abilities, and even more remarkable dreams. And so, together these ten incredible forces of nature, often without nurture, stand tall, together, under the iconic Olympic rings flag.
Their spirit is everywhere, strengthening the Olympic flame for all.
The question is: how can these heroes be found, supported, championed, given a feeling of peace and place with all they need, beyond the Games, beyond these precious ten representing the over 65 million refugees worldwide today?
As these remarkable athletes grace Rio with their courage and commitment to not just sport, but survival of the human spirit. May they be the enduring flame, inextinguishable of the 2016 Games.
Their stories are here – https://www.globalcitizen.org/en/content/refugee-team-olympics-brazil-sports/?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_content=global&utm_campaign=general-content&linkId=27340192
Please take a moment, read through their journeys to Rio. Open your heart to be able to hear their Olympic dreams, their daily dreams, come to life.
I challenge you not to cry…x
Copyright: ANITA MENDIRATTA 2016
by Anita Mendiratta | Jul 21, 2016
One more idealist is now in Heaven.
Just a matter of days ago, one of our world’s great men – Michael Elliott – raised his glass for the last time, and then shut his eyes. As has been said in one of the many salutes that has followed news of his passing spreading across the globe, just 48 hours before his last breathe, as people gathered around him to toast him at his retirement party, “nobody could have known that he was, in fact, the life of the party at his own wake.”
So often the news of the passing of a global personality spreads like wildfire, and then quickly burns out. People pause, remember, and then return to normal programming of daily life. The personality was known, but not necessarily the person. The loss is somewhat removed from the lives of the rest.
However, every once in a while, the pause holds, the thought of the loss hanging like a thin layer of cloud over all thoughts.
Such was the case on learning of the Michael’s recent passing.
While having met him only once, this was (not liking writing ‘was‘ in the past tense!) a person who penetrated one’s conscience. His presence was strangely soothing. His combination of gravitas yet gentleness, silence yet strength, wisdom yet youthfulness, overriding presence of idealism, was, is, unforgettable. His CV underlined his acumen, his deserved admiration from the global community. He was, when we met, at the top of his game in the media world.
And then, in 2011 at the height of his journalistic career, he made news by choosing to leave being one of the world’s greatest men of the pen, to join ONE, working for a greater world. As expressed by the organisation,:
“Whether lobbying political leaders in world capitals or running cutting-edge grassroots campaigns, ONE pressures governments to do more to fight AIDS and other preventable, treatable diseases in the poorest places on the planet, to empower small-holder farmers, to expand access to energy, and to combat corruption so governments are accountable to their citizens.”
Joining a unique group of global voices and visionaries, Michael shifted his focus to leading what is today “more than seven million ONE members on every continent around the world carrying forward (the idea that where you are born shouldn’t dictate whether you live or die) through hard-nosed government advocacy and campaigning for smart aid and policy change to benefit the world’s poor.” (Source: ONE Annual Report 2015).
Over the next five years, as President and CEO, his vocation shaped his DNA. As poignantly expressed by Bono, co-founder of ONE,: “Above all else, he wanted his life to be useful. If you were around him, that’s what he demanded of you.”
To read the tributes now flowing through the wires is to read hearts celebrating greatness. Clearly, at a cellular level, he lived each moment dedicated to ONE. Only the invasion of cancer was able to stifle his efforts.
Now, as the pause lingers, tributes reinforce that Michael was a man who inspired people of inspiration to keep their chins up, eyes focused, hearts open. Reminded of him in reading of his passing, it is impossible not to feel a straightening of the backbone. A gentle push on the back to keep moving forward, following one’s inner compass that instinctively points north.
Why? Because every single day our hyper-connected world of communication reveals example after example of his sadly disconnected we are becoming from one another. Conscious, active, and increasingly aggresively articulated choices are being made as to where compassion is being exhausted, and where caution should be applied. Care for others is falling a far second to protection of oneself. Fear has become a motivator for action, not faith, nor human kindness, and certainly not a commitment to creating a better world for all. Walls are being spoken of to keep people apart at a time when bridges are required for understanding, unity, safety.
Michael, his last chapter of his life’s work, is an example of the fullness one can realise in life…even when the number of pages we have are fewer than hoped. Now is the time to work, actively work, to make a positive difference, one by one by one. Because tomorrow is a grand assumption.
At a time when the world so desperately needs us all to believe in better, and do what we can to make it happen, may the memory of this great man keep our chins up, eyes focused, hearts open.
May the Heavens welcome you with open wings, Michael. Rest well.
Copyright: ANITA MENDIRATTA 2016
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