Christopher Columbus Day, Monday, October 13, 2014 (also my son Viraj’s 18th Birthday!) On Monday we celebrate Christopher Columbus (& Viraj)! Christopher in his desire to prove the world was round and to find a shorter route to India, the land of silk, spices, and elephants, found the greatest of treasures, the land that would become the greatest nation in the world and our home, America. It should be noted that Columbus Day is not Christopher’s birthday but the anniversary of Christopher Columbus arrival in the Americas on October 12, 1492. While the Italians proudly take ownership to this holiday, Italy being the country of Christopher Columbus’ birth, which certainly makes sense but this holiday actually holds metaphors on so many levels and for so many nations. Firstly Christopher himself provides the greatest of lessons, regardless of whatever the accepted beliefs of any period maybe such as the world being flat during Christopher’s time, if you have beliefs that are different and have the courage to stand behind your beliefs such as the world is round, then have the courage to leverage your abilities and to go prove it, and when you do the whole world will benefit from it and you will be bestowed honor and rewards beyond compare. (This paragraph not only defines my son Viraj, but also my daughter Devina!) Then there is the country of Spain which I think should take greater ownership to this holiday. It is simply not just the matter of where you were born that defines the person but I find greater appreciation for people who gave a person the opportunity and supported them to prove their beliefs and abilities (albeit in Christopher’s case the support was from Spanish Monarchs for their shared material gains with Christopher). I use similar thought process when I write about the South Asian community (or any community) that solely lauds the heritage country of a successful person, I highlight that it is more laudable that a country like America gave the training/opportunity to people to showcase their talent and to achieve success to a level they may or may not have been able to achieve in their own country or elsewhere in the world. How could I finish this post without some humor? Then there are people of India, who may not be the first group that comes to mind as being impacted by Columbus but they are actually directly effected by Christopher. While Indians from India greatly admire and are grateful to Christopher for finding the continent across the Atlantic that would one day be the land of opportunity and the home for so many of them, comedian Hari Kondbolu highlights that Christopher is the bane of Indians everywhere and the source of a little annoyance that Christopher would name the indigenous people of a continent across the Atlantic that had no silk, no spices, no elephants, etc. as Indians and forever have to make Indians tell people that they are the REAL Indians from India! :-) Happy Columbus Day, Happy 18th Birthday to Viraj, and my wish for Viraj, Devina, and every other person is for them to chart the course of their life listening to the voice of their heart, mind, and soul, and may that journey always bring them to treasures greater than their greatest desires, as it did for Christopher Columbus! https://facebook/OneGODLifeFramework
Posted on: Sun, 12 Oct 2014 01:14:31 +0000