My Journey to Jain

As a person of East Indian descent, but an American through and through by birth and upbringing, I have always wanted to journey to the motherland to explore my Jain heritage. An invitation to attend Mumbai’s second annual Global Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Conference as a speaker and award recipient finally gave me the right excuse to pursue this dream. Here is my report:

My adventure began with a trip from LAX to Newark, where I boarded a United flight direct to Mumbai. This flight was packed to the rafters with a large number of screaming kids for good measure. The line to the bathroom snaked halfway down the long aisle for most of the 16 hour ride. By the time we touched down in this 500-year-old city, let’s just say I was not 100 percent and was very pleased to be shuttled direct to the Taj Mumbai Land’s End hotel, a luxurious venue overlooking the Arabian Sea. To get there, we drove through neighborhoods right out of Slumdog Millionaire, which are seemingly adjacent to the upscale areas of Malabar Hill and Bandra. Indeed, the organized chaos in the streets and unending throngs of humanity cannot be compared with anything we have here in the states; even Times Square seems sparsely populated by comparison. To borrow from Hollywood again, the street scenes reminded me of footage from The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (although that film actually takes place in Jaipur, a city of only three million compared with Mumbai’s 20+ million inhabitants).

Each year on February 18th, the Global CSR Conference hosts a gathering of industry leaders to observe World CSR Day and spread the message — making a difference to the community at large. As this year’s host, Dr. R.L. Bhatia, Director General & CEO, Indian Institute of Corporate Affairs, expressed his appreciation for opportunities he enjoyed during his career, but by contributing to this event, he said, he has found a way to give back to his native land.

Among other speakers was yours truly, as I delivered a presentation on 10 technologies I feel can ignite change in the developing world over the next 10 years. Following the conference, and through the courtesy of connections provided by the Young Presidents Organization (YPO) and Sundeep Waslekar, the prominent Indian author of best-seller Eka Dishecha Shodh, I was fortunate to see some of Mumbai’s truly inside and exclusive functions and events. First, weddings.

Weddings in India make even deluxe affairs in America seem like a casual barbecue. February-March is traditional wedding season, and the nuptials I attended were for the son of India’s largest tea company, Society Tea. Another involved the grandson of India’s most prominent astrologer, Jayant Salgaonkar, actually a very important position in this spirituality-based land.

The wedding proceedings can last up to a full week, consisting of luncheons, pre-parties, the formal ceremony, the receiving line (which can last for many hours as each guest is expected to meet the entire family on both sides of the marriage), the reception and more. The costumes are very elaborate, and a special luncheon is given for the bride to select her sari for the ceremony. Grooms generally wear a Western style suit over a Nehru-collared shirt. The invite list among the highest classes can go over 2,000. Food is largely vegetarian, with various stations serving tapas, curry bar, traditional Indian food, Italian (cheese pizza with peppers), wraps with hummus, and many more. One small catch, however — NO alcohol, at either of these weddings. While not all Indian weddings are “dry,” let’s just say that Wedding Crashers it ain’t. There is much less emphasis on partying, drinking and nonsensical speeches and toasts, and more focus on the union of the two families, and religious customs depending upon whether the event is Hindu, Muslim, Jain, Buddhist or other faiths. As in America, inter-marrying among religions is becoming much more common. Overall, it does feel like the caste system is fading, to the good.

I also was fortunate to visit Indian homes to enjoy traditional Indian fare and observe the culture and how they live first-hand. I saw their artwork, cooking style, met their friends, families and learned about their businesses and hobbies. The first group was Micky and Bela, whom I met via YPO, as Micky serves as Forum Chair for the Mumbai WPO Chapter. His family is well established, as his grandfather owned several high-rise condo buildings that are situated on the Queen’s Necklace, a ring of valuable real estate that surrounds the Arabian Sea coast with views of the skyline and the water.

Over a traditional Indian lunch featuring a mixed vegetable puree, rice bread, fish with pesto sauce, all very spicy but tasty, with Kingfisher beer to drink, I learned about Micky and Bela’s 32-year marriage. One child has graduated from Northwestern University outside Chicago, while the other just returned home after schooling in the U.S. Micky has a background in sustainability, as his previous company recycled PET plastic bottles which they obtained by importing barges of trash from the U.S. This became problematic as the trash contained so much electronic and other hard-to-process waste that the Indian government outlawed this practice. Micky’s company went bankrupt, but he quickly rebounded and is now one of the founders of a large software operation with 2,500 developers to service Microsoft among other major clients. The day I left, Micky and Bela were off to Allahabad to attend a dipping ceremony at a point where two major rivers meet. This encourages immortality of the soul, and can only happen once every 16 years.

I also was taken on an architectural tour of Bombay’s past. It was not until 1996 that the city was re-named Mumbai to emphasize its Indian autonomy and non-British rule. This tour was narrated by Bela, who provided insight into the seemingly disparate neighborhoods of the city. A portion of Mumbai is reclaimed, built on what is essentially a swamp. The British influence is obvious and the buildings are Victorian, and it is unfortunate to see the rundown condition of many of these structures, again due to the rent control and related issues. The Victoria Train Station could be considered one of the Eighth Wonders of the World, so ornate, flying buttresses, clock tower, intricate detail, truly a visual delight. While not restored to the highest standard, it still makes a very strong impression. We also viewed a number of other Bauhaus-style, Art Deco buildings along the Queen’s Necklace section, which can’t help but remind one of London and thus Mumbai’s British roots.

Considering these differences between America and India, India and Great Britain, I also began to think about how women functioned in Indian society, how they operated in the grand scheme of the region’s culture. Much like in America, the Indian woman in the past generally played the role of a “daughter, wife, housewife, and mother.” But Indian women of newer generations have become more educated than their predecessors, and accompanying this increase, a rise in women in political, social, and economic fields has occurred. Especially in the field of politics, women have been able to make greater strides in bettering the conditions for their sex, improving their status in society, whether it’s petitioning for an increase in protecting women from sexual assault or allowing them more rights in terms of their marriage and family.

Especially with regard to sexual assault, India has implemented separate compartments for women traveling by train to decrease instances of sexual assault and murder targeted towards Indian women. With the introduction of the women’s compartments in trains, a greater peace of mind has also been acquired by women who depend on public transportation. As India develops though, in infrastructure, technology, sustainability, etc., “the mind also has to be developed,” says Parinita Chaudhary, a student who uses the women’s car. “They think that girls initiate the problems.” For now, the women’s car seems to help alleviate the problem, as Chaudhary pointed out, the problem must be attacked at the roots.

As my limited time was near expiration, I took a private car tour, only to have the driver get into an accident and then nearly a full-on brawl in the street with the opposing vehicle’s owner. This took over an hour to sort out before we were en route again.

As a Jain, I was interested in learning more about my religion. Although Jains are only 0.4 percent of the Indian population, they are the most educated among demographic groups, with a literacy rate of over 94 percent. They are typically very spiritual in outlook and practices. They believe no creature should be killed for any reason, thus are vegetarian and will not even eat legumes for fear of offing insects during harvest. Jains have no caste, no priest, no warriors. Taking this to an extreme, Jains will cover their mouths during worship to avoid killing microbes.

All things considered, my trip to India was one I was very fortunate to have. It was interesting to view how women’s statuses have been advancing from where they originally came from, much like in America. Especially as a Jain, I took pride in my heritage and their commitment to education and spirituality. But I must admit, Jain or no Jain, I wanted to kill all the mosquitoes on our jetway headed home… a humorous and ironic final exclamation point to a wonderfully strange visit!