“… and they all lived happily ever after” was how many of my childhood story books ended. Sadly, reality is a rollercoaster, and migration makes life such a challenge and struggle, where opportunity needs to be created to be experienced.
Life is rarely happily ever after – if anything, happiness stems from an inner courage and faith, rather than outer possessions, wealth and fashionable clothing. The South Asian Heritage Month celebrated this summer in the UK has made stories their centrepiece – they are inviting everyone to share their personal narratives and experiences, sad or happy.
Our own life-events are real and not mythical, and help shape everyday struggles to adapt and flourish. It is wonderful when a grandchild sits with a grandparent to learn from their story and is able to see how the world has changed since then, and what is taken for granted today, was earned through hard struggle. In this sharing is a hidden relay baton of culture and risk, of belief and character, which can help us survive difficult challenges, and empathise with others who are going through pain and loss.
For a few years now, I have been working with a small volunteer team to interview our elders on video and collect their stories of migration which in many cases is double – from India, to Africa, to the UK. In collaboration with Ghent University in Belgium, we are documenting these tales and showcasing the nuances of settlement and assimilation.
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Dr Madhusudan Shah has written a whole book on his migration experience, and it is filled with rich detail of business enterprise, community building, care for the weak and the elderly and his favourite foods and the beautiful way in which he constantly encouraged and supported women to be the best of themselves. His artist wife Kundan has a similar story of creative expression, and the joy of living a cultured life. Together they raised four highly talented daughters who today live in different parts of the UK.
There is an interview of participants of the first-ever Jain Youth Exchange between the UK and North America, which was led by me in 1991 – these young people look back and find their lives transformed by the experience. The legendary singer and musician Bhavik Haria has done a musical tribute to the legacy of my late father Mr Keshavji Rupshi Shah, who transformed global Jain history by shaping a vibrant, highly educated and spiritually enlightened Jain community in Mombasa, Kenya.
Dr Vinod Kapashi achieved similar transformations in the UK, and young artist Deshna Shah explains her story of creatively expressing an emerging identity at Oxford University, opening the significant possibilities of preserving Dharmic wisdom through the visual arts. World famous Professor Kanti Mardia OBE shares his own struggles, and finds that the questions his children asked him forced him to research his own Jain faith, which resulted in a number of pioneering books on Science and Jainism.
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Unfortunately, the only stories children read at school or discuss are those which are learnt in English language classes or literature when they choose the subject at an older age. Methods of education today separate stories from science and maths, and give the impression that experiences and tribulations are irrelevant to learning and growth. This is very far from the truth – it is our stories which shape our mission and purpose in life. Science and learning can be intertwined with stories and narrative to help us negotiate life and understand that the arts are as important for our mental nutrition as the need to have a job or profession and pay the bills.
In fact stories give us something priceless – a sense of mission and purpose in life, which can only come from within, and is key to our growth and ambition. In my research, I probe into how it is that many professionals have sold themselves out to greed and professionalism, and lost their duty to protect the public interest. Could it be that they never learnt to tell a story, and see the whole cycle of life, or forgot to see that money is what one accumulates to leave behind? Stories reveal truths which are often outside the reach of science.
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Professor Atul K. Shah [@atulkshah] teaches and writes about Indian wisdom on business, culture and community at various UK universities and is a renowned international author, speaker and broadcaster.
