Thank You, Arun and Sunanda Gandhi!

At the threshold of the 21st century, I was honored to meet Arun and Sunanda Gandhi, founders of the M.K. Gandhi Institute for Nonviolence. I continue to identify the experience as a gift from God because it was the day after my 40th birthday. In an earlier phone call with him, I had offered my assistance if they were to come to Atlanta. Months later, he asked if I could meet them at Atlanta’s Hartsfield Jackson Airport and transport them to their hotel.

We spent several hours together on that day. After lunch, our time included television and newspaper interviews at a previous employer, and visiting the new statue of Mahatma Gandhi, Arun’s grandfather, at the National Park Service’s Martin Luther King, Jr. Site. Following their return home, I mailed a note in which I expressed my gratitude for their having contacted me and for shared so much of themselves in our conversations.

To my surprise, Arun replied with a handwritten note in which he eloquently affirmed my writing style. Others had complimented my writing skills, but there was something different in his tone or maybe it simply resonated differently. His encouragement resulted in my beginning to write and design an inspirational collection of stationery. The process I developed strengthened my capacity to tap into the emotions that accompany human experiences.

Over the years, my confidence grew and I transitioned from greetings to prose. Lately, I have been revisiting some of my earlier reflections that are now two decades old. It tickles me because it has taken a long time to self-identify as a writer without second guessing myself or the appropriateness of the term. The writing process is gratifying emotionally and spiritually. As an introvert, the practice allows me to journey deep within experience, imagination, and mystery.