The Salad Bowl
HomeSpun is proud to offer another guest blog, this time from the Bay Area. Shefali Razdan Duggal is a highly recognized member of the Indian American and broader American political landscape. Here, she shares personal thoughts on the potential within the South Asian American community.
Shefali Razdan Duggal
by Shefali Razdan Duggal
As I have progressed in years and hopeful maturity, I have more earnestly discovered the concept of working together, working as a team towards a larger goal. There are some instances when singular focus is necessary, although in many cases, the individual contribution to a larger group effort is often very beneficial towards a task or targeted goal. This holds true for all folks, especially those within ethnic communities in the United States. To broadly want to see our South Asian community excel, in all aspects of life and career, will benefit all sectors of our community, as well as current and future generations. The elders who came to this country so many years back did so for a thoughtful, selfless reason—to accelerate the conditions, on all levels, of our community. While the historic culture which we cherish and maintain, to the best of our ability, could oft teach a few thoughtful lessons about old, revered ways of living and worship, any community can learn and benefit from the advances of another.
The blending of old and new, into a beautiful collage of diverse ways of thought and action, will create a colourful new landscape of perception, culture and practice. And, this will occur most seamlessly when we, within our culture, work as a team, for a greater purpose…the betterment of our circumstance and that of our children’s future. And, this can be done when we permit different ways of thought to trickle into our minds and hearts, thoughts which seem and feel beneficial for the greater humanity, and then institute these thought processes into our current perspectives. The end result is an emerging thought-process, which benefits both of the original landscapes. How beautiful that God created such a structure for all of us to learn from—a classroom of 6 billion spread across the globe.
Shefali Razdan Duggal is a member of the National Finance Committee for President Obama’s 2012 reelection campaign. She was Executive Director of Indus Women Leaders, a national South Asian women’s organization. Shefali was born in India and has lived in Cincinnati, Chicago, New York and Boston.
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