| Some events are never erased from our mind | | | | intensive labor was totally alien to my thinking. |
| and become reference points for reconstructing | | | | The remainder of the summer brought similar |
| our past experiences. Frequently, the most | | | | reactions, but the initial reactions that first day in |
| memorable events are chance events, | | | | New Delhi are still the most vivid. |
| serendipitously occurring when we least expect | | | | One of those serendipitous moments occurred a |
| them. These occurrences become personally | | | | few days later. The director of our educational |
| defining moments in our live and influence us in | | | | study group was a close friend of family |
| ways we could never anticipate. | | | | members of Indira Gandhi, at that time the Prime |
| As an individual who grew up in North Georgia in | | | | Minister of India. She received a call from our |
| the 1950s and 1960s, to me any world view | | | | representative who said that she "needed to see |
| outside of what I experienced in a five state area | | | | us" on a specific date. She replied that the time |
| (those surrounding Georgia), was a foreign one. | | | | was not convenient for her. She was told politely |
| This ended after high school when I got the | | | | by her friend that it "had to be" on one of two |
| opportunity to begin traveling not only to other | | | | dates he gave her since we would only be in New |
| areas of the United States, but to other countries | | | | Delhi for a few days. She acquiesced to the |
| as well. Traveling is now in my blood; as the | | | | personal influence and we met with her the next |
| saying goes, and I am happiest when I am | | | | day. |
| experiencing other cultural differences in faraway | | | | I was chosen by the group as the one to greet |
| places. It started with a summer trip to Mexico to | | | | her and present her with a Bouquet of flowers. |
| live with a friend for the summer and has never | | | | So, here I am, academically prepared, but |
| stopped. | | | | unprepared by past experiences, representing the |
| In 1974 I was fortunate enough to be awarded a | | | | group and greeting Indira Gandhi,the Prime Minister |
| stipend to take part in a trip to India for the | | | | of India. To this day, I have a picture of me |
| summer. I was a professor of anthropology at | | | | giving the bouquet of flowers to her in her |
| the time, and this was the opportunity of a life | | | | conference room. The conversation with her was |
| time. Reluctantly, I left my wife and two | | | | fascinating and at times personal due to our |
| daughters at home for the summer, and joined | | | | contact who had set up the meeting. We also |
| the educational tour to India. | | | | were able to meet with President Giri, but that |
| Needless to say, my reaction was dramatic. India | | | | meeting did not have the same impact. |
| was such a change from what I had previously | | | | This unexpected occurrence could never have |
| experienced and the overwhelming realization of | | | | been planned ahead of time. It is one of those |
| that started the moment we landed in New Delhi. | | | | moments when persons and events come |
| The airport was being expanded and the first | | | | together to create a totally unpredictable result. It |
| thing I noticed was the scaffolding made of | | | | has profoundly effected my life since that time. I |
| bamboo, and the individual workers excavating by | | | | have had the opportunity to meet with other |
| hand and carrying away the dirt in baskets on top | | | | world leaders since that time, but nothing will ever |
| of their heads. I had done construction work | | | | compare to that first serendipitous event. |
| putting myself through college, and this human | | | | |
