As thousands of refugees move out of Lebanon, I am reminded of a Lebanese family that left its home for the United States of America more than 100 years ago to escape the tyranny of the Ottoman authorities.
At the time, the second largest Lebanese-American community was in Boston’s South End, so the Gibrans decided to settle there in 1895. Because boy Khalil Gibran had no formal schooling in Lebanon, he was placed in a special class for immigrants to learn English. Gibran’s English teacher suggested that he Anglicise the spelling of his name in order to make it more acceptable to American society. Kahlil Gibran was the result.
Poet, philosopher, artist, prophet and writer, Kahlil Gibran was born in Bsharri, Lebanon in 1883. He died in New York City on April 10, 1931 leaving an amazing legacy in the form of his writings and drawings which have soothed and inspired millions.
To many he is a genius whose philosophical and prophetic style convey important messages about life and humanity in a simple, yet beautifully eloquent manner, that are as fresh and meaningful in today’s world as when they were first written.
Let me share a few quotations from the works of this Lebanese/American man whose genius flowered in the United States of America, but who wished that on his death he should be buried in Lebanon:
He who does not seek advice is a fool. His folly blinds him to Truth and makes him evil, stubborn, and a danger to his fellow man.
My brothers, seek counsel of one another, for therein lies the way out of error and futile repentance. The wisdom of the many is your shield against tyranny. For when we turn to one another for counsel we reduce the number of our enemies.
Seek ye counsel of the aged, for their eyes have looked on the faces of the years and their ears have hearkened to the voices of Life. Even if their counsel is displeasing to you, pay heed to them.
Oh Jesus, they have built these churches for the sake of their own glory, and embellished them with silk and melted gold…They left the bodies of Thy chosen poor wrapped in tattered raiment in the cold night…They filled the sky with the smoke of burning candles and incense and left the bodies of Thy faithful worshipers empty of bread…They raised their voices with hymns of praise, but deafened themselves to the cry and moan of the widows and orphans. Come again, Oh Living Jesus, and drive the vendors of Thy faith from Thy sacred temple, for they have turned it into a dark cave where vipers of hypocrisy and falsehood crawl and abound.
The obvious is that which is never seen until someone expresses it simply.
Selfishness, my brother, is the cause of blind superiority and superiority creates clanship, and clanship creates authority which leads to discord and subjugation.
Madness is the first step towards unselfishness. Be mad and tell what is behind the veil of sanity. The purpose of life is to bring closer to those secrets and madness is the only means.
I have learned silence from the talkative, toleration from the intolerant, and kindness from those unkind; yet strange, I am ungrateful to those teachers.
Keep me away from the wisdom which does not cry, the philosophy which does not laugh and the greatness which does not bow before children.
Work is love made visible. And if you cannot work with love but only with distaste, it is better that you should leave your work and sit at the gate of the temple and take alms of those who work with joy. I wash my hands of those who imagine chattering to be knowledge, silence to be ignorance, and affection to be art.
You may chain my hands and shackle my feet; you may even throw me into a dark prison, but you shall not enslave my thinking because it is free.
I love you my brother, whoever you are – whether you worship in your church, kneel in your temple or pray in your mosque. You and I are all children of one faith, for the diverse paths of religion are fingers of the loving hand of the Supreme Being, a hand extended to all, offering completeness of spirit to all, eager to receive all.
Swaraaj Chauhan describes his two-decade-long stint as a full-time journalist as eventful, purposeful, and full of joy and excitement. In 1993 he could foresee a different work culture appearing on the horizon, and decided to devote full time to teaching journalism (also, partly, with a desire to give back to the community from where he had enriched himself so much.)
Alongside, he worked for about a year in 1993 for the US State Department’s SPAN magazine, a nearly five-decade-old art and culture monthly magazine promoting US-India relations. It gave him an excellent opportunity to learn about things American, plus the pleasure of playing tennis in the lavish American embassy compound in the heart of New Delhi.
In !995 he joined WWF-India as a full-time media and environment education consultant and worked there for five years travelling a great deal, including to Husum in Germany as a part of the international team to formulate WWF’s Eco-tourism policy.
He taught journalism to honors students in a college affiliated to the University of Delhi, as also at the prestigious Indian Institute of Mass Communication where he lectured on “Development Journalism” to mid-career journalists/Information officers from the SAARC, African, East European and Latin American countries, for eight years.
In 2004 the BBC World Service Trust (BBC WST) selected him as a Trainer/Mentor for India under a European Union project. In 2008/09 He completed another European Union-funded project for the BBC WST related to Disaster Management and media coverage in two eastern States in India — West Bengal and Orissa.
Last year, he spent a couple of months in Australia and enjoyed trekking, and also taught for a while at the University of South Australia.
Recently, he was appointed as a Member of the Board of Studies at Chitkara University in Chandigarh, a beautiful city in North India designed by the famous Swiss/French architect Le Corbusier. He also teaches undergraduate and postgraduate students there.
He loves trekking, especially in the hills, and never misses an opportunity to play a game of tennis. The Western and Indian classical music are always within his reach for instant relaxation.
And last, but not least, is his firm belief in the power of the positive thought to heal oneself and others.