The vision of the Department of Interreligiou s Studies (DIRS), St. Xavier’s College, Mumbai, in consultation with the students, was reinterpreted as “Cocreate Cosmic Compassion”.  This was updated to focus on the challenges of GC 36 that envisages creation, humanity and the divine as one interconnected whole. The Encyclical ‘Laudato Si’ by Pope Francis, specially  addressed to the leaders of all nations gathered for the COP 21 meeting at Paris in 2014, opened our ears and hearts to the cry of Mother Earth and the poor.  Based on the premise that we are an integral part of an interconnected universe, it challenged students of all faiths and those who professed none to be more inclusive in their approach to all faiths, cultures, genders, abilities, and species.  It was groundbreaking to discover that our primary context is the cosmos, thus relativising all sacred scriptures and claims to superiority leading to the viruses of fundamentalism, nationalism, and anthropocentrism.  Compassion or Karuna was the key word that helped us to go beyond academic studies confined to the classroom or extracurricular activities restricted to the college. We were encouraged to explore the reality ‘out of the box’ taking us to the frontiers like slums and morchas, rural areas and other unfamiliar terrain. Note that compassion is not mere charity or sympathy but empathetic solidarity. The wisdom quote “Kindness gives to another, but Compassion knows no ‘Other’” was an enlightening eye opener. We tried to popularize our belief in the shift from ‘Me’ to ‘We’ through our theme song “To Be is to Interbe,” the radical insight of Thich Nhat Hanh, the renowned Buddhist monk. This fostered a counterculture to competition, consumerism and capitalism so that we can become voices for the voiceless or unheard.

Jesuits are trained to be ‘contemplatives in action’ and ‘find God in all things’. At the DIRS being initiated as ‘compassionate contemplatives in liberative action’ was a fantastic adventure. We enjoyed compassionate contemplation leading to liberative action which in turn leads to the next level of compassionate contemplation as part of the hermeneutic spiral. Through creative Honours courses like Awaken to Cosmic Compassion, Cosmic Hug, Voting: Doorway to Electoral Awareness, Undertanding Islam, Joy of Self Discovery, Alternative Leadership: Voices of Dissent, Jagruti as well as sessions on Big History, Earth Democracy, To Be Religious is to be Interreligious, My Dream as a Xavierite, and World Peace Day we followed a multidisciplinary approach that embraced and integrated diverse streams like psychology, ecology, anthropology, sociology and politics. The unique exposures to the Behrampada slums, Asha Daan: the home run by Mother Teresa’s sisters for the destitute, Niramay AIDS centre, and displaced migrant workers in the virtual gas chamber of Mahul, awakened us to the underside of the glamorous and glorious city of Mumbai.  The weekly ‘Art of Peace’ and ‘Playog’ sessions with Movement Meditation generated a playful approach coupled with humour to skillfully handle the complexities of life. The various interfaith liturgies on special feast days, that highlighted the cosmic and human interrelationship, aided the staff and students of the whole college to discover the Sacred Mystery in all things.

For us ‘MAGIS’ did not imply more marks, better grades, or more awards but greater compassion through proximity to the poor and Mother earth so that we could learn to smell of the sheep despite our attachment to the gorgeous scents that the elite revel in. We vibrated with the sentiments of Matthew Fox who once said, “University originally meant a place where one went to experience his or her place in the universe – thus, to find wisdom.”

The DIRS also hosted ‘Samanvaya’or ‘Harmony’, a novel platform for Communal Harmony, in which interfaith activists from beyond the college gathered monthly to exchange views and experiences of grassroots involvement. We were privileged to interact with Jesuits, women religious and leaders of progressive organizations like Lok Raj Sanghatan (LRS), and Centre for the Study of Society and Secularism (CSSS) that are in the forefront of social, religious and political reform. This proved to be an amazing  encounter of collaboration and networking with scholars involved in radical action.

The DIRS office provided a space to freely talk about issues like Islamophobia, transphobia, Citizenship Amendment Act, and the occupation of Kashmir. We learnt to be perfectly at home performing the delicate art of balancing politics and peace. The listening ear to our personal problems went a long way in releasing stress and anxiety.

The creative presentations of Fr. Prashant Olalekar on topics related to mystical-prophetic aspects of  Ignatian Pedagogy at  conferences in JnanaDeep Vidyapeeth, Pune in 2016, Fireflies Ashram at Bangalore in 2016, World Union of Jesuit Alumni (WUJA) at John Carroll University, Cleveland, Ohio in 2017 and South Asian Educational Triennial Meet, Bhubaneswar, Orissa in 2017,  ‘Big History’ at Villanova, Philadelphia in 2018, James Madison University, Virginia in 2018,  Parliament of World Religions, Toronto in 2018 were fruitful occasions to deepen in the Ignatian way of proceeding in education.

The Corona virus has awakened our innate Karuna, present within as well as in all creation, so that we can reach out in solidarity with the victims like migrants as well as explore the root causes like deforestation and technocratic progress that are leading to environmental devastation and human disaster. Child activist Greta Thunberg and prominent radical intellectual Noam Chomsky are advocating for joint strategies to address both climate change and the corona crisis simultaneously as they have intertwined roots.  May we continue to make our compassionate and courageous contribution to keeping all peoples and the entire planet safe for future generations.

From DIRS TEAM: Bhakti Ghatge (President), Zil Gala (Vice-President), Riya Sawant (Secretary), Prashant Olalekar SJ (Director)

TESTIMONIES

DIRS was an asylum for students like me who never really found much substance in our classes as there was not much freedom for questioning or dissent.  Through the DIRS we got into the habit of bringing the marriage of academics and action to reality in all that we engaged in within and outside the college. It was a breeding ground of ideas for so many students as we were offered the space to express ourselves and freely manoeuvre. DIRS has been that unique space where I realized that politics and peace can and must coexist and be cocreated. Volunteering to work for SWAN was a reflex response to the grim situation enforced on stranded migrant workers. Thanks to the Jesuit training and mentoring received at DIRS » (Bhakti G) 

The exposure to the Behrampada slum, Bandra, a ghetto started due to the Bombay and Godhra riots, was life changing for me. To witness the desperate situation of the people there evoked both uncontrollable anger and profound despair. It shook my conscience so much that I could no longer remain blind to the reality of those on the margins or deaf to their cry for justice. Volunteering for SWAN is a continuation of that experience for me so that I can do my bit. When I took my first distress call there was so much agony in the voice of the stranded worker that it was impossible to remain unbothered any longer. (Zil Gala)

As an active part of DIRS and Samanvaya I was constantly learning about the world and starting to see it quite differently from a more compassionate perspective. The most important insight that struck me is that we are all interconnected parts of the universe, that our freedom and wellbeing depend on the wellbeing of the planet. I had to drop out of the college, or rather was pushed out, by the outdated education system because my attendance rate was insufficient. However the strong relationships with some DIRS students and Samanvayites have lasted beyond college. Many of us continue to meet, discuss and participate in protests together. We continue to find ways and means to collaborate in our shared struggles for freedom. (Riya Sawant)

These are the two links related to this article and some photos. SWAN members (Bhakti ,Zil and Riya) were formed and transformed by Ignatian Pedagogy used in the DIRS.

« Members of SWAN, affiliated with the Right to Food Campaign and the Right to Work Campaign, started receiving distress calls from migrant workers stranded across big cities in various states. SWAN work indicates that Mumbai is the most grim of all cities. Here are some observations based on SWAN relief work so far. » To read more follow this link: A Cruel Lockdown: Lessons From Relief Work in Mumbai

« SWAN has been actively conducting relief work across the country since March 27. Based on this relief work, we released a report on April 15 titled ‘21 Days and Counting COVID-19 Lockdown, Migrant Workers, and the Inadequacy of Welfare Measures in India’ « 

SWAN (Stranded Workers Action Network) is a group of about 100 volunteers answering distress calls from migrant workers and providing relief by connecting them to local NGOs or government facilities. When a SWAN volunteer gets a call from a stranded migrant worker, she/he assesses their needs and contacts a local government official or NGO to try to arrange cooked meals or ration for the worker. When immediate help is not possible, they ask a donor to make a small cash transfer to the worker. Right now, some volunteers are also working on contacting nodal officers regarding interstate travel guidelines of each state.

Zil’s team is in charge of ensuring help to workers stranded in Punjab, UP, Himachal Pradesh, Chandigarh and Jammu and Kashmir.  Bhakti’s team is in charge of Maharashtra, Gujarat and Goa. Riya is working with Bhakti mainly for Thane Distric and some parts of Mumbai.