'I consider myself a pilgrim who is here to
shape tomorrow.'
In front of a classroom
full of children aged about 10 stood a frail elderly woman wearing a white sari
with a blue border, asking them to give whatever they could for the
underprivileged.
A boy put his hands in his
pocket, knowing full well that there was not a paisa in there.
She saw the embarrassment
on his face and told him, 'That is what I want, a willingness to help and the
willingness to give, not the money itself.'
The lady was Mother Teresa
and the young boy was Raveen Arora, a child born in a refugee camp after his
family moved to Kolkata from Pakistan after Partition.
IMAGE: Raveen Arora with Mother Teresa.
Raveen Arora now lives in
Tempe, Arizona, and has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize, which will be
announced in October.
Arora, who has lived in the
US since the early 1980s, has been instrumental in bringing a part of India to
the desert of Arizona. He has also brought his warmth, which is evident in the
telephone conversation with US Contributor Abhijit Masih.
Arora says the
warmth is a natural part of his Indian culture and heritage.
The chance encounter at his
school with the unassuming nun from Missionaries of Charity -- who was awarded
the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979 -- altered the young Arora's mind and, in time to
come, the course of his life.
"I had a very modest
upbringing. We used to live near the slums and had to add water to milk to
ensure there was enough for everyone.
"I used to stand in
the line with my father at the ration booth.
"My mother used to
make clothes for my siblings and me from my dad's old pyjamas," he recalls
how his father used to work menial jobs to make ends meet.
A spirit of service towards
humanity was instilled in the young child's impressionable mind which -- even
though he is in his seventies now -- he still carries in his heart.
Another
encounter that had a profound impact on young Arora's's life also took place
when he was in school. He had the opportunity to visit the Himalayan
Mountaineering Institute in Darjeeling, where he met Tenzing Norgay.
The inquisitive boy asked
the legend who conquered Mount Everest, "How did you climb such a tall
mountain?" Norgay's response changed Arora's life: "Aim high and work
hard. If I do, you do."
This small nugget of
inspiration helped Arora liberate his family from a life of squalor in Kolkata
and become the owner of the Indian Plaza in Tempe.
Inspired by Norgay's words,
Arora graduated from St Xavier's in Kolkata and moved to Los Angeles in 1981 to
do a PhD in white collar crime. He did some consultancy work, before settling
down in Tempe, where he developed an Indian centre that became a one-stop shop
for all things desi.
"People start a
business for profit, mine was for a purpose. It was for the people because I
had worked with Mother Teresa, worked for the Tibetan and Bangladeshi
refugees. I was born in a refugee camp, so my constant endeavour is to
raise the profile of the Indian community," he explains the reason behind
the centre.
In a community that
predominantly white, Arora's India Plaza offered Indian cultural exports like
food, yoga, artefacts and beauty products.
The Plaza has an Indian
restaurant, a store that sells herbs and spices, a gift boutique that sells
miniature Taj Mahals and a beauty salon that specialises in mehendi (henna)
designs.
At Arora's India Plaza,
people imbibe Indian culture and values, foremost of which is the custom of
helping the needy.
Arora's
Plaza opened its doors in 2003, in a ghetto area where crime and drug abuse was
rampant. His multicultural centre represented Indian culture, food, service and
values.
"In the last 20 years,
there has been no instance of a break-in or a drug-related incident or crime.
Not once have the police visited the India Plaza," he says proudly.
The community has embraced
this minority man of colour, taking notice of how this little Indian nook has
helped in transforming the town.
A firm believer of
diversity and inclusion, Arora's first act of kindness when he opened the Plaza
was to provide free cold water bottles to anyone passing by, especially during
the hot Arizona summer.
He did this five days a
week, from noon to evening, and had fans put up outside the Plaza to help
people cool off as they took shelter from the blistering heat.
"Unlike in India, here
in the US, the poverty is not so open," he says.
One night, Arora found a
homeless person eating out of the dumpster behind his plaza.
The next day, he put up
signs near the dumpsters inviting the homeless to come to the front for a warm
meal instead.
"If you are giving
food to someone, do not give it out of pity," he says. "Give it with
respect."
Slowly, word got around and
Arora started getting recognised for his spirit of service.
His involvement with
various social clubs -- as well as his continuing humanitarian work -- resulted
in the Alliance International, an India-based global organisation, recommending
Arora for the Nobel Peace Prize for his leadership and service.
IMAGE:
Rescuing an abandoned baby in Guatemala, while on a mission to battle hunger
the pandemic in November 2020.
Arora truly believes in the
mantra of culture before strategy.
"Unless you create a
culture of dignity, respect, humility and belonging in any setting or
relationship, you will not prosper," he says.
Despite a life of
hardships, twists, turns and disappointments, Raveen Arora considers himself
blessed.
"I consider myself a
pilgrim who is here to shape tomorrow, be it for my own grandchildren or anyone
from the community. That is the mantra of my life."
Arora now spends his time
serving the poor and the needy and travels around the world to share his life
experiences.
In the midst of doing all
this, he finds time for his family.
During the
summer this year, Arora and his wife split their time between his son in North
Carolina and their daughter in Texas.
As for the Nobel Prize? He
leaves it to destiny.