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From Katmandu to Kalamazoo
By Olga Bonfiglio [Olga Bonfiglio]
Monday, 27-Apr-2009, 20:33
March 28, 2009
Kalamazoo Gazette
On Thanksgiving Day 2001 Nalini Quraeshi was preparing dinner for 30 family members when she received word that her father had died in Nepal. Her two-day trip found the country suddenly beset with tragedy -- and world headlines.
The prince destined to assume the throne shot and killed nine other members of the royal family, including his father, the king. The government declared the country in a state of emergency, suspended all civil rights and imposed a curfew restricting all movement after dark.
``It was a horrible time to go back,'' said Quareshi, whose mission was to get her mother safely out of the country.
A similar thing happened in 1965 when Quraeshi's family was returning home after being in the United States for six years. The journey to Nepal included a transit stop in India, which was in the midst of a war with Pakistan over the Kashmir issue, a dispute that had been brewing since partition in 1947.
``There were sirens and bombs. My sisters and I had to put cotton in our teeth to keep from making noise. We sat in the darkness during these air raids because we had to turn off all the lights. This was my reintroduction to Nepal, (at age 9.)''
Quraeshi, 52, was born in Katmandu, Nepal, but because of her father's work as a government diplomat for Nepal and later the United Nations, she lived in New York, Washington, D.C., Bangkok, Rome, Paris, Darjeeling and Delhi prior to turning age 21.
``Before I could identify with any one ethnic group, my family moved to a different place,'' said Quraeshi. As a result, her parents taught her and her siblings that people are all the same, everything is sacred and everyone deserves respect.
For example, as a graduate student in sociology at Michigan State University, Quraeshi met her future husband, Western Michigan University marketing professor, Zahir Quraeshi, a Pakistani Muslim. Meanwhile, her three sisters are married respectively to a Nepali Hindu, a German Protestant, and an Italian Catholic. Her husband's sister married a Frenchman and their daughter, who is Philippino by birth, lives in England. Her brother is single and lives in Boston.
``My family is a mini-United Nations,'' said Quraeshi, ``but we all come together from all over the world to my house at Thanksgiving to give thanks for our many blessings.''
Although Quraeshi spent the first half of her life all over the world, she has remained in Kalamazoo for the second half to raise her two sons, teach Nonwestern World Studies at WMU, and pursue her doctorate at MSU.
``My sons' experience is so different from my own,'' she said. Even so, she has made certain that they grow up as global citizens. That hasn't been difficult.
Quraeshi's spouse, Zahir, has been a steady voice for globalism at WMU for the past three decades. During his sabbatical year the family lived in Malaysia.
Her mother, who is Hindu, and her mother-in-law, who is Muslim, live with the family, so Quraeshi does not cook beef or pork out of respect for their religious beliefs. Because her husband and many friends are Muslim, she does not display any religious idols in her home even though Nepalese religious art typically displays beautiful godly faces.
Although she grew up a Hindu, Quraeshi practices its intellectual and simple living qualities rather than its ceremonial rituals. However, she feels comfortable among people from any religion.
``I can reconcile Islam very well,'' said Quraeshi, whose sons are Muslim. ``Actually, I have tolerance for all religions and think of myself as a global citizen.''
Being a global citizen can be confusing. When asked where her home is, Quraeshi finds that she must think twice before answering.
``Does that mean where I'm living now, where I was born, where I have spent my life, or where my family currently resides?'' she asked.
Actually, Quraeshi said she feels at home in any place because she identifies with and adapts to whatever culture she happens to be.
Some people believe that world travel alone makes them global citizens but Quraeshi disagrees. Those who remain ``unilateral'' (nationalistic to their homeland) or ``bilateral'' (they claim the values of both their native and their adopted countries) are not global citizens.
Instead, global citizenship has to do with one's identification with the entire world, she said. Accepting diversity rather than fearing it provides people with a ``richness'' that gives them more options for study, travel, business and meeting others who have different ways of life.
However, Quraeshi admits that a peripatetic lifestyle has its downsides.
``I have friends everywhere in the world,'' she said, ``but the hard part is not having the stability of childhood friends to grow up with all my life.''
Recently, she has discovered a way to fill this void: by returning to Nepal.
Since the Maoists' insurgency in the country in 1996, rural Nepalis have fled to the cities and become ``urban squatters.'' Village people from Bhutan and Tibet have left their homes as political and economic refugees. Consequently, Katmandu has degenerated into an impoverished place with masses of people who have no jobs.
``There is so much that one can do,'' said Quraeshi. ``And a whole generation is missing. In every family someone has fled the country because of the violence. Parents stay but send their children overseas for an education.''
Recently, Quraeshi began to find ways of implementing several rural development programs and experiments her father had envisioned years ago. She is due to return to Nepal in April and May to continue this work.
Quraeshi has also discovered that like her, many of her high school friends have returned to Nepal, too. One of them runs a conservation program, another starts schools for the homeless, another works with children who have grown up in prisons, while yet another rescues young girls from the rampant Asian sex trade.
Over the years many members of Quraeshi's family have been helping Nepal from afar by raising money for scholarships and supporting the Arya Samaj schools, Hindu schools that emphasize values, culture and religion. However, some are looking for projects that allow them more hands-on involvement. For example, one sister's husband is a cancer surgeon who will donate his services for two months.
Over the years many members of Quraeshi's family have been helping Nepal from afar by raising money for scholarships and supporting the Arya Samaj schools, Hindu schools that emphasize values, culture and religion. However, some are looking for projects that allow them more hands-on involvement. For example, one sister's husband is a cancer surgeon who will donate his services for two months.
Nalini Quraeshi embodies what it means to be a global citizen. She has lived among numerous nationalities, cultures and religions all over the world and speaks six different languages. Now, she is doing something special for her native land.
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