Dialogue

I recently had the honor to sit down with Mr. Arun Gandhi, Mahatma Gandhi's grandson for lunch. He was a man of few words, but his eyes seemed to hold the wisdom of the ages between the wrinkles and the smile that seemed to say that he was enthralled in his own private joke. Whether that is true, or just what I think when I look at any person who has weathered the storms of life, woman or man, I can't say. However when he did speak he spoke with kindness. At the luncheon I attended he was asked to say a few words (and few they were, I don't think the speech lasted even five minutes) and though short I find myself still pondering over some of the things he said.

"Learning not only happens in the textbooks, but in life experience." -Arun Gandhi
Isn't this true, isn't this a value that I hold dear to myself, yet one that I manage not to be able to put into words, yet Gandhi managed to?

Universities are a place of learning, a place where one comes to broaden their mind. Yet sometimes universities are the most divided. Let's leave the differences off the campus and build a community of sharing of knowledge. (Paraphrased from Gandhi's speech)
Isn't it true that when we come to college we are shaped and molded and pushed to think and experience new things in our classes (or at least I hope so). Yet when I look at the organizations on campus so many are divided not by interests, but rather by race or gender or both. Even when they claim not to be, it's sad to say they are, even ones that don't explicitly state they are. I was once encouraged by a speaker to go to a meeting where I would be the minority, and that I would be embraced with open arms--sadly the speaker was very wrong.

How can we take the simple truths that Arun Gandhi laid out in just a few brief moments and put them in to action on a university campus?

Dialogue.

In Irigaray's work Conversations her chapters are various conversations that she has had with individuals and or groups. The subject matter varies from chapter from chapter, but what I have gathered thus far in the book (and think I will continue to discover) is the importance of not only the language that we use, but the way that we use it in speaking to others. Dialogue is key to opening the pathways that will end, set aside the differences that divide us, on campus and in the world. As Irigaray also discusses (and I will only briefly mention it here, for I intend to write entire blogs on this subject) the language that we use is vital in those dialogues or conversations. Until we can use a language that will put everyone on equal ground the dialogues/conversations won't be successful. However obtaining that perfect dialogue will take some time...years to say the least, but until then we can at least start the dialogue as we work towards hopefully that language that Irigaray idolizes.

All it takes is a simple "hello" to begin.