An Ode to Diversity: Hema Vasavada

Hema Vasavada, one of the founding members of the Skagit Valley Writers League, passed away this week. A long-time friend and an active supporter of local writers, I will miss her. As I ponder how to honor her memory, I realize she is a model, for me, of what it is to be an American. Hema is an immigrant from India, and her recently completed novel, The Gathering, is the story of an Indian family as they gather to honor their dying matriarch. Since it is not yet published, I can only give you a sense of it in my review, below, but I hope to celebrate its posthumous entry into the world soon:

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The Gathering carries the reader on the journey of one Indian family through the upheavals and turmoil of the post-World War II Twentieth Century. The story opens with the death of its matriarch, Lakshmi Kaushik in 1993 then, told primarily through the eyes of her son, Harish, and daughter, Neeru, folds back to the Forties the forward through the Cold War, the independence of India, the partition of Pakistan, the assassination of Indira Gandhi and Desert Storm to Lakshmi’s final illness. Vasavada gives a lush and vivid picture of the extended Hindu family with all of its traditions and expectations, all of its loves and strifes, celebrations and tragedies. Particularly moving is the lure of America that eventually carries Harish and Neeru far from their mother and their Indian family. Their prosperous American lives cannot remove the cultural and emotional fracturing, but this story of their mother’s life and those bound to her does much to reunite them with—and give the reader a deep appreciation of their Hindi roots.

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The novel gives a vivid picture nor only of Indian culture, but of the emotional costs immigrants pay to become citizens of this country–committed  citizens. Her article in the Moscow-Pullman Daily News (below) which she sent me in response to my blog on the rhetoric of war gives ample evidence of the depth of that commitment.

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 MOSCOW PULLMAN DAILY NEWS OCTOBER 5, 2016

TOWN CRIER, October 5, 2016

Hemlata Vasavada

THE EFFECTS OF FALSE WORDS CAN’T BE ERASED

In 1963 the partial completion of Bhakra Nangal Dam in northern India brought electricity and irrigation to many villages. A few years later, before election the opposition party told the villagers that the ruling Congress Party is taking electricity from their water, thereby rendering the water “bad.” The opposition party knew this wasn’t true, but for many farmers and villagers the story became their truth.

During election seasons half a century later, it is not the uneducated villagers, but an educated populace in the U.S. (and India) who are told untruths and half-truths. It is not a mistake when the initiators of stories know their words are false. Those who propagate the stories may later retract them, or say they were being sarcastic, but when repeated on media, the stories become believable.

For the last five years, Donald Trump perpetuated the myth that President Obama was born in Kenya. The “Birther” theory was debunked in 2011 after the President produced his long-form birth certificate. However, doubtful seeds were planted and many people still believe Obama was born in Kenya. In 2012, then presidential candidate, Romney bragged that he was born in Michigan and no one has asked for his birth certificate. Last year a Republican friend forwarded me a story about the President and First Lady going to Kenya for his high school reunion.   

On September 16, Trump announced that President Obama was born in the United States. Did he know it while “investigating” the birth records of the president? Was he convinced about the President’s citizenship after the proof he was asking for was provided? If so, he didn’t correct his previous statements until recently. He also took credit for bringing  closure to the issue by forcing President Obama to produce a long-form certificate. He then blamed the origination of the birther movement on then presidential candidate Clinton.

Untrue words hurt–whether they are about Senator McCain’s “love child,” Secretary Clinton’s “stroke” and mental state, Obama’s religion, Muslims celebrating and dancing after 9/11, Obama being the founder of ISIS or Ted Cruz’s father playing a role in President Kennedy’s assassination.

This has happened on the liberal side as well. There have been rumors about Trump’s nervous breakdown and institutionalization, and the “snorted look” on debate night. Still, the liberals who started these stories didn’t announce them as facts. They added the qualifiers, “I believe,” or “Could he?”  

  When opinions are announced as facts, even after they are retracted, many continue to believe and pass on the false version. Before the first presidential debate, Trump and his surrogates suggested that the moderators and others shouldn’t fact-check during the debate. They know that by the time the facts are checked, untrue words are set in many minds as truths.

 The year 2008 was a good campaign year when the candidates treated each other with respect. Then Senator Barack Obama praised Senator McCain for his service to the nation even when he criticized him for his policies. Senator McCain enlightened a woman who asked him about Obama being an Arab Muslim by saying that although Obama’s views on policies were different, he was as American as they were.

Although words may not hurt the way sticks, stones or guns do, false words have a long term impact. Just as Donald Rumsfeld said about “known knowns” and “known unknowns,” there are “known truths” and “known untruths.” When “known untruths” are presented as “known truths” it causes problems. It hurts the victims and fosters false ideas in the minds of those who hear or read them.

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We are all now living the harm those false words have done since 2016.  Thank you, Hema for reminding us of the warnings we, despite our outrage, were helpless to stop. It’s time we started educating young and old in the power of language and the responsibilities of self-government. And, may I add, in the sacrifices many have made to become citizens of this country. The country has benefitted from your life here, Hema. Thank you.