I watch our list with a great deal of interest. Every "crisis" we go through only firms up my mind on a few things.

If all we ever want to hear is approbation, we delude ourselves into oblivion. The whole process of wanting to make our latent landscape patent entails favor _and_ disfavor. If we constantly _react_ to external forces, we end up foregoing our power to shape our destiny. Our agenda becomes defined by those forces.

Should we not react to injustice? Of course, we should. Vigorously. How? It must be by strength born out of conviction which, in turn has to be born out of understanding. If we have this strength, we need not raise our voices to be heard, nor do we have to stoop to name-calling to fight any real/perceived unfairness.

For people such as Dwight: do NOT unsubscribe. EVERY opinion has a place here. As long as there is the spirit of learning driving us all, we all have much to learn from each other. The worst thing to do to our education is to walk away. By all means, let us get a little bruised if that is what it takes. Someone made the point that even substantiation is not always necessary -- good point! If such is needed, we can always seek it, and if we are not swayed by what we see in response, we don't have to agree.

Casting our anxieties in racial terms is not going to do us much practical good, i feel. Navarun made the point of racially-based exclusion from Trikone-Atlanta discussion hours -- again an issue which defies resolution, but one which definitely permits a great deal of growth if the issue is _addressed_. With all the sides being explored. Perhaps it is one which is susceptible to compromise, if not resolution.

Ultimately, all of this pain is pointing me in one direction: introspection.

*We* don't seem to have enough of a clear idea of who we are. If we did, and if we were secure in that, we would not be threatened by 'adverse' comments by anyone. Do *we* really know who we are? Until we have a good handle on that, my feeling is that we will not be able to educate the rest of the world.

And it is definitely one of the greatest of the Eastern, and definitely South Asian, traditions for us to bring to bear on our politics and our pioneering.

"Atmano mokShArtham jaddhitAya cha"

'For the liberation of the self, and the good of the world.'

I find myself repeatedly pointed back to the order of emancipation in that statement.

Introspection. Bold, unflinchingly honest introspection. THAT is our need if we are to carve out a landscape which stands on its own inner strength rather than on the acceptance or denial of the rest of the world.

-- Chandra.