Tonight I finally went to see the Academy Award all-star Slumdog Millionaire. I wanted to love it, and did. I also wanted to believe that it would inspire many more people around the world to care about the poorest of the poor in India, like Jamal in the movie; but I am not convinced of that. It was mostly a love story, not a call for economic justice.
One part that I thought was especially powerful and insightful was when Jamal was leading two Americans down toward a river to see where women washed their clothes. While they were gone, other children stripped their car of everything. When Jamal brought the couple back, the driver blamed Jamal for the theft and started beating him up. Jamal exclaimed that he "just wanted to give them a taste of the real India." The couple stopped the driver and the woman said, "and here's a taste of the real America" and gave him $100. At first it was sad for me to think that to her America was money, then I looked at it at a deeper level.
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India has held a special place in my heart since the second time I went there in the summer of 2005. The richness of culture, the multitudes of people, languages, and religions…along with the best food in the world, make India special in my eyes. India has also held a special place in the work of Outreach International. The Gummiguda School in one of the poorest states in India, Orissa, is one of Outreach International’s first projects. We have funded this school for 30 years.
Perhaps the best thing about India is its possibilities. In the last few decades, India has developed tremendously. There are many economic opportunities for Indians to lift themselves out of extreme poverty. However, most of these opportunities have been limited to the elite. The gap between the rich and the poor is widening quickly in India. There are also a myriad of possibilities for Outreach International in India to help the poorest of the poor, which are some of the poorest people in the world.
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