Ashok Malhotra
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Nina, a beautiful Jewish girl from the Bronx, and I, a Hindu boy from India had a fairy tale romance in New York and Hawaii. Both of us were in so much love that we rebelled against our cultural upbringing by marrying foreigners.
During a physical examination, we discovered that Nina had terminal cancer and five months to live. Nina and I decided to fight this demon of cancer with all the spiritual, psychological, and physical armamentarium at our disposal.
She defied the predictions by living for five years. A month before she died, she said to me: “Ashok, I am ready to die. However, I feel that when I am dead, you will forget me.” I responded: “Nina, you will never be forgotten. I cannot build you a Taj Mahal but will build schools in your name for the poorest of poor children of India.”
Since the tragedy of Nina’s death, I have used my emotional/spiritual energy of love positively:
First, by establishing the Ninash Foundation, a charitable organization through which we have built six Indo-International schools for more than 1200 female and minority children of India. We have helped rebuild part of the village of Kuran, which was devastated by the earthquake that hit Gujarat in 2001.
Second , by publishing 16 books on Indian, Chinese and Western philosophies.
Third, by starting a Yoga and Meditation Center at State University of New York (SUNY) Oneonta with the help of a grant from the Metanexus Institute as well as help from Oneonta’s President. It has catered to more than 2000 people in our community by providing them with lectures and yoga sessions free of cost. We conducted a satellite conference on Contemplative Practice to reach more than 400,000 students and faculty at 64 campuses.
Fourth , by endowing four Compassionate Service Awards at the University of Hawaii, and SUNY Oneonta to be given to students and faculty who have put their scholarly knowledge compassionately to work to help the down-trodden of humanity.
Fifth, by falling in love the second time and finding my life’s partner who is as compassionate as I am. She helped give away more than 200 milk-producing goats to the poorest of poor people of the villages of Dundlod and Kuran.
We will be going ahead with building many more schools for the poorest of poor neglected children of India and the world. The death of my beloved was a tipping point that helped me to transform a misfortune into fortune through compassion in action.