Anu Taranath > Quotes

“Back in the South Indian village, when I turned away from the lady with her arm around my waist, I chose the familiarity of nursing my guilt and shame. I didn’t know how to solve any of the mammoth issues that complicated her life and the lives of the women in her community, so I simmered in the shame of my impotence. I later realized I was actually turning away from not only her but myself as well. True presence with others is predicated upon true presence with ourselves. I wasn’t in the village to fix anything or make any big promises. All I had to do was be present and appreciate the moments of sharing.”
― Anu Taranath, Beyond Guilt Trips: Mindful Travel in an Unequal World

“We’ll need to think more carefully about the broader ethics of identity, difference, and the global dynamics of power that have made it so that hundreds and thousands of Westerners jet-set around the globe to Ghana, Nicaragua, or Haiti to help, heal, and remedy what needs to be fixed, while hundreds and thousands of Ghanaians, Nicaraguans, or Haitians are similarly not coming to our countries to do the same”
― Anu Taranath, Beyond Guilt Trips: Mindful Travel in an Unequal World

“I start to lean back into the familiar guilty sofa, but then I catch myself. Don’t recline, I tell myself. Sit up straight. I gently inhale the moment to keep myself present and grounded. I exhale the feeling that I have to fix everything.”
― Anu Taranath, Beyond Guilt Trips: Mindful Travel in an Unequal World