{"@context":"http://iiif.io/api/presentation/3/context.json","id":"https://houstonlibrary.aviaryplatform.com/iiif/z02z31q534/manifest","type":"Manifest","label":{"en":["Medley, Peter [and] Hansa"]},"logo":"https://d9jk7wjtjpu5g.cloudfront.net/organizations/logo_images/000/000/252/original/HPL_ArchiveBannerCDM2.jpg?1738348845","metadata":[{"label":{"en":["Publisher"]},"value":{"en":["Foundation for Indian Studies"]}},{"label":{"en":["Rights Statement"]},"value":{"en":["\u003cp\u003e\u003ca href=\"https://rightsstatements.org/page/CNE/1.0/?language=en\"\u003eCopyright Not Evaluated \u003c/a\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003ePermission to publish or reproduce must be obtained from the Foundation for India Studies, Houston, Texas.\u003c/p\u003e"]}},{"label":{"en":["Source"]},"value":{"en":["Houston Public Library Special Collections"]}},{"label":{"en":["Agent"]},"value":{"en":["Peter and Hansa Medley (interviewee)","Shobana Muratee (interviewer)"]}},{"label":{"en":["Date"]},"value":{"en":["2015-04-12 (created)"]}},{"label":{"en":["Language"]},"value":{"en":["eng (primary)"]}},{"label":{"en":["Description"]},"value":{"en":["Peter and Hansa Medley interviewed about culture, family, and educational background, as well as migration, contributions to the community, and work experiences."]}},{"label":{"en":["Format"]},"value":{"en":["digital recording, sound"]}},{"label":{"en":["Subject"]},"value":{"en":["Houston (Tex.) (geographic term)","Oral histories (topical term)","Immigrants (topical term)","Emigration and immigration (topical term)","Community development (topical term)"]}},{"label":{"en":["Keyword"]},"value":{"en":["indoamerican"]}},{"label":{"en":["Type"]},"value":{"en":["Moving Image"]}}],"summary":{"en":["Peter and Hansa Medley interviewed about culture, family, and educational background, as well as migration, contributions to the community, and work experiences."]},"requiredStatement":{"label":{"en":["Attribution"]},"value":{"en":["\u003cp\u003e\u003ca href=\"https://rightsstatements.org/page/CNE/1.0/?language=en\"\u003eCopyright Not Evaluated \u003c/a\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003ePermission to publish or reproduce must be obtained from the Foundation for India Studies, Houston, Texas.\u003c/p\u003e"]}},"provider":[{"id":"https://houstonlibrary.aviaryplatform.com/aboutus","type":"Agent","label":{"en":["Houston Public Library"]},"homepage":[{"id":"https://houstonlibrary.aviaryplatform.com/","type":"Text","label":{"en":["Houston Public Library"]},"format":"text/html"}],"logo":[{"id":"https://d9jk7wjtjpu5g.cloudfront.net/organizations/logo_images/000/000/252/original/HPL_ArchiveBannerCDM2.jpg?1738348845","type":"Image"}]}],"thumbnail":[{"id":"https://d9jk7wjtjpu5g.cloudfront.net/collection_resource_files/thumbnails/000/210/358/small/open-uri20231027-1243258-6hjrra_1698433121.jpg?1698418721","type":"Image","format":"image/jpeg"}],"items":[{"id":"https://houstonlibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2436/collection_resources/108913/file/210358","type":"Canvas","label":{"en":["Media File 1 of 1 - FIS-OH0035.mp4"]},"duration":3140.6375,"width":640,"height":360,"thumbnail":[{"id":"https://d9jk7wjtjpu5g.cloudfront.net/collection_resource_files/thumbnails/000/210/358/small/open-uri20231027-1243258-6hjrra_1698433121.jpg?1698418721","type":"Image","format":"image/jpeg"}],"items":[{"id":"https://houstonlibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2436/collection_resources/108913/file/210358/content/1","type":"AnnotationPage","items":[{"id":"https://houstonlibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2436/collection_resources/108913/file/210358/content/1/annotation/1","type":"Annotation","motivation":"painting","body":{"id":"https://aviary-p-houstonlibrary.s3.wasabisys.com/collection_resource_files/resource_files/000/210/358/original/FIS-OH0035.mp4?1698418715","type":"Video","format":"video/mp4","duration":3140.6375,"width":640,"height":360},"target":"https://houstonlibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2436/collection_resources/108913/file/210358","metadata":[]}]}],"annotations":[{"id":"https://houstonlibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2436/collection_resources/108913/file/210358/transcript/60432","type":"AnnotationPage","label":{"en":["Transcript [Transcript]"]},"items":[{"id":"https://houstonlibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2436/collection_resources/108913/file/210358/transcript/60432/annotation/1","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":")\nHM: Okay. So before I came my spiritual master had actually invited my sister to come here. He had arranged the marriage of my sister with a local American devotee so they had moved to Dallas, and then when he was developing this center here in Houston, he wanted some devotees who would be very familiar or comfortable with the Indian-American culture to come. So my sister was married to an American, she moved here, and then a few other local Americans moved, and then together they started to speak about this message amongst the local Indians. And then he was very instrumental in bringing local like Indians to come on board on the management in ISKCON.\n\nTraditionally, when Srila Prabhupada first established the ISKCON Society, the people who first joined were Americans and it was more like a revolutionary type of or alternative type of religion, but as it grew and matured, then the Hindus, the Indians who considered themselves Hindus began to recognize the authenticity of this movement and they also started to join, and then they took up many positions, not only as a spiritual practice, but also in terms of managing. \n\nSo my spiritual teacher was very forward thinking in that sense. He brought on these Indians initially as advisors and consultants and by serving Krishna a lot of them took up the process very seriously and became devotees.\n\nSM: So were you given a position in the ISKCON or is it your parents were involved on the Board?\n\nHM: No. My parents were Hindus and so we are raised like a Hindu family, but religion to me was something that I wasn’t really convinced that it was something authentic. My parents placed a premium on education. They both did not have much education, but they were very, what should I say, they were very --\n\nSM: Driven to --\n\nHM: -- driven to get education for their children and also for their siblings. So they wanted that their children should be educated and I used to think that if you don’t teach about God in school, it must not be important, but then later on when I studied Prabhupada’s books I realized that actually this culture and this philosophy is something which is very important and somehow or other we hadn’t been in touch with that.\n\nSM: I think that brings us to the question, how you met Sarvabhauma Das, and I would like to hear from you sir, how you met your lovely wife?\n\nPM: She came to Houston -- she came for that temple installation and then she stayed kind of a sabbatical for a year, and she had worked for sometime in the hospital at Fiji and she was wanting just to experience maybe some time just serving in the temple, as she said, her sister was doing. So I saw that she was -- I was in the temple also.\n\nSM: You were already a devotee then?\n\nPM: I was a full-time devotee living in the temple property, and I saw that she was a good devotee and basically the temple president at some point said, have you thought of getting married at sometime? So it was kind of an arranged marriage.\n\nSM: And how long have you all been married?\n\nHM: We got married in 1987 and it was -- well, like he said, it was arranged by my spiritual teacher and we have made, because it was arranged in that way, and we got the blessings of our spiritual master, so even though there are cultural differences, we somehow make it work.\n\nSM: So did you all face -- probably you all were the early immigrants or as an immigrant yourself, how were you received as an interracial couple in the Houston community?\n\nHM: Well, the community, the temple community here is mostly Indian, and then also the initial group of devotees who came were mostly from Gujarat, Gujaratis, so the interracial -- there are several interracial couples actually in our community, not just us. \n\nSM: But most of them are like not arranged as in the sense that you all were married, arranged.\n\nHM: Well, my spiritual master arranged three marriages, actually four, and all four of us were in Houston, and all the girls, all of us came from Fiji, and we were all married to Americans. So he arranged this. You may say there was a little bit of like discomfort mostly amongst the Indians that how do you deal with couples who are not from the same ethnic background but they took it in this stride.\n\n(","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://houstonlibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2436/collection_resources/108913/file/210358#t=297.0,612.0"},{"id":"https://houstonlibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2436/collection_resources/108913/file/210358/transcript/60432/annotation/2","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":")\nSM: How did you adjust culturally, of course he would already been supposed to our culture and stuff like that it must have been easy transit for you or did you have to blend some things that you brought back here?\n\nHM: I think both of us --\n\nSM: Maybe food or everything, how did it go from there?\n\nHM: See, it’s very central to our philosophy that we are basically souls and in that sense we are all connected, Krishna is our father, God is our father and therefore we are all related, we may just have different coverings, I have an Indian body and he is an American body but we are basically -- if we are serving God then we are serving the Supreme Father that was. So even though there are some differences and even though there are some cultural things we have to consider just because we are brought up in a certain culture.\n\nSo in the beginning I think mostly the -- actually what we found is that the Indian people when they saw Americans taking up their culture, they are very inspired that inspired me in the beginning too because I was thinking that what is it that like Prabhupada said that in India everyone is looking to the west.\n\nBut when western people take up Krishna, they take up our culture, our Hindu culture or our Vedic culture then the Indians look and see what is it about them? They have got everything, why are they taking up our culture? Then they realize the value of their own culture. So in that sense when the Indians saw that the Americans are taking up our tradition, it makes them think that what is so valuable about us that these people who already have good like their values and why would they want something which is coming from India?\n\nSM: When you came to Houston, you were already an immigrant of Fiji.\n\nHM: Yes.\n\nSM: And then this is the second stage of your immigration so what --\n\nPM: She was born in Fiji.\n\nSM: You were born in Fiji.\n\nHM: I was born in Fiji, I was conceived in India but I was with the first generation to be born outside of India.\n\nSM: So when your mother came to Fiji she was expecting you.\n\nHM: Yes.\n\nSM: Okay, that was in transition. So what was your experience as growing up in Fiji as an immigrant and how was it different when you came to Houston, I mean this is definitely on a larger scale so how did you --\n\nHM: Well I always considered myself as Indian when I was growing up in Fiji and Fiji has a large population, almost say 40%-50% of Indians and I always thought I was Indian till I went to medical school in India. When I went to India, I realized that the tangawala has more culture than I have and we were the first generation born outside of India. The way they address you, the way they behave with you, it’s so respectful and so culturally nice, and then I realized that just in one generation we have lost so much. So I was really thankful that I got this experience of going to school in India because I realized what I had missed out on just in that one generation, even though there are so many Indians.\n\nNow when I made the transition here, the difference between Fiji and here was that I had already started to study our philosophy and I was convinced that this is the way of life I want to live. So I felt that I was coming here with something like in a richer way, a more enriched, and therefore there was something that we could contribute and when you change your locations, there is going to be some discrimination but actually I was quite surprised, I would go to the – you know like I would wear a saree and I would sometimes go to the library, and then I remember this one instance, there was this middle-aged lady, she came up to me, I was just wearing a regular saree, she said, oh, are you from India, are you going -- are you a bride or going to a wedding? So you can see people really appreciate our culture. We just have to have the confidence to carry it on.\n\nSM: So what kind of questions were you like when you went to public places, what were the typical questions that were asked of you when you wore the Indian attire?\n\nHM: People like this dress, they really love it and we actually, we showcase our culture when we do -- from the temple we do many events in Houston since it’s so diverse and we have a particular thing we present called try a saree, and it’s amazing so many people come, like local mainstream, they think it’s so exotic and then we show them how to put it on and they feel so nice, like they learn about our culture and they see that we are also nice people that it breaks that barrier that they are Brown and I am White, or they are Brown and I am Black.\n\nSM: Well, what you are saying is when you came to Houston you were very comfortable wearing a saree anywhere?\n\n(","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://houstonlibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2436/collection_resources/108913/file/210358#t=612.0,906.0"},{"id":"https://houstonlibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2436/collection_resources/108913/file/210358/transcript/60432/annotation/3","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":")\nHM: Yes.\n\nSM: Okay. Well, right now when we come to -- when we come as immigrants here, the sooner we changed to this culture and wear their clothes, we feel more we are fitting in. We don't want people to look at us, but it was different then, did you find many women wearing sarees and --\n\nHM: Well, I have two lives.\n\nSM: Apart from ISKCON people, did you find other women like you, Indian women who would walk into stores in Indian clothes?\n\nHM: Well, like I said in my spiritual life this is how I dress, but of course when I am working, I wear regular civilian clothes like the Americans wear, because I feel that when patients are coming to you they are already distressed, they are already sick and they are not in full control of their faculty, so I don't want to make them more distressed by seeing somebody in a strange dress.\n\nSM: I see.\n\nHM: So I chose not to wear this kind of dress just so that it's easier for them to blend in and also it's easier for me to, so people, you are looking in a drought situation, so I chose to wear civilian clothing. But in regular day-to-day activities I find that when you wear a saree, people really -- it's a conversation-starter.\n\nSM: So, Sarvabhauma Das, you wear Indian clothes, do you switch like her to Western?\n\nPM: Sometimes.\n\nSM: And what are the occasions that you would be switching clothes?\n\nPM: Like if I go to the Social Security Office, in America, sometimes I wear them, I think I don't have an excuse that I don't have a 9 to 5 job where I have to wear a non-Indian or non-devotional clothing, but when I do wear them it’s like it actually sometimes starts a conversation, so where are you from and I think people are also pretty good at just turning out, there is a lot of variety in Houston, but it's mostly my perception, if I don't feel embarrassed then nobody else worries, and a lot of people like it as my wife said, but just sometimes I don't want to, I just want to do some business and don't want to preach or --\n\nSM: And why exactly do you wear only Indian clothes in the ISKCON? Is there a particular reason why you wear this style of clothing?\n\nPM: Well the basic idea is","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://houstonlibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2436/collection_resources/108913/file/210358#t=906.0,1056.0"},{"id":"https://houstonlibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2436/collection_resources/108913/file/210358/transcript/60432/annotation/4","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"body and this type of clothing is very simple like one piece of cloth, the dhoti, one kurta, it's easy to wash and it dries very quickly especially in the summer.\n\nSM: For the lifestyle that you all have this is --\n\nPM: Yeah, the principle of simple living and high thinking. I think how many times people change in their styles, their hair styles, their clothing styles. This is a simple thing and just so we can focus on higher things as well.\n\nSM: So I am sure by all these years you would have visited India?\n\nPM: Yes.\n\nSM: And what is that you found with Indians that started coming here and how was your experience with them when you went back to India? Did you feel like you belong to some part of India, how was your experience?\n\nPM: We want to go to India, you mean?\nSM: When she came, like the way I am asking how she felt when she came here, how did you feel when you go to India?\n\nPM: Well, having learned something about the culture here certainly helps, and I have visited the holy places I read about it in the scriptures. We have temples in many places like Vrindavan, in Delhi, in Manipur, and Bengal, and so I went to the temples where I was very much accepted. Travel in trains and people are very friendly in India. We get very nice conversations, and it was so much in a rush, because there is rush in India in the big cities, but on trains I met some very nice people, and people like in fact that she said that somebody from the US is also interested in their culture.\n\nSM: So together and she is in a professional job like she -- we all know how doctors, how busy they are and she still, she has some time and she dedicates time to the temple as well. How do you both, how do you -- doctor, how do you balance your time?\n\nHM: What I find is that the foundational principle, if I make my spiritual foundation very strong, then I can do the rest of my duties very easily. So I concentrate on we have a sadhana practice that we do every day which involves chanting on japa mala and reading the scripture or setting the scripture or hearing the scripture and then attending a program in the morning.\n(","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://houstonlibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2436/collection_resources/108913/file/210358#t=1056.0,1203.0"},{"id":"https://houstonlibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2436/collection_resources/108913/file/210358/transcript/60432/annotation/5","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":")\nSo when I do that well then I find that my day goes very well, so that’s my prime focus, and then part of my other sadhana is that it’s my dharma given to me by my spiritual teacher that I should continue to work as a physician, and so that is how I also practice my dharma, and it allows me to come in touch with many different groups of people and in those exchanges there is an opportunity to speak about our culture or when they see that we are from a different culture to experience that.\n\nAnd of course because our goal is that we want to satisfy the God so whatever differences there are we make it work because when we have that same foundation it’s easy to work around the differences, and my husband doesn’t require much attention, he is basically self-sufficient so he is not like the traditional sometimes like the Indian person or husband who wants you to cook what you want, so in that sense I am very lucky.\n\nSM: Yeah, that’s good. Well you say you were interacting with groups, is this the groups of the mainstream and how did you connect with them and how did you -- what were the challenges that you faced when you took your philosophy and your practices, your lifestyle to the mainstream and when did this happen, your connection from your comfort zone here moving on to the mainstream’s challenges?\n\nHM: Well, when you had said about like what challenges we met, I will give you some examples. When I first came here in 1996, we used to do these festivals, like there are mainstream events which happen here and we try and participate in those, so that’s a good audience for us to share our culture. So we used to have this festival called the Westheimer Art Festival and we used to have it on Westheimer Street.\n\nSM:  And this was how early?\n\nHM: In 1980s, like ’86, and that has evolved now into the Bayou City Art Festival.\n\nSM:  Right.\n\nHM: And we would bring of course our food and I am fully vegetarian. So when we would like tell people, like come try this vegetarian food, people would like turn their noses at us like what rabbit food, like bring some meat. And now you fast forward to --\n\nPM: We were giving it free at first.\n\nHM: Yeah, we were giving it free and now you fast forward say 15 years later, we were invited to the Bayou City Art Festival, it is one of the top 10 juried art shows in the whole nation and the CEO at that time Kim Stoilis, she saw that we have good vegetarian food, she told my husband, Sarma, we need you at our festival and for about two years we didn’t enter and then we brought our food and they loved it and that’s a show, or that’s an event in which the food -- they only chose seven food menus in the beginning and we were one of the seven and of the seven we were in the top three.\n\nSM: Oh\n\nHM: So it just tell you how --\n\nSM: What kind of food was that you were serving?\n\nHM: It’s vegetarian Indian food, it’s of course --\n\nSM:  Like daal chawal.\n\nHM: We did chawal, we did rice, and instead of -- we did a text Indian style of food like barbecue tofu, we would call it barbecue tandoori tofu so instead of meat we had tofu.\n\nSM: Like full fusion some of that is a fusion.\n\nHM: And then we would do samosas, people know samosas, they know lassi, so they -- even like -- we even have like barfi, but we make it peanut butter not the traditional Indian barfi.\n\nSM:  So you took our dishes to the mainstream. I recalled that the City of Houston had -- they have the international festivals and they feature and they had featured India at one time, were you involved?\n\nHM: Yes.\n\nSM: And how did you integrate the Indian culture there, what did you do to help?\n\nHM: With the international festival, we were involved with them for a few years prior to 2005, that’s when they had the theme was India.\n\nSM: 2005, correct.\n\nHM: And so prior to that we would have the food booth and we would have literature booth where we would present like the Bhagvad Gita, the different teachings from the Vedas, so people could come and look like basically presenting Bhagvad Gita to people. And then in 2005, when it became India, then of course the Consulate General of India and the other Hindu organizations also participated in the planning meetings, and I remember that first day was a Saturday. We cooked a little bit more and we also had brought in the festival of India. The festival of India is traveling festival from ISKCON. Its features displays on reincarnation, the Bhagvad Gita, karma, vegetarianism, reincarnation, science in the weathers, and they have this very beautiful displays and the tents are very colorful, like Indian tents.\n\nSM: Okay.\n\nHM: So they gave us a spot actually, free of charge, because we are bringing in this, we are putting in the money to bring in these displays. So the whole lower Sam Houston Park, we had that whole setup in that area and it was beautiful.\n\n(","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://houstonlibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2436/collection_resources/108913/file/210358#t=1203.0,1515.0"},{"id":"https://houstonlibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2436/collection_resources/108913/file/210358/transcript/60432/annotation/6","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":")\nSM: And what was it called?\n\nHM: It was called Festival of India.\n\nSM: It was called Festival of India.\n\nHM: Yeah.\n\nSM: I see, okay.\n\nHM: And you know the interesting thing was for the first time after many years they had record clubs because the Indian population works so hard to bring, and iFest was amazed, we ran out of food by noon, the festival opens at 11, by like 12 or 2 we were done. We had to like -- he had to cook more and like really scramble and the restaurants next to us were doing -- it was – iFest the city were very happy. They said that, you know like, they said like, yeah, the priest had said some prayers for good weather and the attendance was going down and then when they had India the attendance just boomed. So that was --\n\nSM: It was called Incredible India, I remember.\n\nHM: It was called Incredible India.\n\nSM: So from your experience over the years, doctor, that was in 2000 and you came as early as the ’70s, right?\n\nHM: In ’86.\n\nSM: In the ’80s, so in the 23 years did you see something like that or do you feel that Houston needs that kind of event to integrate communities like the Indian community?\n\nHM: Yeah, I think the work the Indian community has done and what we have done has actually changed some of it because like I said before vegetarian was something to frown on and now it’s in, if you are vegetarian or you are vegan, you can cool. And the same way like now in Houston they have this thing called the Vegan Fest or the Veg Fest, who would have heard of something like that in the middle of cowboy country, like where meat eating is so high and you know we could use this.\n\nSM: And yoga?\n\nHM: Yeah, and yoga, and they have had Texas Yoga Conference we just hosted this year. So all these contributions I think the Indians have made to the community and we add to the diversity of Houston and actually it’s known that Houston is one of the leading cities which show how diversity works in action, isn’t it?\n\nSM: So is there something that you distinctly remember together, something that said that we are starting to connect with the mainstream? Is there any incident or event that you all set, you all had ample Indian and American blend like a festival or something that Indian festival where like Holi or Diwali something that had, do you recall anything that was -- that gave you the feeling that we are now planning correctly the way we should from the time that you came. Do you remember any festival like that apart from the international festival, everybody comes there because they want to see, but do you see like we have about 200 Indo-American organizations in Houston, and we do celebrations here and there, but do you think that we have done any such event that brought in so many of non-Indians to the culture? Are we making that effort to pray in your opinion?\n\nHM: Well we recently had an event at our temple called the Texas Yoga Conference which was mostly attended by local Americans, and of course I was there.\n\nSM: What would you say the percentage was?\n\nHM: I think it was probably 95% or 99% Americans, non-Indians. And then of course we did a Rath Yatra two years, three years ago.\n\nSM: And tell me about Rath Yatra, what do you do for Rath Yatra?\n\nHM: We had partnered with another organization called SKAI Foundation to do the Rath Yatra in --\n\nSM: That is the chariot festival?\n\nHM: Chariot festival --\n\nSM: Okay, I heard that.\n\nHM: -- which happens in Puri you know?\n\nSM: Right.\n\nHM: Prabhupada brought this throughout the world and because we don’t have the chariots here we partnered with another organization, and at that festival we had reached to the local media, and at that festival there were lot of Americans who came, local people, and then of course the Indians came and it was a very ---\n\nPM: About 50%\n\nHM: Oh yeah about 50% Americans who came.\n\nSM: So when you do events like that, doctor, definitely there is lot of financial, political or mind traces, how did you interact with any political pressure as such from the city or from outside, did you impact anything that they said you can’t do this, you should do this? Did you get involved in any issues that you had to --\n\n(","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://houstonlibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2436/collection_resources/108913/file/210358#t=1515.0,1798.0"},{"id":"https://houstonlibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2436/collection_resources/108913/file/210358/transcript/60432/annotation/7","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":")\nHM: Well, traditionally we have done a lot of festivals in our temples, and in Houston there are 20 or 21 Hindu temples, and we always felt that we should take the temple to the people since people are not coming to us, and we should contribute to the society or community we live in and not just take from them.\n\nAnd of course, because we did this event at an outside location, Discovery Green has certain conditions that we have to meet. So we had certain legal conditions; for the parade you have to have so much patrol, you have to stay in your lanes, you have to get a permit for the parade, so all those permitting we had to do. But whenever we interacted with the City or with Discovery Green, we found that they were quite intrigued that we were bringing this -- we were adding to the City, like we were bringing something of value. \nSM: So what you are saying is you didn’t really face any conflicts or any major challenges that you recall?\n\nHM: No, I wouldn't say that we felt any major -- I mean, sometimes during the course of our work, I remember when I was a resident, there was this one patient who was really suffering and then in his anger he just told me like, go back to your country. That's very common that you see. \n\nBut then I also had someone, when I was working, in my student, as an intern, we had this one lab technician who used to work at nights and everyone was scared of her. She was like really a difficult person. There was nothing you could do to make her happy. If we brought down the specimens for her, she was upset that she had to do the work, and if we didn’t bring it down, she said we didn’t get it in time. \n\nAnd then after about six months of doing that, then one day she turned to me and she said, you know, you are different. I said oh. Yeah, she said, you are not like those others. Then I --\n\nSM: In a good way. \n\nHM: Yeah, in a good way. So, coming from her, that was like huge, because she was never happy. But I can see that it's because we have this cultural upbringing, where we understand the nature of a person. We kind of work to make them comfortable or like meet them halfway so they can feel comfortable. \n\nSM: Since you are on the topic of kind of understanding your patients and calming down, how do you apply your philosophy or lifestyle in practice in your medical practice? What do you do that makes them comfortable and makes them feel like you are a different person?\n\nHM: I don't know if this has to do with me being an Indian, but I think part of our culture is that we treat the whole person; we just don't treat a disease, we just don't treat a symptom. And the other thing is I spend time with them. I make sure that I establish rapport, and when you establish rapport with the person then only you can start to treat or make them feel better.\n\nSo in general, they like it that I spend the time and I am not so driven by, like, I only have five minutes, I only have 15 minutes; like I try to take care of their needs so that I can serve them in the best way, because that's basically the service I do.\n\nSM: If you were to be in India practicing medicine, how would it be different for you? And you have visited India and you have seen the doctors, how would you be in India? How is it different here?\n\nHM: I think here you have a lot more facility to help your patients. We have a hospice in Vrindavan, where like devotees from all over the world will come to like leave their bodies; in the last days they went to pass away in Vrindavan because it's considered very auspicious. \n\nSo in that hospice actually they don't have narcotics, they don't have the strong pain medicines we have. And I visited them when I was there last year, and those patients are blissful. They don't have the pain medicines we have here, but they are still so -- they are not suffering, as you would think they would suffer because of the pain. So even though they don't have the facility materially, but they have a spiritual strength which they depend on or call upon.\n\nAnd of course here I feel it's so much easier, because the general facilities and tests and all this is so easily available, but here we are a little bit lazy to make the rational changes. We want everything like real quick. Everything is in a form of pill so it comes. \nOf course, that is changing. There is a demographic of patients who want alternative medicine, who want more like the natural or holistic type of care, and they are against allopathic. So we have a fair share of that also. And we can see that this shift is also happening, and this may be part of the contribution that we have made by introducing Ayurveda and more homeopathic --\n\nPM: Alternative medicine.\n\nHM: Yeah, alternative type of medicine or care system. \n\n(","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://houstonlibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2436/collection_resources/108913/file/210358#t=1798.0,2098.0"},{"id":"https://houstonlibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2436/collection_resources/108913/file/210358/transcript/60432/annotation/8","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":")\n\nSM: So if you were to move back to India, you think you would comfortably be there or is it -- how would you transit into that?\n\nHM: It will be nice, because I would -- we have this that we should serve in the holy space, in the holy dham, so Vrindavan, so it will be very nice to do that service in the holy dham, directly in Krishna’s care.\n\nSM: How would you feel, sir, about moving to India and settling there?\nPM: I think it would be less stressful in some ways, because in America the medical system is very complicated. She has probably as much paperwork to do as she does time with patients, and it’s so complex in America, with all the insurance plans and the new government regulations. So I think she is doing a pretty good job, but still it’s hard for her to balance her personal needs with the professional needs in this current situation she is in now.\n\nSM: Dr. Medley, you have achieved a lot in your professional and in your spiritual and personal life. We all know you very well and we are very honored that you both are here today. Let me ask you, what are your major achievements and what is an ultimate goal that you have set for yourself as a professional and as a person?\n\nHM: That’s a big question.\n\nSM: So break it down, let’s start with what are the major awards and major recognitions that you may have had over the years and what is it that you regard as the most closest, most privileged?\nHM: I feel that -- I trained as a physician, that was my karma, and then my spiritual teacher, he helped me spiritualize the profession, so that even when I am doing my duty, like I am doing it for Krishna. He wanted me to do it as service to Krishna. So I remember that this is what I have to do. When I am taking care of my patients or when I am serving them, I remember that I am doing this as service for Krishna, so I have to do the best, because he is the best.\n\nAlso, I am the Director of Outreach for the Hare Krishna Temple, and my duty or my service is that I bring this culture to -- particularly my focus is the non-Indian community, because we have so many festivals, which targets the Indian community, but I focus on, and my spiritual teacher wanted me to -- anted us to focus on integrating ourselves into the mainstream, so people become aware of what we have and what we have to offer. And that to me gives a lot of satisfaction. So I try and collaborate with other organizations who have similar goals or similar vision to bring our core culture into the mainstream. So that to me is very fulfilling.\n\nSo we work with -- like we said, we work with iFest, with the Bayou City Art Festival, the July 4th celebrations, the Interfaith Ministries. We started with them -- well, actually we used to do Food for Life, where we would bring vegetarian food or prasad to the homeless. In the beginning we would have a truck.\n\nSM: It’s called Food for Life?\nHM: Food for Life; it’s a global organization, which provides food and --\n\nSM: And when was that started, doctor?\n\nHM: It has been started I think since ISKCON was started. One of Prabhupada’s ideas or vision was that within 11 months of a temple no one should be hungry. So that’s led to this distribution of this Food for Life. \nSo this organization -- practically most ISKCON temples will have a program like that, where they will bring food to the needy. So now we are doing kids’ meals. We do about 300 sack lunches for preschool children every week, which is distributed through kids’ meals. So these are vegetarian sack lunches. \nSM: And who volunteers to do this? I mean, who funds this and who is --\n\nHM: So right now it is an organization called","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://houstonlibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2436/collection_resources/108913/file/210358#t=2098.0,2354.0"},{"id":"https://houstonlibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2436/collection_resources/108913/file/210358/transcript/60432/annotation/9","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"and Be The Cause. So they partner with us to help make the sandwiches, and then the temple and the organizations they help with bringing in the money to do the sandwiches.\n\nSM: So this is one of your charitable efforts, like outreach?\nHM: Yeah, which is easily understood.\n\nSM: Okay. Is there any educational and other, medical?\nHM: So the educational effort we have is basically through this -- when we go out into the community with Bhagavad Gita and tell people about that, and then we do interfaith things with Interfaith Ministries or Rothko Chapel. \n(","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://houstonlibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2436/collection_resources/108913/file/210358#t=2354.0,2391.0"},{"id":"https://houstonlibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2436/collection_resources/108913/file/210358/transcript/60432/annotation/10","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":")\n\nAlso, in terms of education just for the Indian community, one of the things we see is that people are afraid what will be happen to the youth once they grow up here. So we have a strong educational initiative at the temple. We have Sunday School and we also have adult education, where people can learn about Bhagavad Gita and Ramayana and Mahabharata and how to apply it to their lives.\n\nSo we have a very vibrant Sunday School, with 100 students right now, and we have also started, like we said, the Goswami Academy, a preschool for children.\n\nSM: So in all these programs, what is your major contribution?\n\nHM: Basically to bring this to the public at large, and to make connections with other organizations. I feel like if we can collaborate instead of compete, then everyone wins. So that’s one of our goals that -- like we have -- every organization has something of value, if we do it together, we can do better.\n\nSM: Okay. I think you do go in that, you do collaborate on certain levels, with festivals and all, yes, I am aware of that. So is there any program that you can say that I initiated this and it was successful or it was a failure? Is there any program that stands of value, like it’s your idea?\nHM: I think the Outreach Department was originally there, but I think we have developed it to the point where it’s very consistent and we have a lot of activities.\n\nSM: For how many years, when you said consistent?\n\nHM: At least --\nSM: Ten years.\n\nHM: My spiritual master passed away in 2002, yeah so --\n\nSM: So ten years it has been for outreaching programs.\n\nHM: Or at least 12, yes.\n\nSM: And these are all the programs of your --\nHM: Yeah. So when people went to _______ Hinduism schools invite us, colleges invite us, different societies, they want to know about Indian culture, or they want a speaker for a panel discussion, or they want somebody to speak in healthcare about Hindu ethics. So we participate and provide speakers. And then also by giving them books to libraries, by actually giving Bhagavad Gita.\n\nSM: Are you part of any school curriculum? Are you involved in anything as -- did you actually partake in any policy decisions to incorporate something of Indian culture in schools and things like that? Were you on board where they were taking decisions to have like Indian studies or --\n\nHM: Not personally, but when I first headed Incredible India that year, they wrote a textbook for children, for high schools, and then we did provide people to -- people in the community and from our society who were teachers to help with the curriculum.\n\nSM: So it was called --\n\nHM: FIS would produce a book on the country each and every year, in India, that was part of what we provided.\n\nSM: Is it still available for reading?\n\nHM: It should be. I would think so.\n\nSM: As far as the Americans, when they think of ISKCON is -- no offense, but they think they are all over the place. They just spring up in public places and they sing and they approach you, and some are sometimes taken positively, but sometimes they are not. So in my opinion, was it a challenge, and how did you handle that? The early immigrants, they found them at the airports, they found them at the public libraries, public places. They would just have their kirtans and bhajans. Was it challenging to be scorned at or be pushed away? How did you manage those challenges?\n\nHM: It was challenging. In the beginning when you start to -- the people who initially joined were trying to start a new organization and a new movement, so naturally the preaching spirit was more, it was more. So people were stronger, or taking stronger stances I would say, or like more in your --\n\nSM: Rejecting it strongly you mean?\n\nHM: And so like, we were not as polite maybe, and even maybe like really in your face, but as we matured I think we straightened that out and we became more cordial. As the society matures, then we learn how to integrate in the society better. So I think we have gone through the change in ISKCON.\n\nSM: Yeah. We don’t see the kind anymore, but that was one of your major challenges.\n\nPM: When the founder of our movement came to America, he was almost 70 years old, and in a short time he wrote so many books, and he wanted his message spread, and he mostly had young Americans, young people because the time was short and they were quite enthusiastic in the tours sometimes.\n\nSM: You had to get aggressively. \n\n(","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://houstonlibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2436/collection_resources/108913/file/210358#t=2391.0,2701.0"},{"id":"https://houstonlibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2436/collection_resources/108913/file/210358/transcript/60432/annotation/11","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":")\n\nPM: An amazing amount of books were distributed and now the words like karma and dharma are very common and reincarnation. \nSM: So you do find more acceptance and more tolerance of the people?\nHM: Sure! \n\nPM: Yeah. And sometime people say, we don’t see you quite as much on the streets as we used to, and they are happy that we are still around.\n\nSM: And you do hand out some and they take it from you? Like they have no objection? \n\nHM: Yes. And you see now even like movies and television shows, they have -- they base some of these ideas from karma or --\n\nSM: Do you have to do more explaining today than you had to do before about our culture and stuff like that, what do you think?\n\nHM: I think it's the same. Just maybe the dynamics have changed a little bit in terms of how we do it, but people are still -- now people know more about it than they used to. \n\nSM: When you say people, doctor, I would like to know how the 20 under, the young adults are taking you -- how do they approach you? Do they ask you a lot of questions about --\nHM: Actually I feel that we have a vibrant youth committee here and in some ways we just went yesterday to the Hindu Youth Awards, where the Hindus of Greater Houston are trying to encourage our youth to take up Hindu culture. \nAnd then the nice thing about our organization is that the people can actually -- the young adults who come, they can see that it’s a very practical application of the religion or the philosophy. They can continue with their careers, they can continue with their jobs, they can still live at home, but still add a spiritual dimension. And in some ways they are very -- they can integrate the religion or the spirituality into their lives in a very holistic way. \nSo it’s a dichotomous situation; it’s like the straightjacket, like Hinduism and like I am a Hindu, I go to temple on Sunday or whatever, but then the rest of the time I am at work or I am in school. \nWe find that our youth are able to talk about our culture with their friends and even are comfortable being vegetarian or like the kind of food that they eat, or not eating. Like their values, they are able to uphold them, to the extent that they have taken formal vows at this age and they are very happy doing it. \n\nSM: So I know -- I see that you are very focused on disseminating or imparting our cultural values to the American community. What may I ask have you imbibed from the American culture in your lifestyle, or what did you take from their culture when you were growing up here?\n\nHM: I will tell you a little story that Srila Prabhupada would say. He would say that India is like the lame man and the Americas are like the blind man. If the lame man sits on the shoulders of the blind person, then he can give him direction and both can progress. So like the Americans, they are blind, spiritually. They don’t know or they don’t have as much understanding of philosophy like we do, a tradition which is so deep and so vast. But the Indians may not have as much material advancement in terms of technology, so if the two of them corporate, then both of them will make progress towards the goal.\n\nSM: And you think we have?\nHM: So I think by -- we do that by -- you can take the technology and the materialism of the west, with the spiritual culture and the philosophy from the east, the spirituality, and you blend them together and it’s a win-win for both of us. \n\nSM: I agree that very much with you, doctor. From your age, people who are here, you probably are the second immigrant, second families that came, now the third generation immigrants are here, what would be your message or advice to them be, how to cope with their lifestyle here?\n\nHM: I would tell them they have the best of both worlds. They have the rich cultural heritage of India and they have the material facility of the west. You could not be in a better place. And if you can just use -- appreciate the value of each tradition, you cannot be in a more better place than having the best of both worlds. That’s what I believe here. \n\n(","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://houstonlibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2436/collection_resources/108913/file/210358#t=2701.0,2988.0"},{"id":"https://houstonlibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2436/collection_resources/108913/file/210358/transcript/60432/annotation/12","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":")\nPM: I will add one thing that people from India that don’t have any connection to a temple or spiritual organization, probably could lose too much of their culture too quickly. We are seeing that people that have some spiritual connection to their culture in America remain stronger and they are generally successful materially, but they keep also the spiritual vitality, and they become a good example to the Americans and also others. If they don’t, if they become too Americanized, give up their own values, then that is not a win-win. \n\nHM: As a physician I see, Indians who I see nowadays, the young Indians who I may be seeing, like in the 20s and 40s, it’s amazing, they are as much Americans as the Americans are. There is like -- because part of -- we ask like, do you drink, do you smoke? \n\nSM: It is the adaptation we have I think very quickly with that too, and we are very quick to even give up something very quick as well. So you do encourage our younger generation to keep to their roots and keep their language and stuff? \n\nHM: Yeah, people who know multiple languages are smarter, right?\nSM: Exactly! Scientifically it is proven to be smarter. So what would your message be for today to conclude -- what would you like to say and how would you like to be remembered in this country? \n\nHM: I would say that as Indians who have come into this country, we have the very unique opportunity to bring our gifts to this country, our adopted country and contribute something of value, and we can be remembered as people who came to give something and add value instead of people who came to think, like Srila Prabhupada said. \nSM: Thank you so much Dr. Hansa Medley! Thank you so much Mr. Sarvabhauma Das! Thank you very much! I would like to thank the Foundation for India Studies for giving us this opportunity, and also for the Oral History Project to give us this wonderful opportunity so I could share their experiences in Houston. Thank you very much!","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://houstonlibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2436/collection_resources/108913/file/210358#t=2988.0,3140.6375"}]}]}]}