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"That's a fine ending," interrupted Indira. "Mary would have been proud to hear it."
"The astonishing aspect is," I said to Indira, "that I had created the new ending before my friend Ross had told me about Mary's scientific foundation and the principles that we explored afterwards."
"You must have understood the principles instinctively," she replied. "Your experience then suggests to me that it is a natural principle that we have before us that any human being should be able to understand, rather than something miraculous. This gives me hope that we might be able to establish a similar arrangement based on this principle here, and not just between us."
"A similar arrangement; in respect to what, India?" I asked.
"Between the Thevars and the Dalits, Peter. The escalation of attacks and counterattacks has gone on far too long, just like in your story. It's become more and more impossible for the Dalit people to carry on their life in this environment. Maybe we can create a different ending here, too, than the one that society is still drifting deeper into."
"Why not?" I replied. "You, as the doctor in the region, could take on the role of the king's daughter and demand a brighter world."
She shook her head. "That role isn't possible anymore. We have passed that point a long time ago."
"No, I think this is still possible," I replied immediately and hugged her. "You just inspired a great idea in me, that I think can work."
We had stopped in the store of a spice and tea merchant at this point, who asked us to leave since he was just closing shop and had already begun turning the lights out.
"I think we can implement my new ending," I said when we were out on the street again, "and you can indeed assume the role of the king's daughter."
"But how, Peter? It's far too dangerous for me to go back there, and much more so to become politically involved."
"It doesn't have to be that way," I replied. "Let's change the conditions. Suppose you were to base yourself here in Delhi with some kind of a high level attachment to a government health service institution. And suppose further that Fred and I were to be able to organize the funding for a fully equipped medical van that you could use on tours through all the villages in your district, and other districts if you like. You could help many more people that way with quality care, including the Thevars, including even the police, the priests, and everyone else. If this were to happen, wouldn't that rehumanizing process radically soften the situation in the villages between all concerned? With an infrastructure like that, you would not only be much more effective in helping people, but you might also be able to roll back some of the causes for the bitter feuding that causes the injuries. The Thevars might even become convinced, as they become more human in the universal sense, that it is actually to their advantage to keep their workers healthy instead of constantly brutalized. In this way, I think it will be possible for you to help erode the demarcation line that is presently killing people. This would certainly create a much nicer and safer working environment for you. Moreover, if this approach works, it might have an effect towards uplifting the life of all of the Dalits once the idea begins to spread. As you said yourself, legal laws won't change the way people think, but you may be able to accomplish this change by introducing a paradigm shift in people's thinking by simply dealing intelligently with them as human beings. This kind of shift in thinking can take on a life of its own, Indira, and affect the whole country. This also means you would be more than just a doctor. You would also be a diplomat and an ambassador for a new kind of humanity. Such an involvement could open the door to a New Renaissance. How about it?"
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Stories about
Love
from novels by Rolf A. F. Witzsche
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