April 3rd, 6:30-8:30pm
RedEye Coffee Midtown
I met with my friend Harsha* on April 3rd. I
picked her up from campus (there was a crazy rainstorm that evening) and we
went over to RedEye Coffee to catch up. Harsha and I are both committed Christians
and we enjoy talking about our spirituality and how we have seen God at work in
our lives. We had both had similar experiences recently of messing something up
or doing something cowardly (mine was when I had shown up 30 minutes late for
my child tutoring session) but seeing God bring something good out of it and graciously
cover over our foolishness. Harsha is from India and her parents are devout
Jains. They do not know she has become a Christian. Harsha is going home for
the Summer and has been grappling with what might happen while she’s there. She
shared that her mother is still sending her prospective Jain candidates for an arranged
marriage, how her mom guessed she must have a boyfriend here because she keeps
turning them all down, and that it would actually be much easier if she did. Harsha
said that overall she is feeling more peaceful about her trip home and that she
can sense how excited her mom is to see her. She explained that she wanted to
receive that love and excitement from her mom and not dread the trip because of
potential conflict ahead. I could definitely relate to that thought as I try to
navigate my odd relationship with my mom, but I can’t begin to imagine the sense
of inner conflict Harsha must feel about renouncing the religion of her family,
which is taken so seriously in India. During the second half of our conversation,
we talked about her field of study, her previous work and study in India, and
how she hasn’t been able to get a job anywhere at the university because they think she’s
overqualified.
*Name has been changed to protect her privacy
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