Anjali Kumar: My failed mission to find God -- and what I found instead
Anđali Kumar (Anjali Kumar): Moja neuspela misija da nađem boga i šta sam pronašla umesto toga
Anjali Kumar is a Brooklyn-born, first-generation Indian American author, attorney, advisor, speaker and “idea acupuncturist.” Full bio
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right up front that I failed,
bilo prosvetljujuće.
gave me a lot of hope.
dala mnogo nade.
and significance of our differences.
i značajem naših različitosti.
by Indian parents -- culturally Hindu,
u kulturnom pogledu Hindu,
unknown religion outside of India
koja je relativno nepoznata izvan Indije,
of just how minority that makes me:
o tome koliko sam u manjini zbog toga,
roughly one percent of the US population;
otprilike jedan odsto stanovništva SAD-a;
Teddy Bear Factory each year
fabriku plišanih meda u Vermontu
of the Jain religion in America.
đainizma u Americi.
moji roditelji su potom rešili:
my parents then decided,
Let's send her to Catholic school" --
u katoličku školu!“ -
were the only non-white,
bile jedini učenici
in the entire school.
i nisu katolici.
in Flossmoor, Illinois --
u Flosmuru u Ilinoisu -
that there is a single Supreme Being
da postoji jedinstveno vrhovno biće
to moral shepherding to eternal life.
i moralnog usmeravanja do večnog života.
nečemu sasvim drugom.
entirely different.
da se bog manifestuje
as individuals,
svakog od nas kao pojedinca
spending our entire lives
becoming our own godlike, perfect selves.
da postanemo svoje božansko, savršeno ja.
principles of Jainism
principa đainizma
that no single person
of absolute truth,
niti znati apsolutnu istinu,
o religijskim verovanjima.
u svojoj katoličkoj školi.
in your Catholic school.
I was from my peers.
u odnosu na svoje vršnjake.
a highly spiritual person,
or a clever play on words,
niti pametna igra rečima,
bolno neinspirativni naziv
who checks off the box "none"
koji štrikliraju opciju „nijedno“
about their religious affiliation.
pita kojoj religiji pripadaju.
things about Nones are:
religiously unaffiliated Nones
„nijednih“ bez verske pripadnosti
for over one-third of adults
više od trećine odraslih
to me about Nones
vezana za „nijedne“
with some degree of certainty,
sa određenim stepenom sigurnosti,
and had found that information out
i došla do ove informacije
not-so-reassuring takeaway
a što nije tako ohrabrujuće,
people are currently godless,
spiritualnih ljudi trenutno bezbožno,
as easy as I had originally hoped.
tako lako kao što sam se isprva nadala.
that on my spiritual journey,
da ću na svom duhovnom putovanju
into the spiritual fringe
u sporedne duhovne ulice
to keep a fairly open mind,
da budem prilično otvorenog uma,
full of volcanic water
pun vulkanske vode
in the convention center --
u kongresnom centru -
heat-infused sweat lodge
punoj dima i sparine
to convene with the dead,
na prizivanju mrtvih,
my deceased mother-in-law
moju pokojnu svekrvu
of the hip-hop group The Roots.
hip-hop grupe The Roots.
she was really happy
on all the pasta I was eating.
količinu testenine koju jedem.
da nije njegova mrtva majka
that it wasn't his dead mother
da smanjim ugljene hidrate.
out of South Africa;
joge smeha iz Južne Afrike,
a 45-minute orgasm --
jedne žene od 45 minuta -
the energy of the universe --
in the Nevada desert at Burning Man,
u Nevadi na festivalu Burning Man,
i sa naočarima za skijanje;
lie on top of me,
po imenu Paramdži
of the Universe to heal my "yoni,"
univerzuma da zaleči moju „joni“,
at TED -- even TEDWomen --
pa čak i na konferenciji TEDWoman -
faith healer John of God
verskog iscelitelja Jovana Božjeg
a full-trance medium,
medijumom u potpunom transu,
he can talk to dead people.
da može da govori sa mrtvima.
to channel a very specific group
da je kanal za vrlo specifičnu grupu
whatever's wrong with you.
šta god da nije u redu sa vama.
not have a medical degree
gde nema zasecanja,
where there is no cutting,
who is thousands of miles away
ko je udaljen hiljadama kilometara
of rules and regulations.
you can visit John of God
posetiti Jovana Božjeg
that you would like fixed,
koje biste voleli da se srede,
and doctors to work on your behalf
mrtve svece i doktore
da budem otvorenog uma.
was kind of weird and inconclusive,
bila nekako čudna i neubedljiva,
than I already started out.
I came home empty-handed.
da sam došla kući praznih ruku.
mom putovanju u Brazil,
to my trip to Brazil,
to some friends
nekim svojim prijateljima
to a couple more people
coffee shop I go to each morning,
u koji idem svakog jutra,
next to me on the subway.
pored mene u metrou.
of theirs down to Brazil,
tri njihove želje u Brazil,
to see John of God
da vidi Jovana Božjeg
moj inboks je bio pretrpan.
koji su ispričali prijateljima,
apparently told more friends,
and the guys at their coffee shops,
before I left for Brazil
pre nego što sam otišla u Brazil
have my email address.
koja nije imala moju imejl adresu.
was that I had offered too much
da zaključim je da sam ponudila previše
those messages a few years later,
te poruke nekoliko godina kasnije,
three commonalities,
tri iste zajedničke stvari,
about how they could be reached.
o tome kako doći do njih.
or their friends had told them,
of the three things they wanted fixed,
koje su hteli da se poprave,
and their date of birth.
ime i datum rođenja.
like, apartment numbers and zip codes,
sa brojevima stana i poštanskim brojevima,
to stop by their house
zastati pored njihove kuće
or send along a package.
that their wishes were granted
da Jovan Božji ispuni njihove želje,
that they weren't delivered
was just as curious,
bila je podjednako zanimljiva,
posvećeni katolik -
the Muslim, the devout Catholic --
the same three things.
i da, nekoliko ljudi je tražilo novac.
and yes, a few people asked for cash.
ultimately a handful of anomalies,
naposletku bila šačica anomalija,
for themselves and their families.
za sebe i svoju porodicu.
health issue to be fixed,
određeni zdravstveni problem,
uopšteno dobro zdravlje.
asked for good health in general.
specific subtype of happiness, too --
istu određenu podvrstu sreće -
that could sustain us,
absolutely everything else.
of romantic love,
in epic romantic novels,
u epskim romantičnim romanima,
till the end of our days.
do poslednjeg dana.
gde sam stala.
race or religion,
rasu i religiju,
koje sam ja zaista želela,
that I really wanted,
of the basic human needs
osnovnih ljudskih potreba
like Abraham Maslow and Manfred Max-Neef.
poput Abrahama Maslova
to the big existential questions
na velika egzistencijalna pitanja,
like I had set out to find.
za kojima sam ja krenula da tragam.
to war or global hunger.
ili gladi u svetu.
for absolutely anything,
što bi mogli da zatraže,
happiness and love.
a third commonality as well.
their wishes all the way to Brazil,
što nosim njihove želje čak u Brazil,
that we have so much in common
da imamo toliko toga zajedničkog
all to hear, especially now,
pogotovo sada,
on the things that make us different,
na stvari zbog kojih se razlikujemo,
that I am not a statistician,
da nisam statističar
that I just accumulated in my in-box
koje sam prikupila u svom inboksu
more qualitative than quantitative.
više kvalitativni nego kvantitativni.
with data would tell you,
bilo ko da radi sa podacima,
or demographically balanced sample.
ili demografski uravnotežen uzorak.
kako razmišljam o ovim imejlovima
thinking about those emails
on the bias and prejudice
na pristrasnosti i predrasude
ili besmislena tragedija
or a senseless tragedy
might be insurmountable.
mogu biti nepremostive.
with the opportunity
no matter who we are,
smatramo svojom.
want these things so badly
toliko snažno žele te stvari
kao što sam ja -
confused as well --
and email her our deepest wishes,
i poslali joj imejl sa najdubljim željama,
the remote possibility
eventualna mogućnost
by someone who is not a god,
a member of our chosen religion,
naše odabrane religije,
look at him on paper,
da to izvede.
candidate to deliver.
na svoju spiritualnu potragu,
fractured by religious,
and racial divides,
filozofskim i rasnim podelama,
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Anjali Kumar - General counsel, author, "idea acupuncturist"Anjali Kumar is a Brooklyn-born, first-generation Indian American author, attorney, advisor, speaker and “idea acupuncturist.”
Why you should listen
Anjali Kumar is the Chief People Officer and General Counsel at Cheddar, author and "idea acupuncturist." She was formerly the Head of Social Innovation and Founding General Counsel at Warby Parker, a transformative lifestyle brand offering designer eyewear at affordable prices while leading the way for socially conscious businesses. Prior to joining Warby Parker, Kumar was Senior Counsel at Google where she was a commercial and product attorney on areas ranging from Google X to YouTube. She is an Adjunct Professor at Columbia Business School and Fordham University and serves as an advisor to prominent technology companies, luxury fashion brands, consumer products and non-profit organizations including Malala Fund, IDEO.org and organize.org. She serves on the Board of Directors of Happy Money, GloScience Professional, Amplifier Foundation, Edible Schoolyard NY, and GrowNYC and the Guggenheim museum’s Global Innovation Group. Anjali’s first book, Stalking God: My Unorthodox Search for Something to Believe In, comes out January 2018 via Seal Press.
Anjali Kumar | Speaker | TED.com