let’s see. how do i begin to explain to you what my Christmas in india looked like? warm? yes. some 60 degrees so. entertaining? ha! you tell me if you could keep a straight face while trying to pull a present off of a 18′ ceiling with a bamboo shoot. my favorite part? i don’t like to answer favorite questions. busy? understatement. joyful? unlike anything i’ve ever known. fulfilling? you better believe it. beautiful? so much it brought tears to my eyes. i began the day with my ritual morning walk. usually it’s difficult to pull myself out from under the covers…more on that later. but not this morning. it was Christmas morning. though i...
Read Morefor most of us in the west, we celebrate christmas with a lower case ‘c’ . the music is all around us and we have no choice but replay the familiar carols in our heads. the stores are full of gifts and unbelievable sales and giving quickly becomes not a matter of if, butwhat. the colorful wrapping paper and carefully tied bows seem to increase our meaning and thoughtfulness. our trees are filled with tinsel and lights decorate our house. there are few spaces left untouched by the twinkle of lights. we don’t have to choose to celebrate christmas, it chooses...
Read Morethis has been one of those ’speak little do much’ kind of weeks. though work was officiallyover for the semester the 15th, i’ve been pleasantly busy with odds and ends filling my days. chai time with friends and cookie dates with a three year old. my eyebrows, though painfully, are now neatly threaded and i suffered a tragic loss involving half a dozen bananas and an arrogant monkey. [and you thought it was just on tv!] i’ve enjoyed early morning walks and late morning showers, extended time to myself and more moments processing a generous orthodoxy. and despite a not so minor burn on my foot...
Read More[finally…the last entry from my whirlwind three weeks of travel] india itself is a paradox of the very wealthy and the very poor…nothing here seems middle class. to every city, there are two sides and most of my time has been spent within the slums or at least on the falling apart side. i had expected to see the same in kolkata as eric, joel and i traveled by our shoelaces, so to speak. however, we were all pleasantly surprised. as traveling has become one of my favorite hobbies, i have learned the best way to see a place is through...
Read Morechristmas is going to look a bit different this year. 14 days away and i have yet to hear a single rendition of santa claus is coming to town. there are no lights hanging from the eaves of the roof nor sales tempting me in the store windows. it’s kind of nice. i’m not much of a decorator and become only mildly overwhelmed at gift buying. but the christmas tree? that i cannot do without. for as long as i can remember, it has been an integral part of my celebration. [pause] i interrupt this regularly scheduled post to ask you to please...
Read MoreIndian Passage | Mussoorie, India On my way into the village's market, I always pass this door. It belonged to the same man who carved wood on his porch and next to the children who always played under the colorful lines of laundry. I never learned where it went or what the chalked markings were left on its surface. But I imagine it leads to something mysteriously India, or a moment unique only to this place, or to people who would welcome me as family if only I would step through its door.
some events become famous for good reasons you never want to forget. others become infamous for bad reasons that you wish you could forget but you know you never will. my train ride from varanasi to kolkata was one of those infamous kind of events. it began, as a normal, sleeper class train ride… ahhh.. wait. let me first explain what this should entail so you understand why this one deviated so far from the norm. just like the caste’s of indian culture, the train is divided into multiple classes. it begins with first a/c which i must state for the record,...
Read Morevaranasi, home of shiva, the most sacred shores of the ganges, and ideal place for a Hindu to expire. that’s right, i said expire. that’s what they call it here. only one day spent there? yes and that was more than enough for me. this is not the india i have begun to love. people everywhere…buy this, come here, follow me, hey baby. argh. these people are not here to help, they are here to cheat, to make a deal, to get what they want for me. you may have fooled me a couple months ago, but not now. go ahead,...
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