india: poplulation of one billion people; contains the world’s greatest mountain range, wettest city and longest beach uttaranchal: formerly northern uttar pradesh; region of rolling hills and some of hinduism’s most sacred rivers mussoorie: located in the foothills of the himalayas, north of new delhi, and overlooking dehradun [the capital of uttaranchal]; 7,000 ft. in elevation, clean air, plenty of green and from may to june, an indian tourist hot spot oaklands: eMi2’s office, highest point in town, and for this season…home as one of the first houses built in mussorrie in the 1840s, oaklands became the summer home for a british family. summer...
Read Morei received a package from home today. what was in it? good stuff, i tell you. good stuff. things like cold medicine and trail mix, pony tails and dried apples. i poured the contents out on my bed to examine further. scented candles, i had asked for these. when she asked me what i needed, i desperately wanted them; i didn’t like the way india smelled. i hated waking up each morning to the stench of an old house, weird spices, and unavoidable monsoon season mold. i opened the candles and breathed deep. ah. the smell of home. sometime between asking...
Read More‘where is home?‘ they asked me the first day of orientation. ‘that’s a silly question,’ i thought but held my tongue. they know what they’re doing…i’m just an intern. but then, the curse of the ever reflecting mind struck and the silly question wouldn’t leave my mind. ‘what makes a place home? is it the people? is it a feeling? is it a memory? where is my home?‘ the quest for resolution consumes my thoughts. initial instinct tells me home is the two-story house on stoney point. it has been the residence where i have grown up and after i moved out [ah…hmm…and then...
Read Morei’m back ‘home’ in mussoorie. i realized i have spent the same amount of time ‘out’ of this city as i have ‘in’ it. no more 100+ degree days for here at 7000 elevation, long sleeves are more appropriate and i’m beginning to i think i was made for this elevation. 20 of august, 2006, i set my feet on indian soil and i am amazed at how much life has changed in such a short amount of time. a world which before i knew only from books, i am now apart of everyday. this life requires a slow pace. it’s...
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write to you from the tea stall in chardakkan [four stores] down the hill from oaklands. the children run by and i smile in response to their contagious laughs. the motorbikes zoom by and i watch the faces as they walk across my view. i must make the trek back up with my computer in tow, still packing to do. i leave for the south of india soon…40+ hours on the train await and i am not so eager to respond. a hospital project calls my name in machilipatnam, and another part of india to discover, a new adventure awaits. until i...
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i had no problem finding my favorite place here at oaklands [the name of our house. there are no house numbers, just names…like the old days] i discovered it my first morning here and have spent many others there already. the house, the highest point in the city, is rather unusual, with little nooks and crannies everywhere. off of the northeast side of it, is a long, narrow porch. the roof extends beyond the edge and shelters me from a.m. sprinkles. the air here is warm as the morning sun rolls back the covers of the fog to wake up...
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