Archive for the ‘Living’ Category
Happy Diwali and Sal Mubarak
Obama scored another first. No, not the first American president to win the Nobel in the first year of presidency. That too – but perhaps more sanguinely, the first American president to light a ceremonial diya at White House on occasion of Diwali. He also recorded a video message to convey Diwali greetings to a cross-section of minority groups in the US of Indian heritage. As I watched his message, I thought of all the possible machinations in the background that would have culminated in Obama recording the message.
Stuff of Memories: Parents’ Trip to the US
My parents went back to India last month after a two and a half month stay with us in the US. This was their first visit to the West and I am sure that there must have been several big-ticket highlights for them. But for me, the small little things that they did or experienced stand out. I am listing a randomly recalled 11 occasions that have all the potential of being the stuff of memories.
Are you sure you want to do this?
The other day I wrote a stinking response to an unhelpful email from a colleague and then clicked ‘Send’. As I pressed ‘Send’, I realized that I had forgotten to remove the distribution list of the original email. It was too late and the stinker went to all 10 people whereas I had wanted only one person to get a piece of my mind. At that time, I wished the program had asked me, ‘Are you sure you want to send this message?’ There are several applications out there today that offer a bit of Socratic counseling at the end of an activity by asking of the user: Are you sure you want to do this?
My Frustrating Experience with Mentorship
I am en route to the year-end function being hosted by iMentor in Brooklyn. I am going there somewhat reluctantly: more out of a sense of obligation than a sense of excitement, especially when attending the event meant delaying the weekend visit to Middletown.
Thus Wrote the Murderer
‘Kill Johanna. She must die’, thus wrote the murderer. While the evidence suggested the deceased student had been targeted in the campus of Wesleyan University at Middletown this Wednesday, it caused widespread panic since the murderer also wrote – ‘I think it’s ok to kill Jews and go on a killing spree at this school.’
‘One of your students has been killed. His body is in the Honeymoon Garden’, thus wrote the murderer. While the evidence suggested that the deceased student had been targeted in the campus of Sainik School Ghorakhal at Nainital in 1994, it caused widespread panic since the murderer also wrote, ‘Murders like this will be repeated.’
Have I Been Spoilt by the US?
Last week, I completed 2 years of stay in the US. Before moving to the US, I had always lived an itinerant life – never staying in one place more than a couple of years (although always somewhere in India). Sometime in 2008, Nidhi and I decided that we will not apply for a Greencard and that we will eventually move to India. We resolved that we will never become too comfortable to move elsewhere. I lived with this faith until our return from a recent trip to Morocco. That you start thinking of a place as home is proven when you look forward to being back there. Undoubtedly, the trip to Morocco was spectacular in general but we faced a few incidents that shuddered us and perhaps increased the sense of belonging to the US. My apologies as I might be digging the dirty belly of Morocco in this post but there is no point in pretending some things never happened.
Octuplets: Intelligent Creation?
Last week, everyone was agog about the amazing birth of octuplets in a suburb of California. This is the second known case in human history when so many babies were born alive. Apparently, the 46-strong team of medics that delivered them weren’t even expecting the eighth baby. When I heard about it Monday morning, I found it fascinating. Presuming this was natural, my wishes were with the parents. Then, news broke that the mother had 6 other babies earlier, taking the total to 14 now. These were all conceived artificially, through implanted embryos. Today, I learn that the woman in question was ‘obsessed’ with babies. Although I defend her right to conceive and deliver as many babies as she wishes, I am beginning to question the intelligence in all this creation. Read the rest of this entry »
All Vipassana and No Chit-Chat
When Charles Dickens traveled to the US in 1842, he wanted to take out time to see two major tourist attractions: Niagara Falls in upstate NY & Eastern State Penitentiary (ESP) at Philadelphia. When Nidhi & I visited Philly last weekend, we also wanted to take out time to see ESP, amongst other places. As we entered the castle-like facade of the former prison, we were handed entry passes for $12 each; they were designed to look exactly as the passes given to curious visitors like Dickens in the nineteenth century except that admittance was free of cost back then.
‘Fostering’ Teen Virginity
Abstinence-only sex education is one of those curious and contentious ideas that raises its hood every now and then in the American society. The latest was a study published in the journal Pediatrics (authored by Janet Rosenbaum of Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health) which reported that virginity pledges taken by teenagers don’t work. This was proven by Britney Spears several years back but an academic paper based on real statistics is surprisingly more convincing. Conservatives and worrisome parents might be wishing its conclusion away. When Darwin’s Theory of Evolution first became known amongst the gentry of London, an aristocratic lady apparently remarked, “Let us hope that what Mr. Darwin says is not true; but, if it is true, let us hope that it will not become generally known.” Unluckily for the gentry of London and conservatives of the US, Theory of Evolution and the Pediatrics study respectively have received rampant press.
Just What The Dentist Ordered!
I am not sure what came upon me when I visited a dentist recently for a check-up. It was meant to be preventive but it has ended up causing me exactly what it was meant to prevent: loads of pain, incessantly. I remember as a boy, we read a poem by Ogden Nash called ‘This is going to hurt just a little bit’ where the poet hilariously describes the experience of visiting a dentist. I remember this poem because it was the first time I learnt the expression ‘vicious cycle’. But today, while reading it again, I identified with each and every line.
