i woke up this morning singing some song which my subconscious furnished to me
it was “the only living boy in new york”
by the 20th century’s greatest song writer
that means he beat out hugo wolf and a lot of other dead guys
it also means that i am starting my trip HOME today
and that i am happy
“tom [...]
no trip to the third world is really complete without a medical crisis
having run a slight fever off and on for three days
and not following any pattern of illness that i am familiar with
i retreated to chennai for a dose of doctoring and Olympics
medical care, indian style:
on the advice of a friend, i phoned up lister [...]
Surreal experiences:
I fell, by accident, into a choir rehearsal for French Catholic mass in Pondy, ruled by one iron-fisted, ultra-competent Sister J., a Catholic nun from Kerala. The choir was made up of Indian women and girls all in traditional Indian dress (the tenors and basses were away on tour), the rehearsal was conducted entirely in [...]
Today’s topic is Indian newspapers.
I have been diligently reading the daily paper so that I will be able to maintain my end of scintillating conversation at local cocktail parties.
Here are some typical items, quoted for your enjoyment of quaint phrasing:
“A whopping 56,658 teachers will be filled in the State shortly…Of this, 14,000 are School Assistant [...]
today i heard something i have never heard before in india. total and complete silence. except maybe for a cricket.
welcome to Camp Auroville, a Summer Camp for Adults in India.
the only hitch is that none of the other campers have arrived yet, and all the counselors seem to have gone AWOL. the camp director met [...]
Some thoughts on culture
I’ve imagined for a while now that eventually they will microchip our brains and we will no longer have need for speech as we will communicate with eachother feed to feed (as imagined by M.T. Anderson in his book Feed). Our vocal cords will atrophy and shrivel up in a similar fashion [...]
Thoughts from a volunteer in india
Flexibility – i didn’t know that the flexible schedule i said i expected
meant that i was the only one who was going to have to be flexible
Hierarchy – never underestimate the importance of knowing who is in charge
On do they really want me here – hard to say
i twiddled my thumbs [...]
i must say that i am a little worried about the explosions around the country
it is a matter of odds
being in the wrong place at the wrong time
and who can predict???
when i can avoid crowds, i will, but that is hard in india
certainly traveling by train or bus is always a vulnerable thing
there has been [...]
thinking of staying in mammallapuram and commuting to kovalam (kovalam in tamil nadu, 35 kms south of chennai, where my project is), because kavitha keeps sending me (and now also telling me, as i met her today) all these disclaimers about where they have set me up to sleep at BALM (which is the affiliate [...]
Some cultural snippets:
On traffic:
For any of you who have ever spent time in a large Asian city, you know how congested and polluted they are. I hereby nominate Hyderabad for first prize in traffic congestion (my comparison cities are New Delhi, Bombay, Agra, Port-au-prince). Imagine Boston at its very worst rush hour. that is what [...]
