Strange Reactions

This week, I received a package from home. My mother just finished reading Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides and felt that I would like it, as we have very similar tastes in literature. After a few mishaps of delivery, the book arrived on Saturday. I opened the book and began to flip through it, like we all do when standing in a bookstore. I flipped to the last page and saw a few words my mother had looked up while reading the book. After a year of not seeing my mother, the mere sight of her handwriting, for the first time in a year, brought tears to my eyes.

It's strange, the things that remind me of home. We had a party over the weekend to celebrate our niece's marriage in the US. (Go Chelsea & Shawn!!!!!) While preparing, I found myself thinking that I was preparing for a Thanksgiving feast at our house in New Jersey. I had to remind myself, actively remind myself, that I was not in the US, but instead in India. It was such a bizarre sensation. It was more than a mental game I played on myself. I physically felt that I was back home. I don't know how else to explain it except to say that it was one of the most powerful moments in my life. And all I was doing was sautéing garlic!!

With my one year anniversary of being in India looming, it's difficult to ignore all that I've missed back home. It's not just the large events that have taken place, but the minutia of life. The dinners that my brother has with my parents every Sunday. The lazy afternoons that Brad's family spends around the pool. Shakespeare in the Park with friends in NYC. All the little things.

I wonder, when we're back home, what things here I'll miss. That, for me, is one of the most exciting things about coming back home. Something that I am anticipating. What memories will be evoked back home? Will I be more forgiving of the things that drive me insane here once I have the perspective of distance? What are the things that will strike me when I'm driving on a back road somewhere?

More than anything, though, I would just love to see more of my mom's handwriting.

Rising Out of the Dark

Well, I guess it's my turn to beg our audiences' forgiveness. I know that so many of you have been checking this on a regular basis to discover what is new in the world of Bangalore, and we have been remarkably lax in the updating process. It is extraordinary how busy we become in life, quickly neglecting that which we thought we held dear.

As Brad mentioned in his post, life is terribly busy right now, for both of us. In April, I applied for and was accepted to do a Masters of Medical Physics at GA Tech. It is a distance learning program, which will enable me to study here for the next year, before we move home. It also opens all options to us in regards to moving home, as we won't be limited to finding a place that suits both our academic interests. It takes the pressure off. My classes begin on August 20th and while I thought I was only going to take two classes a semester, it looks like I'll be taking 5 instead. Quite a load! We have on deck: Radiation Physics, Nuclear Medicine Physics, Radiation Biology & Oncology, and Special Topics in Imaging. Then, as a co-requisite, I must enroll in an anatomy & physiology class. I've already begun one, also in a distance learning format, through The College of St. Scholastica.

In addition to that, I've spent the past two months working at a local NGO, called Belaku Trust. While there are many different aspects of the work they do, I am currently involved with the income generation units. There are two units, one that does paper making, the other block printing. (If anyone is looking for custom made paper products or custom designed block printed items, you now know where to go!!) It's really inspiring work that keeps me out of the house for 12 hours a day, running around the city or to the villages of Kannakapura, 50KM south of Bangalore. The women are wonderful and have fantastic spunk. I don't know how it will work out to continue to work with Belaku while I study, but I'm hoping to do it all!

In addition to that, we're jumping with anticipation. In the next month and a half, we have two separate visits taking place. First, in the beginning of September, our good friends Josh & Megan will be arriving for a few days. If you haven't checked out their blog, you should! For the past 4 months, they have been backpacking through SE Asia and they are wrapping up their trip with a visit to us! (Okay, actually their last spot is the Maldives for scuba diving, but we're second to last! Wait, that makes us sound like chumps...) We are VERY excited to see them and have them exist in our space for a little while. A few weeks after they leave, my roommate from NYC is coming to visit! Kathrin has been diligently sending me lists of all the places she'd like to see in her 10 days here. Now, Kathrin is a bit of a picture whore (I'm sorry for the harsh language, but it's true!) so I know there will be tons of pics to upload for all to see.

As far as the year beyond that, we don't know what will happen yet! But if I am a good person, I will keep you updated.

Finally, an update!

First, I want to apologize for not updating this blog. The good side of it is that both Elizabeth and I are very busy these days. The downside of it is… Elizabeth and I are very busy these days.

This is turning out to be one of my busiest semesters ever. I would say it is the busiest, but I think my last semester at Drew will hold that title for a while. In addition to a heavier class load than last year, I am also preparing to take the GRE (Graduate Record Exam). It sucks. It is the biggest waste of time, in both my opinion and Elizabeth's. There are so many other things I could be reading, writing and working on, but instead I am trying to memorize the definitions of countless obscure vocabulary and trying to learn how to do geometry quickly and correctly. Unfortunately, my scores on the GRE are the biggest obstacle facing me with regard to getting into PhD programs. Since I know some of you have taken the GRE, I would greatly appreciate any tips you might have – especially where to find practice tests that don't cost a fortune. (Kaplan charges $1,499 for access to their online tests – I'm neither desperate enough nor wealthy enough to pay that!)

Some exciting news… During my summer vacation, I wrote a book. It is not exactly a best-seller or an Oprah book club selection, but at least it is somewhat of an accomplishment. The title is The Quest for Postmodern Ethics: A Phenomenological Comparison of Martin Heidegger and Sri Aurobindo Ghose. I don't have a publisher yet, although Dharmaram publications (the press at my university) has indicated that they would like to publish it. I hope to shop it around to some US publishers, also. Any suggestions?

I've come to realize that the book needs a lot of work. A number of family and friends have tried to read it, but so far none of them has made it through. The first few chapters, I'm afraid, will have to be re-written. I don't know when I will find the time to do that, but I think that if I can finish it before I send out PhD applications, it may improve my chances there. I've also had two articles published – one on Raimon Panikkar and ecological implications of the Trinity. That one was published last month in the Journal of Dharma. A second one, also in the Journal of Dharma, is being reviewed by the editor and is likely to be published next month. The topic of that one is terrorism and global responsibility.

Elizabeth is doing lots of exciting things, though I will let her update you on that.

We'll both try to be better about updating the blog. If you read it, please let us know that you were here – that will encourage us to be more diligent about updating.

Namaste,

Brad

Healing Memories

This evening, Elizabeth and I will be attending a lecture by Rev. Dr. Hans Ucko, director of the Interfaith Dialogue Division of the World Council of Churches. I was reading an interview recently given by Rev. Ucko and he was asked about the fear and mistrust among religious persons, both between different religions and between Christian denominations (and, we might add, between the scientific and religious communities). He said that we are in need of 'healing memories'.

It strikes me that this phrase has a double meaning – 'healing' can be an adjective or a verb. We need both. We need memories which are healing and we also need to heal our memories.

This year marks the 200^th anniversary to the illegalization of slavery in England. At that time, slavery was a very profitable activity, so it was a bold decision to make it illegal. This, I think, is a very healing memory. As a Southerner, I have long been aware of the fact that the US has still not healed from the Civil War. Evidence of this might be found in the last Presidential election. When I meet new people here in India, I am often asked if I am from a 'blue state' or a 'red state'. Am I a 'Repulican' or a 'Democrat'? Am I a 'liberal' or a 'conservative'. These are memories in need of healing. We have made dichotomies out of things which are non-dichotomous. States are not red or blue, they are red, white, and blue. We live in a republic, so we are all republican. But we live in a republic that strives for democracy, so we are all democratic, too. 'Conservative' represents an ideal that the government should not limit the 'liberties' of persons any more than necessary. 'Liberal' means precisely the same thing – it means that 'liberty' and 'freedom' are important values and ideals. Why have we allowed the media to dichotomize these principles? Why do we continue to allow it? We need to heal these memories.

De Las Casas represents both a healing memory and a memory in need of healing. As a person of Native American descent, De las Casas represents the person who stopped the ravaging and dehumanizaition of Native American persons. This is a healing memory. Unfortunately, De las Casas also represents the beginning of the capture, enslavement, and illegal
emigration (as opposed to illegal immigration) of Africans. This is a memory in need of healing.

I invite anyone who might read this to respond with a memory of your own – either a healing memory or a memory in need of healing, or both. This can be something personal or something global or something in between. If we do not identify the memories that are in need of healing, then how can we heal them? When we do identify them, one way we can heal them is by remembering memories which are healing. We need both.

Kali

In her last post, Elizabeth mentioned our new addition to the family - a little kitten named Kali. Just after she posted that blog, however, Kali got very sick. Her first day here, just 4 weeks old, she ate all day and was happy & healthy. After that, though, she stopped eating and drinking. After 5 days, we knew that she couldn't survive much longer, so we took her back to her mother in hopes that she would eat from her. It took a few more days, but eventually she did start to eat and has made a full recovery, though she may always be rather small as a result. Now she keeps a full belly and is happier than ever and back home with us. The nursury where we got her had three other kittens returned with the same problem, and they quickly deduced what had happened. All of the kittens had eaten full meals the first day - and all of them had eaten Whiskas kitten food. They learned that when the news broke in the US that the cat food had been tainted, the cat food companies shipped all the tainted food to India. That's right, even though they KNEW the food was tainted and poisonous, they decided that it was better to ship the food to India and salvage some profits rather than throw the food out. Kali is now eating a locally made cat food and is doing great, but I am just astounded that a company could do something like that! Besides all else, it seems like a pretty stupid long-term business plan for a cat food company to knowingly poison all its customers!