Four year old Hudson in the bottom left corner after eating a piece of the thousand year old egg (the absolute worst of the lot) clearly wins.
Thursday, May 6, 2010
When India isn't foreign enough...
Since January our office director, Matthew, and one of our staff architects, Ivy, who happens to be his wife, have been on sabbatical in Hong Kong, Ivy's home. Just today, Matthew and Ivy sent us a box of mystery bags full of things that sort of resembled food. In the enclosed note he stated that he clearly didn't label the bags so that they would remain mysterious as we all went around and tried them. There were about 8 or 9 bags and we deduced that one of them was a thousand year old and another one was fried scorpions but as to the rest, it's still up in the air. Although I don't have pictures of the actual food (unfortunately), our graphic designer, Susan, put together quite a nice montage of our reactions to send to Matthew and Ivy.
Four year old Hudson in the bottom left corner after eating a piece of the thousand year old egg (the absolute worst of the lot) clearly wins.
Four year old Hudson in the bottom left corner after eating a piece of the thousand year old egg (the absolute worst of the lot) clearly wins.
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
Addendum 1
I totally meant to link this in the post, so I'll just put it here.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_Premier_League
The IPL is basically what the NFL would be if it were the only sport in all of America. Just imagine an entire country's enthusiasm for sports funneled into one sport and then essentially funneled into one 6 week period. It's all anyone talked about while it was going on, and it was awesome that we actually got tickets to see a game in Delhi. And as the wikipedia article will convey, it's a gigantic money making machine. (first sporting event to be broadcast live on youtube?, yea it's that big)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_Premier_League
The IPL is basically what the NFL would be if it were the only sport in all of America. Just imagine an entire country's enthusiasm for sports funneled into one sport and then essentially funneled into one 6 week period. It's all anyone talked about while it was going on, and it was awesome that we actually got tickets to see a game in Delhi. And as the wikipedia article will convey, it's a gigantic money making machine. (first sporting event to be broadcast live on youtube?, yea it's that big)
The Horizon Is In Sight
Wow. Life can be fickle.
As some of you have noticed, I’ve been quite neglectful of this blog this past month. Although this has been by far the busiest month since I’ve been here, that is only part of the story. As some of you know I’ve had work in Nepal, gone to Delhi for an IPL game, and started an epic war with monkeys that insist on coming into our kitchen to steal loafs of bread and bunches of bananas. On top of that, work has been frantic, with computer problems, generator problems, and the looming shadow of my eventual departure pushing me to finish all I can before I leave. This is the first Saturday I’ve generally had to myself in about 5 weeks or so and I took the afternoon to not really summarize all that has happened as much as to talk about how what is to come is affecting me now. As I finished the last sentence, reread for spelling mistakes, I truly leaned back and believed it to be one of my finest blog posts yet – a true, beautiful expression of life as I know it. Then quite tragically, and maybe predictably, wordpad crashed and a little part of me died. As we’ve all inevitably experienced this before we are then faced with two choices – through shear will, try miserably and painfully to recount everything you wrote, vainly trying to regrasp the magic you once had or, the alternative, move on, create again. When phrased like that it’s hard to imagine why anyone would ever choose to reproduce what we had. It can never be as good as it once was. Yet if we allow ourselves to let go and create again, regardless of whether it’s better or not, at least it won’t be a miserable attempt to retake what we once had. With that in mind, let me approach this whole thing anew.
I’m at the point now where my weeks are laid out carefully in front of me. Every single week from now until I return home I know where I’ll be and most likely what I’ll be doing. That makes it really easy to look past the 2 and a half months I have left. There is no uncertainty left. It’s all right there for me to look at, to live out. For that reason, it’s been hard to keep my mind here. Sure when I’m working, trying to finish up as many drawings and projects as I can before I leave, I’m here. But in those down moments, I can feel my mind wandering. I can feel myself thinking about eating nachos and watching an afternoon Cubs game. I can imagine what it would be like to take a shower again, drive a car, or wash my clothes in a washing machine. You know, I imagine a lot of things. So most of the time, I’m not really here anymore. I’m just biding my time, riding out my schedule. That sounds terrible, doesn’t it?
Actually I think there is something else going on here. You’d imagine that in my last couple of months I would have this ravenous zeal for activity, trying to take advantage of as much as possible, making sure every last moment was worth it. I don’t feel any of that. There is no desire to go on some Indian adventure, see parts of India I haven’t seen yet. In fact, I feel quite the opposite. I’m quite relaxed. I feel quite settled, quite at home. Really, that was one of the main purposes of this year long endeavor. I’d grown up in a land that wasn’t my parents, only ever hearing about India or visiting it, but I never had any idea what it was like to exist there. It was still a place that existed only in theory. This year was about making it real. Surely, I could have picked a more “real” place than Mussoorie, a mystical hill station with temperate climates and a sparse (ish) population, but let’s not get picky. This year, India became more than my place of ancestry it became a country and a people that I was able to understand more intimately through service. Not only has this year shed light on who my parents and relatives are but it has shed light on who I am, thereby fundamentally changing me.
For that reason, I can’t help but imagine what it will be like to be home.
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
The State of Ultimate
A little taste of my recent trip to southern India to play for New Delhi's ultimate -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vyjJK3iJx34&feature=related
More later.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vyjJK3iJx34&feature=related
More later.
Thursday, March 11, 2010
My trip to Punjab
As some of you know - I was in Punjab for two weeks recently. The purpose of the trip was a standard EMI project trip that consists of visiting the owner's site, sitting with the owner and hearing his vision, surveying the site, and then working with client, coming up with conceptual civil and architectural plans that encompass the entirety of his vision and purpose. That's the short of it. Since there is never much structural work to do on the physical project trip and there were already 3 civil engineers, I was in charge of surveying the site. This particular project is a children's home and school that is intended for village kids in this particular region of Punjab that is primarily Sikh. The children's home will eventually house around 200 to 250 orphans while the day school will provide an education for countless more. When we arrived the ground floor of the chilren's home had actually been started. It was after a couple bad encounters with others that the client decided to contact EMI and ask for their guidance. There were crazy things going on for sure - like a 20ft deep septic tank that was 56x times bigger than it should have been.
Leading the survey team and constantly being out on the site allowed me to interact a lot with the contractor and the different construction workers. My Hindi is rudimentary at best, but it was enough to communicate with them. Plus they thought it was hilarious to see an Indian that didn't speak Hindi well. I had to explain to them that there are lots of Indians that don't speak Hindi, including many people in Tamil Nadu. Also, without a doubt, within 2 minutes of beginning a conversation with me they would ask - "Have you finished your marriage?" As individual upon individual kept asking, I eventually would just start laughing at the question, knowing that it was coming. Do I look like I should be married already? Am I in that desperate of a situation?
All in all, the couple of weeks went very smoothly. It wasn't as exciting as my trip last term to the orphanage (where the kids were actually there) but this particular trip is much more representative of what EMI does. We come in at the beginning stages, before things get too exciting, and partner with ministry using our knowledge to make sure they're making wise decisions. They're the ones on the frontlines, we're just here in whatever capacity they need. Coming back to the office, I'll be working on the structural assessment for the building that's currently under construction plus a water tower (that the clients wants to also contain prayer rooms) design that should be built as soon as I turn over the drawings.
We also had the opportunity to see a couple of the more exciting things Punjab has to offer - the India-Pakistan border closing ceremony and the Golden Temple. The Golden Temple was the Golden Temple. I thought it was beautiful and enjoyed it but I wouldn't say it affected me in any significant way. However, the border closing ceremony was a completely different affair. A lot of people have been talking it up for a while now (including some of you reading this). If you have no idea what I'm talking about, I suggest you jump on youtube really quick and find a video of it. (I'd give you a link but the internet connection here makes using youtube completely impossible) It's a cultural experience that is culturally unique to India/Pakistan. Thousands upon thousands (I mean tens of thousands) of people come to this one point on the border between India and Pakistan. Grandstands, gigantic arches, ornate gates, heavy security lie on either side of the line. There is a single paved road that passes through these gates and on either side are people dances with flags, a man with a microphone pushing the crowds to chant louder and louder. Border guards come out and undergo a passionate, lively ceremony as they open the gates, allow the last bus to cross the border and then lower their flags for the day, trying to keep their flag up just a fraction of a second longer than the other. Each crowd passionately shouts, yelling, jeers as they try and drown out the opposing side. Over the barbed wire, the armed guards, the large walls, you can just see the tops of the other grandstands, the people that inhabit this other land. While it's very easy to get caught up in the electric atmosphere of it all there is something deeply saddening about all of this. If you were to stand on the wall separating the two countries the differences would seem pretty shallow while the similarities would seem much more significant. You have two sets of guards doing the exact same things. One group dressed in brown, the other in black. You have the same amount of noise, the same kind of cheers - one in Hindi, one in Urdu. You have one ornate gate that slides open, another that opens like a double door. Where else in the world could you get two different people groups from two different nations to buy into something as crazy and as outrageous as something like this? Probably nowhere. That's essentially because these were never intended to be two separate nations in the first place. The line between Pakistan and India was arbitrarily drawn, leaving families stuck on either side. Permanently split up fearing the consequences of trying to cross the border during Partition or even now. Sitting there, listening to people yell 'Jai India' at Pakistan, it forces you to reflect on the non-silly aspects of Indo-Pakistan relations - the millions of lives lost, the families ruined, the blood split over this conflict. It shouldn't be this way. I'm not trying to argue for the merging of Pakistan into India. I'm not talking about political borders here. Whether or not they are one country or two separate countries is really irrelevant in the face of what I'm talking about. This isn't like the US and Mexico, these are the same people that have a similar cultural and ethnic background. It's no accident that India's muslim population is the 3rd largest in the world, just under Pakistan. Really, it's just tragic. It's tragic that it couldn't have been different from the very beginning. If this precedent of rivalry and hatred was never established, if boys and girls weren't brought up learning about this tradition of intolerance. Because after all, these are the same people.
Leading the survey team and constantly being out on the site allowed me to interact a lot with the contractor and the different construction workers. My Hindi is rudimentary at best, but it was enough to communicate with them. Plus they thought it was hilarious to see an Indian that didn't speak Hindi well. I had to explain to them that there are lots of Indians that don't speak Hindi, including many people in Tamil Nadu. Also, without a doubt, within 2 minutes of beginning a conversation with me they would ask - "Have you finished your marriage?" As individual upon individual kept asking, I eventually would just start laughing at the question, knowing that it was coming. Do I look like I should be married already? Am I in that desperate of a situation?
All in all, the couple of weeks went very smoothly. It wasn't as exciting as my trip last term to the orphanage (where the kids were actually there) but this particular trip is much more representative of what EMI does. We come in at the beginning stages, before things get too exciting, and partner with ministry using our knowledge to make sure they're making wise decisions. They're the ones on the frontlines, we're just here in whatever capacity they need. Coming back to the office, I'll be working on the structural assessment for the building that's currently under construction plus a water tower (that the clients wants to also contain prayer rooms) design that should be built as soon as I turn over the drawings.
We also had the opportunity to see a couple of the more exciting things Punjab has to offer - the India-Pakistan border closing ceremony and the Golden Temple. The Golden Temple was the Golden Temple. I thought it was beautiful and enjoyed it but I wouldn't say it affected me in any significant way. However, the border closing ceremony was a completely different affair. A lot of people have been talking it up for a while now (including some of you reading this). If you have no idea what I'm talking about, I suggest you jump on youtube really quick and find a video of it. (I'd give you a link but the internet connection here makes using youtube completely impossible) It's a cultural experience that is culturally unique to India/Pakistan. Thousands upon thousands (I mean tens of thousands) of people come to this one point on the border between India and Pakistan. Grandstands, gigantic arches, ornate gates, heavy security lie on either side of the line. There is a single paved road that passes through these gates and on either side are people dances with flags, a man with a microphone pushing the crowds to chant louder and louder. Border guards come out and undergo a passionate, lively ceremony as they open the gates, allow the last bus to cross the border and then lower their flags for the day, trying to keep their flag up just a fraction of a second longer than the other. Each crowd passionately shouts, yelling, jeers as they try and drown out the opposing side. Over the barbed wire, the armed guards, the large walls, you can just see the tops of the other grandstands, the people that inhabit this other land. While it's very easy to get caught up in the electric atmosphere of it all there is something deeply saddening about all of this. If you were to stand on the wall separating the two countries the differences would seem pretty shallow while the similarities would seem much more significant. You have two sets of guards doing the exact same things. One group dressed in brown, the other in black. You have the same amount of noise, the same kind of cheers - one in Hindi, one in Urdu. You have one ornate gate that slides open, another that opens like a double door. Where else in the world could you get two different people groups from two different nations to buy into something as crazy and as outrageous as something like this? Probably nowhere. That's essentially because these were never intended to be two separate nations in the first place. The line between Pakistan and India was arbitrarily drawn, leaving families stuck on either side. Permanently split up fearing the consequences of trying to cross the border during Partition or even now. Sitting there, listening to people yell 'Jai India' at Pakistan, it forces you to reflect on the non-silly aspects of Indo-Pakistan relations - the millions of lives lost, the families ruined, the blood split over this conflict. It shouldn't be this way. I'm not trying to argue for the merging of Pakistan into India. I'm not talking about political borders here. Whether or not they are one country or two separate countries is really irrelevant in the face of what I'm talking about. This isn't like the US and Mexico, these are the same people that have a similar cultural and ethnic background. It's no accident that India's muslim population is the 3rd largest in the world, just under Pakistan. Really, it's just tragic. It's tragic that it couldn't have been different from the very beginning. If this precedent of rivalry and hatred was never established, if boys and girls weren't brought up learning about this tradition of intolerance. Because after all, these are the same people.
Thursday, March 4, 2010
Resolute Aging
Tonight, our chokedar (basically the guy that takes care of our house and property) told me all about his dream motorcycle trip around India. We stood in front of a map of India as his finger ran from road to road, tracing the border of the entire sub-continent. He talked about how long each stint would take, where he would stay, the people he would meet, the food he would eat. He talked about the equipment he would bring. All the details, even the details that only come to mind after years and years of thinking were already worked out in his head. He told me about his dream to reach Rajastan (India’s desert state) during the peak of summer when temperatures will easily reach 50C (120F). I laughed because that may literally be impossible. Undaunted, he simply responded with, “Impossible is good. If it wasn’t impossible, everyone would do it.”
I think I had slowly started to believe that youth had a monopoly on dreaming. Certainly most people would reinforce that, telling me how my high school ideals or childhood longings would eventually fade as I stepped into the ‘real world’. Most people I think do lose this insatiable desire. But for those that keep dreaming, for those that keeping hoping and still see life full of possibilities – it’s even more encouraging to me. For that reason, it’s always been very encouraging whenever I’ve meet someone older that myself that truly has a dream, no matter how big or small. Although I’m not sure I have my dream motorcycle trip yet, this encourages me not to be afraid to find it.
Friday, February 19, 2010
In a couple of hours, I will be leaving for my two week project trip to Amritsar, Punjab for two weeks. I'll be doing the survey and civil work for a girl's school/home there. Hopefully, I'll have something to say when I get back.
Also as an addition to my last post -
Today Tim Duncan became the longest tenured player on any single team in the NBA. Just another piece of evidence to support the consistent output of greatness.
Also as an addition to my last post -
Today Tim Duncan became the longest tenured player on any single team in the NBA. Just another piece of evidence to support the consistent output of greatness.
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Channeling Tim Duncan
For me the first week of work, similar to the first day of classes, is the day when my expectations for myself are at an unrealistic level. I expect that every second of every minute of every hour of everyday I'm at work, I'm giving 100% of my mind and body. Even writing that sentence is a little exhausting, the reality of it is completely ridiculous. Usually I can last a day, maybe two before I just start lagging behind. I'll check my gmail, become tempted to read about pirates on wikipedia, take extended bathroom breaks. While this is happening, I'm slowly beating myself up because I can't maintain this immaculate work ethic. Having undergone this process the past couple of weeks, I've been thinking about what a great work ethic looks like. Or more generally, what greatness look like?
Which brings me to Tim Duncan. For all of you unfamiliar with before mentioned Timothy Duncan - he's a 6-11 Power Forward that plays for the NBA's San Antonio Spurs (also pictured left). He's played 12 NBA Seasons, won 4 NBA Championships, 3 NBA Finals MVPs, the Rookie of the Year Award, 2 MVP awards, been voted to 12 All-Star teams, 12 All-NBA teams, and 12 All-Defensive Teams. It's an incredibly impressive resume. Although he's still in this 12th season, he's commonly heralded as one of the greatest, if not the single greatest power forward in NBA History. Yet more than these raw numbers, there is a mysticism that envelopes Tim Duncan. In certain circles he's commonly referred to as 'The Big Fundamental' - an homage to the mechanical mystery of Tim Duncan, himself. For years the world has been debating whether Tim Duncan is an adult homo-sapien that has committed himself to the game of basketball so ardently that it has cost him all the emotions, flaws, and unpredictability of humanity or whether Tim Duncan is indeed a Virgin Island engineered basketball playing android of sorts learning what it means to be human with every year that passes. His track record would argue for the second.
Tim Duncan has a reputation for being the most consistently great player in the NBA today. But I wondered how he stacked up against the greatest big men in the history of the NBA. Using an excel spreadsheet and a couple of extremely nerdy basketball statistical websites I compared Tim Duncan's career to that of Karl Malone, Patrick Ewing, David Robinson, Hakeem Olajuwon, Shaquille O'Neal, Yao Ming, and Dwight Howard. I looked at 4 categories - points per game, rebounds per game, blocks per game, and Player Efficiency Rating (PER). PER isn't an easy thing to measure or understand but it's probably the most accurate way we currently have to measure a player's effect (but not perfect). Since most big men tend to trail off at the end of their careers, posting up some seriously horrendous numbers, I cleaned up everyone's stats to make them comparable to Duncan's relatively young and healthy career. Here is what came out - in PPG Duncan's career average of 21.4 landed right in the middle but his standard deviation of 2.03 is far better than anyone else's (6.21 on the high end and 2.86 on the low end). In RPG, Duncan is only behind Dwight Howard (who frankly has barely played) but again his SD is a staggering 0.8 over his career, compared to Howard's 1.51. In BPG, Duncan is right in the middle but again with a staggering SD of 0.34 over his career. BPG leader, Hakeem Olaujuwon has a SD of almost twice as much at 0.78. Finally with PER - Duncan ranks second (25.25) on the list only behind his former teammate and mentor, David Robinson (26.05), but posts a SD of 1.78. The only person under that, after cleaning up some bad seasons is Olaujuwon with a 1.73, whose career PER is almost 2 points lower.
Although these numbers don't prove anything outright, since these isolated categories (even PER) can't fully measure the effectiveness of a single player, they tell us two things about Tim Duncan when comparing him to the other legends of the game. He is both one of the greatest and one of the most consistent players to play his position in the history of the NBA. It's that combination, not the addition of those two things, that makes Tim Duncan 'The Big Fundamental'. Almost everyone on this list has had better single seasons than Tim Duncan, maybe even better clumps of seasons, but no one has done it as consistently as Tim Duncan. That can be seen not only in the raw numbers but in the fact that in (nearly) every year of Duncan's year he has been on both the All-Star Team, All-NBA team, and All-Defensive Team. You couple that with 4 NBA championships and an entire career spent with exactly one team (a rare feat these days. Look at Shaq). Duncan truly is the epitome of greatness.
As Tim Duncan has shown me. You don't need to lead the NBA in points. You don't need to lead the NBA in Rebounds. You don't even need to lead the NBA in assists. You don't need to lead in anything. You just need to perform at a high level every single day. It's not about being that 100% level one hour then 30% the next then 80% the next. It's about being at 85% (or something equivalent) all the time instead. That has changed the way my work days have gone. No longer am I eating lunch as fast as I can or working through breaks only to crash later but I'm taking my time, not being afraid to go outside, or browse the internet every once a while. It has not only made me more productive and eased my stress levels, but has altogether made me much more pleasant. Who would have thought we could learn so much from an Android?
Tim Duncan has a reputation for being the most consistently great player in the NBA today. But I wondered how he stacked up against the greatest big men in the history of the NBA. Using an excel spreadsheet and a couple of extremely nerdy basketball statistical websites I compared Tim Duncan's career to that of Karl Malone, Patrick Ewing, David Robinson, Hakeem Olajuwon, Shaquille O'Neal, Yao Ming, and Dwight Howard. I looked at 4 categories - points per game, rebounds per game, blocks per game, and Player Efficiency Rating (PER). PER isn't an easy thing to measure or understand but it's probably the most accurate way we currently have to measure a player's effect (but not perfect). Since most big men tend to trail off at the end of their careers, posting up some seriously horrendous numbers, I cleaned up everyone's stats to make them comparable to Duncan's relatively young and healthy career. Here is what came out - in PPG Duncan's career average of 21.4 landed right in the middle but his standard deviation of 2.03 is far better than anyone else's (6.21 on the high end and 2.86 on the low end). In RPG, Duncan is only behind Dwight Howard (who frankly has barely played) but again his SD is a staggering 0.8 over his career, compared to Howard's 1.51. In BPG, Duncan is right in the middle but again with a staggering SD of 0.34 over his career. BPG leader, Hakeem Olaujuwon has a SD of almost twice as much at 0.78. Finally with PER - Duncan ranks second (25.25) on the list only behind his former teammate and mentor, David Robinson (26.05), but posts a SD of 1.78. The only person under that, after cleaning up some bad seasons is Olaujuwon with a 1.73, whose career PER is almost 2 points lower.
Although these numbers don't prove anything outright, since these isolated categories (even PER) can't fully measure the effectiveness of a single player, they tell us two things about Tim Duncan when comparing him to the other legends of the game. He is both one of the greatest and one of the most consistent players to play his position in the history of the NBA. It's that combination, not the addition of those two things, that makes Tim Duncan 'The Big Fundamental'. Almost everyone on this list has had better single seasons than Tim Duncan, maybe even better clumps of seasons, but no one has done it as consistently as Tim Duncan. That can be seen not only in the raw numbers but in the fact that in (nearly) every year of Duncan's year he has been on both the All-Star Team, All-NBA team, and All-Defensive Team. You couple that with 4 NBA championships and an entire career spent with exactly one team (a rare feat these days. Look at Shaq). Duncan truly is the epitome of greatness.
As Tim Duncan has shown me. You don't need to lead the NBA in points. You don't need to lead the NBA in Rebounds. You don't even need to lead the NBA in assists. You don't need to lead in anything. You just need to perform at a high level every single day. It's not about being that 100% level one hour then 30% the next then 80% the next. It's about being at 85% (or something equivalent) all the time instead. That has changed the way my work days have gone. No longer am I eating lunch as fast as I can or working through breaks only to crash later but I'm taking my time, not being afraid to go outside, or browse the internet every once a while. It has not only made me more productive and eased my stress levels, but has altogether made me much more pleasant. Who would have thought we could learn so much from an Android?
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
A New Year's Resolution
Some of you may have seen this before...
I've never been one for new year's resolutions. In fact, I've never made one before. Being the cynic that I am, all I can do is scoff whenever someone tells me their "new year's resolution". The problem for me is that it has always seemed like betterment for betterment sakes. If you really wanted to change your life, you would just do it. The coming or going of a year shouldn't have to control that. I realize it's a good time to start, but the people that have the motivation and willpower to change their lives won't wait for a date of convenience. That being said, I've decided to make a change this new year. I've decided to become a vegetarian. Muffle your groans, I have real reasons.
As some of you may or may not realize, I'm somewhat of a hipster. I wouldn't say I'm a true convert, soaking in the pools of blind faith, and fervent worship - but I'm definitely interested enough to stop by a couple Sundays a month and hang out with the crowd. I even have the cloth shoes, black trimmed glasses, and Animal Collective discography to ward off anyone that would question my loyalty to the movement. As of late, vegetarianism has a popular topic in these circles. In an environment such as the United States, it's a very effective way to be counter cultural and draw attention to yourself. That is very annoying. I knew a good number of people that when I'd ask them, "Why are you vegetarian?", they could produce nothing more than vague ramblings. That is not to say everyone was like this. There are several, prominent examples in my life of people that have wholeheartedly made the life-choice for great, logical, Godly reasons. Each of them taught me that's its a personal decision that one needs to make for personal reasons. Ever since then, I've known the mounds of statistics and all the formal arguments against meat consumption (primarily in the United States). But for all the facts, there was never a reason that emotionally resonated with me.
Eating is one of the most social things we do as a society. That means that becoming a vegetarian is not only about you. You're bound to run into countless, awkward situations that start with you gingerly saying, "I'm actually a vegetarian." and then ending with an awkward silence. For me, statistics, no matter how convincing, couldn't motivate me to make the leap. [They are pretty good statistics though.] For the past couple of years it has remained in the back of my mind. Even this past term in India it had come up several times. I'm a obsessive Google Reader user and these were two of the more memorable articles I read - one an interview for a book from the author of Everything is Illuminated and then a crazy response by Natalie Portman to the book. Yet even these weren't enough. But alas, last term I found my personal reason.
One of the churches here in Mussoorie (the town I live in) has a reputation for particularly dance-happy youth. My roommate and I decided to throw a dance party at our house before he went back to the states. We approached their proverbial leader and proposed the idea. He was ecstatic. We made plans for everyone to come over next weekend on a Sunday afternoon. We could all make momos (a labor intensive tibetan dumpling) together, eat, and then dance into the night. We said, "Bring 15 to 20 people. We'll provide the food." Not too surprising, by the time the next Sunday rolled around, there weren't 15 to 20 people in our house, there were upwards of 60 to 70. Word spread all around the church community in Mussoorie. So pretty much anyone under the age of 25 that attended a church in Mussoorie was in our house. We clearly weren't prepared for this, so we had to leave and get more food. We had buff (which is buffalo meat, since you can't get beef 'cause it's India) from a town down the mountain. Buff is actually unofficially illegal in Mussoorie itself. I was going to go get more chicken but then someone said they knew where to get buff in Mussoorie. I said ok, knowing it would probably be good knowledge to have. Anyways, we went down to the market on his scooter and parked it. There was a small stairwell between two store fronts that we descended down. The sun was setting, making the whole scene even more sinister. We were in tight residential area, smashed behind the market. The paths were so narrow and the buildings so narrow, that the only light came from haphazardly strung up lanterns every 100 feet. We were walking around and around in places that seemed almost completely indistinguishable when suddenly he stopped and knocked on a door. It was just a house. A man opened the door. They both exchanged Hindi greetings and we walked in. It was just a man's living room. We asked for 2 kg of buff. The man went behind a curtain and brought out a gigantic piece of meet that was easily as tall as he was. He threw it on the floor and started cutting it. You might think this is the moment I wanted to become a vegetarian. It wasn't. I actually thought it was really cool to see the physical meat and to see him physically cutting it. Anyways, we took our meat, paid the man and returned to the party heroes.
The party was a lot of fun. There were squads of people tackling different parts of the momo making process. Everyone was engaged and having fun. Eventually, after many hours, the momos were officially done cooking. We had made over 400 momos. There were two large buckets full of momos to show for it. The sheer amount of momos was absolutely overwhelming. Yet during the delicious gorging of momos that commenced, I noticed a small pot on our stove pot. I thought, "What is this? We have enough momos to feed a small village." I stepped out of line and walked over to see a pot of Maggi noodles (the equivalent of Ramen noodles here) boiling. I looked around trying to find the owner. Suddenly several individuals that had been invisible before stood out. They were standing in the corner talking amongst each other. They weren't hiding. They weren't sad. They had smiles on their faces. They were just the only people in the room that weren't eating momos. I knew some of them so I walked over and asked them what was going on. One of the simply responded, "We're all vegetarians." I was shocked. Then immediately, I was shocked that I was shocked. You may think it not very odd for an Indian to be a vegetarian. You'd be right most of the time. But it's very odd for an Indian Christian to be a vegarantian. I had never made that connection before I came here, but in 5 short months I associated Christian with meat eating. They each went around and told how they had come from Hindu families (that still remained largely Hindu) and how important diet was to their families. It may not have meant much to anyone else in the room, but to their families it meant a lot. Their families, like me, associated Christianity with eating meat, to the point where many people around India think that people convert to Christianity so that they can eat meat. All of a sudden, my chicken and buff momos weren't so appetizing.
It just dawned on me that diet is such an important issue all around India. People's lives revolve around it. People's lives are judged by the choices they make in this circle. I can understand how this can be important, but it's not. Diet is not something of eternal significance, at least not anymore. That's something that Christianity teaches us. Yet not everyone else feels this way. For me it all suddenly became clear. The best way to fight this notion isn't to do whatever I want, because it means nothing to me, but to respect other people's beliefs since I know it will mean something to them. That's why I decided to become a vegetarian, because I'm venturing to show people that Christianity isn't about meat but about Christ.
The statistics are also helpful.
I've never been one for new year's resolutions. In fact, I've never made one before. Being the cynic that I am, all I can do is scoff whenever someone tells me their "new year's resolution". The problem for me is that it has always seemed like betterment for betterment sakes. If you really wanted to change your life, you would just do it. The coming or going of a year shouldn't have to control that. I realize it's a good time to start, but the people that have the motivation and willpower to change their lives won't wait for a date of convenience. That being said, I've decided to make a change this new year. I've decided to become a vegetarian. Muffle your groans, I have real reasons.
As some of you may or may not realize, I'm somewhat of a hipster. I wouldn't say I'm a true convert, soaking in the pools of blind faith, and fervent worship - but I'm definitely interested enough to stop by a couple Sundays a month and hang out with the crowd. I even have the cloth shoes, black trimmed glasses, and Animal Collective discography to ward off anyone that would question my loyalty to the movement. As of late, vegetarianism has a popular topic in these circles. In an environment such as the United States, it's a very effective way to be counter cultural and draw attention to yourself. That is very annoying. I knew a good number of people that when I'd ask them, "Why are you vegetarian?", they could produce nothing more than vague ramblings. That is not to say everyone was like this. There are several, prominent examples in my life of people that have wholeheartedly made the life-choice for great, logical, Godly reasons. Each of them taught me that's its a personal decision that one needs to make for personal reasons. Ever since then, I've known the mounds of statistics and all the formal arguments against meat consumption (primarily in the United States). But for all the facts, there was never a reason that emotionally resonated with me.
Eating is one of the most social things we do as a society. That means that becoming a vegetarian is not only about you. You're bound to run into countless, awkward situations that start with you gingerly saying, "I'm actually a vegetarian." and then ending with an awkward silence. For me, statistics, no matter how convincing, couldn't motivate me to make the leap. [They are pretty good statistics though.] For the past couple of years it has remained in the back of my mind. Even this past term in India it had come up several times. I'm a obsessive Google Reader user and these were two of the more memorable articles I read - one an interview for a book from the author of Everything is Illuminated and then a crazy response by Natalie Portman to the book. Yet even these weren't enough. But alas, last term I found my personal reason.
One of the churches here in Mussoorie (the town I live in) has a reputation for particularly dance-happy youth. My roommate and I decided to throw a dance party at our house before he went back to the states. We approached their proverbial leader and proposed the idea. He was ecstatic. We made plans for everyone to come over next weekend on a Sunday afternoon. We could all make momos (a labor intensive tibetan dumpling) together, eat, and then dance into the night. We said, "Bring 15 to 20 people. We'll provide the food." Not too surprising, by the time the next Sunday rolled around, there weren't 15 to 20 people in our house, there were upwards of 60 to 70. Word spread all around the church community in Mussoorie. So pretty much anyone under the age of 25 that attended a church in Mussoorie was in our house. We clearly weren't prepared for this, so we had to leave and get more food. We had buff (which is buffalo meat, since you can't get beef 'cause it's India) from a town down the mountain. Buff is actually unofficially illegal in Mussoorie itself. I was going to go get more chicken but then someone said they knew where to get buff in Mussoorie. I said ok, knowing it would probably be good knowledge to have. Anyways, we went down to the market on his scooter and parked it. There was a small stairwell between two store fronts that we descended down. The sun was setting, making the whole scene even more sinister. We were in tight residential area, smashed behind the market. The paths were so narrow and the buildings so narrow, that the only light came from haphazardly strung up lanterns every 100 feet. We were walking around and around in places that seemed almost completely indistinguishable when suddenly he stopped and knocked on a door. It was just a house. A man opened the door. They both exchanged Hindi greetings and we walked in. It was just a man's living room. We asked for 2 kg of buff. The man went behind a curtain and brought out a gigantic piece of meet that was easily as tall as he was. He threw it on the floor and started cutting it. You might think this is the moment I wanted to become a vegetarian. It wasn't. I actually thought it was really cool to see the physical meat and to see him physically cutting it. Anyways, we took our meat, paid the man and returned to the party heroes.
The party was a lot of fun. There were squads of people tackling different parts of the momo making process. Everyone was engaged and having fun. Eventually, after many hours, the momos were officially done cooking. We had made over 400 momos. There were two large buckets full of momos to show for it. The sheer amount of momos was absolutely overwhelming. Yet during the delicious gorging of momos that commenced, I noticed a small pot on our stove pot. I thought, "What is this? We have enough momos to feed a small village." I stepped out of line and walked over to see a pot of Maggi noodles (the equivalent of Ramen noodles here) boiling. I looked around trying to find the owner. Suddenly several individuals that had been invisible before stood out. They were standing in the corner talking amongst each other. They weren't hiding. They weren't sad. They had smiles on their faces. They were just the only people in the room that weren't eating momos. I knew some of them so I walked over and asked them what was going on. One of the simply responded, "We're all vegetarians." I was shocked. Then immediately, I was shocked that I was shocked. You may think it not very odd for an Indian to be a vegetarian. You'd be right most of the time. But it's very odd for an Indian Christian to be a vegarantian. I had never made that connection before I came here, but in 5 short months I associated Christian with meat eating. They each went around and told how they had come from Hindu families (that still remained largely Hindu) and how important diet was to their families. It may not have meant much to anyone else in the room, but to their families it meant a lot. Their families, like me, associated Christianity with eating meat, to the point where many people around India think that people convert to Christianity so that they can eat meat. All of a sudden, my chicken and buff momos weren't so appetizing.
It just dawned on me that diet is such an important issue all around India. People's lives revolve around it. People's lives are judged by the choices they make in this circle. I can understand how this can be important, but it's not. Diet is not something of eternal significance, at least not anymore. That's something that Christianity teaches us. Yet not everyone else feels this way. For me it all suddenly became clear. The best way to fight this notion isn't to do whatever I want, because it means nothing to me, but to respect other people's beliefs since I know it will mean something to them. That's why I decided to become a vegetarian, because I'm venturing to show people that Christianity isn't about meat but about Christ.
The statistics are also helpful.
Sunday, January 31, 2010
The Lotus Temple
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
BACK
I'm Back.
For all of you that have been disheartened (and disillusioned) by the complete lack of a single post in the past month and a half - I apologize. The past for me has been great - in hindsight. As many of you know, I spent my 3 week vacation in the United States of America partying with my family and many of you. I had all sorts of American experiences (i.e. long hot showers, civil driving practices, NBA basketball, etc.) that I had learned to appreciate more deeply through my time here in India. Now, I'm back in India, ready to begin another six (or seven) months with EMI. Well I didn't just get back. I've been here for 3 weeks, but I'm finally back in Mussoorie, at my desk, with all my assignments for the upcoming term handed out. I didn't offer any closure on last term and I really wanted to. I had started writing a pretty lengthy blog post, planning on posting it before I headed out of here but ultimately just ran out of time. I'll get that together in the next couple of weeks before I head off for my first trip in Punjab. (Jasmine - I'm going to see the border ceremony between India and Pakistan while I'm there. Everyone else - I should have a good blog post about that once I get back.)
So yea, let me just fill you guys in on what's been going on since I've been here.
I actually tried out for New Delhi's ultimate team and invariably made it - so I'll be practicing with them a couple of times and playing a tournament for them in March in Tamil Nadu. I'm imagine that's going to be an extremely surreal experience playing an ultimate tournament in India. I can't convey to you how excited I am though. I've been in complete ultimate withdrawal since I started my time in India.
I was in Delhi for a week, in which time I spent time with the ultimate team and also just hung out. I went to the lotus temple with is actually a Bahi temple, but also happens to be one of the most ridiculous structures I've ever seen. If you can imagine it, the entire structure was hand poured with gargantuan wood/steel molds and thousands of workers literally pouring concrete in bucket increments. Absolutely ridiculous.
Alright that's all I've got for now. But I'll return with (lengthy) thoughts on last term and maybe a preview of my activities for these upcoming months.
Thanks for caring.
For all of you that have been disheartened (and disillusioned) by the complete lack of a single post in the past month and a half - I apologize. The past for me has been great - in hindsight. As many of you know, I spent my 3 week vacation in the United States of America partying with my family and many of you. I had all sorts of American experiences (i.e. long hot showers, civil driving practices, NBA basketball, etc.) that I had learned to appreciate more deeply through my time here in India. Now, I'm back in India, ready to begin another six (or seven) months with EMI. Well I didn't just get back. I've been here for 3 weeks, but I'm finally back in Mussoorie, at my desk, with all my assignments for the upcoming term handed out. I didn't offer any closure on last term and I really wanted to. I had started writing a pretty lengthy blog post, planning on posting it before I headed out of here but ultimately just ran out of time. I'll get that together in the next couple of weeks before I head off for my first trip in Punjab. (Jasmine - I'm going to see the border ceremony between India and Pakistan while I'm there. Everyone else - I should have a good blog post about that once I get back.)
So yea, let me just fill you guys in on what's been going on since I've been here.
I actually tried out for New Delhi's ultimate team and invariably made it - so I'll be practicing with them a couple of times and playing a tournament for them in March in Tamil Nadu. I'm imagine that's going to be an extremely surreal experience playing an ultimate tournament in India. I can't convey to you how excited I am though. I've been in complete ultimate withdrawal since I started my time in India.
I was in Delhi for a week, in which time I spent time with the ultimate team and also just hung out. I went to the lotus temple with is actually a Bahi temple, but also happens to be one of the most ridiculous structures I've ever seen. If you can imagine it, the entire structure was hand poured with gargantuan wood/steel molds and thousands of workers literally pouring concrete in bucket increments. Absolutely ridiculous.
Alright that's all I've got for now. But I'll return with (lengthy) thoughts on last term and maybe a preview of my activities for these upcoming months.
Thanks for caring.
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