India Ink

2011: A Look Back

Washington DC

Appalachia Museum, TN

Shenandoah Valley, VA

Liberty Bell, PA

My 2011 was probably more memorable for the things that didn't happen: no travel abroad, no volcanoes, tsunamis, or military coups (though there was that one itty bitty earthquake); no ringing in the New Year on Times Square. Mostly, I worked, and I drove.  And a few other things:

• Spent 164 days on the road
• Traveled through 12 states (VA, DC, TN, NC, SC, AL, GA, AZ, PA, MA, MD, WV), from the seashore to the desert
• Made 6 Rochester NY to Fairfax VA road trips
• Camped with wild ponies
• Spotted a bear
• New places explored: Virginia Beach, Shenandoah Valley, Appalachia, Pony Island
• Focused on home: paid off my mortgage (yeay!), spent a small fortune on a new furnace and new paint job
• Gained back the 25 pounds I lost in 2010 (boo hoo!)
• Celebrated a Boston birthday
• Dined with the mayor of a small town in Alabama
• Added two more botanical gardens and another butterfly garden to my portfolio
• Added a computer geek to my snowman collection
• Learned some new words: gjetost, spit cup, breakfast bacon, Otakon, bedpan banjo/ukuweewee, perigee super moon

 

Happy 2012 everyone!

Water's Edge, NC

Shackleford Banks, NC

Baltimore, MD

Phoenix, AZ

Make Money, Get Prizes

As a teenager in the 1960's and 70's always on the lookout for extra pocket money, an ad like this one on the back cover of a comic book caught my eye.

Inspired by the gallery at the top of enthusiastic testimonials from budding baby entrepreneurs, I sent off my order for Christmas Packs and began my successful (though very short-lived) entrepreneurial career. When Christmas season ended, I traded in Christmas Packs for Seed Packs. And yes, I did make money and get prizes (a microscope! a guitar and amp combo! Whee!)

On top of that, I also won a $500 savings bonds (see item #67 on my 100 Things list) for writing how much fun it all had been. In exchange for that prize, I was instructed to send in a photo of myself, so that I could be added to the ranks of enthusiastic entrepreneurs on the backs of comic books.

For years afterwards, I checked the back of every comic book I could get my hands on, but never did spot my picture in the gallery. To this day, when I see old comic books at garage sales, I immediately flip to the back cover in anticipation. I've always wondered which comic book my picture ended up on.

It took Google to solve this 40-year mystery. In the process of googling myself to update my Digital Footprint page, I finally found where my picture had been all these years: on the back cover of the October 1971 issue of Boys' Life magazine. Not exactly a mag I was in the habit of reading, which explains why I never saw it before.

That's my mug in the ad above, with a closeup below. Sandwiched in between Tim McDaniel from Kansas and Ken Hofert from Illinois. Finally found...

Go on, Google yourself. You never know what may turn up.

P.S. In a foreshadowing of things to come, I promptly cashed in my $500 savings bond prematurely to finance my first solo trip abroad.

Austin, the Sequel

I haven't forgotten about y'all.

It's just that my personal laptop, with all my blogging words and pictures on it, is still at laptop hospital, and I won't be able to get it back until my next trip back to NY. The Colors of New York will return in a few weeks.

Anyway. Here I am, back at my old stompin' ground, Austin. On my first night here, dining at the Iron Cactus on 6th Street, I realize what a high being in a new place is for me. Even when it's an old new place. Everything seems vaguely familiar, yet shiny and new. 

The previous Austin chapter of my life began over two decades ago. When I moved here in the 1980's, it was with some reluctance and trepidation; it wasn't my first choice of home. But I was In Love With A Boy. Who was moving here to get his PhD. You know how that goes, internet, don't you, when you're young(ish) and in love?  Not moving with him didn't seem like an option. Then, once I was here, I figured I might as well pick up a degree of my own. When I said good-bye to Texas seven years later, I left with a PhD, but without a relationship.

Aside from The Boy, there are three things that I most associate with Austin. The oppressive summer heat. The breathtaking beauty of its spring bluebonnets. And the thousands of intense volunteer hours I devoted to the Austin shelter for battered women.

This time around, it's too late for the summer heat, too early for wildflowers, and little time to engage in volunteering. Both the degree and the boy are distant memories; neither has much relevance to my life today. So perhaps Austin seems shiny and new because I am a very different person than I was 20 years ago. Or perhaps it's that Austin too, has grown and changed over these decades.

In any case, I'm happy to be back, exploring the new as well as the familiar. I can't wait to walk the UT campus again. To reconnect with some old friends. To visit the bats again. To chow down good Tex-Mex. And to see what the new Austin has to offer the new me.

The Grief of a Stranger

Walking home from work tonight, I see a young man ahead of me answer his cell phone. Suddenly, his knees buckle and he collapses to the pavement, sobbing while clutching the phone to his ear. A young woman tries to help him up but he is oblivious to her touch. I walk over, help her get him up, ask if there's anything I can do to help. "He just found out that a family member was on the Air France flight that disappeared over the Atlantic today" she tells me.

We exchange a few more words, the woman and I, and then I continue on my way, knowing there's nothing more I can do, but unable to forget this stranger for whom, in the swirl of the city, life suddenly stood still.

Regrets

I don't believe people who say they have no regrets. How can you live a lifetime and never have any regrets? Here are some of mine:

1. That I didn’t find out the story behind The Bride.
2. That when I lived in New Zealand, I didn't take advantage of it to visit the Australian island of Tasmania.
3. That I didn’t kick this perv’s treasure.
4. That I didn’t get serious about yoga earlier in life.
5. That I never finished the capstone project for my second Master’s degree. It's not like I need yet another degree, but...it still feels like unfinished business.
6. That I was THIS close to Mt. Everest Base Camp, and had to turn back.
7. That I didn’t learn more Tamil while in India.
8. That I was in New York City on New Year’s Eve once, and didn't join the revelers on Times Square.
9. That I never learned to play a musical instrument (I know, it’s never too late, but…)
10. That I didn’t take more pictures (this is just a general regret that I always seem to have, no matter how many pictures I take!)

What are YOUR regrets?

2008 In Review

Rochester lilacs

Rhinoceros, Assam, India

Jenner Beach, California

Ice hotel, Quebec

This time last year I was in the midst of a whistlestop train tour through northern India. 2007 ended with a bang for me, with a mob attack on a train I was riding. New Year's Day 2008 found me sipping Darjeeling tea in Darjeeling, but that moment of calm was soon followed by a run-in with drunken hooligans in Assam and a public apology for their behavior under the supervision of a battalion of armed cops. The rest of the year couldn't possibly live up to that excitement, but it was no less interesting. Here are some highlights:

• Said goodbye to India
• Said hello again to New York
• Quit one job, and began another
• Spent a night on a bed made of ice
• Watched a total eclipse of the moon from a hot tub in Canada
• FINALLY saw Grand Canyon for the first time
• Experienced all possible forms of transportation, including train, rowboat, elephant, horse, mule, ferry, subway, motorcycle (thanks Ranga!), taxi, jeep, rental car, bus, unicycle and 19 plane takeoffs and landings
• Traveled through 24 U.S. states and 9 Canadian provinces
• Finally met my goal of seeing all of the lower 48 states (Alaska is now the only state I've never been to)
• Changed two flat tires
• Dipped my feet in the Atlantic ocean, Pacific ocean, Indian Ocean, Bay of Bengal, Puget Sound, Brahmaputra river, Mississippi river, and at least thirty lakes (well OK, maybe it was more like dipped my fingers in some of them, rather than my feet...)
• Tried my luck with the one-armed bandits of Vegas (Bandits 4, Basia 0)
• Saw my first-ever bison, gannet, puffin, one-horned rhinoceros, bear, and iceberg
• Checked out the potato museum and bottle house
• Survived a sisters reunion (Ooops, I mean, enjoyed a sisters reunion... hi sisters!)
• Spent one quarter of the year (a total of 90 nights) on the road
• Shed 16 pounds (7 kg) somewhere along the way
• Grew out my hair way longer than it has been in a long time (must have been the Indian influence!)
• Did 361 hours of yoga (yes, I did keep track, in my handy Excel spreadsheet)
• Got pulled over by a cop, for the first time in about 20 years
• Got my jury duty service out of the way (I'm good for another 5 years)
• Said goodbye to a loved one
• Was devastated by Hillary's loss, but heartened by Obama's win
• Took 8190 photographs

I wonder what adventures 2009 will bring?

Courting gannets

Sedona, Arizona

Bottle house, PEI

Camping in Nova Scotia

What India Gave Me

I've been reflecting a lot on my India journey lately, for obvious reasons. Now that the frustrations of living in a developing country (the mosquitoes, the monsoons, the traffic...) are fading, it's easier to recognize the gifts that India gave me. Here are a few:

1. Yoga When people ask me whether India changed my life, yoga is the first thing I think of. Although I've dabbled in yoga many times before I moved to India (beginning with my first yoga class my freshmen year at Fairfield University in Connecticut), I never stayed with it long enough to see an impact. But in India, it finally stuck. Perhaps that's because India is, after all, the birthplace of yoga. Or perhaps it was the combination of convenience and cost -- a wonderful yoga studio within walking distance of my apartment in Chennai, with daily yoga classes that, at less than a dollar per class, were virtually free. It got me in the habit of going daily, and I am proud that almost a year after my return, I still do my yoga, on my own, almost daily. The only thing that occasionally disrupts it is travel. And feeling so much better for it. Seems like a small thing, but for my health, and especially my back, the impact has been immense. I no longer even think about back surgery for the slipped disk that I had several years ago. 2. Cherished friends When I left Rochester for India in 2003, I don't think I ever expected to feel so accepted, so comfortable, across such vastly different cultures. Working together, side by side, with my Indian colleagues for four years allowed us to get to know each other in ways that would have never been possible as a tourist. It's a testament to Indian hospitality that I felt at once like an honored guest, and family.

Yogi in Varanasi, India

View from my window - Chennai, India

3. Room with a view My apartment in Thiruvanmiyur overlooked the beautiful Bay of Bengal (left). Short of winning the lottery, I doubt that I'll ever be able to afford a house with that kind of view in America. So I will always be grateful for those years of being lulled to sleep by the ocean, and waking up each morning to that breathtaking view. 4. Adventure, just the way I like it While in India, all my non-working hours were spent on travel. Hopping that overnight train, I could be in a different world every weekend.  Riding a camel. Cruising the backwaters. Sleeping in a treehouse. Sometimes exquisite, sometimes raw, occasionally risky. But always unforgettable. 5. Twenty-eight thousand Kodak moments That's how many pictures I took during the time I lived in India. (That includes photos from other countries that I traveled to while in India). I was a photographer in paradise. Between the colors, the weddings, the tigers, and the smiles, burning through 28,000 photographs in four years was easy!

On Being Thankful

On this Thanksgiving, I guess one thing I should be thankful for is that I'm not in India at this particularly tragic moment. Not hopping that overnight train to Mumbai, happily heading Somewhere, not staying at the Taj Mahal hotel, which is now burning, or eating at the Leopold Cafe, where the tourist laughter has been replaced with gunfire and bloodshed.

It breaks my heart to watch the scenes being beamed to us from Mumbai. To know that for those of us who love and are fascinated by this astonishing country, India has become such a dangerous place to be.

I can only hope that my friends & colleagues were safely home in Chennai today. Let me know, ok?

Hope, Healing, History

I still would prefer that this had been Hillary's moment. That would have made equally moving history.

But it's impossible to feel disappointed in the face of such raw hope and promise, and most importantly, my long-awaited end to the Bush Era. (See my response to Election 2004!)

I liked best the words of Elisabeth Hasselbeck of The View, even though in the past she has been a vocal McCain supporter:

"No one lost tonight. This was a victory for our country."

Here's to hope, healing, and extraordinary history.

There's Something About September

There's something about September that I love. Maybe it's the perpetual student in me, but I always look forward to the end of the season that Labor Day brings. In my student days, as much as I loved the freedom of summer, I looked forward to the promise of autumn even more. New beginnings. A change of weather. A change of focus. September energizes me.

Soon the leaves will be falling, and the temperatures along with them. For those of us for whom summer is not our favorite season, that's a welcome relief. This change of seasons is something that I very much missed when I lived in India.

It seems an appropriate time to be starting a new job. New beginnings and a change of focus. Just like starting school again...

Goodbye summer: Starfish at Pfeiffer Beach, Big Sur, California

I Will Go And Come Back

I'm told that Indian languages don't have a word for "good-bye." In Tamil, the word that is used when departing is poittu varen, which translates to "I will go and come back."

So, dear India, I will go and come back. At least in spirit, if not literally.

On the eve of my departure from India, I am feeling overwhelmed by emotional farewells (below), the chaos and logistics of packing up my life, the ache of endings, and fear-of-the-unknown of beginnings.

I'll try to pen more thoughts on my India experiences later. This is just a quick note to all my wonderful Chennai colleagues (below). I will miss every single one of you. Poittu varen.

Winding Down

A heron takes flight at Nalsarovar Bird Sanctuary, Gujarat, India

My India journey is coming to a close. In a few weeks, I'll be leaving the land of perpetual sunshine and heading back to snow country, this time for good.

I expect these last weeks to be a whirlwind of packing up my Chennai life (how did I accumulate so much STUFF in just four years?), winding things down at work, and contemplating what I will miss, and what I'm happy to leave behind.

I'll be posting a few more entries from my Farewell-To-India-Whistlestop-Tour that I took over the holidays. ("Whistlestop" because it involved lots of trains...)

Not sure yet what will be the fate of India Ink once I return to the U.S. Perhaps it will be reincarnated as another blog, somewhere, somehow?

Where The Living Is Easy

There are two benefits to travel. One is to explore the beauty of the world and learn how others live. The other is to appreciate what you already have.

Spending this past week back in the U.S. has definitely made me appreciate how much easier my life had been four years ago, before I moved to India. It's not that I have a lot to complain about here in Chennai. I cherish my time in India. I live in an ocean-view apartment, work with some of the friendliest, caring people around, and spend my free time traveling the world.

But - it's all the little daily annoyances that, compounded together, make my life here far more stressful than it would be in the states. Experiencing a week without them has made me realize how much adjusting I've had to do here, how much I left behind when I made the decision to move here. All the things that for that one week back home, I could take for granted and never even think about. Such as:

Not once did I worry that the mosquito buzzing around in the car was carrying chikungunya or malaria. In fact, not once did I encounter a single mosquito or fly, even though the temperature was in the 90's the entire time I was in Rochester.

When I was thirsty, I opened a faucet and drank. I didn't have the anxiety of realizing, late in the night, that I had three sips of drinking water left, that the water delivery I had requested five days ago still had not arrived, and that with no 24-hour supermarkets, there was no chance of getting another bottle before morning.

Instead of being awakened by my door-slamming apartment neighbors, I awoke to the blissful silence of my peaceful, solitary house. There were no children who screamed daily, no one using community places as their personal dog toilets, and I didn't have to stumble over somebody's bicycle left in front of the elevator. Note to self: Never live in an apartment again.

On one jet-lagged morning, when I awoke at 4 AM with a serious craving for bagels, I simply got in my car and drove 3 minutes to the nearest store. I didn't have to call for a taxi or haggle an autorickshaw. I had my own wheels to take me there. And lo and behold, there was a store open 24 hours, with fresh bagels!

When I wanted Parmesan cheese for my popcorn, I didn't have the make the rounds of all the shops in Chennai, hoping to find one that carried it. I simply went to the closest Wegmans, and there they were, five different varieties of Parmesan. Same with cream cheese. And maple syrup. And halvah. And sourdough bread. Sweet.

Not a single driver honked at me the entire week. Not one. No one cut in front me. Everyone used their turn signals. When I wanted to cross the street, I stood at a crosswalk and traffic parted for me like the Red Sea. Amazing.

The power in my house didn't go out once. I watched an entire hour of Grey's Anatomy without the power going out! Even more amazing -- it was the latest episode of Grey's Anatomy, not one from the previous season.

When my car broke down in the middle of the road one night, the muffler dragging along the ground with a horrible sound -- even that didn't faze me. I just felt relieved that in order to get it fixed, I would NOT have to call a friend and impose on them to act as translator for me. I could just walk into the car repair shop and tell them myself, no translations required!

When I arranged to meet a friend for dinner, I didn't have to hang around at work until 7:30 PM, the time when most restaurants in Chennai open for dinner. I could actually eat when I was hungry -- at 5:30 PM.

So all you Americans out there, I hope you appreciate all those little things that you take for granted. Trust me, your life would be far less pleasant if you didn't have them.

Hi There

Hi there.

Yeah, I know, I hear you, I've been a slacker blogger lately.

Been busy settling back into the warmth of Chennai after the bitter cold of Rochester. I think this snow-lover has finally had her fill of snow, because at the moment, I'm not missing it at all.

Contemplating the future of the blog. Has it served its function? Time to move on to something else? Yoga has become the new love of my life, and it's taking up a big chunk of my free time. (Following in my sister Meg's footsteps...) Just finished a beginner's yoga class, will be starting a level 2 class soon. Never thought that getting up at 5:15 AM for 6 AM classes could be so much fun!

Haven't done any traveling yet since I've been back, and still debating about where my annual birthday adventure should be this year. An African safari is a strong possibility. Because of work scheduling conflicts, I may have to push it back to May or June this year (the travel, not the birthday, though I wouldn't mind pushing the birthday back too), which is just as well, because March snuck up on me this year and arrived before I'd had time to make any travel plans.

Time's going by way too fast.

Best and Mostest

Galle, Sri Lanka

Maldives

Varanasi, India

Phuket, Thailand

 

My view of the world, from what I've seen so far~

Category		Place
Most Spectacular Place on Earth		Himalayas, Nepal
Place That Made Me the Sickest		Himalayas, Nepal
Place I Most Want To Return To		Maldives
Most Relaxing Way to Spend a Weekend		Houseboat in Kerala, India
Most Chaotic (in a good way!)		Varanasi, India
Best Airport		Singapore
Place That Left Me Most Speechless		Vegetarian Festival, Phuket, Thailand
Most Pleasant Surprise		Hong Kong
Most Colorful		Pushkar Camel Fair, Rajasthan
Quirkiest, Most Expensive, & Best Kept Secret		Bhutan
Funnest Place to Sleep		Treehouse in Masinagudi, India
Place Where I Left the Most Blood, Sweat & Tears		Tsunami reconstruction project in Sri Lanka
Place That Most Moved Me		Orphanage in Sri Lanka
Place Where I Want To Retire		Punakha Valley, Bhutan
Most Fascinating History-in-the Making		Kathmandu, Nepal
Most Fun Indian City to Explore		Kolkata, India

Nepal

Kolkata

Tamil Nadu, India

Bhutan

While I Was Away

When I return from India at the end of each year, in some ways Rochester seems like the same old city. But there are always a few things that make me do a double-take, or remind me just how long I've been away:

• Kids sneaker-skating. They've got what looks like regular sneakers, but with tiny wheels at one end.& Cool - I want a pair!

• The Fast Ferry has come and gone. For those of you who are non-Rochesterians, The Fast Ferry was a project that launched a ferry service between Rochester, New York, and Toronto, Canada. It was much-publicized, and I was looking forward to hopping on it for a quick trip across the border -- but it folded after only a few months. The giant ferry has now gone bye-bye.

• The price of gas has climbed from $1.59 per gallon when I left in 2004, to $2.44 as of today. Still not as high as it is in India though, where it works out to about $3.73 per gallon. (I think I've done all the conversions correctly, for 45 rupees per liter -- someone correct my math if I'm wrong).

• Three of my favorite veg-friendly restaurants (Skippy's, Basha, and The Atomic Eggplant) have closed in the past year. I must have been the one keeping them in business.

• Cars everywhere are sporting yellow (and red, white & blue) support-our-troops ribbons.

• Global warming has reached Rochester. I left with fond memories of a big blustery city, with winters you could always count on for a good blizzard or ice storm. Today, January 1st, the temperature got all the way down to . . . . 51 F (10 C) Bah humbug. They've got more snow than this in India.

• A digital camera that I bought just before leaving for India is now completely extinct. Camera, batteries, charger. All of it. The man who sold me the camera in 2004 stared at it like it was a dinosaur when I asked for a replacement battery charger. "Try e-bay," he tells me.

• Americans have finally caught up with Indians in cell phone obsession.

• In the is-this-for-real category -- making me do a double-take while watching TV -- endless commercials for fewerperiods.com. Is this the next fad after botox?

• Biggest Loser seems to be the biggest winner.

2006 Yearbook

I took over 6,000 pictures in 2006 -- but discovered in trying to put together this "yearbook" that only a handful had me in them. I was hoping to find one photo of me from each month, but didn't quite make that. Resolution for 2007: take a break from being photographer every once in a while, and put myself in the picture!

January
On a houseboat in Kerala

February
Enjoying the spicy potatoes at Chin Chin restaurant in Chennai
Photo by Paul Krause

March
A health-food lunch at work
Photo by Chitra

April
Deep in the Himalayas in Nepal

April
With Vasanthi's daughter Aashika
Photo by Vasanthi

July
In Bali, Indonesia

August
Being a couch potato at home
Photo by Rohini

September
Hauling in the catch from a Chinese fishing net in Cochin, Kerala
Photo by one of the fishermen

September
Photographing EK rowers at the regatta.
Photo by TamizSelvi

October
Accepting award at photography contest
Photo courtesy of Global Adjustments

October
On a boat at Sunderbans, West Bengal
Photo by Tutu

November
In Paro, Bhutan
Photo by Karma

December
At Durand Eastman Park, Rochester, New York
Photo by Mary Keller

Three Years On

Three years ago today, my first glimpse of Chennai left me speechless. What is life like, three years later?

I breathe easy when I look out across the ocean, at the glistening waves that crash, non-stop, just outside my bedroom window. I breathe deeply when I walk by a jasmine garland stand.

I move through the streets of India surrounded by words I still cannot understand. Billboards in squiggly Tamil. Bollywood tunes in high-pitched Hindi. An office joke shared in Tamil. The driver's conversation with his family in Telugu. Only the occasional meaningful word breaks through the babel.

I chuckle at motorcycle five-packs. Little girls in Easter bonnets and frilly party dresses at the beach make me grin.

I dream that I will always live by the sea. I dream that someday I'll organize a clean-up to remove trash from Chennai's streets. I dream of fresh poppyseed bagels with cream cheese.

I cry when I hear yet another family feverishly pray for a boy-child.

I fear that once I leave India, I will never again live by the sea. I fear that the streets of Rochester will be unbearably colorless. I fear Chikungunya.

Links To Other Anniversary Entries Some anniversary entries mark the day I arrived in Chennai on my first (temporary) visit (September 5, 2003). Others mark the day I officially moved to Chennai (January 14, 2004). 2 Years Ago Today 1-Year Anniversary: A Look Back 9-Month Anniversary: Sometimes I Don't Know Why I Like India So 6-Month Anniversary 2-Month Anniversary

I Blog For Comments

Dale writes: "How interesting that there are conferences on blogging. I never would have thought that. It is clear that bloggers receive something very positive from blogging, and do not do it just as a public service to educate or entertain their readers! I am curious as to what personal benefits you receive from the act of blogging. Perhaps you might tell us?"

Why I Blog 1. My original reason for starting a blog was to keep in touch with friends and family when I moved from New York to India. Blogging was the perfect way to keep everyone in the loop, all at once. I hate writing the same thing over and over again on 15 postcards!

Parasailing

Varanasi women

2. I blog to share my passions: photography and writing. Without a blog, my photographs might be gathering dust in an album somewhere. With a blog, I get pats on the back, and lots of encouragement to continue my passion!

3. I blog for comments . Yep, it's true. There is nothing like getting a comment from the unseen audience out there to motivate me to post again. A comment is the equivalent of a friendly letter in the mail - and who doesn't like getting those? So keep them coming!

Tykes on Bikes

4. I blog because life amazes me sometimes, and I want to share the amazing. 5. I blog because it's a very non-intrusive form of communication. I write when I feel like it. You read when you feel like it. Unlike phones, which are always buzzing, angrily demanding my attention when I least want to give it.

6. I blog because it widens my world. I love the thought that somewhere across the oceans, a person I have never met (and may never meet) is getting a kick out of something I wrote or a picture I captured. Mary from Georgia. Polish anthropology student Marzena. Sande from Oakland.

7. I blog because it forces me to articulate my thoughts. Sometimes, I don't know what I think, until I write it down. Examine it. Critique it. Sometimes what comes out in a blog surprises me. The act of translating thoughts into words forces me to be precise, to formulate my opinions.

Salt in the making

8. I blog because I learn new things that way. My ideal life would be spent doing nothing but learning. Blogging helps me do that. Placing information on a blog makes me very conscious of being accurate. Instead of just admiring a photograph I captured of two unidentified insects on a flower, it prompts me to write to an entomology lab to figure out what those insects were, and what they were doing. Gets those synapses firing!

9. I blog because it's a way to record my personal history. In India Ink, I have a rich documentary of three years of living outside of my comfort zone. Sure, I could just keep a personal journal. But it's like quitting smoking or losing weight -- once you've told someone about it, you've raised expectations, and you're far more likely to stay with it.

10. I blog to capture the fleeting. That tiny, seemingly insignificant wisp of a moment, which would quickly fade away if not captured in word or picture.

11. As blogger Stephanie Klein once said, "I blog to clear my throat." Sometimes, it's as simple as that.

100 Things

Yes, I know the 100 Things meme is SO yesterday. Everyone who's anyone has already done one. But coming up with 100 Things About Me is harder than it sounds. I started this list almost 5 months ago, on a 12-hour train ride to Kanyakumari, and it has taken me months to finish.

And yes, I realize that this is one of those narcissistic navel-gazing exercises. But hey - some would say that bloggers are by nature narcissistic. Why else would we hurl our every thought into cyberspace, for the world to snicker at? :o)

For those of you unfamiliar with the concept, in a blogging context, a meme (pronounced meem) is a question, exercise, or idea, that is passed from blog to blog. (For a much broader meaning of the word, check here.) The 100 Things meme has been making the rounds of blogs for years. Here is my version.

100 Things About Me

1. I was born in Poland, and born again in Connecticut, California, Texas, New Zealand, New York, and India.
2. I love lists.
3. There are very few things that I'm afraid of.
4. I'm afraid of being underwater.
5. In trying to get over that fear, I've white-water rafted, black-water rafted, snorkeled, rowed, sailed, canoed, kayaked, and swam with dolphins.
6. I'm still terrified of being underwater.
7. I've taken swimming lessons numerous times, and in theory I can swim. But if you throw me in the deep end of a pool, I'm convinced I will die. (So please don't.)
8. I think it's because the Aries fire sign does not mix with water.
9. On the other hand, I will eagerly jump at the chance to engage in any air sport. So far, I have tried bungee jumping, parachuting, flying a Piper Cherokee plane, flying an ultralight, hot air ballooning, and parasailing.
10. I bungee jumped the day after I finished my Ph.D. dissertation.
11. Given the opportunity, I would travel to any place on earth. Yes, including Iraq and Afghanistan.
12. I did not vote for George Bush. But you know that already.
13. I used to be able to recite all 52 varieties of Dunkin' Donuts. The last time I was able to do that was in 1975.
14. I don't do relationships.
15. Sometimes I do crushes though.
16. I've worked as a janitor, au pair girl, Dunkin' Donuts hostess, teacher, secretary, typist, lab assistant, neuroscientist, dishwasher, and instructional designer.
17. I find dishwashing to be very satisfying work.
18. Contrary to what some people think, I like animals ok, I just don't want to live with them.
19. Same with men.
20. My favorite animals used to be storks. Then it was dolphins. Then sheep. Currently, it's camels.
21. I've had a cat, bird, and dog named after me. I'm not sure whether I should feel flattered or insulted.
22. I've lived on four continents and visited 19 countries.
23. In New Zealand, they used to call me Baaaaaasia, because I was in love with the sheep.
24. I've had 27 different addresses.
25. In New Zealand, I had a house in the woods with an outdoor bathtub under the pine trees. It was very secluded, so there was little chance of anyone stopping by unannounced. The only person who ever did that was a Jehovah's Witness, and I figure anyone who tries to convert me deserves what he gets.
26. I got my U.S. citizenship so that I'd be eligible to join the Peace Corps. Then, I never joined the Peace Corps.
27. Still may, someday.
28. I love Excel spreadsheets. Everything about my life is arranged in Excel spreadsheets. I should be a poster girl for Microsoft.
29. I love boxes too. Not just the cute, decorative souvenir type thingys. Any boxes, even plain old cardboard ones. Anything that helps contain chaos.
30. I've never understood why people are afraid of dying. Since no one knows for sure what happens, what's to be afraid of?
31. When I was in grade school, I wanted to be a secretary or a stewardess when I grew up.
32. I speak Polish, English, enough Spanish to understand, and 100 words of Tamil.
33. Sometimes I think in Polish.
34. I do a mean rooster call. I learned it on a midnight walk through the villages of Poland.
35. Walking in the snow makes me cry. In a good way.
36. I'm a vegetarian, but I don't eat enough vegetables. I eat too much junk food.
37. It's not a moral or ethical thing. It's a taste-bud thing - I can't stand the texture of meat.
38. Maybe I'm more of a carbohydratearian.
39. Once, I ate a chicken fried steak for $900. I had to put tapioca pudding on it to make it go down easy.
40. Someday, I'm going to bicycle across America. Probably solo.
41. I'm a feminist. Yes, we are still around.
42. A fortune teller once told me that I've had three past lives: a geisha girl, a fisherman living on a small island, and a guardsman in Holland. She said I was happiest as a fisherman.
43. Gee, I wonder why I wasn't happy as a geisha girl?!
44. I've worked with battered women in Texas, New Zealand, and Rochester.
45. Sadly, they are everywhere.
46. I adore Melissa Etheridge, Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg, and Ellen Degeneres.
47. Yes, I am.
48. I love to go to a city I've never been, grab my camera, and walk for 7 or 8 hours.
49. I'm probably the only person in America who has never been to a drive-in movie. I want to. Update: Done! Thanks Eva!
50. I'm not afraid of hard work.
51. One thing you could never accuse me of, is being a Princess. I come from hardy Polish peasant stock, and am proud of it.
52. What I find most distressing and horrifying about the world is the violence and hatred perpetuated by organized religions. All of them.
53. At least once in my life, I want to do New Year's Eve at Times Square.
54. Twenty years ago, for a split-second, I saw a fresh-faced, red-haired young woman on a bike path in Barton Springs, Austin. We never spoke, but for some reason, I think of her at least once a year. I don't know why.
55. Summer is my least favorite season.
56. I started this list on a long train ride to Kanyakumari, at the southern tip of India.
57. I've been in love. I checked it off my list of Things To Do At Least Once In My Life.
58. Yes, I really do have such a list. I started it as a teenager, when I read about this man's life list. But instead of getting shorter, my list just keeps getting longer.
59. Phones annoy me. Especially cell phones. Especially other people's cell phones.
60. I need to see a person's face when I talk to them.
61. I frequently remind myself that things are rarely as they appear. I'm always surprised how often that turns out to be true.
62. I had lasik surgery so I'd never have to wear glasses.
63. Then I got old, and now I have to wear the other kind of glasses.
64. My three sisters and I all have the same chin and teeth.
65. In my next life I want to be a figure skater.
66. I've only ever had one broken bone, from a bicycle accident. Knock on wood.
67. When I was 15, I won a $500 bond for selling seed packets door-to-door and writing an essay about why I loved doing it.
68. I don't have a middle name. All my sisters do. The official explanation was that I was very sick when I was born, and they had to baptize me quickly because doctors didn't know how long I would live. I'm not buying that. During 9 months of pregnancy, they couldn't come up with a middle name??? :o)
69. I don't remember much before age 9.
70. My first memory when we moved to the U.S. was on the train from Canada taking us to our new home in Connecticut, being fascinated by a little girl's corn row braids. I had never seen them before.
71. I remember the first potato chip I ever ate. I was 9.
72. I love potatoes. Chips. Fries. Spicy-ass. Mashed. Baked. Latkes. Mmmmmmmmmmmmm.
73. It's a Polish thing.
74. I can't say the words "puss-in-boots." Go ahead, laugh.
75. I love the word "embouteillage." It's a French word referring to a kind of traffic jam where no one can move unless someone else makes a move first, so everyone is stuck. It often comes to mind as I sit in the traffic jams of Chennai, India.
76. I think that people should have serial careers.
77. I like to cook only when I'm feeling inspired.
78. Cold weather recharges me.
79. What I love most about my Rochester home is the fireplace.
80. Lily-of-the-valley makes me think of my mother.
81. I'm a firm believer in the mind-body connection.
82. I will try almost anything once.
83. Except food. I'm not adventurous when it comes to food.
84. I collect experiences.
85. I used to collect stamps, coins, postcards, and numerous other things.
86. Family legend has it that when I was little I used to collect pebbles in our yard, and organize them by size and shape.
87. I never have the TV on as background noise.
88. I have almost as many letters behind my name, as in my name.
89. I'm usually a penny pincher, with my own money or anyone else's. Except when it comes to travel, then I happily pay whatever it takes.
90. With all the traveling I've done, I've never seen the Grand Canyon. Update: Done!
91. I rarely watch the same movie twice. Or reruns of TV shows, for that matter.
92. I skipped third grade. I've always wondered what happens there.
93. I'm allergic to mouse urine; I break out in a rash. Don't ask. (It's an ex-scientist thing).
94. I've been told my expectations are too high.
95. I hate being late. I hate it even more when I'm late, than when others are late.
96. I'm impatient with people who won't cut to the chase.
97. I am an agnostic. I figure if there is no god, it won't matter. And if there is, she/he/it will understand my skepticism.
98. I applied for Survivor once. They didn't want me.
99. I completed the Hotter Than Hell Hundred. And yes, it was.
100. What would make my life better: an instant travel machine so I could flit about the globe without wasting time on a plane.

For Chitra

~Know that you are in my thoughts, my shattered, hurting friend~

Hard are the turnings of fortune Sad are the dreams left in sleep Breathless the light of the morning And soft is a heart that still weeps. May the gentle breeze find and caress you Brush off sorrow and blow your love deep May your memory be of love when it can be And may loss leave you with a peace you can keep.                                           --Georgia A. Zweber

Bleeding Hearts

Slumps

Yeah, yeah, I know, I've been slacking off the blogging. I seem to be going through a slump. Blog-wise. Health-wise. Life-wise.

Health-wise, nothing serious, just annoying. Stomach problems. A lingering cold. Sciatica pain. Daily trips to the hospital for physical therapy for back pain. I think my back is finally feeling the effect of the India roads (and their speed bumps). Or perhaps, it's just too many hours sitting in front of a computer, and old age creeping in...But enough blog space devoted to health woes.

Finalizing plans for a return visit to Rochester next month. Next week, we have a two-day holiday coming up. I'll be heading to Thailand (Bangkok and Phuket) to check out their Vegetarian Festival. Maybe hanging out with those healthy vegetarian types will get me back on the right track. :o)

Two Years Ago Today

Water bungalow

Bangles for sale

Beach crowds

Boys on the beach

Monkey

Two years ago today, I met India for the first time. By all rights, it should have been a match made in hell.

--Snow-lover in the land of searing heat and perpetual sunshine.
--Feminist in a patriarchy rife with eve-teasing, dowry, and female infanticide.
--Solitude-craver surrounded by a billion people.
--A skeptic of the institution of marriage, in the land of relentless arranged marrying.
--Obsessive picker-upper of discarded gum wrappers, amidst streets used as garbage dumps.
--Someone for whom "spicy"means "mouth on fire," in a land where it's not considered edible unless it has chili peppers in it.
--Agnostic in a land where religion and life are inseparable.
--Happily single, in a society where " unmarried" is an aberration.
--Mosquito magnet in mosquito hell.

But as they say here about arranged marriages, "the love comes later."
And it did, for this arranged marriage. Or at least, the "like" came, and it was sooner rather than later.

What has India shown me?

--The astonishing, boundless energy of life at its rawest.
--The humbling resourcefulness of human beings with few resources.
--The stunning view of the ocean just outside my window, which still takes my breath away, daily.
--Exuberant colors, in sarees, flower garlands, bangles, temples, and even trucks.
--The quirkiness of monkeys, cows, and pigs amicably mingling with their human neighbors.
--A Kodak moment on every street corner.
--Warm, shy, and contagious smiles of both children and adults.
--Feeling at home in the vegetarian majority.

My friend Mary says that we are put in situations that challenge us so that we can stretch and grow. If so, I've been doing a lot of growing these past two years!

Peanut vendor, Mumbai

Santhome Cathedral

Cyclerickshaw in Agra

Wedding band

Children at play

Guest Blogger: View from the Other Side

My colleague and friend Ramadas is spending a few weeks in Rochester, his first visit to the U.S. I invited him to do a "guest blogger" entry to share his impressions, and he submitted the following.

Ram (wedding day photo)

In this..the last few hours at Rochester, I start to write about the last three weeks of my life at Rochester, NY, USA. From a person who has seen it first hand, let me tell you that the US is nothing like what we see in the movies or TV serials. There are so many things big and small that I observed that it becomes difficult to share all of them…so let me try to start from the beginning. The USA is a land of rules….and most importantly…peopled by those who follow them!! When I got out of the airport building and was trolleying my luggage to a car, I had to cross a road (within the airport) to reach the car. I was just about to cross the road when a car came by. On instinct I stopped to allow the car go past but to my greatest surprise and confusion, the car stopped as well and another car came by and stopped too!!! It was only after I had actually crossed the road that the cars started moving!!!! Well, the pedestrian is treated as the “king” here…amazing. And the taxes they pay actually get used…you should see the roads to believe that! People also pay a school tax and send their wards to a public school (school run by the state government) They don’t pay tuition fees but only a tax.

Rochester is a park, a forest with people living in beautiful houses with lawns. The whole place looks like some landscaping artist went berserk. Seems like the forest was already there before people moved in. Point to note is that they MAINTAIN the woods, lawns and the trees. And the whole place is one unending meadow because there are no compound walls or picket fences between houses!!! No compound walls! It is considered impolite to have compound walls. And there are rules and laws to ensure that you maintain your lawn.

My first impressions of the place were the exact opposite of a visitor from Rochester coming to Chennai for the first time. Rochester looks like a place that’s cleaned, scrubbed, dried, shined every single day!! Everything looks so neat and organized that you think there are people who come behind you and arrange everything into the correct place! Population is very low comparitively..so peak hour traffic looks like the traffic we have on “bandh”or any other public holiday!!

At work, people lead a very “scheduled” life. You need to check with the electronic calendar or schedule of people you need to meet before getting to talk to them. All events or meetings happen with a schedule, agenda, minutes and gives a feeling of clockwork. They do not have “lunch hours” or time for “tea breaks”. They have lunch or coffee at their cubicles even as they continue their work. They work exactly for 8 hours and usually between 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Some people work between 7:00 a.m and 4:00 p.m and have the entire evening for themselves. The first Friday I was here, Paul Krause took us for a “hike” to the Powder Mills Park after work. It is a park just in name and a forest really! I could scarce believe that I was hiking in the woods on a Friday around 5:30 in the evening!!!!

Greeting and smiling at strangers seems to be part of the culture here. If you are standing in the way in the corridor, they greet and smile before moving on. If you are checking something on a counter in a grocery store, people wait behind you till you are done. I simply found it difficult to react for the first few days before getting myself to greet back!

The Grocery stores!! Well, the one at Wegmanns obviously was the biggest and most amazing. The number of choices and the variety available for each item is tremendous. I can count at least 10 to 15 brands of the same item in some cases. There seems to be nothing called medium or small here. Everything is of large, extra large, or super large size! The vegetables here were one of the biggest I have seen…Wading through all those choices and actually getting ourselves (I traveled luckily with another colleague of mine - Arvind) to make a choice was an effort in itself. Best example of such difficult choices was to give an order for coffee at Starbucks…coffee plain and simple..but decaffeinated? With or without cream? And many more questions for which I had no answer! 

The Greater Rochester area is blessed with lot of natural resources especially water! There are so many types of lakes around – finger lakes, ocean lakes, great lakes! Lake Ontario is what I call an ocean lake…a lake that looks like an ocean! It actually has tides, waves, beaches…and a beautiful ferry that goes all the way to Toronto, Canada..amazing.

But the most amazing of all water bodies I saw was the Niagara Falls…looked beautiful. The force of the falls is best observed when we were taken close to the fall point on the “Maid of the Mist” boat cruise. And the number of Indian tourists there was surprising to say the least. After traveling 10, 000 miles for 22 hours on air, you find it weird to go to Niagara falls and listen to somebody calling out in Tamil to their child not to go too close to the edge of the observation deck!! A lawn around the falls has stalls and also people relaxing and having a picnic. At one point, I saw a stall of Native American Indians on the right and Indian tourists(Indian Indian!!) on the left of a lawn picnicking with their families. I really wonder what Columbus would have thought if he had seen both sets of “Indians” at Niagara at the same time. I felt really strange…this land is truly a melting pot of people. I have heard of it. I see it now. 

How I Spent My Birthday

Things I Did On My Birthday:

--Shoveled gravel
--Sifted sand
--Mixed cement
--Formed a human chain to pass pans of cement
--Carried bricks on my head
--Laid bricks and mortar
--Pulled buckets of nasty water out of a septic hole
--Wheelbarrowed dirt
--Got a dozen bug bites of indeterminate origin (none of them mosquitoes)
--Got only one tiny blister
--Drank gallons of water (and sweated even more)

--Had a chocolate birthday cake
--Danced at a Sri Lankan disco to the tune of Summer of '69 and You Sexy Thing with a dozen of my fellow work crew mates
--Got two more blisters from dancing barefoot

Just your usual birthday stuff!  ;o)

Never Worked So Hard In My Life

Tsunami reconstruction:

I've never worked so hard in my entire life.

This is all I have time for at the moment - and the internet connection is excruciatingly slow - will post more later.

1-Year Anniversary: A Look Back

Mehndi

Arabian Sea

Flower market

Street kids in Agra

Taj Mahal

One year ago this month, I was gazing out of the Park Sheraton Hotel window, wondering how long this would be my home.

Now, I can say I've had the full, year-round India experience. I've seen the good, the bad, the ugly, and the breathtakingly beautiful. I've been through the hottest part of the year, as well as the coolest--and found there's not too much difference between the two! :o)

It's been a year of amazing experiences. What have I done these last 12 months?

--Took 5851 photographs
--Made 215 blog entries
--Traveled by autorickshaw, train, rowboat, motorcycle, bumboat, tonga, horse, and elephant
--Experienced scorching heat, a drought, a monsoon, and a tsunami
--Survived a car accident, and lost track of how many close calls
--Saw one of the wonders of the world
--Visited two foreign countries and 6 Indian states
--Learned 100 Tamil words words (but regrettably did not make much progress beyond that) :o(
--Dipped my feet in the Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea
--Celebrated Pongal, Republic Day, Navaratri, Vinayaka Chaturthi, and Onam
--Wore a salwar, saree, bangles, anklets, mehndi and bindi
--Received 14 wedding invitations and attended 5 weddings
--Learned what is a stupa, prayer flag, butterlamp, pooja, khata, kolam, and lungi
--Saw what cardamom and durian looks like
--Heard the word "madam" a thousand times
--Had a hospital experience, but did NOT get malaria or typhoid (yeay!)
--Frolicked with butterflies and wrestled with lizards
--Saw the world's tallest (at the time!) building
--Lost my fear of Chennai traffic
--Visited hundreds of temples
--Enjoyed a million Indian children smiles
--Shared the road with cows, water buffalo, pigs, dogs, monkeys, elephants, goats, bullock carts and camels
--Walked endless beaches
--Learned how salt is made and how tea is grown
--Shared India with my sister and other American visitors
--Celebrated an Indian birthday
--Swatted a thousand mosquitoes
--Ate meals off banana leaves
--Chatted with taxi drivers, autorickshaw drivers, street vendors, beach-goers, security guards, and baby monks
--Learned to love dosai, raita, and sweet lime juice
--Learned the Indian head wobble
--Sang Christmas carols in September
--Walked barefoot a lot, on cool marble floors, hot summer beaches, and stone temple floors
--Spent 120 hours riding the Indian rails
--Parasailed over the Arabian Sea
--Learned who Ganesh, Durga, and Saraswati were
--Went through an ocean of bottled water
--Tried to stay away from eve-teasers and biscuit bandits, and fended off endless hawkers
--Got spoiled living on the beach
--Saw 500+ crocodiles
--Ate some of the best international food ever
--Went from 3 suitcases of belongings to an entire houseful

I'm looking forward to what the next year has in store for me~

Child street vendors

Coconut seller

Mahaballipuram

Entrance to Taj Mahal

Goa beach with Donna

'Bye, Lesley

2004 ended with a global jolt, and for me, the new year ushered in an unwelcome personal jolt---the news that my manager Lesley would be leaving Element K. I am sitting here wishing that I could say my good-byes in person, but since I can’t, this space will have to do. You all are probably thinking, why would someone be upset about losing their boss? Bosses—like in-laws—aren’t supposed to be likable. They are, after all, one of the top things that people hate about their jobs.

But Lesley never fit the boss stereotype. (Being called "boss" was one of her pet peeves). Almost from my first day at Element K, she became my mentor and role model. I wanted to be like her when I grew up. (Never mind that I’m older than she is!) I loved working with her, because I constantly learned from her. I was fascinated by her amazing energy, her cheerfulness, down-to-earth approachability, and her ability, in a classroom, to make even the mundane seem interesting. To make sure that we always recognized the positive around us, she made it a requirement that every staff meeting begin with “glimmers and shines” (or "shimmers and glimes," as we re-christened them), an acknowledgement of the small things that were going well but which usually go unnoticed. She reminded us frequently to assume good intentions in others. But mostly, she made it easy for me to do my job. She gave me equal parts freedom and support. She never monitored me, rarely reprimanded me (ok, maybe once or twice, when I really deserved it!) and never intimidated me. Yet she got more work out of me than anyone else ever has. She did it with inspiration and appreciation, rather than intimidation. After my move to India, our weekly conference calls ("Ask Lesley" sessions, as I called them) became my lifeline to a world that, separated by 9 time zones and 9,000 miles, it was easy to feel disconnected from.

So, dear Lesley, know that you will be greatly missed, on both sides of the world.

I'm not even going to tell you good luck, because I don't think you'll need it. And yes, I am happy for you, as you begin this new adventure in your life.

But for me, I’m just plain miserable. :o(

Week of Lists #7: Things I've Adapted To...And Not

Things I've Adapted To

-- Wearing bangles and anklets
-- Walking barefoot
-- Squat toilets (when necessary; they don't faze me any more)
-- Saying "do the needful" (I love this phrase! It means "do what needs to be done")
-- Late dinners (most restaurants here don't open until 7:30 pm for dinner)
-- Crazed taxi and autorickshaw drivers
-- Wearing salwars

...and Things That I Haven't -- Eating with my hands -- Still need my toilet paper -- None of those arranged marriages for me! -- Lizards in the house

Still Working On It
-- Spicy food (I've gotten a little better, but not even close to the iron-stomached Indians).

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This concludes your Week of Lists.
We now return to our regularly scheduled programming...

Week of Lists #5: Things I Don't Love About India

Goats rummaging through a mountain of garbage

Things I Don't Love About India

 1. garbage & litter in the streets
 2. spitting & snotting in public
 3. defecating on the beaches
 4. polluted air
 5. eve-teasing
 6. female infanticide
 7. caste system
 8. crumbling sidewalks
 9. autorickshaw drivers who try to rip me off
10. open sewers

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TalkBack

"What is in the very yummy looking Dosai?" --Lesley

That one had mashed potatoes, fried onions, and spices -- my fave. Other varieties include green chiles, chopped tomato, ginger root, peas, cilantro, cauliflower,or mushrooms. Served with coconut chutney and sambar (a kind of lentil & vegetable soup).