Vision

Things and people are not always what they seem. I hope that you agree that we as human beings are complex creatures. However many people are conditioned to dwell on the surface. I believe richness stems from depth, like the roots and soil that feed a tree. But all our eyes see is what is on the surface. What do you spend your time looking at? Aren’t people who are deemed Visionaries individuals who see what others cannot? Which reminds me of this quote “eyesight is a test to see if we can see beyond it…”

I remember the 1st time I saw my mom outside of the singular yet admirable and complex role of my mother. I went to a graduation of her organization, training futures (http://www.nvfs.org/trainingfutures.htm a shamless plug for an amazing organization that is always looking for volunteers). She was speaking in front of over 200 people in a formal business setting. She spoke with such passion and grace. It hit me hard, rocked my world and never looked at her the same again. Getting a peak into another layer of Susan Craver created a deeper sense of respect, admiration and love.

I had a similar experience today when Ed, Pris, Dr Z, (author of a great book called seven steps to deep transitions) Mousina and I went to visit the Satyam (the organization I work for) Foundations. This 30,000 person organization (as I have been learning since joining three weeks ago) is dynamic and impressive. Our journey today took us on a tour of three foundations, an urban development foundation called Satyam foundation….a rural development foundation (Byrraji foundation), and Emergency Management and Research Institute. EMRI is the equivalent to 911 in the US which did not exist anywhere in India until Satyam created and continues to fund the much needed service.
We got to tour the facilities, interact with the leaders of the organizations and learn about how these services have saved and sustained the lives of hundreds of thousands of people throughout India with clean water, health care, education, disaster relief and so on. In a country where 40% of the population lives off of a dollar or less a day and life expectancy is around 64 these types of services are literally lifesavers. Like seeing another facet of my mom, learning about all the important and transformative community development work Satyam does reveals more of its richness and depth. I look forward to sharing my volunteer efforts in the community in the near future.

Helpless

I once saw Moby sing Neil Young's song Helpless in NYC at a Tsunami Relief fundraiser. It was a moving moment after such a tragedy. While nowhere close to that scale, personally this week I experienced the feeling of helplessness....Someone close to me lost their father rather unexpectedly and I wanted to support her with my physical presence yet I could not due to distance. The feeling of helplessness was very hard to handle. I realized prior to leaving that being away from friends and family was going to be the hardest part of this move. However, now that the rubber has hit the road the physical barrier is creating more dis-ease than I imagined (as I know I will miss important rituals such as birthdays (blessings to my Gemini friends), graduations, passing of loved ones, the development of baby Jalen, weddings, little big things and so forth).

Navigating this site

Friends,

Just a quick guide to navigating this site. I will be updating the site and links with content on a fairly regular basis. There is a RSS feed that will send you an email every time the site is updated if you plug in your email address on the bottom left text bar on the home page.

There will also be information that is housed in the archive you might enjoy reading.

On the road...

Traffic here makes the 405 in LA or the Beltway in DC look like a walk in the park. A chaotic blend of cars, rickshaws,dogs, people, bikes, holy cows and motorcycles (aka two-wheelers) navigate a racetrack with no lanes or proper rules for the road. The commutes to and from work have not seemed long due to all the sensory overload. If people watching is one of your favorite pastimes come to India and you will be intrigued, fascinated, perplexed and alarmed all in the same moment. Women carry water jugs and 4 foot stacks of bricks effortlessly on there heads, people piss in the road (although generally they have the decency to turn away from traffic) cows itch themselves on signposts, women with tiny straw brooms attempt to clean the street, the mosh pit of traffic you have no choice but to jump into, people nudged by cars that shake it off like a fly,the strange melody of horns that is omnipresent and many more never before seen sights. The more open I am, the more rewards I reap from the unknown. All this I see while riding in a car and when I get out of the car I stare directly into the eyes of India.

Tipping The Scale

Do you remember the 1st time you experienced something that was different from what you were used to? I remember as a child going from DC public schools to Catholic private school (and my family is not catholic)…talk about contrast. In the former, I was a racial minority one of three white children in class. In the later the racial contrast was flipped. I am grateful that I experienced such different environments at a young age; however, everything was different, like trying to blend oil and water.
I traded bugle boys for a uniform, jive for structured sentences, Jordan’s for penny loafers, and many more contrasting norms and values.
At that age the changes required little thought; my brain fresh and not yet saturated, absorbed the differences with little effort and I adapted. As an adult, the norms from my social identity groups (i.e. race, gender, sexual orientation, social class in America…) are ingrained patterns that I often personify robotically. To turn off the autopilot and steer manually requires more fuel and as I am shifting from one culture to another since moving to India, what is figural is scale and contrast….
For example, take the difference in money: the cost of dinner at an expensive American restaurant going “all out” would cost $100 per person, the same quality in India costs me $40 American for six people! I got what would have been at least $300 of dry cleaning done and it cost $30. In addition the tipping scale is very different due to the fact 60% of the population of India lives off a dollar a day. So unless you want a following (paparazzi style) you must tip appropriately to the scale here. I have learned that one the hard way----yeah people hear know who I am…which isn’t hard considering I stand out like one red rose in a bouquet surrounded of all white ones Being part of the dominant power group (white men) in America is like a fish in water. Nemo doesn’t even know he is in the water until you take him out...
A quote that comes to mind as I reflect on living in India thus far is: “beauty is in the eye of the beholder”. As I behold the sensory overload of sights, sounds, smells, tastes, customs and interactions I find my heart and head feeling similar to a tennis match between the mores of east vs. west. It’s an exciting match however if you keep you’re eye on the ball to long it becomes disorienting and dizzying. In other words, my heart is heavy and my head aches at times and the match has only just begun. However, I am more alive than any other point in my life.

Arrival in India

After an 8 hour flight to Amsterdam, a four hour lay-over and another 9 hour flight I arrived in Hyderabad, India safe and sound.

To learn about my new home check out these links:

http://www.iloveindia.com/travel/hyderabad/index.html

http://www.fullhyderabad.com/htdocs/visiting_the_city/home.phtml