ugh
my hands smell like heavily spiced shit.
but then i look down and they look like this:
and then it's not so bad.
happy indian independence day. patriotism is crazy here--a movie (dramatized history) about the man who started the sepoy rebellion (which led to indian independence in the mid-1800s) came out last week and tickets have been sold out ever since. hired street urchins sell flags instead of...well, sad faces and little karna motions, sometimes some jasmine. the rotary president delivered a speech on We Love India But It Has So Many Problems Let's Fix Them and several people promptly stood up and said Hey Stop Being Negative India Is Just Plain Awesome. recurring theme.
i suppose it's odd for me because i've decided that the u.s. doesn't have the same kind of Cultural Heritage or National History that most other civilized countries do. americans are tied only by their diversity--akin to saying that differences bring people together. and american values. it's true--there is a lot of opportunity in the u.s., perhaps, economically speaking, more so than in any other country. but, for example, indians use the u.s. to polish their education, get a globally recognized position, make money, and then return to india to rejoin Their society.
perhaps it is not so lucky, then, to be born in america, depending on the several-generations-back heritage of your parents to establish tradition...india, at least, has a rich mysticality, a secret about it, as if it's a private club into which you can only be born. the u.s. is open--anyone, with obvious limitations, can become an american citizen just as accepted as an american-born american. it just doesn't seem like quite a fair exchange.
i've been avoiding chronicling too much here in favor of paper journal/memory (ha), both of which will be employed upon my return into some sort of cumulative journal/scrapbook/essay/something. whatever. and it's 2 AM, and i have to learn to tie a sari in six hours, so.
but then i look down and they look like this:
and then it's not so bad.
happy indian independence day. patriotism is crazy here--a movie (dramatized history) about the man who started the sepoy rebellion (which led to indian independence in the mid-1800s) came out last week and tickets have been sold out ever since. hired street urchins sell flags instead of...well, sad faces and little karna motions, sometimes some jasmine. the rotary president delivered a speech on We Love India But It Has So Many Problems Let's Fix Them and several people promptly stood up and said Hey Stop Being Negative India Is Just Plain Awesome. recurring theme.
i suppose it's odd for me because i've decided that the u.s. doesn't have the same kind of Cultural Heritage or National History that most other civilized countries do. americans are tied only by their diversity--akin to saying that differences bring people together. and american values. it's true--there is a lot of opportunity in the u.s., perhaps, economically speaking, more so than in any other country. but, for example, indians use the u.s. to polish their education, get a globally recognized position, make money, and then return to india to rejoin Their society.
perhaps it is not so lucky, then, to be born in america, depending on the several-generations-back heritage of your parents to establish tradition...india, at least, has a rich mysticality, a secret about it, as if it's a private club into which you can only be born. the u.s. is open--anyone, with obvious limitations, can become an american citizen just as accepted as an american-born american. it just doesn't seem like quite a fair exchange.
i've been avoiding chronicling too much here in favor of paper journal/memory (ha), both of which will be employed upon my return into some sort of cumulative journal/scrapbook/essay/something. whatever. and it's 2 AM, and i have to learn to tie a sari in six hours, so.