Monday, January 19, 2009

The New Yorker just ran an interesting article about IJM

You can find a copy of Samantha Power's article from New Yorker magazine at https://media.scoopreprintsource.com/CondeNast/5376CN_Intn'lJustice_041409.pdf

Let me know what you think of the article, and of the issues covered within. Thanks!

Sunday, January 18, 2009

Getting haircuts...

So I found a barber shop around the corner from our flat. It's very reasonably priced--30 rupees. It's a lot like any other barbershop experience, except that I don't understand 99% of my conversation with the barber. Last week, he asked if I was from England--I said U.S., and he told me he was from U.P.--a small state in the north of India. He also did a lot of talking or whispering to himself. I felt it would be (more) strange to ask the subject of his conversation.....

Of course, he stuttered a bit when he spoke in English, so I wonder if the self-talk was just his way of practicing conversational English?? Any stutterers out there willing to weigh in on this theory?

The barber shop also offers shaves and head massages. I tried the head massage--once. The guy strapped some sort of massaging, vibrating machine onto his hand and then oiled up my hair and went to town on my scalp with his rapidly buzzing, vibrating hand. It was all very pleasant until he JAMMED HIS FINGER INTO MY EAR! Yes...that's right...he apparently thought I might enjoy feeling his fingernail rattle against me ear canal and ear drum at several hundred oscillations per minute. My ear ached for several days, so I really don't recommend that technique.

On an only vaguely related subject, India recently received its own "remake" of the film Memento--titled Ghajini. I watched a friend's DVD copy of very dubious origins, and I can say that the film is absolutely nothing like the original. If I were forced to reduce this...experience into mere words, I would say that the film gives Charlie Kaufman a serious run for his money in the weird movie department. Ghajini is a musical, a revenge action movie, and a love story all rolled discordantly into one. You may ask, how could anyone possibly make that work?? Well, I've learned that the key to making a "romantic action thriller" is to open on an improbable love story starring Bollywood hottie Aamir Khan as a vigilante amnesiac whose entire history (and love story) is being recounted by nosy supporting players thanks to his detailed journals. This is still very weird--after all, you know almost from the very beginning that the female lead is going to get bludgeoned to death. I can't even describe the musical numbers--you just have to see this one for yourself. Apparently Ghajini will be airing in 22 countries with English subtitles. I strongly suggest that you find a time that you will not be taking any decongestants, antihistamines, or prescription painkillers, and sit down with this bizarre film. I can't promise that you'll be glad you watched it, but you'll definitely be entertained!

For folks in the Seattle area, this is apparently showing at Totem Lake Cinemas. Don't miss your chance! Folks in DC will just have to flood their local theaters with petitions, I guess....

What is the vague relationship between Ghajini and my barbershop? Ahmir Khan had a really crappy haircut in Ghajini, and film promoters had clippers outside theaters on opening weekend, offering teenagers the chance to receive a similarly terrible haircut. In his defense, he was supposed to have an enormous scar from being whacked in the head with an iron pipe...

Free Deliveries...

So, upon reflection, I have decided that my blog posts may leave the impression that I see nothing positive in Mumbai, so I've resolved to highlight a few fun things.

Andrea and I enjoy the fact that almost every business in Mumbai will deliver their product for free. We are currently enjoying membership in Librarywala, an online library (somewhat like Netflix) that charges us about $4/month for 6 books per month. Librarywala delivers them to our door via courier, and often makes the delivery or pickup within one business day of our request. Since we don't own a television, have no English language radio, and the only other way to get books is to buy them for ~$10 each, the library option is desirable.

Our local grocer, butcher, and newsstand deliver their products to our door. The big hypermarket delivered the ~$10 power strip I needed for free, from about an hour away (they also called about 6 times to confirm that the order had been delivered successfully).

I work late pretty regularly, but thankfully, all the local food we often order is delivered to our door for free. An order of chicken tikka masala and rice is delivered to our door for less than cooking our own food at home!

On the downside, there is apparently no structured address system either for Mumbai in general, or perhaps just for this part of town. Instead, our address includes two lines that basically give the postal workers landmarks within our PIN code (zip code). Getting deliveries from outside the neighborhood can get interesting, because I think the folks often end up driving miles of back roads until they spot the name of our housing cooperative. They arrive to our door sweaty and apologetic, having raced up 6 flights of stairs.

I need to figure out whether the older section of the town also lacks addresses.
GPS would really be handy here!

Thursday, January 8, 2009

IJM's Global Prayer Gathering

The 2009 Global Prayer Gathering will be held March 27th-29th in the DC area. I'd like to encourage anyone who is able to attend. Isaac and I were able to go the past two years and it was a meaningful experience both times. The schedule generally includes time for large group presentations and worship as well as breakout prayer times for each field office.

Visit http://www.ijm.org/gpg for more information.

Friday, January 2, 2009

Air raid sirens, cheese, and coconuts...

So the past few weeks have been hectic for us--but good. Though I spent most of the holiday break miserably sick with a head cold or sinus infection, we still enjoyed a relaxing time away from the city.

This place has it's "upsides", but I don't think any of them are environmental. The weather reports often just say "smoke" or "smog" where they might say "sunny" or "cloudy" anywhere else. If I spend any length of time outdoors, my skin will be dirty enough that I can wipe my skin with a rag and leave a smudge on the rag. If I breath through a bandanna or handkerchief on the ride to work, later I can see dirt colored rings on the cloth the size of my nostrils. In the first few weeks I was here, a coworker and I both realized that we occasionally perked up at the smell of cigarette smoke. Neither of us have ever smoked, but concluded that, compared to the road pollution, cigarette smoke sometimes seems like a fresh, yet faintly familiar, aroma.

Sometimes if I'm out in the city for more than an hour or so, I start to feel a stinging or burning sensation in my chest. It's not hard to imagine why auto rickshaw drivers apparently don't last very long here in the city before they have to return home to their families in the North. Thankfully we have a HEPA air filter in our bedroom.

Of course picking up smoking is not the only option for an odoriferous reminder of home. I can't get my normal hair paste/gel stuff here, so I decided to try a more local alternative--a pure coconut oil. It actually works pretty well--and as a perk, I'm reminded of homemade cookies every morning as I style my hair.

So I've covered smells.... How about sounds? The other night, I was jarred to attention by air raid sirens. I'm not sure I've ever heard this kind of siren except in movies set in WWII England. We don't have a TV, so I had no easy way to check for any breaking news. In the end I wasn't able to confirm the reason for the sirens, but I am fairly sure they had something to do with rehearsing citywide blackouts as part of the current standoff with Pakistan.

Apparently the Pakistani government is basically denying that the terror attacks in Mumbai were at all linked to Pakistan--even though there is fairly strong evidence of the link. Troops are amassing at the border, fighter jets are flying more aggressive surveillance routes, bunkers are being added, and citwide blackouts are planned. Apparently, Pakistan has also threatened to use nukes if India retaliates directly against the Pakistan-hosted terror network LeT. Since we live very near the domestic and international airports and a military base, I assume that any anti-air defense stuff is probably rehearsed in our area.

Those of you who know Andrea well will not be surprised to know that she slept through the whole thing. I asked Indian coworkers about the India-Pakistan hostilities and they seemed to feel this was just another in a long series of yelling matches that never amount to anything, so I guess we shouldn't get to worked up about it...

On the taste front, I am happy to report that I finally have a reliable source for a few basic cheeses! There's just only so much you can fake with the same blocks of processed cheese, so I was getting desperate for Parmesan cheese for pasta, some cheddar for sandwiches and Mexican food, and maybe some Blue cheese to put some kick into baked dishes and salads. Our local grocer was eager to please as best as he could, and managed to import a bunch of cheddar for us expatriate folk. Considering that he runs a bustling grocery out of a storefront smaller than my D.C. living room, that's a nice gesture. For the other cheeses, I finally noticed that one of the fancy "hypermarkets" that we occasionally swing past on the way back south after church has a little (import) cheese counter off in a corner. I bought Blue and Parmesan in tiny little 200 gram chunks and I'm nibbling away at it to savor every Rupees worth!

As for interesting sights from the past few days.... Apparently there's a New Year's tradition here to torch dummies of old men. The burning old men symbolize passing of the old year. From the rooftop of friends' building where we watched New Year fireworks, we could also see two different groups of neighbors setting fire to their straw dummies. One group first took pictures with their dummy, then lit the straw on fire. The other group used blackcats and M80s to blow up their old man. I can't say it's a tradition I'll be bringing home with me--I think I prefer embracing the "new life" of a New Year than the ritual slaughter of the old year. However, if I had to put one year of my life out of its misery, it might be 2008.

Andrea and I agree that this year has included some of the best and worst times of our lives. Here's to a better 2009!