India

I am going to India from August 1 - 22 with my parents and brother, Neil. We haven't traveled together to India since 2002, and so I'm especially excited that this trip will be shared as a nearly complete family (Neetu will be greatly missed). I felt an especially deep calling to India this year, and I don't know why. I think being in Germany and therefore away from my two homelands has made me reflect even more on my identity and what it consists of. It's easy to hop from Indian to American culture and back and not even have to think about it...when I'm in India or America, that is. Germany is a bit different. I now live in a neutral third party where I can't cling to former identities. I had a hard time with this at first, but after thinking about it and sorting things out with Neetu (my brilliant sister whose main research deals with cultural/immigrant identity issues), I realized that 1). I don't have to define myself based on anyone else's definitions or expectations (aka "you speak broken Hindi and therefore you aren't Indian" - I say BS to that, and won't prescribe to what someone tells me about who I am) and 2). being Indian-American and therefore having a 'mixed idenitity' is beautiful for just that reason - it's not the former or the latter, but rather something that can be defined based on what values one chooses to preserve from both cultures. For example, my cousin in Germany is raising Ahren, my nephew, to speak Marwari and Marathi fluently. At the age of 4, he has a wonderful command of Marwari. Contras this with my Indian tongue, which is somewhat functional but is more or less a mess of three different languages awkwardly strung together. It's something that I will sort out via Hindi classes once I move back to the States, or rather, once my German is fluent enough to my liking. Didi, however, allows Ahren to eat meat, something that our Marwari culture does not support. I personally do not desire to ever eat meat nor will I raise children who do. The question here is not over who is wrong or right, but rather, which values we've both chosen to uphold. It's all relative from person to person, family to family. Being someone who is very interested in languages and cultures in the world at large, I'm sure that I'll always have identity issues. And in the end, they're good for us - they build character. Understanding comes, however, when I realize that I am who I am and that's all that matters.

Imagine

Hi! I know I've not written for awhile, and I will later when I have more time. However, I just listened to John Lennon's "Imagine" and as cliche as it is, I have to put the lyrics up because they really speak truth. Enjoy :) Imagine there's no heaven It's easy if you try No hell below us Above us only sky Imagine all the people Living for today... Imagine there's no countries It isn't hard to do Nothing to kill or die for And no religion too Imagine all the people Living life in peace... You may say I'm a dreamer But I'm not the only one I hope someday you'll join us And the world will be as one Imagine no possessions I wonder if you can No need for greed or hunger A brotherhood of man Imagine all the people Sharing all the world... You may say I'm a dreamer But I'm not the only one I hope someday you'll join us And the world will live as one

save the world? Hm.

...or at least the Fjords in Norway. A friend sent me an interesting email concerning a discussion she had with someone else. They were talking about the planet and its doom etc. etc. and this person said, "I think we need to work from a more love-based perspective rather than from a fear-driven one." I know, that sounds all yoga-y and New Age but that comment taps into something that underlies the basic reason for discord on the planet. Fear. I prefer to not define it as "good" or "bad" but rather a powerful emotion & instinct that influences everyone in some way or another. Fear has its place, but when problem solving in general, it's probably not the best stance to work from. I've never had kids, but from what I understand, the best parents work from love and not fear. The earth is like a child for all of us in that we have to take care of it and do the best we can to ensure for a safe future. I understand that not everyone can go out and afford a hybrid car, but such drastic changes aren't required on everyone's behalf (cracking down on overfishing in the oceans - see an earlier entry - = drastic change that should happen.). It's all about the greatness in small things. Since living in Europe, I feel as though my lifestyle is very different and much more aware. For example, I can't think of the last time I used a dryer for my clothes, I use candles all the time when serving dinner and in other instances in order to save electricity, and I take a shower for about 7 minutes during which most of the time the water is turned off. I have yet to see one garbage disposal in a sink here (everyone composts) and the German system of recycling is one of the most efficient and well organized I've ever come across. Europeans keep their heating on an absolute minimum, and while the chilly temperature does initially take some getting used to, there is much more sense in the end in putting on an extra sweater than upping the thermostat. Europeans have had to adapt to the conservationist lifestyle early on simply because their natural resources are so limited. It's as though America's greatest strength (our abundance of natural resources) fuels and provokes our greatest weakness (our need for excessive luxury and comfort - I mean, large Italian restaurants who require tomato paste aside, do we really need electronic can openers?). Our ability to change and innovate as a collective group is perhaps the most amazing aspect of human civilization. It has gotten us this far in our survival on this planet, and I don't see why it can't take us even further.