Deewali!

Deep jalow! Deep jalow!

Aaj Diwali re

Kushy kushy saab

Husty ow

Aaj Diwali re!

In response to head set/head phone users everywhere who are virtually not really here among us:

Well, I’ve done it again: Alienated yet another person because of my discomfort with driving and cell phoning. The argument that when driving 7 miles an hour one is more available to multi-task or, This is the ONLY time I have to talk, or “If I can talk to someone in the car with me why can’t I talk to you on the phone?” isn’t lost on me. I understand, really I do. One tries to be efficient. One tries to stave off boredom. One thinks, “Let me do this while I remember.”

However, the way I see it is, “Let me avoid being here now doing what I have chosen to do, which is, namely, sit in my car by myself with thousands of others who are sitting in their cars by themselves, or with their kids who are also plugged into the t.v. or cd player or some screen entertainment or listening to their drivers yammer on their cellphones. I wonder what those infants are thinking while mommy is talking to someone somewhere, “Is she talking to me?” But what is really sad to me is

everyone is going in the same direction and yet everyone feels alone.

I take the train to work now because I can. When I am on the train many people enhance the experience by reading, (which I do sometimes too), working, listening to music. And some people talk. Amazingly, some people choose to be on the train and be with the people they are with! But really, in defense of the people reading/working/ spacing out with music is that they are focusing on just one thing.

This is what I aspire to. I would like to be focused on the task at hand, be it working on the computer, riding my bike(without head phones), walking around the park (should I wear the head phones or listen to the birds/tree leaves rustling etc?),or talking on the phone to a sibling somewhere private.[1]

This brings me back to my original point. Should I prohibit others from phoning me while they are driving, or caring for their children (or yelling at their kids in my ear), doing housework, or moving their bowels? Maybe not. Maybe I should just let them know how I feel being relegated to the equation; talking to me = or < "task"[2]

Instead of trying to assert my belief system onto them perhaps if I just share my feelings and leave it at that I can avoid alienating them. If I just stay in the moment of how I feel today maybe when I say, "I am not comfortable with you driving and talking to me at the same time." Their response won’t be, “O.k. I’ll talk to you next year.”

[1] There is something really intimate about talking with one’s siblings, at least for me there is. I say anything and everything to my brothers and sisters and I really don’t wish to share that with anyone .
[2] If talking to me was more important than a task like driving somewhere, you would pull over. And if talking to me was the same as driving somewhere, you would do both. But if talking to me has less importance than the driving, the driving somewhere happens regardless of whether or not the talking does. It all depends on your priority in the moment.

Alewife,

We received our I-600A approval from the Department of Immigration one week ago today. One more year to go.

Oh Ale,

Did we know in high school it would come to this?This name,

this ALE -WIFE, LIFE,

this AAAAOOOWWWIIGHHE?

This was my first week at my new job as the Permissions Coordinator at Shambhala Publications , Inc. I take the train from here to Park, change to the green line and take the E train to Symphonie Hall.

The last time I saw you was here, at the end of the red line, with Ella in your arms, small in almost every way except the bright light in her eyes. To my great surprise she mirrored even the most subtle expressions on your face, (as young children often do with the adults to whom they are lovingly tied). And what she mirrored was love.

We waved good bye here, at ALEWIFE, at end of the red line.

Or the beginning, as it seems to me.

ALE.

On thursday September 21, husband and I went to River Sing! on the Charles presented by the Charles River Conservancy and Revels, a non-profit performing group responsible for many seasonal celebrations but most known for Christmas Revels at the Sanders theatre in Cambridge. My favorite and most goosebumb inducing songs were Siyahamba, (We are marching in the light of God), and Fan-ga, (We welcome you with open arms and no weapons. We welcome you from the north, the south, the east, the west. And so be it.) There was less call and response this year, (I was told by Piper's mum, Lisa) but as this was my first River Sing! I was glad to be there and proud of my town, Cambridge.

Hello Bombay? I mean Mumbai? Can you hear me? I have been thinking things over since I returned from your excellent 13 million plus population city and I know I wrote that poem, “Bombay, I love..” but I have got a few things to say now that my Mehta paranoia has subsided and the first is, well, What Kind of Show Do You Think You Are Running Over There?? I mean what does a person have to do to get a good cup of coffee? You call yourself civilized? And nobody likes to be stared at as if they were growing huge eyeholes, not even Caucasian women, despite the rumors you have heard on your local broadcasting network regarding their status in the honor department. We are people too you know, even if we do like to rent elephants and while smiling and exclaiming, ride them down your streets videotaping.

Here I am married to one of your locals and I had the good manners to come to your fine metropolis and meet his family- your own people for Ganesh’s sake and you can’t even sell us a decent sandalwood statue without making us feel somehow un-local. You don’t treat people this way! And the peeing by the side of the road! It has to stop!

Didn’t you notice me eating with my hands? Wearing the Salwar Kamees? Giving Prasad at temple and showing respect to your myriad of Gods? Is that not worth something? And where do you suppose the white girl is going to go for her daily walk with all that staring and lip sucking? I mean really!

Do you expect to be admired on the basis of your cheap labor and ensuing influx of wealth without offering anything to the foreigner except non-resident rates, arrogance and a stomach infection? You will have to do better than that let me tell you. Yes you will. Good gracious even our mafia here has the good sense to dress well and keep their doings private, while your “wealth redistributors” continue to dress Bollywood actors like Patrick Swayze and then overwork them like Judy Garland. It is the year 2006! Wake up! The dance moves in Never say Forever showed your complete lack of understanding of American contemporary dance. Yes we are annoying! Yes we discourage littering, (which you treat as a joke because to you everything outside your house is a garbage dump anyway). Yes we are responsible for Global Warming! But do we treat you the way you have treated us? No! We haven’t! Not us Americans! Uh-Uh!

If it is inconvenient IT IS GOOD
When change is easy we think to ourselves Why didn't I do this before? But doing the right thing isn't always easy, like climbing the stairs at the Porter Square T station. Ever since middle age became apparent and a membership to the health club seemed like a rip-off and an obstacle to spending time outside I have decided to use stairs when possible.

Other changes:
strict recycling (not just glass)
electricity/water/gasoline conservation
making food instead of buying packaged

I better shut this computer down now.

The ghost of Charlie rides again.
Riding the mbta can be tricky. Yesterday I bought a charlie ticket at Alewife station. There was no attendant or tokens available. After visiting Shambhala Publications across from Symphony Hall I came back via the T and disembarked at Davis Square to see An Inconvenient Truth, (the Al Gore movie I think should be seen by all). When I was ready to return home I was unable to use my Charlie ticket and missed the train trying. There were several people in the same situation as me and we enjoyed kvetching about it. Ah, the joys of complaining with strangers.

Like most mentally hyperactive people, whenever I go out I keep a running commentary of things I see. Or is this middle age? Well, anyway on Saturday we rode our bikes on the minuteman bikeway and when we passed the tow lot we stopped. Got a good caption for this one?

On Friday September 15, I crashed Chloe's birthday party.

So far in 2006 I have made moccasins, an indian style shirt, a skirt and beer (with the help of my husband and Subbu). I hope to continue to learn new things in this coming mysterious year.

The crib I set up has remained untouched by the cats until today. And I got an email from our agency extending the wait time to one year.

Miss says, "who's your baby now?"

This message goes out to you, child

It gets harder and harder to wait for news from "the powers that be" regarding how we are moving along in this adoption process. Every day I reach into the mailbox hoping for that letter from the immigration department finalizing our approval to adopt and therefore signalling to us that YES! You are coming! I just want to send a message out to you, whoever you are, wherever you are,

We are waiting for you. It is hard not knowing when you will come.
We are here.

The crib is set up in a room we had painted greeen. We have clothing and soft natural toys, a stroller and a baby carrier.

People keep asking about you and some are even giving us advice we don't want. I guess that happens to all waiting families, even the ones who are waiting for babies in their own bellies.

The students I have had for the last three years have a new teacher now, Mr. Brandeis. We were expecting for you to come before the end of the school year and this is why I am not teaching this class.

Do you know what I am supposed to be doing this year?
Last night I attended the first Diversity group meeting and next week I will attend the Social Inclusion meeting at The Waldorf School.

See you as soon as you can come.

Here is the view from the island and an intimate spot from which to sit and gaze out over the surrounding sea.

These are the folks who ate at the picnic and were filmed by the crew, so interested in knowing ALL about lobsters.

This is the family that went to the picnic on Friendship long island at the cabin that Laurie and Bill built.

This is the cabin that Laurie and Bill built.

Here is a wonderful article, kindly given to wikipedia. What is amazing is that this knowledge was off limits to us lay people in the past. Art of living has study groups that discuss this gita. http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Ashtavakra_Gita