The postings on this site are my own and don’t necessarily represent IBM’s positions, strategies or opinions.
Loving Both
My mother used to take me to the Museum of Modern Art while I was still in a stroller and talk with me about what we saw. When I graduated from the stroller, we'd tour the exhibits and then go to the sculpture garden, where she would let me play, touching the sculptures, and sitting on the cool, low, marble bridge over the man-made stream/pool, swinging my then little-legs over the water not far below.
My mom told me that the first time we went to the Guggenheim, when we reached the top, I asked, "No more?" And my favorite museum of all was the Stamford Museum & Nature Center, where I took classes, ranging from how to identify local trees (oak, maple...) to how to draw cartoon-art.
Growing up, I felt like we lived in a museum. Since the early days of their cut-short, 27-year marriage, my parents collected Jewish folk art, which was all over the walls of our house, and even on the floors when wall-space ran out. After my father died, may his memory be blessed, my mother kept collecting and the art took over the house fully, in a good way.
Last week, my mom told me by phone, "I found a postcard from Daddy [may his memory be blessed], where he mentioned having sat with an assistant archivist from [a major museum] on a planeride." This was 26 years ago. On the postcard, my father mentioned the archivist's name, and that he was interested in seeing my parents' art collection.
Neither of my parents followed up with him...until the other day. My mother called the museum and the same man is now a head archivist and recalled the conversation with my father, and still was interested in seeing the collection(!)
Two Museums: Their Time Has Come
Last week, I saw a marvelous story on my company's intranet site, about how IBM helped the Smithsonian launch a virtual version of the emerging National Museum of African American History and Culture.
The brick-and-mortar version will occupy the last space of the Smithsonian's mall and meanwhile, until it opens in 2010, the virtual version will be popular, I predict, as it includes a memory book. I submitted a memory -- a ~40-word version of a previous blog entry and the automated response tells me that I'll be notified if it is published.
This emerging museum's journey reminds me of another's in parallel -- that of the National Museum of American Jewish History. Two 4th of Julys ago, my mom, Pat and I visited it in Philadelphia.
Currently, it occupies just one exhibit room's worth of space in a temporary building just off the main plaza in Philly, but it plans to be steps from the Liberty Bell, also in 2010. The exhibit that it's running till then is called "Forshpeis!" (Yiddish for "a taste" or "appetizer"), which is a great name for just one exhibit of more to come.
When we visited, the exhibit invited us to write our memories of Jewish foods on index cards and then add them to the metal index-card boxes at the tables, and to read the memories that previous visitors had added to the boxes.
It was so clever; they had set up a number of areas to look like '50s mock-kitchen tables and we sat at them and reminisced individually. And then we read one another's and others' memories -- just like the Smithsonian and IBM's Community Relations organization have enabled people to post their memories in connection with African American life.
Saturday, September 29, 2007
Cover Story Catches My Eye
The postings on this site are my own and don’t necessarily represent IBM’s positions, strategies or opinions.
"Accept Your Gay Child"
While waiting for Pat's hair to be cut, I found a magazine among the pile at the salon, the September, 2007 issue of "Savvy," a Magna Publication. I registered the irony of flipping past pages of gorgeous female actors and models who moved me to the story, which began, "How do you deal with a child whose behaviour hints toward homosexuality? Anupama Bijur guides you."
I learned about Sangama and about the expertise of a famous surgeon, Dr. Sudhakar Krishnamurti. I learned, too, that there's an NGO called Swabhav, run by Vinay Chandran and an Alternative Law Forum.
The article made the ultimate case for accepting that there are "...more than one or two sexual orientations" and for loving one's child no matter his or her sexual orientation or gender identity. How useful to see the topic and messages in a popular Indian fashion magazine!
"Accept Your Gay Child"
While waiting for Pat's hair to be cut, I found a magazine among the pile at the salon, the September, 2007 issue of "Savvy," a Magna Publication. I registered the irony of flipping past pages of gorgeous female actors and models who moved me to the story, which began, "How do you deal with a child whose behaviour hints toward homosexuality? Anupama Bijur guides you."
I learned about Sangama and about the expertise of a famous surgeon, Dr. Sudhakar Krishnamurti. I learned, too, that there's an NGO called Swabhav, run by Vinay Chandran and an Alternative Law Forum.
The article made the ultimate case for accepting that there are "...more than one or two sexual orientations" and for loving one's child no matter his or her sexual orientation or gender identity. How useful to see the topic and messages in a popular Indian fashion magazine!
Fresh Hair
The postings on this site are my own and don’t necessarily represent IBM’s positions, strategies or opinions.
Shorn 'nough
"Where are you from?"
"New Jersey, outside of New York. Where are you from?"
"Sri Lanka."
"When did you come to Bangalore?"
"Three months ago."
"Me, too!"
"How long will you be here?"
"A total of six months. How about you?"
"Oh, 10-15 years....I wanted to go to Europe, to Toni & Guy. That's my dream."
"Is Tony & Guy in London?"
"Yes."
I just had a look at its web site and I believe that I now have a haircut that's somewhere between its "avant garde" and "identity" collection. It's very essential (short), and it pleases me.
The man, who was cutting my hair was in his early-twenties, with orange-highlighted strands of messy-by-design, shortish, brown hair; dark-tan skin; a tight, white, short sleeved shirt with a mock-turtleneck; black, nylon pants; and long, square-tipped, black, leather, tie-up, men's shoes.
After my unfortunate, previous haircut, my mother said, "Sarah, when you see someone with a good haircut, ask where she went and go there."
I did.
Naming Names
"What does your name mean?" I asked.
He stopped cutting my hair and his face became pleased and wistful at once, "In my religion, it means...."
"May I ask your religion?"
"I am Muslim. What does your name mean?"
"Sarah is Hebrew; it means princess."
"Princess," he repeated.
"So, it's Ramadan for you now --"
"Yes, but don't talk to me about it. I have nowhere to go."
"I'm in the same situation. I'm Jewish. Do you know about the Jewish religion?"
"Yes."
"Well, there are no synagogues in Bangalore, and so....Actually, it's my Sabbath and I'm not supposed to get my hair cut during the Sabbath, but I guess you can see that I'm not that strict."
"I'm supposed to go to the mosque on Fridays."
"Right. There are mosques here, but it's not the same without your family, I'm sure."
He looked sad in response and I hoped I didn't spoil his mood, as I needed a good haircut. Fortunately, he compartmentalized the mood and went on, being artistic.
He rubbed a wax that looked like honey around my remaining hair and made me look wild. "I'm lucky you haven't yet gone to London. I love it!" He smiled and touched my shoulder.
Art brings people together, and commerce. I can't wait to see him again in six weeks.
Shorn 'nough
"Where are you from?"
"New Jersey, outside of New York. Where are you from?"
"Sri Lanka."
"When did you come to Bangalore?"
"Three months ago."
"Me, too!"
"How long will you be here?"
"A total of six months. How about you?"
"Oh, 10-15 years....I wanted to go to Europe, to Toni & Guy. That's my dream."
"Is Tony & Guy in London?"
"Yes."
I just had a look at its web site and I believe that I now have a haircut that's somewhere between its "avant garde" and "identity" collection. It's very essential (short), and it pleases me.
The man, who was cutting my hair was in his early-twenties, with orange-highlighted strands of messy-by-design, shortish, brown hair; dark-tan skin; a tight, white, short sleeved shirt with a mock-turtleneck; black, nylon pants; and long, square-tipped, black, leather, tie-up, men's shoes.
After my unfortunate, previous haircut, my mother said, "Sarah, when you see someone with a good haircut, ask where she went and go there."
I did.
Naming Names
"What does your name mean?" I asked.
He stopped cutting my hair and his face became pleased and wistful at once, "In my religion, it means...."
"May I ask your religion?"
"I am Muslim. What does your name mean?"
"Sarah is Hebrew; it means princess."
"Princess," he repeated.
"So, it's Ramadan for you now --"
"Yes, but don't talk to me about it. I have nowhere to go."
"I'm in the same situation. I'm Jewish. Do you know about the Jewish religion?"
"Yes."
"Well, there are no synagogues in Bangalore, and so....Actually, it's my Sabbath and I'm not supposed to get my hair cut during the Sabbath, but I guess you can see that I'm not that strict."
"I'm supposed to go to the mosque on Fridays."
"Right. There are mosques here, but it's not the same without your family, I'm sure."
He looked sad in response and I hoped I didn't spoil his mood, as I needed a good haircut. Fortunately, he compartmentalized the mood and went on, being artistic.
He rubbed a wax that looked like honey around my remaining hair and made me look wild. "I'm lucky you haven't yet gone to London. I love it!" He smiled and touched my shoulder.
Art brings people together, and commerce. I can't wait to see him again in six weeks.
Thursday, September 27, 2007
Sleepy...Yet in a Good Mood
The postings on this site are my own and don’t necessarily represent IBM’s positions, strategies or opinions.
I ought to be asleep now, but I've had such a nice day that it's hard to quit. This morning, I asked Chitra if "bindaas" was always a good quality.
"It's powerful, like your word, 'chutzpah'. It can be all-positive, and sometimes...." In our niece's case, I'm sure that it's purely positive.
Our oldest nephew, also 14, might have an upcoming sitar concert broadcast on YouTube. How amazing is this electronic social networking world.
Offline, one of our twin nephews, who's eight, ran for Student Council recently and got elected as an Alternate. And our other nephew, also eight, wrote a love-song and plays it on his guitar.
All of them will be taller by our return.
Not Our Typical Sukkot Season
Sukkot began last night and I know only because an online, multicultural calendar sends me e-mail of all holidays that I have registered for, by country. It extends through next Wednesday and I wonder if eating outside, by the pool here is at all close to sitting in a sukkah.
Thinking that I would give it as a gift to any Jewish family I met here, I brought a hand-painted, purple silk Afikomen cover, made in Jerusalem, to give away as a gift. Afterall, I don't think we'll meet more Jews and so I'm thinking that I'll give it to one of my colleagues, who hosted a Jewish cultural evening with his Christian Bible study group recently.
If he ever hosts a model-seder, he'll be artfully-equipped.
I'm also missing the turning of the leaves, but we're compensated generously by the African tulip trees all over the city, which bloom in September.
It's hard to believe that September ends this weekend. Tempus fugit; I can remember almost none of the three years of Latin I studied in high school otherwise.
Today was a great day because work was exciting, the weather was gorgeous -- cool and sunny -- and everything seemed familiar to me, like I was no longer a new visitor.
Incoherence is nearby and so I'll stop now.
I ought to be asleep now, but I've had such a nice day that it's hard to quit. This morning, I asked Chitra if "bindaas" was always a good quality.
"It's powerful, like your word, 'chutzpah'. It can be all-positive, and sometimes...." In our niece's case, I'm sure that it's purely positive.
Our oldest nephew, also 14, might have an upcoming sitar concert broadcast on YouTube. How amazing is this electronic social networking world.
Offline, one of our twin nephews, who's eight, ran for Student Council recently and got elected as an Alternate. And our other nephew, also eight, wrote a love-song and plays it on his guitar.
All of them will be taller by our return.
Not Our Typical Sukkot Season
Sukkot began last night and I know only because an online, multicultural calendar sends me e-mail of all holidays that I have registered for, by country. It extends through next Wednesday and I wonder if eating outside, by the pool here is at all close to sitting in a sukkah.
Thinking that I would give it as a gift to any Jewish family I met here, I brought a hand-painted, purple silk Afikomen cover, made in Jerusalem, to give away as a gift. Afterall, I don't think we'll meet more Jews and so I'm thinking that I'll give it to one of my colleagues, who hosted a Jewish cultural evening with his Christian Bible study group recently.
If he ever hosts a model-seder, he'll be artfully-equipped.
I'm also missing the turning of the leaves, but we're compensated generously by the African tulip trees all over the city, which bloom in September.
It's hard to believe that September ends this weekend. Tempus fugit; I can remember almost none of the three years of Latin I studied in high school otherwise.
Today was a great day because work was exciting, the weather was gorgeous -- cool and sunny -- and everything seemed familiar to me, like I was no longer a new visitor.
Incoherence is nearby and so I'll stop now.
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
Being Bindaas
The postings on this site are my own and don’t necessarily represent IBM’s positions, strategies or opinions.
Webster's Online Definition of "Bindaas"
According to my friend and colleague Chitra, Webster's online specifies:
Main Entry: bindaas
Part of Speech: adj
Definition: admirably bold and independent
Example: talkative and bindaas babe
Etymology: 1993; India
Usage: colloquial
Chitra has a 14-year-old daughter and my niece is 14. I showed Chitra my niece's Facebook page, which features a variety of photos of her, being silly and beautiful at the same time.
Chitra taught me "bindaas" upon looking at the series of photos. On the way home from work I asked Channa, who drives me, "What does bindaas mean to you?"
"Someone who is very free, Ma'am."
Please, God, let my niece always be bindaas.
Webster's Online Definition of "Bindaas"
According to my friend and colleague Chitra, Webster's online specifies:
Main Entry: bindaas
Part of Speech: adj
Definition: admirably bold and independent
Example: talkative and bindaas babe
Etymology: 1993; India
Usage: colloquial
Chitra has a 14-year-old daughter and my niece is 14. I showed Chitra my niece's Facebook page, which features a variety of photos of her, being silly and beautiful at the same time.
Chitra taught me "bindaas" upon looking at the series of photos. On the way home from work I asked Channa, who drives me, "What does bindaas mean to you?"
"Someone who is very free, Ma'am."
Please, God, let my niece always be bindaas.
Monday, September 24, 2007
India Triumphs!
The postings on this site are my own and don’t necessarily represent IBM’s positions, strategies or opinions.
Cheering for Our Host-country
We ate dinner at the clubhouse tonight and the cricket match between India and Pakistan was being broadcast like a drive-in movie on a huge projection-screen outside by the pool, with speakers blaring the commentary both outside and in. There were several parties of men outside and the rest of the tables were reserved, and so we ate inside, but still felt part of it.
Months ago, Pat found an explanation from Purdue University on the rules of cricket and studied them. She was explaining "wickets" and "20 overs" and "bowlers" to me and I was impressed. For three seasons in my early-20s, I played rugby and never learned all of the rules; I was in the second row of the scrum and mostly just needed to push forward.
I clapped and shouted when everyone else did -- then and tonight -- and had a lot of fun in both cases.
We returned home, which was a 10-minute walk under nearly a full moon, in cool, night air -- Fallish, but with bananas budding, rather than leaves turning colors -- and Pat turned on the rest of the game and cheered as loudly as she does for the Packers (who won their third, straight game yesterday; they're 3 for 3!).
India won! We heard our neighbors cheering, too, and I felt proud of India for the second time today.
This morning, on the way to work, I saw a great article on how India can become a full-fledged super-power; it was my first moment of pride.
Nice to begin and end the day with Indian pride.
Cheering for Our Host-country
We ate dinner at the clubhouse tonight and the cricket match between India and Pakistan was being broadcast like a drive-in movie on a huge projection-screen outside by the pool, with speakers blaring the commentary both outside and in. There were several parties of men outside and the rest of the tables were reserved, and so we ate inside, but still felt part of it.
Months ago, Pat found an explanation from Purdue University on the rules of cricket and studied them. She was explaining "wickets" and "20 overs" and "bowlers" to me and I was impressed. For three seasons in my early-20s, I played rugby and never learned all of the rules; I was in the second row of the scrum and mostly just needed to push forward.
I clapped and shouted when everyone else did -- then and tonight -- and had a lot of fun in both cases.
We returned home, which was a 10-minute walk under nearly a full moon, in cool, night air -- Fallish, but with bananas budding, rather than leaves turning colors -- and Pat turned on the rest of the game and cheered as loudly as she does for the Packers (who won their third, straight game yesterday; they're 3 for 3!).
India won! We heard our neighbors cheering, too, and I felt proud of India for the second time today.
This morning, on the way to work, I saw a great article on how India can become a full-fledged super-power; it was my first moment of pride.
Nice to begin and end the day with Indian pride.
Sunday, September 23, 2007
Bowling in Bangalore
The postings on this site are my own and don’t necessarily represent IBM’s positions, strategies or opinions.
Music is the Balm
Coming back from an afternoon of bowling and tandoori gobi (cauliflower) and murgh (chicken) for lunch, Radio Indigo (91.9 FM) played these three gorgeous tunes in a row:
For the bowling-lunch fun, we met our friend and colleague, who has been on assignment here from the United States so far for 18 months, and a number of other Indian colleagues, all of whom are also gay, but not necessarily openly so; all of them were men who seemed to be in their early-late 20s.
At lunch, I asked, "What would it take to start a chapter of our [gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender (GLBT)] employee networking group here in India?" Already, we have 49 chapters in 27 countries.
The colleague, sitting across from me answered, "The problem here is two-fold -- societally, there's not yet the acceptance....It's still considered criminal; and then all of the men I know don't think of it as a community....They think of men, seeking men only for sex."
"What a shame."
"Yes, it is a shame."
"Do you know any [lesbian, bisexual or transgender] women at IBM in India?"
"Yes."
"Do they feel the same way?"
"Yes."
"OK. So it's not about no one, wanting to take on the responsibility for leading the chapter -- which is minimal....Basically, all you need to do is have your name as the contact-person. Rather, it's about it being too soon."
He nodded.
"I'm reminded of when I was here two years ago, and I told the managers in my section of the leadership development program I was facilitating that they needed to be ready not only to have their Indian employees contribute to global teams across the company's matrix, but rather, from now on, to be ready to manage global teams themselves. And sure enough, two years later, it is routine for Indian managers to be managing global teams, right?"
"Yes, true."
"So maybe in 2009, we'll smile about this conversation and recall when it was not yet routine to have an Indian chapter of EAGLE [the GLBT employee networking group]....You never know who will become inspired to start it up."
They didn't wait till 2009 to smile. They smiled today with what seemed to be a bit of hope in their expressions.
Music is the Balm
Coming back from an afternoon of bowling and tandoori gobi (cauliflower) and murgh (chicken) for lunch, Radio Indigo (91.9 FM) played these three gorgeous tunes in a row:
- Al Jareau and George Benson, covering "Summer Breeze"
- Sarah McLachlan, covering the Beatles' "Blackbird"
- A live version of "Adia," also by Sarah McClachlan
For the bowling-lunch fun, we met our friend and colleague, who has been on assignment here from the United States so far for 18 months, and a number of other Indian colleagues, all of whom are also gay, but not necessarily openly so; all of them were men who seemed to be in their early-late 20s.
At lunch, I asked, "What would it take to start a chapter of our [gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender (GLBT)] employee networking group here in India?" Already, we have 49 chapters in 27 countries.
The colleague, sitting across from me answered, "The problem here is two-fold -- societally, there's not yet the acceptance....It's still considered criminal; and then all of the men I know don't think of it as a community....They think of men, seeking men only for sex."
"What a shame."
"Yes, it is a shame."
"Do you know any [lesbian, bisexual or transgender] women at IBM in India?"
"Yes."
"Do they feel the same way?"
"Yes."
"OK. So it's not about no one, wanting to take on the responsibility for leading the chapter -- which is minimal....Basically, all you need to do is have your name as the contact-person. Rather, it's about it being too soon."
He nodded.
"I'm reminded of when I was here two years ago, and I told the managers in my section of the leadership development program I was facilitating that they needed to be ready not only to have their Indian employees contribute to global teams across the company's matrix, but rather, from now on, to be ready to manage global teams themselves. And sure enough, two years later, it is routine for Indian managers to be managing global teams, right?"
"Yes, true."
"So maybe in 2009, we'll smile about this conversation and recall when it was not yet routine to have an Indian chapter of EAGLE [the GLBT employee networking group]....You never know who will become inspired to start it up."
They didn't wait till 2009 to smile. They smiled today with what seemed to be a bit of hope in their expressions.
Friday, September 21, 2007
Atonement
The postings on this site are my own and don’t necessarily represent IBM’s positions, strategies or opinions.
Today's the Day
Would I ever have imagined I'd be online on Yom Kippur? Growing up, I never imagined spending Yom Kippur in India, or that there would be the phenomenon of blogging.
Here I am.
Earlier this week, a friend shared amazement that we "...made it out of" our Modern Orthodox Jewish day school with "...fewer complexes" than we should have. It is a pretty big test of that thesis -- for me to be blogging, rather than praying and fasting today.
Due to my otosclerosis (the more serious inner-ear variety, which no hearing aid can help, if it comes to my going deaf, God forbid), my doctor has forbidden me to fast, since 2004, and so I've had three years to get over that transgression. Not being in synagogue, praying, though, is completely novel -- a first, I think.
(This is too much pride probably, especially for a day like today, but I feel the need to say that my hearing, meanwhile, is perfect. The otosclerosis was diagnosed in 2004 due to a sudden and temporary, 60% hearing loss in my left ear...so if you wake up or notice that any of your hearing seems suddenly to be gone, please don't wait. Go immediately to the doctor, as I did; he put me on steroids and the hearing popped back, miraculously, after 10 days -- often, it doesn't.)
Please Accept My Apology
Over the past week, I've apologized to my loved ones for however I might have hurt them in the past year and I'll offer the same apology here, for anyone who knows me, who I might have missed:
If I have hurt you either wittingly or unwittingly in the past year, please forgive me.
Today's the Day
Would I ever have imagined I'd be online on Yom Kippur? Growing up, I never imagined spending Yom Kippur in India, or that there would be the phenomenon of blogging.
Here I am.
Earlier this week, a friend shared amazement that we "...made it out of" our Modern Orthodox Jewish day school with "...fewer complexes" than we should have. It is a pretty big test of that thesis -- for me to be blogging, rather than praying and fasting today.
Due to my otosclerosis (the more serious inner-ear variety, which no hearing aid can help, if it comes to my going deaf, God forbid), my doctor has forbidden me to fast, since 2004, and so I've had three years to get over that transgression. Not being in synagogue, praying, though, is completely novel -- a first, I think.
(This is too much pride probably, especially for a day like today, but I feel the need to say that my hearing, meanwhile, is perfect. The otosclerosis was diagnosed in 2004 due to a sudden and temporary, 60% hearing loss in my left ear...so if you wake up or notice that any of your hearing seems suddenly to be gone, please don't wait. Go immediately to the doctor, as I did; he put me on steroids and the hearing popped back, miraculously, after 10 days -- often, it doesn't.)
Please Accept My Apology
Over the past week, I've apologized to my loved ones for however I might have hurt them in the past year and I'll offer the same apology here, for anyone who knows me, who I might have missed:
If I have hurt you either wittingly or unwittingly in the past year, please forgive me.
Monday, September 17, 2007
Forgiveness Season
The postings on this site are my own and don’t necessarily represent IBM’s positions, strategies or opinions.
Samvatsari / Yom Kippur
Just when I despair of gaining sufficient cultural competence in India, or of being able to relate to Indian religions' rituals, God gives me another chance:
Last week, I answered a cell-phone call in the evening because Indian cell service doesn't include voicemail, which is considered too impersonal. The person was hoping to become a service provider on a project I'm working on. I was to fly away to Kochi the following day and wasn't mentally prepared to have the discussion with him then.
"I'm getting ready for a trip tomorrow and so why don't we talk on Monday?" We scheduled the time and I hung up, feeling proud of setting a boundary around work.
The potential business partner began the call today, saying that he trusted that I had had a good trip. I told him the context -- about it having been in honor of the Jewish New Year. "Did you celebrate Ganesh's birthday over the weekend?" I asked.
"I'm Jain and actually, our holiest holiday is today."
"I'm sorry to be taking you away from your holiday."
"It's OK. It's the Samvatsari Festival of Forgiveness, where we ask each other to forgive us for anything we've done in the past year either intentionally or unintentionally."
No way! Finally, a religious practice I could relate to directly. "Did you know that I'm in exactly the same period right now, that at this time of year, Jews ask for forgiveness exactly the same way, for intentional or unintentional offenses? We have to ask one another for forgiveness up to three times."
"Yes, I did know."
"Why am I ignorant of key holidays here and you know my holiday?" (It was a rhetorical question.)
"I'm just back in India after living in the United States and the U.K. for 20 years, and my brother-in-law is Jewish. Did you know that Orthodox Jews and Jains work together closely in the diamond industry in New York and Antwerp? There's a direct flight from India to Brussels now."
"I had no idea."
Origins of Jewish and Jain Entrepreneurship
"There are probably three million Jains in all of the world. Like Jews, Jains are family-oriented and excel at entrepreneurship. Max Weber called Jains 'the Jews of India.'
We became good at mercantilism, since we were barred from roles open to Brahmins, which we couldn't be, since we weren't Hindu, and since we didn't want to be farmers, in case we might harm living things through tilling, and since we weren't often soldiers because of our preference for non-violence -- of course, we're soldiers for defensive purposes, but it's not a popular profession...."
"Well, probably, you know this already, but Jews became merchants because we were barred from the medieval guilds and were forbidden to own land, and so we couldn't learn trades or be farmers..." and I didn't say this or think of it at the time, but I think Jews got into the diamond industry, as diamonds were highly-portable, for when we were expelled from the countries where we were no longer welcome, which happened relatively often historically.
I'm writing this during my commute and we just passed several flower-bedecked Ganesh shrines. And the streets feature strings of colored lights; this festival, celebrating Ganesh's birth reminds me of Christmas. By contrast, though, the colored lights appear only on the streets, whereas houses simply display garlands of flowers at the tops of their front doors.
More Religious Commonalities
Earlier today, following my conversation with my new Jain colleague, a Catholic friend and colleague and I discussed how our religions treat Bibles and prayer books and we discovered that if either one drops on the ground, we must pick it up quickly and kiss it. She said that she was taught the same practice as a Catholic.
The commonality ended when I described how we treat raggedy Bibles or prayer-books, or any texts with God's name inside that are severely dog-eared; Orthodox Jews bury them. "Now, I've never worn out a Bible or a prayer book, and so I don't know --"
"That's telling!"
"Not like I've worn out my computer!"
We smiled.
I forgot to mention to her that if anyone drops a Torah, collectively, the congregation to which the Torah belongs must fast for 40 days (and so 40 congregants could each take a day, but the point is that it's a huge transgression to drop a Torah).
Note: When I looked up "Jain" in Wikipedia, I learned that the swastika is among Jainism's holiest symbols. That's why I see it on merchants' stalls and trucks and apartment buildings sometimes then...a perfect example of surrendering my frame of reference and replacing it with another in order to adapt to where I live now.
Samvatsari / Yom Kippur
Just when I despair of gaining sufficient cultural competence in India, or of being able to relate to Indian religions' rituals, God gives me another chance:
Last week, I answered a cell-phone call in the evening because Indian cell service doesn't include voicemail, which is considered too impersonal. The person was hoping to become a service provider on a project I'm working on. I was to fly away to Kochi the following day and wasn't mentally prepared to have the discussion with him then.
"I'm getting ready for a trip tomorrow and so why don't we talk on Monday?" We scheduled the time and I hung up, feeling proud of setting a boundary around work.
The potential business partner began the call today, saying that he trusted that I had had a good trip. I told him the context -- about it having been in honor of the Jewish New Year. "Did you celebrate Ganesh's birthday over the weekend?" I asked.
"I'm Jain and actually, our holiest holiday is today."
"I'm sorry to be taking you away from your holiday."
"It's OK. It's the Samvatsari Festival of Forgiveness, where we ask each other to forgive us for anything we've done in the past year either intentionally or unintentionally."
No way! Finally, a religious practice I could relate to directly. "Did you know that I'm in exactly the same period right now, that at this time of year, Jews ask for forgiveness exactly the same way, for intentional or unintentional offenses? We have to ask one another for forgiveness up to three times."
"Yes, I did know."
"Why am I ignorant of key holidays here and you know my holiday?" (It was a rhetorical question.)
"I'm just back in India after living in the United States and the U.K. for 20 years, and my brother-in-law is Jewish. Did you know that Orthodox Jews and Jains work together closely in the diamond industry in New York and Antwerp? There's a direct flight from India to Brussels now."
"I had no idea."
Origins of Jewish and Jain Entrepreneurship
"There are probably three million Jains in all of the world. Like Jews, Jains are family-oriented and excel at entrepreneurship. Max Weber called Jains 'the Jews of India.'
We became good at mercantilism, since we were barred from roles open to Brahmins, which we couldn't be, since we weren't Hindu, and since we didn't want to be farmers, in case we might harm living things through tilling, and since we weren't often soldiers because of our preference for non-violence -- of course, we're soldiers for defensive purposes, but it's not a popular profession...."
"Well, probably, you know this already, but Jews became merchants because we were barred from the medieval guilds and were forbidden to own land, and so we couldn't learn trades or be farmers..." and I didn't say this or think of it at the time, but I think Jews got into the diamond industry, as diamonds were highly-portable, for when we were expelled from the countries where we were no longer welcome, which happened relatively often historically.
I'm writing this during my commute and we just passed several flower-bedecked Ganesh shrines. And the streets feature strings of colored lights; this festival, celebrating Ganesh's birth reminds me of Christmas. By contrast, though, the colored lights appear only on the streets, whereas houses simply display garlands of flowers at the tops of their front doors.
More Religious Commonalities
Earlier today, following my conversation with my new Jain colleague, a Catholic friend and colleague and I discussed how our religions treat Bibles and prayer books and we discovered that if either one drops on the ground, we must pick it up quickly and kiss it. She said that she was taught the same practice as a Catholic.
The commonality ended when I described how we treat raggedy Bibles or prayer-books, or any texts with God's name inside that are severely dog-eared; Orthodox Jews bury them. "Now, I've never worn out a Bible or a prayer book, and so I don't know --"
"That's telling!"
"Not like I've worn out my computer!"
We smiled.
I forgot to mention to her that if anyone drops a Torah, collectively, the congregation to which the Torah belongs must fast for 40 days (and so 40 congregants could each take a day, but the point is that it's a huge transgression to drop a Torah).
Note: When I looked up "Jain" in Wikipedia, I learned that the swastika is among Jainism's holiest symbols. That's why I see it on merchants' stalls and trucks and apartment buildings sometimes then...a perfect example of surrendering my frame of reference and replacing it with another in order to adapt to where I live now.
Sunday, September 16, 2007
My Computer's Fan Died
The postings on this site are my own and don’t necessarily represent IBM’s positions, strategies or opinions.
Managing My Dependency
This morning, I discovered that the fan died in my nearly-four-year-old lap-top computer. There is no tech support for employees in India on Sundays. Fairly ironic.
I'm borrowing Pat's machine to post blog entries today. It's amazing how attached I am to my own machine. I'm also wondering what will happen to my iTunes -- a couple of birthday presents' worth of music that I'd love not to lose.
What would Leo LaPorte do?
When I've had parts of my lap-top repaired in the past, I've been able to overnight my machine to a place, where they've replaced it with a re-furbished machine. I wonder how possible that will be here. There must be a similar system, mustn't there?
My computer malfunction has to be a sign that I should go off-line and do some reading for school.
Managing My Dependency
This morning, I discovered that the fan died in my nearly-four-year-old lap-top computer. There is no tech support for employees in India on Sundays. Fairly ironic.
I'm borrowing Pat's machine to post blog entries today. It's amazing how attached I am to my own machine. I'm also wondering what will happen to my iTunes -- a couple of birthday presents' worth of music that I'd love not to lose.
What would Leo LaPorte do?
When I've had parts of my lap-top repaired in the past, I've been able to overnight my machine to a place, where they've replaced it with a re-furbished machine. I wonder how possible that will be here. There must be a similar system, mustn't there?
My computer malfunction has to be a sign that I should go off-line and do some reading for school.
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