it wasn't supposed to have been this way...this was supposed to be the culmination of five years of ass-busting, no-sleeping, working constantly work...it was supposed to be the attainment of nabz superstarhood and the explosion of ideas and brilliance and love

instead

the leaves have fallen onto the ground

and I feel like I've lost everything

Off to the Temple We Go

Today is Diwali, the festival of lights. Now, usually, I'd celebrate Navratri, Eid and Diwali. But because of this move over to the Real East Coast (a nudge to all you Canadians who think TO = East Coast), and the lack of beautiful brown people in my life (a shout out to all my V-City Brownies), I missed both Navratri and Eid. While people back home danced around Maa-Bhavani's idol and hugged each other after seeing the Eid Moon and after Eid-Namaaz, I sat at home and hit update on Facebook so I could see their celebration pictures.

Such was my life - until today.

I went to the mandir today - the first time in quite a while. Back home, I'd always gone to the VHP one. Even though I didn't really agree with VHP philosophy. But the pandit-ji at this particular one was pretty open, and it was the temple that all the Gujjus went to - so whenever we went (which was less often than our forays to JK), we went to this particular one. So I found this NYC mandir online, and it was the closest one to campus (but in the Bronx). A bunch of friends and I got into a cab and made the trek to the Bronx, expecting Gujjus and yummy food.

It was a Guyanese mandir - and was definitely not what I was expecting. If you've ever been to a Gujju mandir, you'll notice that the prayers and ceremonies are very sober (very Gujju in fact). This one was a tad outrageous (not in the negative sense of the word). We ended up leaving half way through (we were starving) and were looking for a cab when an aunty came up to us and forced us to eat (I love aunty-jis...). And she also called us a cab...

Anyway...so the point of this post is actually quite different from the Happy Diwali story outlined above (p.s. Happy Diwali). What's important that this is the first time I've been to a house of worship out of my own free will in a really long time. Now, I know I don't fit into the Hindu philosophy much, but, it definitely felt good. And it made me think...

If I can believe in a mathematical infinite, what's stopping me (apart from myself and academic/societal pressures) from believing in a spiritual version of the same thing?

Thought du jour, for sure....Now back to Charles Taylor and 'The Politics of Recognition.'

I Know I Can Die

you don't truly understand mortality until you are made aware of it

and then - you understand it a bit too well

NYC Dogs - Part II

Everyone has a dog. It's pretty weird actually. You wander down the street just after dinner time, and you invariably see more people with dogs than without. I think I've seen more types of dogs in 3 weeks here, than I ever saw back home. Today (or was it yesterday?) I saw the most adorable pug ever. Short, stout and a tad on the grumpy side, he was adorable.

It amazes me that people would keep dogs in their tiny one bedroom places. I barely have space for myself in this studio of mine, let alone a s***ting and smelling dog. I can't bathe it every day, and this city is so frigging dirty that it would probably be horribly in need of a bathe after every walk! I feel like I need one after I go out - and I wear clothes and shoes! Sigh.

Apart from the spatial and nasal issues of dog rearing and handling in this city, I've wondered for a while just why so many people feel the need for the 4-legged creatures. The only plausible, and somewhat sensical, explanation I have come up with is this:

People here are so lonely, that they need the added comfort in their lives that 'man's-best-friends' give. They'd have babies, but they're too busy trying to live and make money to spend 9-months gestating or helping gestate...

The End of Everything?

Come-on Shelly, not everything is dying is it? First you write Death of Sanskrit (fascinating by the way), and now your most recent article is on the Death of Philology. Sigh.

I really hope you're not depressing. I guess we'll see tomorrow. You're really cool - everyone who's done any Sanskrit (myself included) thinks so. I really hope you're cool.

But, I'm sorry.

The Tyra show is much more interesting at this point than the article.

(ps - I really haven't had a break for a while, so it's also an excuse to relax)

Academic Heaven

So today, I went to a lecture hosted by Nobel Laureate Jagdish Bhagwati, and featuring the Indian Minister of State for the Environment - Jairam Ramesh.

I'm in love with Indian politics (if you hadn't noticed yet). And the lecture was fascinating! It was great to see how the type of people in Indian politics has changed over the past few years. Ramesh was eloquent, impeccably dressed in a white kurta and blue vest (and with the coolest hair!), and quite funny as well. I also wanted to appropriate his accent - sometimes my 'eh' tinged Canadian accent sounds so boring. Sigh.

Anyway. Ramesh spoke about India's road to Copenhagen and the various processes that have been put into place, and are being put into place, for the upcoming climate change summit. What was fascinating though, apart from the numbers and the action being undertaken by the ministry, was how much India has started to assert itself on the world stage. India's desire to be at the top of the world, in terms of power and influence, was apparent - nay, tangible - in every sentence.

I'm not going to post the notes I took, but will leave you with my favourite quote of the afternoon - from Jairam Ramesh, of course...

And I'm paraphrasing here..

"Why is climate change such an important issue for India? It's because India is completely dependent on climate - economically, socially, culturally. Think about it - what would Bollywood do if the rains stopped coming?"

Hilarious.

NYC Dogs - Part I

Part I because this post was supposed to be about them and is now about something completely unrelated that came up in a conversation with BKScope.

Here it is:

It's like he's become a part of you and you don't really know why or how you let him do that. And you'd like him to leave you alone, but he kinda gives you solace by being there. But it hurts...and oh it's so complicated. And then you can't decide whether you're happy or sad that you miss him...

Men.

*shakes head*

Tear you apart and don't even know it.