Return, return to me, Don’t leave me here with nothing….

I’mm baaaccckkk!

This has been an interesting week if you consider that last Sunday I was in the US sitting in sacrament meeting watching 5 of my grandchildren participate in the primary program, and this Sunday I’m back in the branch in India.  Here are a few of the things I’ve experienced thru this week.

It is always hard to say goodbye to all my family and friends in the US, but it is equally hard to be away from Phil. Having said that I probably don’t need to tell you that this has been an emotional week.

Wednesday morning I began my journey back to India with my bags as full as they could possibly be.  My checked bag weighed in at 51 ½ lbs. and so after removing my robe it weighed in at exactly 50 lbs., Phew!  I had to take my robe out to Becca who was outside the terminal waiting in the car to see how strict they were going to be on weight.  I guess my robe will have to wait for the next trip to see if it makes the cut.  My carryon bag was actually heavier than my checked bag so when they offered to check it for free at the gate I took a few things out of it for the flight and checked it at that point.  So glad I didn’t have to lift it over my head into the overhead bins.

The total travel time is long and tiring with about 5 hrs. to Newark N.J. then about 5 ½ of lay over and then about 13 hrs. on to New Delhi.  By the time I got here I had a numb bum, a compressed spine and swollen ankles.  Oh, don’t forget that on international trips you need to be at the airport at least 2 hrs. early.  I think that makes about 26 hrs. of travel time after clearing customs and collecting bags.  I’m still trying to make the physical adjustment to all the time change.

I got home Thursday night and then meet a friend for lunch on Friday. We met at an area that I have not been to before.  Hauz Khas village is the name of the place and there are some ruins there which we took a bit of time to explore. It has become a shopping area that consists of designer boutiques, art galleries and restaurants.  I took a few pictures of the ruins but it was a hazy day so sorry they are not too clear.  This area was built by a Sultan in the 1200s and consisted of a water reservoir, a mosque, and a school.  It was interesting and I think Phil and I will need to go back for a more in depth visit.  Anyway, hope you find the pictures interesting.

Saturday Phil and I went to a Bazaar that is held for 10 days once a year and is put on by a bunch of artists and craftsman who come from all over and sell their goods.  The idea is that these artists can sell directly to the public and eliminate the middle man.  This allows them the chance to keep more of the profits for themselves.  It was clean (by Indian standards), and well organized, and a pleasant experience, especially since the weather has cooled off a bit.  We took a couple of pictures from the food court area.  You will notice our glamorous dining accommodations.  I was intrigued by the tiers of housing that surrounded the market and also the very large gates. 

I will end by describing a few of the other random sights I’ve seen thru the days since being back. Most of my sightings are of animals.  There have been the dogs and cattle, of course, but also, goats, donkeys, 4 young men riding pure white, slightly skinny horses down the road and, coming up behind a wooden cart carrying people.  The cart was bobbing up and down a lot and I was wondering what was causing that motion but when we got around it, it was being pulled by a galloping horse, not the usual slow paced oxen.  I think that is the first time I’ve seen a cart pulled by horses.  Oh, there was this little boy, probably 8-10 years old, with a black mustache painted on, who magically appeared in the middle of traffic to preform hand stands and demonstrate his double jointed shoulders by twisting his arms all the way around in one motion.  There are also all the usual people tapping on your windows asking for money and the vendors trying to sell you any number of things.

Well, that is an over view of my life in two different worlds this week.  Welcome back to India.

Phil’s turn…

And I for one am glad to have her back. As are all the members of the Branch who have been asking for a month when Sister Rae (or Sister Phil; they seem as confused about our names as I feel about theirs sometimes) will be back.

I thought I would add a little about construction here in India. This is on my mind because we are considering a new building for our main campus and I have been looking at sites. Major construction here is almost all reinforced concrete. They pour the vertical pillars, as you would expect, but what is really interesting are the floors and the walls between the pillars. The floors are what you would, at best, call a rough pour. They only make minimal effort to smooth out the surface. In fact am not really sure how they can float enough concrete, cement, or grout to make a flat, level, floor.

Next the walls. Between the reinforced concrete pillars they build a wall of red brick and then apply a concrete stucco coating on the interior and exterior walls. The walls are very poorly constructed with uneven runs of bricks with grout lines also of varying sizes of between an inch and two inches. There is no effort made to point the grout lines. Some grout spills over the bricks; some grout does not reach the edge of the bricks.  There are of course windows and, even in some new buildings, glass walls. However as I heard in my latest conversation with a contractor, they don’t often use triple or even double pane glass because it cost so much more and people rarely are willing to pay a premium for green construction. The pictures below give you some idea of what this construction looks like in process. Lest you think this is only one contractor, I have probably looked at buildings under construction by ten contractors since I have been here. All are the same.

One of the really interesting things is the construction crew live in the building whilst it is being constructed. As soon as the second floor is finished (serving as a roof for the first floor) they move in. They sleep on pallets or perhaps hammocks. They run a line to hang their clothes. They have little two burner gas stoves to cook their meals. They carry water in for their cooking, and as my father used to say, a sink bath is nearly as good as a shower. So rinsing off in a basin of water should be just fine. If you have read my previous blogs, you probably have a pretty good idea how they handle their, um “voiding” requirements. When visiting a construction site, there is more than one reason to watch where you step.

With that thought, have a good week.

Namaste.

I will wait for you, Meditating how sweet life will be when you come back to me

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The lyrics I have chosen for this week’s blog, from a song by Frank Sinatra, have a double meaning. The first layer meaning should be immediately obvious if you remember that Rae has been gone to the US for nearly a month and gets back this week. I miss her tremendously and do know how sweet life will be when she comes back to me. The second meaning will become clear as you read the blog and find out some of the events of this week.

Charu Modi, our founder, is a visionary. She is always looking for ways to push the boundaries of what we’ve done and what we can become. Part of her vision is to create a university that instructs and expands the whole person not just the intellect. She has a vision for an integrated curriculum/student life that would engage students intellectually, spiritually, physically, emotionally, and socially. To that end, we are always looking for ways to expand student experiences beyond the classroom. This week was an interesting experiment in that regard.

This week we have had Thomas Amelio on campus. Thomas is the Executive Director of the Open Center in New York City, which is dedicated to a holistic approach to developing and training people. They offer a wide variety of courses including meditation, yoga, massage, etc.. Thomas’ expertise, in addition to his management skills as the Executive Director, is in meditation. Born and raised in the States, he was trained as a boy by his father in yoga. Then as a young adult he came to India and spent many years studying in an Ashram (spiritual retreat) studying Hindu metaphysics and meditation. As I mentioned he has been on campus teaching seminars to our students, faculty, employees, and the general public on chakras, mantras, meditation, and healing. Part of the purpose was, as I said to expand the exposure of our students beyond the classroom and beyond the theories and concepts they are studying. Another aspect is to help us determine whether we should form a joint venture with the Open Center to offer a wide variety of courses to the public, such as they do.

I have participated in two of the seminars Thomas has taught. It’s been interesting on s couple of levels. I think I have mentioned before that about half of our student body are from countries other than India. So here we sat, an American teaching ancient Indian traditions to a group of people many of whom were hearing the concepts for the first time. Added to that mix were Indians for whom the ideas were at least basically understood and a significant number of whom were well informed about, and practitioners of, the concepts. This last group really struck me. What would Indians, who were trained in and practiced meditation techniques, think of this American coming in and teaching their traditions? Would they think, “What’s up with this gora (white person) in jeans and t-shirt coming here and teaching us? What does he think he is, some kind of guru?”

Well, if they did think that, they didn’t say so. I watched and most of the participants in his classes were quite engaged. Several came up to him after the sessions and visited with him one to one. Most tellingly, many of people came back for more than one session. In talking to some of them, they found Thomas’ western approach to the Hindu concepts direct and engaging compared to how a traditional guru would have taught the same concepts.

As for me, I found the sessions I attended fascinating. I had some basic understanding of chakras, mantras, and meditation. However, I never had studied these concepts in the detail I did this week. As I learned about the chakras and what they represent, I heard echoes of Jungian psychology and Maslow’s hierarchy of need. As I learned about the power of mantras, I reflected on the power that certain sounds (and music in particular) have in my own life. As I learned the concept that we are made of material bodies and “energy bodies”, I thought of my own belief that we are spiritual beings currently and temporarily inhabiting physical bodies. 

One clear difference in these beliefs, I know from my previous studies, is the belief of what is the ultimate outcome of the duality of physical and spiritual being. Hinduism teaches the ultimate state of man is to transcend the material and become one with the cosmic consciousness (a gross simplification I know). I believe, and the Church teaches, that our ultimate destiny is an eternal union of the spiritual and physical through the resurrection of Christ. Still, despite the differences in belief, there were ideas and concepts that resonated with me and which I was glad to learn and understand. In particular I felt closer to my sister Elizabeth whose beliefs are closely aligned with, perhaps even at one with, what Thomas taught. As I learned more about the belief that energy from our spiritual body can be used to influence and heal the spiritual bodies of others, I understood more fully how Elizabeth used those methods to bring comfort to our mom and dad in their last hours. Thank you, Elizabeth, for being a good, loving, caring person.

Church today was interesting. Last week we had a delayed broadcast of General Conference. This week was a recording of Asia Area Stake and District Conference. We started locally with announcements, opening song, and opening prayer. We then watched a recording from Salt Lake that included talks and presentations, from David F. Evans of the First Quorum of Seventy (he serve in my same mission just before me), Jean A. Stevens, First Counselor in the Primary General Presidency (and sister of our good friend Mary Griffiths), and Apostles Jeffrey R. Holland and Robert D. Hales. The meeting was very good, with a sweet strong spirit. Elder Holland, who has just been assigned to supervise the Asia Area noted that the Conference was being played in 24 countries, and in 17 languages. He noted the Church’s presence and influence in the Area was relatively new but the faith of those who join the Church, often in the face of significant societal pressure, is amazing.

After the broadcast, we had three baptisms. It is great to see the growth of the Church in India. It’s exciting to play a small part in that growth. Until next week I bid you…

Namaste.

Festivals of light, Candles glowing oh so bright, Different people have different ways….

So, I’ll start by answering the question that probably has been keeping you awake at night: there was nothing wrong with the car. Yeah!

As the lyric title for the blog indicates, the theme for this week’s blog entry is festivals. I am going to start with the one currently being celebrated, write a little about Indian festivals from a macro level, and then end with some reflections on the “Mormon Festival” we just celebrated. So, put on your festival celebratory clothes, sit back, and enjoy.

As I write this blog, we are nearing the end of one of the most sacred festivals, at least in certain parts of India, Navaratri. Navaratri literally means nine nights (nava = nine and ratri = night) and this festival lasts over ten days and, yep you got it, nine nights. During Navaratri, the nine incarnations of the goddess Shakti or Devi (Devi is a Sanskrit word which is the root of our word divine) are worshipped. Shakti or Devi are two names for the same goddess. She is the embodiment of the feminine, creative aspect of the divinity. Hindus believe that without the feminine aspect the masculine aspect of the divine cannot achieve expression. Goddess worship in several different forms is a defining aspect of essentially all sects of Hinduism.

There are actually several Navaratri celebrated over the course of the year and in different parts of India. However THIS Navaratri is Sharad Navaratri (it takes place in Sharad, which corresponds with our September or October). It is the largest, most widely celebrated of the various Navaratri. Over the days and nights of the festival, celebrants fast, eating only one meal a day. Additionally, depending on the part of India there are certain foods that are eaten each day and some kinds of food that are strictly avoided. There are religious ceremonies conducted in temples and at shrines in individual homes each day. In some states there are colors assigned to the various day so that it is most auspicious to wear clothing of the color appropriate to each day of the celebration.

In the TV show Outsourced two expat Americans are discussing the perplexing number and names of Indian holidays and festivals. The employees of one of the two had told him that it was Vindaloo Day and that everyone got a half day off. Now Vindaloo is not a holiday; it’s a type of curry actually, but the ruse by the employees and the exchange by the two expats is emblematic of the difficulty I, at least, have had absorbing and understanding the cacophony of festivals and holidays. I have to say, trying to keep track of each of the holidays observed in India and the significance of each is daunting. In fact, I am well and truly daunted.

Like many things in India, there is no simple way to understand the topic of festivals. Or perhaps more accurately, if you try to simplify the explanation you will certainly be wrong. Let’s start with the number of religions. A friend of mine (yes Larry that was you) once asked if India wasn’t known as the land of 100 gods. Within Hinduism, a great number of Ishvaras, or personalized gods, are recognized and worshiped. Additionally there are also many murti and devas that are viewed as influencing human life.  Those recognized and the relative importance given to the various Ishvaras, murti, and devas depends on the Hindu sect.

Whilst Hinduism is nominally the religion of India (historically one of the names for India was Hindustan, which means country of the Hindus), India was the birthplace for four great religions: Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism, and Sikhism. You add to the mix of Hindu sects about 14% of the population being Muslim (about 210 million people); about 3% being Christian (about 45 million people); about 2% being Sikh (about 30 million people); about 1% being Buddhist (about 15 million people) and things start getting interesting.

Now just to kick it up a notch, consider this. There are clearly divisions in Christianity, right? Lutherans see themselves as quite different from say Episcopalians. And while there are similarities in their beliefs, modes of worship, etc., there are marked differences. Additionally, how a Lutheran in, say Sweden, celebrates Easter or Christmas is likely to be quite different from how a Lutheran in Bavaria celebrates or how one in San Francisco would celebrate. Hinduism is even less monolithic, I believe, than Christianity. There are hundreds, probably thousands of sects within Hinduism each with its own gods, unique forms of worship, and celebration. Additionally, there are pronounced differences between which festivals or celebrations are significant from Indian state to state and how those observations actually take place. Now throw in a couple of hundred million Muslims, another 45 million Christians, 30 million Sikhs, and 15 million Buddhists, each with their own holidays, festivals, and traditions and you start to get a sense of the festival stew. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if there aren’t festival stews. With about a quarter of the world’s population and so many belief systems, SOMEBODY has to have a stew associate with a festival, don’t they?

From a business standpoint, trying to balance all of these celebrations and festivals to ensure you give time off to employees appropriately is really a challenge. There are secular holidays like Independence Day and Mahatma Gandhi’s birthday. Those are easy. Then where do you go? You can’t give everyone every festival off – no one would ever work. Yet religion is very important in India, so you can’t slight these festivals either. In some countries in Europe, the holidays you have are directly related to the religious preference you claim when you are hired. However, in India there is a great tradition (at least nominally) of respect and tolerance for different religions. As such there is some thought that segregating holidays exclusively on personal religious preference does not show the proper respect one should have for all religions.

What we’ve done at MAII, therefore, is to give everyone one religious holiday or festival off for each religion. So even if you are not, for instance, Christian you get Christmas Day as a holiday. Additionally, there are a certain number of religious holidays that are volitional. One can’t take them all off but one can chose which ones to take off within a set limit for the total days off. Kind of like a Chinese menu applied to religious holidays: one from column A, one from column B, etc.

I find the diversity of beliefs fascinating. I have always enjoyed studying and learning about different cultures. Often, at least historically, religious beliefs have a major influence on those cultural expressions. With formalized religious practice waning in much of the world, I guess one could say that is less the case now (not to get too controversial but I think traditional religions have just been replaced with the religion of secular humanism and now we are seeing the cultural manifestation of that). In any case, here in India the open expression of religious practices is still alive and well. I don’t know if I will totally absorb and understand it before we leave; probably not.

So now to the “Mormon Festival” to which I alluded earlier. I know many of the readers of the blog are members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints but not all. So, let me give a little context. For the 183 years of its existence the Church (as we call it) has observed and I would say celebrated a General Conference twice a year:  in April and in October. During these two Semi-annual Conferences, believers from all over the world either assemble in Salt Lake or participate by TV or Internet in six Conference sessions for a total of twelve hours spread over two weekends each. (Well five of the six sessions happen on one weekend and one session happens the week before.) During these sessions, Church leaders give sermons and sacred music is performed by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and other choirs. These “Conference Weekends” are considered sacred and special to most members of the Church. They are a time to get spiritually recharged, hear messages designed to help us deal with the trials and issues we face, and listen to beautiful and sacred music.

In India, given the differences in time zone, rather than stay up and watch Conference in the middle of the night, the sessions are recorded and then played the following week. So, while Conference Weekend was actually last weekend, we participated yesterday and today. Not to get too gushy, but I thought this Conference was amazing. Many of the talks were incredibly insightful and meaningful, at least to me. The selection and performance of the music was also wonderful. I found myself moved to tears on more than one occasion. There were several opportunities where I felt prompted to make commitments to improve my life and redouble my efforts to serve others and be a better disciple of Christ. It was a great weekend of renewal.

I had never thought of General Conference as festival before, but, I guess since I was thinking about festivals for this week’s blog, today it struck me that way. I do know that when a friend of mine, Mike Nowling, applied for a hospital administration residency with Intermountain Healthcare in Utah, one of the people with whom Mike interviewed said, “Now, Mike, since you are not a Mormon, I guess I should tell you about a religious event we have each October.” Mike said, “I’m not a Mormon but I know about General Conference.” The interviewer said, “No, I meant deer hunting season.”

I guess even in Utah there is a diversity of religious festivals.

Namaste.

I struggle for this one, reach out for that, I take one step forward and two steps back

Okay, one step forward and two back is an exaggeration but I do feel in some ways this week has been one for one, leaving me about where I started the week. No, that’s only true in regards to living conditions; work (which is what actually led us here) is making real progress. First the stand still; then the progress. Actually, first an aside: I said, work led us here. Does that mean work is Spartacus? [If this makes NO sense, don’t feel bad. It is an obscure reference. I will be pleased if one or two pick it up. If you are curious, google, “I led you here for I am Spartacus.”] Really, I am not on anything; just a little dingy this evening.

Anyhoo, back to the stand still. Friday, I got a call that our car was done. I was gobsmacked. They had said it would be a week or so; I was sure it would be more “or so” than a week. I don't think anything has actually gotten done on time whilst we have been here. I thought there was no way we would get the car back prior to next week some time. No, they had it done in just a week. I was pretty excited. It has not been awful but having to rely on inconsistent, sporadic public transportation has complicated my life significantly. So, I was practically giddy yesterday and today, being able to come and go as I wished. Well, so much for that.

Traffic on the way home from Church today was about as bad as I’ve seen in Delhi, which is going some. All of a sudden, BAM. We were hit from behind. Mehndi got out of the car. The other driver got out of his car. They are both yelling at each other. I thought my presence would... what? I really don’t know, throw the balance in our direction? In any case I got out and went to the back of the car, and the arguing stopped for a minute. The other driver got into his car; Mehndi jumped in ours and cut his car off so he couldn’t move. So in the middle of an amazing traffic jam, we had our own little jam. About this time, one of New Delhi’s traffic police came strolling up.

Cop: “So, what seems to be the matter?”

Mehndi: “This guy ran into us”

Other guy: “No, this guy cut me off, that’s why I hit him.”

Mehndi: “He’s crazy. I was sitting here with my blinker on. He just ran into us.”

Cop: “OK, you both pull over there and we’ll sort this out.”

So SLOWLY we made our way across six lanes of traffic to a little covered shed this traffic cop and his supervisor were “working.” I don’t mean to disparage them or their work ethic, but as I noted the jam was as bad as any I had seen in and they had been doing nothing to try and resolve it. Anyway now our traffic cop and his supervisor both listened to the whole story again from the beginning. They stepped aside and talked with each other. They talked with the other guy. They talked with each other. They talked with us again. Half an hour later, they proposed a cash settlement between the other driver and us. They proposed he pay us 100 rupees (about $1.60!). I couldn’t believe it.

So, in the spirit of full disclosure, now that we were pulled to the side and I had time to look at the car more closely, it didn’t look like there was much more than some paint scraped off the bumper. However, the bumper did look like it might be dislocated about ¼ inch. I was worried there might be damage underneath the plastic and sheet metal. I certainly wasn’t going to agree to a settlement of $1.60!

So, we had another 20 minute conversation. The other guy got in his car and I was sure he was going to drive away. Nope, he went to get his insurance information. It seems, now this is pretty radical so try to follow this, the cop decided we should exchange insurance information and let them (and the court) figure it out. 

Mehndi thinks a little touch up paint and it’s all good. I tried to explain to him that I want the Honda dealership to check it out, just in case, you know, there actually is more damage than a little paint. I don’t have him convinced but fortunately it is not his call. So, if things go well, there will be a few hours down time; the car will check out; Mehndi can apply his touch up paint; badda bing, badda boom, we’re back on the road. However, if there is hidden structural damage, then I am back to public transport.

Putting that behind us, let me bring you up to speed on things at work. After five months we are finally starting to see some real progress. The matrices we use to measure performance are trending in the right direction. We are hitting or exceeding our goals. There is a noticeable difference in the attitude of the staff. Saying this is probably this kiss of death but I think we've turned the corner (that one's for you Larry Capps).

Thursday we had our Management Committee Meeting (essentially our Board of Directors). These used to be brutal. The interrogation we faced included everything but waterboarding. Now, as I look around the room I see smiling faces and heads nodding vertically instead of horizontally. I felt like the meeting was going well but that was confirmed by two things Mr Modi (Chairman of our parent group and one of the most insightful businessmen I have dealt with) said. 1) “I don’t see any reason we can’t start planning on opening two campuses a year”; and 2) “Things are clearly going better. I now have confidence we are headed in the right direction.”

So, I think I had it wrong. It really is two steps forward and one back. It’s not happening with lightning speed, but we are making progress.

Well, that’s it from India for this week. Check in next week to see if, or how long, our car is out of commission.

Namaste.