Gee but it’s great to be back home….

We are back in India. We got back this morning and by the time we got in bed, it was about 36 hours since we woke up. It makes a long day. I am getting too old for this stuff.

The last two weeks we haven’t posted on our blog because, while we were busy and enjoying ourselves, there wasn’t anything to write about India. So, this week will be kind of a recap/catch up post and then starting next week we’ll be back to business as usual.

The past two weeks have been anchored by three key events: Jeremy’s graduation, the celebration of Carrigan’s birthday, and Isabel’s blessing. Likewise, this blontry (I have just coined this new word that is a contraction of blog and entry. Pretty exciting, isn’t it, having a ring-side seat when history was made?) will also focus on those three events.

Jeremy’s graduation was an event three years in the making. I am sure it doesn’t seem that way to Jeremy and Sarah, but the time to me went very quickly. The ceremony was well organized and nicely run. The truth of the matter however, and I remind myself of this every time I am responsible for a graduation, is for the graduates and their guests the only part that really matters is the few seconds he or she is on the stage. Likewise, the highlight for the Clifford/Lundberg family was hearing Jeremy’s name called; watching him walk across the stage; seeing him get hooded; and then the pictures afterward.

Lewis and Clarke did one thing I thought was unique and pretty cool. After the graduation ceremony, they had a mini-graduation for the children of those whose parents graduated that day from law school. I have never seen that before. It was a nice gesture for the families who also give so much so their “graduate” could achieve that milestone. Later in the day, Sarah and Jeremy hosted a family celebratory party at a local park. All in all a very enjoyable day. Now Jeremy just has to prepare for and pass the Bar Exam. No pressure though. It’s not like failure to pass that exam would obviate three years of study and preparation. What. Wait. It would? Oh. Never mind. I’m sure he feels no pressure. 

Here are some pictures of the day:

The next day Sarah and Jeremy hosted another family event: the celebration of Carrigan’s first birthday. Her birthday was actually earlier but they held off the celebration until the weekend of Jeremy’s graduation so his parents and Rae and I could be there to participate. The food was good; the company better and Sarah made an amazing looking flower of egg/dairy free cupcakes. In accordance with the ancient law, Carrigan “ate” her cupcake by mostly smearing it on herself. Pictures below:

The final event of the triad was Isabel’s blessing. That took place the following Sunday at Ben and Becca’s house. With Bishop Glausi presiding. Ben conducted a brief ceremony and then gave Isabel a blessing. It was an honor to stand in the circle and help hold her as Ben pronounced her blessing. We took some pictures and then went back to the park where Becca and Ben threw a picnic dinner and we sat around and talked until it was time for the little kids to go to bed.

Now that I think of it, there was a fourth event that happened a few times actually, both in connection with the above events and just because: Damn Hursts. For those that don’t know, a Damn Hurst is where the family sits around and talks: telling stories, joking, and generally enjoying each other’s company. The name comes from a Hurst family reunion held years ago in Blanding, Utah. Some family members were in a grocery story buying supplies for dinner when they overheard a couple of people talking about our reunion and the one woman said, “Those damn Hursts. All they do is get together and talk!” When that story was told later that day, the name stuck!

Anyway, next week’s blontry will be back to talking about India. Until then….

Namaste.         

Something familiar, Something peculiar, Something for everyone….

It’s hard to believe I have been back here in Oregon a week. It definitely has been both familiar and peculiar. As I said in my blog entry about my trip to Stratford University, everything is familiar and easy compared to India. That is even truer here in Oregon in the very neighbourhood in which we spent over a decade. It is also more peculiar: owning a house but not staying there; going to that house to turn on the automatic sprinkler system and wandering through the yard and empty house; trying to stay connected at work when the people with whom I need to interact are 12.5 hours and half a world away.

Let’s start with the most important thing: Rae seems to be 100% at this point. There is no evidence of memory loss or cognitive impairment. Since we are passed the critical first few days where statistically she was more likely to have a stroke, and there have been no more incidents, we are acting as if everything is okay. She has a follow up appointment the end of the month, but unless something else happens I assume this event is behind us now. On the other hand, we still don’t have a definitive cause and probably never will. The two most likely causes are either TIA (mini-stroke) or complex migraine, neither of which leave any physiological evidence. Not knowing why this frightening event happened, there is no real assurance that it won’t happen again. Every day we get further from the event, the worry is reduced, but should it be? Since we don’t know why it happened isn’t it just as likely that it could happen again and we’re just hoping it won’t?

Work carried on this week, almost like I was there. A couple of things worked in my favor. There is a large project I have been working on and trying to finish. I needed to do that whether I was here or there and that involved computer work and thinking. In fact it might have been easier not being on campus. I will say my travel induced insomnia also helped. If I stayed up late, I could communicate with people in their morning. When I woke up at 3:30, I would catch them in the middle of the afternoon. In any case, other than Monday when I was really struggling with computer connectivity issues, it was a productive week. I didn’t feel too guilty. Having just about wrapped up my project, I am sure I will still have daily communication and interaction with the folks in India but I should be able to enjoy my “vacation” portion of the trip much more.

The third aspect of this week has been involvement with family and specifically trying to help more since Rae wasn’t supposed to do much. Now she might say, “What? That was helping?” but I did try. We had Carrigan every morning while Sarah taught pre-school. We also tried to take most of the care duty for Lincoln because Becca has been ill so caring for Isabel, which she is uniquely equipped right now to do, took all of her strength. You add to this a soccer practice and game for Quincy and Colvin and a baseball game for Julien and you have good quality grandkid time. We also saw and interacted a bit with Merrick, Maude, and Lauren but our time with them was definitely less than the others. We’ll have to make up for that this next week.

All in all a good week of grand parenting. Definitely not something you can do very effectively remotely.

Namaste.                        

If you're in the game, Then the stroke's the word

I wish there was a fun reason I selected this lyric for the blog entry this week. However, there was really nothing fun at all about it.

As you may remember, Rae is in the US helping with grandkids. On Friday I was traveling on business to another city several hundred miles from Delhi; in a city with limited plane connections to Delhi. I had just gotten through speaking to the management association in that area and had gotten back to my room, when I got a text from Ben asking me if I had time to talk. I replied I did have time but I didn’t have phone connection so we would have to communicate by SMS. For the next few hours I was exchanging emails with Ben, then Emily, then Sarah. I love all of them but it wasn’t much fun.

To start off the evening, Ben texted me he and Jeremy and given Rae a blessing and they were just taking her to the hospital – they thought she was having a stroke. I was in shock at that news but when I asked why they thought that, and he described her symptoms, I unfortunately completely agreed. She had slurred speech delayed reaction to questions, drooping on the right side of her face, numbness in her right hand and arm, and inability to remember the names of family members.

In the emergency room they immediately began stroke protocol procedures and transferred her to the stroke unit. Over the course of the next few hours, they did a CT scan, an MRI, an echo-cardiogram, and a variety of other diagnostic tests. Throughout that process, Ben and then Sarah would text me with what tests they were running; what Rae was doing; what the doctors were saying; and basically trying to overcome the fact I was 13,000 miles away. I was simultaneously trying to figure out what I needed to do. I couldn’t decide if I should try to come to the US or wait. Even if I tried to come, I was unsure how soon I could get there. And what to do about the meetings I was supposed to have on Saturday? Should I cancel them and try to get back to Delhi? Needless to say, I didn’t get much sleep. I finally dozed off about 3:00 in the morning.

Whilst I was awake, I decided I needed to get back to Delhi ASAP. Nothing really could happen in terms of making plans to go the US until I was back home. So (about 11:00 PM) I called the person responsible for coordinating my meetings, briefly told him what was going on and asked him to make my apologies the next day for the cancelled meetings. I texted Emily so she would know what was going on and sent out an email to family and friends. I then started checking on getting back to Delhi. This was not an easy process.

The closest airport to where I was staying was about a two hour drive from where I was. It turns out there are only three flights a day from Vadodara to Delhi: two in the morning and one in the evening which I was scheduled to take. I decided I had better get there early and so called and asked the cab to pick me up at 6:00 AM. Having finally fallen asleep as noted earlier, I wasn’t exactly rested when my alarm went off at 5:00. The first thing I did was text Sarah to see if there was any news. There was and it was good! (Mostly)

The results from most of the tests were back. There was no brain damage; there had not been a stroke because no brain cells had died (the definition of a stroke). Further, her heart and vascular system all looked good with only minimal plaque.  The two causes that best fit the symptoms but lack of pathology as indicated by the tests were that Rae had either had a mini-stroke (technically a Trans Ischemic Attack or TIA) or a complex migraine. The doctors were stumped. They were sure based on her symptoms that she had had a stroke but the lack of brain damage indicated that was not the case. In any case, armed with a prescription for medication and a warning to come back immediately if there were any new or repeat symptoms she was being allowed to go home. I felt a huge wave of relief.

But the relief wasn’t complete. I had been researching TIAs during the night and had learned that although there is no permanent damage from a TIA during the four days after a stroke, 30% of people will have a stroke, often a fatal one. I knew we were not out of the woods yet, but I should at least have time to make my arrangements and get there. During the night, I had actually wondered if I would see Rae again alive in this world and if so in what condition?

In any case, I made it to the airport and checked to see if I could change my flight. The airline I was scheduled with also had a morning flight, but it was totally booked. I explained the situation but there was nothing they could do. They suggested checking with the other carrier. Fortunately they did have room on their flight and by 11:30 I was back in Delhi, in our home, trying to make arrangements with United to change my flight planned for the 21^st to get to Portland as soon as possible.

After about an hour on the phone, the arrangements had been made. I was flying coach rather than the business class I was scheduled to fly but by 2:30 Portland time the next day, I would be there. The next step was making arrangements for being gone from work and away from Church and associated responsibilities ten day earlier than planned. I actually got all of that done and had time to stop at the Church on the way to the airport for Brother Kuberan Arjun’s wedding.

While I was waiting for it to start, I was talking with the Slocombes about Rae and her situation. I got choked up talking about Rae and how hard it must have been for her to go through all she went through alone. Seeing the struggles I was having dealing with everything, Eric asked if I would like a blessing. I immediately knew that is exactly what I wanted. As he and President Jurial put their hands on my head, all of the pent up emotion and stress bubbled to the surface and tears came to my eyes.

I don’t remember all he said but I do remember how I felt and I remember one thing in particular. It was a unique and spiritual experience. At essentially the same time he was promising me the same, I felt the Spirit wash over me, all of the stress leave; replaced by an overwhelming sense of peace. I knew that God was aware of Rae and that everything was going to be alright.

I won’t go through all the details of actually getting to Portland. Needless to say I did make it. It was wonderful to see Rae. I just wanted to hold her. I thought she looked beautiful and although she seemed tired, she didn’t have any other symptoms that were apparent.

I got there in time for the family Mother’s Day dinner and it was great to see everyone (well almost; Emily and Kai will be here in a few days), and to meet Isabel for the first time. The reason we were all together earlier than planned was not a good one. It had been a stressful couple of days.  But now we were together. Even if there are still challenges ahead, and there may be, at least we will be together to face them.

We certainly are blessed with loving family and friends. Almost immediately upon sending out the email about Rae, responses started coming in with statements of love and support and inclusion in prayers. Within minutes her name was on the prayer roles of temples across the country. Where does one get such support? We are truly blessed.

Namaste.                        

I'm so tired, I haven't slept a wink, I'm so tired, my mind is on the blink…

I love the Beatles and these lyrics seem apropos for the title of today’s blog entry. I got back to India this morning about 1:30. It was after 2:30 by the time I got home and after 4:00 by the time I got to sleep. I am still a bit groggy and need to get my feet back under me ‘cuz time and work wait for no man and groggy or not I have to start work bright and early in the morning. What better way to prepare for the week than to blog?

It was an interesting week in Virginia. I haven’t really spent a lot of time with most of the Stratford people. I was hired; had three days in Virginia at three different campuses; and was off to India. I have spent a few days with the few of them that have come to India over the last year but that’s about it. I will say the more time I spend with them, the more impressed I am. They are bright, engaged people with solid values. I am particularly impressed with Benoit Cossart the Chief Operating Officer. When I met him a year ago he had only been with Stratford a couple of months and that was the extent of his higher education. A year later I found him to be insightful and well informed about the profession and our situation. I spent about four hours with him on Thursday. I was very impressed.

One of the things that I thought was interesting was that it was harder to communicate regularly with Rae from Virginia than it is from India. We try to talk on the phone twice a day. That we talk at the end of her day and the end of mine. Being half way around the world, almost literally, that works pretty well. Well, with only three hours difference it never seemed to be quite in sync. My morning was too early for Rae in Oregon. My night was right in the middle of her helping Becca with dinner and the kids. She always took time to talk with me but I could tell it was taking time away from what she needed to be doing. So, there’s an advantage of being back in India. Woohoo!

While I was at the Falls Church campus last week they had a luncheon to celebrate diversity month. It was pot luck and there were dishes from dozens of countries. Deepak and I were free loaders; I thought about running to the grocery store to get potato salad or chips (two iconic American dishes both of which I am proficient at buying) but no, I just went and ate what the others had prepared. And yes there was potato salad still in the Safeway container. Someone beat me to it!

As part of the luncheon a Western African drum and dance group performed. Well, group is a bit of an overstatement. It was a husband and wife. They are actually part of a group that has performed all over the country and internationally. I guess they thought a pro bono performance at Stratford didn’t require the whole group. In any case I did enjoy their performance and visiting with them a few minutes. Here are some pictures.

My week in Virginia reminded me how much I love and miss the United States. I enjoy travel; I enjoy adventure; I have seen some amazing places and met some amazing people. However, the United States is home. I know we are not perfect. Far too often we fall short of ideals – of course we will; we are made of people and as such we are imperfect. I still believe on balance it is the greatest country in the world. I think more people have more opportunity to advance in the US than anywhere else. I have to admit, part of it too is just familiarity. Everything was easy in the States. Even after a year nothing is really easy in India.

It may not be easy but it is home for now. I am glad to be back; I just wish my partner and favorite person was here as well.

Namaste.

And our way is on the road again….

I don’t really feel the joy of traveling embedded in this song but it is apropos for the next few weeks. I write this entry sitting in a hotel room in Falls Church Virginia, half way back from half way around the world. I am here for a week of meetings with the folks from Stratford University. I get back just in time to head off again the following weekend to Dahej to speak to the management association there and to meet with our group of MBA students. I then am in Delhi for two weeks (well ten days) and then I am OFF TO PORTLAND, YEAH! The last trip is definitely one I am looking forward to.

This trip was one I was really dreading: coach without any upgrades – not even to economy plus with its delicious extra 4” of leg room. For those of you not 6’4”, in economy my knees are already flush against the seat in front of me prior to the person in front of me reclining. And of course with my unnecessary extra girth, I don’t have any room side to side either. To make it better, I had small kids in front, to the side, and behind me. To make it even more special, when I put on my noise cancelling headphones, the battery was dead. I was all set for a crap-tastic flight. In reality it wasn’t that bad. I took an Ambien and drifted off into some form of unconsciousness. I can’t really say I was comfortable but all in all I had about four or five hours which I don’t remember, so there’s that.

I am traveling on this trip with Deepak Mehta, our Admissions Manager (you may remember Deepak from such hits as his wedding [spoken in the voice of Troy McClure]). It is his first trip to the United States and it is interesting to see it through his eyes. Born and raised in India, the only other places he has been in the world are Dubai and Singapore. Both are nice places but as Deepak keeps mentioning, they are no United States. He comments about how clean everything is; how beautiful all the trees, grass, and blossoms are; and how controlled/organized the traffic is. I told him the traffic on the freeways in and around Washington DC can get bad, but the truth of that matter is compared to India, it may get slow (even stopped) but it never gets bad. Not India bad, anyway.

Last week at work our focus has been on totally redesigning our webpage. This has been a somewhat brutal process. The manager in charge of the process has not done a very good job of ensuring things get done. As a consequence we are three months into the remodel and about where we were at the beginning. Charu has now taken this on as a pet project and with that has come clarity of vision and lots of extra work. I have had to edit every page as well as writing several sections from scratch. This in addition to my regular work has added another level of pressure and time requirement. It will be worth it if we actually finish everything up this next week as our plan calls for. If I have to get involved in the details when I get back in addition to my other activities, I won’t be thrilled.

Speaking of what else I have to do, I won’t go into all of it A) because in order to understand it all, I would have to write more detail than you care to read; 2) I don’t want to sound like I am whining; and III) I know you really don’t care. I will discuss one of the hotter fires. At the strong recommendation/insistance of our US partner we created an International Student Office (ISO) two months ago. The vision (simplified) is the ISO will be a one stop shop that will so satisfy our international students that even more of them will come. They selected Mr Ramdas to head it. I hope you realize from previous comments the high esteem I hold for him. However he is not a salesman or a sales manager. ISO was designed as solid line to our VP for International Relations and dotted line to me. It became clear to me a couple of weeks ago, I needed to be more involved. He is just not getting the support he needs from the US to make the changes in behavior he needs to make to be successful. So one of my key tasks while I am here this week is to put together a plan/process to ensure he gets the support he needs.

Our success this year relies on three key initiatives. A quarter of the way through the year (now almost a third) we have not made the progress we need. Making the changes in processes, and more importantly the culture, needed to achieve our calls is more difficult than I had anticipated. And I had anticipated it would be hard. There are times I wonder if I have made any difference in my year here. It reminds me of the situation with career bureaucrats and elected/appointed officials. Career bureaucrats often ignore or give lip service to elected/appointed officials. They know in a few years the elected/appointed official will be gone along with their initiative and someone new will come in, but the bureaucrat will outlast them all. Two years from now will we have been able to make the changes we want or will we be essentially the same organization, just two years older? Hmm. I don’t think I should think too long about that. That way madness lies.

I do need to discuss two typical India experiences. We mentioned months ago about our half bath being out of commission because they found the drainage pipe from the sink had never been connected and the water was just pooling under the floor (at least the toilet seems to have been connected correctly. Well it has been weeks since the basic plumbing work was done, but we were left with a huge hole in the tile floor and no sink (they were going to replace the sink because the existing one had been cracked and kind of poorly mended). Every day or so we would ask when the flooring would be done and invariably we would be told it would be done "for sure in a few days." Well that finally actually happened and the floor looks great. However, the sink was not connected, so for the last three weeks we have been following the same process with it. "When will the sink be connected?" “Two days perhaps three days” but nothing got done. Finally this week I got a text from Christina. The workmen were there installing the sink. Huzzah! When I got home I rushed into see the new sink. Yup. There it was. The old sink. Gotta love it. What took so long?

The next thing is Thursday, Christina called and said, “They delivered the couch. Where shall they put it?” Wait, what? Apparently there was a chaise that was part of the living room set the landlord put in our flat. He had had all the pieces reupholstered but for some reason the chaise was not done until now. Over a year later, since all the other pieces were there when we first looked at our flat. We didn’t know it even existed but now it’s part of our living room. It’s not a bad thing, actually. It looks nice and is comfortable, but we had no idea it was coming and when they delivered it they seemed surprised that we were surprised. Anyway, just so you say we never include pictures anymore, here is our new chaise.

As Yakov Smirnoff used to say, "And I thought, ‘What a country!'"

Until next week….

Namaste.

Without your children down the line, oh the drum stays right in time, and life goes on…

I love this song by Marc Cohen. It’s a little melancholy but with hope; that sets a pretty appropriate tone for this blog entry. A few years ago, I remember that during the same week my uncle died, his grandson got married. They thought about delaying the wedding but ultimately went ahead because, you know, life goes on. During this week we were reminded at MAII-Stratford University that while we focus on the rewards of seeing young men and women launch their professional lives, you know, life goes on.

Story one: This week we had a police officer and an officer of the Foreign Resident Registrar Office (FRRO) showed up at the campus. He was there because the car registered to one of our students was identified as having been involved in car/pedestrian accident. The car had left the accident scene but someone had written down the license plate number. We contacted the student to whom the care was registered but he said he had sold the car to another student and didn’t know anything about the accident. That student was then contacted. He REALLY didn’t want to admit to anything. Facing police action in a foreign country (both students are from Nigeria) has to be daunting.

Ultimately Student 2 admitted that he had bought the car from Student 1 and had been driving. With that Student 1 was off the hook but Student 2 was now in deep yogurt. A court date was set and then India raised her head. Mr. Ramdas did some research and found out the head FRRO officer with whom we routinely work is a classmate of the chief inspector at the police station that was investigating the accident. Ramdas asked his help in resolving the situation. So our FRRO guy talked to his friend the police inspector to find out what had to happen to make the whole thing go away. So it turns out, about $500 to the victim and a little something-something on the side for the police and a near fatal hit and run just disappears because, you know, life goes on.

Story two: Monday morning I got an email from a student. He was in the hospital and needed help. The day before he had been badly beaten by “an unknown group of guys”. He had puncture wounds on his head; a gash on his arm, a broken bone in the same arm, and several broken bones in his hand. His wounds had been treated, his arm set, a steal rod inserted into one of the bones in his hand. He wasn’t healed but he was treated, was ready to be discharged, and then India raised her head.  

The problem was he didn’t have the money necessary to clear his bill. His family also did not have enough money available. They had some assets they were willing to sell but that would take a few days. The hospital would not release him until he cleared the bill. They would hold him, each day adding more to his bill. Again, Mr. Ramdas to the rescue. He and I went to the hospital to meet with the student and hospital management. While I visited with the student, Ramdas went to bat for the student arguing the hospital should discount the bill because he was a poor student and couldn’t clear the bill. They finally agreed to about a 25% discount and Mr. Ramdas paid them with cash we had brought from the campus (I don’t think there was anything extra on the side).

I had approved the payment; I’m sure the family will pay us back as they can. I just couldn’t see what was gained by having this young man sitting in the hospital, day after day, with the bill increasing each day. After we got John released, we helped get him relocated to the apartment of a friend who can help him and which should be safer than where he was living. He will miss school for a while and I am sure he will have to go through rehab, but he is alive. The police do not seem to be interested in finding those involved in John’s beating. Word on the street is they are known. The people in the “village” are pretty aware of an ongoing interaction between John and a group of men (I won’t call them gang, but it could be so called) that has been escalating. I suspect John may not be totally innocent in all of this but I am also suspect he did not do anything to justify his beating other than being an outsider, but, life goes on.

The visit to John also showed me that my hospital experience could have been much worse. John was in an economy wing of the hospital. Perhaps somewhat related to the fact that it was a post-surgery/orthopaedic ward, it reminded me a little of pictures I have seen of field hospitals during World War II. However, I am sure those field hospitals had better staffing than was evident in John’s case. I will say the bed did not seem that much different from the one I had. Mine might have been newer, with a few less coats of paint, but the style and size were identical.

Story three: There is an old wife’s tale that bad things happen in threes. That was true last week for us. On Thursday we found out that one of our recent graduates (last year) had died. This was a tragic situation. Eric was a good student and had a bright future professionally and in his country. Apparently he had an illness we didn’t know about. He had been sick for a while and shortly after the first of the year the pace of the disease’s progression accelerated. We had to tell the students, many of whom of course knew Eric. Our moment of silence and my phone call to his father seem like an inadequate response.

Life, may, in fact, go on. But it didn’t for Eric. I also think while it will go on for our students, I don’t think it will do so without at least a temporary deflection. I am sure the events of this week will cause at least some of them to stop and think about the fragility of life. Some of them may actually be a little more careful.

Finally, today is Easter. I don’t try to use this blog as a platform for espousing my religious beliefs but they are central to who I am. I can’t let a day with as much importance to me as Easter pass without comment. I believe that Jesus Christ is the Savior of the world. I believe he willingly died and was resurrected, becoming a perfect immortal being, and in that process overcame death so that everyone who lives, or has lived and died, will live again. I believe that in ways we cannot totally understand, he atoned for our sins. Because of that we can truly change both our behavior and our essence. We can improve, grow, and overcome sin and mistakes. He opened the path so that in time we can become as He and our Father in Heaven are.

Here is a short video that captures my beliefs well.

http://easter.mormon.org/?cid=HPTU041514694

Because of Him, life, in deed, does go on.

Namaste.

May as well go home, As I did on my own, Alone again, naturally

Yup. That’s me. Alone again, naturally. Rae has gone to the US to help Becca and Ben with Isabel and to see all the family. I will be joining her in about six weeks but for now, I am back to where I was a year ago. In India. Alone. I am grateful we had frequent flyer miles so she could go be with and support family. I am looking forward to joining them also but for now: alone again, naturally.

We passed a milestone this week, one year in India. That’s hard to believe. As is often the case in such situations, it simultaneously seems much longer and shorter than that. Overall I am pleased with what we have accomplished at MAII/Stratford, although we haven’t reached the point I had hoped. I have enjoyed the service we have given in the Church and the relationships we have made. We have been able to see some amazing sights. I am learning more continually about the culture of India, and more clearly identifying the aspects I just don’t understand. I am disappointed I haven’t learned more Hindi than I have. I had hoped and assumed my understanding and ability to use Hindi would be much more by now that I have achieved. Overall, I would rate our impact a C+ or B- at this point. We still have time to raise that performance.

Well, moving from my report card to politics. Some of you will know I enjoy following politics. I am not political, per se, I haven’t actively campaigned for anyone in many years, but I enjoy observing the process and predicting what will happen. At one time in my life, I was excited about getting involved in politics and thought I might someday end up running for Congress. I am well passed that; I have no interest in the mud fest that typifies US politics. However, I still enjoy studying the process, the give and take, and policy debates. I guess I am somewhat like someone who enjoys football but isn’t a fan of a particular team.

So now here in India, we are in the middle of an election cycle (Thursday all businesses were closed for elections) and I have enjoyed watching this process as well. I don’t understand all the fine details of Indian politics by any means but I can identify and understand the broad strategies the different parties and Parties are using. In some ways I think I have the same relationship with Indian politics that I have with the great passion of India, cricket. I don’t know all of the teams and players; I don’t know the fine points of the game; but, I understand enough to generally understand what is going on. Here’s a very brief primer.

On a national level, India has a President who is the head of state and a Prime Minister, who is the head of the government. There are two houses of Parliament the upper house that is elected by the states and the lower house that is elected by the country as a whole. State and local governments probably have more impact on the day to day life of Indians than the national government. The relationship between the states and the national government (and ostensibly everything having to do with politics and governance for that matter) is controlled by a written constitution. The constitution does have a huge impact, but from my observation, it appears in this as in other matters that relationships are at least equally important. The great commonality of Indian politics at all level is corruption. There is an assumption (that I think is pretty well founded) that most politicians are corrupt.

There are more political parties here than we have in the US. There are six (I believe) national political parties including two formally recognized communist parties. The big hitter is the Congress party (formally Indian National Congress) which has been the dominant party since before independence. It is the party of the Gandhis and Nehrus. The largest counterweight, opposition party is BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party). In the years that India has been an independently governed country, as noted, Congress Party has primarily been in control. Periodically, BJP has been able to ride nationalistic trends into power but even when they have won enough seats to select the Prime Minister, they haven’t typically been able to hold power through the typical five year cycle.

This is one of those times that many observers believe BJP will break through. They have a very charismatic leader, Narendra Modi (no relationship with the Modi family with whom I work, or at least not closely related). He was able to lead a somewhat economically backward state into a vibrant powerhouse. Many people believe he can do the same for the country as a whole. There is baggage: Modi is accused of (take your pick) arranging, sanctioning, turning a blind eye to an attack by Hindus on Muslims in his state that led to the death of 2000 Muslims.

Given this last point, there are many Muslims, Christians, and other religious minorities who are concerned with the kind of protection they might enjoy in a BJP government. On the other hand, the economy in India has been bad enough, for long enough, there are many people who looking for a new approach and think that a Modi led government could be just that.

It takes over a month for the election process to roll out across the entire country. It will be interesting to see what the outcome will be and what impact, if any, the possible government change will have on what we are trying to accomplish. BJP is quite nationalist and in the past when they have been in power, outside investment and business has been discouraged if not banned.

Shifting from politics to religion (I know, I know; the two topics that should never be discussed). Last weekend was the semi-annual General Conference for our church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. For India, given the 11.5 hour time difference between here and Utah, Conference is shown the following weekend. This I knew from previous Conferences. I also knew that there were a small group of people here in India who translate the Conference addresses into Hindi so that those who do not understand English can hear the Conference in their own language.

This is what I did not know. This small group was online, real time with the Conference Center in Salt Lake. With copies of the talks in front of them, and listening to the speakers, they translate the addresses into Hindi. The translation is simultaneously relayed back to the Conference Center in Salt Lake into the headphones of Hindi speakers and recorded for future asynchronous listening and watching.  Somehow the idea of a small cell of people in India, being connected to a conference half way around the world, providing simultaneous translation for that conference blows my mind. Conference is available I over 80 languages. I have to assume this same process is being followed all over the world. Amazing.

So, let me end this blog entry with a little sugar. Here is the latest picture of the newest member of our family, Isabel. Too bad she's not beautiful.

  

Namaste.