Alternate Vision

Alex walks into my room. Grabs my laptop and google searches "surya blog".
This is what showed up:Lama Surya Das . Is it a coincidence that we share the same template? Oh and he has a website in my name surya.org.

Cosmis forces at work. I have fever. Gnite.

Soar throat. Sunday salsa class has become a ritual for me now. Dwipp normally likes to start off each class with a recap of what we have learnt, before moving on to the new stuff. I finally have a 'portfolio' of moves that I can effectively unleash on the dance floor. Latin women have this preconcieved mindset that Asians and Indians alike cannot salsa dance. This makes it extra hard to entice a lady into dancing, especially when her first response is "do you really know how to dance?"as if questioning whether dancing with me will be worth her time. So it always lands up being a challenge to shatter this mindset, to leave her enthralled and in awe. But then, ever so often, I recieve those blatant reminders on the dance floor that I was not born to salsa (desi blood) and that I have a LONG way to go; these reminders invariably appear in the form of some super human couple who effortlessly execute some random assortment of turn sequences and accompanying footwork patterns that force a jaw-drop. I see it as motivation to improve and get better. Loving every second of it.
Off to Pittsburgh this week. So far I have the contacts of two people: Madhav, charsi Karan's cousin who goes to CMU. Apparently he was once responsible for singe handedly burning down a whole house in the foothills of the Himalayas. The other one is the sister of Ricardo, my Japanese-Peruvian neighbor and friend. I was informed yesterday that the valedictorian from my high-school, Amrita, will be moving there to get her PhD at U of Pittsburgh. Exciting news. If anyone has any more contacts to add to this list I would appreciate it. Eleven more days to Spring Break 97 part IV. El Salvadorian visa arrived in the mail today. Arun may come down either for Eeyore's or the reception weekend. That oloshi is going to the Bahamas this Friday. I must finish this law brief now and call Ali to wish him. I shall leave you with a quote on traveling:

The use of traveling is to regulate imagination with reality and, instead of thinking how things might be, to see them as they are.
-Dr. Samuel Jonhson

Om Shanti

There are greater lessons to be learnt in life than what our college education and experience has given us. I realise that we may very well never become aware of it, or we may stumble upon it at an unpredictable point in our lives. But, what is more important is being aware of the existence of these lessons and that the pursuit of this sublime knowledge will indeed be an enlightening experience. Understanding such truths will not only help transcend a lot of the personal downs that we face, but will also empower us to identify and drop those parts of our ourselves that love to sit in judgement of everything.

Anderson tells me that Ong-Bak is one of the best martial arts movies he has seen. No wires, no computer graphics or stunt doubles. Watch the trailor. Not for the weak of heart (bone cracking and all). Shitty story line, but a great action movie. Done watching "where's the party yaar?". Cheezy, cheezy...but it put a smile on my face. The incredibles is next on the list. That and Black. Colt 45 and two zig-zags baby, its FRIDAY!

After my early dinner, which consisted of spicy Italian sausage, fresh habanero salsa, sour cream, bell peppers and onions, wrapped in flour tortillas and Milo, I felt the overwhelming urge to lie in bed and subject my intellect to the literary genius that is Vonnegut. But I was to be rudely disturbed, by none other than Watson himself. "Full moon night, old chap" he says. "Where? when?" I respond. "I'm on my way, bring your drum" says he. "With pleasure" says I.
So we drummed the night away, under the brilliant spectacle of a rather huge moon, accompanied by the usual crowd- hipsters, beatniks, pagans, fire twirlers, one violinist and a handfull of talented percussionists. Its a therapeutic experience and can often lead one to a meditative state of mind I have found. Soothing, relaxing and healing.
But it didn't stop there. He wouldn't have it. So we joined the ballroom dancing club folk at the Posse for a much needed beer.

So my cousin brother Kedar just won a dance competition in Singapore. Apparently the theme was salsa and Indian fusion. Am still trying to fathom how that is possible. Vertical bounce motion of the shoulders coupled with side ways hip swinging? Bhangda meets latin dancing! The thought cracks me up. What will people come up with next? I have requested pictures.
I adore the boy though. Apparently his mom will be relocating to Singapore from Bangalore as the Principal of Delhi Public School International. Super cool. I get to see him in Bombay after, gosh, two years. Oh I miss home. I get to attend a full on Panju wedding, see this fool, pig out on, well, EVERYTHING..travel travel, see close close family and friends, and the list goes on. I have half a mind to spend my whole summer there and realize every dream I have had. Learn the tabla or sitar, practise Hindi and Tamil, possibly venture out to Bodhgaya, spend time with cousins, aunts and grandparents who I haven't seen in a while, volunteer with one of three NGOs that I have been in touch with, pay homage to Manali, Vaishnav Devi, the Himalayas and maybe Calcutta. I want to make it up north, but I doubt time will permit me. Hence, the inclination to just spend the summer there.

Thinking thinking....oh visa to El Salvador has been arranged for.

So this weekend, I discovered two brilliant things in Austin. First, the soup peddler. In this complex, time-driven world of fast and not-so-healthy food, the concept of having fresh soup delivered to your home, on bike, is indeed quaint. Weird you say, huh. Well, this whole idea was inspired by the slow food movement, that apparently began in Europe.
"As Americans, we are especially alienated from our food. With the rise of the supermarket and the demise of the baker, the butcher, and the milkman, our food has become more and more commodified and less and less a product of nature shaped by human hands.

As a result, food has been relegated to fuel for our other pursuits, something that is accurately quantified (53% less fat!) and shoved lengthwise into our digestive tubes with a minimum of effort and a maximum toll on our spirits." - Souppeddler.com

And what an awesome, mouth watering array of soups they have to offer. I was introduced to the soup peddler today, at this live show I attended, which was actually meant to benefit a similar cause as is described above. My first time at Tamboleo. Little cups of hot lemon-zucchini soup were served along with cheese and crackers. All of this was washed down with some good ol shiner bock. This peddler guy is my new hero.
Oh and the second brilliant discovery I made - Grupo Fantasma



What kind of music?
"No nonsense cumbia de la frontera, aggresive Fania-esque salsa, Afro-funk that would make Earth, Wind & Fire proud, and the modern sensibility of Jamaica's dancehall sound."
My feet are cramping on me. Thats how good they were. I must have danced for a good five hours today. Finishing up my two page brief, then on to Deadeye Dick. Yes, yes I still haven't read it. Then, sleep.

If Techno was Played with Brushes and Balafon…

Electro-Bamako Ping Pongs Mali and France

Just as Heller would question, I would too. How many naps can one take in the early morning, afternoon, late afternoon, before dinner and after dinner before one fairly declares oneself moribund?
All afternoon, amidst sitting through drudging lectures on contract law, reading alternatively Piotrowski's design journal and Heller's Portrat Of An Artist, all I wanted to do (and still do) is fall prey to my silky soft bed. Maybe cos the latter half of last night was spent tossing and turning in bed; I was apparently subconsiously immersed in the world of temples, katanas and small eyes. I just need to get out of this full suit I think. Nathan seemed more preoccupied with my luminiscent yellow-blue tie and my language skills than with my ability to tackle a mind puzzle.

I shall leave you with Anderson's response to an online personal ad:
"So, it's been quite a while since I've tried the online dating thing, but if I remember well, it's that first meeting where one discovers whether there seems to be any sort of connection. I'll certainly say that I'm sufficiently interested to suggest meeting for a (relatively
safe) coffee or similar escapade. As Tamiyo Kusakari asked so much more eloquently than Jennifer Lopez, "Shall we dance?"

Speaking of dance, watch his dance video. And his porna rakonto is worth a read too.

Vaibhav's post on Hindutva, Bajrang Dal and the numerous fundamentalist movements that have mushroomed across India has inspired me to volunteer my thoughts on the subject.

The Hindutva movement calls for a return to the basics; for Hindu's to reclaim their traditional values and beliefs and not loose sight of their roots. Along the very same lines, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), over the last two decades especially, have focused their efforts around launching nationwide awareness campaigns aimed at combating the 'assault on Hindutva' and increasing the 'shrinking' Hindu population. Why this is a matter of concern is because it has certainly reached radical proportions. Agreed, the same can be argued for Islamic fundamentalists. Yet, by no means does this justify brainwashing the youth and in doing so depriving them of the greatest philosophy of life - an education.

Vaibhav's point on this brings to the fore this sad reality. Take for instance the state of Uttar Pradesh(U.P.). The Bajrang Dal was founded by the VHP in UP with the aim of empowering the youth to protect their "country, culture and religion." Their website emphasizes their secular outlook and their insistence on adopting "democratic" means to counter "unholy forces." Yet when you read acrticles like this, it makes you stop and ponder. To me , this is a complete dissuasion from the age-old spiritualism, simplicity and pursuit of enlightenment that typifies Hinduism. And to think that religious figureheads at the helm of such movements claim their motto to be "service, security and embellishment." All this while, like he has pointed out, UP being the most populated state in India is plagued by societal evils like illiteracy and corruption. Just recently, I read an article in the Times of India that stated that the VHP are launching a campaign to "check the disproportionate increase in Muslim population."Currently, Hindutva and VHP party members alike are calling on the Hindus to denounce the BJP and support the Hindu Mahasaba. They blame Vajpayee, Advani and co. for the decline of the party and insist that supporting the Hindu Mahasaba is the only hope for Hindutva to survive.

This issue, you will inevitably find, is but a subset of a much larger issue at hand- the religious divide that till date haunts parts of Indian society. Mr. and Mrs. Iyer is a great movie that throws light on the world of ethnic riots. Part of my inspiration to write this came from the conversation I had with Charsi Karan this weekend, about his travel tales through Bihar, UP and Himachal Pradesh. I hope to visit that part of the motherland this summer. Tis about time.

"Anybody who has been blathering about the growing clout of Arab liberals or the spread of a free-market civil society in the Middle East must confront the iron fact of Hariri's murder. He was the Middle East's single most persistent and energetic advocate for civil society, for unrestrained media, for business-based solutions to the Levantine dilemma, and for a free, capitalist, forward-looking Arab world."

"His death is a tragedy for Lebanon, and a horror for anybody still foolish enough to be an optimist about the Middle East."

-Tim Cavanaugh, Web Editor for Reason.

To do this weekend
- Polish CV up
- Email out new set of NGOs and non-profit orgs about summer projects and volunteer opps
- Prepare for next week's interviews
- Finish reading thesis on 'a means of automating and investigating conceptual design' by Dr. Campbell
- Buy a pressure cooker and put up sandpaper art drawings
- Finish paper on 'patent law'
- Run, eat well and try something NEW

I just got out of a 30 minute discussion onwhat is called 'the phony controversy - intrinsic vs. extrinsic motivation' and how it influences our behavior. Interesting article on the subject. Still grappling with my thoughts on the subject. Shall comment on them when I am less busy. Am not even sure if its appropriate to field the question : Are you intrinsically or extrinsically motivated?

Sun came out. I was told that my only ride to El Arroyo's for em 1$margos was by bike. So we biked. West on 24th onto Lamar. South on lamar and then 6th and we were there. Nick suggested we have a weekly pub riot, but with bikes. I support the idea. Oh and we have a new conga player. The band is complete. Zzzzzzzzz

One of my personal New Year resolutions was to save up and possibly buy a car.

March 10 - Austin - San Salvador
March 17 San Salvador - Austin

Oh will this profligacy ever end. Lord help me! Note to self- stop hanging out with Jesse

Long long ways to go
Originally uploaded by surya.

Country count at 18. Note to self- JFDI!

I should be working on my CV and reading corporate law. Instead, we are gorging aloo roast and makhi dhaal, while giggling about paan, world maps and chutki. Tata keeps insisting I should take up his bar tending offer in El Salvador for the summer.Whoever thought we would miss him. Am trying to convince him to hop down from Miami this weekend. Jesse says I have a bartending personality. Blather if you ask me. Bought my ticket to Pittsburgh. Oh the magic of a bom. Its like ..its like..yes..am in search of that next sunrise...waka waka day and night. police man stop am for road. Em say I charge u for wandering.. Palabra.. Em dey fine ? Em dey beat am..em go dey well well. I pray na so. Pray na so.

With a lot more time on my hand this semester (atleast thus far), I figured being more disciplined with myself is the least I could do. So I started experimenting with the 'early bird' concept which implies I try and get to bed at an earthly hour and ofcourse rise early. Obviously, this is no simple feat to master. This is subjective to each person, but my most productive hours are certainly in the morning (under the influence of darjeeling, earl grey or green tea ofcourse) - my daily drug dosage. Point is, with all this extra time coming out of nowhere, for the first time in years, I can actually come home on an average night and cook me a darn good meal, or spend time dabbling with electronic music sofware, read, or practise for ze band. In regards to the latter, its coming along well, but we are in dire need of a conga player. You would think that would be easy to arrange for in a city like Austin. Apparently not.

In my quest to discover some of the traditional styles and inspiration behind contemporary African music (which in itself is a a super-diverse category), I have stumbled upon some amazing stuff. My most recent discovery has been Salegy, the infamous dance pop music of Madagascar. With a restless beat interlocked with rich and deep harmonic voices, a gently rippling guitar and sometimes even an accordion, this constantly evolving genre has become the quintessential Malagasy dance pop style. Jaojoby (we are experimenting with his music) is the 'undisputed king' of this 'most danceable music of modern times'. Its like an accelerated version of merengue or makosa. The origin of Salegy goes back to the early fifteenth century and it apparently began as traditional malagasy folk music and is labeled differently in different regions of the country. Tuska in the north and bassessa in the east. Salegy is rapidly gaining popularity in Europe and now in the US. I am told to watch Jaojoby live in Antananarivo is to die for. After listening to his music I wouldn't doubt it. Vamos la?

Random but a good article on Ayn Rand at 100

It took me 20 minutes to make it from my bed to the restroom this morning. Jelly legs. I had to stretch for a good 10 minutes, before I could even attempt to stand on both feet. Upper thigh muscles are numb and my feet are swollen but I see it as a good thing. Mid afternoon run followed by five hours of non-stop samba. My stamina has increased, and so has my ability to do the samba. The last time I danced like this was at the Batucada in Ouro Preto, no estado de Minas Gerais. I have discovered that it is the 'vertical bounce motion' that is characteristic of the samba that is hardest to learn. You have to keep your body swaying, in a rhythmic motion, while balancing on the ball of your foot. A coupling of the foreward basic movement and backward basic movement has to happen with subtle variations in body or foot position i.e changing weight onto the opposite leg at the right time. But its the hip movement in combination with all this that will determine how sexy a samba dancer one is.

An army of musicians, equipped with every drum and percussion instrument imaginable, leads the way for the arrival of this temporary microcosm of song and dance, and people dress to kill as they flow across the floor to the sultry rhythms of Afro-Brazilian samba.

Amidst all this, I managed to leave my phone in the Ethopian driver's cab. As a result, I will be phoneless for the next week. Happy 60th Birthday Bob. Back to finishing my 10 page project proposal report due tomorrow. Craving some Guarana and Peco's fried rice.

For this coming week, please learn tracks 2 and 3 on the new CD. The following is the track listing:



1-Abdoulayi DJodo 3:36 Mamani Keita & Marc Minelli

2-Come On 4:34 Jaojoby

3-Sabali 5:04 Robia Traore

4-El Son de Llama 6:49 Orchestra Baobob

5-Madan 5:59 Salif Keita

6-Koukou 6:02 Salif Keita

7-Ma Ya 5:30 Habib Koité & Bamada

8-Afara Koa Tsy Atao 3:59 Jeff Nhore

9-Water Get No Enemy (pt. 1) 4:04 D'Angelo, Femi Kuti + Macy Gray

10-No Agreement 8:12 Archie Shepp & Tony Allen

11-Trouble Sleep Yanga Wake Am 10:38 Taj Mahal, Baaba Maal



Have a great weekend! And don't forget it's Bob Marley's 60th Birthday this weekend!
http://allafrica.com/stories/200501140183.html
http://www.ehow.com/how_13454_celebrate-bob-marleys.html

Larissa





"I am so absorbed in the wonder of earth and the life upon it that I cannot think of heaven and the angels. I have enough for this life."

-- Pearl S. Buck

Congratulations! I'm delighted to tell you there is a letter in the mail formally offering you admission to our graduate program.

We are impressed with your outstanding record, and we would like to have the opportunity to convince you that Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) is a truly great place to work, and Pittsburgh a surprisingly nice place to live.


I did my little victory dance when I found out. Am not too sure about the Pittsburgh part though. To me, Dr John Cagan epitomizes the ideal graduate advisor. When we talked over the phone a week ago, I was staggered by how overfriendly he was. Its not for anything he is nicknamed 'the Jewish Mother.' I haven't accepted their offer just yet but the opportunity to take up one of two funded research positions in their renowned interdisciplinary design program is rather tempting. Options open. Interviewing for jobs as well. I have a few weeks to make a decision. The next task at hand is to plot plans for the summer. Travel and work is the general theme. Starting today, the gears will shift and an earnest attempt will be made to refocus my energy on realizing certain dreams - possibly a DT traineeship (ideally working with kids though not limited to that) or take Jesse and Rara's advice and move to South Central America and work at an orphanage. Over a celebratory beer last night, his holiness did yield some useful advice. That's all I have thus far. Any suggestions on ANYTHING interesting to do for the summer?

My dad calls me up from Abba, Onicha to say that if Jesse and I were there, we would probably have pounded through atleast 5 bowls of the fish pepe soup that he was eating. Gee pa, that just makes my day. It's not important that I happened to be STARVING at that time. Oh and by the way he adds ' am off to Iceland this Friday.' For 3 years now, I have wanted to visit that country with him. My day will come.

If you're looking for something to occupy your listless mind at work- shittybum.