It's really hard for me to sum up this past week…trying to come to terms with Dada leaving us, yet still not being able to get my head around the fact that he's actually gone (I think it will only really sink in when I go home and find him missing), trying to keep up with all the demands of "normal" life – work, class, assignments, events, social interaction – with my heart not quite in any of it. This Wednesday evening I feel strangely exhausted and it's not sleep that I'm lacking.
I'm a month into the Washington experience and there are some things I am quite sure of – DC doesn't quite make it to my list of favorite cities, there are no "DCers" because no one is really from here and does not become from here within a few months of living here (which, I believe, is quite the contrary in the case of New York). The Metro is clean but expensive and under-utilized (in other words, I can deal with genetically mutated rodents and trash as long as I can ride for $2 and go anywhere, anytime). I know you think I'm just a New York snob and I'll even admit to it but I really wanted to give this city a month to redeem itself and though it has the museums and the monuments and some cool hangouts, it's the basic culture here that doesn't appeal to me.
This notion of culture is hard to define, very fluid, and transient, and has little to do with the number of cultural happenings or the amount of cultural diversity that exists here. It's something about the people, the way they walk their walk, talk their talk, and contribute their city's image as a whole, an image that is projected to the world and an impression that is left upon those who visit or move here. In the world view, New York epitomizes America, the American dream embodied by those skyscrapers that serve as headquarters to the financial bigwigs, the Statue of Liberty holding out the promise of freedom and liberty, welcoming everyone to this land of immigrants, even Times Square, the epicenter of crude commercialism and brash advertising stunts. But to a New Yorker, there is New York City and then there's the rest of the country – Times Square doesn't find a place on your mind map, the skyscrapers are just office buildings, one of them being your workplace, and the Statue of Liberty was last visited years ago when you had cousins visiting from Timbaktu. The culture of the city lies on its streets, in its filthy subway stations and on its 'pre-historic' train cars, each street corner's donuts-and-coffee man and halal chicken-and-rice cart is a vendor of the city's culture, the blank stares, the unwritten rule of don't look anyone straight in the eye, yet the feeling of security, a sense of safety when surrounded by the masses. And everyone knows how un-representative of America the masses and mentalities of NYC are.
Switch to DC – in the worldview it's the Capital of the U.S.A., home to the White House, Mr. President and his aides (the 70+ white male crew), Senators, and Congressman (and some Congresswomen too). For all its institutional strength, the city has little to offer in terms of a sense of warmth and security, the masses are missing and anyone who is even mildly economically privileged lives in Virginia or Maryland, drives a car, and scoffs at the metro system. By night, the offices are closed, the streets are deserted, and the homeless seek shelter just outside La Maison Blanche. I'll give it some points for Georgetown and Adams Morgan but those two alone cannot make up for the severe lack of life elsewhere. DC is mostly a 9-5 city that seriously lacks an all-pervasive, common, binding culture to hold it together before breakfast and after dinner.
Its time to talk about something rather interesting that I attended last Friday on The Hill. I got to work at 9 and there was an email about a Bible study class by the Chaplain of the Senate. Quite intrigued by this, I decided to attend and find out what it was like. The turnout was pretty good and the Chaplain was a charming, witty preacher and talked about how evil creeps into our lives and how we can avoid being tempted by it. We read passages from the Bible and he supported them with anecdotes from his life and the lives of others he had encountered during his career. Now, all that is well and good but I'm curious to know why there is an Office of the Chaplain of the Senate when there is supposed to be a separation of church and state? Also, if there is a Chaplian of the Senate holding Bible study classes, is there a Rabbi of the Senate or an Imam of the Senate? Food for thought…and investigation!
This evening in the House there was a performance by a Latin Grammy award-winning artist from Colombia, Petrona Martinez. I suggest you check her out on YouTube, she is 69 years old but her onstage energy is amazing and the music is a unique blend of African beats and sounds with Spanish lyrics. I went to a reception after which wasn't really memorable save the chocolate dipped strawberries!
Tomorrow I start my French class at the Alliance Française here. It's only two hours a week but I am in urgent need of it since I've been back from Paris for over a month now and have missed the language (and slowly started to lose it!) There are a bunch of great francophone events at the Alliance and around which are all on their website. I'll try my best to make it to most, and I will most certainly take advantage of the library's DVD rental department. After Oscar night, I can't wait to watch "La vie en rose," so that will be my first rental (unless someone else took it out – very likely). Anyhow, I have a long list of "Must Watch" French films that I will work with till I find one that I really, truly like. So far almost every French film I've watched has been awfully predictable, lacked originality and substance, and bordered on boring. I think I'm ready for the treasures now!
My foreign policy paper on Burma requires some serious reading, research, and interviewing – all of which I need to get to this weekend! How does life get so busy? Oh Wordsworth, you were so right –
"What is this life if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare?"
1 comment:
Rattan, first I must say how saddened I am on reading about the sad passing away of your dear Dadaji. I did not get an opportunity to meet him but can read through your blog that you loved him dearly. He will be sadly missed.
You write beautiful blogs. The immense maturity of the words and also the humour reflecting from it makes it very interesting. But also that you have achieved so much from such a short life and mostly on your own. It makes your mother proud and as a ex class-mate of your mother makes us all proud. Yes we were class-mates in PU and have been in touch for the last several years and she spend sometime with us during her visit to Sydney.
I am not much into it and in fact it may be my first and last. We have not met but I have met Mannat and she is a lovely girl and a beautiful person.
Keep writing and also achieving what you have set-out to achieve with life. Our best wishes and blessings are with you all the time.
Cheers,
Shashank
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