Colors of Saltillo

Hola from Mexico!

After a claustrophobic 'international' journey on American Eagle, we made it across the border to Monterrey, Mexico. Half our class is here on a 'Foreign Studies' trip and honestly it is refreshing. Well, lets say the sultry weather is not exactly my idea of 'refreshing'...but the fact that we are chilling out in a quaint hotel in Mexico and not sitting in a classroom lecture is.

And in a weird way this country reminds me of home, of India. The lazy bus ride, the authentic smell of oppressively hot air, the Delhi-like air terminal, the Mexican Peso that resembles our own 20 ruppee note, the smudge from car leaks at parking lots..Oh this is so close to home.

Initially ofcourse I had my own doubts about this being an 'foreign' studies trip. Well, it is Mexico and it took us less time to reach here than it took me to fly to Jersey. But the more I think of it, I realize how this could be an intenrational trip in so many ways. First, given the fact that Mexico is emerging as one of the most favoured destinations after China and India in outsourcing, it will be interesting to visit businesses here and see what Mexico is going to be offer to the rest of the world. And second, I am convinced that the company of my 'multi-ethnic' colleagues in a non-class room setting, a group that is stuck here in its own company for the next 7 days is going to be very interesting...Atleast it already has been...

From trying to find some traces of vegetarian food, buying an international calling card that actually works, watching Shrek II in Spanish and communicating with people who look sympathetically and helplessly at my franctic expressions, it has been a thouroughly enjoyable sultry day. I feel like how 'Lin Baba' felt on his first day in Bombay...at home with a country that he was visting. And sure thing, I am looking forward to the week ahead!

The path less traveled...

"Know that he suffered greatly at the hands of his host. Who knew that one so small could endure so much pain? And he did, Gandalf, he did..."

I wore them when I first learned how to make chawal in Pune, when I made lasting friends in Bangalore, lazed around in the happy terrace at my home in Madras...and wandered without company in the unfamiliar Dallas roads. In a very strange way they represent the decisions I have made, the paths that I have chosen in the last four years...

I now look (sadly)at the way one of them is fractured. This means that I must throw them away. Get rid of an innocent pair of footwear that traveled with me...Get rid of the scents of a colorful past...How the heck did Robert Frost decide take the path less traveled?

Dear God

What if God was following us on Twitter...May be blogging his own story ? Would he have entered 'The Coolest Person Contest' in Facebook? I don't have answers myself but I found this very cool website. Dear-God is from the guys who created my most favorite web destination The Cool Hunter. My favorite one of course is 'The Crucifix...' sent by Ieon Stellar in the humor category...only not sure if God will take it in a lighter vein!

No Child's Play This

Recently during my spring break, when I was done with indulging in the pleasures of the beautiful Miami beach and riding monster coasters, I jumped into the bottomless pit of indoor games.

Some friends and I literally relived primary school days playing Monopoly, Rummy, Ace of Spades, Snap, Pictionary and Scrabble. And if that weren't enough to drown one in the memories of an innocent childhood, we indulged in the traditional version of Snakes and Ladders. The game board read Parama Pada Sopanam (translated to mean a step to the highest place) and the play was endless! We wrapped up the show with a game of Pallankuzhi (another traditional board game played with shells).

But the fun did not end there...There is something that I noticed throughout the week's play. I believe that the games we played are fine examples of the game theory concept of an iterated prisoners' dilemma where the players, based on the memory of at least one previous encounter, choose to either 'betray' or 'mutually cooperate'.

In a strategic context Putnam and Holmer 1992, explain this as 'Framing' where "bargainers conceive of ongoing sets of events in light of past experiences". It was interesting how after some rounds of different games, a couple of us began to unintentionally frame each other. Our cold postures, sharp verbal exchanges and not-so-subtle comments directed at each other only further triggered memories of outcomes of previous games and the emotions that ran alongside!

These might be straightforward truths of the games we play, but it was amazing to notice the pattern, observe the language cues and handle the candidness when it struck us...

A concert in air

Watched Anne Bunker and co.'s dance performance at the university theater last evening. A truly mesmerizing concert, I have to admit...for it is not in every recital that dancers cut like a knife through air, sharp and soft at the same time... And although I watched novel foot movements and listened to unfamiliar music, in my mind I somehow followed the story...As I watched her in a solo act, I couldn't help thinking how Bunker transformed into a bird - graceful, in air and flying...suggesting a rather curious explanation to the story she was narrating...While pairing with her male partner Charles Thompson the ethereal aura was almost unmistakable...And then of course there were students from the university who made the ensemble vibrant and entertaining. Although the costumes were way too simple, there was an unexplained grandeur to the entire show...As they say, everyone has a story to tell, a story they call their own ... only this one was told in air...

Strings attached

Yesterday, I was lucky to attend the 'Mozart: Piano Concerto No.15' and the 'Dvorak Symphony' at the Dallas Symphony Orchestra (recognized as one of the world's finest concert halls). It was then for the first time, I realized why a symphony (meaning - sounding together) is called that. For, although I could not recognize the music, I sat there hypnotized by the alchemy of the performance. The concert was so finely put together that it seemed like the players were engaged in some kind of a vibrant and meaningful prayer.

The prize of course was pianist Andreas Haefliger who performed Mozart as if he was solving a very basic math equation. He played and explored with such elegance that it made me wonder if I were sophisticated enough to witness the artiste. I felt like Charlie in the chocolate factory, excited and over whelmed about his first-in-a-lifetime experience. (So much that at some point I was scared to breathe loudly at the fear of disturbing my neighbour's concert experience!) But as the show progressed I fit more comfortably and began to relax, taking in the moment, second by second.

For someone like me who could not name more than half the instruments at the ensemble, the experience was certainly an unparalleled learning experience. In my mind, the repertoire of synthesized hand movements that produced the music was more like a dance (something I can relate better to), may be a static dance that I will cherish and wish to revisit over and over again.