We have finally left cold Delhi and flown south with the birds. I am now in Trivandrum in the state of Kerala in the south. In Delhi we would see commercials for Kerala all the time they called it “God’s own country.” Well if this is God’s country I guess He likes warm weather because it is hot here! I love love love it! It hot and humid, I feel like I am back in the ATL. I feel like I am a thousand miles away from the snow and ice in Boston, wait a second…I AM a thousand miles away! This is great!
Our classes started today. We had six hours of lecture in this slightly air-conditioned room. One of the professors had this very monotonous, lulling voice and I may have nodded off for a second… Tomorrow I am bring some Coca-Cola to class with me. We learned about the history of Kerala and how it got to be a model healthcare system. Despite having very low incomes per capita they have excellent health indices (ie. Infant mortality, life expectancy etc.)
In turns out that we are taking classes with new students from the Public Health school in Kerala (it has a really really long name). They started their classes on January 1st 2008 and are very new to the area. I was surprised by how warm and friendly they were to us. Most of the students were from different parts of India that have totally different cultures and foods. At lunch time I was hoping that they could help decipher what I was eating but they did not know either! Lunch at the hospital cafeteria was only $0.30—talk about a bargain! Whatever it was, it was good!
I went to visit my new friend, Anjwala (sp?) hostel room at lunch time. To use her words, it was very “simple.” That is a bit of an understatement. There were no washing machines so she did her washing by hand. She used bedcovers as curtains, did not have a computer and only brought a minimal number of clothes from her home (which makes me feel really bad about my over-sized suitcase). Ironically she did have the latest and greatest Ipod Video Nano—go figure! LOL!
Seeing her very humble accommodations really helped me to appreciate my apartment in Boston, which now seems absolutely luxurious in comparison. It is so easy to get caught up in the desire to acquire more “things” when the truth is that that we already have more than we need and more importantly our happiness should not at all be dependent on having these things. What is even more surprising is that we could still choose happiness if we had a lot less.
Have you ever thought, “I don’t know think I could live without my _________ “(car, laptop, wireless internet, washing machine, coffee maker, cell phone, air-conditioning fill-in-the-blank)? Well believe it or not there are people in the world without that those things that are living very happy and content lives. That’s some food for thought.
I would pose the question to you that if life is not about the acquisition of things, what are you here for? What is your purpose?
Ok it is getting late. I am starting to get pseudo-philosophical. It is time to go to bed!
Our classes started today. We had six hours of lecture in this slightly air-conditioned room. One of the professors had this very monotonous, lulling voice and I may have nodded off for a second… Tomorrow I am bring some Coca-Cola to class with me. We learned about the history of Kerala and how it got to be a model healthcare system. Despite having very low incomes per capita they have excellent health indices (ie. Infant mortality, life expectancy etc.)
In turns out that we are taking classes with new students from the Public Health school in Kerala (it has a really really long name). They started their classes on January 1st 2008 and are very new to the area. I was surprised by how warm and friendly they were to us. Most of the students were from different parts of India that have totally different cultures and foods. At lunch time I was hoping that they could help decipher what I was eating but they did not know either! Lunch at the hospital cafeteria was only $0.30—talk about a bargain! Whatever it was, it was good!
I went to visit my new friend, Anjwala (sp?) hostel room at lunch time. To use her words, it was very “simple.” That is a bit of an understatement. There were no washing machines so she did her washing by hand. She used bedcovers as curtains, did not have a computer and only brought a minimal number of clothes from her home (which makes me feel really bad about my over-sized suitcase). Ironically she did have the latest and greatest Ipod Video Nano—go figure! LOL!
Seeing her very humble accommodations really helped me to appreciate my apartment in Boston, which now seems absolutely luxurious in comparison. It is so easy to get caught up in the desire to acquire more “things” when the truth is that that we already have more than we need and more importantly our happiness should not at all be dependent on having these things. What is even more surprising is that we could still choose happiness if we had a lot less.
Have you ever thought, “I don’t know think I could live without my _________ “(car, laptop, wireless internet, washing machine, coffee maker, cell phone, air-conditioning fill-in-the-blank)? Well believe it or not there are people in the world without that those things that are living very happy and content lives. That’s some food for thought.
I would pose the question to you that if life is not about the acquisition of things, what are you here for? What is your purpose?
Ok it is getting late. I am starting to get pseudo-philosophical. It is time to go to bed!
*The second picture is from Kovalam beach in Kerala at sunset
2 comments:
My God Tee, you've gone native! You feel that what you have is luxury and that you feel bad for wanting more?
I should have bought you a plane ticket to India five years ago!
Glad it's warm, glad you're actually taking pictures...talk to you soon.
M.
I have no words for you M! none
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