I-MAN the Beginning

I-Man

The Beginning

Many people throughout the world know about Batman and Robin, the Green Hornet, the Incredible Hulk, Fantastic 5, Iron Man and other super heroes, many of whom have been made popular through a variety of comics, movies and television shows.  However few people, up until now, knew anything about I-Man, a Jewish Indian superhero living in Seattle, Washington.  In the year 2011, I-Man was ten years old to most people who saw him only through their eyes, not really using their inner senses, although he was actually well over his 500^th year on earth.  I-Man was a very unassuming young man, attending a Jewish day school, along with his sister Sophie, in Seattle.  He stood about five or so feet tall, had straight black hair and brown eyes and was dark in complexion due to his native country.  From his outward appearance, one would never think of this young man as anything resembling a super hero.  But, most people don’t look too deeply at others, only making judgments based on outward appearance and not necessarily on what is really inside of a person.   

I-Man never really talked about his super hero status with anyone, and not even his parents, up until recently, were fully aware of his abilities.  His sister, Sophie, who was having her bat mitzvah that very same year, was one of the few people who  truly knew about her brother as well as I-Man’s best friend, a soon to be NBA professional by the name of Myles Standish.  (Myles was a super hero in his own right having grown to be 7’7” and dominating the NBA.  For some ten years he broke every record that ever stood,  until he fell off a camel which he was riding in the offseason in Pushkar, Rajasthan, India) 

The special super hero powers came out quite often as I-Man and Sophie played X-box, and no matter which game they were playing, I-Man would always win.  This was somewhat of a constant frustration for Sophie, often commenting to her parents that I-Man “was a cheater” and “I never can beat him”.  However, Sophie knew that it was due to the super powers and when she could be on I-Man’s team in such games as “halo” she jumped at the opportunity because she knew that no matter where in the world the other players were from, they were ultimately doomed to lose. 

 I-Man, or as he was commonly known, Isaac, had also told his cousins in Seattle, Sadie, Ruby and Henry  or Huck, about his powers and although they were pretty young they had been witness to I-Man and his abilities.  In fact whenever they had the opportunity they would all go flying with I-Man just to ensure that the various newspapers reporting the events of the previous evening were, at best, somewhat accurate, but, of course, the children never told any of their parents, Aubrey and Andrew, Mark and Susu, which is the shortened version of Suzzane.  

 

Henry, being not quite two, still learning how to speak and not thoroughly understanding what this was all about, would often jump out of his bed every morning, around 5:30 AM and buzz around the house, first digging into the kitchen garbage can, throwing the contents throughout the downstairs and then putting his arms straight out, whirling as if he was a human Russian or Turkish dervish or for that matter a crazed banshee.

 It didn’t matter where this garbage was placed inside or out, because for some strange reason Henry always seemed to know where the “can” could be found.  (Of course he knew from walking around after coming home from flying.  Andrew and Aubrey could never quite figure this out).  Mother Aubrey, would many times be beside herself as night in and night out, Henry, once he finished eating, would throw his food, with his favorite being spaghetti which would, at the end of Italian night, every other Thursday and many times on school holidays, cover the chandeliers and walls often resembling freshly dug fishing worms, due to the fact that Aubrey would use the organic, brown kind.  At night Aubrey could be heard saying to her husband Andrew, “what is the point of putting Henry’s left over’s into the garbage as we know that in the morning they will end up strewn in generally the same places throughout the dining room as the night before”.  Andrew would agree, but being  somewhat  of a clean freak would continue to try to find an answer to this seemingly never ending issue.   

Deep down Andrew was quite a problem solver, having learned about solving such things as the New York Times crossword puzzle from his father.  Every Sunday morning, although the children Sadie, Ruby and Henry would be climbing all over his body he would work on the puzzle.  He would never get quite through solving any particular puzzle, and he felt as if Henry’s “garbage phase” was just another one of these puzzles.  By nature he would therefore never give up trying to find a solution. 

During Henry’s almost second year, Aubrey and Andrew thought well, this is it, we’ll have no more children as this one is totally out of control”.  Henry, unbeknownst to his parents, was only acting out the previous night’s escapades, but parents being parents, even though these two were quite open more than most other people to the possibilities that abound when ones really looks at things and doesn’t just let things slide, never quite grasped what was happening.  In fact as we’ll find out in I-Man’s story, Aubrey and Andrew, as their children were approaching their college years, opened up a home for special children and to this day they’ve actually been parents to around 531 children from across the universe, well, at least throughout the world.  They were never quite sure what motivated them to do this, maybe it was just the presence of I-Man and the persistence of their own children, Sadie, Ruby and Henry in constantly egging their parents on to having more and more children.  Aubrey and Andrew remain to this day totally exhausted, but have done tremendous good throughout the world in helping those who never knew their birth parents. 

Sophie, being a teenager and needing her sleep, would typically stay home from the flying escapades, but knew quite a bit about these nightly sojourns, mainly through the Seattle and New York Times and Times of India which regularly reported on the “so called miracles” which occurred on a daily basis.  This was especially true in the Times of India, where in India, as we all know, miracles occur on a regular basis.  Sophie, knowing something about her brother’s time on earth was an avid reader of the Times of India, on-line of course.  Whenever Sophie and I-Man’s parents would read the Seattle Times and on Sunday’s, the New York Times, and comment, “oh this stuff must be totally made up” and “what is happening to the reporting in our newspapers these days?”, Sophie and I-Man would just look at each other and laugh hysterically.  Sophie and I-Man’s parents Mark and Susu would just ignore them, but somehow knew that they had secrets, which as parent’s they would never fully understand.

Let me say here a bit more about the almost nightly flying which none of the parents knew about.   This was totally due to the fact that once their parents went to sleep, and this was always fairly early as the children exhausted them for just this purpose, I-Man would pop over typically through the 1” diameter hole in the roof directly above Ruby and Sadie’s bed and off they would all go.  (This was never an issue for Henry, as he woke up at the same time every night and would somehow find himself in his sister’s bedroom.  Being not quite two none of this was entirely clear to him, although he knew that he loved throwing things and that his nightly jaunts would always result in developing his arms.  Henry later in life became one of the greatest ambidextrous pitchers/bowlers in both the major league baseball and IPL cricket leagues.  To this day nobody has ever broken any of his records, which includes the lowest earned run average and bowling the least amount of balls/over).  

Due to the 1” diameter hole, sometimes, when it rained, the girls would complain about getting wet when they went to sleep, but Andrew being quite near  sited, would always say, “girls, just stop spitting at one another and go to sleep”.    Aubrey would typically retort to Andrew, “my girls don’t spit.  This must be from your side of the family”.  This might go on for quite some time into the night and it worked to the girls and Henry’s advantage, as once their parent’s heads hit their pillows they would not wake until the next morning when the girls and Henry would get up as early as possible, further exhausting their parents.

Now Uncle Andrew and Aunt Aubrey, being somewhat open to the possibilities more so than most people, had some inkling of I-Man’s powers, but weren’t quite convinced, as Andrew, often imitating the voice of his 89 year old accountant Saul would say to Aubrey, “there’s something darn right strange about that boy, but I just don’t know”.  (Of course Andrew, and for that matter his brother Mark, but not so much their sister Wendy, were somewhat aware of super heroes and other mystical beings, because as boys, growing up in a very wooded place called Chappaqua, on the banks of the Ganges River, they dabbled a bit with the Aggresta Gang, a ruthless bunch of children from the hinterland of Nebraska, being part of the Korbi tribe, with their ancestors originating from the northeastern part of India, known as Assam.  While Mark, Andrew and Wendy spent their days playing murder ball with the Aggresta Gang at the Chappaqua on the Ganges Swimming Club, they knew that something wasn’t quite right, especially with Emily Aggresta, who they would often find hovering over them, even in their home in the middle of the night, with her feet, toes, hands and fingers moving about like the propeller on a helicopter.  One day they happened to see her tri-forked, somewhat purplish tongue hanging out of her mouth as the murder ball during that morning’s game happened to hit her directly in her Adam’s apple.   They didn’t know it at the time as they were just being children, but the Aggresta Gang would play a significant role when I-Man actually came into being, but more about that later).

I-Man was a special kind of a guy, having actually been born in a remote village, some 500+ years earlier in the state of Andaman and Nicobar Islands about 600 miles due east of the State of Tamil Nadu on the Indian sub-continent.  His original parents being part of the Sentinelese tribe, however, like many of the villagers in India and living under the somewhat slavery of the Mogul Emperor at that time, didn’t have much and when their son was born, already having had 16 children, could hardly afford to feed another.   Unfortunately for them they knew nothing about Krishna’s powers, for that is what they had named I-Man, although they must have had some notion, having named him after this Indian Hindu God.  Being loving parents they decided that the best thing for Krishna would be to try to get him to Europe, which had somehow manifested itself in a simultaneous dream to both parents on a lovely winter’s evening when the moon was shining as brightly as anyone at that time could ever remember, and then eventually  to America, the land of hope and opportunity for all Indians, even during those times long ago, no matter who they were.  The question, of course, was how to do this especially given that they were part of the very small Sentinelese tribe, and didn’t have a lot of connections with the outside world, or for that matter outside of their village.  To Krishna’s parents, Sarvesh and Deepika, getting their son to Europe and then America was literally a dream and even though they only knew the names of these far off places and for that matter only from this strange dream, deep down in their hearts they felt that this would be the best thing for Krishna and his seven brothers and nine sisters.

After much discussion with the local village chief and elders,  and unbeknownst to the Mogul Emperor of that time, Vinesh the Dastardly or VD to those who knew him well, Sarvesh and Deepika decided  that they must send Krishna to the mainland where he could be brought to the palace of VD, in Madras, Tamil Nadu.  Sarvesh and Deepika felt that this held out the best opportunity for their beloved son Krishna, who they knew would do great things in the world if only given the opportunity. 

On December 6, in about the year 1513 with heavy hearts, Sarvesh and Deepika and their 16 children bid a fond farewell to their beloved Krishna, not really knowing whether they would ever see him again, but knowing deep down in their bodies that he would always be with them.  Sarvesh and Deepika decided that they must follow their simultaneous dream and the advice of their village chief and elders, who said to put the boy in a basket, somewhat like a Jewish boy names Moses, although they had little idea of this Moses, and set him out into the Bay of Bengal/Indian Ocean, where eventually he would land in Madras off of the coast of the India subcontinent in the State of Tamil Nadu. 

The basket  boat in which Krishna (I-Man)  was placed  was larger than the one that carried the young Moses who was set adrift in the Nile.  (When Moses was found nobody at that time knew it, but the fact remains that he actually started the middle eastern revolution of 2011, which ended up, somewhat freeing that area of the world, and for that matter the entire world, from a certain type of dictator. But as we all know from the rock band the Who, who said so very eloquently, “Meet the new boss, same as the old boss”, other types of dictators remained or were only replaced.  This revolution also spread to China, in which I-Man actually helped to overthrow the so called “communist regime” of what were really a corrupt group of capitalists who were running the show.  People also don’t know this fact but I-Man was a direct descendant  of Moses, so in fact he helped to start a worldwide revolution which ushered in a time in which there was worldwide prosperity for all.  But more about this later[1]) 

Although Krishna (I-Man) appeared to his parents to be only six months, as we all know he had wisdom beyond his years and could sail his basket boat to the shores of Tamil Nadu without much problem.  Sarvesh, being primarily a fisherman had taken great pains to construct the basket boat out of the finest trees which he could find.  He also covered the basket boat with multiple butterfly bushes which he knew would  provide cover for Krishna and attract butterflies, even in the ocean.  This resulted directly in flying and other types of fish trying to eat the butterflies and landing in the boat, providing a great source of protein for young Krishna.  Although Krishna was quite young the fact that his father was a fisherman had instilled in his DNA the ability to catch, skin and eat  raw fish.

During his approximately 24 day trip to the shores of Tamil Nadu, the young Krishna, of course, had numerous adventures.  During the 1500’s, as we all know the Bay of Bengal/Indian Ocean was fully inhabited by a variety of sea creatures, including whales very unlike those of today, sea serpents,   mermaids, krakens,  Megalodons and giant squid.  Although Sarvesh and Deepika and their 16 children knew this, they felt that Krishna would be just fine, given that deep down they felt that he was very special.  In fact, once any type of living creature came into contact with Krishna, they became quite docile and friendly because they could also feel his superpowers and especially his kindness. 

Although many others were afraid of these sea monsters, they would often attach themselves or just swim very closely to Krishna’s basket boat.  The mermaids, as we all know being quite motherly, would often hang on to the basket boat and make sure that Krishna was getting enough food to eat and was kept warm.  They would also often stroke his hair and sing him to sleep which would come to haunt Krishna (I-Man) later in life as he was constantly looking for a mermaid to marry. 

Krishna’s biggest problems were, of course, the various bands of pirates which inhabited the Bay of Bengal/Indian Ocean.   These pirates were the ancestors of the Somali pirates who were later wiped out when an actor named John Q.  Deep, who starred as Captain Jack and a co-star stunt man who went by the name of Trampus, appearing in about 13 episodes of the Pirates of the Caribbean movies, decided, after the nations of the world unsuccessfully tried to take on these pirates, who later kidnapped all of the BRIC  and G-8 world leaders and while a startled world watched, made them all walk the plank into the mouth of a Megalodon,   defeated the pirates with a bit of chicanery.  Of course, Krishna, who became I-Man in about the mid 1900’s was part of this defeat, taking as many as 236 pirates hostage and putting them into a cage that he devised on the Maldives Islands, but this too is another story.

Through the help of his sea creature friends, Krishna, although somewhat concerned with the pirates, was able to avoid any major confrontations.  The pirates did notice his basket boat, but like all people they also really love butterflies.  The combination of the butterflies, flying fish and sea creatures kept the pirates at bay, never really once trying to overtake the basket boat steered by Krishna with an overall mastery for navigating the high seas. 

Krishna, even though he was only around six months at the time to anyone who saw him, was truly a remarkable young man.  On December 30 he landed on the shores of Tamil Nadu in time for the new year of 1514 and ready to be taken to the palace of Vinesh the Dastardly. 

Chapter 2 In Which Krishna Gets on the Road to Meet Vinesh the Dastardly

Most people don’t realize that almost everyone  they come into contact with was someone that they have known throughout their soul’s lifetime.  This might go on for thousands of years.  One just never knows and so it is vitally important that we all do our best to treat others with kindness and not spend too much time being angry or hateful of others.  Many people never realize this and so they spend much of their present lifetimes, being angry or hateful of souls that they’ve spent millennium with. This continues until people finally become a bit more enlightened, and practice kindness towards all.  Of course, this isn’t easy but some, mainly souls like Yogananda, ML King and Gandhi have realized this.  One really never knows who these souls might be now.  They might even be a dog or cat that one thinks is a good friend, but then as humans we find that the animal has pooped all over our bed pillows and we just lay down too tired to do anything about this. 

All this being said, once Krishna arrived at the shores of Tamil Nadu around 4:30 AM on December 30, 1513, not too far from Madras and the palace of Vinesh the Dastardly, there waiting on the banks were two young girls, Bulbul and Golu, who later in his life would become I-Man’s cousins, Lauren and Rachel,  from New York City.  Bulbul and Golu, being 11 and 4 years old were out collecting the daily firewood not paying much attention to the basket boat that had just landed on the shores of Tamil Nadu, at Long Beach, which was actually the shortest beach in the world at that time, although during the later part of the 20^th century would become the longest. 

Bulbul was the first one to see the basket boat and being a curious young soul, turned to Golu and said, “Hey, that looks like it could be a lot of wood for our daily fire.  Let’s go chop it up.”  Golu, who always carried an axe, just so nobody would bother her,  opened her mouth as wide as she could and showed her pearly whites to Bulbul and with a gleam in her eye, said, “Let’s go”.  The two sauntered off or more appropriately ran as fast as they could towards the basket boat, both shouting with glee as they knew that their parents, Kookoogee and Shweta, would be very happy, especially given that they had been eating quite a lot of raw fish recently due to a general lack of firewood.  They all did, of course, like to eat sushi, but Kookoo had not been catching any quality grade fish for quite some time.    

The two girl’s screaming woke poor Krishna, who had been sleeping quite soundly  during the last hundred or so kilometers, being quite exhausted  from all of his sea adventures.  The mermaids had guided Krishna   to shore at Long Beach but when they heard those jabbering young  girls, they made a bee line back to the sea, knowing full well that they would not be safe if Bulbul and Golu saw them and took them captive.  They did not want to end up as a special mermaid sushi, but then again neither would you.  

Krishna being a very sensitive youngster was quite upset at hearing the jabbering and he started to scream himself.  Now when he screamed it would set off natural disasters and he would definitely need to learn to control this.   At the time Krishna, being very young didn’t know too much about his superpowers and the results of his screaming. All at once, Krishna saw a gigantic wave coming straight towards him and noticing the two young girls, immediately stopped screaming, sprung from the basket boat and literally flew towards Bulbul and Golu, picking one up in each of his small hands flying straight upwards towards the moon.  The girls who had been screaming as they saw the wave immediately stopped and grabbed Krishna’s neck, although Krishna being quite young there wasn’t much to grab.  As they headed towards the moon both of the girls feinted, their rather young minds not being able to comprehend what had just occurred.  Krishna, also not really understanding what had just happened, for this was the first time that he had flown, and seeing that the wave had dissipated, because even at this great distance he was able to see this through his superpower eyes, drifted slowly back down towards  earth, landed softly on the beach and fell right to sleep with the girls still hanging on for dear life.

The three “children” slept soundly dreaming of their future lives together in the year 2011 and when they awoke on December 31, they were all quite famished.   Krishna woke first and gently removed the arms of the young girls from his neck.  He was no longer six months but after this harrowing adventure had already grown to be a young teen of 14.  He saw in the two girls, his future cousins, a lot that he liked.  They seemed quite brilliant, kind, athletic and gentle.  He knew that they both had a good sense of humor especially the one named Bulbul who would later become Lauren. 

Krishna gently shook both of the girls and they woke  up immediately, looked at Krishna and said, “What happened?”  Golu never being without her axe was quite happy to find it about 100 yards from where they had been sleeping. She ran immediately over and then ran back to the spot where Krishna and Bulbul were introducing themselves to one another and talking about what to do next.  Golu never being one to mince words said to Bulbul, “let’s take this boy back to our village and treat him to some khana (food)”.  Krishna, knowing full well who Bulbul and Golu were, without either of them even uttering a single word,  agreed and  nodded his head from side to side, because as we all know he was born an Indian. 

Krishna had to explain to the girls who he was and when he told them his story they were truly excited.  They both kind of knew something was “different” about this young teen, who they immediately loved, especially after realizing that they had been close to the moon with him.   Yet, they felt as if they had known him before, as if he was part of a simultaneous dream or maybe even part of their family for a very long time.  They knew that they would somehow help Krishna to find Vinesh the Dastardly and get him to Europe and eventually to America, although, like Krishna’s family, they really didn’t understand what these places actually were. 

The girls lived in the village of Pondicherry, which was quite a walk, given that they wanted to bring the basket boat and use its wood.  They asked Krishna about this and he agreed and told them to get in and he would fly them to Pondicherry as long as they provided directions.  Krishna scooped up the basket boat with the two girls and headed to the village of Pondicherry. 

From the sky the land looked quite beautiful and very green.  Krishna and the girls could see numerous villages and as they approached Pondicherry they could all see the villagers pointing towards the sky in disbelief.  Bulbul and Golu’s parents and brothers and sisters pointed at them and were salivating as they realized that the basket boat possessed a lot of wood, enough most likely for the entire village to have barbecued fish for at least a month.  The party had really only just begun.

Krishna ensured that they landed in the middle of the village and Golu, Bulbul, and Krishna were treated as heroes.  The girls parent’s, Kookoogee and Shweta, who would later, when Lauren and Rachel were born  become Wendy and Rob, were truly overjoyed at the good fortune which had seemingly come directly from the Gods, at least it appeared that way as they all dropped from the sky. 

That evening the village feasted as young Krishna began to recount his story and the  new year’s celebration began.  They all ate fresh fish, rice, dosas and lots of somber.  They also ate an early version of lox, tofu spread and bagels, as the precursor to and later served at Tal Bagels in New York City.  As we all know the very first branch of Tal had opened on the outskirts of Pondicherry and they made village deliveries.  This was part of the economic development plan of VB as the bagel concept had come to him that very same night that Krishna had been born.  It definitely had to do with that evening’s  miraculous super moon and its being so close to earth. 

Now let me diverge here and tell you one story about Vinesh the Dastardly.  VD, to those who knew him, was no ordinary emperor as we can tell from just this small episode mentioned above.  His court consisted of many assorted astrologers, who understood dreams enough to keep themselves, well fed, clothed and housed.  They were among the richer men and women of the kingdom and they would frequently spin, gyrate and do whatever contortions were necessary to stay in VD’s favor and also to stay alive. 

Now the idea for Tal’s, of course, came from one Jewish astrologer named Louis Leakey.  He had been experimenting with creating a different kinds of puri, a bit more compact and crunchy than normal, but he wasn’t quite sure how to do this.  As he grabbed a puri from the fryer it slipped and fell into a bucket of  recycled rain water.  The puri immediately compressed into a tight ball and when Louis tried to pull it out with a large fishing spear it cut a hole in the middle.  Louis looked at what was kind of a mushy circle, patted it down a bit and then decided to throw it into his tandori oven, which of course he used to make roti.  He watched, what was to become the first bagel, turn a golden brown and again took the fishing spear and pulled it out. 

Louis Leakey liked the look and feel  of this new creation and promptly put it into his mouth and took a bite.  Louis knew from that very first taste that he had definitely stumbled upon something that might help VD to properly employ those in his kingdom to have a good life and also to keep them from thinking about any sort of revolution.  He knew though that he would have to find something to put on this creation  and well, what to call it?  What Louis didn’t know, as he took that first bite, was that VB had already dreamed about this and knew that it would be called a bagel, from the Hindi bag l, meaning a round thing with a hole in the centre.

Louis being quite a great man in his own right, although he was quite short,  had been an explorer and only landed on the shores of Tamil Nadu from his native place, Lodz, some two years earlier.  Being someone who was not afraid of anything he immediately found himself as an astrologer in the court of VD.  There he correctly interpreted 8 out of 10 dreams, which was a much higher percentage than the other astrologers and therefore he was one of the favorites of VD.  When Louis asked to go to Pondicherry for a short respite, VD granted this immediately.

That evening as Louis thought about this new delicacy which would further put him in the good graces of VD and garner him the 15 or so wives/girlfriends  that he always wanted, knew that he must have a plan that would not only help him, but also help his people, to live as truly free men and women.  He decided to take his favorite dog, pat char (4), down to the dabha on the Pondicherry waterfront and sit at his favorite table with a copy of the Pondicherry Post and just think.  He thought, “how can I take this round shaped thing and create jobs for all no matter who they are?”  “Maybe if I put some fish on this thing and find something to spread other than ghee, some onions, tomatoes, it will be a creation that VD will always love and then I can ask him for anything.   I must also find a new, easier method to make these round shaped things, some kind of cylinder that will last for a long time, to put the water in, after I bake them in my tandori oven.  Of course I must also increase the size of the oven.”  

As we all know, Louis brought the idea to VD  and given his dream which Louis Leakey interpreted quite correctly and also that he had actually thought of and lived the dream, good things came to pass in Tamil Nadu for Louis and his followers.   (For that matter Louis Leakey’s descendants would later sail across the Atlantic Ocean and start a manufacturing business capitalizing upon this bagel idea in a place called Long Island.  This descendant, another Louis would prove to be I-Man’s great grandfather.  One of this great grandfather’s sons and a great uncle of I-Man, a person called Allan, would also be part of this business.  You can still see pictures of this Allan, or Krishna’s uncle Anil in that earlier time, with his shirt opened to his navel, with his chest hairs protruding in every direction.  Allan would late come to marry Rose, or Savita in those times, a woman who did remind people of that very popular flower.  Rose could often be found asking people to stop trying to smell her.  But that is another story).  VD knew immediately that it was the bagel and from that came Tal.  The original Tal in Pondicherry can still be seen today but is now a McDonald’s selling veggie, tikka and other types of burgers and french fries.   They sell no soft drinks, only nimbu panni’s (lime water).  Eventually Louis moved to the State of Kerala and started an entire town of Jewish people and established the very first temple in Fort Cochin but that also is another story.

As the feasting and merriment in the village died down a little past midnight, Krishna sought out Kookoogee and Shweta , along with Golu and Bulbul as he knew that he must sooner, rather than later, get to the palace of VD.  This would be the only way that he would be able to continue his journey to Europe and eventually to America, where he would become I-Man.   That evening they agreed to direct Krishna to the palace of VD with the help of the one astrologer they knew, Louis Leakey.

The next morning January 1, 1514 Krishna, accompanied by his new friends and relatives, started their trek to the palace of VD, some 60 or so kilometers from Pondicherry.  After an hour or so, Krishna, knowing full well that he could fly to the palace in mere minutes, turned to his new friends and relatives and told them that he could find his way from here.  They all knew that he was right and asked Krishna to always remember them especially with VD.  Krishna, already knowing the future, and his continued relationship with them all, said, “of course”.   Being the sweet superhero that he was, Krishna gave them all a hug and kiss before he jetted off into the sky.  They all waved goodbye and smiled inside knowing full well that Krishna’s story would be told around their village fire for eternity, especially given the size of the basket boat and the amount of wood that it would produce for their campfires.  They were all forever in his debt, especially in the kindness that he showered upon everyone that he met. 

Minutes later Krishna came down in the centre of Madras, for that is where VD could be found, directly in front of the palace.  At the palace entrance, the guards, Metu and Babu, who would later in life become I-Man’s cousins Ben and Josh, asked his business and he promptly indicated to them who he was.  Upon hearing the name Krishna, they knew that this was the young man that the palace had been buzzing about for days due directly to the fact that VD had dreamed of this moment as interpreted in one of his dreams by Louis Leakey.  The guards, although highly excited, but being very professional said, “Wait here!” 

One of the guards, Babu mounted a horse and rode to the astrological house where they knew they would find Louis.  Upon hearing the message from the guard, Louis checked his sundial and as he had predicted from VD’s dream it was approximately 10:32 AM on January 1, 1514.  Without a moment’s hesitation, because as Louis well knew, Krishna would be meeting with VD at noon, he asked Babu to bring him to Krishna where he would be escorted to the main palace hall to prepare himself to meet VD. 

Upon seeing  him, Louis smiled inside, because he knew that one of his future incarnations would be the great grandfather to Krishna, but also because he knew that Krishna, later to be called Isaac or I-Man, in superhero parlance, was what the world would need if humanity was to survive.  Louis greeted Krishna with a simple “Namaste” and asked Metu to take them both to the palace interior, where Krishna could be fitted with clothing appropriate to meet a mogul emperor. 

When Krishna first saw Louis Leakey he felt an immediate kinship, as if somehow he knew him.  Krishna was somehow starting to get used to these intuitions as the superpowers inside of him were churning on an almost minute to minute basis.  He felt as if somehow Louis would have something to do with his future grandfather Jerry and his Seattle father, like maybe Louis in the future was one of the reasons as to why Jerry and Mark would be born.  But, Krishna needed to now focus on his meeting with VD and so he let these thoughts slip away until much later in his life. 

Louis had the palace servants dress Krishna in a beautiful flowing multi-colored, kind of tie dyed, courta, with quite intricate stitching featuring a beautiful brown boy, with straight black hair, playing with peacocks in  their full regalia.  Louis knew that this outfit was becoming of a superhero in the making and that it would please VD, especially given his preference for peacocks.  Louis also knew that the multi-colored courta  would be appealing to this mogul emperor, who, as we all do, look to the superhero within and without to help us through life’s challenges. 

Krishna was glowing and his aura was full of confidence.  As the servants and Louis saw this they bowed, for what else could they do in the presence of such a magnificent looking young man.  Krishna, being very humble, started to blush and asked them to walk with him to meet VD.   They wanted to carry him, but he would have nothing  of this and held all of their hands as they started the walk to the great hall where Krishna would meet with VD.  As they walked more people were taken in by the magnificence of Krishna and his other worldly glow.  The line of people walking and holding hands grew longer and longer.   

Finally they were at the door of the great hall and Louis asked the others to let him and Krishna attend to VD on their own.  The people with a smile in their hearts, decided to wait outside the great hall, for they had never seen anyone before, nor would they see anyone after with the grace and magnificence of young Krishna. 

Chapter 3-In Which Krishna Meets Vinesh the Dastardly and His Relatives to be

Waiting in the center of the great hall, as it was noon, was VD. He knew, without anybody telling him, that he must be there to greet this superhero who he would help to get to Europe and eventually America, the dream of all Indians.  Although you wouldn’t know it from looking at him, VD was just as excited to meet this superhero  as anybody else in his empire. 

As Krishna walked into the great hall followed by Louis, all of VD’s attendees bowed deeply as VD stood with open arms wanting to embrace this superhero who had graced his kingdom by just being there.  As Krishna was drawn into VD’s magnetism  he again felt this kinship and had some notion that VD was actually his father Mark in the year 2011 and that VD’s Queen, Vishnu, was his future mother Susu.  Next to them was a beautiful Indian princess named Anjilee,  his future sister, Sophie.  Krishna rushed towards them as they all embraced.  The palace had never witnessed anything like this and all began to cheer and applaud.  VD at the top of his lungs gave an order, “prepare the great feast”  and for the second time in two days, Krishna recounted his story, with the added information about Pondicherry as all sat in full rapture as they  somehow knew that they also would become part of this endless story. 

The palace table was gigantic as Krishna noticed a beautiful young lady, Vandana, who would later become his future wife, Beverly, and all of his other soon to be family members-Bulbul (Lauren) and Golu (Rachel) were there, as well as Metu (Josh) and Babu (Ben), Poonam (Sadie), Shikha (Ruby), Atul (Henry),  Deepika (Aubrey), Sanjeev (Andrew), Momo (Talia), Louis Leakey (Louis),  Tilak (Norman),      Pooja  (Simone),    Shreshta  (Deanne),  Tilakam   (Robyn)   Rajesh  (Michael G.),   Anil Kumar (Daniel),   Monika (Sarah) , Ashok (Ricardo),  Sunita (Lori),  Navneet (Jeff), Sandiya   (Lisa), Shekhar  (Howard),     Savita (Michele),   Mukesh  (Scott),   Rubi (Laura)  Ashok (Jerry),  Rakhi (Sheila),  Suresh (Alex),  Ramvilas  (Samuel ),   Ramashesh ( Ryan ),   Sheethal (Rebecca),  Rupali  (Sofia), Balveen  ( Livia),  Santosh   (Pat)  Myna  (Linda), Avneet ( Sonny ),    Santosh (Lenny )   Kookoogee (Rob) and Shweta (Wendy), Jyoti    (Miriam), Niti   (Bella), Maheck  (Annie),    Shukla (Toby),    Nikita (Candy), Kiran( Judy), Prianka  (Cathy),            Onkar (Tony),  Anant  ( Timbo),  Amir (Terry),  John Raj Kumar (Zach),  Sharuk (Joe), Priya ( Gretchen), Sita  (Lily), Rani  (Emily), Harshit (Patrick), Alia (Katy), Kushal ( Bret), Isha  (Amy),  Harshetha  (Elly), Deepakshe  (Daba),  Fahad  (Gramps),   Iyush (Mateo), Tania  (Kenlynn),  Palak  (Piper),  Manisha  (Maddy),  Pallavi (Emma), Sanjo  (Trey), Arti  (Maggie), Saddarth (Harlan), Praveen  (Ben), Laksha (Toby),  Rohan  (Mark), Vaibhav ( Jed),  Satvik  (Tommy),  Angad ( Yitzak),  Mansi  (Goldie),  Sushant ( Joseph), Riya (Pearl),  Shubhanshu (Alexander),  Aditya  (Yidris), Akhil  (Adolph), Ananya  ( Lena),  Ashish  (Gershon),  Apoorva  (Estelle),  Prashant  (Harry), Prangya  (Julie) and Sudhiha (Michael). 

Krishna, being a vegetarian, except for his love of lox and tofu spread on one of Louis Leakey’s bagels, enjoyed palak paneer, dal, mutter paneer, subszi, tomato soup, lemon rice, uttapan, roiti, nan, puri, bagels, rawa dosa, and for dessert, gulab jaman with pistachio ice cream.  By the end of the evening everyone at the table had gained a minimum of 2 kilos or about 4.4 pounds.  Given this  and the amount of food that still remained all of the guests  filled as many “doggie” bags as they could carry and walked through Madras handing out one bag/family or individual for those who were still single.  This supplied enough food for many of the recipients for at least one week and possibly more.  This all added to the Madrasian resident’s good feeling s towards  VD and therefore VD’s good feelings towards Krishna and Louis Leakey, who said that this would all come to pass.  (In fact based on all of this, VD gave quite a bit of money towards the temple that would eventually get built in Kerela by Louis Leakey and his followers).

After a wonderful night’s sleep in which everyone in Madras, including those who attended the feast, dreamt about the wonderful blessings which Krishna, eventually I-Man would bring to the world, all woke with a smile on their faces.  This was even true of those who had not smiled for years and years.  Somehow, Krishna, even though some of it may only have been through a dream, was bringing peace,  joy and happiness to all.  It was a remarkable time in Madras, Tamil Nadu, a time which has not been totally replicated since, no matter how hard people try.  There was even a friendly cricket match that afternoon in the VD Airtel Stadium, built, as you might have guessed, due to one of VD’s dreams.

That evening, January 2, 1514, Krishna and VD, along with Louis Leakey sat down to dine alone.  They had a lot to discuss and they all knew that it was time, even though VD didn’t want Krishna to leave, to dwell on the future.  VD, being the mogul emperor at that time, started off the conversation, “Krishna, we must get you to Europe in order for you to get to America”.  Krishna, bowed his head and said, “Yes, great emperor I must continue my journey to, as you know, become this I-Man.  This is the only way that this planet that we inhabit will be saved.”  Louis Leakey in response, said, “Yes, honorable emperor we must help Krishna as your dream, interpreted by me, putting me over 80% in dream predictions, will come true.”  VD said, “Yes, this must be, but how can we do this?  I don’t really understand or know this Europe or for that matter, this America.”  Krishna, becoming wiser by the minute, said, “we must sit together in silence and see where this takes us”. 

So, they sat throughout the evening with their backs straight, as if a string was attached to the round part of their heads, in a cross legged position, with their hands resting on their respective knees.  None of them slept that evening, but all found their third eye, located just above their brows and the bridge of their nose.  They all went simultaneously to that same place, a place called Europe and then after that America.  They all saw how Krishna would get there, and although he might fly, he mostly had to walk thousands of kilometers which would take him through numerous empires and tribal areas.  They all knew that this wouldn’t be easy but that Krishna had to do it, that this was foretold and that this was his journey.

When  they all “awoke” from their simultaneous journey they knew that if they ever needed to be with one another they could always just sit and that somehow they would be able to “see” each other and help one another if needed.  It was decided that Krishna must leave by the end of the week.  For the next few days, the palace was busy helping to ready Krishna for his journey and as he had the full blessings of VD, all were very cooperative. 

It was now almost mid-January 1514, a bit cold, for at that time there was no global warming.  VD woke quite early the morning of January 15 and knew that this was the day in which Krishna must leave.  VD had his wife Vishnu prepare the celebration that would see Krishna off.  It had snowed the night before and Vishnu made sure to pack Krishna with very warm clothing, mostly animal hides. 

At 7 am Krishna woke and knew that it was time to leave on his journey north.  He was excited and wondered what kind of celebration would see him off.  Upon hearing him stir,  Metu and Babu, who had been guarding Krishna’s door went to find Vishnu, who wanted a private word with her son to be Isaac in the not too distant future.  Vishnu came into Krishna’s room and her son to be welcomed her with a bear hug that only he knew how to do.  Vishnu was very happy and knew that even though Krishna was to leave Madras this morning she would see him for the rest of her soul’s life.  Vishnu told Krishna that she had prepared a great celebration to see him off.  There would be the royal elephants and camels, monkeys, snakes, tigers and rhinos. Being a wildlife enthusiast Krishna could not contain his joy and again gave Vishnu a great bear hug.  At about that time, VD walked in, followed by Vandana.  The four souls who had always known one another put their arms around each other and smiled, their hearts overflowing with joy.  This joy seeped out of the room and ran, like volcano lava, through the streets of Madras.  Soon the entire town was waiting for the celebration to begin outside of the palace.

As the four souls walked outside, soon joined by Louis Leakey, they saw the people of Madras, dressed in their best for the good-bye celebration.  As the people of Madras saw their emperor, his wife along with Krishna and Vandana, deafening cheers erupted, so loud that they were heard in the neighboring States of Kerela, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh.  The joy that was felt by all Madrasians that day was also felt throughout these neighboring States, although the people weren’t at all quite sure why.

Krishna was honored by riding one of the royal elephants through the streets of Madras, with everyone showering him with flower petals.  If one had been able to witness this from the sky they would have seen a rainbow of colors, as if people were playing Holi by a non-stop throwing of colors.  When he finally arrived at the furthest border of Madra, VD, Vishnu and Vandana were waiting for him. 

The elephant Hawtee lowered himself down so that  Krishna could dismount and say his final good-byes.  Anticipating Krishna’s question, VD said yes Hawtee would accompany Krishna on his journey north.  No words passed between the four souls as they hugged, knowing full well that they would all see each other soon.  All of Krishna’s relatives from the first feast in the palace of VD, arrived to wave goodbye.  All were in such a good mood, having been blessed to have met Krishna.

Krishna mounted Hawtee and with a final wave of his hands turned his attention north. 

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[1] If one takes a close look at the “revolutionaries” who stayed in Tahrir Square in Egypt until Mubarak resigned, one will notice that many of them were wearing light blue colored t-shirts with a caricature of Moses with a long white flowing beard carrying the tablets.  The back of the shirt in 32 font Calibri (Body) black letters with yellow highlights states, “Thank you Moses for sailing down the Nile”.  In Tunisia, Bahrain and Libya, one can see that the shirts of the revolutionaries were actually that of a well drawn likeness of  I-Man, produced by Aunt Aubrey, an incredible artist, mentioned above with his cousins Sadie, Ruby and Huck riding on his back and his sister Sophie on the ground holding a poster of Moses with the above same Thank you as noted. 

The Chinese revolutionary t-shirt was also somewhat similar although they really had no idea who Moses was, but being that the other countries used this they decided to do the same.  Of course the above saying was written in Mandarin, Cantonese and other regional languages. 

One month in Kathmandu

It’s hard to believe that I’ve been in Nepal for one month. As always, time passes much too quickly, at times, without truly taking much notice. So far, things have gone well. Learning the language even though it is quite challenging, familiarizing myself with Kathmandu, getting to know others and acclimating is what my life is about at present. It all feels different then when I first landed in India in March 2009. At that time everything was entirely new. Having lived in this part of the world for three years, and visiting Kathmandu once before last September, I thought that things might be a bit easier, although moving half way around the world can be an unsettling experience. In the second half of language class today, we practiced speaking to one another and I felt a sense of not knowing enough, that I really should know more. These feelings came from hearing an English guy, who has been living here for ten years speaking fluently, a meeting that I attended Wednesday and Thursday with my NGO which was entirely in Nepali, except for one power point and my own inner belief that I should know and understand more. After class I decided to spend some more time studying, as somehow I feel that intensity would lead to doing things just so, although I am very familiar with what I was feeling, that “stomach empty hole, not doing enough” thing. My thought was to get out of the Guest House and walk. I meandered down a path near the Guest House and came upon people filling their jugs with water at a decorative cement pipe, something I’ve seen throughout the City. Clean drinking water is a somewhat scarce commodity in Kathmandu. As I watched, one child started to poke me and some other children started talking. Although they wanted to practice their English, I wanted to practice my Nepali and so it went. The children were lovely, one living with 17 other family members, another with 11. They wanted me to try to the water, wondered if I was married and couldn’t understand how I could have children but no wife, asked where I was from, etc. As usual, I put myself in a situation where I could deal with my “stomach” feeling. The children made me smile and gave me some sense of connection. I waved good-bye and continued my journey and decided to go to see some people whom I had met in September. Emily, a former VSO Nepal volunteer, had taken me on some walks when I visited in September, 2011. At that time she had introduced me to a mother and her adult son. The mother lived not too far from the Guest House in a shack where she sold drinks, cookies, etc. The mother did not speak a word of English and the son was a sometime trekker who led people during the high season, which was not too frequently. Since being in Nepal I had passed them many times, with the mother always waving me over to sit, but up to now, I hadn’t taken the time. However, today I decided to try to make a connection, speak some more Nepali, in an effort to become a part of Nepal. I spent maybe 15 minutes, bought some water and just sat. On some level I just want to connect, to develop relationships with people so that my stay in Nepal would eventually feel like home. It’s not that I haven’t done this, as I’ve reached out to the basketball community and talk to whomever I see. But like my Nepali class, there is a feeling that I’m missing something. On some level I lead a very contradictory life, knowing that I need to have strong deep connections, that people give me energy, but consciously choosing to live a rather transitory kind of life in an overseas environment. My experience in India led me to believe that I could, however, have good connections while living overseas. Maintaining relationships with friends, in the US, however, wasn’t always easy as not seeing people for a number of years can prove to be disadvantageous. I feel that I’m in that in-between kind of space, where I want to get settled and start work, meeting people, living a somewhat “normal” life. Wim, my new roommate and I will move into our space next week, a very nice flat with a beautiful view and a wonderful kitchen. This will certainly help. Work will begin on July 23 and this is also positive. My overall fear though is not knowing the language enough to make those strong connections with Nepalis. Of course people speak English, but I told myself when I left India, that if I was fortunate enough to live in another country I would learn the language. Am I too hard on myself, is it realistic to speak somewhat fluently in one year, can I continue to study on a daily basis? Of course the answer is a resounding “yes”, on all accounts. Will I be able to read the language, conduct my work in Nepali, fully understand the nuances? Of course the answer is “no”. It comes down to allowing myself to settle in, to not put a time pressure on myself, to try and try and try without becoming overly frustrated. The language will come, along with the connections and friends. My “Americaness and Michaelness” continues to come out, that pushing forward before really settling in. It is however, a matter of time before the Nepalness becomes part of me, when like India, I will be able to call this beautiful country, my home.

President Bush (from 2007)

Today was another unique day. But, first a story. A few years ago I was on a plane with Tex Winter, a former coach for the Lakers (and you know how much I love the Lakers). I wanted to talk with him and thought that once the plane made a stop I would go sit next to him. Well, of course, Tex left and I never had the opportunity to speak with him. As a huge b-ball fan I vowed to never let any kind of opportunity like this slip away from me again.

Last week it was indicated in the local newspaper that President Bush would be visiting Lancaster. Members of the Chamber of Commerce could pick up a ticket by waiting in line at the Chamber offices this past Monday. Tickets would be given out starting at 10 AM. I thought why not, I may not agree with the man but this is an opportunity to really see someone who is in the public light. I made it to the Chamber about 9:30 AM last Monday and there were already a room full of people, some having arrived as early as 5 AM! I was given the number 60 and waited about two hours to be three tickets away from obtaining one to see the President. I saw a young man in his late 20’s who had gotten some tickets interviewed by the local media who had received a couple of tickets. This young man talked about how much he loved the President, supported the war and then he did a little parody of the President. I thought how can someone so young be so conservative? I put my name on the Chamber waiting list and yesterday received a call from the Chamber saying that I could get a ticket! Last night there was a demonstration in the square outside of Market which I wanted to experience. I stayed in the background but saw many signs along with lots of chanting. I agreed with many of the signs but as I left I said to someone, “OK, so now how do we make changes?”

This morning I made it to the site where the President would speak, about 7 miles outside of Lancaster, around 9:45 AM. Driving on the road to the site, one could tell that the President was on the way, lots of police and ambulances, etc. I waited in line for about 45 minutes and made it into the site which was set up in a town hall meeting style, the President would be in the middle with about 400 people sitting in bleachers around him. The national media of course covered the event. We started out with the star spangled banner and then the President of the Chamber was introduced and then the President walked in. Whether you agree with the President or not it was quite an electric feeling to have George Bush about 10 feet away from you.

The President gave about 30 minutes of prepared remarks including addressing some of the Amish whose families were involved in the horrible Nickel Mines shooting and then opened it up to questions. The first question was about the Iraq war. The President was very adamant about needing to stay until we were successful. He really spent a lot of time answering the question. Next it was my turn to ask two questions. I said, “Thank you for coming here and for being open to answer questions. I also told him that I wanted to gain a better understanding of him, which he thanked me for. I asked him to talk about the Farm Bill and how it helped Lancaster County farmers and also asked him to talk about how we were being leaders in combating global warming.” (Apparently I was also on the local news asking my Farm bill question). The President spent a little bit of time on the Farm Bill but went into quite an explanation about global warming. He looked at me quite a bit as he was answering my questions. There were some very tough questions for the President and he answered all of them to the best of his ability. He seemed sincere and personable and is of course a real ideologue. Someone asked him if his daughters should go into business or politics and he said that they should do whatever they want to do. He talked a bit about HIV/AIDS in Africa and said that he felt that we should help to relieve the suffering overseas and that we should help people in other countries to become free. He also stated that he didn’t like the fact that politics in Washington were so personal and that we should show respect for one another. He again did seem sincere. He talked a lot about not raising taxes and I kept thinking about how we were paying for the war besides cutting lots of programs?

As the President left around 1 PM, I handed him my latest US News and World Report with a cover picture of Hillary for him to sign, he asked me where I farmed and I stated that I ran a market with lots of farmers. The President did sign the picture of Hillary and laughed. (During the 72-73 b-ball season the NY Knicks defeated the Lakers in the finals. Keith Erickson of the Lakers was at a local drug store to sign autographs after the defeat. My friend Bernard and I went to obtain an autograph. Bernard, who always had a good sense of humor, and is now living in Paris, brought the cover of Sports Illustrated with Willis Reed of the Knicks for Keith to sign. Keith just laughed and signed it and I thought of this as I handed the picture of Hillary to President Bush).

All in all to be able to ask the President of the US a question and get an answer, regardless of whether I agree or not, is remarkable to me. It is very difficult for me to find much right with the policies of the Bush Administration, he had just come from vetoing a bill for poor children’s health, but I do have to say that I have an appreciation for the person George Bush and the tremendous pressure that he is under as President.

The lesson for me is to take advantage of whatever opportunities life presents. Why not?

The Amish Church (from 2007)

As I drove down Route 340 about 8:30 AM on Sunday, September 16th, 2007 the road was alive with Amish in buggies, Amish walking with their families, and Amish parents pulling their children in wagons all on their way to their own church. The church that I attended was at the home of one of the Market standholders in Gordonville, next to Paradise. I decided to try to look as “Amish” as possible, so I put on black and white clothes and wore my Amish hat. I was greeted by my hosts and then I was shown the barn where the Amish men and boys were waiting for the service to start. The Amish males were all standing in a line shoulder to shoulder and as someone new came in one would go down the line and shake everyone’s hand. (A few of the men actually kissed each other on the lips). As new buggies came in the horses were also put in the barn to be watered. At about 9, one of the Amish elders asked me to follow him into a building which is typically used as a workshop. There were maybe 15 benches in the room with about 8 on one side for the women and 7 on the other side for the men facing towards the women. In the center were 10 chairs facing each other for the elders. I was placed in the center with the elders. When I entered the room with the Amish elders all of the women were in the room, lots of children, along with the Amish men. We still had our hats on until the Amish male teens entered the room and then we removed our hats. The service lasted about three hours, I believe in German. I understood the following words-“Father, Son and Holy Ghost, and Go in the grace of God”. That was it! I didn’t fall asleep although it seemed that many of the men were dozing throughout the service. I think that there were three sermons and some chanting. At times we got on our knees and placed our head on the chairs. I could tell that many of the Amish children were looking at me, this “English” person. They did seem rather curious.

Once the service ended I was instructed to stay in the room as the long benches were transformed into two long tables, one again for the men and one for the women. In between this transformation I went outside to play some basketball with the children. I also asked used to use the bathroom in the house, but was turned down as the women were using the house as their area. I was instructed to go out into the fields. I sat with the elders to a feast of freshly made bread, fresh p-nut butter, cup cheese, some type of apple pie, water, coffee. It was just delightful to be so welcomed into this community so unlike anything that I had been aware of. After lunch the volleyball court was being prepared, but I had to leave for another function, so I was unable to play.

I’m not sure that my description captured my experience , but it really was just incredible! There definitely was curiosity about me, especially what I thought of the service. When I responded that although I didn’t really understand the service, but thoroughly enjoyed myself, there was a definite connection. I hope to be invited to another service so that I can stay to play volleyball!

India Dreaming

I was supposed to start working in India yesterday, on April 2, 2012. Instead I’m still in California “visiting” my parents, trying to take some action on what I’ll do next in my life. I was supposed to be still living with the Tyagi family in my second floor flat with all of my “stuff” adorning the walls. Instead I spoke to the family on Skype this morning talking about how they’ve put all of my “stuff” into boxes in the spare bedroom until I’m ready to have it shipped. Fortunately for all another VSO volunteer will be living in the flat. I was supposed to be in New Delhi with all of its people, cows, dogs, traffic, pollution and garbage, where I’m so very happy, truly being me. Instead I’m in an area with blue sky, lots of walking trails, no garbage, hardly any people, a swimming pool, where I’m not overly happy, (yet that is). My heart and mind are still in India, where my selfish self wants to be.

I ran out of time in trying to renew my visa in India. In retrospect I should have just stayed until I had a decision one way or the other. I thought that there would be no issues in obtaining a fresh visa in the US. But after being rejected, and as I came to find out, I seem to be in the middle of some politics i as the US has been rejecting Indian professional visas at a very high rate. In the IndiaMIke forum I read about a young woman in a similar situation: “But what frustrates me the most is that there is a job of my dreams at the organization where I did my internship with a lot of pleasure and most importantly in the country where I want to live…”

As the month of March has gone by and I try to obtain assistance from my Indian friends, to see if they know of someone in the Indian Embassy, and my father pushes me to send e-mails to various US legislators, I realize how central India has become in my life. New Delhi has become my home. I so much appreciated the everyday contact that I had with my host family. Although my Hindi is fairly non-existent, I had relationships with all of the shop keepers, a smile and wave every morning on my way to the bus stop, a “Namaste” from the people living on the sidewalk, a greeting to any child that I passed on my way home in the evening, a “conhei?” or “who is it?” in Hindi when I rang the bell to be let into my home.

Three years in a country, building relationships, thinking that one could stay here for some time and be happy, contributing to another way of life stopped by the stroke of a pen. Intellectually I can understand this, countries have to promote that they are protecting their citizens. Although in the longer term, as I’ve come to realize from living in India, understanding how others work and incorporating this knowledge into how we work, benefits all. Emotionally, I’m somewhat of a mess as I tell myself that, “everything will be ok”. Internally my rumblings are great, as my body attempts to adjust to the lifestyle I once knew. My good friends and family have been very supportive, but now my contacts, my professional network is in India and in this moment I can’t go back.

So, what to do? I try to be hopeful, tell myself that there might be some way to talk to someone and make the case that this particular foreigner, out of all of those that have been rejected, should be given a visa, that I’m not taking any work away from citizens of India and actually creating some, that I really can help to make a difference for Indian society. On the other hand, I know that I need to start building some infrastructure for myself in the US, that I can’t be unemployed for a long period of time as I already know something about this from my part-time working life during 2008. I also know that living and working overseas is something that I just don’t want to give up.

It isn’t easy, but I know that. All of us go through “stuff” and it comes down to how we deal with the spouse that is sick, not having the money to do what we want, staying in a job because it is secure, growing old and not being able to do what you used to.

I’ll go on because it is the only way. I won’t give up and will get back to India if it is at all possible. Maybe it won’t be in the capacity that “I want”, but in another. I certainly won’t give up my dream of living in other countries once again. But for now if I must stay in the US, I’ll do what I can to make it “home”.

Three years of Voluntary Service Overseas

My three years of Voluntary Service Overseas (VSO) ended this past week. I’m a different person than I was when I became a volunteer in India in March 2009. India and all that it is has invaded and infused body; which was once was as an All American. I understand a little bit more about the world and another culture. I realize how similar we are and that the things that we want are very similar. I might have known this from living my entire life in the United States, but I know now how important it has been for me to leave my native place and live somewhere else, which even after three years, no matter how comfortable I have become, still remains foreign.

I was in the West as soon as I made it to the IGI airport in New Delhi moving on to my layover in Hong Kong on Thursday. Efficiency, efficiency, efficiency, no garbage, many people interested in helping to get me to the right place. After an efficient dim sum lunch with a friend in the downtown area, I made it back in 24 minutes to the airport on the connecting train. (I even met two people at the airport, a bit older than me, who went to the same high school). Arriving in Los Angeles was more of the same, the sky was fairly blue, the weather temperate, people stopping for me when I crossed the streets, in fact, I had the right-of-way, what an utterly strange concept.

My daughter picked me up and the traffic flow was fairly straight forward with other vehicles giving the right-of-way. We went to Sarah and Ricardo’s apartment which is nice, clean and efficient, not too much traffic on the street. Ricardo and I went for a walk and as I remembered, every corner was filled with a mini-mall, the usual Mexican and Thai restaurants, a bakery, the drug and grocery stores, traffic moving together and not a cow or a piece of garbage in site.

It really isn’t too strange being in the US, but I am hoping to live for a longer time in India and generally abroad. I look out the windows of the apartment, nobody on the wide, tree lined, well lit street, no noise, except for some cars. But, this also seems a bit foreign to me.

Sarah and I went for a short hike today, up a few hills, again no garbage and even cans lining the way. Most people were speaking English, but there were some speaking foreign tongues; everyone enjoying their privilege of living and/or visiting the US.

There was also last night when Ricardo, Sarah and I went for a walk to the Pie Shop, (oh my, the choices!) and we passed a number of people on the streets in their sleeping bags; there was even a tent. It did however look different from what I’ve come to identify living on the streets in India with.

As I’ve been in the US for about 34 hours of which half wre spent in a well deserved sleep, I’ve read about the volunteer “Re-entry styles”:

“1.1 Re-entry Styles
If you accept that re-entry is a period of transition that is accompanied by stress, there is
typically one of three approaches driving your transition. Your re-entry style will dictate the level
of ease with which you will move through the re-entry transition period. Your style or approach
to re-entry will also determine your stress level.
i) Alienation
Negative feelings about North America and North American culture
Rejects the North American lifestyle; unable to adapt, feels stuck
May try to escape by taking further contracts overseas
Stress Level: High
ii) Reversion
Reverts to prior North American lifestyle without dealing with personal changes (particularly attitudinal or value-based changes) that occurred abroad
Stress Level: Initially low, but with potential to increase
iii) Integration
Uses the stress of re-entry to learn more about self
Integrates the changes that have occurred abroad to develop a new identity and lifestyle in accordance with changed self
Stress Level: Moderate”

I chatted on Facebook today with a VSO India friend who has been in the US since December, and she related that both her and her husband have jobs and are even house hunting. They must be iii) Integration.

Since I have two contracts in India and am working on a new visa, I immediately went to i) Alienation, especially “may try to escape by taking further contracts overseas”. I thought about how I might be “trying to escape”, but in reality have found a place, although it is so very challenging in everything from the weather to the lifestyle to the lack of language on my part, where I’m internally happy.

I wonder though where there is space for realizing that possibly some and/or many of the returned volunteers may want to work overseas. At least I know of a fair amount, in which, India just wasn’t enough and the volunteers needed/wanted more.

I probably shouldn’t take the re-entry styles so literally, but a shift has occurred in my life, in which the world, on some level, seems to be available. The major deterrent is only the possibility of not obtaining a new visa.

The fact remains that the US is not the place that it was three years ago and although I haven’t fully explored the opportunities here, it appears that overseas is where my skill set is needed the most, where my network remains just waiting to gobble me up.

The volunteer overseas experience is partially about the impact that we make, but is more about the friendships that we’ve made, the perceptions that we’ve changed and the smiles that we give to others and others to us as the only form of communication. It is about others saying to me with complete sincerity, “you are coming back, right?” The overseas experience is about not taking things for granted, about immersing oneself in another culture, feeling frustrations and overcoming these and not giving up one’s native place, but being flexible enough to fit in.

I will go back; it is just a matter of time. Between now and then I will enjoy my native place, my dear friends and family, but will also keep my focus on where my heart says is the right place for me at this point in my life. VSO-Very Supreme Opportunities (to live an extraordinary life!)

Downbound train

December 11-12, 2011
Down bound Train

I’ve just woken up again on a train, listening to Bruce Springsteen sing, “Down bound Train”. My laptop is so dusty from years of living in India. Maybe it could be cleaned, maybe the dust is there for the life of the laptop, something to take with me wherever I am in the world. A little piece of India encrusted on my laptop, reminding me how this country is now so much a part of my internal life that I’m not sure how I will ever leave.

Yesterday morning at 6:30 I was supposed to be on the Puri Express to Bhubaneswar. Instead when I arrived at the New Delhi station around 5:30 AM I was told that the train would be delayed. I was driven to a government ticket office, in Connaught Place and was told that there were no other trains and that all flights were booked.

The metro took me home where I logged onto the Indian Railways website which told me that the train would be delayed for seven hours and 20 minutes. This would mean leaving around 2 PM. At 11 AM the same website indicated that the delay would be 14 hours and 20 minutes. This would mean that I would now leave around 9 PM. Was this still the same train?

Coaching basketball was now on my agenda, as I could leave directly from the YMCA at Patel Chowk and take the metro to New Delhi Station. I hadn’t been at the Y for some time due to Incredible India enabling me to continue to lead an extraordinary life. It was so wonderful to see the children and to find a few new guys that I could coach and bring my love of the game to their psyches. What I found though is that all of the children were so into the game and it was the usual inspiration that leaves me loving basketball even more.

I left the Y around 7:35 PM and made my way to the metro, walking and talking with one of the new children, Sam, who has been playing and has a good understanding for the game. I arrived at New Delhi station around 8 PM, looked at the “big board” but didn’t see the Puri Express. Fighting to get the enquiry window I was told that the train would leave at 8:50 PM from track 12.
8:50 PM came and went and finally around 9:10 the train pulled in. At 9:45 PM the train departed from New Delhi station, which leaves me with more than an entire day waiting to get to my final destination. I should have been in at 10:30 AM on Sunday, but now hope to get in by 2 AM on Monday.

Just spent my second night on the train and we hope to get in around 3 PM. Day one of the workshop is cancelled. We spent a lot of time sitting in one spot last night, I’m told because it was too dangerous to travel due to Naxelites. The train isn’t as gross as it could be, it seems to be getting cleaned regularly. There is and has to be a direct correlation between number of hours on the train and cleanliness. I, in my American way, need a shower badly, as well as some food. I tend not to eat on trains just because.

We are presently in W. Bengal and moving at a pretty good clip. We seem to be passing agricultural fields and it is beautiful with an early morning mist, just hovering. It’s pretty brown this time of year, but one can still see the remnants of harvested crops. Wait check all of that, we are stopped yet again! I finally arrived at 5 PM after spending 44 hours on the train!