You want to flake out?

Pick a number and take a hike buddy. Because this may just be as good as it gets.

hills

Spent the weekend up in the hills, amongst the tea plantations, where the weather was around 14 degrees and unbelievably pleasant. The drive was arduous, snaking up the hillside, on two land crazy bends, in the rain on potted roads in a dilapidated van. Made a stop at the Pinnewala Elephant orphanage and saw a lame elephant rescued from a border village, a leg blown off by a landmine. Talked about the problems of development in India, and of innovative programs, where street children are taught on railway platforms and finance workshops run by ex-investment bankers for women's savings groups in the Himalayas. Then the night spent in the hills, waking up in the morning to fir trees and pines and the scent of tea in the air. Walking amidst the golf courses and the bustling market town, reminiscent of Khurg, or Darjeeling or Ooty, or Kodaikanal. Reminiscent, remarkably, of Hyde Park. It was good for the soul and I forgot for a brief moment I was in Sri Lanka. Then driving back after the short stay, stopping at a random guesthouse and finding out it was the famous Kitulgala resthouse, on the banks of foaming rapids with a wooden swaying bridge which looked distinctly un-Sri Lankan and very Vietnamese, and then discovered that this was the river where, improbably, Bridge on the River Kwai was filmed!. How bizarre. Came out of the guesthouse to discover a Rolls and a Jag parked in the garage! Then the skies opened for the umpteenth time and we ran for cover.

back in the saddle

Just a week back and already it feels like a lifetime. I think this stint will be good. highlights include attending a gala reception at a five star hotel of an international NGO, which was started up in the 1950s as a recognized front for the CIA and the State Department for its Cold War activities in the Asia-Pacific region (and as a result has been banned from certain countries). Even now, this NGO trains local foreign service personnel and is involved in defence issues. Met the old trustee emeritus of this NGO, who talked to us about declassified information about American military movements in the Phillipines in the 50s and how he still influences the strategic direction of this NGO. Over 50% of their funding comes from the US govt, some reputedly from slush funds, although 10% is still voted on by Congress.

Then, went to a school opening ceremony in the South, in a resettled village by a Texan, with journalists and reporters. There was a poster welcoming me and my colleague by name, as well as our organization, and it was beautiful. I released a white dove into the sky, trembling (the dove), terrified, strangely feeling alive at that moment. There was an auspicious ceremony at the time, where the Buddha was installed in his shrine, and Rebs was telling me how she had transported him last night from Ambalangoda, in the back seat, with seat belts on.

We were driving along Galle Road past Weligama, and we came to secluded beach cove, and the three of us snatched a moment, the first time since I've come to Sri Lanka where we've just kicked off our shoes, ran into the waves with our clothes on and got half-drenched and felt so alive, with a storm brewing off the coast and the palm trees bending double in the wind. Getting back into the van, the driver started playing Eminem and as we drove past a Buddhist shrine, he switched it off for 2 minutes and then immediately switched it on as we passed it. Such reverence! A true devotee. And so it goes.

ipod

I've never been a lackey of capitalism, hostage to 'programmed' desires, but I have to admit; I am captivated by the ipod nano. I am a shameless convert to iApple. Welcome to iEarth. The next computer I buy is an ibook. Forget the rest.

In 1984, Apple came out with an ad (at the Superbowl), declared in 1995 as the best ad of the last 50 years and directed by Ridley Scott.

the third world

back from another developing country. The term 'Third World' or developing, is so illusory. The Human Development Index lists three bands, of development or progress. Sri Lanka for example, is ranked 93 of last, and India 127 of last. But yet, there are wide disparities in these two countries- consumer goods penetration is higher in India, road infrastructure is better in the capital cities, there is a better network of public transportation (railways and buses) across the country, there is a huge surge in upward class mobility due to the widespread cable tv penetration as well as the booming economy benefiting from outsourcing, there is a wider critical mass of educated English speaking workers unlike Sri Lanka. Yet, calculated on a 'per capita' basis, India lags far behind Sri Lanka.

In Bhutan, there is a 'happiness' index, to measure development.

Talking recently about the politics of foreign aid, and how aid is always conditional, though it may be years for those conditions to be articulated, demanded and met. Unconscious, whether it is imposing a 'value system' on those recipients, to conscious. And yet, there is one thing that makes the world go round and as I get older, i see it more and more, it is the almighty dollar and all that that implies. It is the currency of the world, whether in values, social issues or in economic might.