It is the middle of a pandemic. I am in the rain in a windy city, looking through all the writing I’d meant to post on this blog.
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January 16th, 2020
The best time of year in New England is September and October. Everyone who’s been there knows this. It’s the time of year when the trees turn to flame, when the sweltering summer gives way to the coolth. It’s the season of cider doughnuts and leaf piles and pumpkin-weighing contests. You weigh pumpkins? What a strange, American thing to do. Yes, they are over 2000 pounds. It’s the time when football season begins, and baseball comes to an end. The only bad thing since 2004 has been the beginning of school.
Beneath the smoke, today Delhi smelled like the New England fall.
Delhi is the wildest of all the worlds I’ve seen. Today, there was fight between the dogs and a monkey by the lake: the dog, scampering down the lake’s barrier; the monkey, stalking after it, screaming. A small boy threw a stone, breaking the altercation.
A man walked holding his red-capped baby, singing her to sleep. A running group was out. The street dogs at the edge of the park wear small jackets this type of year – an animal care van drives around to provide them.
I’ve done this walk maybe 500 times now, and every day there is something new.
***
January 22, 2020
Today I saw a girl take two turns to open a rusty gate. Beyond the gate, between two buildings, was a forest. It reminded me of Narnia, too big for the small space between the buildings to contain.
[redacted]
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January 29th, 2020
Today there was a small celebration in an alley in my neighbourhood. There were a couple drummers, five women dancing, two children dancing, all dressed in wedding finery out on the street. I slipped past the motorcycles next to the dancing. A confused dachshund wrapped in a red sweater wandered towards the music.
I was in Amritsar last weekend. There was a lot of good food. I was excited to finally be travelling to Punjab, which had become this land of myth and legend in my mind. And what I had heard was true, there were some festivals going on, and the streets were shut down for partying.
Among the things that happened: we saw a chariot in the shape of an 8-foot-tall chicken parked on a street corner. Later that evening, we were headed along a misty main road back toward our hotel. Our auto driver shouted “chicken!” and we looked behind us, and lo, the chicken chariot was driving towards us, emerging from the fog.
***
In mid-September, at the end of a long, hot summer, I disappeared. It was a mostly unconscious decision and I only realised I’d done it because other people told me. During the past wonderful and strange four months, I’ve traveled to/through 12 states (India and USA) and have been nocturnal. It’s nice to be back in Delhi and on a normal sleep schedule again.
First, these past four months have been professionally fulfilling. I won’t list a full resume here, but it’s been great to see a lot of our work come to tangible fruition.
Second, travel highlights, in small detail:
-Taking a solo trip to Meghalaya, one of India’s North East states. Meghalaya’s living root bridges are a wonder to behold – quick tip that if you go to the bridges near Cherrapunji, make sure to start early, and take the trek past the bridges to Rainbow Falls. Along the path, there are innumerable butterflies. I ended up traveling with a couple sisters from Manipur, and hopefully will see them if I end up in the North East again.
-Traveling with my mom throughout Old Delhi and India in general. (I could write more about how cool she is but she would be embarrassed.)
-Traveling with my mom through Kerala. Alleppey is a lovely little seaside town. I went for a bike ride down the canals from the beach, and some tipsy old men watched my bike as I bought fresh banana chips wrapped in newspaper.
-Ending up, somewhat accidentally, at a garba in West Delhi. It was surreal, the stuff of dreams. I didn’t know any of the steps, but the circle kept turning. The lights were brilliant.
-Walking around Mehrauli Archaelogical Park at sunset.
-Concerts on concerts: my favourite were 1) seeing Bipul Chetturi perform at Delhi’s North East festival (free!), 2) a tabla concert in Mumbai (not free), 3) morning ragas in Delhi (free!)
-Walking down Mumbai’s Marine Drive at midnight, seeing families out, and the lights of the city blurry beyond the bay. The small children wore squeaky shoes.
-The first snow of the season in Shimla. There’s nothing like a first snow. I was like a child again. Our house was 3 kilometres walk outside town, overlooking the Himalayas. In the morning, all was silent and perfect.
-The Shimla-Kalka toy train, a six hour journey down through the mountains and forests. Every half-hour or so, it stops for chai. The Kalka train station itself has a kiosk with a cinnamon chai machine. I got four cups.
-Somehow getting an invite to a post-conference fancy meal, drinking a lot of wine and eating a lot of jalebi with hundreds of economists.
-Spending time with my dog and my family!
-Hanging out with my brothers and eating food in Chicago. Yes, Delhi is probably the best food city in the world. But Chicago has different types of food!
The secret to doing all this on top of work is simple: be nocturnal. No one bothers you if you write at 2 AM.