Letter from India

By Greenfields - About Me - E-mail this page - Add to My Favorites - Add to Blog List - See other blogs in Journal

Friday, January 18, 2008

A Meeting with the President

For the last two days I have been in a meeting which brings together women and men from South Asia working on gender and development. It's called the Sixth Regional South Asian Ministerial Meeting, Commemorating Beijing. The Beijing part is a reference to the follow up on work done sinc the Fourth... Sign in to see full entry.

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Sunday, January 13, 2008

A Blogging Show

Last night one of the Indian news channels had a programme on blogging. My friend Sheila sms'd me to say her daughter - an avid blogger - would be on the show. I turned on to the show, which I don't normally watch as it is noisy and opinionated. But last night I did. The format of the show is... Sign in to see full entry.

posted by Greenfields at 7:44 PM | add or view comments (8) | leave calling card | link to this | view only this entry

Friday, January 11, 2008

Recommending: The Power of Checklists

In the December 10, 2007 issue of The New Yorker, on page 86, is a powerful article called The Checklist by Atul Gawande. Gawande is a medical doctor and the son of parents I knew while I lived in the town of Athens, Ohio, USA, in the 70s. The article is a compelling argument for how simple things -... Sign in to see full entry.

posted by Greenfields at 9:24 PM | add or view comments (6) | leave calling card | link to this | view only this entry

Wednesday, January 9, 2008

Inventory in the Hills - II

I am back in Delhi, after completing the inventory in the hills. In the last two days, along with the inventory, started the cleaning. We devoted one room to stuff for the kabariwallah or junk man - who comes around and buys what we don't need. This could be anything from newspapers to a sofa set.... Sign in to see full entry.

posted by Greenfields at 9:21 PM | add or view comments (4) | leave calling card | link to this | view only this entry

Sunday, January 6, 2008

An Inventory in the Hills

Armed with my laptop, camera and strength, I am in the hills, conducting an inventory. My friend Ragini's mother - Kamala - suffered a stroke about 18 months ago. She lived in the hills of Dehra Doon, about 286 kilometres north of Delhi. After the stroke Kamala moved to Delhi and has been there ever... Sign in to see full entry.

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Wednesday, January 2, 2008

An Empty House

All of a sudden the house it empty. Kabir, our son, left on the night of January 1, back to his school in the US. Martin, Mary's partner, left on January 2 for Kenya, and Mary my friend left this morning for Kabul, also at the crack of dawn. Over the last few weeks we have had all three from all... Sign in to see full entry.

posted by Greenfields at 9:55 PM | add or view comments (14) | leave calling card | link to this | view only this entry

Sunday, December 30, 2007

Basking in the sun

As times change, some things don't. Basking in the sun is one of them. In India, basking in the sun is a major activity, in the cold weather ofcourse. In Hindi, the most spoken language, it's called dhoop sekna or being heated by the sun. Ever since I was a child I have witnessed my grandparents,... Sign in to see full entry.

posted by Greenfields at 9:52 PM | add or view comments (17) | leave calling card | link to this | view only this entry

Saturday, December 29, 2007

Benazir Bhutto - a Martyr

Two nights ago driving home, I heard that Benazir Bhutto had been killed. It was shocking. The first and last time I met her was in 1994 at the UN Conference on Population and Development in Cairo, Egypt. She was the keynote speaker, and her speech was electrifying, at least to my ears. She stood... Sign in to see full entry.

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Tuesday, December 25, 2007

Relationships - a witness to our lives

Yesterday I got an email from a dear friend asking advice on relationships. Relationships are not easy, never have been and make never be. Whether you start young or older, the challenges are the same - how to keep the channels of communication open so that the relationships grows, flourishes, is... Sign in to see full entry.

posted by Greenfields at 7:19 PM | add or view comments (14) | leave calling card | link to this | view only this entry

Sunday, December 23, 2007

Boys and Girls

Yesterday I read an article that delighted my heart. The New Times carried an article about how the sex ratio in Korea had been reversed, with families wanting girls over boys, as has been the tradition. We have a similar and more acute problem in India. The sex ratio (number of girls to 1000 boys)... Sign in to see full entry.

posted by Greenfields at 11:04 PM | add or view comments (12) | leave calling card | link to this | view only this entry

About this Blog

I started this blog in mid-March 2006 when I moved to Kabul, Afghanistan, for a four-month assignment. In mid-July I moved back to India, and am continuing the blog.

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