Back in Bangalore

I arrived in Bangalore a week ago, and today I had my annual "Favorite Experience" - registering myself at the Foreigner Regional Registration Office.

Now, normally I cringe anytime I have to deal with ANY government agency. The DMV, for example, frustrates me enough that I delay renewing my license until the last minute - like everybody else.

In reality, though, not all government offices are inefficient and painful. Like lawyers, it's the 95% of them that give the rest a bad name. OK, maybe that is an exaggeration. My mom has dealt with the Social Security Administration, and the office near us is decent. The BMV I go to north of us is fine. But, with many things in India, dread surrounds my annual encounter with the FRRO.

The FRRO itself has relocated, which is good. The last location was on a major one-way street in the heart of the city (Infantry Road). The building looked like it had stepped out of "Gunga Din". The desks behind the counter were piled high (taller than me) with multiple stacks of files which looked like they had been there since the British left in 1947. The entire office staff looked like someone had gone down to central casting and requested "a bunch of generic Government employees". Everyone, the employees and the customers, looked miserable.

Now, though, the place is a little off the beaten path. The seats are more comfortable (think doctor's office rather than stack-able vinyl). The whole area is lighter, and feels less - depressing. The office staff is the same as before, but it seems that since the customers are not so tense, they have lightened up a bit also. I counted not one, not two, but three smiles during my two visits.

Yes, two visits.

See, you have to go with this stack of paperwork, which is looked at by a bunch of people, before you are sent upstairs - so it can be looked at by more people. Eventually you get to a pair of women who tell you what to pay. But wait, even paying is complicated. It must be a Demand Draft - like a cashier's check. So you need to text the amount to the company guiding you through this process, they get a DD, and they scoot over to you, so you can take the bill and your passport to the cashier and leave...

For about 3 hours, when you must return to pick it up, verify everything is right, and FINALLY be free until the next year.

Or, in my case, be free until my family arrives in the beginning of March.

Which brings me to my problem with Bangalore now. See, I was enjoying being home, playing with the kids, seeing the family, basically being normal - or at least as normal as I get. Work is busy, but not engaging enough yet to fully distract me from the fact that I am alone in a country of a billion and a third people.

Mostly, I miss my wife. We reconnected this time in a way we had not for quite a while, and it was awesome, and it was horrible to leave.

My sole comfort is that they will be here in a few weeks, and then I will have someone to show around, to experience India all over again through fresh eyes, to see the craziness and the absurdity, to taste and smell the exotic delights all around us, in this very foreign land.

And, of course, the possibility that I might be somewhat normal again.

Dignity in Death

In "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull", there is a line of dialog, something like "we've reached the age were life starts taking things away". Myself and my peers seem to have reached that age as well.

Late in February, I lost my step-dad. My mom and I were in the hospital room with him when he passed, and it was mostly peaceful. (HERE if curious.)

Several weeks ago, my former Pastor lost his wife after a lifetime of pain and illness. Nancy still managed to be an inspiration to those around her for many many years.

Last week my half-sister lost her step-dad. He had been in a coma, and the decision was made to remove support.

Today I learned that my friend's mother is on a BiPAP, and has difficulty breathing without it. The prognosis is not good, and she may never leave the hospital, or she may return home for hospice care.

As painful as it is, death is an important part of life. Since being in India, I have come to some realizations about our western culture, especially our attitudes towards death and our own mortality.

Until relatively recently, people died where they lived - at home. Viewings (showings for my Midwestern friends) would be held at home, in the fanciest room of the home - the Parlor. Death was a common occurrence, common enough that children would probably see a dead body well before their teens.

In 1918, the "Great Influenza Pandemic" hit. 50 - 100 Million people died (3% to 6% of the world's population), including 500,000 to 675,000 in the US (.5%). Parlors became a place filled with the dead awaiting their funerals. The front room began to be referred to as "The Death Room."

When the pandemic passed, the Ladies Home Journal suggested that the room be renamed to "Living Room". The name stuck. Attitudes began to change about funerals, and viewings were shifted to "Funeral Parlors", away from homes.

Perhaps because death is not in familiar surroundings, it has become very frightening, instead of the natural event that it is. I believe this sterilization of the normal process creates undo fear in people. Granted, some people pass on more peacefully than others. But everyone deserves the comfort and support their family can provide, both to the deceased and for those mourning.

In India, most deaths occur at home. I have never seen a funeral home. I don't believe there is such a thing. Hindu custom is that the body is cremated on a funeral pyre as soon as the eldest son can arrive to light it. (Sati, the practice of the wife throwing herself on the funeral pyre, is rare and forbidden by law since 1829.) The body is transferred from the home to the place of immolation with flowers and mourners (and, now days, on a open three-wheeled truck). The body is consumed by the fire, the ashes are scattered on a river, and the mourners walk away without looking back.

I don't know what should be, and every person and family has a different idea of what is best for them. I have tried to share with my children the difference between a person and their body. The body WILL die. The person WILL live.

There is an old bumper sticker - "When I die, I want to go like my grandfather did, peacefully in his sleep - not screaming like the passengers in his car." We all want to go peacefully. And what better way to have peace than surrounded by caring loved ones?

Commonwealth Games, half-way point

The good news for India is that the commonwealth games didn't end up the disaster that many feared they would.

On the other hand, a lot has gone wrong.

On Day 5 of the competitions, India is way ahead of what they expected in the medal count. Of course, some athletes chose to stay home when the pictures of the deplorable rooms in the athletes village were aired. And Australia and England lost most of their swim teams to "Delhi Belly". (The pool water was tested, and came up clean - but that only leaves food, drinking water, bathing water, and a billion other things that could have caused it.) The toilets all backing up at the swimming venue was just another little glitch.

A 25 foot high electronic scoreboard crashed to the ground at the Rugby stadium. Luckily they have until Monday to fix it, so something will be up - what is anybody's guess.

Plumbing problems have plagued the athletes village. Thousands of condoms blocked the drainage. Apparently the athletes quarters are not THAT bad.

The grounds crew is scrambling to patch cracks discovered in the running tracks. You know, the ones built just for these games.

There was a mess-up after the woman's 100 meter race. The athlete that finished first was announced the winner, even though a team had lodged an official complaint, and she was eventually disqualified for false starting. News finally reached her just a few minutes before the medal presentation. Apparently the official communications work as well as the plumbing.

Wild dogs and monkeys have created a nuisance, running wild around and menacing athletes and spectators alike. Monkeys may look cute, but a 50 lb animal with 3 inch teeth is an imposing force - especially when he wants your ice cream.

Oh, and a King Cobra was found in the South African sleeping quarters. Must be like a door prize or something.

Perhaps the strangest thing is the stadiums appear to be empty. I mean, other than the athletes and the officials, NOBODY is in the stands. Nobody. Supposedly 900,000 tickets were sold. If that is the case, they must all have gotten lost on the way to the stadium. I have seen more people at U14 girls soccer games. But we didn't have monkeys and wild dogs.

And now I will gripe about the television coverage, because it's my blog and I want to. when I watch Olympics coverage in the US, they show the top teams - US or not. They may show a few minutes of Americans getting their butts kicked, but whether the US medals is not a factor in what events are shown. Yes, there are some events I am only mildly interested in (Ice Dancing? Really?), but there is enough "unusual" sports (curling, for example) that two weeks of prime time goes by pretty quickly.

Here, in India, though, it is All India, All The Time. I have seen exactly one event that India was not competing in (Lawn Bowling - that deserves it's own blog entry, if I can ever understand the rules). Every other sport has shown India victorious. Yet when I look at the actual medal count, India is 2nd in Gold medals (20, less than half Australia's 47), and 3rd in total medals (47, behind Australia's 98 and England's 70). So what gives?

I think it is another example of India's "Chalta Hai" attitude - rather than show people the best that each sport has to offer, let's make it about patriotism. Show only India victories. Anything else might make the people sad, and we don't want that.

India has a lot to be proud of, considering where these games were just a month or so ago. And they have a lot to be upset about. To quote the AP "Previous problems in the leadup to the games included construction delays, corruption allegations, concerns about security, outbreaks of dengue fever and, perhaps the most damaging, complaints about unfinished and filthy accommodations in the athletes' village just days before teams were due to arrive."

There is light at the end of the tunnel. And hopefully it is not an oncoming train.

Storm clouds brewing?

In typical Indian fashion, the verdict arrived late and less than satisfactory. Instead of the 3:30 PM announcement, it was well past 4:00. And nobody seemed particularly pleased.

In order to appease the greatest number of people, the Uttar Pradesh High Court made a decision no litigant asked for. The disputed land - all 2.7 acres of it - should be split 3 ways. The Hindu temple is to remain where it is, a third of the site should go to rebuild the destroyed mosque, and the last third goes to Ram Lalla - the Hindu gentleman who wanted to pray on the site.

So, Muslims get one third of the site, and Hindus get two thirds.

Of course, what I have heard so far seems to say that the court was long on "let's not anger anybody", and short on points of law.

Now I don't pretend to understand the mystical and exotic location that is India. But I do think that perhaps, just perhaps, the High Court tried so hard to not upset anyone, that they instead upset everyone. So far there have been no reports of violence, but night has not yet fallen. Politicians are making a big deal of trying to calm everybody, but I wonder if some political parties, especially those who are THIS CLOSE to being in power, might not exploit this as a religious insult, perhaps organizing riots, or illegal protests.

I am too young to remember the riots in Watts, Newark, and Chicago in the late 1960's. I do remember the LA Riots after the Rodney King verdict, though. What they seem to have in common with the current atmosphere is that the judgment was seen as unfair by normal citizens. Justice delayed is justice denied.

Now, the reason for the title "Storm clouds brewing?" doesn't have anything to do with the case. Literally there is a storm stirring, or at least that is what it feels and looks like. In Bangalore, the monsoon rains may be what keeps everything quiet - I mean, I don't want to walk in the rain, let alone riot, and I figure burning cars would be darn near impossible with the rains we get here.

I'll keep you'all posted.

I Owe, Ayodhya, so off of work I am...

Let me introduce you to a little city of 60,000 in India, called Ayodhya.

It is to Hindus what Mecca is to Muslims, or Jerusalem is to Jews.

And now it is a cause of nationwide panic in India.

See, about 60 years ago a lawsuit was filed, where a Hindu sought permission to make poojas (prayers) at a site that already contained a mosque. Apparently India courts move slightly faster than glaciers, because now - SIX DECADES LATER - the court is ready to announce it's verdict. (Just so you know, this is NOT the Supreme Court, so any judgment will be appealed, no matter who wins.)

India is in a panic. In 1992, the mosque that stood there was demolished by 150,000 men with crowbars, which led to nationwide rioting and more than 2,000 people dead. There is widespread fear that the same thing will re-occur, although most likely in Goa, Delhi, Mumbai, and Hydurabad.

So, my work has decided that everyone should tele-commute tomorrow and Friday, unless the government lifts the decrees against assembly, and gives the all clear.

Now, I agree that safety comes first, but I wonder if the government isn't guilty of expecting too little from its people. When a government acts like it's citizens are toddlers, waiting to throw a tantrum, doesn't that make it easy for the people to sink to the level of expectation?

Right now, I have no fear.

Tomorrow, though, I may be glad I am here alone.

India vs China - Games style

First, a short history lesson for my American friends - Back in the old days, when Britain still had territories, in 1930, Britain came up with an Olympic-like games, which had all the normal Olympic games, as well as "Lawn Bowls", "Rugby Sevens", and "Netball". Originally called the "British Empire Games", they eventually transformed into their present iteration, called "The Commonwealth Games" (which I will abbreviate to CWG throughout the rest of this blog post). There are 71 teams that compete, including Wales, England, North Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, Canada - well, you get the idea. Some are really small, and some countries send more than one team (Cook Island, for example, would normally be considered a part of New Zealand).

In 2003, the decision was made to hold the 2010 CWG in New Delhi, India. So, for 6 and a half years, money was passed around, pocketed, overspent, and a general mess was made of things.

Then, a couple months ago, all hell broke loose.

Articles began appearing in "The Hindustan Times" and "Times of India" that maybe, just maybe, New Delhi would not be as ready as they could be. But don't worry, we will all work together and pull this off, even though little has been done in 7 years, we still have 6 weeks to finish up. Never mind that the sports stadiums look like disaster zones, or that nobody knows where all the money went - this will be a "Victory for India".

Last week it got hotter. A footbridge leading to the main entrance of the largest sports stadium collapsed under it's own weight. (India got lucky - imagine if it had collapsed with hundreds of international spectators on it.) The British tabloid "Daily Mail" published photos of the athletes living quarters - HERE - which show urine stained walls, paan (think Chewing Tobacco) stained showers, and muddy (Dog? Cat? Rat?) footprints on the beds, and dog feces in the rooms. Oh, and a false ceiling partially collapsed in the weightlifting stadium.

And India Government responded with a comment that reveals how out of sync India is with the rest of the world. Lalit Bhanot, General Secretary of the local organizing committee, said that the level of cleanliness expected by international visitors was different to that of local standards. "We have received the letter from Mr Fennell and he has expressed his concerns on the cleanliness of the Games Village. But it is not such a big issue which we should be ashamed of. This will not affect the Games." He continued “They want certain standards of cleanliness. They may differ from my standards."

Seriously? Your standard is so low, that you sleep with dog crap around you?

Remember, folks, this is a brand new center, built for the sole purpose of showing off India to the rest of the world. India's "Coming out party" if you will, where it takes it's place among the Westernized nations, leaving forever its "emerging country" tag behind.

Chalta Hai, again.

Now, my main point is to contrast this mess with the Beijing Olympics just a couple years ago. Both are being held in huge countries, population wise. Both countries want to be included in the "first world" nations. Both have the desire to be included. But India seems to lack the motivation, or the will, or the commitment to succeed.

Now, let me make my prediction. The CWGs will proceed. They will be a decent games, without any major incidents. India will have poured more manpower into fixing the major issues than the US could conceive of. They will be a success, although a modest one. It will not be the great spectacle that Beijing was. And that is the shame. Countries, like people, get certain opportunities. There may be no penalty for not seizing them, but there is no benefit for passing them either. But when great opportunities present themselves, and they are used to their fullest, the changes can be historic. This, I feel, is a lost opportunity.

Now, I am not ruling out an epic failure, I just don't see one eminent. If one footbridge collapsed, more could be on the way. If a false ceiling collapsed, pieces of the real ceiling may also fall. Incidents, injuries, or even deaths may occur. While I pray they don't, I fear they may.

The games start on Sunday, October 3. I'll post updates as events warrant and time allows.

Burning the (Qur'an, Quran, Kuran, Koran, Qur’ān, Coran or al-Qur’ān)

Ok, I try and follow American news while away, if only to see how this part of the world sees Americans. Right now, they are not impressed.

There are two major issues (in my mind, anyway) with this Florida pastor burning the Koran (which is how I will spell it, barring typos, for this post).

First, from a Christian perspective, I question how Christ's love is shown through this act, which seems to provide both provocation to the Muslim world, and maximum shock value for an enraptured international audience. I also see a weird irony in a church called "Dove World Outreach Center" inciting violence and protests. I mean seriously, "OUTREACH"? You mean like a punch? Because this is certainly not a helping-hand type outreach...

Secondly, I am a bit conflicted by his rights to do so - which I support - while observing the left-leaning types that are objecting and vilifying this pastor. Weren't these "Freedom of Speech" supporters the same ones who were pro-flag burning just a few years ago? So, it is OK to burn a symbol of a country, but not a symbol of a religion? Or am I missing some subtlety in the argument?

Where does our President land on this debate? I mean, a few short days ago, President Obama was supporting the "Ground Zero" mosque by defending the right of private citizens to build a mosque on private land. Then should I not expect the leader of our country to support the Constitution's First Amendment, and come out strongly supporting the pastor's Koran Bonfire? I mean, a few days later he could back peddle, and say he wasn't judging the WISDOM of the bonfire, but just supporting his RIGHT to do it. Of course, a few days later he could extricate himself from the discussion, and say it is a local matter - turning himself into a States-Rights supporter in the process.

I guess what I have reasoned through in my head is "Freedom is Messy". While he has the right to protest by provocation, that does not give those offended the right to retaliate by violence, or at least to have no consequences to their violence. When some anti-American protester would burn a flag, the witnesses did not have a right to stomp and kick him. If they chose to do so, they would be punished, charged with assault, and jailed. Now whether it was worth it would be up to the attacker.

So I won't be surprised to see bible burning in Muslim countries in protest. What I would be shocked to see, though, would be reporters, politicians, and regular people discussing the bible burning in the foreign country. Americans have always had the really important debates out in public, and this is one that needs to be talked through. What concerns me is the response. Could we see more suicidal terrorists on American soil? How, exactly, do you punish that?

Personally, I'd like to see the protest called off for this year. Not permanently, but just a delay. We need to have the debate. Let's have it, in time for the 10th anniversary of the Muslim Extremists attack on the US. Fear of retaliation should not be the reason for giving it up - that would make the Constitution a weak document, when intimidation can restrict Rights - but I'd like to see a discussion about the wisdom of the protest. Is there a better way to express outrage with Terrorists without angering the billions of non-terrorist Muslims?

The pastor may still burn the Koran, though.

That is his right.