Rampage, Reaction, and Race

The Virgina Tech shooting has shocked the world. Students, faculty, and staff could not stop talking about the incident at work today. With more details just coming out about this sad event, people are dealing with the tragedy online. There are several groups on Facebook right now lashing out at the shooter and blaming immigration and Asians.

This knee-jerk racist reaction never fails to upset me. If the perpetrator was Arab/Muslim/Black/Mexican/Female/Other Immigrant there would have been another set of issues raised. However, if it was a white man, would the world suddenly turn against that group? No. The main concern then would be to find out why the incident took place. That should be the heart of the matter and individuals should not focus on race/gender/immigration status.

Other points for serious consideration: gun laws and why violent situations in schools and colleges occur more in the United States than in other countries. If these topics are discussed/explored and dealt with, then maybe schools and universities -the beginning of the rest of someone's life- can be safe havens again for all of us.

As a community and nation recovers, I hope the powers that be, and those that individuals believe in, bring peace, comfort, and love to those most dearly affected by the incident.

Children Are Our Future

A woman at work was accepting an award for "great teaching" and she quoted Whitney Houston. Now the "Greatest Love of All" was a very popular song in its day but Houston has been through a whole lot since then. Does quoting her to young, impressionable minds, in some way condone her drug use? Are we now teaching children that "crack is whack"? Are we letting them know that spousal abuse is OK?

Anyhow, this song was quoted once more at a charity auction raising money for CRY. and it really annoyed me again. What is the song's real point? That is an issue for another day. However, I will say something about the future of America.

I love my students; they are interesting, fun, and curious. At times though, I am stunned by things that come out of their mouths:

"Racism does not exist in the world anymore."

"What is so significant about Maya Angelou's life? Why do we read I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings? Does she really think she is all that?"

-This after we read Night, another autobiography. None of my students questioned the need for that book to be written.

More statements?

"Women are not discriminated against anymore."

In the same class, same day, a young boy of 15 says, "The rest of the world will laugh at us if we have a woman President."

Begin sarcasm-Yes, dear! Of course 'backward' nations in Asia and Africa will be shocked by a woman President. Nations that have elected women leaders will not be pleased with America. It would most certainly be a sad state of affairs. End sarcasm.

With the recent outrage at Imus's statement -which was both racist and sexist, I have come to the conclusion children really do need to be "taught well" to "lead the way."

At home, at school, through media, children really need to be aware of the things that go on in the world around them. It's easy to think, "I'm not racist, I have friends of a different race," and "I'm not sexist, my mother works;" yet what makes someone unprejudiced? Can we be unprejudiced? Don't we all have our biases? Do some suppress their ideas, are others more educated? What really goes on? I believe it is about exposure and education.

I had a teacher in HK that stated, "I don't see colour in humans." After I did some research I realised he wasn't colour-blind. Then I was vexed. It's kind of like a man stating, "I don't see gender."
I would like someone to see my colour: to acknowledge it, accept it, and deal with it. Does it define me? In some respects, yes it does; in other respects, it shouldn't.

We know that race and gender are still significant polarizers not only in the political arena but in every day life. Why else would there be a raging debate in the United States about the democratic presidential candidates -Clinton and Obama?

Racism and sexism. The mistrust of women and black men. All too evident in Shakespeare's Othello. As we read the play in class, it's interesting to see students realise how much the world hasn't changed. Hopefully, if we keep teaching them, not just in the classroom, but in all areas of their lives, there will be a real change in the world.

To end on a lighter note, I love the Reduced Shakespeare Company, check out the Othello rap.

A Celebration!

I saw Company last night with Zen: it was a fun day and night. We started the day with massages, lunch, and manicures and finished it up with dinner and a show. Company was interesting. I got home around 1am from the city and then spoke with one of my oldest friends, JC (we've known each other since we were 7!) in HK. She's getting married!

She went to Delhi for a few weeks, met this guy, and they're getting married in October! I'm so happy for her! And so another one bites the dust! However, I'd say the number of married people I know are less than the ones that are single. What is it about married people that always wants to set up their single friends?

It's difficult to get back into the dating game after a relationship ends. I've found I have to state, "I'm not gay" on numerous occasions to explain my single status. I also have to somehow prove that there is nothing wrong with me! But then again, maybe there is something wrong with me. Am I unwilling to settle? I'd say I have my list of "must haves" and "can't stands" and then there are other things that I am willing to compromise on.

Compromise though, is it the same as settling? No one is perfect and everyone in the world knows I'm not either. But what is it about being with someone? What is it? Fear of being alone? I've found myself and so many people I know really change when they are involved in a relationship. The logical side of me knows that that is bound to happen to some extent; but what really gets me is when people compromise on what they really stood for: politics etc. But am I insulting all the married people I know? Am I claiming something about them that I don't really comprehend?
Can people change? hell yeah! Do people grow? Of course they do...but there is something that gets stifled too, in numerous relationships.

Although there are those relationships which I have seen with my own two eyes that just ooze love and respect for one another: my sisters and their husbands and my best friend, MR and her husband, TL. Maybe, just maybe, I'll have that one day also. I sincerely hope JC and her fiancee have that relationship too.

As the show was all about the single vs married, I found two scenes in Company really relevant to me:

1.Bobby asks a friend to marry him just so other people will stop talking about them being single.

2. Bobby wonders if he had let the one he was supposed to marry, go.

I've thought about both. But in the end I know I have not been in the right relationship. But then again... :)


Being single opens up a whole different world. I don't need a relationship to complete me. I'd like to end with some advice: Life is too short. Whether you're single or married, don't judge. Simply, enjoy the ride and make the most of it.

I end with apt U2 lyrics:

A Celebration

Shake! Shake!

Don't go
I believe in a celebration
I believe you set me free
I believe you can lose this chains
I believe you can dance with me
Dance with me

Shake! Shake!
Shake! Shake!

I believe in the third world war
I believe in the atomic bomb
I believe in the powers that be
But they won't overpower me

And, and you can go there too
And, and you can go go go go

Shake! Shake!
Shake! Shake!

And we don't have the time
And everything goes 'round and 'round
And we don't have the time
To watch the world go tumbling down

Go! Go!

I believe in the bells of Christ's Church
Ringing for this land
I believe in the cells of Mount Joy
Doesn't understand

And, and you can go there too
And, and you can go go go go

I believe in the walls of Jericho (And you...)
I believe they're coming down (Can go there too)
I belive in this city's children (And you... )
I believe the trumpet's sound (can go go go go)

And you can go there too
And you can go go go go...

I believe in what I'm doing
What am I doing here...

Rejoice!

For about three years I've been contemplating a vegan diet. I gave up milk almost a year ago; now I only drink soya and use soya for tea and cereal. I, however, love paneer, cheese, Indian dessers, and ice-cream. But, I've realized that I hardly ever indulge in ice-cream, kheer, ras-malai etc. However, if I was to be vegan I would never be able to eat another Indian dessert again. I also love cheese: cheese on toast, cheese and crackers, cheese and pineapples, cheddar, and mozzarella; I'd never be able to eat those things again. I hope, slowly but surely, to give these up. My biggest concern? India and my family.

Now, India is a vegetarian's paradise, but everything is cooked in ghee or has ghee put on top of it (as in rotis). After I accepted the job offer I had concerns that I wouldn't ever have any sort of milk again. Jyotsna very nicely responded to my queries and let me know that soya milk and soya products were readily available in India. So while I'm by myself, I should be O.K. Rejoice!

Going home, may be another matter all together. I really don't anticipate a lot of difficulties though; my mum is a quasi-vegan: she doesn't eat any type of cheese or paneer, but she drinks her milk and eats khoya desserts. I'm going to keep my quasi-vegan diet up as much as possible and introduce new aspects to the diet a bit at a time.

I'm not making any grand promises to be vegan, mind you. I know that would mean I could never drink a beer or an alcoholic beverage again! But, then again, that might not be so bad, after all. If you see me out and I drink a beer or I eat some cheese, don't gloat. I'm just trying this for myself...just for me.

And the Beers have it...

I wouldn't call myself a beer aficionado, but I do have discerning taste. The Bud Light real men of genius commercials are great, but the beer itself? With all due respect to Anheuser-Busch: No thank you. So I found the following interesting article on from the Guardian on the popularity of beer, on a link from a really cool blog


I'm going to grab myself a Sam Adams. Here's the article just in case the link doesn't work. Enjoy!

Cheers!
It's official: beer is the most popular beverage on the planet. As a photography exhibition opens in celebration, Roger Protz takes us on a guided tour of pale ales and pilsners - and nominates the best beer in the world
Roger Protz
Wednesday March 28, 2007

Guardian

Beer is the drink of the moment. Indeed, the photography exhibition The World of Beer: An International Language follows a survey by international marketing analysts AC Nielsen that found that beer is the world's favourite beverage, followed by soft drinks, then wine. Sales are surging, especially in countries such as China and Russia, where supplies were restricted for decades.

China

By the end of the decade, China is expected to overtake the US as the world's biggest producer of beer. Consumption grew by 88% between 1995 and 2000. Since the liberalisation of the economy, global brewers have descended on this vast market and either built new plants or taken stakes in existing ones. Anheuser-Busch, America's biggest brewer, has a 30% stake in China's oldest and best-known producer, Tsingtao ("ching-tow"). Germans built the brewery in 1903 and also planted hops in the area; China today is the third biggest hop- producing country in the world.

It is thought there are some 850 breweries in China and more in the pipeline as the likes of Carlsberg, Foster's, Guinness, Heineken and Scottish & Newcastle muscle in. These global brewers are concentrating on urban areas, where 70% of the population is under 35: young people consider beer to be a sign of western sophistication. With the exception of Guinness, global brewers concentrate on pale lagers with little bitterness and with rice added as a cheap adjunct to barley malt. Tsingtao is widely exported, as is Swan Lager from Shanghai.

Czech Republic

Bohemia, a region of the modern Czech Republic, has two claims to beery fame. The Czechs drink more beer per head than even the neighbouring Germans (293 pints or 166 litres a year compared with 253 pints/144 litres in Germany: the Brits are eighth in the bibulous Premier League), and the first golden lager beer was created in the region. In 1842, the new Burghers' or Citizens' Brewery in Pilsen produced beer made by the cold maturation system - known as lager, from the German for store place - developed in Bavaria.

Bavarian lagers were dark while the beer from Pilsen was an enticing pale gold and took the world by storm. Soon brewers throughout the world were reproducing the new style dubbed Pilsner, Pilsener or just Pils for short. In a bid to maintain its claim to the origins of the style, the Burghers' Brewery changed its name to Pilsner Urquell, which means Original Source Pilsner. It has a toasted malt and pungent hop character.

The quality of Czech beer was legendary but it was rarely drunk by westerners during the cold war. The communists maintained some 70 breweries but global brewers rushed to pick up cheap, privatised companies as soon as they could. SABMiller owns Pilsner Urquell, Gambrinus and Kozel, while InBev has bought Prague Breweries, whose best-known brand is Staropramen (Old Spring). The superb Budweiser Budvar is another widely exported Czech beer. It has a rich toasted malt, vanilla and spritzy hop character and is still state-owned: the government wants to keep it out of the clutches of its American namesake.

The United States

The country is currently enjoying a revolution in craft brewing with more than 1,300 "micro" breweries. Their sales grew by 16% last year and they now enjoy a market share of more than 10%. Many of these "micros" are extremely big by British standards: Sierra Nevada in Chico, California, for example, produces 800,000 barrels a year. Its Pale Ale and India Pale Ale are sold in Britain.

Prohibition in the 1920s and 30s destroyed a brewing industry with a rich heritage of British and German-style beers. Only a handful of giants, led by Anheuser-Busch with Budweiser, saturated the vast market afterwards with thin and insipid interpretations of lager. The label on a bottle of Bud, for example, announces it is brewed from the finest rice, barley malt and hops. Rice is tasteless and sums up the beer. Other giant breweries use large amounts of cheap corn.

In 1965, a beer aficionado named Fritz Maytag bought the ailing Anchor Steam Brewery in San Francisco and fired the first shots in the second American revolution. The success of his beers encouraged others to open small commercial plants. Some were enthusiastic followers of the Campaign for Real Ale in Britain; others of German descent have fashioned lagers of such quality they should bring a blush to Budweiser's cheeks. Today the likes of Brooklyn Brewery in New York City, Pike and Redhook in Seattle, Rogue in Newport, Oregon, and Samuel Adams in Boston are a power in the land. And Goose Island IPA from Chicago, on sale in Britain, may just be the best beer in the world.

India

While some Indian states ban alcohol, the country's indigenous breweries range from the far north in the Simla hills to Bangalore and Hyderabad in the south. The main brewing groups are Mohan Meakin and United Breweries. Mohan Meakin was India's first commercial brewery, established in the 1820s by an Englishman, Edward Dyer. Its main brands today are Lion and Golden Eagle lagers. United Breweries, another major producer, is best known for Kingfisher, brewed under licence in England and the mainstay of many Indian restaurants. Cobra Lager is nominally based in Bangalore but the brand was founded in England in 1989 by a Cambridge graduate, Karan Bilimoria, and is brewed in Bedford by Charles Wells. All Indian lagers tend to be malty and sweet with little hop character.

India's main claim to bibulous fame is the style known as India Pale Ale, the beer that refreshed the Raj. It was first brewed in London at the end of the 18th century but was seized on by big brewers such as Bass in Burton-on-Trent who were looking for new markets. The style was heavy in alcohol and hops to help withstand a three-month sea journey to Bombay and Calcutta. By the end of the 19th century, IPA was replaced in India by German brewers with their lager technology.

South America

A great brewing continent. Bavaria of Colombia, along with Modelo and Moctezuma in Mexico and Polar in Venezuela are among the world's biggest producers, while Ambev of Brazil has merged with Interbrew of Belgium to form the undisputed world's number one, InBev.

The Spanish built breweries in the lands they conquered, though the modern influence is German and lager-style beers abound. But long before the Europeans arrived, Aztecs and Mayans made beers - some rudimentary, some surprisingly sophisticated - using corn. A black beer called Xingu, made commercially in Brazil and exported to the US, is based on an ancient style made in the Upper Amazon.

In Mexico another European influence can be seen in such beers as Dos Equis and Negra Modelo, dark lagers based on a style known as "Austrian red". They reflect the period when Mexico was part of the Austrian empire and are brewed with dark malts that give them a fine chocolate, roast and spicy character.

Most South American lagers tend to be undistinguished refreshers but Bohemia from Mexico, Brahma from Rio de Janeiro and Tipo Pilsen from Venezuela are excellent examples of the Pilsener style, with good malt, vanilla and hop notes.

· Roger Protz edits the Good Beer Guide. His most recent book is 300 Beers To Try Before You Die (Camra Books). The World of Beer: a Universal Language runs from tomorrow until April 29 at the Proud Galleries, London. Entry free.
proud.co.uk

Desire

As I waited for a phone call last night, I turned on the T.V. and saw a preview for a new show, The Great American Dream Vote. I was, to say the least, a little upset by the premise. It drastically opened up the dichotomy of rich vs. poor for me, of needs vs. wants. It is a show, like so many out there, about desires.

I am sure it is extremely difficult for the 22-year old young man who is balding; is it anything compared to the individual starving on the street near the balding man's town or anywhere else in the world? Granted, that just because the bald young man is not starving physically, does not mean he is not emotionally starved. And so, in comes T.V., the American vote, and 15-minutes of fame to help this young man, who is so embarrassed of his balding head.

In relation to the suffering around the world, these people on the show really should have nothing to complain about. They need one of those purple bracelets. I probably do too, because I'm complaining about the show and the individuals on it! I do have a little criticism of the "complaint-free world" though (ironic, right?). If people did not complain there would not have been an end to slavery, women's emancipation, or independence for former colonial nations. Are those different kinds of complaints, though? I hope 'not complaining' does not somehow translate into 'not thinking.' I hope the organisation just desires individuals to be grateful and to combat negativity.

Back to the show. Like the individuals on the show, I have my own selfish desires: Be rich and travel all around the world. Would I go on T.V. to make that happen, I'd like to say, no. I'm pretty sure I'd say no. However, would I go on T.V. to fulfill my non-selfish desires? Hell, yeah! Would a show like that run successfully anywhere in the world, I'm guessing, no.

My non-selfish desires? They are a lot like the UN Millennium Goals. In fact, they are the UN Millenium Goals: The eradication of poverty, the end of illiteracy, the actual and true belief that individuals of race, color, religion, gender, and nationality are really alike. At my current school, we've been trying to do a lot to help the global community. I know at the new school, in India, I will have more opportunities to help. I hope I can see some of these UN goals achieved in my life-time. That is my greatest desire.

Crazy Cricket

It's a sad, sad state of affairs in the cricket world right now with Bob Woolmer's death and the exit of Pakistan and India from the World Cup. I can't even imagine what is going on in the sub-continent right now!

I spoke to my students about the demolition of Dhoni's house and the way some fans throw their T.V.s out of their windows and die of heart attacks when India loses. One of my students stated, "Americans are too materialistic to do that to their T.V.s!"

Why this hysteria surrounding cricket wins and losses? Indian cricket players are demi-gods to the Indian fans; when they don't perform, Indian fans are quick to forget that these players are only human, not demi-gods.

But the cricket fans aren't, for the most part, crazed individuals. When I was in Delhi, I saw the India-Pakistan test match at Feroz Shah Kotla. The individuals in the stands knew their cricket, stats, and trivia. It was impressive.

Then what happens when India loses? Is it disappointment? Is it a feeling of personal loss? Is it the money lost on bets? India is a developing nation and cricket is the one sport, on the international circuit, that India actually performs well in. So when the cricket team loses, it's a sense of loss for the Indian fans. A loss of pride, for a nation that deeply values honour and pride. It is a loss of hope, when all the Indian common man and woman really has to survive is hope.

But suffice it to say, cricket is really a crazy sport.