The Crossroads

Power dynamics and roles of men and womyn are so powerful that it takes a lot of strength to step out what society defines as roles for men and womyn.  In my class on Class, Caste, and Gender we are learning about gender and how influential societal norms are on everyday life that sometimes you do not even realize you are conforming to societal norms.  I would like to take a moment to publicly display my affection for John. John: you are truly an incredible person and have taught me so much on how to be true to yourself. In so many instances in our journey together we have defied gender norms and you have supported me in my dreams and desires. Just to mention a few—taking my last name, working together to figure out how to have children and continue working full time, cooking, and taking a leave of absence from your work so that I could complete my Fulbright in India.  I hope that I can do the same for you and support you in all your hopes and dreams...

John came up with a great idea to have some of James and Ashram's friends over for a movie day. Between 11-4pm no one goes outside because it is so hot so this past Saturday we hosted some of their friends. They watched the Lego Batman movie on the iPad. And surprisingly no one commented on watching the movie on the iPad. They all enjoyed the movie. Well the girls left in the middle of the movie. It was not really their speed. It was really nice to have them over. I am not sure going over other people's houses is a common practice. Most kids play in a common area or on the steps of their house. When we invite them inside, they always say "no thank you, I will wait outside." We just go with the flow, but this time we tried something new. I went and asked their moms and they had no issues. James and Ashram loved it. Here is what they said about movie day.

Young Cricketer . "Yes, I cocked one off the splice in the gully and the blighter gathered it." Father . "Yes, but how did you get out? Were you caught, stumped or bowled, or what?"  While I cannot tell you the difference between a “googly” and a “Yorker”, I did decide to “break my duck” and go to my first ever cricket match.   Cricket never really seemed like something I would honestly get into.   The matches can be anywhere from three hours to five days.   The glossary of terms is incredibly dense.   Few players have what we typically think of as having athletic builds.   Yes.   It’s similar to baseball in those respects.   Baseball players eat too much of this... And yet, as baseball continues to decline in popularity in the United States, cricket is actually gaining considerable ground.   Part of this was due to the creation of the game type I went to Wednesday night.    Instead of the multi-day “test” cr...

Finally, after 109 days of being Bangalore, we stopped and smelled the roses. We are not going anywhere this weekend and we are just enjoying our neighbourhood. John and I took walks around the neighbourhood and admired all the fruits (and yes the fruits are all in our neighbourhood), the kids played, I got to read my book, we got momos from down the street, and the kids swam. It was a delightful day and reminds me that we need to do this more often. Just enjoy our time and the space and people that surround us.   Pomegranate Jackfruit Bananas Mosambi Mangoes Apples Curry Leaves Drumsticks Coconuts Pomelo Dates Butter Fruit