Monday, April 12, 2004
Today is by far the worst of the jet-lag. I woke up at 4 a.m. and felt like a million bucks, went for a run and then by 9 a.m. wanted to curl up and sleep again. Took a nap at 4 p.m. and felt wonderful starting again at 8 p.m.. When is this going to go away?
I can't figure out whether it's the jet-lag or the beauty of being back in the Valley, but the glaze on the world continues to glow like a strange hallucinogenic. The trees are so wonderfully green, the pink blossoms are glowing petal by petal and the mountains have this unreal dimension. I love the outdoors. I cannot believe where we live!
Watching television is a bit of a new nausea. I still think having commercials without Bollywood type ads in Hindi is a odd. The commercials here are so sane!
What really stands out to me is the 'reality television', which isn't reality whatsoever. I mean this in the sense that despite the obvious fact that it is staged or written to be conducive to entertainment value, it also isn't a real world whatsoever. Some shows that stand out are the 'Surreal Life' and the 'Newlyweds - Jessica Simpson and Nick Lachey'. These shows prove how self-obsessed we are, while people in places like India have absolutely no ability to think beyond covering the basics of life. They do not have the option of considering whether or not they are self-aware. We are, particularly people with insurmountable portions of money to throw away, so self-contained that our world doesn't see beyond the sofa and the remote. Why the inability to see outside of the worlds we create (what a pleasure that option is!).
I certainly feel more drawn to the news than I ever have been. I feel disconnected to India already and miss knowing what is the latest news, whether it be reading the Statesman newspaper or watching a silly noteworthy news item on the BBC news. The items that I hope hold some future connection for me to India include Jeremy Copeland's freelance column on the CBC. He has some great insights to arranged marriages in India today, despite the 'privileged' in the country claiming to be rid of the concept altogether. I also intend on staying tuned to the localized papers, such as the Hindustan Times, telling about the latest sari stampede in Uttar Pradesh.
I can't figure out whether it's the jet-lag or the beauty of being back in the Valley, but the glaze on the world continues to glow like a strange hallucinogenic. The trees are so wonderfully green, the pink blossoms are glowing petal by petal and the mountains have this unreal dimension. I love the outdoors. I cannot believe where we live!
Watching television is a bit of a new nausea. I still think having commercials without Bollywood type ads in Hindi is a odd. The commercials here are so sane!
What really stands out to me is the 'reality television', which isn't reality whatsoever. I mean this in the sense that despite the obvious fact that it is staged or written to be conducive to entertainment value, it also isn't a real world whatsoever. Some shows that stand out are the 'Surreal Life' and the 'Newlyweds - Jessica Simpson and Nick Lachey'. These shows prove how self-obsessed we are, while people in places like India have absolutely no ability to think beyond covering the basics of life. They do not have the option of considering whether or not they are self-aware. We are, particularly people with insurmountable portions of money to throw away, so self-contained that our world doesn't see beyond the sofa and the remote. Why the inability to see outside of the worlds we create (what a pleasure that option is!).
I certainly feel more drawn to the news than I ever have been. I feel disconnected to India already and miss knowing what is the latest news, whether it be reading the Statesman newspaper or watching a silly noteworthy news item on the BBC news. The items that I hope hold some future connection for me to India include Jeremy Copeland's freelance column on the CBC. He has some great insights to arranged marriages in India today, despite the 'privileged' in the country claiming to be rid of the concept altogether. I also intend on staying tuned to the localized papers, such as the Hindustan Times, telling about the latest sari stampede in Uttar Pradesh.
