Indian Diaries of worldly and streetsmart travelers

Dagglepuss, I am interested in how you deal there as a woman. I know, or think I know, some indian women move on up in status (I have a friend in LA whose parents are from india, she's a very top attorney) but I'm curious about all the interpersonal nuances. I suppose you are too...

well, that will certainly be a challenge. i know of one woman who is influential there. all the rest - leaders, politicians, are men. it is a very traditional society, that has been purposely isolated for decades, because of ongoing insurgency against indian government. it is also very homogeneous for the same reason, so any hopes of blending in are just out of the question. so when we arrive we have will have a ton of obstacles - establish credibility and avoid being associated with any of the factions there, find out who's who, who are the good guys, who are the spoilers, and then try to have a few workshops with the warring factions behind one table..... it will not be boring, to say the least.

I'm very interested in all this. I suppose you can't just reiterate talk, it would an abuse of position. But still, if you get a chance to do any summaries that we could see without messing anything up, we're interested..

will do my best. i'll certainly report from the touristy part of the trip, the negotiations themselves will have to be confidential. but i can summarize the main achievements and situation progress.

pleased, dag.

Good news. Apparently I got the visa, and the passport is in the mail. It was a hassle, since I had to apply in the Consulate in New York, but they had to send it to the Indian Embassy in Slovakia. I sent my mother to investigate. She is a family therapist and has training in hypnosis, assertivity, negotiation, all sorts of helpful things. She didn't leave before she spoke to the consul himself, and my passport is in the mail today. Ha. Good mom.

Which means that I AM GOING for real!!!!

Wonderful!

If you lose any weight in the next week it will be because of the smouldering envy I have focused upon you!

Still, wonderful!

Yay! If she loses any weight, it'll be from some water-born pathogen of nagalandish descent!

we'll watch for news of you here

What an amazing opportunity, Dasha. Congrats on having done the work that's taking you on this trip.

I'm pleased for you and about you, Daggie. We will, of course, want updates as you go...

Yes, yes. Exciting, and a bit overwhelming at the same time. My boss looks up to me as if I was a guru of conflict resolution, but it's going to be my first real trip of the sort. I did work in the Roma community back at home, but that was different. Besides, that was an area I knew lot about, this I'm being thrown into. I still have almost two weeks to read as much as i can... I have printed out stuff on three reams of paper already and have about 15 books out. Maybe I'll know the basics when I get there. I'll just try to stick to my own schtick and pretend the rest... it will all work out somehow, don't know how, it's a mystery.

The theory behind conflict resolution stands independent to the components, no? I mean it must be tailored to the specific conditions on a case by case level, but should the basics be the same no matter who you're talking to?

Well yes, but as soon as they pull out:" and Sikhs this, and Hindus that..." I'd be lost. So I'm reading about the Sikhs in Punjab and about Kashmir, and Tammil Nadu, and Assam, and Pradesh, and Nagaland, and secularism, and group cohesion and ethnic segmentation and vertical bondage and and and and...... my head is spinning and i confuse all the groups left and right...

perhaps some soft humming from you as you look at the group...

I am only half kidding. Is there any knowledge base, preferably of max three or four pages in length, that gives the gist of what to do with multiple factions? I mean, besides thriller novels... You don't even know enough to be biased, right? But each will assume you are?

Seems to me pleading ignorance of information is helpful, since you are ignorant of information - but does that align with who is sending you.

Ah, none of my buisness, just interested. (I can't remember how to spell buisness...)

well, i might be exaggerating, too. i know the theories, am taking an advanced multiparty negotiation workshop at harvard right now, and worked with groups in conflict for a number of years. it's just that, as a perfectionist, i hate to go to an area that i don't know 'enough' about. not that i will be teaching about india, i am there to teach the skills, but still, i should understand the groups at play. two weeks is some time though, i'll get somewhere. i've been reading for awhile already.
my idea of getting towards world peace is baking cupcakes. who can have anything against cupcakes? who can find them offensive? haven't found guts to propose this to my my boss though.

I like the cupcake idea, or simpler yet, cookies!

Dasha, you'll do fine, you'll learn as much as you can and it will be enough.

I didn't mean to diminish at all, eek, no, your background, just pretending I am you going into this..




I think food is more peacegiving in history that it is understood.

Of course, I suppose the wrong food could get you killed.

Now then...


(I think you spell business - business. I guess I lost my mind earlier.)

right, that's why i think cupcakes might pass. or chocolate chip cookies. i think we should establish a movement of sensible women for world peace. men just don't know what to do. if only they shut up and stayed at home for one day, i bet there would be a hundredfold decline in violence all around the world that day. sigh. i think i'll be dealing mostly with men over there. and they feel strongly about nations and somesuch fantasies.

Yeh.