The Namesake

With the movie version of Jhumpa Lahiri's Pulitzer Prize winning book coming out in just a few weeks, I decided to pick up the copy of The Namesake. The book has been sitting on my bookshelf since my friend Shaona gave it to me in London almost three years ago. She had written in the liner, "Here's a girl that thinks like we do" and presented it to me for my 29th birthday. I wasn't a big fan of Interpreter of Maladies, or really, of any other Indian authors I'd read previously, so I thanked her and added it to my collection of books that I planned to read someday. But later.

(Shaona, I am so sorry I doubted your feeling that I would love this book. And thank you (three years late) for giving it to me.)

This book was moving for many reasons, the first of which is that it immediately felt very familiar. It is a story about a boy, born to Indian parents in America, who is constantly challenged by the demands of one culture at home versus a different culture outside. It is a topic to which many of my friends, family, and I can definitely relate. Lahiri perfectly manages to convey the alienation we sometimes feel/felt having to be "Indian" at home and "American" everywhere else. The story chroncicles the title character's life from its beginning till he is cemented in adulthood.

The story was interesting and engaging, and it made for a very quick and easy read. Something I really appreciated was that Lahiri sprinkled Bengali words and Indian phrases throughout the story without pausing to explain each term. There was no jarring stop and start each time she used a term like pujo or mishti. She just kept right on with the prose, assuming that her audience is smart enough to pick up on it. (FYI, Pujo is a religious ceremony and mishti is a sweet or dessert.)

This novel actually moved me to tears during several of its moments, especially when I read about the parents and how alienated they felt trying to carve out a new and unfamiliar life in a country that was completely foreign to them. For the past day or so, I haven't been able to stop thinking about the characters and what they might be doing now. I can't remember the last book whose characters engaged me so completely and distracted me from my own life.



The film, directed by Mira Nair and starring Kal Penn (a.k.a. my favorite terrorist - see "Jack's Back" post earlier this year), opens in limited release on March 9.

Happiest countries, eh?

Moving to Canada after the last election would've been a good idea after all. They are number 10 on the list of happiest countries in the world, whereas the U.S. is number 23, according to a new UNESCO study. Denmark is number one. Click here for more detailed info. I'm definitely looking into Brunei and the Bahamas for my next move.

Snow-No's

Remember the fire lane sign from a couple of days ago? Pictured below was its state on day two.







So I learned a very important lesson from all this snow: when it's very cold, you must start and clean off your car every other day or else you'll regret it.






Anyway, here are some more pics from the post-storm aftermath.









Below is my front door - I had to kick my way out on day two, because the snow had piled up so high that the door wouldn't open at first.








Below is my car on day two. After AAA gave me a jump start, my very kind neighbor helped me dig the car out so I could drive it around to recharge the battery.





The picture below is the view from my bedroom on day two.

CNN Pipeline

I am doing a beeper for CNN Pipeline at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday afternoon. Guess what the topic will be?

Bonus points: Can anyone find the bus stop hidden in the snowbank behind me?

Winter in Syracuse

(On the right) The fire lane in front of my apartment complex. Notice the "No Parking" sign. Usually, there is about 4 feet of sign post.


(Below) Looking outside from my bedroom.

My car (below) is buried in snow. (Sadly, it won't start, so I couldn't go anywhere even if I wanted to. On the other hand, classes were cancelled this afternoon. Oh wait, I don't have any classes on Wednesdays. Where is the justice in that?)



My Internship



On a completely different note, some people have asked about my internship. I am working once a week at the Museum of Television and Radio in New York City. It's been a nice thing, to get out of the cold of Syracuse once a week. So far, I am enjoying working there - the people are really intelligent and friendly, and they have been giving me a lot of interesting work related to various documentaries and news topics. Last week, I wrote a promotional blurb for the William Paley Television Festival about one of this year's honored shows, Ugly Betty. I am hoping to do more entertainment-related work in the future, but I do love having access to MTR's amazing collection of documentaries.

MTR logo courtesy of the Museum of Television and Radio. Ugly Betty photo courtesy of ABC.com. Other photos were taken by me.

When in Snome...

(Photos of Oswego - a nearby suburb - courtesy of WSYR.com)

Thanks everyone for your calls, e-mails, etc. about dumptruck of white stuff that the Snow Gods dumped on the 'Cuse area last week. It was very pretty, until I had to go out in it. But I decided to conquer the winter beast, and yesterday (a "warm" day at 24 degrees) I went skiing for the first time in my life. My friend Suzanne was really patient and wonderful about teaching me the basics, and we had a really good time. I only fell three times, which I thought was pretty good. I expected to be really sore today, but it seems like only my neck is really stiff from the activity. (You know, you can take up to 4 Advil at a time, every 8 hours. Wheeeee!) I am actually looking forward to the next time I get to ski again. I'm sorry that I don't have any pictures for you guys - my camera batteries were dead when I tried to take them. I'll put some up from my next attempt, I promise. In the meantime, here's a post I wrote on the train last weekend while coming back from NY:



Riding on the train from Penn Station to Syracuse is such a relaxing experience. First of all, I am going back to my apartment, so the stress of getting to the city on time and doing a capable job at my internship are nil at this point. So I am free to enjoy the scenery and people watch. (Granted, I have a bag full of textbooks that require my attention, but the snowy, picturesque landscape outside is too distracting to really ween any knowledge from them at the moment.)

What really captures my attention are the lakes that surround the train tracks for much of the five hour journey. The banks are lined with barren trees and specks of snow among the brown and uninteresting landscape, with hints of the Adirondacks in the vague distance. But the lakes… oh the lakes are absolutely breathtaking. The waters have frozen in frothy, icy swirls. There are patches of snow that stretch for miles, making it look like someone has placed vast amounts of puffy cotton in different spots all around.



Growing up in Atlanta, I never really got to experience REAL snow or cold weather. In the south, the threat of an ice storm, or even more ominous, freezing rain, drives people to frantically clear the grocery stores of bread and milk. You never know when you’ll get to leave your house again, after all.

Being in Syracuse now, it’s kind of funny to think of my friends back home who are suffering through three or four day stints of 20 degrees. I think the warmest it’s been in ‘Cuse of late has been 22 degrees. And that was a good day. But it is beautiful to see thick layers of fluffy, white snow on the ground and prismical icicles the size of stalagmites (Or is it stalagtites? I always forget) hanging off roofs. All this is lovely. Until you realize that the weather in the north is no excuse to stay at home, drink cocoa, and watch TV because everything is closed. A “snow storm” in Atlanta would make these people laugh.

When I have to dig my car out from under six inches of snow and let the engine heat up before I can go anywhere, I can’t help but wonder why anyone would live in these conditions with any kind of regularity. I had likened it to Southerners in the summer… we can stand the heat, because, well, we don’t really go out in it. We live in our air conditioned houses, drive to our air conditioned offices in our air conditioned cars, and then we go back home to air conditioned bliss.



As I realized in the summer, that there is a lot of fun to be had in the Finger Lakes region, with the cozy lake towns, nearby mountains, and wineries that are everywhere. There is also fun to be had in the winter. (At least I hope there is.) While writing this blog on the train ride home, I saw some people on one of those frozen lakes gliding around on what looked like a giant ice skate with a sail attached. As it is a crisp, sunny day, I have now seen several of these contraptions with bundled people on them, looking like they are actually enjoying the outdoors.

What a concept?! Enjoying this madness that is called winter? My friends and I have been talking about trying snowshoeing and skiing sometime this season. I feel that I owe it to my southern roots to try this stuff while I’m here. Because heaven knows I am not staying in the “Snow Belt” indefinitely. In the meantime, I might actually find that winter can be fun. I’ll keep you guys posted as the activities are planned.