India
Book Review: “Guruji: A Portrait”
September 1, 2010 by Deborah Crooks
My passions have been pretty equally divided between the worlds of music and yoga during the past decade. I literally had dreams about Sri K. Pattahbi Jois last night, likely in part because I’ve been reading “Guruji: A Portrait of Sri K. Pattahbi Jois by His Students” cover to cover since I returned from Encinitas. So I feel duty bound to not only 1) get to India again soon but re-share info about the book about this great yoga teacher who I was blessed to have practiced with several times before he passed in 2009. The book is full of great interviews with his daughter, son, grandson and granddaughter and the pioneering yogis who made their way to India before yoga was popular in the States.
“…. you want to respect the teachers who brought this yoga to you. Guru-that is mula [root, base]. If you don’t give that respect there is not coming God. That is very important. Some people change it, but it is just their ego. ..If you keep changing teachers, it is not correct. You will get confused.” — Saraswathi Rangaswamy, in “Guruji: A Portrait”
Tsukiji Honganji (築地本願寺): An Indian-style Temple in Japan
August 29, 2010 by Kiran Vaka
Last December, a few days before Christmas, while I was planning the itinerary for my one-day stop in Tokyo, I knew I had to be extremely selective about the places to be visited within the few hours I had at my disposal. Apart from my friends’ suggestions of the regular tourist fare consisting of the traditional Asakusa, the geeky Akihabara, the glitzy Ginza and Roppongi, I had included University of Tokyo in the list. Finally, a few days before flying out, I picked up one of the numerous travel books on Japan during a regular stop at the Borders in Sunnyvale..nonchalantly flipping through it’s pages, landed on the page talking about Tsukiji – the famous Fish Market in Tokyo. I had little time to see a fish market within my tightly packed schedule..but one thing in that book caught my attention. It was the Tsukiji Honganji – the only Indian-style Buddhist Temple in Japan – situated in Tsukiji, and not far from this famous market. I knew I could not miss this.
It was close to 5pm by the time I made it to Tsukiji Hoganji that day. The metro was overflowing with people returning from work (i guess…
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Outsourcing Makes Its Way to Network TV This Fall
August 26, 2010 by CultureWizard
Outsourced is a new show on NBC, which will air on September 23 in the US. The show is a comedy based on the cross-cultural interaction between an American manager and his Indian staff in a Mumbai call center. If you haven’t heard of the show, watch the trailer below to get a sense for the humor, which amounts to serious yet hysterical intercultural disaster (you’ll have to wait for the obligatory ad to play first).
The cultural faux pas and critical misunderstandings laden throughout the show are unfortunately so common to most everyone who has experienced outsourcing in India, they’ve called the attention of the US mass media.
How do you see this show impacting viewers’ cultural awareness? Is comedy an effective way to disseminate new perspectives and values? Do you predict the show will be popular or offensive?
Posted by Sean
Growth in Outsourcing Legal Services to India
August 25, 2010 by CultureWizard
According to the New York Times, outsourcing legal services to India has grown in the past few years, and is poised to expand at an even faster rate in coming years.
Cash-conscious Wall Street banks, mining giants, insurance firms and industrial conglomerates are hiring lawyers in India for document review, due diligence, contract management and more.
Legal outsourcing firms are also hiring experienced lawyers from Western countries to handle more complicated projects, something many lawyers would not consider in prior years based on a general aversion to outsourcing legal work and because of relocation to India. The article does highlight the challenges of moving to India and working with Indians:
Moving to a legal outsourcing firm, especially in India, is not for everyone. About five percent of Western transplants cannot handle it and move back home, managers estimate.
Some find it hard to adapt to India. Other times, the job itself does not suit them — after spending years working nearly independently as a litigator, for example, it can be hard to transition to managing and inspiring a team of young foreign lawyers.
Cultural preparation is supremely important to living and working in a new culture. While many people are…
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More Favourite Books About India or Travel
August 25, 2010 by Mariellen Ward
Spiritual seekers, heroes and India lovers
I am way behind in writing reviews about the books I am reading. Ever since I got rid of my TV, I’ve been reading like a fiend — and I am expanding my lists to include books about transformational travel. For my previous lists, please read Another 10 books on India or 10 (more) books I love about India or Top 10 books on India thus far. (NOTE: Do not look for Shantaram, The White Tiger or Eat, Pray, Love. You will not find them. But you will see a comparison to Shantaram, number 9 below.)
The mass popularity of Eat, Pray, Love seems to suggest that author Elizabeth Gilbert was the first seeker ever to brave the rigours of travel in India in order to discover inner bliss at a spiritual retreat. To set the record straight, spiritual seekers have been going to India for many generations, perhaps many centuries. The Beatles went to India in 1968. A Search in Secret India (on the list below) by Dr. Paul Brunton was published in 1935. Somerset Maugham’s masterpiece A Razor’s Edge is about a man who…
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JOIS Yoga Shala Opens in Encinitas
August 21, 2010 by Deborah Crooks
I happily made it to Encinitas for opening day of the latest in a series of JOIS Yoga Shalas opening in the US (the first opened in Islamorada, Florida, several years ago, & there’s also a studio in Sydney, Australia). Dedicated to the teachings of Sri K. Pattabhi Jois, the Encinitas studio was graced by the presence of Jois’s grandson Sharath Rangaswamy for the first week of practice. As many of us fly more than halfway around the globe to India for a chance to to practice with Rangaswamy, traveling a half a state was no sweat. Practicing in the crowded studio—dedicated students and teachers from all over the continent filled the studio wall-to-wall— was sweaty, as it should be. “Guruji’s dream was to bring this yoga to everyone,” said Rangaswamy, after class to a roomful of beaming students. Encinitas was one of the first places Guruji came to teach in the States in the 1970s, and there’s already a rich heritage of great teachers carrying on the tradition in North County San Diego (aka Tim Miller). its fitting there’s now a namesake studio on the town’s very accessible main strip.
10 Things to Buy in India
August 21, 2010 by Mariellen Ward
Photo courtesy Amanjeet K Chauhan of GalleryAKC.com
India is a shopper’s paradise. You just can’t beat the combination India offers: an incredible variety of gorgeous items, often hand-made, at temptingly low prices. For higher cost items, such as pashmina shawls, make sure you know what you are buying; and that the dealer is reputable. Here’s a list of the top 10 things to buy in India:
1. Textiles. India is famous for cotton and silk clothing, bed covers, table cloths and wall hangings. Many of these come adorned with hand beading and/or hand embroidery and will make you feel like a princess.
2. Jewelry. Indian women love jewelry, and the bigger and more ornate the better. There is an astounding variety of real and costume jewelry – to go with your princess look.
3. Pashmina shawls. Real pashmina is a type of cashmere wool that comes from pashmina goats in the Himalayas. It is very costly, so if someone offers you a pashmina for the equivalent of $10, it’s probably a blend (at best).
4. Shoes. From inexpensive leather juttis (traditional embroidered slippers) to crystal-beaded, high-heeled evening sandals, shoes in India…
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Announcing BreatheDreamGo Tours
August 17, 2010 by Mariellen Ward
Mariellen at the Taj Mahal, India
Mariellen at the Taj Mahal, India
The best way to see India
I am very excited to share my passion for India by taking people to see the places I love. Together with award-winning tour operator Indus Travels, I am presenting two tours this winter in India.
Dream in India (starts Jan. 8, 2011) is for people who want to experience inspirational India and learn travel writing and blogging. Click here to learn more about Dream in India.
Breathe in India (starts Feb 5, 2011) is for people who want to experience the magic of spiritual India and do yoga. Click here to learn more about Breathe in India.
BreatheDreamGo Tours give you the best of both worlds: you get to experience the India most tourists never see, in a small group, led by someone who knows and loves the country, and you will have the comfort and safety of an organized group and quality accommodation options.
“India is one of those places where you’d have to travel with someone whose heart belongs there…. like Mariellen….” Deborah Carr, travel writer and author…
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Sita Sings the Blues: The Greatest Break-up Story Ever Told
August 15, 2010 by Mariellen Ward
Oooops, missed Video Friday on BreatheDreamGo because of the Eat, Pray, Love juggernaut. (btw, did you know that juggernaut is a Hindi word? It refers to Lord Jagganath and the massive chariots pulled through the streets of Puri during the annual Rath Yatra festival. Apparently, the frenzied faithful used to throw themselves under the chariot’s wheels to be crushed to death — much to the dismay of the British Raj.)
This video is a trailer for the delightful full-length feature film, made by cartoonist Nina Paley, about both her break-up and the Indian epic The Ramayan. You can watch the full-length version and read the true-life story behind this inspired creation and how Paley decided to release copyright on it on her website, Sita Sings the Blues.
‘Eat, Pray, Love’ Movie Review
August 12, 2010 by Mariellen Ward
On location in India in Columbia Pictures' EAT PRAY LOVE. © 2010 CTMG, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Eat, Pray, Love is a Julia Roberts movie. Her elegantly chiseled features, distinctive curled upper lip and large, limpid brown eyes dominate the movie. It’s a travelogue all right – a travelogue of Julia’s face and her familiar, and limited, emotional range.
First, the positive
There are two things I like about Eat, Pray, Love. One, the male cast members. The filmmakers very wisely decided to surround the leading lady with excellent actors. James Franco, Billy Crudup and Javier Bardem are all excellent as the men in her life. The love story in Bali with Bardem is the best part of the movie. If they had simply made it a love story, set in the lush tropics of Bali, it would have been much more satisfying.
On location in India in Columbia Pictures' EAT PRAY LOVE. © 2010 CTMG, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
The star of the show is Richard Jenkins, who was also excellent in The Visitor. It’s worth the price of admission to see his scene on the roof of the ashram, when
