Why I love the internet.........

In particular the communications aspect of the internet. I was in the car and this little segment on NPR (National Public Radio - probably a good subject for another blog on Why I love......) reminded me about exactly why I love webcams, skype and now new gmail web chat! Some of the stories are heart warming. We love the fact we got to "see" our new baby niece via skype! Now all we have to sort out is trying to communicate with people in different time zones, those who are IT challenged (and are not married to an IT wannabe nerd) and those people who just somehow fail to make the time for loved and lonely ones abroad, you know who you are!

Go Obama

Wow what an amazing, historic, inspirational, exciting, joyful etc (too many adjectives!) night! I am still on a high and I am still watching CNN, nearly 24 hours later!

This is our election night '08: we arrived home after work and we switched on the TV and the internet immediately. We talked to Dhara for a bit via skype. We really got into BBC America. We popped round to Emily and Miles home for a short while. We finally arrived at Michelle and Scot's election party! CNN called Ohio! The excitement was huge! Dhara said she was off to bed; I was chatting to her on FB whilst at Michelle's.

We finally made our way to the Bishops Arts district, where there was a democratic street party. We congratulated the Dallas County Sheriff Lupe Valdez, she is a Democrat and was re-elected. (Wooley met the person whom he was robo-called about!) We also saw the local Democratic Congresswoman, Eddie Bernice Johnson. Amongst the happy, excited crowds we found our friends, Lauren and Aaron and we went to a bar. Virginia was called and then the race was called shortly afterwards. It went crazy, so much fun, so glad we went out. The night was so emotional, and I honestly mean that despite all my British cynicism, it was awesome in the traditional sense of the word. I am so excited to have been a part of this monumental moment.

On our walk back to our car at the end of the night, we saw an African American weaving his way up the street on his not so hot looking bicycle, shouting at he top of his lungs "In my lifetime!"

This "audacity of hope", this joy, this belief in people, this is the "real" America. Jigna and Walraj

PS: Dallas went Democratic by 57% so its not just Austin that is the little spot of blue in red Texas!

Election fever

Election fever is reaching critical mass in the USA, and I dare I say it the rest of the world, and of course Stef and Rich. With only 2 days to go this is probably one of the most exciting elections in the USA in recent times, and we are here, experiencing it all! When I say it all I mean "it all", there have been comments, opinions, reports, shows etc etc. Even when we were out for dinner last night in suburban Dallas, both tables next to ours were talking politics, the usual embargo on not taking politics has been lifted. All our visitors from the UK have been caught up in the election fever; Roopa got so excited and involved she has taken it back home to her students, Andrew and Shazia watched the final debate with us and some American friends and experienced some of Palin's "real Americans", Deepa and Chris cheered every time we saw an Obama/Biden yard sign in the neighborhood close to where the new "W" Presidential library is being built and we have had countless email exchanges/Skype conversations with Dhara and Stef and friends. Our main topic of conversation over recent months has been the election, and of course what shall we have for dinner (we have to keep our energy levels up to read, watch and listen to all of the election coverage). 

Although Texas is nowhere close to being a swing state, the fever has clearly still reached us here in the GOP heartland. There are a fair few Obama/Biden yard signs, stickers etc rattling the cage here in Dallas. I do however have a question: who are the undecided voters, and what are they doing....tossing a coin? While we wait with bated breath for November 4th, 2008 those undecided better get a move on.........Jigna 

why The West Wing is great

The second in our why ** is great feature. The West Wing is great TV, and an amazing series for many reasons - not least beacuse it:

• Has a great cast of diverse actors - all of whom are superb.

In the extras DVD Janal Maloney who plays Donna reveals that she actually auditioned for the post of CJ Cregg. Can you imagine? Allison Janney is perfect for that role. And don’t even get me started on how wonderful Martin Sheen is as Jed Bartlett. And think about it Abi, Charlie, Sam et al – after a while you think they ‘real ‘ people.

• is well written, with great plotlines and is (in my view) realistic

ok ok I admit it can be slightly cheesy at times – but so what! It does deal with lots of issues that remain relevant today, including terrorism and diplomatic relations, the impact of ‘natural’ disasters and family life.

• Gives the lay person an understating of American politics

Santos and Obama. Vinick and McCain. Preparations for debates. Going on the campaign trail. The processes of nominations, primaries etc – for British people (and for some Americans) West Wing does give us a better understanding of what it MIGHT be like behind the scenes during an American presidential election year., and an ongoing understanding of how the American system of governance works. It is so very different to the British parliamentary system.

At the time of my buying S the entire series on DVD for his birthday, I was convinced I would hate it and hoped he wouldn’t expect me to watch this west wing nonsense with him. How wrong I was: I absolutely love it, it’s addictive and I want to watch the whole lot again. So that’s why Aaron Sorkin’s ‘The West Wing’ is great.

Immigration poem: http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/video/2008/sep/16/michael.rosen

This is a link to a short video of Michael Rosen "performing" his poem about immigration, its funny! Wooley found it. Having read the op ed on immigration in the Sun, forwarded to me by Dhara. The op ed is so pathetic, that I am not even going to bother providing a link to it. It is quite fun to see the hypocrisy of the "go back home" or "rivers of blood" hysterical contingent being highlighted in this witty and quiet way. Also I really do admire people who have the talent to express themselves with language.

Big Brother (not the reality TV show/programme)

The other day I read a scary Cif (Comment is free) on the Guardian website:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/aug/18/terrorism.civilliberties

The whole sorry story left me feeling very angry, ashamed and scared. I am angry and ashamed that the great British people (and I include myself in this) have allowed the Government to literally scare us into passing these laws that have allowed the "authorities" these almost unlimited powers. I am selfishly scared for my family, friends and loved ones. I am terrified that there is absolutely nothing to stop this from happening to any one of us. What can I do, what can any of us do?

Dhara suggested I post a blog about this and at first I did not feel compelled to do so, simply because other then to say the above what else can I say? I read the following Cif today. The on going onslaught against all our civil liberties has left me feeling so powerless that I decided to post this blog.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/aug/26/civilliberties.labour

Finally on a slightly lighter note (as the above really does leave me feeling so frustrated that I just don't know what to do, other then to retain a sense of humor and hope in the face of adversity) when Roopa was flying to visit us in Dallas, I wanted to check whether her flights were on time. The website I found actually tracked her flight and provided me with a map of where her airplane was en route....Big Sister is watching you! Jigna

Team GB – and in particular the WOMEN

I have thoroughly enjoyed watching the XXIX Olympiad. The 2008 Olympic Games are being held in Beijing, China right now, and I have been struggling with my views and feelings about China’s human rights record, Tibet etc, so I have started to note down some of my thoughts: however I realise that my views are sometimes contradictory and my arguments are not nuanced enough, so I will save them for a blog post at the end of the Olympics, when I have a had a chance to think some more.

This post is a special mention to the glorious Team GB. Third in the medals table today? Sixteen gold medals and thirty six medals overall at the time of writing this post. Who’d have thought it!?! The Great British Team has certainly proven to us and the world what they are capable of. Bring on London 2012 I say

However, I do have an issue with so many of the BBC commentators. Why why why do so many of them insist on referring to the Team GB women as ‘girls’??? It makes me so mad. Do the men get referred to as boys? No. It’s derogatory and infuriating for the listener.

I am not a sportswoman, but I know that in sports, as in most other avenues of life, women have to struggle that little bit more for recognition – why do sportswomen get comments and questions on their outfits (e.g. the Williams sisters) why do women have fewer opportunities to compete (as explored by Kira Cohcrane in the Guardian)

This attitude completely builds on and compounds stereotypes about females being weak young things who are not capable of activity - the other day I ran a canal boat into the bank – and two louts started yelling something about female drivers. I cannot drive a car, never mind a boat and you know what – that’s ok – cos that’s me. I should have laughed but it made me so mad. Not all women would have done that! Just me! And that’s ok! One of the best drivers I know is my little sister – yes she is much much better then quite a few of the male drivers I know but the fact is that she is a great driver.

My point is that it is not shocking that women are good at things – sports, driving whatever. People are different. And as far as the sportswomen in team GB they are women – treat them with some respect for they have surely earned it.

Trans atlantic dentist story

We finally went to the dentist, here in Dallas. Wooley had to make an emergency appointment due to his wisdom teeth, like with anything if it was not urgent we probably would not have bothered! Anyway so the receptionist asked him where he was from and he said "Britain", she said, "Oh I thought you were from England" Boom boom! 

Weirdly a friend also went to the dentist around the same time, and was talking about going to Vegas with her British friends, and the hygienist asked her about our teeth, they have a stereotype here that British people have bad teeth, due to the NHS, she defended our teeth! The other day I was in a lift with some people who were talking about a British girl in their office (I didn't know them, it was not my office building) they commented on how nice her teeth were despite her being from the UK. 

I went to the dentist also, the hygienist cleaned my teeth for nearly 2 hours, well it has been a while! She did a very thorough job. The dentist commented on how nice my teeth were, they should be after all the years of orthodontic work, which was on the NHS, by the way, so I really do think the NHS is great! Anyway he has a a little camera he can put in your mouth to show you your teeth on a TV screen, very hi tech and probably not something all NHS dentists have? Although Mandeep is thinking of getting one.

So I am trying to do my best to break down these stereotypes, but with a TV show on BBC America called "Britain's worst teeth" I fear I may be facing an uphill struggle? Jigna

True love?

On my 30th Birthday, Wooley (amongst other gifts and a great trip to Vegas) bought me some Irish bacon, I had been moaning about how I can not get a decent bacon sandwich in Dallas. I know my vegetarian husband loves me when he bought me some bacon, for my birthday cos he knew it would make me happy. True love.

July 4th 2008, Weekend

We had a fun July 4^th Weekend, Wooley and I (well Wooley) drove to Austin on Friday July 4^th, morning. We stopped off at the West Czech Stop, a very unique Texan small town experience. It’s so odd how immigration works, and how many eastern European and European communities moved and settled in Texas. We spent a few hours at the Book people book store, had an iced mocha (well I did) and Wooley had a hot mocha. Again we love the whole keep Austin “weird” the independent stores and “different” vibe in Austin. We had a lovely evening, we went a great place called South Congress Café, I had really spicy crab enchiladas. We then walked down to Town Lake, where the Austin Symphony orchestra played and the July 4^th fireworks were fantastic. The following day we drove to Fredericksburg, we stopped off at the LBJ national historic park. It is very interesting and illuminating as to how that period in history was so full of huge events that have really changed the shape and nature of American government, “ as President he was responsible for designing the "Great Society" legislation that included civil rights laws, Medicare (health care for the elderly), Medicaid (health care for the poor), aid to education, and the "War on Poverty." Simultaneously, he escalated the American involvement in the Vietnam War, from 16,000 American soldiers in 1963 to 550,000 in early 1968.”

We then drove into Fredericksburg, which is a very cute town in the famed “hill country” of Texas, which was pretty. Wooley and I decided when you live in Texas which is both generally so vast and flat the hills in "hill country" take on that extra special “prettiness!” Fredericksburg, is a tourist destination and as such has cute touristy shops, shopping, wineries (there are a few wineries in Texas in the hill country and whilst we had some nice wine in a nice wine bar I was advised by the bar lady not to brave the local wine!) Fredericksburg and surrounding country was populated by German immigrants so beers and sausages are still very popular.

We were fortunate enough to have been invited to attend a beautiful wedding at the Enchanted Château, the weather was so pretty, the evening turned out be a lovely sunny breezy evening, and the ceremony was both gorgeous and intimate. The reception which followed also took place under the stars, and again was pretty and fun!

After some Texan coffee and a German lunch, we headed back to Dallas via Austin. We stopped off in Austin, but resisted the Cupcakes, made another caffeine stop, wandered around the “SoCo” shops, and jumped back into the car for the 3 hour drive back to Dallas which turned into nearly a 5 hour drive due to a big wreck on the freeway, which meant we were stopped for nearly an hour at a standstill, an 18 wheeler had turned over. Good thing we had the GPS aka “tom tom” as when we finally managed to get off the motorway we were able to avoid the heavily congested detour everyone else was being made to go on and speed home by 11pm! I get so freaked out by car accidents, the amount of driving we both do, some of the crazy drivers and the size of our cars compared with some hummers/trucks on the road makes me nervous!

Should children be banned from weddings?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/7494823.stm

This is a good question. I do agree that it can sometimes not be the children as such but sometimes the parents who can not or will not even try to calm them down if they are having a tantrum in a particularly quiet or serious moment. I also agree its up to the bride and groom and they can try to be nice about it?

Is America getting bigger?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/thereporters/justinwebb/2008/07/bitter_bus_passengers.html

Wooley and I had a slight taste of rural Texas this weekend and it was the touristy side of things as well, but we still found that to be somewhat remote, (urban dwellers that we are!) so I cant imagine what being really rural is like, the distances are so vast, its amazing! Even more amazing is the far reach of immigration hundreds of years ago and how the immigrant communities have made a lasting mark on the present day culture. Travel back then was slow and dangerous but so many risked it for the promise of a "better" life. To restrict travel now is both dangerous and a step in the wrong direction. Travel enriches individuals and the world. Its harder to vilify people when you have been to their homes, eaten their food and bought their goods.

You can see how heavily reliant people are upon their cars in the vastness that is some parts of America, and why they have to be. There are no alternatives, and that is scary. The vast open space is great and awe inspiring. The need for physical travel to cover these vast distances has to be re-thought, todays environmental, economic and cultural concerns demands changes in the way we travel and cover these vast distances.

The Elders – and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights

The Elders. I must admit I was slightly skeptical when I first heard about The Elders. What’s the point? I thought to myself. These people already have the platform, they are already venerated internationally. And then I had a look around at the website, found out a bit more about it and it hit me just how wrong I was. I realised that exactly what I thought was wrong is in fact what is absolutely right. Yes these people are venerated globally – but that’s just it – they are influential and inspirational individuals. There is much strength in this group of people coming together in an attempt to ease human suffering, to try to resolve conflict and bring about peace. Well it’s a mighty powerful group of people, and let’s face it – there is too much suffering in the world. Why not take a different approach to leadership, a different approach to try and end or at least ease the suffering of so many still.

"Never before has such a powerful group of leaders come together. Free from political, economic or military pressures. The only agenda of The Elders is that of humanity."

I will be following their work, and urge you to do so too. And now, onto one of the first things they have done as a group.

The Elders have joined with partner organisations to celebrate. 2008 is the 60th anniversary of the universal declaration of human rights. The Every Human has rights campaign aims to give people the opportunity to discover and indeed rediscover the universal declaration, and also offers us all the opportunity to make our own personal pledge by signing the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Everyone should do this.

Are basic human rights something that we should even still be discussing? Why aren’t human rights and freedoms respected and enshrined in everything we do and believe in as human beings? There are many arguments and discussions on this subject and for now, whilst I hold strong opinions on this, I am going to give myself some time to learn, to listen and read more about why we are still debating this issue and what I can do to help to try to protect and promote human rights.

Dhara

Bar None Show

Bar None is a variety show written, directed , produced and performed by the legal community of Dallas and all the money raised goes towards a scholarship at the SMU Dedman School of Law. I finally gave in and agreed to be a part of the show. Luckily once you audition they have to cast you and that was really good for me for me due to my distinct lack of acting, singing and dancing ability!  The rehearsal schedule was an intense 5 week period. But it was so much fun and I really did enjoy myself.  It was such a joy to be part of such a fun and talented group of people (yes they are mainly lawyers/legal types and yes they are fun and talented!) To be able to perform was also such a buzz and I am now addicted to the applause! And it is all in aid of a such good cause, I am so so so glad I was persuaded into it! Jigna

Jazzed up in New Orleans - May 2008

I cannot believe it was the weekend of May 24th 2008 that Wooley and I were in New Orleans, I have emailed everyone photos, if I did not include you in the email and you would like to check them out, let me know and I will forward them to you! 

Anyway we had a great time! My good friend Michelle as always gave us some great tips and as a result we had the best time in the best spots in New Orleans! 

We flew in on the Friday evening and our hotel was great as they have a free happy hour with snacks, so we partook of the free booze and made our way to the French Quarter. Bourbon street is the party street and it was crazy manic! Imagine Leicester Square then add the freedom to walk around with drinks, so you can actually buy drinks "to go" in the bar........add live music, heat and humidity you may have a clue....a little like 6th street in Austin (for Dhara and Deepa!).

I had the best BBQ oysters and a Cat 5 hurricane (like a Long Island Iced Tea) at a great place called the Red Fish Grill, we then went to this great pizza place and then walked over to Frenchman street where we went to this great jazz club called "Snug Harbor" (yes that's how they spell harbour in the USA) and as per Michelle luckily I had reserved two tickets, and we saw Ellis Marsails a jazz legend in such an intimate great venue it was so great! We met some lovely girls from Boston who were so funny, they told us not to judge the rest of America on our experiences in Dallas, with smiles on their faces of course :)

We loved Snug Harbor so much we went back on Sunday night and heard this fantastic young girl, Sahsha Masakowski, who, comes from an amazingly talented family her Dad and brother joined her on stage at one point! 

We did go to another jazz restaurant another night, where we heard a New Orleans style jazz band which was really fun and there were some amazing swing dancers who were so much fun too, the manager of the place was from the UK, from Nottingham, she has been in New Orleans for over 20 years! We did not get a discount though :(

We loved New Orleans, the tourist areas were unaffected by the floods back in 2005 (as the touristy areas are the old parts of town and back then they did not build on flood plains!) We walked a lot (in the heat and humidity) that really is the only way to check out the French Quarter and the Garden District. We also had a few cooling rides on the St Charles streetcar. We enjoyed some great Cajun food and yummy drinks. I had a great Pimms cocktails at the Napoleon House bar, where apparently some folk hatched a plot to liberate Napoleon from his exile, but before the plan got off the ground Napoleon died! I also managed to try some shrimp jambalaya. We joined some informative walking tours. Including one of the Garden District, where I sweated so much and nearly passed out from heat exhaustion! We walked around the St Louis No 1 cemetery and saw Lafayette cemetery, the guides were all locals and had some great insights!

We also went on a coach tour of the areas of the city affected by Hurricane Katrina. We did spend some time considering whether we should go on the tour, as we wondered if it was in bad taste? But we decided to do it otherwise we would not have learnt as much as we did. We flew in and spent all our time in the old parts of the town and so if we had not taken the tour, we would have missed out on all of that. The guide was a local and had some interesting insights. It really is shocking to see the devastated neighbourhoods that are still so abandoned after nearly 3 years, you just cant imagine this is the USA. The guide pointed out that even if someone took the little money the federal government gives you to rebuild, the insurance premiums have shot up and there are no neighbours, no grocery stores, only 60 of the 120 schools have reopened and so what are you coming back to? I spoke to a colleague at work who was hired by the Legal Aid of North West Texas to help out Katrina victims in Dallas, (many people  arrived in Dallas from New Orleans after Katrina) and she said that the town planners, architects etc could not decide how to rebuild or if they should at all in the flood plains and so the government decided not to decide. So they decided to wait a few years and if not enough people returned to certain areas they will demolish the whole area, so you could rebuild and invest and get told a few years later that not enough people moved back and then what would you do?! It really is tragic!

Having said that, New Orleans is such a great historic city the music the history, the culture etc is all so unique that I know it is a city with an amazing vitality that will survive. Jigna

Why Harry Potter is great...

.......and so, to kick off the why ( _ ) is great, who better then Mr Potter?

I love the Harry Potter books. J K Rowling is a imaginative and thoughtful author, who writes with great care and attention to the smallest detail, and therein lies the success of her creation. The adventures of the boy wizard are pure magic: his story is one of laughter, yet there is real sadness, its a story of hope in spite of fear, the importance of friendships and the value of courage. Cheesy as it is, love, and the ability to love, are core.

I can reread all seven of the Harry Potter novels quite happily time and time again. If I had to pick a favourite it would be a tough choice between The Deathly Hallows and The Prisoner of Azkaban.

In terms of children's literature, I do believe that anything which encourages children to read is good: there is so much pleasure to be found in a good book, and far too many people never experience that pleasure. Encouraging and valuing reading for pleasure from a young age is so so important. That the stories of Harry Potter appeal to old and young alike are testament to their brilliance. The Harry Potter novels are indeed a literary phenomena - that they are also a publishing phenomena is, in my view, a by product of this.

why ( _ ) is great......

This is a new feature to our blog. Every once in a while, me (Dhara), Jigs and Roops will post under the heading why ( _ ) is great....paying homage to the great things in life - music, books, films, food - those that we choose to revisit time and time again, whether its always listening to favourite songs or albums, watching films or TV shows over and over or re-reading a book.....

Whilst there are many things the three of us all agree on and like, there are of course those inexplicable things that we just don't get about each other too, so i hope that this will make for a fun feature!

Brits in Bollywood

This could be my next career move, from the Dallas lawyer's charity variety performance, The Bar None show, which is a great show by the way and a fantastic cause! to Bollywood, I should learn some Hindi?!

http://film.guardian.co.uk/features/featurepages/0,,2282607,00.html

Jigna

The right to choose

I believe strongly in a woman’s right to choose. It made me really angry when I first heard that there was an amendment tabled to the Human Embryology and Fertility Act to cut the limit to 12 weeks, halving the former (and thankfully still current) right to have an abortion at up to 24 weeks. The 12 week cut failed by 393 to 71 – phew. Who were those 71? Well there were three ex cabinet ministers amongst them. A series of different amendments to cut the time limit to 12, 16 and 20 weeks were all rejected, and in the closest vote on Tuesday night, MPs rejected by 304 to 233 a proposal to reduce the upper limit for abortions to 22 weeks. Thus the 24 week rule stays in place.

I held off posting a blog about it, waiting to hear how MPs voted. Since they voted to maintain the status quo we can breathe a sight of relief – or can we?

It’s really important to note that most medical expert bodies like the BMA do still agree that in the most extreme cases 24 weeks should be the upper limit, and there has been no significant scientific evidence in the last 18 years to change this position. So why are those we elect to represent us in parliament even making proposals, considering them and debating this issue?

I think that most people, given the choice would prefer to have an abortion earlier, and this graph shows us exactly that:

The decision to have an abortion is not an easy decision for any woman to make. There may be extraneous circumstances that lead to a later abortion, and doubtless it is an unpleasant and terribly terribly hard decision to make. Until it is proven that this is not justifiable from a medical standpoint the 24 weeks must stand: digital 3D pictures used to somehow prove that at 22 weeks a foetus has feelings are cruel and unfair in the extreme.

I do agree that this can be viewed as not only a medical issue, but an ethical issue too and I think that Christine McCafferty, the Labour MP for Calder Valley, was absolutely right when she said 'The pregnant women herself is the only person who can make a responsible decision':

"Abortion should be a private decision between the patient and her doctor, just like any other medical treatment. Why is it so difficult for societies, even one like ours, to give the power to decide to those who carry the consequences?"

The prolife demonstrations in the USA make me incredibly nervous. Our country, the hard fought for rights and freedoms for women in our country must be upheld, and we must not allow ourselves to slip into becoming a society where women are humiliated, scared and threatened.

In addition to this, we cannot and must not go back to the days of backstreet abortions. I believe that the Government must not deny access to abortion, and should strive to ensure that women receive the very best medical advice and emotional support when making decisions about pregnancy, and that they receive professional, swift and discreet care throughout.

The Alamo and Indian cooking

We just got back from a weekend in Austin and San Antonio, Wooley and I love Austin, we love the whole "feel" of the place, Austin has a well known motto, "Keep Austin weird" and that just about explains why we love it. A little oasis of "blue" in an ocean of "red". I managed to stop by "Hey Cupcake" twice during my 4 days in Austin! We then went down to San Antonio and checked out the famous "Riverwalk" and of course the Alamo, our guidebook (Frommer's Texas guide book which was a great leaving gift from Amanda) explains that not visiting the Alamo when in San Antonio is like not visiting the Statue of Liberty when in New York City. Fiesta was on whilst we were in San Antonio, so there were crowds, parades and lots of street foods etc it was fun! We also went to the great restaurant, Boudros on the Riverwalk, famous for the guacamole for two which they make table side, yummy..... and fantastic margaritas.

Last week we went to a cooking demonstration by Suneeta Vaswani, with the Crow Collection of Art, Jade group at the Viking cooking school in Dallas ( the venue was really great) we had a really fun night and Ms Vaswani is informative and entertaining, we loved her pride in being Indian and American!

Finally due to recent local election results back home and London's new mayor, Wooley and I are reconsidering our long term plans of returning to the UK. Although maybe we should return to try and swing the balance back to the "right left" way of thinking. We should also consider the lesser of two "evils" how does a Conservative UK government compare to W's administration? Jigna

what do we want...FAIR PAY...when do we want it...NOW!!

http://www.socialistparty.org.uk/articles/3984

http://education.guardian.co.uk/schools/story/0,,2275986,00.html


Above are only 2 articles I randomly picked from Thursday 24th NUT teachers' strike. I went on the rally in central London. To fully appreciate my part let me take you back to the beginning…

At school on Monday 21^st onwards it felt what was like there was mass hysteria: people not striking, people getting annoyed about the solidarity of unions, myths and lies spreading about breaking service if you go on strike and it made me more confused then ever about what I would be doing on Thursday . People kept talking to me with their differing views and it got incredulous.

It forced me to think about some serious things! I spoke to lots of people, one of whom was my mum who was in the strike 21 years prior to this, the first Teachers’ strike since. Which got me thinking back to a few years ago when I was in America where I was wondering about what career path I’d choose, and someone once said I’d make a brilliant business to business sales person. I believed this for ages, even attempted to join the industry: the money, the power the stature. I was 21 at the time and all I wanted was to be loaded and buy stuff! Whilst having one of many whingy conversations on the phone from USA, Dhara once said to me after id gone on about having all the money, that she and the fam would completely support whatever decision I’d make for my future, but that I should just spend a few minutes to think about what kind of person I am, what I want and how I want to live. Our family gene pool comes from a succession of public sector workers, from grandparents who were teachers, to lawyers trained in London but work in family law in Bradford to a political lobbyist who stands up for the charity sector! Basically I stopped denying to myself that I was never going to be happy making money for myself and that eventually id have to grow up and realise that I’d never be happy unless I was working to give back. (FYI I went home after USA and worked for the Fostering Network..which led to the teaching..!!)

I went to the rally in the end. It was absolutely brilliant! I met up with some friends/colleagues from work who have similar beliefs, with parents who were trade unionists, to having immigration socialist links or simply really believe in the cause. We met outside Holborn tube station which was incredibly packed with the most decorous bunch of protestors u ever saw with Marks and Spencers cardigans and kindly faces! We sang (in my case shouted!) chants in the intermittent sun, hail and rain, held placards and talked with fellow teachers whilst on the march. The atmosphere was electric, despite the weather, despite the fact we WONT get fair pay to meet inflation we were all there shouting ‘solidarity for unions’ ‘fair pay for teachers’. I spoke with this one teacher who had come alone from Slough, who offered to buy younger staff train tickets (we didn’t get paid for the day) but who were scare mongered into simply staying at home on Thursday. She had on the full regalia, a leaflet-hat, a billboard and several flyers and postcards. She said she was so pleased to see us all, young, having fun and working hard to stand up for each other!

I don’t regret having gone, but what I did do was refuse to go on the picket line outside school, apparently a few years before there was some trouble where some peoples actions had been taken personally at the people who had to, for whatever reason, go into school. Anyway, not having many friends in London I wanted to keep the ones I’d made at school and for it not to get personal I stayed away. I don’t blame them either, some people have very different circumstances. After the fuss, it was fine for the people who did picket and fine for the people that came in!

roopa- rebel with a cause and a new piercing!
xxxx

France

right then, ditto, the apologies from dhara apply to me more so, its been a LONG while since ive had any blog action time. Theres no excuse for my behaviour an i plan to change it! i have some targets, write more blogs and spend more time calling and emailing friends and family!

i went to South of France for a week with friends a few weeks ago. i had a wonderful time, lots of histerical giggling, adventurous rammbles, and translation hell for some people. (sorry..im learning...) but the best bit was the food and booze. We've been a few times now, an we visit family and friends of one of our friends. We avoid the touristy parts and because of this i feel i have a really 'authentic' taste of french life. Tomatoes an herbs that taste like nothing ive ever tasted, nut wine made from nuts fallen from a tree in real provincial garden, olive oil made by hand. Just simply delicious!

It was also really nice because i got to meet and spend lots of time with a good friends' family and mates. As most people who read our blogs know if you know one Vyas sister then your likely to know all of them and i love that! Not only because of the massive social network but also because I have learnt so many things from the wide circle of people across all ages, races, occupations etc who i might not ordinarily have met. It becomes ever apparent to me how lucky I am to have the relationships I have and have had with people throughout my life and it was so lovely to be on the other end of that in France. I was introduced to so many different people and it was bloody brilliant!

love roopa

Adventures in Costa Rica...(I have finally managed to write this)

First of all, apologies for how long its taken for me to get round to doing a post on the last 2 weeks of my holiday - since I've been back I have felt alternately lethargic/listless and busy busy. Finally got a minute now so here goes.We left San Fran after having had a fabulous time. it was so good to see them and we did so much, it was particularly nice to spend time with Devon and am pleased we planned it so the week we were there he was on spring break - the little man really is growing up so fast I feel privileged that despite the distance we all have such a good bond with our cousin (and our uncle and aunt) it is very special.

We got to Costa Rica and were met and given our vouchers for hotels and transfers - and that was it! we were off to our first hotel, the gran hotel costa rica it was a beautiful old colonial building in the cultural square, right next to the national theatre. We hit the bar and had a good nights sleep. The next day we went and explored San José – its not a particularly nice city – with a few parks, the nicest is the parque nacional, although really, its not large or particularly exciting. The city is very loud, not quite sprawling and has a billion fast food places, which is a bit of a shame really. The national theatre - teatro nacional is a beautiful colonial building, and after looking around it we found that there was a piano recital on that night (which funnily enough was cheaper then what we paid to just look around!) – we bought tickets and later that night went along – lovely recital by an amazing 17 year old musician. We had a great dinner and the next day we rose early for our ride to Volcan Arenal – the Arenal volcano.

We arrived at the hotel arenal paraiso, and were of course shocked at how lovely the hotel was. Our cabaña had an awesome view of the volcano, and on the day we arrived the sky was beautiful and clear - we could see the top of the volcano, and both craters. We spent a brilliant afternoon hanging by the pool, drinking cocktails and experiencing the chain of natural thermal spa pool thingies at the hotel – and as dada had given us both $50 we both treated ourselves to a swedish massage in the beauty rooms. Bliss. The next day we woke early and wait on the volcano trail – it was really amazing, I clambered over the lava rocks caused by the 1992 eruption. Walking through the forest there were lots of animals, bugs and birds to see and learn about - monkeys too, and the guide was great so we all learnt a lot about the natural eco systems associated with so many different plants. Then we went to the la fortuna waterfall – this time it was just me and stef and the guide who was very nice. We swam by the waterfall – the rocks were slimy and the force of the waterfall pretty magnificent, but it was also nice to hang out and paddle in the calmer water too.

The next day we rose early and got a ride to the Monteverde cloud forest. Our hotel was the cloud forest lodge, and once again we loved our little cabaña., the lodge is based in section of cloud forest and that afternoon we went ziplining. It was brilliant! It was the one thing I was really super keen on trying and I really enjoyed it – you are so high above the canopy of the cloud forest and you go so fast sometimes, and at other times you go slow enough to actually look around – brilliant experience. It was awesome and we had 2 fantastic guides and just us so it was even more special. At night you can see so many stars and constellations. The next day we went to the Monteverdi Cloud Forest, which is a biological reserve – it was amazing. We spent a great morning walking around with a guide, and then spent the afternoon by ourselves – took some very difficult routes, quite steep and not always clear which way to go. The reserve only lets in 600 people a day, and it’s so big you just don’t really pass anyone on your rambles. After that we went on a shorter walk and saw so many monkeys! That night we went to Johnny’s pizzeria which was highly rated in the guidebook – amazing cocktails and great food. The next morning we left early to get to the beach at Manuel Antonio.

We had a great driver on the way who really wanted to be a tour guide – he stopped on numerous occasions to show us the national bird of Nicaragua, the national tree of Costa Rica and a river with crocodiles – it was soo fun. Our hotel in Manuel Antonio was really nice, the Hotel Villa Teca and we stayed for 4 days, we relaxed by the beach on the first day and the next day we went to the Manuel Antonio national park – its really something, it used to be an island but the sediment built up and joined it to the main land, and it really is an area of natural beauty. The trails we followed in the park were very steep and the sun was ferociously hot – we ended up on one of the private beaches and stayed there for the day – again so many animals and a huge iguana was right next to us whilst we lay reading in the sun – here the water was much calmer with big but gentle waves, so I enjoyed the swimming there a lot – but stef preferred the rougher and more powerful surf of the larger public beach that we had visited the day before. We spent the next few days going alternately into the port town of Quepos to hang out and drink amazing iced coffees then to Manuel Antonio to hang out by the beach – on our last but one night we went out on a catamaran and drank lots of rum and snorkeled (coming to the conclusion that us Brits can definitely drink more then the yanks). the next afternoon we left for San Jose and the long journey home.

NB: For any foodies out there, Costa Rican food is not particularly exciting but the drinks and the cocktails were great!! - you definitely dont go there for the food.

In all, I would recommend a long break to everyone: the bliss of having four weeks off work to recharge and relax is awesome and the number of amazing things I saw and experienced in Texas, California, Nevada and Costa Rica were just phenomenal. From SXSW to the LBJ library and the DMA, from Lake Tahoe and snowboarding to learning to gamble in Reno and wine tasting in California, and from a volcano to cloud forests, ziplining, hiking and going on a catamaran, everything was just phenomenal.

And of course, I am happy and thankful that I experienced all of these things with people I love so much – soppy as it sounds but the company you are with also helps to make the places you visit and experience: seeing and spending time with, sharing experiences and making memories with Motiben, Das, Mama, Mami, Devon and even the grandparents (I know, shocking (!) ) and of course, the lovely Stefan of course.

All photos are on stefs flikr and I hope to be able to link to youtube clips of video footage soon (just call me daisy steiner)

Part time dogs

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/7354547.stm

I agree with most of the comments, this is just a sad reflection of the society we live in, where folks want all the fun and none of the responsibilities, they want it and can pay for it, and they don't think about the consequences. Consumerism gone mad. Jigna

More SATC news and girl power despite the Spice Girls

The good news is:


"you can be a feminist and like Sex and the City. Not least because if you're about to start letting political doctrine arbitrarily dictate which bits of the culture you respond to you may as well give up now and submit to the patriarchy. But mainly because the programme is funny and clever and it thinks women are important"

Article in the Guardian:

http://lifeandhealth.guardian.co.uk/women/story/0,,2273785,00.html

Book group was interesting last night we discussed Edith Wharton's, The House of Mirth, it was interesting to discuss with the Well Read Women of Dallas how generations later many women still let their roles and society define them. It was also interesting to discuss how women treat other women, that's the other reason I love SATC the great female friendships. I so miss my female friends at home and I do think that female friendships are so underrated in today's society but they really are so very important in so many ways for all women everywhere, the compassion, empathy, support etc you get from female friends is the BEST and irreplaceable.

Jigna

Immigration story in the Guardian

Really interesting article/interviews in the Guardian about immigration in the UK throughout the decades since the 1940's, overall positive and really interesting comments. The Australian woman comments: "Having lived in Britain for half her life, she finds herself defending it to her friends. "Australians are really nice when you first meet them, all 'Hi, how are you?' but it can stay on that level for ever. Whereas English people, when they do let you in, and my theory is it takes three years, are really lovely. Friendship is more deep and genuine here because it's harder to have relationships - you can't just go and sit out in the sunshine and watch the harbour and have a few beers." Really does about sum up my view so far regarding the difference in friendships here in the USA and home. http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2008/apr/07/britishidentity.immigration
Jigna

Dharas visit and AFI Dallas

Sorry Dhara I have been so busy have not even had time to blog! I will just repeat and add a little from Dhara's blog. So Dhara visited us in Dallas in March and we had a great time, although it was over so quickly. We checked out SXSW, we stayed over with Wooleys friend's fiance in Pflugerville, Austin (great name!) they were fantastic, another friend of Wooleys came down with us and we all had a great time, great food, great drinks and great company! The rest of the visit was fab and I was also very glad that Dhara was able to come along to the book group meeting, I am hoping it may motivate her to start her own maybe with Roopa when she gets home? Dhara gave you further details about her visit, so I wont bother with any more except to say, it was great hanging out with her and I was very sad when she left :(

Moving on though, we have been very stimulated entertainment wise in the last few weeks since Dhara left, a friend and I went to see a play, THE BLONDE, THE BRUNETTE AND THE VENGEFUL REDHEAD , a very interesting play at the Dallas Theatre Center. A story told over a few years by the different characters involved, all played by just the one actor, she was amazing and it was a very powerful play concerning the roles people play in our lives and how one event/action can impact those around us, sometimes in ways unknown, the whole "butterfly affect" theory.

The AFI Dallas, film festival started on March 27. Last year a few weeks after Wooley and I arrived in Dallas, the first ever AFI Dallas film festival started and it was brilliant! We had a great time and thought Dallas was so cool, it ended and we were introduced to the "real" Dallas! The second year of the festival so far has been great, we have seen a few films and we have become involved in the whole thing by volunteering, a truly great aspect of American culture is the way many people volunteer for various causes and events, its amazing! It's great for the community and great for the individual. The only scary thing is that relying upon volunteers cannot be the only answer when providing services, running events etc and I fear that in America so many services etc rely so heavily upon volunteers that in times of recession (which may be around the corner or now?) people have to re-arrange their priorities so such services suffer a huge loss. So at a time when the need is at it's greatest is exactly when the services are limited due to their reliance upon volunteers. Where I currently work is all about the volunteers providing a service to low income families, everyone and especially the volunteers are amazing and its a fantastic service. But you just cannot compare it to state funded services. However, as we have heard more than once in the recent weeks, we are Europeans and we are all socialist in Europe!

So the films we have seen so far are:

1. Fields of Fuel - a documentary about bio-fuels, very interesting and made us want to buy a car with a diesel engine! The reasonable thing about the film was that it did not pretend that bio-fuels would be the magic answer but that several answers were needed to end the US and the Western world's reliance upon oil, including building better public transport systems which is something Dallas desperately needs!
2. Shorts Programs - Documentaries: which included
a. The Frozen Capital - hilarious short documentary about Winnipeg Canada, being the winner of the "Slushee cup", the city where the most slushees are sold in the world, for the last 7 years!
b. Movement - a touching documentary by and about young man confronting a condition
c. Farewell Packets of Ten - a hilarious short film with two old Irish women talking about smoking
3. Split: A Divided America - an interesting documentary about how America is so divided politically along party lines, why this is so and are there any answers. Whilst the film was depressingly short of answers it was an interesting snapshot of the way in which Americans talk about, or rather don't talk about politics, the medias role etc. It confirmed many of the suspicions Wooley and I have developed about this issue over the last year and as we left Wooley felt that he would have been better prepared for the whole Texan adventure if he had watched this film before we arrived! It was particularly interesting in the way it discussed faith/morality and politics which possibly is one of the single most scariest thing to me about American politics. It also discussed how many people in America are of the opinion that you may as well not talk about politics if you disagree, thereby shutting down any hope of negotiation and compromise something that is lacking in many aspects of American political life. It also touched upon the lack of social interaction in the American lifestyle, someone in the film said, "everyone goes home and watches "Friends" and have no friends", and how many people develop friendships with only like minded people and they only watch and read stuff that will reinforce their views, so their views are never challenged.
4. Iron Ladies of Liberia - an interesting documentary following the first freely elected female leader of an African nation in her first year of power
5. The Guitar - a surprisingly positive story about dreams and the power of self, directed by Amy Redford
6. At the Death House Door - about a Reverend in Texas, who ministered to 95 inmates committed to death, he spent the last 12 hours with them, an interesting look at the death penalty and how it affects society.

We also went to the House of Blues Gospel brunch last weekend, which was fun, the buffet brunch included cheese grits and a bloody mary bar! We ate and drank to a live gospel music which was certainly a BIG sound! Jigna

PS: I forgot to metnion that I also had a very SATC night the other night, when I and friend went to fashion show at the posh mall, Dhara refers to, Custo Barcelona show, I felt very Dallas and very bling AND champagne!

California (mo hill)

why am i the only one blogging these last few weeks?!!

just about to leave Mo Hill tomorrow.......got here, mama and devon picked me up, and then we went and got stef then went for Thai food. the next morning we went to Reno....went to the casino and learnt to play blackjack - fortunately i'd forgotten my wallet so stef and mama had to sub me......!

first day of snowboarding in mount rose and i wasn't not as bad as I thought i'd be! had a small group lesson, then was off (yes lots of time falling but thats the nature of the game) the next day i went sledding and chilled with mami and devon then the day after boarding again - at homewood - was fun fun fun - amazing views over lake tahoe. 

came back to mo hill on monday night, and the next day we went wine tasting......lots of luuurvly vino....(will edit this post and add in a few wineries we went to) ...on weds we went to  Monterey bay aquarium yesterday, and today we went to San Fran.....phew, all in all been a very active week in cali. just hung out with dada, he drank Guinness with a widget we drinking a cali vino....

must eat some fresh home made browneies now before i get yelled at again....off to Costa Rica tomorrow..........

Dhara 

nearly a week in the lone star state...

so my week in Texas is nearly over.......i have had a lot of fun here, and we have done so much!! - not least of all eat and drink!

we went to South By South West (SXSW) on the weekend - it was really really good fun, very very hot and sunny! me jgs and das spent most of the afternoon and early evening at one of the outdoor stages - we saw a fantastic jazz musician that das likes, called Christian Scott and he had a really fab band, then a load more people including Jean Grae - who was suprsingly excellent, and Talib Kweli, who was very good but perhaps not quite as good as I had thought he would be...then we saw loads and loads of unsigned bands - one of my faves were some texas rockers who used lots of instruments including brass (and a guy on strings who looked like jerry springer) we saw them in a bar called darwins - they were very good, no idea what they were called, which is a shame cos I cant look them up or link to them! as festivals go it was very chilled and relaxed - lots of people but space for them all, drinks were not as strong as you would like (are they ever!??) but there is something about drinking frozen margaritas in the Texas sun that you just dont get at British festivals!!! we stayed with some friends of jigs and das's and they were really lovely - it was good to be with Austin people who could suggest stuff and knew the place and the fetsival really well. also - i cannot tell you how amazing the portaloo's were serisouly - toilet paper, cleaner then any i have ever been in and santizing spray everywhere. shocking and amazing.

Austin is the state capital of Texas, and seems to be a very chilled smallish city - very liberal compared to the rest of the state. Before we left we went to the LBJ presidential library - it was really really interesting and I am so pleased we went: i thought I knew a lot about LBJs politics, but turns out I knew more about his foreign policy then anything else. I hadnt realised the full extent of his amazing doemstic policy, the great society, civil rights....its interesting that we are still fighting those evils of povery, lack of eductaion and segregation today, but we use different language - are the issues of today different or do we cloak them and make them seem more complicated so we dont have to admit that to some extent we have failed? being in a presidential library really makes you realise the weight of history. I wonder if any former UK PMs have considered establishing one? I wish Jed Barletts was real.....

on monday jigs and I went to a posh mall and I spent waaaaaaay too much! got lots of lovely things and it was fun cruising the mall with jigs!

lots of other good things that I wont bore the world with, including having eaten some amazing food (super duper tex mex galore here - the really good kind!, great Texas BBQ, amazing eggplant pizza and fab mac and cheese!) some veeeerry nice drinks (margaritas, naturally - including mexican/texas margaritas, they are fab and lethal, appletini's {sour apple martini's}, mojito's served with a stcik of suger cane and beer called shiner which is goooooood)

jigs is a really good driver [yes, its official, I alone am waving the non driving flag in this family!]. Its been soooo good to see my sister and das and spend time with them. their apartment is just what you would expect - a real home, lovely and welcoming,with tasetful decor and furnishing and - its very jgs and woolly, at times I feel like i could be in Maddox street! (after it was done up of course!)

I better go get ready cos Das is gonna take me out for lunch, then i'll use their membership and go check out the Dallas Museum of Art this afternoon - I fly to San Francisco tomorrow, and then snowboarding for 3 days, so thats all till i next have time to post!

Dhara

Opera and organized fun

Last weekend Wooley and I went to the Opera, I made him, after struggling to find the Dallas Music Hall, which is in Fair Park, a hilarious place in Dallas, simply because its a huge, old and a random place with museum's and a Music Hall, they hold the State Fair, there every year, ask Deepa about that one! Also somewhat randomly they were holding the Northern Texas Irish festival on the same night, I think Wooley may have actually have preferred the Whiskey to the Opera but anyway it wasn't all bad in the end it was an entertaining but very sad Opera and we had great seats, Porgy and Bess.

But as you know we are an eclectic pair and not all about the highbrow and so we have just got back from, America's got Talent, they taped in Dallas tonight and so we went along as audience members, it was free and we went with friends. It was a lot more fun then what I thought it would be, we were way in the back so I doubt if they got us in any audience shots. But what I can't believe is that they let Piers Morgan be a judge on that show. For "Apprentice" fans you will be shocked to hear he is a judge on celebrity Apprentice in the US also, its funny how a lot of the UK "talent" gets shipped to the US?!

We went to an Obama fund raiser last weekend which was an interesting night, and it got me to thinking that due to the very busy lifestyle in the USA, even social activities are organized and have to be useful in some way. There is very little just chilling, I think they think of that as a waste of time or something, it's all about spending "quality time" and making the most of the time you have. So even a walk becomes a "fitness event." I am not the only one who thinks this: on NPR (National Public Radio, one of the best things I have discovered in the USA is NPR) the other day they had a lady talking about how Americans in general socialise less than in the 1950's. Another day I heard a radio story about how kids nowadays have so many activities planned for them that they don't know how to just play by themselves, use their imagination and their own resources and that has led to children being less able to exercise self control, use their own initiative and this may have led partially to the rise of the diagnosis of ADHD. Jigna

One year in the Lone Star State

So today's the day, we have been in the Lone Star Sate, the land of the free and the brave for one whole year! Doesn't time fly when you are having fun? It just seems like yesterday when I was reading the blog by a guy called, Geoff (he used to work for the BBC and moved to the USA) in which he marked his one year anniversary, and I remember thinking I wonder what I will feel like once I have been here for a year and I honestly just don't know where to start?

I still miss home, so badly, its like huge empty space that just is there, it just never goes...... what I miss the most is being able to pick up the phone and say what I need to say, to who I need to say it, when I need to say it.

But hey, thank God or more accurately thank the genius of the human mind for the t'internet, and again I have to note how I just really do not know how our immigrant parent/grandparents coped with emigration without the mighty power of the WWW?

As a child of immigrants I now have a deeper understanding of what it is like to leave home, all you know, love and take comfort in for an adventure, the reasons maybe different, but the aim is still the same to better ourselves and to go home. I just hope that our return home is very unlike the non-return of our parents/grandparents to their homeland.

But it's not as if the language is different (sort of?!) and its not as if the cultural norms and values of the UK are so alien to that of the USA, but it is exactly this similarity that makes the shock of the differences so much more shocking!

The main things to report, one year in, is that in Texas you really need to have portion control, you have to drive, you MUST be very very careful when driving around Dallas, bling is soooo in, walking IS A sport and you must have the right gear, Southern hospitality is very warm and generous and finally you have to learn to read between the lines and look past the surface to ever know what anyone really thinks. I am still working on the first and last ones.

Adventures are fun, despite the homesickness, this is certainly an adventure, discovering the land of the free and the Lone Star Sate. It is also a voyage of discovery for me as a person and last but definitely not least my marriage. Jigna

royal mail and the US postal service

when we were younger and would visit mama and that lot over in the US of A we always thought that the post service there was magical - you just stick your mail in a box thing at the end of the drive way (and seriously the mail box looked just like the ones on bugs bunny, or roadrunner and cayote cartoons - mental and so uber americana) put the little flaggy up and it gets taken away - no messing about with those pillar box red post boxes you have to actually walk to in England. pah - no sirree they come and take your letters from you! On the other hand, they deliver to you into your mail box, whereas in England it lands on your door mat, so you dont have to check any darned box at the end of the drive it come to your door......so pro's and con's to both...

why a post on post i hear you ask??!!

well - last year jigs birthday present took a few months to get to her - we blamed the US postal service, because you could track it all the way to the Dallas sorting office.......but lo and behold, last Christmas, jigs (and das) sent us a jiffy envelope full of fun little gifts and sweets......which arrived this weekend! mental or what?? postmarked October. October people - thats right. you'd think we lived in the modern world, with all this hi-tech internet web based communications etc, but really, no wonder someone had to invent the internet, the bloody postal systems suck, either here or there we can't rely on them... (SIGH)

rant over.

on a brighter note - thanks for the gifts!! love them all! esp. the harry potter post its and the pens, don't know why you sent me a sklytherin pen, what you trying to say?!!?? and the kids book on george bush you got for stef is hilarious....

SATC Movie

http://www.sexandthecitymovie.com/?engine=adwords!10406keyword=sexandthecity

Have you seen the above website girls? So frocks and heels in May and you can not forget the cosmo's Roopa? Jigna

Stand for Change Rally with Senator Barack Obama February 20th

Stand for Change Rally with Senator Barack Obama February 20th. Wednesday, February 20th., 11:30am (doors open 10:30am) Reunion Arena, 777 Sports Street, Dallas, TXSenator Barack Obama will be in Dallas on Wednesday, February 20th for a "Stand for Change" Rally on Wednesday morning, February 20th. Don't miss it! The event is free, and no advance tickets are needed; however, entry is first come-first served (so get there early).

Wooley was going to try and make this. But I had an event to go to in Fort Worth and so could not make it, although Michelle says its like when Clinton came to talk at UT Austin when she was at college and she decided she had to go to her philosophy class and not try to get to the Clinton speech/rally, and does she remember anything about her class, no, so maybe I should skip the event and go to the rally, but I am just not up to standing around for ages, still feeling the effects being tired and ill......and if I disappeared from work for a few hours I think my boss/Michelle may have an idea as to where I have gone to?!

Here is the link to some photos of the rally, apparently you had to que for ages, so maybe it wasn’t all that bad that we missed out!
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/pt/slideshows/2008/02/pho0220_obama/

The debate is tonight in Austin, Texas and again failed in even getting close to getting tickets, security is high and so I don’t think they will let in Non resident aliens!

Is ken having a rally for the elections?! I wonder?

We are going to a fund raiser held by a firend from my book groups house, although of course he/Barack will not be there, but its a good chance for us to chat to people with similar political leanings as I am sure Wooley may have indicated he does get very frustrated hanging out with politically disinterested or even worse ignorant people.

I failed to sneak a margarita or two in on the way to/from event in Fort Worth at Joe T Gracias as Deepa and Nina will tell you excellent margaritas there! Jigna

Tea

Finally after having started my new job way back in August 2007 I have given into my tea drinking heritage and bought in some Twinings, kettle, milk, sugar, teaspoon and mug....what you may be asking have I been drinking for the last few months, herbal teas and Starbucks chai latte. Jigna

there are elections in Londinium too

the other day I was at the tube station, minding my own business on my way home, when someone wearing a t-shirt with a silhouette in blue of a foppish haired parliamentarian who is standing for the Tory's in this years London Mayoral elections - the t shirt was done in the style of the ipod ad's and was worn by an equally foppish looking teenager/young man person (no doubt some keen young party activist)

he shoved an oyster card holder in my face (again with this darned silhouette thing) and said "vote for Boris - here have an oyster card holder". to which I said " no i wont vote for Boris he's a racist moron" and i definitely don't want an oyster card holder.

I am not interested in his "eccentric" persona and his wikipedia entry describes him as a "self deprecating, straw-haired eccentric, disorganised and scatty” - which i don't care about quite frankly. The wikipedia entry also lists his numerous gaffes: there have been far too many of his "mistakes" for me to be comfortable with him at the helm of the GLA.

it wasn't right when Alan Clark behaved that way and it isn't right now.

nuff said

Valentines Day

Valentines Day.....is quite a big deal, commercially in the USA just like nearly every other event you can think of for that matter. Americans always have to do it bigger and better, even something simple like a bag of crisps/chips! I am planning to go to my art class tonight, Valentines Day, last night we were supposed to be going to dinner, I wimped out, I was knackered. We plan to move apartments this weekend and we have accumulated a whole lot of stuff in the short period we have been in Dallas, material hoarders that we are! My husband was very nice and bought me some lilies and he bought me some nice gerber daisies the other day, hum me thinks he is up to something? And some chocolates, they may be more for him though? So sums up our first Valentines Day in Dallas. Jigna

rocky

i think ive earned my name, yesterday my school took staff on an activity centre for team building, some people whinged and moaned about going, fifty-something-year-old-fat-women-smokers in particluar but most of us LOVED IT especially me, coming from ninestiles who didnt even have a christmas party let alone anything close to as how fun yesterday was!
i bloody loved it, sore now, but heres how the day went. Got there, wore my joggers everyone hates, and my hoody from dhara the one she stiched 'roopa' over julius, got into year teams (i hardly know the people in mine) and did the first activity. the weather was perfect and i was singing rocky the whole time and made my team sing it when i did the tires. was hilarious. after falling, getting muddy, doing zip line twice (once with a camera on) and traverse wall (climbing horizontally) we made good mates after holding each others bums, screaming words of encouragment, shouting expletives (some might say that was only me).

in the afternoon me and 2 of my friends hosted a workshop on animation in the classroom. was brilliant, then we all went pub (some losers went home to 'change' and came back fresh, but us hardcore army lot were comparing our war wounds) and then went for an 'indian'. i felt like a kid after a BIG DAY in the adventure playground, i was dirty, tired but had a big smile on from all my achievements in the day.

Obama - Yes we can

http://www.dipdive.com/

Check the above link out, its very impressive, I had been forgetting why Obama had been so powerful and impressive due to Hilary's recent engaging speeches, if I was voting in the Primary I would be very very torn at this stage! Jigna

Rule of law

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7232661.stm

The above is an interesting statement from the Archbishop of Canterbury, England. I am a confirmed secularist and so do not agree with the proposition that religions should be permitted to over ride the rule of law. BUT I do agree that the rule of law should accommodate religious observances and loyalties, or for that matter other loyalties as well, as long as the exercise of these practices does not impose on another’s liberty or harm anyone else.

It's like weddings, in order to be legally married in the UK, you must be married according to the legal requirements, but there is no law stopping you (and I would fight any such law) having a religious ceremony.(The only problem is that a wedding in the Church of England is automatically a legal marriage, I believe and so that’s not a true secular position, but then there is of course the history of the Church and the law in England and so there are problems, with this whole aspect of the secular theory.)

In general I do not think you can have a working multicultural society where sections of the society live in isolated communities each complying with their own religious "laws" there must be an over riding rule of law which all members of society must comply with, but that rule of law must allow for people to comply with religious practices or any other loyalties they may have.

To say that individuals can not have more than one loyalty for example to their faith, their country or their whatever is patronizing. Individuals are complex and that’s the joy of living in a multicultural/liberal society, as an individual you can express your various loyalties without limit, subject to the limit not to harm and impose yourself on another of course.

I do not want to defined by just one thing be that my religion, my political affiliation, my job, my sexual orientation, my ethnicity or my nationality, I am a complex person who has many loyalties and interests and I know that I am not the only one. Jigna

The first and foremost tea drinking socialist: the might Tony Benn

so. you'll never guess who I met yesterday????? at a conference yesterday at church house, minding my own business, I went out for some fresh air during lunch and stood on the steps overlooking deans yard: then someone I know came out and we started having a conversation about work. THEN guess who came out??? YES! Tony Benn. obviously I proceeded to talk at him, told him how big a fan I am. asked to shake his hand and he gave me a kiss!!!!!!!!!!!!! I love him! had a really long conversation. it was mad and surreal and excllent!!!!!!!!!! aaaarrrrrgghhhhh!!!!talked about lots of things - race, class, the 130 year rule. OMG.


part 2
ok ok - i'll tell you more. so he same out into deans yard witha little folfy uppy stool thing and his little rucksack thing and asked "can you smoke out here" me - "er yes...." (jaw on the floor)

then we talked about what a lovely little square it is in deans yard. i made a joke about how many times he must have been there/seen it. then he asked about where i worked, where the person i was with worked and what we did, what conference we were there for etc. then the discussion turned to the 30 year rule - he is of course opposed to it and he was at church house giving evidence to a committee of some sort on it. he made some jokes whilst filling his pipe about how old he'll be if its ever changed etc.....THEN he asked me where my parents were form and I said India, then we talked about how you ask where someones parents are from, not assuming that people who are not white are from outside Britain themselves, then he told me about all his sons wives and girlfriends etc and so many of his grandkids are mixed race, and how he is basically establishing his own little UN peacekeeping force!! right on.

erm then we chatted on a bit more and i said somehting about yes its great how multicultural london is but you cant apply that to the whole of Britain and outside big urban connurbations its very different and even in other cities mixed race relationships are rarer and people do view it as a 'different' or unusual - and worst thing is so many of my generation do think like that - they may not oppose them but its a novelty that they cant quite get their head round like......and i went on one about how disappointing that is etc - and then he said something really complimentary like 'if they all thought like you we'd all be better off!!' tee heee!!!!! ok. i'll stop swooning now. (and funny thing is i didn't even say anything about being in a mixed race relationship myself)

Super Dooper Tuesday

Not only is it pancake day today (don’t forget get the Jif - lemon - folks!) but its also Super Tuesday here in the USA, something about the nominations for the Presidential candidates for the Democrats (USA) aka Labour Party (UK) confusingly though the Democrats are blue and the Republicans (USA) aka the Conservative Party (UK) are red. So my previous explanation is for the benefit of those not in the know or in the don’t care or in the completely overwhelmed by it all aka me! And it is a bit simple, but then as far as I can see the whole thing is Super Complicated and a little simplicity is very welcome, in the spirit of simplicity, Justin Webb's blog is very good......and simple........http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/thereporters/justinwebb/. And as some one else somewhere else said the fact that there is a choice between a woman and a black man with the middle name of Hussein can only be good thing, right? The BIG question remains pancakes with jam or nutella tonight?! Perplexed in Dallas......Jigna

Two car family

We in Dallas are now joining in the American way of life and are now a two car family. Nearly a year into our adventure in Dallas, we realized that living in Dallas and relying upon public transportation was useless and that all resistance is futile. Wooley decided on an old cheap-ish Volvo estate station wagon from Flower Mound, Texas, previous owner Southern Baptist Church employee, the car is "cheap and good", fingers crossed, and no souls or religious conversions were a requirement of sale, although in hindsight maybe we should have raised these as negotiating points? Wish us luck with the new member of our family.

Another American tradition we experienced on the weekend was the Superbowl, the game (American Football, the Patriots from New England versus the New York Giants, for those not in the know or in the don't care) did get exciting, much to my disbelief. We also had the not so traditional but very yummy dumplings by Scott and pakoras by Wooley, mmmmmmm.

I also read about the wonders of Motherhood, please refer to the Family Section of the Guardian last Saturday, February 2, 2008, "Living with teenagers" Dhara was right it was a lovely article brought tears to my eyes and I so want to read the book, having read all the columns but still! I also referred Wooley to the article. I do miss the Family Section although its great that you can get it on line, its just not the same as the actual paper on a Saturday morning. Although I have no kids, the human interest stories and the global aspect of the Family Section is always interesting and funny. (By the way Saturday February 2 was also Groundhog day in case anyone is interested, "Phil says six more weeks of winter!") I really do feel like I am surrounded by signs pointing the way to Motherhood, old friends subtle and not so subtle suggestions via email, FB and other comments, friends having babies etc. For now please note that Wooley and I will not be adding any further new additions to our family in Dallas in the foreseeable future! Please don’t ask why I feel the need to bog this point I just feel that the world (Okay so it may be paranoia, but then my name is Jigna.) is hinting and I need to share with the world go ahead and hint away my friend it ain’t happening, at least not now :) Jigna

Art Class

Some of you may or may not know that I have started an 8 week drawing and painting class, and the second lesson was yesterday, self portraits, last week we did gesture drawings using a model (she was fully clothed!) it was fun. As some of you know I am not so great with people/faces but the teacher is fun and the girls in the class are all friendly, all at different levels and with varying degrees of talent. I am so glad (so far) that I decided to take this class up, I am really enjoying doing some art again, the teacher is an artist who does a lot of portraits and so I think we will be doing a lot of portraits and so that should keep me challenged, will keep you posted on further developments. Jigna

middle vyas is feeling very loved!

ok. so I asked you all to chip in and get me a camcorder - which you did, a really really lovely one.

however all you naughty people bought me so much stuff too! which is very nice of you but really, no need to spend so much on me, honest! jigs and das - I got the parcel, all good, loved it all thank you. I will read a book and bookmark it with the nice bookmark whilst listening to blinging headphones and writing out little complaint notes to stef on the post-its and boffing the carbon neutral chocolate, the icebreaker sours and the fairtrade nut bar that roops and anish got me: whilst doing this I will be wearing the lovely top roops bought me too, with the hairclips in my hair from mum and the bracelet on too- i will have bathed in the bubble bath dad chose and be wearing the pink t-shirt he bought me whilst I am thinking about what to buy with the Dorothy Perkins voucher that Viv and Chris gave me, which i will put (together with the money from mum and dad) into the gorgeous handbag from deepa when i go shopping - phew. But right now I am recovering from all the yummy margaritas that Lucy bought me and the massive meal and booze stef took me for whilst smelling the beautiful flowers kevin gave me and thinking about the tree mama planted for me! .

so all in all - thank you guys! you really all spent way too much and I really really appreciate it!

last night, after drinking on with roops anish lucy kevin rich chris and deeps i met stef on the southbank and he took me for a yummy meal at skylon - it was gorgeous - great cocktails, I had a 'premium' marga - mmmmmhhh, huge salt rim and the best tequila - went down a treat. then we both had the French onion coup and I had the salmon and smoked haddock fishcake - gorgeous. of course I had to have pudding too - chocolate mousse.........just perfect. all washed down with Kent's finest wine - which I can tell you all was pretty darn tasty - I would defo drink it again! quite complex flavours in the wine (yeah, like i know!) but a really nice crisp clean taste

i need sleep now........thank you all again! lets party on on friday night! woohooo!