India calling

It seems that my scholarship from Shastri was just the start of a series of serendipitous events that are, I hope, the beginning of a year that will see me back to India. It seems that old and new connections are making sure I don't stop thinking about India.



In the first week of 2009:
- I received a scholarship from the Shastri Indo-Canadian Institute.
- I saw a fabulous movie set in Mumbai called Slum Dog Millionaire.
- My friend Dana took me to my very first Canadian kirtan.
- I read a book by Anita Desai called In Custody, set in old Delhi.
- My dear friend Ramesh emailed to say he is coming to the west coast of North America, from Dharamsala, and hoped we could visit.
- Dr. Giri, head of the Schumacher Centre for Development in Delhi and one of the many amazing people I met at random there, reignited our email correspondence and began a discussion of potential co-authoring. He may even make it to Vancouver this year.
- Another research contact from the GREEN Foundation who I've only spoken with on the phone found an old text message from May, found my email address, and got back in touch. He's now with the AME Foundation and we will try to connect next time I'm there.

I'm choosing to take all this as a sign that (1) I need to go back (no surprise there), and (2) it is finally time to finish that pesky thesis so I can go back with a light heart and feeling that I have contributed something to this place that seems to have become such an important part of my life.

Beginning anew

Well, it's another new year (and no need to count how many there have been since I started this PhD thing) and time to start fresh. My dissertation has been on extended hiatus since I came back from India in June - it lost out in favour of things like teaching, finding a place to live (twice!), and earning a living. I think I've found some degree of balance in that, and am looking forward to having only one job (at the NCCEH) and maybe the occasional contract. This of course means there should be room to work on my thesis.

Yes folks, I will resume work on my thesis starting this week. There. I said it. Publicly. Yikes, now I have to do it!

I got a friendly kick in the pants in the form of a $2000 scholarship from the Shastri Indo-Canadian Institute - just enough for a flight to India to reconnect with people and give back some results to my research contacts. Naturally, I can't do that until I have some results to give, but knowing that I can pay for the flight is a nice prize to work toward.