Long Walks On Leafy Streets

11/10/24

Kamala Harris, The Yard at Howard University, Nov 6, 2024    

What a year!


I started the year with the promise of writing more of these. Now it is almost thanksgiving and I haven't written since January! Time flies. Let us see, what happened in the past nine and a half months?

Well, the past three months have certainly been momentous for the country, and perhaps for the world. The past week, especially on campus, has been something else. The excitement started to build up the week before the election. I started seeing more and more press people interviewing students. Then it was announced that classes will be either online or suspended during the next week, the week of the election. As I was leaving work late on friday evening I started to see The Yard buzzing with activity -- workmen building temporary stands and installing audio-visual equipment, mobile cranes and trucks and forklifts all over the place. I didn't return to campus until friday so I didn't get to participate in any of the events during the election itself.

I had been as worried as anyone else during this election cycle. I wanted to do everything I could to help Kamala win. Personally my politics and principles are to the left of Bernie Sanders but I am a pragmatist and prefer to work with things as they are. From my interactions with people around the country I can tell most are not where I am, in terms of how they want to live their life. So come election time I donate my time and money and invest my hopes on whoever I think would achieve what I believe are the best results for the country. Anyway, through the weekend and then on monday and tuesday the tension was building. I was hopeful, indeed confident, that she would win handily. So how did it play out for us? Will talk about that at the end of this blog.



McMillan Reservoir, Washington, DC    

I prefer to live a simple life, as much as I can. As Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount: "Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?" (Matthew 6:25-26).

Since I got married I must admit I don't live as simple a life as I would prefer but then again, as I mentioned before, I don't believe in imposing my choices on others, even my own family members. We as a family come up with optimal solutions that everyone can live with and hopefully are good for society as well. Of course, what is a simple life to one is not so simple to others.


Bay St, Nassau, Bahamas    

So here I was, admirer of Gandhi, Tolstoy, and Ramana Maharshi, on a vacation in the Bahamas at a resort. We went there in June because Nicole wanted to something very special for her mother on her 70th birthday. Since we didn't know anything about the place, she booked with a travel agent who recommended a resort. We stayed in "resorts" when we went to India in 2010 on a late honeymoon but this was a real resort, with many swimming pools, restaurants, casino, tennis courts, an actual golf course suited for professionals, etc., It was the most lavish and expensive place I have ever been in and took some adjusting. For example I figured out a way to limit expenses by eating a big buffet meal in the morning and eating lighter meals or surviving on snacks the rest of the day.

Being there was exactly like being in India. I saw a lot of trees familiar from my childhood such as neem, mango, mini breadfruit, sapota, chetthi (jungle geranium), pichakam (spanish Jasmine), casuarina, among many others. I enjoyed running on Bay St along the ocean as well as inland streets where the stray dogs, buildings, and people all reminded me of India.


Cable Beach, Nassau, Bahamas    

The best part of the trip, was of course, being on the beach. Everyone enjoyed that part, especially Prashant. He was able to see sea turtles and schools of fish from close quarters in the clear water. They had a portion of the beach for the resort guests and chairs all over the place. We spent a lot of time just lounging. I think the reason the beach has such a hold on all of us is because the vastness of the ocean beckons of something beyond ourselves. Especially during twilight hours and at sunrise when it was mostly empty one felt a great sense of peace.

The locals told me that the beach is public property up to a certain distance from the water. So we were able to walk and run all along the beach even where it was not part of the resort. While the Bahamas people seemed reasonable happy and well off, it was still a bit awkward to enjoy such comforts which the locals couldn't. The colonial structure continues all over the world. A small elite living in luxury oblivious to the rest of the world while vast majority toils under the illusion of trickle down. Democratic Socialism is the way. We are certainly not elite but could see how people could lose touch.


Derwood, Maryland    

I also watched some of the Euro 24 soccer games during the week we were in the Bahamas. Prashant is starting to enjoy playing soccer and he is playing with a team at school. He also enjoys playing with his cousin brothers. One of the games we watched was the Italy - Croatia game in which Italy scored a last minute goal to win. I was rooting for Croatia in that game and Prashant was able to see how much passion goes into a soccer game. At the same time, it is a lesson in life as well, where you learn to take the wins and the losses with equanimity while striving passionately.

For the whole tournament I was supporting England because I liked the character shown by the team, motivated and inspired by Gareth Southgate. He is truly a unique personality, the way he has supported equality and unity in the face of vehement, at times nasty opposition. Even though they lost in the final, I found great happiness in Southgate's success. Maybe he has an inner belief that comes from God or something like that. Everything feels easier and less heavy on the shoulder when you leave results to God.


2024 Anacostia trail, Bladensburg, MD    

Apart from our trip to Bahamas it was a wonderful summer in many ways. The highlight was Prashant and I going on a camping trip to the Assateague Islands and a trip to the Shenandoah mountains to watch the Perseid meteor shower. We were able to get up early and watch the sunrise, go biking on the Island, play minigolf and visit Ocean city. It was our first camping trip. Sleeping by the ocean, listening to the hum of the ocean and the crashing of the waves, I was overwhelmed at the same time as inspired by this vast boundless energy of the ocean. Then looking at the stars in the pre-Dawn darkness I was again inspired by the vastness of the universe that inspired generations of our ancestors to think of what lies beyond our mortal bounds. Sometimes one needs this kind of inspiration in addition to meditating, etc.

Nicole isn't a great fan of camping. I used to go with my father but he is too old now. The three of us went to a concert by Missy Elliott, and hiked and biked locally. Two of our favorite spots are Hains point and the Bladensburg waterfront park. I also took my parents and stayed in New Jersey for a week, visiting temples and eating at one of the many excellent restaurants. There was a nice park near where we stayed where we could go walking around a lake.
This summer was special also because of two more things. I was able to spend time with my Caltech friend Shekhar after many years. Shekhar is now a world-renowned mathematician. In september I ran the Parks half marathon with Alan, who completed his dream of running 50 half-marathones before turning fifty. As one gets older, one remembers the times with friends more and more fondly.




2024 Marine Corps Marathon, Turnaround at Rock Creek and Shoreham Drive, Washington, DC    

Running has been, and continues to be, an integral part of my life. I run the Marine Corps Marathon every year. Not only it helps with fitness and health, it also helps keep the mind calm, develop resilience as well as a connection to the road and the trees and the earth in general. Every year I train for 11 months in all kinds of weather. It all comes down to one late October morning and every year I hope to improve on my time. Heading to the last week, I was a little bit queasy in the stomach as usual, but I was able to stay much calmer this year due to my mindfulness practice although it was probably not helped by the anxiety surrounding the election. The night before I woke up at 2:20 AM but couldn’t go back to sleep. But I meditated and watched my breath and eventually got to a stage where I could see myself sleeping from above as if I was out of my body. I realized that’s how you feel when you are sleeping, so it was close to sleep and maybe I only slept for a few minutes here and there, but it was good to know that this is possible.
In the morning got to the metro to Pentagon before sunrise and spent most of the time on the way kind of resting. While on the green line got off at waterfront station instead of L'Enfant Plaza and it was completely empty at the time. This was a sudden change from the busy-ness of the other metro station with a lot of people going to the marathon. It momentarily brought me back to the times when I was alone a lot and I had to bring back that "enjoying being alone" state of mind.
It was in the 40s at the start of the marathon, and I was running at a good pace. The highlight was Prashant handing me a bottle of Mighty Mango at the Rock Creek parkway turnaround near Woodley Park where Nicole, Alan and he come to cheer me every year.




Queens Chapel, Washington, DC    

Unfortunately the drink had too much sugar and my legs started cramping up in the end, and ended up slowing down considerably. Nevertheless I was able to stay calm, and was happy about that. The marathon is as much about planning and staying calm in the moment and staying in the moment as it is about eating the right food, training properly, and sleeping well and all that. Being able to finish, seeing the crowds, and the support of my family made it a joyous occasion.
The morning after I was doing sandhyavandanam and lots of feelings and emotions went through my mind, with the excitement stirred up by the elections. I realized that this will always be the case no matter how much I practice. We are like a tree that comes out of a seed. There are inherent tendencies and inclinations that we carry from birth and they will manifest themselves time to time. Moreover the stories that we build up in our mind through our experiences will also keep bubbling up. That is why, as Thich Nhat Hanh says, it takes constant practice to keep the mind from being led astray by thoughts and emotions.

Neverthess, happy to report that whenever anxiety or worries arose I was able to immediately calm myself down and return to focus on the present moment, not just during the race but for the several days leading up to the race, and then afterwards, during the election.




The Yard, Howard University, Nov 1 2024    

So then, we were finally here, election day was almost upon us. We both had voted early. Nicole went to Sterling, VA on election protection duty. Being a lawyer, she thought that was the best way for her to contribute. I stayed home with Prashant and made some calls to voters in Pennsylvania. We were all hopeful, yet nervous. I couldn't watch the news at all, and slept fitfully. Finally around 6 am Nicole broke the news and we were both crestfallen. But we had to stay strong for the sake of Prashant. As I told my grieving nephew Pranav, shit happens but life goes on. We had to get him ready to go to school. I was very proud of my family as well as that of my sisters for being such passionate supporters of Kamala and caring about the country.

People have been blaming Kamala, Biden, and the democrats and the "elite." But what many people are unable to see, including well meaning progressives, is that there is a sickness in America. When you are dark skinned in America, your life is different. I understood that even better after I married Nicole. It was like entering a parallel universe. We can see from that perspective what that sickness is, and where it is. Until that is cured, America will keep electing demagogues who manipulate people.


In spite of everything I remain hopeful for the future and my faith in the goodness of people is unshaken. That is what I have learned from Sankara, Vivekandanda, Mandela, Thich Nhat Hanh and others. They all taught that everyone is a child of God and nothing will shake my belief in that. In fact I felt very calm after the election. I felt my desires and ambition falling away and with that great relief and perhaps even joy because finally, I felt free. I have been trying to be free from ambition for a while but it only reaches the core of the being in moments like that. Politics and sports and research and all those other things seem so trivial compared to living a meaningful, purposeful and loving life. Of course one wants to do good for the world and make a difference, but it should come from a good place, and one doesn't need to seek opportunities. Just have to wait for the right moment and right cause to move your heart and out of the love from your heart action will come.


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