What a blast! First Day of Fulbright Conference in Cochin, Kerala

Monday, February 25, 2019

Cochin

What a blast! First Day of Fulbright Conference in Cochin, Kerala

Namaste from Cochin!

         What a fabulous day it was! Just imagine the thrill of waking up in a five-star hotel where the size of your room is three times the size of your usual studio and where the view from your window is of a vast swimming pool and green lawns that reach down towards the banks of a river fringed by lush coconut-laden palms trees. I know! It’s so incredible that I have to inch myself to believe that I am actually here.  I keep thinking that, in academic terms, I have hit the jackpot really. 

   So I woke up at 6.30–yes, the air-conditioning really has much to do with how well and how long I sleep—and began blogging...but I did not have the time to proof-read the draft before I had to jump into the shower. And guess what? I actually had a hair-dryer in my room...so of course, I washed my hair and allowed myself the luxury of actually styling it—something I realize I have not done for about 6 months! All dressed in formal attire (as I would be presenting later in the afternoon), I left my room and went off for breakfast which was served buffet style in a large restaurant called Latest Recipe. I found Huma Ghosh in the corridor of the hotel as I was awaiting the elevator and we ended up eating breakfast together. 

Breakfast in Le Meridien Hotel:

As in any five-star hotel breakfast buffet, there is an endless choice and, consequently, very real danger that you will overeat unless you exert careful control over your gluttony. That said, I had a small (very small) bowl of muesli with mango yogurt and a sprinkling of dried fruit and nuts poured over.  There was no decaf coffee available, so I helped myself to fresh watermelon juice—delicious but probably loaded with sugar, so not very healthy. I then found a station where they were taking orders for eggs—I ordered a cheese omelette. Then, I spied a chef making waffles and, of course, I could not resist ordering those. That waffle loaded with maple syrup and honey plus a ton of cashew nuts, walnuts and pistachios was my breakfast for the day. Stuffed, and I mean really stuffed, I arose from the table and waddled over to the Opening Ceremony session of the Fulbright Conference. 

Getting to know Senior US Government Officials:

Selecting a seat at which to settle down, I found myselfMy presentation was entitled “Strolling Down Meory Lane with Bombay’s Thespians”. In an attempt to make sure it had general appeal, I focused on little-known tidbits of information—amusing, startling, enlightening—that have been revealed to me through the many interviews I have conducted in Bombay as part of my Fulbright grant.My presentation was entitled “Strolling Down Meory Lane with Bombay’s Thespians”. In an attempt to make sure it had general appeal, I focused on little-known tidbits of information—amusing, startling, enlightening—that have been revealed to me through the many interviews I have conducted in Bombay as part of my Fulbright grant. right in front of Adam Grotsky, Executive Director of the United States-India Education Foundation (USIEF) which is the governing body through which the US State Department regulates the Fulbright Commission’s academic grants in India. It was amazing, but he seemed to know me by name and said “Oh, its so great to finally meet you!” Standing by him was his delightful Argentinian wife, Olga. During the next five minutes, I met a bunch of other American bigwigs—David Kennedy from the US Embassy in Delhi (who is extremely friendly), Julia Findlay from the US State Department’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs in Washington DC, Lauren Lovelace, Consul for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs in the US Consulate in Chennai and P.S.Gangadhar of the Indian Ministry of External Affairs in New Delhi. With each of them seated at my table before the start of the formal part of the ceremony, I exchanged business cards with every one of them—which was fun and very affirming.

     The speeches were very inspiring, needless to say. Every speaker, Indian and American, reminded us how privileged we are to be selected for his program, how much of a cultural and educational ambassador each one of us is in a global world and how immediately we each contribute to Indo-US geo-political and race-relations in a world that is becoming increasingly fragmented. Needless to say, it was all deeply validating to me and I had to pinch myself again to wonder how I, just an ordinary Catholic student from a middle-class family in Bombay, grew to the heights of this sort of personal achievement that allows me today to rub shoulders with international diplomats and elitist academics from Ivy League institutions. Indeed I can honestly say that there is probably nothing like doing ethnographic research in your own country on a foreign grant. I am certainly living much better on the Fulbright Grant than I ever lived during my years in India—and I was certainly never poor having had the privilege of being raised by a father who was a career banker and a mother who was devoted to reading, education and the Arts. Overall, I felt the kind of intellectual privilege at the end My presentation was entitled “Strolling Down Meory Lane with Bombay’s Thespians”. In an attempt to make sure it had general appeal, I focused on little-known tidbits of information—amusing, startling, enlightening—that have been revealed to me through the many interviews I have conducted in Bombay as part of my Fulbright grant.of this session of speeches that I had felt when former President John Sexton of NYU had given a welcome speech to new faculty of New York University who had been hired that year as Full-time professors. So there are some speeches I have heard in my lifetime of listening to speeches that stand out for me because they have personal impact on me and the values and ideals that I have adopted in running my life.

Sessions on the First Day of the Conference:

There was tea at the end of the opening ceremony—of course, I did not go anywhere close to the tables as I was still stuffed— after which we dispersed and went to the various conference rooms where the panel presentations took place. I attended a session that presented papers on miniature Indian Rajasthani paintings in Jaipur, Tagore’s Shantiniketan as a Garden and Diplomacy through Academics in Uzbekistan. They were fascinating to say the least and I left quite speechless as the complexity and diversity of the research projects that are being undertaken through tax-payers’ dollars in the US through the international Fulbright Program.  

It was during this first session that I finally sneaked a look at my phone to find out the Oscar Results.  As everyone knows, I am a serious Oscar Fangirl and this year I have been quite removed from all the excitement as I had not seen any of the nominated movies except for Roma and A Star is Born.  Well, I am glad that my taste in movies coincides with that of the Academy because Roma was sidelined except for its Director Cuaron who walked off with the Best Director Award.  

Lunch followed and it was lavish. I tried to be discrete about what I chose to eat from a vast array of cuisines and dishes. I ended up focusing on traditional Keralite cooking (as I was, after all, in Kerala)  and ate  Fish in coconut milk curry, Chicken Cacciatore, a dahi vada, a couple of Salads, a papad but I did have dessert—butterscotch ice-cream, chocolate mousse and Shahi Tukre which I had never tasted before and really liked—it is fried or toasted bread triangles soaked in a sweet custard flavored with saffron, best known in Hyderabad.

Rest and Prep for my Presentation:

     After Lunch, I was too full and also too keyed-up for my My presentation was entitled “Strolling Down Meory Lane with Bombay’s Thespians”. In an attempt to make sure it had general appeal, I focused on little-known tidbits of information—amusing, startling, enlightening—that have been revealed to me through the many interviews I have conducted in Bombay as part of my Fulbright grant.presentation which would begin at 3. 30 pm. So I went back to my room, lay down for a nap, got a nice rest and then turned to my paper to chop some bits of it as I realized that they are really strict about presentation time limits. So I dropped off the introductory  page and a half. I then got myself ready for my session.

Delivering my Paper:

Within a half hour, I was in the room devoted to our session. I was the first speaker and having loaded my PowerPoint presentation, I was ready to go. My presentation was entitled “Strolling Down Memory Lane with Bombay’s Thespians”. In an attempt to make sure it had general appeal, I focused on little-known tidbits of information—amusing, startling, enlightening—that have been revealed to me through the many interviews I have conducted in Bombay as part of my Fulbright grant. It went well in a packed auditorium and I was, I could see, completely holding the interest of my audience. So that was great. Presentations that followed focused on Journalism in Translated Indian languages, a grass roots ethnographic recorded study among young people from different economic backgrounds in Bengal, Traditional Bengali Food Versus Bengali-Fusion Cuisine and Bandit Culture in India with reference to Phoolan Devi and Veerapan. All really interesting although they were all very different—the common thread was the ethnographic focus for our work that is based on actually talking to people in the field. There were many questions that followed during the Q and A session, two of which were directed at me.

A Short Boat Ride:

    I felt relieved when it was over as I could then relax and enjoy the rest of the conference with no strain or pressure. Tea was available after the session which I did not have. There was free time for nearly two hours after this and basically what I did was get to the boat jetty pier to hop into the boat that crosses the river several times during the day to take guests from one branch of the hotel to the other. This ride as the sun was close to setting was delightful. It was short—about 5 minutes, but I shared the boat with a couple who had attended my talk and told me how much they enjoyed it. In fact, for the rest of the evening, I was told by so many folks how much they had learned from it and how absorbing and engaging it was. 

Since the boat ride did not take more than 15 minutes and there was not much to do in the other hotel lobby, all I did was sit in the cool lobby of my branch of the hotel to read. I sat reading for about an hour during which time I also met Olga again and spent some time chatting with her. Unlike everyone else who went up to their rooms to dress formally for dinner, I did not.  Most of the folks here are wearing Indian clothing—females as well as males—are seen in beautiful Indian cotton fabrics or silk. 

Keynote Address and Formal Dinner on the Boat Jetty Lawns:

Wine and beer were available at the open bar as passed hors d’oeuvres like chicken lollipops, grilled fish and samosas were on offer—yes, food again! Seriously, all we seemed to do was eat. But soon, drinks in hand, we took our seats around tables and chairs arranged on the lawns. I made my way to the front so that I could see the speaker well. She happened to be India’s Former Ambassador to the US, Nirupama Menon Rao, who, after her retirement from the Indian Foreign Service started an academic career by teaching at Brown University and now at Columbia. She is writing a book right now on Indo-Sino Relationships.

Nirupama’s keynote address was wonderful. She is a very good speaker indeed and the content of a speech entitled ‘Two Democracies, Two Partners’ was a wonderful attempt to bring in the writings of Emily Dickinson, Mark Twain, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. etc. She was an English Literature major—so she brought all her love for reading and books and literature into her talk which also touched upon the roles of President Kennedy, Senator Fulbright, Prime Minister Nehru, etc. in effecting the kind of relations that have made such a success of the Fulbright Program.She was introduced by Adam Grotsky and a Vote of Thanks was delivered by Lauren Lovelace. It was all quite wonderful indeed—except for the slight humidity and the mosquitoes that hovered about my feet, it was fabulous to be under the stars on the green lawns of Cochin on the banks of a river.

Dinner followed—-a wonderful buffet with every kind of food available. I was at a table with a few interesting people as I helped myself to pineapple and chicken salad, then vegetable stew with a freshly-made appam and a bit of fish curry. The desserts were not tasty at all although there was dal halwa, mango ice-cream (flavorless) and chocolate cake (ditto). I sat chatting around with a few folks before I decided to go upstairs to my room after what had been a long day. I was more than a bit tired and ready to drop into my bed. I did some reading and chatted with Llew and Chriselle before getting to bed.

Until tomorrow...