India Trip Reflections #3: “People Should Know Their Place”

About halfway through the India trip I met a guy whose name I won’t mention here, both to protect his identity and because I’ve forgotten it.  He’d been to college and was now working a comfortable middle-class job that paid a decent salary, had plenty of room for advancement, and didn’t require him to work too hard.  He seemed pretty happy, or at least satisfied with how his life was going.

During the hour or so we spent together he told me about a lot of things: about his job, about arranged marriages in India, and about the political problems and corruption the country faced.  Then we got on the subject of social media, which he wasn’t a big fan of.

I thought it was odd that someone so close to my own age (he was in his late twenties) could Continue reading »

India Trip Reflections #2: Your Job Shouldn’t Define Your Status

When I was in India, I found myself being asked the same three questions over and over:

  1. Are you married?
  2. How many brothers and sisters do you have?
  3. What is your job in America?

Now the answer to the first question was of course no (my response usually involved the phrase “haven’t found the right girl”) and my having two younger brothers was simple enough, but how to explain my work to people from an entirely different culture was a whole lot trickier.

In America, when I meet a new person and hear the “What do you do?” question, I judge based on the situation whether the person is Continue reading »

India Trip Reflections #1: Never Forget What a Break and Time Away Can Do

At the beginning of this month I flew to India for ten days to attend a friend’s wedding and take a much-needed vacation.  It was my first trip abroad in two years, and I spent the time meeting new people, exploring rural Indian villages, experiencing farm life, and trying awesome new dishes made from amazing vegetables and the freshest butter and yogurt I’ve ever had.

Now I’m back, and I feel awesome.

I was pretty stressed out before I left because of too much Secret Office Day Job-related overtime and having a shit ton of things to do in general, but I guess I hadn’t realized Continue reading »