20 Questions for Azam Ali

Picture taken from an Azam Ali Facebook album -  originally taken behind the scenes of the making of the new album Lamentation of Swans - A Journey Toward Silence 

Azam Ali is an Iranian American performer of world (and soundtrack) music, especially by fusion of classical Eastern styles (such as Sufi) and modern electronic influences. Her latest album, the newly released Lamentation of Swans - A Journey Towards Silence, was funded directly by her fans through the project-funding platform PledgeMusic, (similar to Kickstarter). As a bonus for my contribution amount, I got the chance to submit 20 questions - to be answered by her personally!

In my interview I had written,

I am deeply grateful that I have found this opportunity to ask questions of my favorite performing artist. In some ways... her music has been like a stepping stone as I have come to learn about and meet people from the places of her musical backgrounds and performances.

I don't know if she saw that part or not, but I received her answers this week, and I thought I might share them here. I tried to ask for permission for blog publication directly in my interview, but the request wasn't acknowledged either way (I suspect she only saw the question list). I'd like to think that she wouldn't mind this publication because for her this is free promotion, and for me this is how I can share her inspiring answers.    

To Laura VanVliet

Thank you so very much for supporting my project and your thoughtful questions -Azam

1. How have you had the courage and inspiration to reach out to so many different places?

In my early life, external circumstances, which were out of my control, dictated my fate. As I grew up I discovered that people are the same everywhere. No matter where I go I always try to connect with people through our common points as human beings. And once that connection is made, it truly inspires great things in me and makes me want to travel more. I am fortunate in that my music is what carries me to all these places.

2. Similarly, how did you become connected to so many different cultures?

Being born in Iran and going to study in India at the age of four was the beginning of what would become my life long fascination with foreign countries, cultures, spirituality, art and music.

3. Have you been surprised to have an American following?

Not at all. After all I spent so many years living in America and it was my home as well.  That is also where my music came to fruition so it is a big part of who I am.

4. Your music has drawn influence from places like India, Iran, Azerbaijan, Turkey, and others - do you ever feel that you are drawn to these places by the history of the Persian empire and influence?

Many people do not believe me when I say this but I am not a very nationalistic person. Meaning that my cultural identity was never very important to me maybe because I left my country of birth at such a young age. However, the place where you are born imprints on you the first experience and perception of the world, so that is why this is such a big part of me and my music. The reason that I always try to expand in my music beyond the borders of my country of birth is to show that no one has a choice as to where they are born, what country, what culture or what religion. But we do have a choice when it comes to the kind of human being we want to be. And I have chosen to be a daughter of the world.

5. Where is your favorite place in Iran?

Esfahan. For me this is a magnificent city artistically and historically. I also love the many very small villages. They remind me of where my grandparents lived.

  
6. Do you feel like different cultures have given you different sides to your personality?

Absolutely. I think even when you just travel to another country, some part of you is changed forever. You are expanded in some way, which is why it is also highly addictive.

7. Do you feel like different cultures have given you different aspects to your music holistically?

Making music is a therapy for me, which makes it a very selfish indulgence. But somewhere in the process, if you do it sincerely and honestly, you tap into something, which transcends your individual ego and is part of a greater whole. The proof of this is when people from different cultures connect to your work even if there is a language barrier.

 
8. What is one of your favorite films?

I have many favorite films that rage from old black and whites, indie films from around the world and even a few Hollywood films, but if I had to choose only one it may have to be 2001- A Space Odyssey.

9. What is one of your favorite books?

My favorite books are anything written by my favorite writer, Rabindranath Tagore.

10. How did you meet your husband?

I met him when I was eighteen years old in an art gallery he owned at the time. Later we discovered we were both musicians and had mutual friends. It took us many years to discover we were meant to be husband and wife instead of just great friends, but that friendship is for us the best part of our marriage.

11. Why did you and your husband choose "Imam" for your son's name?

We chose the name Iman because Iman means faith in many eastern languages. For both of us, we felt that having faith was the one thing we struggled with for so long. When you have a child you literally say their name over and over again a hundred times a day, so naming our son faith seemed very appropriate.

12. Could you describe a time when your music research surprised you?

I always learn something when I record traditional songs because I have to do research on where the piece from and what it meant to the people from that place or culture. But my greatest learning experience came when I did my first solo album, Portals of Grace, which was based entirely on Early Medieval European Music. I always describe that album as my thesis because I spend so many hours in the library and online just doing research. It was tiring at times but so rewarding because it was like traveling back in time.

13. How did you become interested in the Urdu poetry that you've used as lyrics for songs by Niyaz?

I love poetry and prose. They are my favorite things to read so I have collected many books over the years. I am particularly drawn to poetry, which is mystical and can capture the human longing for something greater, which we all share. Being Iranian, I was of course first exposed to mystical Sufi poetry, which later led me to seek out the mystical poetry of other traditions.

 
14. How did you come to sing for the film score of 300?

The composer for film, Tyler Bates is someone I’ve known for many years. We both started our careers together albeit in different genres of music. I sang on many scores for him over the years. When he was offered 300, it was a huge break for him and he wanted me to be a part of it. For me it was just another opportunity to make music with a good friend.

15. Where do you do most of your lyric writing?

In a very quiet room. I can’t write if there is even a single sound so I usually wear sound canceling headphones when I write.

16. Do you have other ambitions for film scores, in Hollywood or other film industries?

I still do quite a bit of work for film and TV with composers who have become my friends over the years. I am slowly starting to consider getting into film scoring myself but it is very hard work and very high-pressure life.

17. Have you performed in languages that are difficult for you? How do you master them?

I have a very disciplinarian approach to singing in another language because someone who speaks that language is going to hear it and I want them to feel the emotion of what I am singing instead of constantly thinking about how poor my pronunciation is. So if I make a commitment to sing in a language I don’t know, I find someone I trust and work closely with them till the lyrics become second nature. The hard rule for me is that I cannot record a song if I have to look at a lyric sheet. The words have to become internalized. 

18. "Spring Arrives" is one of my favorite songs of yours. It evokes several different emotions. What was the inspiration for the song "Spring Arrives"?

­­­­It really was about the celebration of the arrival of spring. I wanted it to be a danceable yet very sensual piece because that’s what spring represents to me- celebration and sensuality.

19. You've also performed traditional Western European music for your album Portals of Grace - how have you found it different from performing traditional Eastern music?

There are so many different styles of music, which are part of me now so it feels extremely natural for me to go from one expression to another. It’s all about communicating an emotion. How you do that is secondary.

20. Do you have any advice for people who are trying to expand their horizons in art and culture? We are living in the most exciting time because we can do a search on our computers and hear music, watch film, read books, etc, from every corner of this world as remote as they may be. It would be a shame not to take advantage of this opportunity. Being adventurous is not as easy as it sounds because by nature humans like to feel safe. So my advice is start small with reading and listening and then take the leap and travel. Once you travel, your fear of the unknown becomes replaced by your hunger to know the unknown because in that process we end up learning the most about ourselves and our true potential. In the end expanding our horizons becomes an expansion of our soul. 

Upcoming: May 10-19, 2013 Pittsburgh's Silk Screen Asian American Film Festival!

May 10-19 Pittsburgh's Silk Screen Asian American Film Festival!

I am so excited that I finally get to attend! Two years ago I'd only heard of what is now called the Silk Screen Asian Arts & Culture Organization, and for the past year I served as a  kind of part-time office volunteer. I have thoroughly admired the mission of this organization and all it has done for Pittsburgh and beyond.

This year's film festival features screenings of 30 foreign films over these 10 days, including an Opening Night Gala and Closing Ceremony. This year there are films from: Afghanistan, Cambodia, China, Egypt, Georgia, India, Iran, Israel, Japan, Kyrgyzstan, Nepal, Philippines, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, Vietnam and Uzbekistan.

I'm especially excited to see some of these movies with international friends, and to learn and enjoy more about their countries and cultures though cinema.

I encourage everyone to attend: http://www.silkscreenfestival.org/202/festival-guide-2013

The following is something I'd written when I was supposed to write about Silk Screen for Wikipedia. Unfortunately, I didn't know if my draft was ever sufficient. So, I still haven't gone through the process of trying to publish it, or whether I had permission. However, this is my best attempt to write about the organization I respect and admire so much. And I wish to give this event and organization more publicity in the best way that I can.

About the Silk Screen Asian Arts & Culture Organization

Silk Screen was founded as a 501 (c) 3 nonprofit media arts organization in 2005 by Harish Saluja, an artist, filmmaker, and entrepreneur, who recognized a need to promote cross-cultural understanding among Asians and non-Asians in the United States. This led to his idea of a cultural arts organization representing the various Asian communities in Pittsburgh and the tri-state area through cultural events. A filmmaker himself, Saluja first created the annual Silk Screen Asian American Film Festival in May 2006. Silk Screen has since evolved to centrally coordinate other Asian cultural events within Pittsburgh including festival screenings of international films, academic screenings of documentaries, events featuring ethnic music and dance performances, and events celebrating of Asian holidays and traditions ("The Heinz Endowments"). And, just this year, an Asian American Jazz Fusion orchestra organized by Saluja and other musicians will be performing.

Mission

 "Silk Screen's goals include educating communities about Asian and Asian American history, culture, experiences and issues; fostering understanding across lines of race, ethnicity, religion, age, and region; and sustaining growth and encouraging excellence in Asian American culture and cinema ("Our Story"). 

These aims are achieved through year-round programming of film festivals, outreach performances of music, dance, and theater, educational presentations of Asian traditions for primary and secondary schools as well as colleges and universities, and other innovative events. Silk Screen events continue to grow in reputation and attendance among all age groups. People have even come from surrounding states and foreign countries to attend Silk Screen events and film festivals.

Silk Screen’s long-term goals are to foster cross-cultural understanding, to encourage filmmaking in Pittsburgh, and ultimately to establish Pittsburgh as a center of cultural exchange that welcomes Asian immigrants and Asian Americans and celebrates their diverse cultures – thus inspiring a dynamic multicultural community and vibrant economy (McElhinney). Ultimately, year-round programming is projected to lead into weeks or months of events celebrating diversity in Asian and Asian American heritage across the Commonwealth, and fostering American appreciation of global community (FilmFestivals.com). 

I have been especially drawn to the vision of Harish Saluja in his creation of the organization:

"We believe that if you want to grow as a city, you need to welcome people of different colors, races, countries, and languages; and you need to be proactive about it. In this region, the new immigrants aren't coming from Italy or Ireland anymore. They're coming from Asia, and one of the things that we need to do as a city - and I feel strongly about this - is to be culturally welcoming.. I decided that we would form this organization and have Asian cultural events where people of different colors could come together under one tent. And it turns out that only 20 percent of people who attend our events are Asian. 80 percent are non-Asians, which is how I want it to be because Asians don't need me to tell them about Asian culture. It's non-Asians who can feel safe and comfortable coming to these events and learning about other countries. 

We also firmly believe that there are problems in this world. There is hatred, prejudice, ignorance and sadness; there are tears in this world. Now we can't solve all the problems, but we think we should do something, however small it is, to ameliorate these difficulties. And we feel that a performance by a musician, a show by an artist, a dance performance, a movie being seen and bread being broken together are positive things that compensate to some extent for all the negativity that goes on. If everybody felt that way, you would see a change in the world, and that's what we're trying to do."

("The Heinz Endowments") 

Activities

Film Festivals and Film Series

Silk Screen Asian American Film Festival

Silk Screen’s premier event is an annual 10-day film festival that takes place every May (recognized as Asian American Heritage Month) featuring screenings of over 20 contemporary films representing ethnic origins of Central, South, and East Asian countries and their people’s histories, cultures, experiences, and issues. The festival is preceded by an Opening Night Gala event featuring ethnic Asian music and dance performances, catering by ethnic restaurants, and its attendants are invited to dress in cultural attire. Over the following days and nights, the films are screened in three-to-five different locations. Whenever possible, each film is concluded with Question & Answer sessions with its international filmmakers and/or performers, even people from as far as Indonesia. (Baron). Featured films include those by award-winning directors, and winners of national and international film festivals such as Sundance, Toronto, Cannes, and the New York Asian Film Festival, among others.("Our Story") Films have represented origins from countries including Burma (through a 2012 showing of The Lady (2011), Afghanistan, China, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Korea, The Philippines, Turkey, Thailand,Vietnam, and Uzbekistan (Baron).

Silk Scream: Asian Horror Film Festival

Silk Screen annually presents a pair of internationally recognized and limited release Asian horror films in the final week of October, during the Halloween holiday season in an event called Silk Scream. Pittsburgh has been historically significant location in the horror film industry (recall the film "The Silence of the Lambs"), and Silk Screen became the first to bring a festival screening of Asian horror films.  

Film Series

Silk Screen also annually presents three academic film series for local college and university instruction, and to foster discourse on difficult social issues, controversies, and stereotypes within Asian countries and the United States, including women’s rights, gender issues, historical struggles, and prejudices. Film screenings and subsequent discussion are intended to increase awareness and to dispel cross-cultural ignorance and prejudices among academic audiences. Currently, Silk Screen organizes three distinct film series for three different academic institutions:

Asia Unreeled is presented annually at Winchester Thurston School through spring months, with four thought-provoking films (dramas and/or documentaries) which are meant to show diverse cultures, histories of Asian countries as they relate to present realities. These films are open to the public and are each followed with time for reflection and discussion, and occasionally by cultural activities. Asia Unreeled is presented also in partnership with Confucius Institute, the University of Pittsburgh Asian Studies Center and Winchester Thurston School.

Japanese Film Series is presented annually in partnership primarily with the University of Pittsburgh Asian Studies Center, among other nonprofit and academic organizations. This series features modern or classical Japanese films of any genre to give the public an opportunity to experience Japanese cinema.

Sewickley Film Series is an annual set of three films shown in January that is presented in partnership with the Sewickley Academy. Each series has an overarching theme (previous themes include “challenging stereotypes” and “women in Asian cultures”) and each film is followed with moderated discussion.

Other Programs

Silk Screen collaboratively develops year-round programming of media arts performances and other cultural events such as outreach concerts of Asian and Asian American music, dance and theater; and school presentations and parades celebrating Asian traditions and holidays such as Chinese New Year, Dragon Boat Festival, India Independence Day. These events are often in collaboration with schools, colleges, museums, and directly with musicians, artists, and performers ("Education Outreach Programs").

Radio Program

Silk Screen also produces the weekly broadcast “Music from India" through Pittsburgh’s Essential Public Radio at 90.5 FM. It is the longest running radio program of Indian music in the United States, beginning 1972 by Harish Saluja and Dr. Vijay Bahl, its current hosts. It broadcasts on Sundays from 8pm-10pm. 

Sponsors

Silk Screen has partnered with foundations, schools, universities, museums, over 30 arts and culture organizations, and several local Asian family-owned businesses.
http://silkscreenfestival.org/45/sponsors

References

http://www.silkscreenfestival.org

Baron, Jennifer. "Get reel at the Silk Screen Asian American Film Festival." Pop City. 09 May 2012: n. page. Web. 30 Apr. 2013. <http://www.popcitymedia.com/features/sscreenasia050912.aspx>

"East Meets Pittsburgh." Silk Screen Asian Arts & Culture Organization. Silk Screen Asian Arts & Culture Organization. Web. 30 Apr 2013. <http://www.silkscreenfestival.org/63/east-meets-pgh>

Educational Outreach Programs." Silk Screen Asian Arts & Culture Organization. Silk Screen Asian Arts & Culture Organization. Web. 30 Apr 2013. <http://www.silkscreenfestival.org/86/education-outreach-programs>

"Film Series." Silk Screen Asian Arts & Culture Organization. Silk Screen Asian Arts & Culture Organization. Web. 30 Apr 2013. <http://www.silkscreenfestival.org/34/film-series>

McElhinney, Kelli. "Cultural Awareness: An Important Story." Pop City. 10 May 2006: n. page. Web. 30 Apr 2013. <http://www.popcitymedia.com/features/saluja.aspx>

Interview by Carmen J. Lee. "Q&A with Harish Saluja." The Heinz Endowments. The Heinz Endowments, Pittsburgh. 05 April 2012. Web. 30 Apr 2013. <http://www.heinz.org/grants_spotlight_entry.aspx?entry=912>

"Our Story." Silk Screen Asian Arts & Culture Organization. Silk Screen Asian Arts & Culture Organization. Web. 30 Apr 2013. <http://www.silkscreenfestival.org/2/our-story>

"Silk Screen Asian American Film Festival" FilmFestivals.com. FilmFestivals.com, n.d. Web. 30 April 2013. <http://www.filmfestivals.com/en/festival/silk_screen_asian_american_film_festival_0>

Social Media Links
http://www.facebook.com/SilkScreen

http://www.facebook.com/SilkScreenPittsburgh?ref=ts

http://twitter.com/SilkScreenPgh 

Happy Easter - Reflecting on Christianity and Eastern Religions

Happy Easter to all my Christian friends!

To me this is another holiday among other Asian festivals announced by spring:

I missed Nowruz, the Persian New Year, where people jump over fire,
I missed Holi, the Indian festival, where people throw powdered color at each other,
and now I feel like I’m missing Easter, where people are playing games of finding eggs and candy.

So I can’t say anymore that Easter is the most important spring holiday I know of, but I know that it is still the most important Christian holiday. According to Christians, today is the celebration of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who rose from the dead after dying so that everyone could be redeemed from sin. It’s a time to renew one’s faith, and to revel in the Christian spirit, and to relate with family and church.

It’s hard for me to admit this to my Christian friends, but I really can’t identify as Christian anymore. Still, I think there is a Christian part of me that doesn’t die, a part that does continue to be renewed in me. The spirit of Christianity in me is this: That I accept others unconditionally for who they are, and to love them more than myself. That I try to keep an attitude of self-sacrifice, humility, and love.

However, what distanced me from Christianity was that I drew near to other religions and other peoples. Unfortunately, I was raised to think that Christianity was an exclusive religion, and that non-Christians were people who simply failed to know and accept Christ. That Buddhism was just a philosophy, that Hindus worshipped idols, that Muslims hated Christians. This kind of thinking is so narrow, so offensive once you actually meet people from their respective cultures!

Once I was able to let go of the conservative Western religious thinking, Eastern religions felt so freeing to me. I remember a moment in Eastern religion class where I distinctly realized that I must accept Buddhism as equally valid to Christianity if I were really to give my life to studying Japanese. I remember embracing a spirit of Buddhism (though I don’t think a true Buddhist would let me word it this way!), and that adjusting perspective and perception truly led to inner peace. I remember visiting a Hindu temple with my close Indian friends. I remember one Turkish Muslim woman explaining why it was important for her to wear a headscarf, even if her mother fought with her against it, while another Turkish Muslim woman explained why she didn’t wear a headscarf though Islam is so important to her too - and her husband teaching me the first two names of Allah - Ar-Rahman, Ar-Rahim... 

And so I can't think of Christianity the same way. I can't think of this Easter the same way either. International people have shown and shared too much with me. I feel that my life would have been so much emptier if I never met them.

But I still wear a cross necklace, though not openly when it might offend someone. Whether I believe in Jesus or not, the idea of a cross necklace is to remind myself that someone representing God was willing to suffer agony and death for the sake of love for others. That loving and respecting someone sometimes means understanding and enduring their hell.

Actually, this particular necklace was given to a friend, who later gave me a similar one as if to restore my identity. 

And now it’s Easter, where people celebrate that Jesus rose again in triumph over death. In any case, it is a good reason to reflect on ideas of rebirth and renewal.

It seems that many of my friends have all been very stressed lately with exams, applications, and the resulting feelings of stress, inadequacy, and loneliness. I hope that Easter, or at least the spring sunshine here, is a time to reflect that life doesn't always end with suffering, and that even after death - or just a nervous breakdown - life blooms again.

My best friend, a Hindu, joked that Easter must be Jesus’ second birthday. I guess he meant it with regards to the idea of reincarnation. And that suddenly makes the meaning of the holiday even richer.

What really makes me feel born again is having been introduced to the myriad of other cultures and holidays, and the idea that all religions have things to teach people about people. But today I do want to reflect on Easter, and in the light of Eastern influences, and in the new light of spring which shines over all the world.


Notes:

I am sorry that all my links are of Wikipedia. I am relieved at least at finally having written here again even though I wrote this in one night (throughout the night!) rather than going through the research I could have done for such an essay as this. I realized that it's because of all these thoughts running in my head that I feel that I really should keep writing.. 

世界末日－The Day I Learned to Write "The End of the World" in Chinese

I have worked in a Chinese restaurant for more than one year, and yet do not speak Chinese. I think this is kind of disappointing on my part. I have made too little effort to get to know the kitchen staff. I am not personally responsible for them at all, but it bothers me to know that because they don't speak much English, it is easy to forget them, to not think of them (and how much more true is this of multi-ethnic societies?) This is something I can't ignore. Since the beginning of college when I worked in another restaurant that employed immigrants, it's important that I try to talk to people who speak English as a foreign language - no matter how basic. Still, it hasn't been enough of a priority for me to learn their own languages. But I try to reflect on the lives of these people, and that's one drive to keep writing.

The cook I communicate with most is Bin, who's English is probably at a low beginner level, from what I can say as an ESL tutor. It's because Bin himself tries to communicate with me that our friendship grows word by word.

A few days ago Bin communicated to me online that he wanted to get a State ID. I went through the state website and tried to communicate what he needed to collect (a finished application, passport, Social Security Number, and 2 proofs of residence). I filled out the application for him, and I asked the bilingual restaurant manager to interpret what's meant by two proofs of residence. The next day we went to the DMV, but we were soon thwarted when the old man in the red sweater at the counter told us that Bin had not brought proof of his immigration status. It hadn't occurred to me to bring that, though it should have been obvious. I couldn't even interpret for Bin. The old man laughed at us. I called the manager, who explained quickly over the phone to him and to me that the paperwork we needed wasn't yet available. The old man gave us an index of requirements for immigrant applicants, chortling, "I'm not an expert on these [immigration] matters.." Thinking suddenly of my friend's deportation, I said, "I'm learning."

"Well, now what are we going to do?" I asked. Bin shrugged, "I don't know. I follow you." This was his 休息- day off. I had four hours before work. We began wandering through Downtown. We first went to a library and played with a Chinese phrase book, which I really should have checked out. Then we spent the most time visiting two culture shops. I could spend all day in such places with Japanese, Chinese, and Indian art decor, icons, and collectibles - tapestries of Chinese art, Japanese fans, paintings of Hindu gods, several tiny statues of Buddha... Bin tried to explain Chinese characters wherever we saw them in the artworks. We then made a brief visit to the Downtown square before it started to rain. By then it was late in the afternoon anyway, and we sat in a restaurant, and we began a true session of language exchange.

With a notebook, pen, and an online Chinese-English dictionary, we tried to talk and teach. We started with the broken English chatter, our own limited lingua franca. Then we started teaching each other random English and Chinese words, and the notebook became littered with vocabulary and phrases. "Always (总是)", "never" (从来没有), "every day" (每天), "soon" (不久), and "F$@# you!" (I have to double check, I *cough* can't make out the handwriting in my notes) .

I wanted to teach English at that moment, but I felt that I couldn't try to teach Bin English unless he expressly solicited it. And yet I also wanted to know some Chinese, and it feels somewhat imperative that I at least know a little bit about someone else's language before I impose my own. In any case, if he would trust me as a teacher, I would make myself his own student. However insecure he might feel about English, I can't allow that insecurity. I can also show him that I know even less about Chinese.

I asked Bin to teach me the four tones, this most basic concept in the Chinese language. Bin drew: ˉ ´ˇ`

Ok, so: mā, má, mă, mà  (ma1, ma2, ma3, ma4) - high level, rising, rising falling, falling

Can you please read the second one again? The fourth? What word uses the second tone? Máfan -麻烦 - trouble. We repeated the Chinese word and the English word several times each, and then example sentences.

Taking inspiration from the lunch we were eating, I asked Bin to translate, "I like onions" and "I don't like mushrooms" (These sentences are true for me, but opposite for him). From there, how do I say that I like or dislike something?

我喜欢..... Wŏ xǐhuan ....
我不喜欢... Wŏ bu xǐhuan ....

Just these basic sentences would take practice.. 

After nodding to the rain outside, Bin pointed to my backpack and asked, "You no umbrella?"

From that sentence the ESL tutor in me pounced:
"You no umbrella  --> "You don't have an umbrella?"

I / you / we / they - have               I / you / we / they  - don't have
he/ she / it            - has                 he/ she / it             - doesn't have

Bin and I made example sentences with friends as subjects for he/she, and common, recognizable objects like iPhones, cars, cats, and siblings.

After studying a moment, Bin asked "Any name - Annie, Laura,... doesn't have?" "Exactly!"

Bin pointed to "a" and "an" and asked "Why?"

an +  a____                          a  + b, c, d, e, f, g, h, i, ......
         e___      (vowels)
         i ___
         o ___
         u ___

Then I drew a sentence making quiz. To my delight and relief, Bin complied:

As an aspiring English as a Foreign Language Teacher, I was thrilled to try to teach. I am always learning to perform on this amateur level, and I am always realizing how I could have done better, and what mistakes I made ( A+ probably didn't translate - I could have simply drawn a ^_^ ).

More importantly, as Bin and I try to communicate on basic levels, it's an interesting journey to see what we can and can't share. Without fluency in each other's language, we can't really share our pasts or our future hopes. We can't really argue either. But It also makes me wonder how people of different languages first began to interact. Bin and I were mostly locked in our own thoughts in our own languages as we walked together through the city streets. We communicate somewhat less than children, but certainly more than animals. I realize that friendship is based on trust, and trust is not based on communication, it's based on the attempts to communicate. It grows with each attempt.

You might notice at the top of the paper is where Bin taught me to write "the end of the world". Funny - because he forgot one stroke in a character, the first translation he showed me on his phone read "World Wood Day" (世界木日). But on December 22, the end of the mysterious Mayan calender, we laughed at the thought of the day's predicted apocalypse. Our own worlds were expanding. We were newly exploring.



Also, a belated

               Merry Christmas - 圣诞快乐 Shèngdàn kuàilè! 



Online Chinese resources: 

http://www.chineseonthego.com

http://mandarin.about.com/

http://www.standardmandarin.com/

My First Visit to the Sri Venkateswara Hindu Temple

The following is an excerpt from a short memoir I drafted about my early cross-cultural exchanges during college. Here I talk about my first visit to the Sri Venkateswara Temple in Pittsburgh.

My personal photo of the temple was accidentally erased, and it's quite a pilgrimmage to get there without a car (though I've done it once), so for now I am shamelessly borrowing this picture, and with a citation

"Bharath... first brought me to the Sri Venkateswara Hindu temple in Pittsburgh, and I followed him like a shadow through the rituals.

The entrance inside the temple. You're not allowed to take pictures beyond this hall.

We removed our shoes at the entrance, we bowed first to a murti statue of Ganesh, the elephant-headed god for overcoming obstacles, whose invocation precedes all other worship. Then we thrice circumnavigated the heart of the temple before we joined the lines of worshippers and approached the shrines of Sri Venkateswara, Lord Balaji, and shrines of two others, one at each side, each of them surrounded by wreaths of flowers, gold-colored bowls, and food offerings of fruit. Bharath bowed with his hands and knees on the ground. He took the red powder from the dish and dabbed it on his forehead. After a moment’s hesitation I did the same. We sat before the main shrine. Sri Venkateswara is embodied in an ebony black statue whose eyes were covered with paper, metaphorically sparing us the intensity of his gaze. We sat as yellow-robed priests chanted long verses in Sanskrit. I could only discern a recitation of his incarnations. The priests blessed the people, even me, asking each of us for names of family members, and then placing a bowl over our heads. I left pondering what I had seen, a red bindi on my own brow.

This was the painting I saw in the entrance hall - Krishna and his mother, Yashoda. Here I realized how amazingly beautiful Hindu art is - the combination of realism, mysticism, and fantastic beauty astounds me.

 I was enamored of all the rituals, and I tried to compare them to what I knew of Christian Lutheran worship, my own religious foundation, close to Catholicism. Just inside the temple there was a painting on the wall of baby Krishna in the arms of his mother, both of them painted angelically like Madonna and the Christ child. The priests were robed too, but in yellow, and their Sanskrit chanting was like the Latin Kyrie. The priests gave blessings, the people gave offerings. Instead of God the Father, Son, and Spirit, the Trinity here is Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva. And yet the infinity of differences between Hinduism and Christianity are more profound than I could have realized or understood. Although the stories of gods and rituals of worship are more complicated, I think Hinduism is arguably more free. One need not take the straight and narrow path that leads to Heaven as in Christianity, but any path toward enlightenment. Hinduism for Hindus is more literally understood as philosophical experience – darshana. Divinity also embraces a wider meaning - why, Advait challenged, should God have one specific, human form? A Hindu "idol" is not an idol in the biblical sense, but it is a representation made to form a connection between a deity and one’s self.  Later, further challenging ideas of divinity, eternity, and the self, Buddhism, literally and ostensibly, emerged as an "awakening", partly a reaction to Hinduism (also, as with the development of other religions, as a political challenge, taking a stance against things including the caste system). According to some forms of Buddhism, maybe there is no god, no eternity, and no self, and thus one finds enlightenment. Although I do not pray to Christ, Krishna, Buddha, or Allah, I hope someday to realize in myself a universal sense of spirituality that transcends the specifics of East and West. I want to understand how these different stories and values complement each faith and culture.

Religion, like language, is a vehicle for communication and understanding. I felt marked by the temple experience in a way that was much more permanent than the spot of powder. I entered the temple afraid of being out of place, but I have been brought there with enthusiasm, and the Indians there were so quietly welcoming. When I later brought an Indian friend to a church, he joked about being worried of catching fire. But in the Hindu temple, I was just welcome as anyone else. Bharath said I looked good with a bindi. 

 I knew that even besides the temple visit, I would always be in debt to him. He introduced me to India, by sharing his food, his music, and some of his stories. I used to sit with him in the restaurant while he talked about his family, his life, and the lives of other Indians like himself. Like Bharath, many Indians were raised to be engineers or doctors, and then many come to the United States for graduate school, and then to find a job for supporting their families back in India. Coincidentally somewhat near to New York’s Chinatown, the highest concentration of an Indian population is in Edison, New Jersey, through which most of Bharath’s own friends passed through at some point. Bharath introduced me to Kiran, Raghu, Kiran P., and Nikhil, who all became my friends. I broke bread with Kiran (literally, Subway bread) and we talked about each other’s families as we worked the quiet summer night shifts. He was nicer than anyone I'd ever met. Nikhil showed me his silver Sikh bracelet that a North Indian friend had given him, and I noticed, on the other wrist, a scar. He explained with a sad smile that it was from an attempted suicide, after his girlfriend of six years was forced into an arranged marriage. I was speechless. And yet such tragedy blurs when I remember watching him sing and dance to songs in Telugu and American hip hop, and how he yelled at me playfully in his fast-talking South Indian accent, and then taught me to counter with “Angle chupistunnavu kaddha!?” – “Are you showing me an angle (literally: Are you making fun of me)!? 
And one by one they moved on with their lives. Bharath moved to New Jersey, and then left his search on the job market to go back to Hyderabad, India. Kiran found a job in New York City shortly after his graduation, which Maria and I attended wearing his gifts of colorful, Punjabi Indian dresses. Raghu is in Florida. Nikhil and Kiran P. are in Michigan. And I've been such a poor friend at keeping in touch..    

And though my Indian friends from Subway had moved away by the time of the crisis of failing the Japanese program, I was still given by hope by my new Indian friend Advait, the only one who could tell me that I wasn’t a failure. Advait came to the United States as an engineer who decided instead to study Physics. It might seem like the quintessential American sense of independence, and yet his own philosophy is quintessentially Hindu. His name A-dvait means “non-dual” representing a school of thought that divinity of deity and self are manifestations of one entity. Such a manifestation, he realized, is similar to that of mass and energy. When I first asked him what his name meant, he wrote E=mc². Once while he was studying the laws of the universe, I had approached him admitting I couldn’t grasp a second language. Advait, who speaks Hindi, English, Marathi, and some Telugu and Sanskrit, answered gently, “I know that pain.”

For these friendships and these experiences, I wanted to forever honor my Indian friends. I owe them so much, and I wanted to speak their language, write with their letters, and appreciate their sense of aesthetic. I first wanted revenge, and now I wanted my own redemption. My college didn’t have a class teaching their language of Telugu, but there was a class for Hindi, India’s national language. And so I had changed sides again. To switch from Japanese to Hindi was to switch from short grain rice to long grain rice, and from anime to Bollywood. Even my ideal of feminine beauty and mystique portrayed by traditional courtesans flowed from the kimono-robed and white-faced geisha to the bejeweled and sari-swathed tawaif. I went from austere Shinto shrines to decorous Hindu temples – and to the source of Buddhism."

\Since this draft of writing, I have become further indebted to and inspired by Indian friends and Indian culture. The relationships and experiences have been invaluable. Throughout college, a small group of Indians have been my close friends when I otherwise have had very few, and they gave so much. My Hindi professor and my former partner are among the most personally inspiring people in my life, and I will never forget my other friends, nor the others I have looked up to more distantly, such as Harish Saluja and Azam Ali (Ok, she's Iranian, but she introduced me to Urdu poetry). 

Lately, I have been watching more Indian movies, reading more Indian-based novels, and studying more of the language - as if I am afraid of losing that small part of India in my heart. I really hope to make it there someday, somehow.

Selected Poems from "Gitanjali" by Rabindranath Tagore

After another long absence, I am again going to try to resurrect this blog. I think, though, that I will spare you, dear reader, certain personal details of my life for now, and simply promote this bit of literature. I will decline commentary so that the poems will speak for themselves and to you. These were just my favorites for this time of my life.

This week I read Gitanjali ("Song Offerings") by Rabindranath Tagore. For this work Tagore won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1913 (the first non-European winner). I had read a little bit about the famous Bengali author and playwright Tagore in my Hindi class, and I finally got around to reading this famous work over Thanksgiving break. It's actually a rather short book of poetry - shorter than I expected - but each poem is profound, with an epiphany of life, and death. I couldn't help thinking that they sounded like biblical Psalms. There is so much spirituality, so much gratitude and devotion to God. I would have asked what was the name of the God he worshiped, but the question is irrelevant. This man was truly spiritual, very enlightened. I think it was rather apt to have read this book over the Thanksgiving holiday. Even though Tagore had apparently written this book during an awful period in his life - in a few successive years he had lost his father, wife, a daughter, and a son - there is so much hope, faith, and love.

These were my favorite poems of Gitanjali:

13

The song that I came to sing remains unsung to this day.
I have spent my days in stringing and in unstringing my instrument.

The time has not come true, the words have not been rightly set; only there is the agony of wishing in my heart.
The blossom has not opened; only the wind is sighing by.
I have not seen his face, nor have I listened to his voice; only I have heard his gentle footsteps from the road before my house.
The livelong day has passed in spreading his seat on the floor; but the lamp has not been lit and I cannot ask him into my house.

I live in the hope of meeting with him; but this meeting is not yet.

18
Clouds heap upon clouds and it darkens. Ah, love, why dost thou let me wait outside at the door all alone?
In the busy moments of the noontide work I am with the crowd, but on this dark lonely day it is only for thee that I hope.
If thou showest me not thy face, if thou leavest me wholly aside, I know not how I am to pass these long, rainy hours.
I keep gazing on the far away gloom of the sky, and my heart wanders wailing with the restless wind

19
If thou speakest not I will fill my heart with thy silence and endure it. I will keep still and wait like the night with starry vigil and its head bent low with patience.
The morning will surely come, the darkness will vanish, and thy voice pour down in golden streams breaking through the sky.
Then thy words will take wing in songs from every one of my birds’ nests, and thy melodies will break forth in flowers in all my forest groves.

20
On the day when the lotus bloomed, alas, my mind was straying, and I knew it not. My basket was empty and the flower remained unheeded.
Only now and again a sadness fell upon me, and I started up from my dream and felt a sweet trace of a strange fragrance in the south wind.
That vague sweetness made my heart ache with longing and it seemed to me that it was the eager breath of the summer seeking for its completion.
I knew not then that it was so near, that it was mine, and that this perfect sweetness had blossomed in the depth of my own heart.

28
Obstinate are the trammels, but my heart aches when I try to break them.
Freedom is all I want, but to hope for it I feel ashamed.
I am certain that priceless wealth is in thee, and that thou art my best friend, but I have not the heart to sweep away the tinsel that fills my room.
The shroud that covers me is a shroud of dust and death; I hate it, yet hug it in love.
My debts are large, my failures great, my shame secret and heavy, yet when I come to ask for my good, I quake in fear lest my prayer be granted.

29
He whom I enclose with my name is weeping in this dungeon. I am ever busy building this wall all around; and as this wall goes up into the sky day by day I lose sight of my true being in its dark shadow.
I take pride in this great wall, and I plaster it with dust and sand lest a least hole should be left in this name; and for all the care I take I lose sight of my true being.

35
Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high;
Where knowledge is free;
Where the world has not been broken up into fragments by narrow domestic walls;
Where words come out from the depth of truth;
Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection;
Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way into the dreary desert sand of dead habit;
Where the mind is led forward by thee into ever-widening thought and action -
Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake.

37
I thought that my voyage had come to its end at the last limit of my power, - that the path before me was closed, that provisions were exhausted and the time come to take shelter in a silent obscurity.
But I find that thy will knows no end in me. And when old words die out on the tongue, new melodies break forth from the heart; and where the old tracks are lost, new country is revealed with its wonders.

85
When the warriors came out first from their master’s hall, where had they hid their power? Where were their armour and their arms?
They looked poor and helpless, and the arrows were showered upon them on the day they came out from their master’s hall.
When the warriors marched back again to their master’s hall where did they hide their power?
They had dropped the sword and dropped the bow and the arrow; peace was on their foreheads, and they had left the fruits of their life behind them on the day they marched back again to their master’s hall.

91
O thou the last fulfillment of life, Death, my death, come and whisper to me!
Day after day have I kept watch for thee; for thee have I borne the joys and pangs of life.
All that I am, that I have, that I hope and all my love have ever flowed towards thee in depth of secrecy. One final glance from thine eyes and my life will be ever thine own.
The flowers have been woven and the garland is ready for the bridegroom. After the wedding the bride shall leave her home and meet her lord alone in the solitude of night.

Source:
Tagore, Rabindranath. Gitanjali. London: Macmillan and Co., Ltd. 1913. Print.

Superheroes in Asia and America: Clawmarks made by Shivaji, X-Men's Wolverine, and Japanese Ninjas

First, an apology. I abandoned my blog. Honestly, when I was working on this post two months ago, I became insecure, and I have since fallen into doubt over being a writer, language learner, Asian culture enthusiast (not even a graduate student..), while starting on these first confused steps after my bachelor's degree. But I began an internship at Silk Screen Asian Arts and Culture Organization, and I realized that I still want to write.

A few months ago my partner introduced me to the story of Shivaji, a famous and legendary Maharashtrian hero and king in the seventeenth century. Shivaji was a warrior leader for Hindu people who rose against Muslim Mughal emperors and Bijapur sultans and ultimately became the sovereign ruler of a new and independent Hindu kingdom of Maratha. He has been romanticized as emblematic of the struggle between Muslim and Hindu powers - when in fact politics and cultures were more intertwined, and there was a political necessity to mark the new kindgom's independence - but more importantly, as a patriot for all of India, even an example of a leader in religious tolerance.

His life was full of action and adventure that's widely known and celebrated today,  full of raids and battles defying his more powerful enemies, escaping house arrest by deception and disguise, and other deeds done with great cunning.

In his first great act of defiance and heroism - which became the first known ballad of Marathi literature -and under the pretense of submission, Shivaji killed a Mughal general Afzal Khan - by stabbing him to death with metal claws.

Click for larger image

Shivaji met with Afzal Khan in a tent to agree to begrudgingly cease fighting and accept service as a vassal to the Muslim sultan Adil Shah. Afzal Khan purportedly moves to embrace him, then stabs him with his own concealed knife. But Shivaji, who had secretly worn chain mail, stabs Afzal Khan, and then beheads him with a sword. Shivaji's hidden men swarm in and overtake the army. It seems unclear which weapon killed Afzal Khan, but death or wounding by claws is widely accepted. My guess is that this is at least the most famous story of the bagh nakh, whether Khan died by the claws or the sword. It's still wicked awesome.

When my partner told me this story, I was naturally reminded of X-Men's Wolverine. But 300 years earlier, this was the first legendary and recorded use of the bagh nakh (बाघ नख / वाघ नख ' wagh nakh' in Marathi), "tiger claw" weapon. Unlike Wolverine, this weapon was worn with claws coming from under the palm, with two fingers through rings at the end, and sometimes with another blade attached on the side, according to the blog of a weapons enthusiast. It's easier to wield that way unless claws are part of your mutant skeletal structure enhanced by lab experiments.

Of course, Shivaji was not the inspiration for Wolverine. Wolverine was commissioned by the editors to writer Len Wein and art director John Romita Sr., together they were to create a character that makes a brief appearance in The Hulk series as a Canadian hero to be named after the native woodland wolverine - of which artist John Romita Sr. read described as a small, ferocious and catlike creature with claws - to create the basic inspiration. Wolverine wasn't intended to become so famous, but he evolved to be an icon for the concept of the dark, violent, and brooding Western antihero, independent of everyone and everything.

Coincidentally, Shivaji also had animal nicknames - "mountain rat" and "hell dog" to the enemy leaders he marauded, battled, and defeated (Laine 26). And although I haven't read of Shivaji being short in stature like Wolverine, the legends portrayed Afzal Khan as big and imposing in comparison. Shivaji's defeat of Khan was likened to the battle of Ram and Ravanna, the Hindu epic battle between god incarnate against a demon king.

I find it intriguing that people have thought of metallic animal claws as a sinister idea for a weapon in 17th century India, 20th century United States, and again in  for Japanese ninjas, who used them in a wider range of designs and purposes - small shuko claws and footspikes for climbing, nekode like metal fingernails for female ninjas, and larger tekagi-shuko for slashing and disarming.

 Yuriko Oyama - Lady Deathstryke

More than any Indian warrior type, samurai and ninja have crossed over to American popular culture. Wolverine himself takes ninja training in Japan (so does Batman), and there encounters Lady Deathstryke, who also has claws. And then there's Kill Bill, and America's anime subculture.

Also, Wolverine's time in Japan is going to be the plot for the upcoming X-Men movie! Fingers crossed that it's better than the other Wolverine movie... Fingers crossed really, really tight..




I find it ironic, though, that Japan and India today present themselves less as warrior cultures and more as peace-loving countries. They both wield great soft power (appealing political standing through cultural presentation) such as in romantic Bollywood and in more lighthearted anime. India has waded through centuries of bloodshed, having resisted and defeated oppression of the Mughal empire, the British empire.. As my charming Hindi professor put it, "India has been invaded for ... kind of forever." Even today India faces threats and acts of terrorism.

But it seems that India currently presents itself as a nation of peace, and Americans follow that idea a little more blindly. Popularly, when Americans think of India, they might think of Gandhi, yoga exclusively as a means of stress relief, and India itself as a place of expected spiritual renewal. Consider that even in this year's comic book-based film The Avengers, Bruce Banner, the Hulk, traveled to India not for warrior training, but to learn to find peace. The twist is that Bruce Banner "is angry all the time." (Yet, perhaps ironically, a lot of Indians also have an inner rage against their own national injustices, especially against the current threats of terrorism, and against political corruption.) I don't mean to say that there is a peaceful India or a violent India, but that it's important to recognize that there is a history full of exciting legends and true stories that we sometimes fail to recognize.

Many Indians were also miffed that Hollywood once again presents their country exclusively as a place of slums.

Japan has also waded through centuries of bloodshed, historically. Since World War II, Japan also presents itself as a nation of peace. Today Japan advertises cute kawaii culture - Pikachu and pop stars - and world peace devoid of nuclear warfare. Japan and India want to be seen as peaceful countries, but there's also pride in the fact that both have had inspiring tales in history and classical literature that are really just as intense, violent, and heroic as comic books and movies today, and we can always take inspiration from these. And these countries have their own comic book cultures: Indians have comics with stories of Hindu gods and heroes, and Japan has produced an incredible wealth of  manga and anime. These rich histories and literatures, and the subsequent crossculturalism of comics and films will fuel imagination for the future of crosscultural entertainment - and maybe to ask differently what it means to be a hero, and what it means to save the world.

Sources:

Laine, James W. Shivaji: Hindu King in Islamic India. New York: Oxford University Press, Inc., 2003. Print.

LoCicero, Donald. Superheroes and Gods: A Comparative Study from Babylonia to Batman. McFarland & Co., 2008. Print.

Lovece, Frank. "Wolverine Origins: Marvel artists recall the creation of an icon." Film Journal International. Film Journal International, 24/04/2009. Web. Jun. 2012.

Misiroglu, Gina, and David A. Roach. The Superhero Book: The Ultimate Encyclopedia of Comic Book Icons and Hollywood Heroes. Visible Ink Press, 2004. 624-626. Web. Jun. 2012.

"Shivaji." Encyclopaedia Britannica. Encyclopaedia Britannica Online Academic Edition. Encyclopaedia Britannica Inc. 2012. Web 21 Jun. 2012.<http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/546953/Shivaji>.

Tharoor, Shashi. 2009, November. Shashi Tharoor: Why nations should pursue soft power. [Video file] Retrieved from http://www.ted.com/talks/shashi_tharoor.html

http://thedarkblade.wordpress.com/2007/08/02/the-truth-about-cats-and-tigers/