Dorje Rabtenma, Superbly Constant Diamond, 18th centwy, 90 cm X 64 cm. Afemale Dharma Protector, she is one of the 21 emanations of Palden Lhamo. The flaming sword in her right hand symbolizes that she is a vehicle of wisdom, and the mongoose spitting out jewels in her right hand shows her particular role of promoting prosperity.
New Visa Processing Regulations Message from William Bartlett, Us. Consul Generalfor India
Preserving Endangered Culture
Publisher
By Lea Terhune
Michael H. Anderson
Editor-in-Chief
Rubin Museum of Art
Gabrielle Guimond
By Lea Terhune
Editor
Women for Women In Kabul
Lea Terhune
By Aunohita Mozumdar
Associate Editor A. Venkata Narayana
Hindi Editor Govind Singh
Anu Garg: Never at a Loss for Words
Urdu Editor AnjumNaim
By Lea Terhune
Copy Editor Dipesh K. Satapathy
Editorial Assistant K. Muthul.'1unar
Sarah Jones Live By Shailaja Neelakantan
Muslim Hip-Hop in America
Art Director Hemant Bhamagar
By Anjum Nairn
Deputy Art Directors Sharad Sovani Khurshid Anwar Abbasi
Production/Circulation
Most Happy to Be a Writer A Conversation with Maya Angelou by Lucinda Moore
Race to the Sky By Jeff Glasser
Manager
High and Mighty
Rakesh Agrawal
By Katherine Hobson
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On the Lighter Side
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The Cost of Living with HIV
R. Narayan
By Nachammai Raman
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A Computer Game for Diabetic Kids By Carla Lane
Front cover: The Twenty-One Taras: The Atisha Lineage, 19th century. Invocation of the Twenty-One Taras is common for health and good fortune. Tara is considered an aspect of Chenrezig, the bodhisattva of compassion. 128 em x 90 em. Photograph courtesy Shelley & Donald Rubin. Note:
SPA does not accept unsolicited manuscripts and materials and does not assume responsibility for them. Query letters are accepted.
The Least Invasive Path By Lea Terhune
Indian Americans on Capitol Hill By Ashish Kumar Sen
Not All DecisionsAre Created Equal By Gary Klein
Corporate R&D Set Free By G Pascal ZachGlY
Published by the Public Affairs Section, American Center, 24 Kasturba Gandhi Marg, ew Delhi 110001 (phone: 23316841), on behalf of the American Embassy, ew Delhi. Printed at Ajanta Ltd., 95-8 Wazirpur Offset & Packagings Industrial Area, Delhi 110052. The opinions expressed in this magazine do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the U.S. Government. No part of this magazine may be reproduced without the prior permission of the Editor. For permission write to the Editor. Price of magazine, one year subscription (6 issues) Rs. 125; single copy, Rs. 30.
Iditarod: The Last Great Race The Yukon Quest: Where Dogs Rule By Lea Terhune
Green Makes Business Sense By A. Venkata Narayana
GMAT Perfect By K. Muthukumar
52
A LETTER
FROM
nother year offers its new horizons and potential. In that spirit SPAN profiles a few individuals, many of them with South Asian roots, who are making contributions that show how, increasingly, we are a global community. Our cover story highlights the work of "an old India hand" and former Library of Congress field director, Tibetologist E. Gene Smith. While field director at the Delhi office, he did much to preserve Tibetan literary heritage. He took early retirement in 1999 to found the Tibetan Buddhist Resource Center, which will soon move into the new Rubin Museum of Art in New York City. "Preserving Endangered Culture" and "Rubin Museum of Art," by Lea Terhune, tell the story, illustrated with some of Rubin collection's precious works. Instead of a honeymoon, Afghan American couple Zainab Salbi and Amjad Ataullah went to Croatia to distribute aid to women in that war-ravaged society. This experience led them, with other concerned individuals, to found the American-based NGO Women for Women International, which now has programs in 10 countries. "Women for Women in Kabul," by Aunohita Mozumdar, highlights the personal relationship that has developed between the Afghan women getting vocational training and their American sponsors. Lucinda Moore interviews the multi-talented writer Maya Angelou in "Most Happy to Be a Writer." A young poet and entertainer who speaks the language of her generation is Sarah Jones. Shailaja Neelakantan caught up with Jones during her recent tour of India, and recounts the experience in "Sarah Jones Live." And in a kindred genre, hip-hop, some American Muslim groups are making the charts with lyrics extolling integrity and values set to a compelling beat. Anjum Naim gives the details in "Muslim Hip-Hop in An1erica." HIV/AIDS is an issue that affects everyone, directly or indirectly, and will continue to do so as the epidemic spreads and a vaccine remains elusive. Education and prevention are vital. In "The Cost of Living with HIV," Nachammai Raman gives an update on some successful USAID-funded programs in Tamil Nadu. Diabetes is another serious disease that afflicts more and more people, many ofthem children.
A
THE
PUBLISHER
To help children cope with the rigorous medication schedule, Indian American MIT/Harvard medical student Vikram Kumar has invented DiaBetNet. "A Computer Game for Diabetic Kids," by Carla Lane, profiles this young innovator. And in Delhi SPAN spoke to his father, neurosurgeon Vijay Sheel Kumar, who after 35 years of practice in America has brought back his expeltise to India. 2004 is a presidential election year in the United States, and it will keep congressional employees in Washington hopping. Among these are a number of Indian Americans who assist politicians cope with punishing schedules. Ashish Kumar Sen talked to some of them about working in America's power center. Read "Indian Americans on Capitol HilL" And both potential and realization of potential are demonstrated in "GMAT Perfect," by K. Muthukumar. On the business front, A. Venkata Narayana, in "Green Makes Business Sense," highlights the new Hyderabad center to promote environment-friendly business practices. In "Corporate R&D Set Free," by G. Pascal Zachary, the focus is on Mahadev Satyanarayanan, one of the academic researchers collaborating openly with computer tech innovator Intel. Loosening the hold on intellectual property is a new tack for business, but Intel believes it will accelerate progress and be good for business in the long run. Making the best business choice in the easiest manner is the focus of "Not All Decisions Are Created Equal," by Gary Klein. Some winter fun will soon commence in the nOlthern most U.S. state of Alaska, at least if extreme sport is what appeals. The Iditarod and Yukon Quest sled dog races have tested the mettle of man, woman and dog for decades. The races also promote care for the environment and good cross-border relationships. Another kind of extreme-an architectural one-is the subject of two articles "Race to the Sky," by Jeff Glasser and "High and Mighty," by Katherine Hobson, which look at the genesis of the tallest skyscrapers and bridges in the U.S. We wish you happy reading, and A Very Happy New Year.
New Visa
Processing Regulations
I~
Embassy in New Delhi, and the Consulates General in Chennai, Mumbai and Kolkata will begin scanning fingerprints as part of the non-immigrant visa adjudication process. When an applicant appears at the consular officer's window, he or she will place the right and then the left index finger on the scanner. The fingerprint image will be captured automatically without the use of ink and become part of the applicant's travel record; the whole process will take only a few seconds. At the port of entry, as part of the US-VISIT program, the traveler will repeat the two index-finger scan, but will also be instructed to look into a digital camera to be photographed. This step will verifY that the individual to whom the visa was issued is the individual before the immigration officer. The information will also be checked against our databases allowing us to confirm that the applicant for entry does not pose a threat to the U.S.
On January 5, 2004, foreign visitors arriving at certain U.S. ports of entry will be
FINGERPRINfiNG
among the first to participate in a new entry-exit system that will incorporate biometric identifiers (fingerprints and a photo). Applicants for non-immigrant and immigrant visas at U.S. Embassies and Consulates General are required, by October 26, 2004, to provide biometric information in the form of electronically scanned fingerprints. The new procedures, both at the time of the visa interview and at ports of entry, are two critical parts of a program being implemented to further enhance the security of the U.S. and its visitors. With the cooperation of those traveling to the U.S., the information collected will provide a more secure means to verifY identity and help secure the country from those who wish to harm the U.S. Security is a top priority for the United States government. While we are constantly evolving ways to improve security and facilitate legitimate travel and trade, the attacks of September 11,2001, highlighted the need to improve our entry and exit system. The Enhanced Border Security and Visa Entry Reform Act of 2002 mandated that U.S. Embassies and Consulates issue only U.S. visas using biometric identifiers by October 26, 2004. The identifiers selected are fmgerprints and digital photographs, which are considered both accurate and non-intrusive. The entry and exit system in conjunction with fingerprint collection at the time ofthe visa interview will provide security benefits as well as greatly facilitate repeat travelers who have complied with the terms of their visa. Applicants coming into the Embassy or Consulates for a visa will find that the biometric data collection process is fast and accurate. Starting in summer 20Q4, the
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This helps protect not only the U.S., but the traveler as well. Beginning later in 2004 applicants will complete the same steps at the time of departure, confirming their compliance with U.S. immigration law. Biometric data collection is not an entirely new concept for our posts overseas; in Mexico we have been using scanned fingerprints in Border Crossing Cards since
1998 and we will be using lessons learned in that process in implementing the current program. This September, U.S. Embassies and Consulates in Brussels, Frankfurt, San Salvador, and Guatemala City piloted the fingerprint scanning. Since then, many other U.S. Embassies and Consulates have begun scanning the fingerprints of nonimmigrant visa applicants. Here in India, the process will begin in late summer 2004, and by the end of October 2004 all U.S. posts around the world will be incorporating biometrics into visa adjudication. Applicants can be assured that the information collected will be stored in secure databases and only officials with a need to know will have access to the records. Biometric information collection provides visitors to the U.S. with added security in that it safeguards against identity theft in the event travel documents are lost or stolen, and it will speed up the identity verification process at the visa window. and the port of entry for those who have traveled previously. The regulations include applicants for both immigrant and non-immigrant visas. However, children under 14 and adults over 79 years of age as well as applicants for official and diplomatic visas will not have their fingerprints scanned. At this time we are planning to record fingerprints at the Embassy and Consulates at the time of the visa interview. Improved security capabilities are in the best interest of everyone living in and visiting the United States. We at the Embassy and Consulates General are doing everything to make the process as clear and expedient as possible. We will be updating the information on our Web site (newdelhi. usembassy.gov) keeping applicants apprised of when they can expect to see these procedures in place at the Embassy and three Consulates General in India. The goals of biometric infonnation collection are simple: we want to enhance the security of the United States while expediting legitimate travel and trade, ensuring the integrity of our immigration system, and safeguarding visitors' personal privacy. 0
~[~~erving Endangere The Tibetan Buddhist Resource Center) long a project of E. Gene Smith) finds a permanent home
ijj Left: Yama Dharmaraja, a 16th52 century bronze sculpture, is a new o ~ acquisition for the soon-to-open 8 Rubin Museum of Art. Donald and ~ Shelley Rubin, who focused for ~ years on paintings, have recently I ~ begun to add three-dimensional ~ art to their collection. o
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Right: E. Gene Smith, founder of the Tibetan Buddhist Resource Center and former Library of Congress field director, amid the stacks. The enormous TBRC collection represents 40 years of Smith s work.
mack in the middle of Chelsea, a New York City neighborhood once populated by Greek, German and Irish immigrants, there is a small hive of activity called the Tibetan Buddhist Resource Center (TBRC). It has been a lifetime in the making-the greater part of the lifetime of E. Gene Smith, whose energy and erudition is at its core. In the past year his vast collection of Tibetan religious texts has united with the stunning Donald and Shelley Rubin collection of Buddhist art. The result is a unique repository of Tibetan art, philosophy and culture that will be shared, not only in a new museum, but digitally, and on the Internet. This happy association comes in the nick of time because texts and artifacts are increasingly fragile: "Our mission is to preserve texts printed in India which are already decaying and to make them available to everybody," says Smith. Tibet sustained a vibrant book culture for at least 1,000 years. Works included poetry, folklore, medicine, history, biography and philosophy. Most of the literature, however, related to Buddhism. Instructional texts from India were translated into Tibetan as early as the seventh century. Hundreds of
S
Culture
Left: A standing bodhisattva, Gandhara, c. 200-299, schist 122 cm high. Right: This unusual painting of Vighnantaka, the "destroyer of obstacles," is one of the earliest in the Rubin collection, dating from the 12th century. Single figures are rarely depicted in Tibetan religious painting. Thangkas more typically represent many diverse figures active around a central image. An example is the figure of Hevajra on the facing page. This 17th-century mandala shows celestial dakinis, buddhas, bodhisattvas, high lamas and protectors arranged around the 8-faced, 16-armed figure of Hevajra, a principal yidam, or meditational deity, in Tibetan Buddhist tantra.
years after such texts were long lost in India, they were found to exist in Tibetan translations. Over time Tibetan masters added thousands of volumes of commentary. Much of this has only come to light outside of Tibet in the past 50 years. Smith's career as an independent Tibetan scholar more or less spans the development ofTibetology as a serious academic discipline in U.S. universities. His interest in Tibetan Studies began in 1960, when he enrolled at the University of Washington in Seattle to study Mongolian and Turkish languages. Partly, this was to stay out of the Vietnam War, but more important was his interest in Buddhist ideas, his Mormon upbringing notwithstanding. The university had one of the first distinguished faculties for Tibetan Studies in America. It was one of nine Tibetan Studies centers worldwide funded by the Rockefeller Foundation in the late 1950s, after refugees began to flee Tibet as the Chinese army occupied it. Faculty included Deshung Rinpoche, Sakya Dagchen Rinpoche and Turrell Wylie, who developed the most widely used system for transliterating the Tibetan language. "Deshung Rinpoche was one of the most learned men to come out of Tibet," Smith says. After completing his Ph.D. exams, Smith went to Leiden University in the Netherlands, for advanced Sanskrit studies. Resource
Rubin Museum of Art ust as Gene Smith is committed to sharing his knowledge of Tibetan texts, so Donald and Shelley Rubin are committed to sharing their large collection of Tibetan art with the public. Not believing in half measures, they have built a $60-million, 7,000-square-meter museum in what was once Barney's department store at Seventh Avenue and West 17th Street, in the heati of Manhattan. The Rubin Museum of Ati (RMA), scheduled to open in spring 2004, will house at least 1,000 items from the Rubin collection, which, according to Himalayan ari experts, is stunningly comprehensive. Not only wi II the museum house rare treasures from the Indian subcontinent including Nepal, Tibet, Bhutan and Ladakh and mount special exhibitions, it features a theater for presenting music, drama, films and educational programs. There will be a bookstore. Eventually, when the space is ready, the Tibetan Buddhist Resomce Center will move to the museum premises. Lisa Schubeti, RMA director, says that anticipation and buzz about the opening is heightening. "There is a lot of excitement in the air; our telephone is ringing off the hook!" The significance of the collection, the transfOlmation of a venerable building in the Chelsea neighborhood are factors, and, Schubert adds, "Tibet and the Himalayas have reached a level of appreciation in popular culture that would have been unthinkable 25 years ago." Donald and Shelley Rubin began collecting Tibetan art in the early 1970s. Captivated by a 19th-century painting of the White Tara they chanced upon in a New York gallery, the couple bought it for $1,500, "a lot of money to us at the time," Donald Rubin says. He jokes that they had to save up for another six months to afford their next art purchase. Then the Rubins entered the health insmance provider business at the right time. Their successful company, MultiPlan Tnc.,
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for everybody in the world who wants to look at it, whether for pure enjoyment, for scholarship, or for saving the culture. Should New York go up in smoke, and the Rubin collection with it, it will hopefully be safe somewhere in a digital form." With such dedication to document and conserve Tibetan culture, it is no surprise that the Rubins and Gene Smith were drawn into collaboration. Donning a hard hat at the museum, still in a swirl of renovation work last fall, Rubin enthusiastically pointed out innovations, like the large, double-story walls designed for hanging the enormous Tibetan scroll paintings that traditionally were displayed on mountainsides near monasteries during special ceremonies. He led the way to a smaller gallery lit by skylights, and directed ow' attention to the magnificent, original spiral staircase and marble floor. As the foreman walked up, Rubin eagerly greeted him and in the same breath asked how they are doing on making that week's deadline. "We want to be open for Asia Week. That's what we're shooting for," he explained. Then he Courtesy SHELLEY & DONALD RUBIN beckoned us into the little jewel of a theater, nearly ready for opening night. New York has its share of museums, several of which have fine Asian collections, but the Ruhins are unfazed, and feel there is room for one more. "Whether the museum will be able to sustain overwhelming attendance in New York over a long period oftime, no one knows," Rubin admits. "But we're optimistic that if you create a wonderful cultural landmark, people are going to come." Lisa Schubert is busy preparing for the May 22 grand opening-there will be a soft opening for Asia Week in March. (Asia Week is an international Asian art fair held annually in New York.) She thinks that the Rubins' unique vision will win the day, with a museum that has "an interpretive approach, which is being carefully crafted to meet the needs of the broadest and most diversified audience." The programs, displays, and materials that will be available on-site and online will only enhance the power of this extraordinary collection of Himalayan art. "There are not too many cities in the world that could accommodate more museums with an international outlook than New York," she says. "We want to develop collaborative projects with New York museums with strong Asian collections through joint exhibitions and programming."
gave them the wherewithal to assemble a collection of Himalayan art that Art & Auction magazine calls "easily the largest collection of Tibetan paintings, or thangkas, anywhere in the West." The collection now has about 1,500 paintings and sculptures, and it's growing. The works of art and ritual selected by the Rubins are well chosen. The paintings span all subjects and many traditions, making it an important collection to scholars. Even before the museum project began, the Rubins put their idea of sharing the art into practice by founding the Himalayan Art Project, an online research center, in 1996 (www.himalayanatt.com). Its purpose was to preserve Tibetan culture and document the many examples that exist in museums around the world. Countless artifacts have been destroyed since the 1950s when the Chinese first occupied Tibet. The Cultural Revolution in the 1960s and 1970s, particularly, took a heavy toll. "The culture is endangered," Donald Rubin maintains. "One reason we started collecting seriously is because we wanted to save the culture." He adds, "My feeling is that it has to be available
Above: Donald and Shelley Rubin on their first trip to Tibet. Leji.: The exterior of the Rubin Museum of Art, located in a restored J 9th-centwy building on J 7th Street in Chelsea, New York City.
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material was limited, and Smith's quest for books led him to India: "We had no Tibetan books. Deshung Rinpoche said, 'Go and find them. Find the impOltant books and get them published.' " Smith sought out Tibetan lamas and scholars-some of the finest minds among the well-educated aristocracy among them-who had fled to India during the Cultural Revolution, when Buddhist monasteries, artifacts and texts were systematically destroyed. Scholarly Tibetans escaped with as many sacred texts as they could carryon the pack animals that took them over the mountains and out of Tibet. Smith began collecting Tibetan books at the ideal time. Staying on after his Ford Foundation study grant ran out, Smith got a job as Tibetan acquisitions expert and cataloger for the U.S. Library of Congress field office in New Delhi. He eventually worked his way up, becoming field director. All the while he privately continued his study of Tibetan texts, usually in the wee hours of the morning, and he maintained contact with a network of Tibetans who could help him locate, identitY and interpret obscure texts. His Delhi house was a salon for visiting scholars and Tibetan lamas, and more than one foreign scholar's research was stimulated by an idea floated by Gene Smith. An American might remark at dinner that he was interested in black ceremonial hats, or a French scholar might mention folk tales about a particular wicked sorceress. Typically, Smith would jump up, saying, "There is a very interesting reference to that in...," already on his way upstairs to pull a volume out of his library for the benefit of the researcher. His generosity was legendary. And none appreciated it more than Tibetans. During his years with the Library of Congress' Delhi office he was able to make a major contribution to preservation of Tibetan cultural heritage thanks to a federally financed program to purchase important texts from Asian countries for libraries and universities in the United States. This money funded publication of thousands of texts on all aspects of Tibetan, Bhutanese, Sikkimese and Mongolian culture and religions. Dharamsala-based scholar and director of Amnye Machen Institute Tashi Tsering says that this effort of Smith's actually spurred the Chinese to start publishing Tibetan texts, too. "When the Chinese visited the Library of
Left, top: A rare, 13th-centwy carved book cover that represents the buddha Prajna Paramita on the left and the five transcendant buddhas. Left, middle: Tibetan texts were hand block-printed on mulberry husk pape/~ Pages are left loose between two hard covers and the volume wrapped in cloth. Left, bottom: Padmasambhava, with his chief Tibetan female disciple, Yeshe Tsogyal, seated below to his right and his chief Indian female disciple Mandarawa to his left. 19th centUly, 70 cm X 49 cm. Padmasambhava was among the first indian Buddhist teachers to bring Buddhism to Tibet, and he helped establish its first monastery, Samye. Right: Mangaram Kashyap is the director of the India operation of the Tibetan Buddhist Resource Cente/~ Here he supervises the scanning of texts for storage in the TBRC digital archives.
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Congress and U.S. university libraries in the early 1980s, and they saw the huge quantity of Tibetan books, they realized they had to do something." Tsering adds, "All credit goes to Gene. If he wasn't there, it wouldn't have happened. He is one of the best, most precise bibliographers." Even a large monastery in old Tibet would not have the extraordinary and diverse number of texts gathered in one place, Tsering says. It was a boon for Tibetan studies when China began publishing more Tibetan texts because, ironically, Zhou Enlai, who saw their cultural value, saved many rare texts from destruction. As Tibetologist Donald Lopez has written of Smith, "He was the first Tibet expert. He really made Tibetan Studies possible." He is unique in another way, also, as Tashi Tsering observed, "In traditional Tibetan monasteries and Western academia, scholars wouldn't share. Gene broke that taboo and tradition, and shared everything. He even shares his 40 years worth of notes with researchers." As if that were not enough, Smith routinely lent his facility with the language to help proofread Tibetan texts before publication. After 20 years in India, Smith was posted as Library of Congress field director in Jakarta and Cairo before taking
early retirement to set up the TBRC. Nowadays Smith is busy sharing digitally. With 3,500 volumes having been scanned, several significant collections are already available on CD. These are distributed free to monasteries in Asia, and for a nominal fee to others. Sitting in his book-lined office, papers piled high in a beautifully woven Indonesian basket on his desk, more books and papers on the floor, he tells of his excitement about results of work with Bodhi Foundation founder and computer expert David Lunsford to convert scans back to text. "I felt this will be very helpful to Tibetans," Smith says, as he describes the satellite centers being planned for India, epal and Bhutan. At sites set up with specific capability, texts on the hard drive can be easily printed for monastery scholars. Funding is always an issue for the Tibetan Buddhist Resource Center's hightech projects, because the aim is to make the texts available to monasteries for free. The TBRC found a like-minded "angel" in businessman Donald Rubin (see "Rubin Museum of Art," pages 8-9). Last year Smith shifted the TBRC from Cambridge, Massachusetts-where the landlord doubled the rent-to New York City when Rubin offered office and
library space in one of his buildings. The TBRC team boasts Tibetan and American experts, and volunteers-often young Tibetologists-who help with scanning and other tasks. They also interact closely with the Rubin Museum of Art staff, and will move to a much larger library and office space when the museum is completed. A significant part of the work is done in India. Gene Smith's long-time aide Mangaram Kashyap directs a team of 10 people who daily scan the soft, long, rectangular mulberry-husk pages on nifty Fujitsu fi4120C scanners in a room in Tibet House in New Delhi. Kashyap says experienced people can scan up to 1,000 pages a day. Others of the team work on cleaning up the scanned text files before sending them off to TBRC in New York. This makes sense because so many of the texts identified for preservation are in India. Under the Tibetan government-inexile a large collection of Tibetan literatme has been assembled. Some of it is in Delhi but the larger part is at the Library of Tibetan Works and Archives in Dharamsala. Other collections are in private or monastic libraries all over India. The Tibetan Buddhist Resource Center serves as a specific nodal point,
Magzor Gyalmo with Tseringma Chey Nga, "Queen of Wrathful Rituals with the Five Longevity Sisters, " 17th centwy. The five sisters are associated with the five energy chakras and are a popular healing practice among Tibetans, who make pilgrimage to five mountains in Tibet believed to be associated with the sisters, Mount Everest being the most important of these. 84 cm x 58 cm.
Above: Tara Who Protects from the Danger of Fire, 19th century, 133 cm X 79 cm. Fire is sometimes a symbol of the negative emotion angel~ Here Tara holds a waterfilled conch to extinguish the fire in the house. Dragons, as that represented on the mid-right of the thangka, are associated with fire in its positive and negative aspects. Ab('we, right: 8m'aha and His Female Guru, 19th centwy, 46 cm X 30 cm. 8m'aha was an Indian mahasiddha famous for his mystical dohas, or couplets. He took his name from his guru, who was an arrowsmith when he saw her in a marketplace.
hosting its own developing database and linking to powerhouse collections such as the Library of Congress, universities and libraries around the world. Smith says that eventually they want to build an encyclopedia of Himalayan studies on the Web. It's expensive to put the books on the Web, and right now TBRC hasn't the money, but the vision is to have an Internet archive from which anybody, anywhere could download and print out books. Gene Smith warms to the subject as he explains, "It is shareware for scholars." Many scholars from around the world contribute to the effort, which will ultimately "help people find things, whether they are scholars or practitioners." He gives an example: "Say a lama is teaching the Heart Sutra, he or she can find it in the database, see what is available. There are
18 commentaries on the Heart Sutra." And the wealth of art from the Rubin collection embellishes and augments the biographical, bibliographical and text entries. "It is intimately connected to the Rubin Museum," Smith says. "Art and texts that create art have an inti mate connection." Ensconced amidst his shelves of books and artifacts, Gene Smith is content, except for the imperative to scout for fundraising opportunities. He'll be glad when he has access to his library again, which is now in storage, awaiting the completion of the museum, where his collection will be an integral part. But his life's work is reaching a fruition that was unimaginable in the pre-PC days of the 1960s, when he hung out with the last great Tibetan scholars of the century. 0
countries rebuild their lives. Set up in 1993, Women for Women grew from a very simple gesture. In the early 1990s, when U.S. residents Zainab Salbi and Amjad Ataullah got married, they decided to spend their honeymoon in an unusual way. Instead of heading off for a luxurious holiday, they traveled to Croatia with aid for the women devastated by the war. The response to their visit gave bilih to the organization. Feeling that while many people might want to help others less fortunate, they didn't have the means of channeling their help. So Salbi and Ataullah set up Women for Women. The idea was uncomplicated. They would set up centers in countries which had been through conflict to enable the women there to arm themselves with the means to rebuild their lives. Sustaining these centers would be support extended by American women who wished to help their sisters in other countries. For just a few dollars a month that most women could spare, a woman in Kosovo, Colombia, Bangladesh or Rwanda would be trained in skills that would enable her to become economically self-sufficient. From that one visit to Croatia, Women for Women has grown in 10 years to work in lO countries, helping as many as 21,500 women and distributing $9 million in aid and micro credit loans. The philosophy is simple: "war and conflict, no matter where or what the cause" says the organization, "bring devastation and suffering to everyone. Innocent women, however, are profoundly affected. Women for Women was founded to help women overcome the horrors of war in ways that help them rebuild their lives, families and communities." The ways that any woman can help in this program are many. A direct donation to the organization, a sponsorship based on a monthly donation establishing a one-toone relationship with the recipient, sponsoring fund-raising events, like lunches, poetry reading sessions, film shows, runs, garage sales or simply persuading friends to forgo that little extra luxury, the favorite lipstick, the handbag, that massage. The money goes into providing the women with micro credit loans or training in income-generating entrepren~urial
skills. Whatever is produced at the workshops is sold and the proceeds ploughed back into the organization. For those who want to do more there is the option of doing voluntary work in the organization. In Kabul's Qalai Fataullah street, women, some of them young girls, bend over the bead work, learning to make jewelry. In one room they learn baking, in another rug making. r n one corner a group of young women watch carefully as a beautician shows how to thread hair. With the ban on beauty parlors lifted this is expected to be booming business. Of the worst excesses that the Taliban committed, none perhaps came to characterize them as distinctly as did their attitude toward women. Beyond the veils and the burkhas were the less visible but debilitating restrictions that pushed women off the streets, into their homesgirls who were not allowed to study and women who were not allowed to work.
For many families this meant destitution. With 23 years of civil war having bled the country, there were many families which had lost their male breadwinners. The women were forced out of their houses to find work to feed their children but then forced out of the workplace by the Taliban police enforcing the strict edicts. The dilemma was captured eloquently by Afghan director Siddiq Barmak's film Osama. Today, two years after the Taliban lost power, grinding poverty remains a reality for many women. While there are no restrictions imposed by the state on their movement, most women are both uneducated and unskilled, and work is scarce. Social mores restrict the kind of work they can find or perform and these women remain dependent on handouts, begging on the streets, living off relatives. The status of women in the new society that Afghanistan seeks to forge remains a
Above: Nasreen is learning beadworkfor makingjewelry, which she hopes will pull her and her family out of the poverty that has aged her prematurely Left: Beautician training is a sought after course. With the ban on beauty parlors gone, it promises to be a booming business.
Now it is August and the weather has turned nicer for a few days. We had nearly 20 days in July with temperaurres at 100 degrees Fahrenheit or higher. One town north of us hit 116. Too hot for anything. We are enjoying tomatoes from the garden. They are juicy and very flavorful. The tomatoes at the market are mealy and flavorless. Certainly not worth the money charged so I don't buy them. We also had an abtmdant crop of hot peppers and eggplant. Now we are enjoying ripe peaches. We were able to pick a few nectarines. And plums that the birds didn't get. Speaking of birds ... we enjoyed watching a pair of barn swallows raise five babies in a nest they made of mud on a beam near our front door. They didn't appear to be alarmed at our presence and went about their business of swooping and diving after mosquitoes and other bugs. I read that in their lifetime, swallows fly over a million tniles chasing bugs .... Barn swallows fly to SOUd1America for the winter and return to all parts of the United States in summer. My great-grandson had his first bird1day on August 2. I drove d1ree hours and over a mOlU1tainpass to Reno, Nevada, to spend the weekend wid1 my granddaughter, her husband and baby Gavin. I took a whole roll of film of him enjoying his bird1day calee.At the end he was smeared with caleeand frosting. He had a wonderful time and really put on a show for all the friends and fan1ily.The dog cleaned the floor after it was all over. It is harvest time for the almonds so it's going to be busy arow1d here for a few weeks. First machines with arms grab the trunk of the tree and shake d1e almonds off. Anod1er machine gad1ers d1e almonds into rows where they dry for a few days. Then anod1er piece of equipment scoops up the almonds. The almonds are taken to a conveyer belt, which takes the nuts up and durnped into a l111Cktrailer. Almonds is a major crop in California. It is estimated d1at over 1 billion pounds (0.5 billion kilograms) of almonds will be harvested. The next harvest will be the wine grapes which California is well known for. Later on will be walnuts, kiwi and rice. I watch farm equipment go past on the road and I have no idea what they are. My letter is a little late this month as I took a week off to be with seven od1er women friends at a resort in the California mow1tains called Mmod1 Lakes. We hiked, swam, went boating and rode a gondola to d1e top of the ski mOlU1tain.It was a very nice break from pulling weeds and cleaning the house. I will describe the picnrres d1at I sent. The lake is very salty and brine shrimp is halvested as food for tropical fish, the formation are called mfa and al'ecaused by freshwater mixing with carbonates. The Minarets is a mOtU1tainrange where we were. Some of the pealcsare over 14,000 feet. I backpacked in d1earea many years ago. Bodie is an old mining town from d1e 1800s. It is now preselved as a state park. I try to keep my letters on the "light" side as I know d1at life for you and your family is difficult. I am a news "freak" and try to keep up with the simation in your COlilltry. I wish that since my COtilltryinvaded yours to defeat the Taliban, that we would do more to help Afghanistan recover and create a stable and prosperous society. I know that d1e Taliban is still a weat which makes recovery velY difficult. I pray that good will overcome evil and that you al1dyour family are safe. Your sister, Sharon debatable issue. In the intensely conservative environment of Afghanistan, the removal ofthe Taliban from power has not translated automatically into independence for its women. For that to come, education and empowerment are both necessaty. While the constitution formulated for Afghanistan enshrines equal rights and duties for all citizens of Afghanistan,
groups advocating the rights of women do not consider it sufficient for the state to merely declare equal rights but want safeguards and affirmative action that would achieve these rights in practice. The Committee for the Protection of Women's Rights at the Loya Jirga recommended the consideration of specific mention of the prohibition of discrimina-
tion based on gender as well as language, religion and other factors. In addition, it sought that the state undertake necessary measures to safeguard women's right to property and promote women's palticipation in all political, economic, social, cultural, civil or any other affairs in order to reach gender equality. CountTy Director of Women for Women Sweeta Noori points out that while it was the Taliban who formulated edicts banning women from workplaces, requiring them to go outside their houses only with male escorts, Afghan society as a whole has prohibited women from exercising many rights under the guise of the cultural practices. Afghanistan is an Islamic country, she says, but Islam and the Sharia enshrine many rights for women. Noori feels it is the lack of awareness about their rights that has kept women from demanding their due and Women for Women conducts regular workshops for its members to create this awareness. "Women for Women work with the most marginalized and vulnerable women in countries ravaged by war," says Noori. Since 2002 when it opened its Kabul chapter, Women for Women has already found 2,300 American women, each sponsoring an Afghan woman for training. Theirs is not the relationship of a donorrecipient, but that of one woman helping another who happens to be in less fortunate circumstances. Not the relationship of aid but a hand to help them stand on their feet and become self-reliant. This principle is emphasized in the mission and vision statement of the organization which assetts the need for respect for the women who are being helped: "The women who we assist are leaders in their own lives. Tools are provided for each woman to rebuild her life. The women we SUppOlt choose their own value system. Options are presented to each woman but she is also responsible for her own choice. Women are not simply refugees or victims of war but are survivors and individuals. No two women require the same support to heal, and no two societies can be rebuilt in the same way. Communication among women of varied backgrounds, national origins, race and religion. Both those who
need assistance and those who offer it must honor each other's differences." This recognition of differences and different societal systems absent so often in state-sponsored endeavors, has enabled Women for Women to work in countries that are widely disparate with different value systems. Currently the organization works in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bosnia, Colombia, Croatia, Iraq, Kosovo, Nigeria, Pakistan and Rwanda. The organization says the one-on-one approach "deals with macro issues through micro solutions." One such provider of a micro solution is
Sharon PeUi of California who sponsors Khalida Khairden of Kabul. Pelli's chatty letter (see sidebar on page 16) to Khalida describes life in California. She apologizes for her letter being late. She had taken a week off to be with seven other women friends at a resort in Mammoth Lakes. She talks of the place: the salty Mono lake, the Minarets mountains, the old mining town Bodie. Pelli's evocative letter is not in disregard of the strains and troubles ofthe life that Khalida leads. "I try to keep my letters on the 'light' side," she says, "as I know that life for you and your family is diffi-
Afghan women, as these (above) in Kabul, often face the challenge of raising a family single-handedly after the death of the wage-earner in war. Under the T aliban, their position was impossible. Now groups like Women for Women help them learn to earn.
cult.. . .1 pray that good will overcome evil and that you and your family are safe." Seventy-one-year-old Glenna Powell introduces herself as a grandmother to Razia Ghulam Rabami. She talks of things as one woman would to another: family, children, grandchildren. "You are almost the age of my grandson" she tells Razia describing how she is trying to help her own grandson complete his education. Nasreen is learning beadwork that will help her make jewelry. She is 30 years old but looks closer to 50. "Poverty," she says, "poverty has aged me." Nasreen was one of Afghanistan's thousands of citizens dispossessed of most of the basic rights by the Taliban and even though .the Taliban
have gone, life remains difficult. Her husband's earnings as a cobbler are barely sufficient to feed them and their four children. It is certainly nowhere near enough to feed the five orphan children her brother-in-law left behind when he was killed in a rocket attack. Though the defeat of the Taliban regime has made her life a lot easier, allowing her to move around freely, Nasreen is not equipped with any skills that would help her to work. But earlier this year she heard about Women for Women and made her way to Qalai Fataullah street. She hopes the training she gets will help her find some work independently, to add to their family's meager earnings. Nasreen speaks fondly of Patricia, her American sponsor. Asked what she knows about Patricia, she immediately talks about Patricia's family. "Patricia has two sisters and one daughter and a son. Her daughter got married recently and left home," she. says. This is familiar ground, easily identifiable, the parting of mothers and daughters. In another part of the office Jamila (name changed), 27, is learning how to make jewelry from stones. She lives with one of her relatives having lost her mother, father, brother and son to the Taliban four years ago. Shaira (name changed), 16, is . learning the art of threading and hopes to find work in a beauty parlor. Her father died in a bomb blast 10 years ago. She stumbles over the pronunciation of the name of her American sponsor. But there is little hesitation when she is asked what it means to her. The initiative, she says, has given her a chance to better her own life, hope where there was none. When Women for Women started spreading word about their organization a year ago, it distributed leaflets around the poor neighborhoods of Kabul. Now news has spread through word of mouth and the organization gets more requests than it can handle. Women for Women intends to expand its activities to the outlying areas of Kabul, relying on the response from American women to enable it to do so. D About the Author: Aunohita Mozumdar freelance writer based in New Delhi.
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A Conversation with a r.evered American poet by LUCINDA MOORE
Writer Maya Angelou as guest chef for a benefit dinner at the Sugar Bar Restaurant in New York.
t 75, Maya Angelou has led many lives. She is best known as a writer, for her numerous books of poetry and her six poignant memoirs, including the masterful 1969 1Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. In February 2003, she won a Grammy for the recorded reading of her most recent memoir, A Song Flung Up to Heaven. Her works have earned her more than 30 honorary degrees as well as nominations for a National Book Award and a Pulitzer Prize. She wrote "On the Pulse of Morning" for the 1993 swearing-in of President Bill Clinton, becoming only the second poet in U.S. history-Robert Frost was the first, for John F. Kennedy-invited to compose an inaugural poem. Less well known are Angelou's other lives: as a singer; as a composer; as a dancer in Porgy and Bess; as an actor in the Obie-winning play The Blacks and in films such as Calypso Heat Wave and How to Make an American Quilt; as a civil rights worker with Martin Luther King, Jr.; as a journalist in Egypt and Ghana; as a writer for television and Hollywood; as director of the 1998 film Down in the Delta. Angelou is the Reynolds Professor of American Studies at North Carolina's Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem. She is constantly on the lecture circuit and a regular guest on talk shows; she recently created a line of greeting cards for Hallmark. And there is little sign of her slowing down. But when we met recently in her art-filled home in WinstonSalem, it was her family, not her varied career, that she most wanted to discuss. Our conversation often returned to the loved ones who helped her triumph over the tragedies of her childhood and made her believe she could meet whatever challenge life threw in her path. Her grandmother Annie Henderson was one of the most important, a pious woman who ran a general store in Stamps, Arkansas. Angelou lived most of her childhood with her grandmother, whom she called "Momma." Angelou's sometimes-absentee mother, Vivian Baxter, had a steel will and several careers of her own. She was an inadvertent player in an early, formative trauma in Angelou's life. When Angelou was 8 and briefly living with Baxter in St. Louis, her mother's boyfriend raped Angelou. The man was arrested, convicted and released; soon after, he was found beaten to death. Believing she had caused the killing because she had told of the rape, Angelou refused to speak for several years; only her beloved older brother, Bailey, could coax her to talk. He remained a source of support throughout her life until his death two years ago. And there is Angelou's son, Guy Johnson, 58, author of Echoes of a Distant Summer and one other novel. He is, she says, her "monument in the world."
LUCINDA MOORE: You've said that society's view of the black woman is such a threat to her well-being that she will die daily unless she determines how she sees herself. How do you see yourself? MAYAANGELOU: I just received a letter yesterday from the University of Milan. A person is doing a doctoral dissertation on my work. It's called Sapienza, which means wisdom. I'm considered wise, and sometimes 1 see myself as knowing. Most of the time, I see myself as wanting to know. And 1 see myself as a very interested person. I've never been bored in my life. You have never been bored? How is that possible? Oh God, if I were bored, now that would interest me. I'd think, my God, how did that happen and what's going on? I'd be caught up in it. Are you kidding? Bored? I realized when I was about 20 that 1 would die. It frightened me so. I mean, I had heard about it, had been told and all that, but that 1...? [She points at herself and raises her brows as if in disbelief.] It so terrified me that 1 double-locked the doors; 1 made cettain that the windows were double-locked-trying to keep death out-and finally I admitted that there was nothing I could do about it. Once 1 really came to that conclusion, 1 started enjoying life, and I enjoy it very much. Another occurrence took place at about the same timemaybe about a year later-and the two occurrences liberated me forever. I had two jobs. I was raising my son. We had a tiny little place to live. My mother had a 14-room house and someone to look after things. She owned a hotel, lots of diamonds. I wouldn't accept anything from her. But once a month she'd cook for me. And I would go to her house and she'd be dressed beautifully. One day after we'd had lunch, she had to go somewhere. She put on silver-fox furs-this was when the head of one fox would seem to bite into the head of the other-and she would wear them with the tails in front; she would turn it around with the furs arching back. We were halfway down the hill and she said, "Baby"-and she was small; she was 5 feet 41/2 and I'm 6-foot-"You know something? I think you're the greatest woman I've ever met." We stopped. I looked down at this pretty little woman made up so perfectly, diamonds in her ears. She said, "Mary McLeod Bethune, Eleanor Roosevelt, my mother and you-you are the greatest." It still brings me to te-. [Her eyes tear up.] We walked down to the bottom of the hill. She crossed the street to the right to get into her car. I continued across the street and waited for the streetcar. And I got onto the streetcar and I walked to the back. I shall never forget it. I remember the wooden planks of the streetcar. The way the light came through the window. And I thought, suppose she's right? She's very intelligent, and she's too mean to lie. Suppose I really am somebody? Those two incidents liberated me to think large thoughts, whether I could comprehend them or not,[she laughs], but to think ....
One of your large thoughts must have been about planning to have a diverse life and career. How do you move so easily from one thing to another? I have a theory that nobody understands talent any more than we understand electricity. So I think we've done a real disservice to young people by telling them, "Oh, you be careful. You'll be a jack-of-all-trades and a master of none." It's the stupidest thing I've ever heard. I think you can be a jack-of-all-trades and a mistress-of-all-trades. If you study it, and you put reasonable intelligence and reasonable energy, reasonable electricity to it, you can do that. You may not become Max Roach on the drums. But you can learn the drums. I've long felt that way about things. If I'm asked, "Can you do this?" I think, if! don't do it, it'll be 10 years before another black woman is asked to do it. And I say, yes, yes, when do you want it? My mom, you know, was a seaman. At one point, I was in Los Angeles. I called her in San Francisco and said, I want to see you, I'm going to New York and I don't know when I'll be back, so let's meet mid-state. She said, "Oh, baby, I wanted to see you, too, because I'm going to sea." I said, going to see what? She said, "I'm going to become a seaman." I said, Mother, really, come on. She said, "No, they told me they wouldn't let women in their union. I told them, 'You wanna bet?' I put my foot in that door up to my hip so women of every color will get in that union, get aboard a ship and go to sea." She retired in 1980, and Asian, white and black women gave a party for her. They called her the mother of the sea. So, yes, we cripple our children, we cripple each other with those designations that if you're a brick mason you shouldn't love the ballet. Who made that rule? You ever see a person lay bricks? [She moves her hands in a precise bricklaying manner.] Because of the eye and the hands, of course he or she would like to see ballet. It is that precise, that estabIished, that organized, that sort of development from the bottom to the top. Do you resent the fact that your mother wasn't there for much of your childhood? Oh, yes. Yes. I was an abandoned child as far as 1 was concerned, and Bailey also. We didn't hear from her-we heard maybe twice in seven years or something. And then I realized that she was funny and loving and that there are certainly two different kinds of parents. There is the person who can be a great parent of small children. They dress the children in these sweet little things with bows in their hair and beads on their shoestrings and nice, lovely little socks. But when those same children get to be 14 or IS, the parents don't know what to say to them as they grow breasts and testosterone hits the boy. Well, my mom was a tetTible parent of young children. And thank God-I thank God every time I think of it-I was sent to my paternal grandmother. Ah, but my mother was a great parent of a young adult. When she found out I was pregnant, she said, "All right. Run me a bath, please." Well, in my family, that's really a very nice thing for somebody to ask you to do. Maybe two or
three times in my life she had asked me to run her a bath. So I ran her a bath and then she invited me in the bathroom. My mother sat down in the bathtub. She asked me, "Do you love the boy?" I said no. "Does he love you?" I said no. "Well, there's no point in ruining three lives. We're going to have us a baby." And she delivered Guy-because she was a nurse also. She took me to the hospital. It was during one of the Jewish holidays, and my doctor wasn't there. My mother went in, told the nurses who she was, she washed up, they took me into the delivery room. She got up on the table on her knees with me and put her shoulder against my knee and took my hand, and every time a pain would come she'd tell a joke. I would laugh and laugh [she laughs uproariously] and bear down. And she said, "Here he comes, here he comes." And she put her hand on him first, my son. So throughout her Iife she liberated me. Liberated me constantly. Respected me, respected what I tried to do, believed in me. I'd go out in San Francisco-I'd be visiting her, I was living in Los Angeles-and stay really late at some afterhours joint. Mother knew all of them and knew all the bartenders. And I'd be having a drink and laughing, and the bartender would say on the phone, "Yeah, Mama, yeah she's here." She'd say to me: "Baby, it's your mother. Come home. Let the streets know you have somewhere to go." . It seems your mother and Bailey always came to your rescue. Were they more vigilant, do you think, because you didn't speak for so long? All those years ago I'd been a mute, and my mother and my brother knew that in times of strife and extreme stress, I was likely to retreat to mutism. Mutism is so addictive. And I don't think its powers ever go away. It's as if it's just behind my view, just behind my right shoulder or my left shoulder. If! move quickly, it moves, so I can't see it. But it's always there saying, "You can always come back to me. You have nothing to do-just stop talking." So, when I've been in stress, my mother or my brother, or both sometimes, would come wherever [ was, New York, California, anywhere, and say, "Hello, hello, talk to me. Come on, let's go. We'll have a game of Scrabble or pinochle and let's talk. Tell me a story." Because they were astute enough to recognize the power of mutism, I finally was astute enough to recognize the power of their love. What went through your mind during the years you were mute? Oh, yes, I memorized poetry. I would test myself, memorizing a conversation that went by when I wasn't in it. I memorized 60 Shakespearean sonnets. And some of the things I memorized, I'd never heard them spoken, so I memorized them according to the cadence that I heard in my head. I loved Edgar Allan Poe and] memorized everything I could find. And I loved Paul Laurence Dunbar-still do-so I
At the inauguration of President Bill Clinton on Jam/my 20, 1993, Angelou recites her poem "On the Pulse of Morning, " written for the occasion. She was the second poet in Us. histOly to do this, the first being Robert Frost at the Kennedy inauguration in 1961.
would memorize 75 poems. It was like putting a CD on. If I wanted to, I'd just run through my memory and think, that's one I want to hear. So I believe that my brain reconstructed itself during those years. I believe that the areas in the brain which provide and promote physical speech had nothing to do. I believe that the synapses of the brain, instead of just going from A to B, since B wasn't receptive, the synapses went from A to R. You see what I mean? And so, I've been able to develop a memory quite unusual, which has allowed me to learn languages, really quite a few. I seem to be able to direct the brain; I can say, do that. I say, remember this, remember that. And it's caught! [She snaps her fingers as if to emphasize "caught."] You lived with your grandmother during your silent years. How did she respond? She said, "Sister, Momma don't care what these people say, that you must be an idiot, a moron, 'cause you can't talk. Momma don't care. Momma know that when you and the good Lord get ready, you gon' be a teacher." If your mother liberated you to think big, what gifts did your grandmother give you? She gave me so many gifts. Confidence that I was loved. She taught me not to lie to myself or anyone else and not to boast. She taught me to admit that, to me, the emperor has no clothes.
He may be dressed in the finery of the ages to everybody else, but ifI don't see it, to admit that I don't see it. Because of her, I think, I have remained a very simple woman. What you see is all there is. I have no subterfuge. And she taught me not to complain. My grandmother had one thing that she would do for me about twice a year. Shall I tell you? [She laughs loudly.] Momma would see a whiner, a complainer come down the hill. And she would call me in. She'd say, "Sister, Sister, come out here." I'd go and look up the hill and a complainer was trudging. And the man or woman would come into the store, and my grandmother would ask, "How you feel today?" "Ah, Sister Henderson, I tell you I just hate the winter. It makes my face crack and my shins burn." And Momma'd just say, "Dh-huh," and then look at me. And as soon as the person would leave, my grandmother would say, "Sister, come here." I'd stand right in front of her. She'd say, "There are people all over the world who went to sleep last night who did not wake again. Their beds have become their cooling boards, their blankets have become their winding sheets. They would give anything for just five minutes of what she was complaining about." Did you write during your childhood? Well, I've always written. There's a journal which I kept from about 9 years old. The man who gave it to me lived across the street from the store and kept it when my grandmother's papers were destroyed. I'd written some essays. I loved poetry, still do. But I really, really loved it then. I would write some-of course it was terriblei'f but I'd always written something down. S
I
I read that you wrote the inaugural poem, "On the Pulse of Morning, " in a hotel room. Were you on the road when you composed it? I keep a hotel room here in Winston when I'm writing. I take a room for about a month. And [ try to be in the room by 6 a.m., so I get up, make coffee and keep a thermos and I go out to the hotel. I would have had everything removed from the room, wall hangings and all that stuff. It's just a bed, a table and a chair, Roget's Thesaurus, a dictionary, a bottle of sherry, a yellow pad and pens, and I go to work. And I work 'til about twelve or one; one if it's going well, twelve if it isn't. Then I come home and pretend to operate in the familiar, you know? Where does writing rank in your accomplishments? I'm happy to be a writer, of prose, poetry, every kind of writ-
A young Maya Angelou holds her best-selling 1969 autobiography J Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. 1t was 1971, and she had just been hired as Hollywood'sjirsf blackjilm director, to write and direct the jilm version of her book.
ing. Every person in the world who isn't a recluse, hermit or mute uses words. I know of no other art form that we always use. So the writer has to take the most used, most familiar objectsnouns, pronouns, verbs, adverbs-ball them together and make them bounce, turn them a certain way and make people get into a romantic mood; and another way, into a bellicose mood. I'm most happy to be a writer. 0 About the Interviewer: of Smithsonian.
Lucinda
Moore
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editor
AnuGarg Neve r at
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all him a wordsmith or call him a logophile, Anu Garg lives for words. His Web site www.wordsmith.org offers a free e-mail service, A Word A Day, for likeminded word birds. Garg sends subscribers definitions, history and usages of words familiar and unfamiliar, often with interesting stories. A computer programmer who worked as an Internet consultant for AT&T and MeI, Garg says he is thrilled that his hobby has become so popular that he can afford to stay at home and do it full time. pixilated (PIK"When I stalted this back in 1994, what I suh-Iayt-id), also call the Jurassic era of the Internet, I didn't pixillated have any grand plan, it was just something adjective l. that was fun to do, my way of sharing my Mentally unballove for words with other people." He was a banced; eccentric. graduate student at the time, and his fellow 2. Whimsical. graduate students subscribed. "Soon I was From pixie, a misgetting requests from other universities," he chievous, fairylike says. Then he started getting requests from creature. other countries. "It just spread by word of mouth. We don't spend anything on advertising. Sometimes reporters come to know about it and they write about it and more people come to know. It kind of snowballed." Garg takes this as evidence that the love of words is pervasive. His own love of words includes fascination with new words, old words, words that derive from other languages, and grammar rules vs. free form language. "As long as you can make sense, you can get your point across it doesn't matter whether you say: 'to boldly go where no man has gone before' or you say 'go boldly.' You can't split the infinitive? Why not?" asks Garg. Fowler and other sticklers might disagree, but Anu Garg sees language as a fluid thing. "The meaning of words changes all the time," he says. "Sometimes it's because of mistakes." In the Southern United States, for instance, "People say 'aks' when they say 'ask' and it is considered uneducated. But earlier that was the right pronunciation. That
for
C
epigone (EP-igoan), also epigon
was the spelling. Somehow it became 'ask.''' (EP-i-gon) Garg was in India in November noun A mediocre to launch the Indian edition of his imitator or follower bestselling book A Word A Day at of an important an event co-sponsored by SPAN person such as an and publisher Wiley-Dreamtech. artist or writer. Wife Stuti co-authored the book and daughter Ananya inspires his word sleuthing. Observing Ananya's process of learning the language provides him with insights that he passes along to AWAD subscribers. The Wordsmith Web site has searchable archives and other features for those who can't get enough of words. And if you want to know anagrams of your name, Wordsmith can supply them. 0
n a recent evening at the Stein Auditorium in New Delhi's Habitat Centre, 10 Americans of different ethnicities recited poetry that captured the emotions of the immigrant experience postSeptember 11, 2001. Mohammed Ali, a Pakistani American accountant from Virginia, was the moderator of the poetry reading that featured, among others, a Midwestern Vietnamese American, a Haitian American from Florida and a Dominican American New Yorker. Interestingly, all these characters were stunningly played by one woman-Sarah Jones, 29, an American of black, Caribbean and white European ethnicity-who has grown up all over the U.S. East Coast. Jones is a playwright, poet, actor and activist who has received numerous honors, including a Helen Hayes Award, HBO's Aspen Comedy Arts Festival's Best One Person Show Award and a Drama Desk Award nomination. In the performance, Waking the American Dream, Jones didn't wear wigs, makeup or use prosthetic props-she just changed jackets, used scarves, modified gestures and postures and employed her remarkable gift for voices and accents-to transform herself from old to young, man to woman and white to brown and black. "All I had to do was reach into my multi-culti (cultural) rolodex," said Jones, dismissing her jaw-dropping mimicking skills with genuine.modesty.
And backing those skills is her scathing yet humorous sociopolitical commentary. One character, a well-to-do Haitian American who is discriminated against when she's looking for a house, recited a poem, the refrain of which was directed at a racist real estate agent: "God B less America but not because of YOu." A Mexican American character used poetry to talk about Hollywood films like The Mexican that are riddled with offensive stereotypes and don't address the realities of border deaths and work conditions for immigrants. Waking the American Dream premiered in the U.S. last year, where it was supported by a Ford Foundation grant to the National Immigration Forum, which Jones consulted while developing the characters for her performance. "America is a country of immigrants, but after 9/l1, immigrants from non-white, developing countries have come under suspicion, just because of the color of their skin," said Jones, in an interview on the day after her performance. She was exhausted fi'om jet lag, but she ignored pleas fi'om her mindel's to wrap up the interview, as she was eager to explain her art and her politics. Jones began to write Waking the American Dream a few months before September 11, 200 1. "Certainly, the September 10 issues, as I call them, took a bit of a back seat after September 11, but the urgency of the broader issues intensified. Everything that had been challenging about being immigrant were chal-
lenged even more," she said. Most of her characters stayed the same, but Jones added a new dimension to their experiences. "The characters are based on real people that I had interviewed and that I know. In some cases I went back to them and filtered some more of their experiences to bring it up to the current moment, that is post-September 11, to show what they feel like. Many new immigrants were also killed in the attacks in New York and people seem to forget that," she added. Jones is passionate about sociopolitical causes. In her first one-woman show Surface Transit (1998) she played eight New York characters of different ages, sexes and ethnicities, who recite socially critical monologues about racial discrimination, gender and sexuality discrimination and class discrimination. In Women Can't Wait (2000), which she also performed in India in 2001, Jones played eight female characters whose lives reflect gender inequities in the laws of their societies and countries. Jones successfully challenged and sued the U.S. Federal Communications Commission for banning "Your Revolution," a rap song featured in Surface Transit. The song is a parody of misogyny in hip-hop, and Jones said she sued because it is
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important to protect the artistic right to free speech. She is extremely critical of the subtle (and unsubtle) silencing of people who criticized the post-September 11 backlash against those who look or are Arab. "Let us not forget that it is things like the civil rights movement and other activist movements by immigrants over time that have made the U.S. progressive and sensitive to human rights. We can't do away with that," said Jones. What attracts her to the characters she chooses for her performances? "My own status as a woman. We have yet to achieve the equality that is much talked about. From the time I was five I was sensitized to this when I was not allowed to go out and play because my dress would get dirty! But jokes aside, as a black American I know how it is to be treated differently. My mother is white and my father is black so when we had to house hunt, she would go to look at the houses and my dad would go later, surreptitiously to check them out. This was not long ago, it was in the late 1980s in Washington D.C." Incidents of this sort made her empathetic to experiences of others like herself, she said. Given that she feels strongly about such issues, you would expect her plays to be polemical knocks on the head. If Waking the American Dream is anything to go by, they are far from that. "When you set out to talk about issues, you can't be didactic. You can't have a series of slogans akin to a corporate PowerPoint presentation. I want people to see what I see and the best way for me to do that is by being human. I aim at the center, not at the political center, but at the center of what makes us human. So I use humor and everyday things to make people see that we are all essentially the same and are striving for similar things," she said. For Jones there is no doubt that art must be political. "To suggest that any art isn't political is ~ extremely naive. Even art that paints itself as apolitical is at ยง one level making a' political statement by choosing not to :J COffilnent on the times," she said. "The question is where do you choose to place yourself." u While Jones has a pretty clear idea of where she wants to place herself, she said that doesn't stop other people from putting her in a box of their choosing. "In much the way all artists have to deal with identity, r have to as well, because when people see I am female and black they want to put me in a box and label me. I am proud to be black and a woman, that is not the problem, but my struggle is to demand my own space and be judged on my own terms, like any other white, male artist is. My art is my art, it isn't female art or black art, it is my art." Jones doesn't get paid as much as the male artists in her genre, but she certainly gets better reviews than they do and she gets people talking. "I performed Waking the American Dream in a small town in Iowa at a time when there was this profound anti-immigrant sentiment, the mythical 'they are coming to take our jobs rhetoric.' I don't know if they were ready for my performance, but in the end we got a great dialogue going, I got people talking and that was unbelievable," she said. 0
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About the Author: Shailaja Neelakantan New Delhi.
is afreelance
writer based in
White Kufi cap on the head, a long black shirt worn with loose white trousers and black shoes is the preferred dress of an African American Muslim trio, Native Deen, whose hip-hop music has become popular because of its relative simplicity, lyrical tastefulness and the group's rock-solid ambition. It is "Muslim Hip-Hop," a new music trend that is gaining attention internationally. Washington-based Native Deen performed at the Royal Albert Hall, London, with Yusuf Islam (formerly Cat Stevens) in October last year. It was formed by Joshua Salaam, Naeem Muhammad and Abdul Malik in the early 1980s. The history of hip-hop in the United States goes back a long way. Hip-hop and later rap music originated as an expression of minority subcultures in urban centers in the United States. The African American subculture, in particular, has historically generated much of America's most distinctive music, such as blues and jazz. The beat of Africa and reggae music of Jamaica are the components of the hip-hop that came out of the South
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Bronx of New York. It is sometimes called "emceeing," where the artist talks jn rhyme along with music, and does acrobatic "break" dancing. Afrika Bambaataa is the first black Muslim artist belonging to this particular music genre. He is widely regarded as the father of hip-hop. Muslim artists began to emerge in rap music in the 1980s. Bambaataa became a representative artist of American black youth. His first album, "Planet Rock" (1983), helped remould rap music and gave it a new dimension. Playing synthesizers and electronic drums and talking to the beat, rap artists presented their personal experiences through their music with aplomb. By the end of 1980s, rap had become part of mainstream American music,
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despite the controversy attached to many rap singers and their lyrics. Soon white artists began to adopt this new genre. Eminem is the most successful white rapper to date. White or black, rap is now the popular form of delivering grassroots sentiments. Afrika Bambaataa has been quoted in defining the genre: "Hip-hop music is made from black, brown, yellow, red, white ... whatever music that gives you the grunt, the funk ... that grows on that beat." From the start, Muslim artists carved out a niche for themselves in this field. Artists like Bambaataa had not attached much importance to their religious identity in the beginning, unlike the later groups such as Mos Def, Jurassic 5, Mecca 2 Madinah, Native Deen, Mountain View and Calli-
graphy of Thought that gave a serious thought to the whole issue, emphasizing faith and morality in their music. When rapper, actor, producer Dante Beze, popularly known as Mos Def, embarked on his professional life at the age of nine, he wanted to harmonize his art with the objectives of his life. Brooklyn-based Mos Def joined a group of artists, who gave tremendous importance to cultural identity. Mos Def, like most other rappers, did not isolate himself from American classical music. He made all possible efforts to master classical music. Although recordings of his songs had been released as early as 1994, his album, "Mos Def and Talib Kweli Are ... Blackstar," brought out with part-
ner-in-rhyme Talib Kweli in 1998, won wide acclaim. Such was the impact of the group consisting ofMos Def, DJ. Hightech and Talib Kweli that film offers began coming their way. Mos Def is widely respected because of his sincerity and focus on his ideals of a noble society in his music. His recent album "Black On Both Sides" sold briskly. At most of his performances, audience request the following song: "The World is overrun with the wealthy and the wicked, But God is sufficient in disposing of affairs. Gunmen and Stockholders try to merit your fear, But God is sufficient over plans they prepared. ..
Besides Mos Def, Jurassic 5 also attained prominence, playing at venues such as the Lollapalooza festival. Jurassic 5 cannot be termed a Muslim hip-hop group since it includes non-Muslim members. However, because of the presence of Muslim artists like Zaakir and Akil, the group has gained a Muslim identity. The six-member group has also made major contributions to hip-hop. Its popularity can be gauged from the fact that when it came out with its first album titled EP in 1997, 200,000 copies of the album were sold within a few days. Mecca 2 Madinah is another popular Muslim hip-hop group-along with Native Deen-that lays emphasis on the message. The members candidly admit that their group intends to propagate the teachings and message of Islam to a large number of listeners. Imran Qazi, Ismaeel Yaseen and Rakeen Abdullah founded Mecca 2 Madinah in 1996 during their college days. Popular artists like Abdul Kareem Talib and Dawood Saifullah joined the group later. Initially the group played only to religious congregations and similar events. Gradually Mecca 2 Madinah gained popularity. Another band, The Calligraphy of Thought, is quite distinct from all other Muslim hip-hop groups, and is noted for its beautiful and charismatic renditions. Having its own characteristic sty Ie in contemporary hip-hop, it combines American
temporary hip-hop, it combines American jazz, funk and modem hip-hop rhythms to create exquisite songs that enthrall audiences. A trademark style of this group is to introduce one of the lyricists present among them during the short interval between their musical performances. The lyricist "reads" out or sings his poem, after which the poem is sung and performed. The Calligraphy of Thought is the creation of poet Jman Tai who is inspired by the late poet and professor of African American Studies at University of California in Berkeley June Jordan. Jordan had composed and written a piece called, "Poetry for Public," which won him wide acclaim. Tai feels poetry is the most effec-
tive mode of expressing ideological inclinations of any society. He hopes to establish such a link between Islam and poetry in the West as had been established between the newly developed Muslim societies and Arabic poetry of pre-Islamic era. Eventually, the deep interaction played a critical role in the formation of new values. The Calligraphy of Thought has given a popular public platform to the Muslim poets of the new generation for expressing their views candidly. One of the group members, Shanon Staloch, says, "As an American Muslim, I try to reflect the ideas of both my country and my religion and search for the resolutions and solutions between them." D
Left: The Chrysler Building (right oenter) shares the New York skyline with the Empire State Building (left center). Far right: The Chrysler Building, at 405 Lexington Ave. between 42nd and 43rd streets, in New York City, is shown in this early photograph The art deco tower was completed in 1930.
ne day in April 1929 an agitated Walter Chrysler called elite architect William Van Alen into his Manhattan office. "Van, you've just got to get up and do something," said the auto magnate, according to a contemporary account. "It looks as if we're not going to be the highest after all." Chrysler's bid to put up the tallest building in the world, a monument to himself and American capitalism, was in jeopardy. In the canyons of Lower Manhattan, George Ohrstrom, a 34-yearold banker dubbed "the kid," was vowing to set the record at 40 Wall Street. "Think up something," Chrysler harangued his architect. "Your valves need grinding. There's a knock in you somewhere. Speed up your carburetor. Go to it!" The great skyscraper race was afoot. The solution Van Alen concocted in secret would help Chrysler trump Ohrstrom in spectacular fashion. But Chrysler's triumph was short-lived. Later in ] 929, John Jakob Raskob, financier for General Motors, announced his plans for an Empire State Building that would dwarf Chrysler's skyscraper. Raskob "wanted to put it up as a sign ofthe possibility of America," says Neal Bascomb, author of the recently published Higher: A Historic Race to the Sky and the Making of a City. He wanted a symbol of "what a kid who started as a stenographer can do with a little intelligence and hard work." The race is long forgotten, and later buildings, including Chicago's Sears lOwer and the ill-fated World Trade Center, stole the height crown from the Empire State. But the results, especially the Chrysler and Empire State buildings, still srummer on the New York skyline as emblems of American optimism. The Chrysler Building's facade, with its shiny metal hubcaps, American Eagle gargoyles, and gleaming Nirosta steel, pays homage to the capitalist ideal. The sleek geometric lines
and massive form of the Empire State testifY to American efficiency and commercial dominance. These art d<ecos,kyscrapers represent a break with Europâ&#x201A;Źlan conventions' of architec says Mike Wallace~ a City University of New York historian, an mark a moment "when New York was reaching ,for it 'new ,kind of cultural supremacy." , The grouuqwork for the race Was laid in the late 19th century. Until then, walls had to be thick enough to bear the weight of the floors above, which made erecting tall buildings'irnpracticaland expensive. But while designing Chicago's Home Insurance Building in 1883, architect William Jepney cmneup with the novel idea that a steel skeleton structure-:-a "cage design"~ could support the heavyJoad of at ower., . Cutting cornices. Early skysQrapers yverefestooned With arches, columns, and cornices, as in Cass Gilbert's ],911 Woolworth Building. Gradually American designeJ;sstripped aw~ the heavy accents and accouterments. "Nh old stufffofme!J! Van Alen,' the Chrysler Building architect, once said. '~o bestial copyings of arches and columns and comishes! Me, I'm ne~! Avanzii" A landmark 1.916 zoning law in New York City also reshaped the skyscraper. To preserve light and air at street level,the law reqiJired buildings to have a "setback" between ,9 aqd 1,8,stories. up and stipulated that towers above'thatheight could occupy no more than a quarter of their site. The result was the familiar "wedding cake" style of 1.920s New York skyscraperS. The push for height was driven by economics as well as vainglory. By 1927, oceans of speculative capital were spilling into commercial real estate as well as the stock market. With land prices spiraling, developers began to add stories to their buildings. A 1930 study calculated that a 63-story skyscraper would earn a desirable 10.25 percent return. More stories adde'd to con.: struction costs-out might also fetch higher rents. At 40 Wall Street, the cold calculus of money was paramount. Obrstrom, the investment banker, chose Craig Severance, Van Alen's estranged former partner, to be the architect. The building
tookfOl;rn fro:rnthemside &ut,aCcQrding to Bascornb. Severance u$ures out ilow;Wanyoffices lie could fit on a Iloor, then placed the el~vators and i'lie steel colurims fo determine the shape of the buildin& :Which wou14 rise 67 Stories and reach 840 feet (260 meters).:ConstrUct~on"startedin May 1929, under deadline pressure, In those Gays" all New York office leases began on May 1. ::rofinish 40 Wan Street by that date in "1~30~workers laid foundatlon$ for the tower.everi.befOJ'e they had finished wrecking the old,.building on the siie~ .. . It:lAugust 1929~Bascombwrites~ rumors reached Severance that Van Alen bad tweaked the Chrysler Building to exceed the offiCial 808 feet (246 trie1e"r路s).Severance made his building's pyraillidaltO!' steeper and. added 60-拢00t (I8-meter) steel cap to push 40 WliHSiteet to 925 feet (282 meters). With three shifts . workiilg. seven days a week, DuiJder Paul Starrett met the May 1930 dea.dline and set a speed record for completing a skyscraper. But "04t:strom~Severance and Starrett had Jumped the gun in claiming the height priZe.;'fll Nqv:emher 1929, with the interior still tinfinislled,theyinvite,dthedowntown elite to a ceremony. "The World~s Tallest Buildi,rig Raises the Stars 8t: Stripes to the New york Hea'vens," said the.headlitJe in the New York World. Unbeknownsf totlioseassembled, .Chrysler and Van A1en had .outfoxed them.' .. .. First Va.nAlen added a~ arch to the brnate steel dome, bringingthe Chrysler' Btiildillg to 860 feet (262 meters). Then he otdereu wotk~(s to assemble a 27~ton sted tip deep within the censtruction site. 1\ 路few weeks before the Wall Street event, workers hoisfed the spike--eaHed a "vertex"-fo the top. The Chrysler 'BuUding gaiped 186 feet (57 meters) instantly; at 1,046 feet '(31~ meters),.itsurpassed 40 Wall Street and the Ei.ffel Tower, for 40 xears the world's taUeststructure. No one noticed until the .~orybrokefQur days after the downtown ceremony. Gimmicks. Onrstrcttn and Severance led a campaign to condemn Chrysler's dirtytrick. George Chappell, the New Yorker's
a
architecture critic, denounced Chrysler's building as "asttmt design, evolved to make the man in the street look up." In response, Chrysler hired Jamed photographer Margaret BourkeWhite to climb 1,000 feet (300 meters) and take sweeping pho~ tos of his bUilding. Chrysler was soon overshadowed by Raskob, wh() h<ld hired Ai Smith, the former presidential candidate and New York governor, as a front man. In December 1929, Smith announced to his old pals in the press that the Empire State Building would rise 202 feet (62 meters) taller than the Chrysler Building. Most of the elevation would come from a mooring masf'fot zeppelins. It soon became clear that zeppelins could not land at 1;.250 feet (381 meters), 102 stories above the street, because of crosswinds. That didn't fazeRaskob:ioppirig the others was what . counted. Raskob and Smith hired Starrett, who embarked on~a second all-out construction push. Another rental deadline loomed, 11 months away. To finish by May 1,1931, he couldn't afford to let his 3,500 men come down from the higher floors for lunch, so he built them restaurants in the unfinished building .. The.Empire State Building opened on time in 1931; at less thanhalfthe.projected $50 million cost. It hardly mattered: By then the United .~tates was mired in the Great Depression. With a77 percent vacancy rate, critlcs began to call the world's tallest building the Empty State. One half7seriousIy suggested turning it into a hotel for New York's one.million homeless. Starrett suffered a nervous breakdown, Ohrstrom Jost his stake in 40 Wall Street, and Van Alen never worked on anoth- . er big commission. "Another Louisiana :Bubble had burst, but at least something more than paper and forlorn dreamswerelefl:/, Starrett later wrote in his autobiography. "The tall buildings remained. They would staud for a long time." 0 Ahout the Author: Jeff Glasser is a senior editor with U.S. World Report based in New York.
News
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ÂŤ Soaring structures capture the imagination. Few have a stronger hold than the Brooklyn Bridge, with its grace and human drama
路 art Crane wrote poetry abo uti t. Joseph Stella painted it. Woody Allen romanced Diane Keaton in front of it. Dave Frieder? The New York photographer has actually climbed the Brooklyn Bridge, lugging 35 kilograms of camera equipment up the massive steel cables to one of the Gothic towers high above the East River. From that perch, he could see past the opposite tower, over the cityscape, and into New Jersey. "It's such an incredible contrast," he says of the view. "Here's a bridge built in the late 1800s standing above all of downtown Manhattan." Somehow, the Brooklyn Bridge looks equally at home in Frieder's late-20thcentury photos and the earliest sepia prints taken 120 years ago, when it connected two separate cities then expanding only horizontally. It's still one of the most visible symbols in a town that doesn't lack for them. Behind the symbol is a story of genius, illness, family conflict, and a woman who was ahead of her time. Brooklyn is now New York City's largest borough, but 150 years ago, although growing quickly, it was considered a cowtown by its neighbors across the river. Although Brooklyn and New York are separated by no more than a kilometer in places, the journey by ferry could take more than an hour in the winter, when the East River froze over and slowed the boats. In 1852, one of those chilled and grumpy commuters was actually in the position to do something about it. John Augustus Roebling, a German immigrant and engineer, was a technical genius-he had introduced iron wire rope to the United States and was using it in his current project, a suspension bridge over the Niagara gorge. He was also obsessed by weird diets, seances, and mystical philosophy and was not an easygoing man. "His domestic life can be summed up in a few words, domineering tyranny," wrote his son, Washington, in a candid biography, Life of John A. Roebling Washington continued: "It was a fOttunate thing that his engin~ering
engagements kept him away for prolonged periods, otherwise his children would all have died young." Were Freud and his theories not decades in the future, the psychoanalyst would certainly have had choice words about the Roeblings and their roles in the bridge project. John Roebling was chosen as engineer for the bridge in 1867, when the state legislature created a private company to build it. And despite his feelings toward his domineering father, Washington, also a civil engineer, ended up becoming a key figure in the construction of the bridge. Father and son were surveying the Brooklyn tower site in 1869 when a ferry crashed into the pilings and crushed John's toes. Deeply skeptical of medical doctors, he accepted amputation (without anesthetic) but refused any fUlther treat-
with a span of more than 1,595 feet (486 meters) between the towers. Heresy of heresies, it would use cables woven of steel, stronger than the usual iron but rare in bridges. And its towers would require underwater foundations, built using openbottomed, airtight wood-and-iron boxes called caissons that rested on the river bottom-44 feet (13 meters) below the water's surface for the Brooklyn tower, and 78 feet (24 meters) for the Manhattan side. Workers were literally sealed inside, where they would dig deeply into the riverbed to sink the foundation. Working in the caissons was like working in a coffin, and not only because of the cramped and stuffY conditions. In 1870, a fire broke out in one, forcing Washington to flood the caisson to put it out. And because of the high air pressure in the
ment beyond a series of water cures. He developed tetanus, and as his jaw locked and made speech impossible, he wrote notes about the bridge and his financial affairs. He died of the disease less than a month later. It fell to Washington, wracked by guilt over his failure to warn his father of the ferry's approach, to carry out the ambitious vision. The structure would be the longest suspension bridge in the world,
Opposite page: The Brooklyn Bridge (right) and the Manhattan Bridge can be seen spanning the East River, from Manhattan to Brooklyn. Above: Pedestrians stroll along the promenade of the Brooklyn Bridge, connecting Manhattan and Brooklyn, New York City, 1891. The suspension bridge was opened for traffic on May 24, 1883. When bridge designer John A. Roebling incorporated the promenade into the design of the bridge, he said it was important that the people take part in the leisures afforded by the bridge.
Left: This old drawing shows people walking and a few riding in carriages over the Brooklyn Bridge on its opening day. Sailing vessels and side-wheelers crowd the East River below for this engineering marvel. In the first 24 hours after it was opened, more than 100,000 persons crossed the bridge, which joined the separate cities of Brooklyn and New York. Below: Portrait of Washington A. Roebling (1837-1926). He completed the Brooklyn Bridge ~ started by his father.
1 underwater work site, ascending too quickly to the surface caused a poorly understood illness, then called caisson disease and now known as the bends. In the spring of 1872, caisson disease-characterized by joint pain, skin rashes, and even paralysis- struck the chief engineer himself. Labor of love. Washington nearly died, and although he attempted to return to the work site, soon he was simply physically unable to supervise the project. After a recuperative trip to Germany, he and his family moved to Trenton, New Jersey. How would the chief engineer communicate with his crew? Enter Emily Roebling, Washington's wife. He had fallen in love with her when he was in the Union Army during the Civil War-she was the sister of his commanding officer-and remained completely smitten with her. Emily, says scholar Vivian Thiele, was athletic, smart, and an utter clotheshorse. When her husband fell ill, she wrote letters and read correspondence from the assistant engineers. After the family moved back to Brooklyn, in 1876, she became his on-site representative. Eventually she administered her husband's financial affairs and helped support him during at least two failed attempts to remove him as chief engineer. . Some historians have elevated her to the level of engineer, but Thiele is wary of that description. Rather than engineering, "she was very good at public relations," always ready to defend her husband's reputation, says Thiele, who oversees the collection of Roebling letters and materials at
the Archibald S. Alexander Library at Rutgers University. There was plenty to tax Emily's PR skills. The project was constantly beset by accusations of bribery, political machinations, and plain old doubt. "Every possible accusation was made," wrote Washington. "The bridge would fall down, the wind would blow it down, it would never pay, nobody would ever use it, it damaged the shipping interests, it was too long to walk over it, it would never compete with the ferries, the cost would be so great that the cities would be ruined, etc." In May 1883, a week before the bridge's official opening, Emily asked to cross it in a horse-drawn carriage to demonstrate its safety. She chose an unusual symbol of victory as a traveling partner: a live rooster. On the day itself, the chief engineer watched the festivities from his window in Brooklyn before he and Emily hosted a reception attended by President Chester AJihur. Nothing was really ever the same after the 13-year project was finished. Not for Washington; his firm went on to make wire rope for bridges including the George Washington and Golden Gate, and he even led the business again for five years toward the end of his life. (He did this all without Emily, who died in 1903.) Not for Brooklyn, which grew to be the country's third-largest city before becoming a borough in 1898. Not for New York City; in his book The Great Bridge, historian David McCullough wrote that the bridge can be seen as the gateway to the city's modern era-intro-
ducing the steel later used to build the skyscrapers that dwarfed even the bridge's mammoth towers. When "the wise man" crosses the Brooklyn Bridge, Harper s New Monthly magazine wrote in 1883, "he will linger to get the good of the splendid sweep of view about him, which his aesthetic self will admit pays wonderful interest on his investment of nothing." Frieder, the photographer, can no longer linger at the top of the bridge for the most splendid view of all; post-September 11 security concerns have put a temporary halt to his climbs. He hopes authorities ease their restrictions soon. "I'm heartbroken," he says. "I'm dying to get back up there." D About the Author: Katherine Hobson is an associate editor with U.S. News & World Repol1 based in New York.
ON THE LIGHTER SIDE
Copyright © The ew Yorker Collection 200 I Robert Weber from Cartoonbank.com. All rights reserved.
Copyright © The ew Yorker Collection 2000 David Sipress from Cartoonbank.com. All rights reserved.
SORRY. NO MORE. APPOllJTMENT~ TODA'i. I HA\IE. EIG~1'"£e:N CAVITIE<;
TO l=ILL.
"He keeps telling me I'm his bestfi'iend. I wish he'd get a life. " Copyright © 200 I The Saturday Evening Post Company. Reprinted by permission.
Copyright © 2001 The Saturday Evening Post Company. Reprinted by permission.
On a muggy afternoon in Chennai, a woman in a chador waits at the reception area of Saadhan Clinic, squiggling her toes through her black sandal straps anxiously. She is the lone woman among four or five men who have walked into the clinic for voluntary counseling and testing for the human immunodeficiency virus (HIY) that can develop into the deadly and incurable acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). Saadhan Clinic is run by Operation Lighthouse, a program initiated in 2001 by the Population Services International (PSI), to educate people about HTYIAIDS and prevent the spread of the disease among fishermen and others in 12 Indian port cities. The outreach program includes behavior surveys of vulnerable groups, one-to-one communication, promotion of testing and counseling, and refelTals to treatment. Operation Lighthouse is part of a network of HIV/AlDS outreach programs in Tamil adu and elsewhere funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAlD). The funding enables testing and counseling to
Left: A babysitter looks after the kids at the Community Health Education Society (CHES) home. Most of the wards at the home are infants whose HIV status is not yet confirmed. Right. HIVIAIDS prevention volunteers use the AIDS Prevention and Control (APAC) project:S printed material for their outreach and counseling program. Interestingly, one booklet (jar left in photo) combines both tourist information on Mahabalipuram and HIVIAIDS awareness.
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be done at a subsidized rate ofRs. 25. The twin DETERMINE and UNIGOLD test kits that Saadhan Clinic uses costs ten times as much in the market. This growing national and international interest-backed by financial resourcesis the good news in the HJV/AlDS story. In time it could mitigate the problematic situation that cUlTently exists. If the woman in the chador tested positive, she would be among the 10 percent of people living with HIV in India who know their status. It is believed by those who track the numbers that an alarming 90 percent of the 4.6 million living with HIV in the country are ignorant of their positive status until they have full blown AIDS. A large percentage of them are women. The National AIDS Control Organization (NACO) estimates that there are 400,000 people living with HIV in the state, which has one of the highest prevalence rates in the country, but reported figures show only 32,000 men and 10,694 women with HlY. In the past decade GOs working with government agencies in Tamil Nadu and other states have made a conceited effOlt to raise awareness about HIV/AlDS and give men and women in high-risk groups
Outreach organizations in Tamil Nadu are working hard to keep ahead of the HIV/AIDS pandemic
The knowledge of HIV-positive status is essential to prevent the spread of the disease.
Left: A communicator from Population Services International talks to a group of people at the Fishing Harbor in Chennai about HIV transmission modes. Right: Surali Mohan doing a skit at the Fishing Harbor in Chennai to spread the message on prevention of HIVIAIDS. Left: The Masti condom man walking around the Fishing Harbor attracts fishermen to the condom demonstration stand.
the means to protect themselves from transmission. Encouraging the use, distribution and sale of condoms among those most likely to engage in unsafe sex is a high priority. Fishermen, dock workers, truckers, sex workers and their spouses are the people Operation Lighthouse wants to reach. The next step is treatment, but so far Saadhan Clinic has no facilities to treat HIV /AIDS patients. The clinic refers people to local doctors or to ,Tambaram
Hospital, which has a special HfV/AIDS treatment center. Yet treatment remains a crucial component of the fight against HIV /AIDS, according to K.K. Abraham, president of the Indian Network of People Living with HIV and AIDS. "Treatment is also a part of prevention. We believe that prevention is an outcome of treatment." He explains that when there is affordable treatment for HIV, a sense of hope is instilled and people will come forward to
seek help. "Only if there's care and support and treatment, people will go for voluntary testing," he says. Certainly, given the social stigma that afflicts those infected with HIV/AIDS, there is little incentive to come forward for testing unless adequate treatment is offered. Yet knowing who is HIV-positive is essential to stop the spread of this pandemic. Dr. Bhasker Anand at Saadhan Clinic asserts that testing by itself has an obvious advantage, even if there is no antiretroviral therapy on hand to slow down the onset of AIDS. He maintains that knowledge of their HIV-positive status helps people "look out for the future not only in terms of protecting themselves, but also in terms of stopping the spread of infection to others." When people know they are HIV positive, they can alter their behavior, notify those with whom they have had sexual contact so they can be tested, and be treated themselves, at least for opportunistic infections. "A person who's not aware of his HIV-positive status is still going to continue with the same lifestyle, of say having sex with some other partner," he says.
Dr. Anand is cautious about antiretroviral treatment, which, he says, is needed when the infected person's CD4, or T-cell, blood count is very low. The level of these lymphocytes indicates how compromised a patient's immune system is, and if the person is in danger of dying. He concedes that by reducing the viral load in an infected person, antiretroviral drugs can prolong life expectancy, but there is no guarantee against premature death. Dr. Anand points out that the consequences of discontinuing antiretroviral therapy midway are serious for the individual, whose health goes into a tailspin as the virus multiplies. It may also have wider implications, if discontinued therapy results in mutated, drug-resistant virus strains, as is the case with antibiotics. As monitoring the therapy is critical and drugs are expensive, organizations extending care and support to people living with HIV are reluctant to start it. Cipla, one of the four Indian drug companies working with the William Jefferson Clinton Foundation in providing cheap generic antiretroviral drugs to poor African and Caribbean countries, has been able to bring down the price of the regimen to R~. 1,602
per month. However, the price of the alternative drug cocktail for those who cannot tolerate the first is substantially higher, at Rs. 2,136. Yet another course of drugs sometimes requires costs Rs. 4,500 per month. Second-line drug regimens, which patients need after they develop resistance or reaction to the basic drugs, cost between Rs. 3,768 and Rs. 9,159 per month. (Figures provided by Cipla). The expense is prohibitive for the average Indian family, whose monthly income is in the range of Rs. 2,000-3,000. Another organization involved in caring for HIV infected individuals is the Community Health Education Society (CHES). At the CHES home for children on the outskirts of Chennai, community organizer Joel Sundarsingh says that not knowing where the money will come from next year is a deterrent to starting infected children at the home on antiretroviral therapy. Funding agencies expect the programs they fund to become self-sustainable in due course, and do not continue to fund the same NGOs forever. It is to maintain this self-sufficiency that nongovernmental organizations like the
Indian Community Welfare Organization (ICWO) say they are scaling back on free condom distribution. In their project area in Mahabalipuram, one of the "hot spots" of sex tourism where bus stops are pick up points, only sex workers are now given free Nirodh condoms. At Krishna Hair Dressers, for example, where barber Palani helps ICWO by talking to customers in his chair about HTV/AIDS prevention, a box that says "Free Condoms Available Here" in Tamil contains only brochures. Palani has been instructed to tell people that condoms are available at the store next door. "If we give out free condoms, then it will affect sales," says K.P. Ravinchandar, project coordinator of rcwo in Mahabalipuram. "We want people to get into the habit of buying condoms. When we started our project, there were only seven shops that sold condoms; now there are 51." Condom sales are monitored and graphed at their office on Othavadai Street. For January 2003, the histogram showed 6,350 condoms sold. Sales climbed through the year to 7,040 for July 2003. The numbers for STD referrals and treatment, however, are much more modest.
They're still in double digits and often under 100. In March 2003,39 people were referred to two ofthe local doctors; ofthese 34 went for treatment. In June 2003, 52 people were referred; 42 went for treatment. The numbers are calculated from referral cards collected at the two clinics in Mahabalipuram that work with Icwa. Neither clinic has doctors who offer medical advice for HIV /AIDS. Dr. Gladys Indira, one of the doctors on the Icwa referral list, has 30 years of experience in
financial and technical assistance from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, which also collaborates with the Indian government to discover the best ways to meet the HIY /AIDS challenge. Since most Mahabalipuram sex workers are itinerants from Chennai, going to Tambaram Hospital is not very difficult for them. But those living farther away sometimes have to relocate to get treatment. Ravi, 38, has been at the Pondicherry-based Community Care
Mahabalipuram. She says she sends people who come in with complaints for venereal disease and HIV testing to Victoriya Clinical Laboratory, the only lab in Mahabalipuram that does HIV testing. It charges Rs. 250 for a Retroquic test because it is a private facility and not subsidized. The recommended confirmation test-the costly Western Blot-is not available in Mahabalipuram; Chennai is the nearest place where it is available. The local government hospital, according to Icwa workers, only has an outpatient facility and doctors there do not deal with HIV at all, except to refer such cases to Tambaram Hospital, which is the leading government center of HIY treatment in Tamil Nadu. Tambaram HospitSlI receives
Barber Palani talking to a customer about HIV prevention at his shop in Mahabalipuram.
Centre (CCC) of the Society for Development Research and Training since November 2003. He found out that he was HIV positive when he went to Tambaram Hospital with a tuberculosis complaint five years ago. Ravi is originally from the Madurai region, but moved to Chennai for treatment at Tambaram Hospital. Because he felt too debilitated to do the strenuous work that restaurant cooking demands, he had little money. He lived on Tambaram Hospital premises to cut the cost of rent and did a few cooking stints periodically to earn spending cash. He was told about the Community Care Centre while at
Tambaram Hospita1. "They said the CCC would give shelter and care to destitute people with HIV like me." Ravi spent two weeks at the hospice a while ago and decided to come back now that he has full-blown AIDS. This time, he was offered a watchman's job at the hospice. The job carries a salary of Rs. 1,500 per month, for which he plans to open a savings account. Ravi gets his staple medication from Tambaram Hospital and drugs for minor opportunistic infections at the CCC free of cost. "I haven't spent a paisa on treatment until now," he says. The Society for Development Research and Training receives USAID funding for its HIV/AIDS program. But as Ravi discovered, free treatment at select centers has hidden costs. According to Allada Padmaja, general secretary of the Positive Women Network, "even for opportunistic infections, to get this free of cost treatment, people have to travel and to stay outside their homes for a long time, which means giving up their jobs, leaving their families .... Do you know how difficult it is to find a place to stay?" Padmaja wants the cost of any anti retrovi ral regime-first or second line-slashed. "Any drug combination should cost a maximum ofRs. 500 per month." She thinks this price tag would put HIY treatment within reach of a significant percentage of people. Dr. Anand agrees. "Let's say if the drugs that now cost Rs. 1,500 come down to Rs. 400 or Rs. 500, I think a common man should be able to afford it." He also wants the trend of always referring people living with HIV to Tambaram Hospital or other specific places to change. "Medical practitioners should be given an orientation on how to handle HIV-positive people .... And [there must be] a rule or something that they have to treat HIV-positive people; that they cannot neglect HIVpositive people and they have to treat any opportunistic infections or even start them on an antiretroviral drug regimen. You know, like how tuberculosis is now being treated by general practitioners." Significant work on raising doctors' awareness has already been done. Under the umbrella of the AIDS Prevention and Control (APAC) project in Tamil Nadu,
Children poring over their primers at tlte CHES-run kindergarten located on tlte outskirts of Cltennai. Two of tlte children are HIV positive.
The good news is the political will shown by governments-with the help of NGOs-to fight HIVjAIDS. doctors are trained In providing HIV/AIDS care. "APAC has contracted different institutions such as the Meenakshi Mission Hospital in Madurai, PSG Institute in Coimbatore and Tamil Nadu Voluntary Health Association in Chennai to train different levels of healthcare providers," says Dr. Sanjay Kapur, project management specialist at the USAID health office. The program, funded by USAID through ACO, stal1ed in 1996. So far, more than 3,000 doctors have been trained in Tamil Nadu. The APAC program, fully funded by US AID, has done impressive work networking and assisting many other NGOs with interventions, bringing much-needed educational materials and training to professionals and non-professionals alike. Meri Sinnitt,
division chief of HIV and Infectious Diseases at the Health Office of US AID in New Delhi, says USAID's focus is to support the Govermnent oflndia in its efforts to control AIDS. She says, "USAID's goal is to be a development program" that is in a long-term partnership that supports capacity-building and system-strengthening, and that phases out gradually. "The issue is what needs to be done. We want to do whatever needs to be done." And there is more good news on the horizon. The Indian government recently announced a plan to provide free antiretroviral treatment by April 2004 to HIV-positive new parents, children under 15, and eventually to all people with full-blown AIDS in the six states with the highest rates of incidence, of which Tamil adu is one. "It's a very good sign that India is showing the political will to commit resources to this problem," says Sinnet. Between USAID, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Institutes of Health (NTH), the U.S. govermnent dedicates about $30 million a year to combat the AIDS pandemic
worldwide. Significant prevention research is being done in Tndia, jointly by the NIH and the Indian Ministry of Health. U.S. Charge d'affaires in India Robel1 Blake recently told a Mumbai audience, "These are not just financial commitments; these represent alliances between our two great nations as we partner to share knowledge, technology, research and resources. We are looking for solutions that transcend borders because HIV knows no borders." Other Americans are weighing in as well. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has pledged $200 million spread over the next five years in India alone. The William Jefferson Clinton Foundation, Richard Gere and the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation are all committing funds and energy to contain the scourge of AIDS and protect future generations from it. The key, advocates say, is for govermnents, businesses and social leaders to come fOlward and suppOl1 HIV/AIDS education and outreach. Millions of lives depend on it. D About the Author: Fee/ance
Nachammai
writer based in Chennai.
Raman is a
DiaBetNet
A COMPUTER GAME fOR
DIABETIC /(IDS
AMERICAN BORN, WITH ROOTS IN DELHI, THIS 27-YEAR-OLD IS ALREADY MAKING A CONTRIBUTION IN HIS CHOSEN FIELD
V
ikram Kumar has invented DiaBetNet, a computer game for children with type 1 diabetes. The goal is to motivate children to understand the disease and manage it. A medical student in the Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology, Kumar developed the game working with MlT professor Alex Pentland and physicians at the Joslin Diabetes Center in Boston. Last summer, Joslin's Dr. Lori Laffel led a clinical trial to test the new technology. Forty children, ages 8-16, took pal1. "Often kids are embarrassed about having diabetes and don't like other kids to know about it," says Alison Tovar, a Joslin research assistant who worked with the children and their parents. "But here they were telling us that their friends thought DiaBetNet was really cool and that it was a lot of fun to play. To hear a kid say that anything about diabetes is fun is amazing." DiaBetNet is a guessing game. Children enter what they estimate to be their current blood glucose level on a handheld computer, and then check the level on a specially designed blood glucose meter that wirelessIy transmits the result to the handheld. The handheld then awards the kids points based on how closely they guess. But the real object ofthe game, says Kumar, goes far beyond simply teaching the kids to be good guessers. "We wanted to see if the game would encomage kids to start paying closer attention and help them see how they could achieve better conh'ol; therefore, we designed the game with some prerequisites:"
Before kids could play, they had to have checked their blood glucose three times that day, Kumar explains. They also had to have entered into the handheld not only those earlier glucose readings but also the amount of carbohydrates they had eaten during the day
Vikram Kumar holds his DiaBetNet handheld computel: The computer game is designed to help diabetic kids control their disease.
and the amount of insulin they had taken. "When they get ready to check their glucose level the foUtih time and play the game," Kumar says, "the handheld takes all that data and gives them a graph so they can begin to see patterns emerge and guess what their level might be now."
Type I diabetes is an autoimmune disease that most commonly occurs in children and young adults. The body no longer produces insulin, so patients must inject the hormone several times daily and carefully control when and how much they eat. (The more common type 2 diabetes is a different disease that usually occurs in overweight adults.) To help avoid abnormal blood glucose levels-those that are too high or too low can both lead to dangerous or life-threatening complications-type 1 diabetics also must test these levels frequently. "We
F
see type I kids in the hospital all the time who just say, 'I've had enough of this,' and give up," says Kumar. "I wanted to see if I could find a way to motivate them to improve their understanding so it would be easier for them to take control." For the DiaBetNet trial, the Joslin randomly assigned the children to either the game group or the control group. Children in both groups were given the new glucometer and handheld, but only those in the game group could play DiaBetNet. Since they weren't playing the game, the children in the other group weren't asked to check their glucose levels a specific number of times a day. "The number of times they checked was based on their own motivation," Kumar explains. At the end of the four weeks, the data showed that DiaBetNet had achieved its goals. "Children in the game group not only checked their glucose levels more often, but they also were more likely to
rom the moment the friendly watchman outside greets and guides you to reception-through the soothing, tastefully decorated, plant-bedecked entrywaythe vibes are good at Kumar Pain Management Centre (KPMC) in Vasant Vihar in New Delhi. Dr. Vijay Sheel Kumar, neurosurgeon and father of Vikran1 Kumar of DiaBetNet fame, returned to India four years ago to pursue his dream of treating pain by "the least invasive" methods. After more than 35 years practicing medicine in the United States, he decided to bring the latest pain relief techniques back to his hometown. "The latest" at KPMC may include rediscovered traditional healing methods, after conditions are assessed with sophisticated digital scans and other tests. For most of his career Dr. Kumar has believed that surgery should not be the first option, and that other, less traumatic techniques should be tried. While he recommends surgical procedures "where appropriate," other therapies at his clinic range from conventional medications and "various kinds of interdiscal injections," to acupuncture, diet, exercise, shiatsu massage, physiotherapy and aromatherapy. There is even a consulting psychologist available. Dr. Kwnar employs new treatments such as the use of injectible ozone into compressed discs to heal and relieve back pain. The program addresses many factors, the needs of the whole body, not merely treatment of isolated symptoms. "By using this multimodality system, it literally eliminates surgery in indicated cases by
keep participating in the trial," says Kumar. "And we even found that they had fewer high blood sugars." Kumar's passion is to help people with serious chronic diseases stay out of the hospital, so with several MIT colleagues he has statied a company called Dimagi, which is dedicated to creating low-cost home-based technologies that make it easier for people to manage these conditions. Dimagi now is developing DiaBetNet further and working with the Joslin doctors to mount a more extensive trial. "Patients are going to have to live with type I diabetes until we come up with a way to cure it," says Kumar. "We have to find systems that fit into their lives-like a computer game for children-and that help them take control." 0 About the Author: Carla Lane is a contributing writer with Spectrvm, an MlT publication.
about 70 percent. And that's very exciting," he says. Medicine is a family affair. "Although all my kids have gone into the medical profession, I never told them to do it," he says, laughing. Besides son Vikram, who completes his medical degree at Harvard and MIT this year, HEMANT BHATNAGAR eldest daughter Meena practices in the U.S. Daughter Anjali, a dentist, has joined him at the New Delhi clinic. And wife Sarita is a nutritional and aromatherapy consultant. Dr. Kumar is understandably proud of them. Of young Vikram he says, "I still wonder ifhe'l! be a regular doctor," citing his interest in sophisticated technology and project networking with lIT, Columbia University and MlT. He is not drawn to specific, secluded laboratory research, Dr. Kumar points out: "What Vikram does is work on projects that will help people help themselves, so his research has been more applied research. He is very much into computer networks and programs that affect a lot of people." Vikram is currently developing a handheld similar to DiaBetNet to help South African HIV/AJDS patients take their antiretroviral medicine, Dr. Kumar says. While father and son may go about their work differently, they both appreciate-and utilize-global medical resources and collaborations available today. Their aim is to improve the quality of care and make life easier for the patient. -L.T.
Indian Americans on
One of the most exciting-and grueling-jobs a young person interested in politics can have is an aide in the office of a member of the U.S. Congress. There, at the nerve center of U.S. politics, the work rarely lets up.
ix years ago when Kathy Kulkarni first strode into New Jersey Democrat Congressman Frank Pallone's office to start work as a congressional aide, she was one of the few South Asians working on Capitol Hill. Capitol Hill or The Hill, as it is affectionately known among Washingtonians, is not much more than a slightly elevated end of the National Mall. Yet, this unimposing elevation is compensated for by the magnificent Capitol Building that sits atop, its cavernous corridors connecting the offices of members of the United States Congress with the imposing rotunda under which Congress assembles when in session. Walking through these corridors, Kulkarni recalls it was uncommon to see other people of South Asian heritage. "The ones that were there, I could count on one hand." In March this year, the South Asian American Congressional Staff Association-or SAACSA-was formed with a membership of over 40. "I believe that. this is a testament to the interest young South Asian Americans are showing in politics ... and public service," says Kulkarni. SAACSA was Ramit Kohli's idea. A legislative assistant in Illinois Democrat Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky's office, Kohli says when he first statted work, he felt the need to form an association of South Asian congressional aides. "We are all working here ... at odd hours of the day, and odd days of. the week ... .! thought we should at least have a forum where we could get to know each other better," he explains. SAACSA members include staffers working with both Democratic and Republican members of Congress. Though SAACSA was set up to help the young aides get to know one another better, long, hectic working hours do not allow for much socializing. It took Sampak: Garg a while to get used to life in Washington. Raised in San Jose, California, Garg didn't know quite what to make of the nation's capital at first. "It seemed a lot bigger, but I've gotten used to it now," he says, with a chuckle. "I like the fact that it is very international. You can hear different languages just by walking a couple of blocks. You can get all sorts of cuisine here." A five-year veteran of the Hill, Garg works on intellectual property rights and terrorism related issues in Michigan Democrat Congressman John Conyers' office. A law graduate from George Washington University, in Washington, he was toying with the idea of making a career practicing corporate law but confesses "the thought of working on policy [on the Hill] for more than one client was too much to resist." "Work here is a great combination of policy and politics," agrees Kulkarni. Her primmy interest was a career in public health. "I never had any intention of getting involved in health policy," says Kulkarni whose job profile oflegislative director includes advising Pallone on matters relating to health care. Her Indian heritage comes in handy when the Congressman, a former co-chair of the Congressional Caucus on India and Indian Americans, and an active member of the Caucus, needs advice on issues related to India. Kulkarni is a vital part of that advisOlY team. "It's vety exciting to be working in one of the few places where you can be
S
Top: Dino Teppara and Congressman Joe Wilson on the steps of the Capitol Building in Washington, D.C. Above: Ramit Kohli. Far left: Kathy Kulkarni with Congressman Frank Pallone.
young and have a lot of influence," she says. Kulkarni is extremely encouraged by the fact that her South Asian American colleagues on Capitol Hill are not merely focused on issues concerning U.S.-South Asia relations, but equally interested in domestic issues. As a legislative assistant to Schakowsky, Kohli handles issues ranging from the environment to education to defense. "It is great to be up here and to know that you are working hard to make this nation a better place to live in for all its citizens," he says. Yet, an intimate knowledge of a foreign country is by no means a disadvantage. It was Dino Teppara's familiarity with India that piqued South Carolina R~publican Congressman Joe
Wilson's interest. Teppara first met Wilson, then a State Senator, at an annual Indian Independence Day celebration in Columbia, South Carolina, in 2001. "He told me that he was impressed with my speech [at the event], and that it was an update of a paper he had written in high school about India," Teppara recalls. He ended up volunteering on Wilson's campaign and was later offered a full-time position in the Congressman's Washington office. Besides advising the Congressman, Teppara also tracks legislation. He is currently working on tax, energy, education, telecommunications, judiciary and legislative issues. On foreign policy, he handles both the Bulgaria and India Caucuses, of which Congressman Wilson is currently the Republican co-chair. At the age of six, Sohini Gupta had her life mapped out. She wanted to be an attorney. "Something about helping the underdog intrigued me," says Gupta. "I wanted to find creative solutions to difficult problems." As she pursued her professional goal, she began to realize that while lawyers interpret, enforce and manipulate the law to their client's advantage, the letter of the law limits them. "I realized that true change and impact came from the creation of the law which takes place on Capitol Hill," she says. Gupta spent a year working for Indiana Democrat Senator Evan Bayh when he was Governor ofIndiana and realized her true calling. "1 found a leader I believed in and felt the country needed." While in law school she worked on Bayh's Senate campaign, and then graduated a semester early to join his staff as his health and social policy counsel. "It has been over four years and I don't consider what I do on a day-to-day basis to be work, 1 am lucky to spend my time doing something 1 truly feel makes a difference," she says. Like Sohini Gupta, Ramit Kohli has enjoyed his stint on the Hill, but says he eventually wants to head to business school. He plans to work in the area of econom ic development in emerging economies. "My experience here will stand me in good stead," he says. A University of Nebraska alumnus, Teppara doesn't see himself leaving Washington in a hurry, but adds: "I do want to return to my family in South Carolina .... Having strong family ties is impOliant, so 1 definitely want to be near them in the future." For these young aides, Washington's fast pace and power are a heady mix. "My favorite thing about this city is that everyone is here to change the world, which makes for an intellectually thrilling environment," says Kathy Kulkarni. "Life in Washington is great," says Gupta. "People, even if of different ideologies, are informed and passionate about what they do. Politics and public policy options are always a topic of conversation at any gathering. People here are young, social and energetic." D About the Author: Ashish Kumar Sen is a Washington, D.C.-based journalist working with the Washington Times. He also contributes to the Times of India and Outlook.
Not All
Decisions Are Created Equa
What can you do when you have to choose between several valid options? The process can be painful. How many times have you rushed a decision simply because you couldn't bear to wrestle with it any longer? Try your hand at the following challenge: You are an executive for a global construction company, Fabrications Ltd., and are in the midst of making a set of site visits of major global business units. Your next stop is the Southeast Asian headquarters. You arrive in the late afternoon, in time to have an informal dinner with an old friend who is the vice president for operations. At the end of the dinner, while the two of you are enjoying coffee and dessert, he receives a call on his cell phone. His voice takes on a very serious tone, and when he hangs up, he informs you that his mother has had a stroke and that he has to fly to Europe immediately. He has to head home to pack and make arrangements to catch the next fljght. He asks you for a last-minute favor. He explains that there is a critical meeting the next morning at 7. It's been very difficult to schedule this because of the hectic pace of travel for everyone in his business unit. He believes the meeting can run without him, and it's urgent that it take place because there are four major decisions that have to get made. The favor he requests is this: Will you please chair the meeting? You won't have to make the decisions, merely keep the discussions on track. Because of time pressures, the meeting can last only one hour. Your job is to make sure that each decision gets made before the meeting ends. Then your friend reaches into his attache case and hands you a piece of paper with the four decisions that will need to be settled
When faced with a series of tough choices, where do we start? the following day. With that, he excuses himself and rushes out of the room. Here are your instructions: 1. Select a site for building a wastetreatment plant in the Philippines. There are two sites to choose from. Numerous studies have been performed and have shown that both sites seem adequate. The decision is an impOltant one, with about $100 million riding on it. Proponents for each site are evenly lined up, and the strengths and weaknesses of the two sites seem pretty well balanced. One site offers some potential for cost savings but carries a slightly higher risk for schedule delays. o one has offered a decisive reason to select either one. 2. Pick a subcontractor for the project to build the waste-treatment plant. There are five possible companies from which to choose. A team has studied the strengths and weaknesses of each, and has disseminated a repOlt with their findings. The team will give a 10-minute report showing how the subcontractors line up on common criteria. But they refuse to give their opinion. The whole committee will have to make this decision together. 3. Green-light a proposal. A team repOlting to yom VP friend has worked for several months to prepare a bid in excess of$160 million for a major construction project in Australia. However, doubts have been expressed about the competence of the team he has put together. There are concerns that the team may have ignored some potential problems and that the contract may lead to financial losses. You have to decide whether or not to issue the bid. 4. Respond to a new contract offel: For a project in Indonesia, a major supplier that is a local government monopoly has been providing both the necessary supplies and
the shipping to bring in those supplies. The company has announced it is doubling its rates. They need a revised contract from you in one week or else they will refuse to provide any more service. The additional cost will be $10 million per year. Should you accept this change? You realize that in order to get these decisions made within one hour, you have to estimate how much time to spend on each decision and, perhaps, even identitY the method the group should use to make each decision. If you spend too much time on the first decision or two, you won't be able to complete or do justice to the later decisions. But the first decisions are too important to rush. How much time will you schedule for each of the four decisions you have to cover? How will you orchestrate the team to make each of the decisions? As in all decision games, there are no right answers. When I've run this game with managers, I have encountered a variety of solutions. Some people take the easiest way to split up the hour into four l5-minute blocks, assigning one decision per block. Others try to judge which decisions are going to require the most discussion and give these the most time. If it were me, I'd do it this way: Decision 1 = 2 minutes, Decision 2 = 25 minutes, decision 3 = 5 minutes, and decision 4 = 25 minutes. You'll see why as I outline how I'd approach each decision. I am not, by the way, claiming that this is the right answer-just the best solution I come up with based on my experiences. You may have more experience than I do with these types of decisions, or a different, equally valid perspective, and you may choose a different path. Each of the four decisions falls into a
different category; each one is likely to need a different approach. Here's what I suggest: Decision 1 is about choosing between two sites for the waste-treatment plant. The potential sites are virtually identical in terms of strengths and weaknesses. Therefore, this seems like a classical case of the "zone of indifference." The teams have been hashing this out for months. This is not the place for intuitive decision-making. There is probably nothing you can say in an hom that will add anything new to the argument. Basically, the two options match up so equally that the team is not going to be able to find a clear winner. Zone-of-indifference decisions plague us because we are driven to ferret out some reason for preferring one option over the other. And the closer together the options are, the less there is to distinguish them-but the more energy we waste trying to pick a favorite. In this case, I wouldn't let the group vote-it would take up time and foster the illusion that one option is better than the other, and that the group's collective wisdom can ferret it out. Better to bring forward the lead advocate for each site, have them flip a coin, and let them call it. Then move on. Flipping the coin makes the point dramatically that neither option is better than the other. Action is needed, not more deliberation, and it's time to get this project moving. Decision 2, selecting one subcontractor from a group of five, calls for a comparison. This is the kind of decision that is most suited for deliberate analysis. You'll have to think about the reputations of the subcontractors, the costs of their bids, the approaches they are taking, the quality of the people they are assigning, the backlog of work each seems to
have, and so fOlth. When there are a large number of factors, you cannot rely on overall intuitions about what to do. You can rely on your intuitions about specific factors, though, such as reputation, quality of the people, and soundness or riskiness of the contractors' suggested way of approaching the project. For making the overall decision, the number of factors to consider-and their complexity-goes beyond anyone's patterns and intuitions. If you approach this decision using a traditional analytical approach, you would list all of the key evaluation dimensions, assign a weight to each according to its impoltance, have each member of the
options so that you can see which options emerge as the strongest. Another suggestion: Try to keep the decision-makers' intuitions in play by asking the group members for their preferences before you stalt any of the analyses. Then, regardless of the method you use to analyze the subcontractors, you'll know where people stand. Decision 3, the suspicious bid of $160 million, is going to be based on intuition-the use of experience on similar incidents in the past. This is a case in which expertise does exist. Your most experienced team members are uncomfortable with the quality of the bid. Their
Action is needed, not more deliberation, and it's time to get this project moving, group rate each subcontractor on each criterion that your group has decided is crucial, add up the results, and see which one comes out on top. There is nothing wrong with this type of strategy, as long as you remember that the weights and the ratings are both subjective. Don't feel trapped by your analysis-treat it as a statting point for further discussions. When using a rational-choice strategy, people tend to overemphasize factors that are more easily calculated. It's easy to line up the proposed bids from lowest to highest and see which bidder is offering you the best price. But if you try to rate the bidders on reliability, you could find that each is rated "somewhat better than average." So even though reliability is an important quality to consider in a subcontractor, with no way to distinguish them this criterion is tossed away during the fmal decision-making. One advantage of this analytical method--eomparing options on a common set of criteria-is that it helps to make sense of a compl icated decision and to gain consensus in a group where different people might have different preferences. If there is disagreement about how to weight each of the dimensions, you can drop that patt of the process. What is important is that you identify the major strengths and weaknesses of yach of the
intuition is making them uncomfortable. They are worried about the chances of overlooking something important that could have grave financial and legal implications. If you don't heed their advice, why bother asking them at all? In many cases, though, we do feel reluctant to let prior expenditures (money, time, energy) go to waste. We trap ourselves. Or else we fear the political backlash of changing our minds. So in this context, some in the group might be reluctant to waste the effort of the proposal team-they would rather run the risk of high losses down the road. This type of reasoning is known as the "sunk-cost fallacy": trying to get some return for resources that have already been spent. Your job is to prevent this. Forget about what went into the proposal.Ifthe end result isn't reliable, drop it. Decision 4: Should you agree to a revised contract with an increased cost of $10 million per year? It" a good bet that no one is going to simply accept a rate hike without a fight, so the natural thing to do is shift into a problem-solving mode and discuss ways to negotiate. You can expect that the group has a lot of intuitions about what prompted this demand and what it will really take to satisfy the supplier. It's a good bet that people have been through this drill before and have learned routines for handling this type of crisis.
Perhaps your group can suggest political considerations that need to be addressed or tempting counteroffers that can be made, or even simple compromises. A shOlt meeting is not enough time in which to craft a negotiation strategy with the assembled group, so use the time to see who has the time and the connections to lead the negotiations. At a minimum, you must identify the key players, determine who is capable of getting a strategy in place, and come up with a fallback position if that strategy doesn't work. Remember, you have only one week to respond to the supplier's request for a revised contract, so you may want to engage a team in a parallel effort to prepare the revised contract for the additional rates while the task force tries to delay the deadline and find a compromise. Notice that you are not making the final decision at this meeting-there is no reason to rush into a judgment at this point. I have taken you through these four decisions to show that not all decisions are created equal. On the surface, each one calls for a tough choice. However, once we look more carefully, we can see that the nature of the decision-making is very different for all four cases. If you have only a rational-choice method in your repeltoire, you might not get past Decision 1 in the example. But by becoming skilled at cate- . gorizing decision types, you can save yourself a lot of work and frustration. The four decision categories illustrated by this example are zone-ofindifference choices, choices requiring comparison, intuitive choices that rely on your expertise, and choices that turn into problem-solving. Maybe you would tackle this decision game differently than 1 do. That's fine. It is less important to figure out which is the right approach than to see how different the choices are. It doesn't matter if you have a completely different set of categories from the one I have presented. Being able to differentiate between types of choices is the shOltcut to responding more adaptively to decisions. 0 About the Author: Gary Klein is chairman and chief scientist at Fairborn, Ohio-based Klein Associates and author of Sources of Power: How People Make Decisions.
CORPORATE
SET FREE t Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Mahadev Satyanarayanan is working on a mobile-computing approach he calls "Internet suspend/resume." The idea, says Satyanarayanan, is to be free to stop your work, have your files saved automatically over the Internet, and-when you're ready to resume-find "your world restored" on any computer in any location, as if you were using your personal laptop. The computer scientist is also experimenting with a new method of transforming his research into real-world technology. Every day, he takes a four-minute walk from his university office to an off-campus research lab funded by Intel. At that lab, the third "lablet" Intel has established adjacent to a leading university, Satyanarayanan has opportunities to translate his vision of Internet suspend/resume into a working prototype-and test Intel's stated commitment to collaborating openly with academic researchers. "Most companies have real difficulty" reconciling the academic urge for open communication with the corporate imperative to own and profit from ideas, notes Satyanarayanan, who became director of the facility in August 2001. Indeed, many corporations that fund university research force faculty and graduate students to sign nondisclosure and exclusive-licensing agreements. But "Intel has a collaborative model up front," Satyanarayanan says. "The right approach is not to tightly control intellectual property but to treat it the way a university does." And so far, that's exactly what the lablets are doing. "The vast bulk ofthe intellectual property produced by this research will be nonexclusive and licensed to all comers," says Intel research director David Tennenhouse, architect of the lab let program. At the first Intel lab let, near the University of California, Berkeley, for instance, the operating system behind the lab's self-organizing networks of miniaturized wireless s~nsors is accessible to anyone
A
Secrecy is verboten at Intel's network of university "Iablets"
who takes out a free license. Indeed, Intel plans to penalize lablet researchers who don't share enough. "If a lablet isn't collaborating with its university, then I'll close it," Tennenhouse says. Support for this kind of openness has nothing to do with charity. "Intel stands to benefit in the long run," says Tennenhouse .. By accelerating progress on new types of mobile computing and other disruptive technologies, Intel hopes to promote ideas that don't fit within existing business lines but may transform consumers' computing habits and become critical to the microprocessor market within the next few decades. Gaetano Borriello, the director of Intel's lablet at the University of Washington in Seattle, says the openness guaranteed by Tennenhouse was a big factor in his decision to take a leave of absence froni the university to start up the facility. "If it had not been a new model, if Intel had just been doing an established corporate-research lab, I wouldn't have been so interested," says Borriello, whose lablet focuses on "embedded computing," the effort to equip working and living environments with small, out-of-sight computing devices. "Instead of doing this at Microsoft, say, and not being able to talk about my work, I'm at a place where I'm encouraged to talk about it." For both Intel and the lablets, though, true success might well depend upon accomplishing a different kind of suspend! resume operation-when the time comes to "declare the 'open' phase of a project over and shift the research inside" Intel proper, says David Culler, director of the Berkeley lablet. Culler says such transfers will be critically important, not only because they will help Intel collect on its investment, but also because they will create room at the lablets for entirely new projects. Already, though, Culler believes that Intel has achieved another goal with its lab Jets: "It has stepped into a position of intellectual leadership." D About the Author: G Pascal Zachary is a visiting scholar at Columbia University s Center for Science, Policy and Outcomes. He is the author of The Diversity Advantage: Multicultural Identity in the New World Economy.
MUSHING;' The term "mushing," used to describe driving a team of sled dogs, is thought to have originated during the Yukon gold rush days at the end of the 19th century, from the French "marche." A "musher" is a driver. But mushers don't say "mush" to get the dogs moving: it's usually a brisk "hike!" To steer, "gee" is right, "haw" is left.
"I am nine. I alreadv have four dogs. When 1get to be eighteen 1am going to go crazy. too. and run this race:' -From Gary Paulsen's Winterdance: The Fine Madness of Running the Iditarod
ill
elog a Httlc bit OffiZY helped right from the beginning in Anchorage, that first o Saturday in March 1973, when 35 mushers and their dog teams left the starting line to race 1,853 kilometers across the winterlocked Alaskan wilderness to Nome. There was a compelling case to stay home and put another log on the fire. First, there was the weather: temperatures that could reach 65 degrees below zero with winds in excess of 160 kilo.meters an hour. Second, there was the almost total lack of recognition; the prize money was still only an intention. Third, there was the chance that the sled dogs could be eaten alive by wolves. And lastly, there was the stretch over the Bering Sea's undependable ice. One of the patiicipants, Bobby Vent, summed up the mood: "Nobody figured anybody could make it." Twenty days and forty-nine hours after leaving Anchorage, Dick Wilmarth
o
Jeny Riley o/Nenana, Alaska, tries to control his sled as he heads down a hill onto the Happy River about 345 kilometers from Anchorage during the 2000 Iditarod TI-ail Sled Dog Race.
and his team of huskies led by Hotfoot crossed the finish line in Nome. Twenty-two teams (including Vent's) completed the race, with last place finisher John Schultz arriving 12 days after Wilmarth. Schultz's record still stands. Event organizer Joe Redington mortgaged his house and all the prize money was awarded. Today, the Tditarod is Alaska's signature event and is emblematic of its frontier spirit, which stands in sharp contrast to the television-watching lower 48. Nearly 500 mushers, as young as 18, as old as 88, have come from 15 countries to complete. Today the dogs are faster, the drivers more knowledgeable, and the trail, though every bit as ominous, a little less difficult. The last four champions needed just over nine days to complete the journey (Doug Swingley set the speed record in 1995: nine days, two hours and forty-two minutes). The Tditarod, Athabascan for "distant place," dates to 1925 when a diphtheria epidemic swept through Nome, wiping out its supply of antitoxin. The closest serum was in Anchorage but
trains could only carry the medicine as far as Neena; there, 20 sled dog teams in seven days relayed the serum over the final 1,009 kilometers to Nome. That was the inspiration for Dorothy Page to pitch a commemorative race in 1967 as part of Alaska's centennial celebration. She approached Redington, a sled-dog traditionalist, and six years later the annual trail race commenced. Men and women compete head-to-head. Tn fact, the most dominant Iditarod performance belongs to Susan Butcher who won four times over a five-year stretch, from 1986 to 1990. Each musher can field a team of between 12 and 16 dogs. Never has a contestant finished the race with his team completely intact, though. It is not unusual for more than half the team to drop out over the course at one of the race's 27 checkpoints. Some become sick, some are injured, some get dropped for strategic purposes, and a very few die. Success, however, would be impossible without the heroic drive of the dogs. Mushers spend countless training hours learning each
Veteran Sonny Lindner from Fairbanks, Alaska, followed by another musher, tries to keep out of the headwinds as he drives down the Yukon River during the 2001 Iditarod Race. Lindner was the first winner of the fukqn.QUÂŁst race in 1984;;.
Linwood Fiedler, of Willow, Alaska, drives his dog team down the Unalakleet River a few kilometers from the coastal village Unalakleet, Alaska, during the 1999 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race. The orange boots protect dogs 'feet.
T
he Yukon Quest sled dog race was inspired as a tribute to the plucky gold prospectors, mail carriers, trappers and traders who pioneered the icy North Country and traveled its trails a hundred years ago. Historian Roger Williams, LeRoy Shank, and several other founders named it after the Yukon River, which was so important to early settlers it was called "the highway of the North," because when frozen solid, it served as a road. The first race was flagged off in ] 984 and has continued to run each February, often the month with the coldest and most unpredictable weather. The crossborder track traverses 1,600 kilometers over rough, treacherous terrain between White-horse, Yukon, in Canada and Fairbanks, Alaska, in the U.S. The trail takes contestants over the North Pole. Weather provides unexpected hazards and windfalls, as statistics show: the shortest race was run in 1995, when it was won by Frank Turner after 10 days, 16 hours and 20 minutes; the longest was won by Ty Halvorson in 1988, taking 20 days, 9 hours and 16 minutes to finish. The first woman to win the race was Ally Zirkle in 2000. The declared mission of the Yukon Quest is not only to promote excellence in dog care and pre-
serve the tradition of mushing and Arctic survival skills, but recognize "an international spirit that knows no governmental boundaries." The destination city alternates from year to year. Tn even years, sled dog drivers, or mushers, start from Fairbanks and odd years from Whitehorse. The Tditarod race similarly alternates routes in odd and even years. Dogs are the most important part of the race, and their health is looked after meticulously, down to protecting their paws with booties when running across rough ice or ground, or on roadways
"Buck
did not read the newspapers, or he would have known that trouble was brewing, not alone for himself, but for every tidewater dog, strong of muscle and with warm, long hair, from Puget Sound to San Diego. Because men, groping in the Arctic darkness, had found a yellow metal...These men wanted dogs, and the dogs they wanted were heavy dogs, with strong muscles by which to toil, and furry coats to protect them from the frost." -Jack London, opening of Call of the Wild (1903)
where de-icing chemicals may be present. The native "Alaskan Husky" dominates the field, although it is not a registered breed. Since the gold rush in the late 19th century, Alaskan Huskies have been bred from native dogs and other stalwart imports for work and racing. Alaskan Malamutes and Siberian Huskies are widely used. Eskimo dogs, Greenlands and Samoyeds may also be seen. All such burley working dogs, which can weigh 20 to 35 kilograms or more, originated from dogs native to the cold North. Mushers start the Yukon Quest with eight to 14 dogs and must have no fewer than six dogs to finish the race. There are veterinary checks along the trail and drop-off points for ailing dogs. These intrepid and hearty dogs inspired American writer Jack London's famous book Call of the Wild. There are other sled dog races in the United States-the Kobuk 400, the Kusko 300 and the Copper Basin 300 in Alaska, as well as a few in the northernly "lower 48" states (Alaska is the northernmost state in the United States). But none are as challenging as the Iditarod and Yukon Quest. This year's Yukon Quest race is scheduled for February 14. The Iditarod runs on March 6, 2004. D .
dog's tendencies. Trust is established by "becoming a dog," as mushers say. They spend nights together inside kennels; the musher massages dogs' shoulders and tends their feet; they share meals. Musher Gary Paulsen wrote, "The Iditarod is not really a sled race, nor a race of people, nor of money, nor of macho idiocy, nor of feminine strength, nor intellect, nor bravery. It is a dog race ... the base of the equation is dogs." 0 Excerpts from the book American Greats, edited by Robert A. Wilson and Stanley Marcus, and published by Public Affairs l'ress/Perseus Books Group.
Above: Three-time Iditarod champion Martin Buser of Big Lake, Alaska, snoozes with his dogs after reaching the Nikolai, Alaska, checkpoint about 560 kilometers from Anchorage during the 2001 Iditarod. Above right: Dogs and mushers take a break during the second day of the 2001 Iditarod at the Pontilla Lake checkpoint about 360 kilometers from Anchorage, Alaska. Rest is critical before facing the h'eacherous Datezell Gorge. Right: A musher drives his team across the frozen Norton Sound near Nome, Alaska, during the a. 1996 Iditarod race. It can be a lonely trek in one of the most ~ remote, unforgiving and sparsely ~ populated areas of the world. ~
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BUSINESS SENSE
A showcase for environmentally sound practices, the CII路 Sohrabji Green Business Centre in Hyderabad earned a rare platinum rating by the U.S. Green Building Council even before its official opening.
he partners for the CIISohrabj i Godrej Green Business Centre (GBC) in Hyderabad were jubilant in November 2003 when the news came that the center had been awarded the coveted platinum rating by the U.S. Green Building Council under its Leadership in Energy and Environment Design (LEED) program. GBC is the only building outside the United States, and the third in the world, which earned this rare distinction. Even though the center was initially conceived during President Bill Clinton's visit to India in March 2000, the construction began in August 2002 because of delays in acquiring a two-hectare plot of land from the Andhra Pradesh govern-
ment and getting plans approved by the U.S. Green Building Council. The construction of GBC's 2,000square-meter area was completed in November, with its formal inauguration set for spring 2004. The center is a result of unique synergy and leadership displayed by participating private sector companies and government agencies: the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), the industrial house of Godrej, the government of Andhra Pradesh and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The idea for setting up GBC in Hyderabad was first proposed in 2000 by Srinivasan Padmanabhan, a senior energy and environmental adviser to USAlD in New Delhi who exchanged ideas about green architecture with
cn and the Andhra Pradesh government. To materialize the concept, Padmanabhan invited John Armstrong, an energy expert and consultant with PA Inc. of the U.S., to India in 2000. In consultation with ClI, Armstrong worked out a comprehensive business plan for Cll and advised them to send a group of Indian experts in energy and envirolUllent, along with an architect, on a "design tom" to the United States. The group learned about new "green architecture" design concepts and how to adapt them to Indian conditions during their visit to several cities. Seminars and conferences organized by USAID and Cll on the green building concept helped catch the attention of the corporate sector, paving the way for development of this novel business environment, the Green Business Centre. Resources were made available. Jamshyd . Godrej, managing director of Godrej and Boyce Manufacturing Company Limited, generously donated Rs. 50 million toward GBC's total construction cost of Rs. 80 million. Several Cll members supported this venture, which they feel will offer long-tetm retmns both to the industry and the country. In addition, USAID granted $1.2 million funds for conducting green-related activities in India over a period of three years. Karan Grover, an internationally acclaimed and LEED-accredited architect, offered his professional services to GBC. This enthusiastic support from all quarters ensured that the project took off and was completed in record time. To get the platinum rating, GBC met the stringent standards laid down by LEED. The center had to be innovative in implementing LEED's 69 criteria, which include site protection, landscaping and water management, use of eco-friendly building material, improving the indoor and outdoor environment and maintaining constant temperature in the air conditioning unit at 26 degrees Celsius throughout the year. Meeting the LEED's criteria for the platinum rating is a daunting task, but from the outset all project experts were optimistic and committed to implementation. The green business building concept emerged in the U.S. only a decade ago. The LEED guidelines were form[Jlated as re-
Above: An interior view of the Green Business Centre. Left: Project coordinator Air Commodore (Retd) S. C. Kumar (in white shirt), explains new design features of GBC to Texas Senator John Cornyn and his assistant Matt Winslow. The person looking away is Air Marshal Osman. Right: An aerial view of GEC, located at the HighTech City in Hyderabad.
cently as 2000. So the movement is still in its infancy. In the U.S., where the movement began, only two buildings have been given platinum rating and more than 200 have been certified with gold, silver and bronze ratings. This ground reality did not discourage the experts working on GBC project who were aiming for a platinum rating. "The long-term objective of the center was to establish itself as a self-sustaining unit. Therefore, we have incorporated many featmes to the project that helped us eam many points from LEED and finally the platinum rating," says Air Commodore (Retd.) S.c.
Kumar, project coordinator ofGBC. The GBC aims to foster excellence in energy efficiency, environment and recycling, renewable energy and water management, all issues faced by Indian industry. Water management reduces wastage of water, a principle incorporated into the GBC, which is designed to be self-sufficient. A water body created within the complex will prevent the outflow of both rain and wastage water. "The water collected will be recycled after due process for non-potable pWTJoses. This is one way of protecting the fast-depleting water table. This will also help re-
duce further strain on municipal bodies, the principal suppliers of water," says Kumar. "So there will be no use of municipal water for non-potable purposes. Only a few kiloliters of water are drawn for drinking purposes," adds Kumar. Through proper water management and harvesting GBC expects to meet its own requirements. The "green" architecture of the center saves 10 percent on consumption of conventional energy in the lighting and air conditioning system. Installation of photovoltaic equipment in the complex further saves energy by up to 20 percent. A nontoxic, non-chlorofluorocarbon (CFC) air conditioning unit has been installed to meet the LEED criteria. Building materials used in GBC are ecofriendly. For example, the cement used contains a high percentage offly ash, an inexpensive byproduct of the thermal power stations, resulting in savings. More than 25 percent of the materials used are recycled-wood, steel and glass-which are not readily available, but architect Grover and project coordinator Kumar combed the markets until they found what they wanted. After receiving the platinum rating, GBC plans to reach out to 2,500 bysiness
houses and build the brand in the corporate sector. It plans to promote five more such green building ventures in India by 2005. The GBC will lend its experience and expertise in setting up these energy-efficient units, with the goal of making India a global leader in renewable energy. The center is planning to market green products and establish incubation services for entrepreneurs to develop green products and technologies commercially. The green parks service GBC plans to develop has already found a promoter-the Andhra Pradesh government has donated more than 400 hectares of land for the purpose. Once GBC becomes fully operational, it will be a platform for demonstrating green products and technologies. It will also be a networking center for entrepreneurs and businesses going green. The information cell plans to bring out a green business directory posting the new worldwide trends and practices. Experts like Kath Williams, vice chairperson of U.S. Green Building Council, have offered support for training and indigenization ofLEED rating system. One of the important components of the GBC is a permanent technology center, which will showcase the available techno 1-
ogy in green-related activities such as product display. The GBC will host workshops and seminars on new, eco-friendly concepts and technologies for business being developed at home and abroad. Green business practices have sound economic value. "You will accrue savings in energy and water and, in turn, larger savings will accrue to the society at large. Within three to four years the additional expenses could be recovered from savings made on conservation of water and electricity," says Padmanabhan, who points out that the initial cost outlay for construction for green buildings is no more than 10 percent ofthe cost of conventional buildings. Increased awareness and outreach have drawn new clients to the concept of environmentally friendly business. The North Delhi Power Company Ltd. of the Tata group, the proposed ITC headquarters in Gurgaon and the Reddy Laboratories in Hyderabad have shown interest in constructing green business centers. And more Indians are becoming experts in this field. Proponents are positive, and predict the momentum will increase and the green business movement could eventually replace the old, damaging practices for good. D
GMAT PEIFECT he importance of the Graduate Management Aptitude Test (GMAT) in getting admission to that plum business school is legendary, as is its difficulty. GMAT is a standardized test that is a prerequisite for gaining admission to MBA programs in business schools. The GMAT score report provides a student not only with his score in quantitative ability, verbal ability and analytical writing, but also his percentile rank, allowing a student to judge his performance relative to other students. The GMAT scores range from 200 to 800. A score of800 is called a perfect score. Rajat Kumar, one of the few who have achieved a perfect score in GMAT last year, says, "I never aimed at a perfect score, just a fairly high one. I started preparing three months before the test and gave my best in the first attempt." His success came from hard work, he says and adds, "There are numerous courses and materials that are available for the preparation and some of them are fairly expensive." Kumar says, "I found USEFl very useful as its library has excellent material and software for GMAT preparation." He gives information sessions for students at USEFI. Kumar is a chartered accountant and plans to pursue an MBA in the United States. He is aiming for business schools like Harvard, Wharton, Kellogg, Stanford and Chicago and is busy with the application process. More than 200,000 students take the test annually for admission to about 900 business schools across the world. The test is administered by the General Management Admission Council (GMAC) as a "computer-adaptive test," which means that unlike a paper test, the difficulty level of the questions varies as the test progresses (depending on one's performance in the previous questions). Even though a very high GMAT score does not, by itself, guarantee admission to a top business school, it is one of the tools that schools use to gain an understanding of the candidate's ability to handle the academic rigor. The average GMAT score of students at top business schools is between 700 and 720, according to recently available data. Kumar, an alumnus of St. Columba's School in ew Delhi, praises his school which, he says, "was instrumental in developing confidence and leadership skills that are important for any management student." He graduated from Hindu College in New Delhi and is working as a consultant with Ernst & Young. He may not have planned on a perfect score, but perhaps it's a natural outcome for someone who says his inspiration is a quote from economist Walter Bagehot, "A great pleasure in life is doing what people say you cannot do." D
IT
he U.S. Educational Foundation in India (USEFI), created by a treaty on educational exchange between the governments of India and the United States in 1950, is a binational organization promoting mutual understanding of Indians and Americans through higher education. Besides offering fellowships for scholars, professionals and students, it is a rich resource for information about American colleges and qualifying exams such as the GMAT. USEFl advises students at its offices in Chennai, Delhi, Kolkata and Mumbai. While basic information is provided free of charge, most educational advisory services are suppOlied by membership fees and sponsoring organizations. There are USEFI satellite centers in Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Manipal. According to Srinivas Prasad, who got admission to Princeton University: "The biggest problem of applying to colleges somewhere at the other end of the globe is that quality information and guidance is almost impossible to find. From choosing a list of colleges to taking the various standardized tests, the difficulties involved are seemingly insurmountable. Add to that the intricate procedures for applications and obtaining financial aid, and you have a task that is clearly herculean. USEFI performs a wonderful service by making this process as simple as possible." "Meeting the counselor regularly ensured that I didn't have to learn painfully from bitter experience and had a much smoother application process. The frequent presentations, meetings and university fairs organized by USEFI kept me up-to-date on the path to admission. USEFl's well-stocked library gave me access to useful material regarding admission and aid. The CD-ROM section with its excellent test preparation material was especially useful. The notice board in the library is always posted with all the updates and aletis," he adds. For more information on USEFI, visit www.fulbright-india.org. -K.M.