Namaste

I imagine I will be saying Namaste a number of times, so this one is the first. The beginnings of things are always double-sided for me. The newness invites me in, yet the unknown invites me out. These feelings reside simultaneously in most activities in my life. That means that I've had the luxury of many many beginnings and I hope to continue them. This new beginning (blog writing) has been creeping at the edges of my life for many years. I've often thought about starting a blog - but I was always off put by the public-ness of my private thoughts. Does anyone really need to know what I'm thinking? Am I really that self-promoting to suggest that my thoughts NEED to be out in public? The answer (I hope) is yes and no. I decided, adamantly, to remove the "need" from these thoughts and just write because I like to. I also began this project as a way to keep track of the details. If Oprah is right (and she often is), that love is in the details, than I'd really like to remember them. More importantly, I would really like others to remember them. I would like to remember the small important things, not just in the large rollercoaster moments of life, but in the everyday.

I sometimes wish I had my paternal grandfather's old diary. Dinubhai Patel was a professor of Philosophy and as I began my PhD in English Lit at UW, I wanted to know what he was thinking. Was he as scared as I was? (Probably not). Did he love and hate grad school the same way I did? (Possibly). I wonder what he would tell me about the rigors of this field. I wish I could read his words and let them advise me as I dig deeper into academia. But no such diary exists and its been more than 10 years since his passing. The stories others tell me about Dada usually find two forms. He was frugal and he was ridiculously warmhearted. He loved his students, his family, and his work. He wrote ferociously (I imagine) because he had papers all around the cozy Juhu flat he shared with Ba. Oh! to get my hands on some of his writing. Dada has inspired so much of my work, adventure, and direction in life. I'll write this blog, for me and anyone who might one day wish to carry me on their journey for a while (as I too often carry Dada). So, on this inaugural entry, I wish to say, Namaste Dada.