Dear Colleagues
Festive seasons around the world, including festivals of voting democracies; random reflections all seasons:
- Tourism to Goa is all seasons, though Christmas and New year special. Which kinds of tourists select which season? Observing fellow passengers in flights/trains provide some clues? But standing ashore a vast ocean watching waves after waves, day in and day out, in all seasons, creates the impression of reliability, uniformity and continuity. Features disappearing in our age?
- When new mecantile class from Spain, Greece and Italy began to set up vast agriculture plantations on ‘looted’ lands in southern USA nearly 300 years ago, they needed workers to do the hard farming labour, cheaply. In comes slave trade, bringing millions of Africans to be sold to such new businesses. That history became vivid in recent visit to New Orleans which grew up as the port on the river Mississipi to receive the slaves and deploy them.
- That history of New Orleans is still there even after the disaster of Katrina twenty years ago. The town comprises of two parts; the music and arts part is called French Quarter, and site for good southern cuisine and delightful jazz music in every lane. The other part further north is where opulent and huge mansions of (former?) plantation owners were built. The cuisine, music and dialects differ in the two habitats, till date, 200 years after slavery was abolished.
- While in Canada, I noticed how various American products of everyday use have been stopped due to tariff boycotts. California wines, Florida oranges , Kentucky peanut butter and Kentucky Bourbon. It appears that the boycott may contribute towards rapid improvement and growth of its own agriculture and food products. BC strawberries and wine were prominently displayed in stores.
- The last day of October has become Halloween day, celebrated around the world as a day to ward off evil spirits. While this expression of Halloween has its roots in Irish/Scottish post-harvest, pre-snow season more than two millennium ago, similar cultural practices exist in different parts of Asia and Africa. Bhoot (ghost) Chaturdashi, Bhoot Kola, Bada Badua Daka are how these practices are called in diverse regions of India too. And why pumpkin? Locally grown (then) and easily carvable to scare the spirits away!
Stay well
Dr. Rajesh Tandon
About the Author
A Ph.D. from Case Western Reserve University (Cleveland, USA) and an electronics engineer (IIT, Kanpur) with a graduation in management (IIM, Calcutta), Dr Rajesh Tandon is an internationally acclaimed leader and practitioner of participatory research and development.
His journey with PRIA started in 1982, as a young IIM graduate wanting to do more than just complete his PhD fieldwork.
