How To Buy Clothing [Jim]
Life here in India suddenly became much, much busier. Now, I am not unaware that I said I was busy at work before this, but it seems that my previous state of activity was lethargical compared to what is to come.
Last Monday, the US Consulate (the Official Arm of that Most Beloved Institution, the US State Department) arranged a few lectures for me. Well, they said it was a few. The US State Department’s definition of “few” does not match the definition used by the Rest of Humanity.
On Monday, they told me they had scheduled a talk for me at Globsyn (a local Business School); so I had 48 hours to prepare the talk they wanted me to give—plenty of time, to be sure, but I am not sure how they knew I could put together a talk in such a short time. They also told me on Monday that they had scheduled a visit for me to Assam (in the Northeast part of India). That visit begins on Monday, November 6 and ends on Saturday, November 11.
My schedule for Assam:
Lecture on “U.S. Experiments with Economic Growth: Lessons for India?” at:
1. Gauhati University
2. North Eastern Hill University
3. Indian Council for Social Science Research
4. Omeo Kumar Das Institute of Social Change
5. Indian Institute of Technology (IIT)
6. Cotton College
7. Assam Management Association
I will also be delivering the keynote address in the session on “WTO and Developing Countries” at the National Seminar on “Global Convergence of Education in Commerce and Management”
I am also scheduled to:
Discuss environment economics with the editor and the publisher of “Grassroots Options”
Participate in a media interview with as of yet unknown media people
Be interviewed by someone from the Assam Tribune
Meet with the executive director of Rashtriya Gramin Vikas Nidhi
All of that between noon on Monday and Friday night. And, there are two 3 hour car trips in the middle of the week to go from Guwahati to Shillong and back.
Even better: They have also scheduled two more trips like that in the next month and a half and assorted events in Kolkata and a few day trips to other places around.
As they said, they scheduled a “few” talks for me.
Now, the strange part is that I only found this out on Monday. The first lecture was scheduled for Wednesday and then I had to prepare for the other lectures/discussions during the week. I am almost ready to go—well, expect for the Power Point presentation—the assistant Public Affairs Officer told me that they always advise speakers going to the remoter parts of India to have something on Power Point for those members of the audience whose English skills are minimal. Most of you can well imagine my reaction to using Power Point; maybe I will get around to preparing something tomorrow.
I also was asked to add in all my talks that I do not speak for the US government, but that I am here as a Private Individual, and my views do not express the Official Position of the US Government. Thus I am Officially Not an Official Spokesman of the US Government. They are, however, paying for my trip (Your Tax Dollars at work).
Now for those of you worrying about the other members of the Hartley Household, Fear not. The US State Department does not neglect Family members. Janet and the Kids are going with me on the trip to Assam—a nice vacation for them, to be sure. And, Fear Not, the Hartley Household is Financing the travel expenses of the Rest of the Household, so Your Tax Dollars are Not At Work here.
Anyway, it has been very busy this week between preparing talks and arranging itineraries and such for three different trips. So, alas, the blog has been neglected.
Other News:
1. Last night we had dinner at the Mittras, the people who own the flat in which we are living. An extremely pleasant evening. One of the other guests was an ex-Policeman, ex-English teacher, and ex-Director for the tram system in Kolkata, who was amazingly talkative with a never ending array of amusing anecdotes.
2. Last Sunday, the kids were cast in roles for the Christmas Play at Church. Clara is going to be a Bell. A Talking Bell. I think she will make an excellent Bell.
3. The exam I gave in the course in the Masters Program in Retail Management was…Fascinating? Disturbing? Revolting? Depressing? I am still not sure. There were 58 students in the room taking the test. I was also in the room, right up front. Had it been a test at Mount Holyoke, 18 of the 58 students would have failed the course on the spot for cheating. I am not kidding. Another 6-10 were also cheating. The difference between the 18 who would have failed and the other 6-10 was that the former were cheating repeatedly throughout the test. This cheating was going on while I was standing there watching them. I was a bit bewildered by the spectacle, and being a mere visitor had no idea what was the normal procedure in a case like this (fail half the class on the spot?) so I went to the department chair and told him what I saw. He was angry and embarrassed—and the whole class is going to be forced to retake the test—not what I would have done, but not my decision to make. I had a nice long lecture for the class the next time I saw them; a good chunk of the class looked rather ashamed—unfortunately, the ones who weren’t cheating looked the most ashamed. I have no idea what conclusions to draw from this episode.
4. Since this trip to Assam has 5 days of public lectures, and I only brought three long sleeve shirts to India with me, I needed to buy two new shirts. I went to a store to get them and was rather bewildered looking around at the shirts. Then it dawned on me. I have Never gone to the store and bought a shirt for myself. Never. I have no idea what I am supposed to be looking at when I look at shirts. How do people pick colors and styles and such? So, I left, and Janet went out and bought me two new shirts this afternoon. Now I can wear them and not think about shirts anymore.
5. Book Reports:
1. McCarthy: All the Pretty Horses
The Crossing
McCarthy is my candidate for the contemporary author whose books are most likely to be Great Books in 100 years. These two books are the first books in his Border Trilogy. They are extraordinary—and, like all Great Books, even more Extraordinary when being read for the second time.
2. Doyle: The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
Holmes is an amazing literary creation; and Doyle’s ability to define an entire genre is incredible. What, after all, is the real difference between a Christie novel and a Sherlock Holmes story?
3. Christie, Parker Pyne Investigates
Many of these stories are more Charming than Mysteries, but they still follow the Holmesian Mold. A good chuck of the book is quite like a story in Chesterton’s The Club of Queer Trades. I had never run into Parker Pyne before, but I am glad to know him.
4. Bond, Paddington Goes to Town
A late entry in the series, and it had a bit of a tired air about it. Even still, our dear Friend from Darkest Peru was quite loveable.
5. Steinbeck, The Red Pony
I am not a real fan of Steinbeck; most of his books make me feel like I am being bludgeoned with a large stick on which it is written “This is the Moral of My Story. It is a Very Important Moral, so I will keep Beating you with it to Make Sure you Understand.” Until now, Cannery Row was the only one of his books I truly liked. The Red Pony now joins Cannery Row.
6. Harford, The Undercover Economist
Another of those econ books for people who know nothing about economics. I read these to pick up interesting anecdotes for lectures. This one had several good anecdotes. It is also one of the better books in this genre, so if you are looking for a book like this, you could do a lot worse.
Last Monday, the US Consulate (the Official Arm of that Most Beloved Institution, the US State Department) arranged a few lectures for me. Well, they said it was a few. The US State Department’s definition of “few” does not match the definition used by the Rest of Humanity.
On Monday, they told me they had scheduled a talk for me at Globsyn (a local Business School); so I had 48 hours to prepare the talk they wanted me to give—plenty of time, to be sure, but I am not sure how they knew I could put together a talk in such a short time. They also told me on Monday that they had scheduled a visit for me to Assam (in the Northeast part of India). That visit begins on Monday, November 6 and ends on Saturday, November 11.
My schedule for Assam:
Lecture on “U.S. Experiments with Economic Growth: Lessons for India?” at:
1. Gauhati University
2. North Eastern Hill University
3. Indian Council for Social Science Research
4. Omeo Kumar Das Institute of Social Change
5. Indian Institute of Technology (IIT)
6. Cotton College
7. Assam Management Association
I will also be delivering the keynote address in the session on “WTO and Developing Countries” at the National Seminar on “Global Convergence of Education in Commerce and Management”
I am also scheduled to:
Discuss environment economics with the editor and the publisher of “Grassroots Options”
Participate in a media interview with as of yet unknown media people
Be interviewed by someone from the Assam Tribune
Meet with the executive director of Rashtriya Gramin Vikas Nidhi
All of that between noon on Monday and Friday night. And, there are two 3 hour car trips in the middle of the week to go from Guwahati to Shillong and back.
Even better: They have also scheduled two more trips like that in the next month and a half and assorted events in Kolkata and a few day trips to other places around.
As they said, they scheduled a “few” talks for me.
Now, the strange part is that I only found this out on Monday. The first lecture was scheduled for Wednesday and then I had to prepare for the other lectures/discussions during the week. I am almost ready to go—well, expect for the Power Point presentation—the assistant Public Affairs Officer told me that they always advise speakers going to the remoter parts of India to have something on Power Point for those members of the audience whose English skills are minimal. Most of you can well imagine my reaction to using Power Point; maybe I will get around to preparing something tomorrow.
I also was asked to add in all my talks that I do not speak for the US government, but that I am here as a Private Individual, and my views do not express the Official Position of the US Government. Thus I am Officially Not an Official Spokesman of the US Government. They are, however, paying for my trip (Your Tax Dollars at work).
Now for those of you worrying about the other members of the Hartley Household, Fear not. The US State Department does not neglect Family members. Janet and the Kids are going with me on the trip to Assam—a nice vacation for them, to be sure. And, Fear Not, the Hartley Household is Financing the travel expenses of the Rest of the Household, so Your Tax Dollars are Not At Work here.
Anyway, it has been very busy this week between preparing talks and arranging itineraries and such for three different trips. So, alas, the blog has been neglected.
Other News:
1. Last night we had dinner at the Mittras, the people who own the flat in which we are living. An extremely pleasant evening. One of the other guests was an ex-Policeman, ex-English teacher, and ex-Director for the tram system in Kolkata, who was amazingly talkative with a never ending array of amusing anecdotes.
2. Last Sunday, the kids were cast in roles for the Christmas Play at Church. Clara is going to be a Bell. A Talking Bell. I think she will make an excellent Bell.
3. The exam I gave in the course in the Masters Program in Retail Management was…Fascinating? Disturbing? Revolting? Depressing? I am still not sure. There were 58 students in the room taking the test. I was also in the room, right up front. Had it been a test at Mount Holyoke, 18 of the 58 students would have failed the course on the spot for cheating. I am not kidding. Another 6-10 were also cheating. The difference between the 18 who would have failed and the other 6-10 was that the former were cheating repeatedly throughout the test. This cheating was going on while I was standing there watching them. I was a bit bewildered by the spectacle, and being a mere visitor had no idea what was the normal procedure in a case like this (fail half the class on the spot?) so I went to the department chair and told him what I saw. He was angry and embarrassed—and the whole class is going to be forced to retake the test—not what I would have done, but not my decision to make. I had a nice long lecture for the class the next time I saw them; a good chunk of the class looked rather ashamed—unfortunately, the ones who weren’t cheating looked the most ashamed. I have no idea what conclusions to draw from this episode.
4. Since this trip to Assam has 5 days of public lectures, and I only brought three long sleeve shirts to India with me, I needed to buy two new shirts. I went to a store to get them and was rather bewildered looking around at the shirts. Then it dawned on me. I have Never gone to the store and bought a shirt for myself. Never. I have no idea what I am supposed to be looking at when I look at shirts. How do people pick colors and styles and such? So, I left, and Janet went out and bought me two new shirts this afternoon. Now I can wear them and not think about shirts anymore.
5. Book Reports:
1. McCarthy: All the Pretty Horses
The Crossing
McCarthy is my candidate for the contemporary author whose books are most likely to be Great Books in 100 years. These two books are the first books in his Border Trilogy. They are extraordinary—and, like all Great Books, even more Extraordinary when being read for the second time.
2. Doyle: The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
Holmes is an amazing literary creation; and Doyle’s ability to define an entire genre is incredible. What, after all, is the real difference between a Christie novel and a Sherlock Holmes story?
3. Christie, Parker Pyne Investigates
Many of these stories are more Charming than Mysteries, but they still follow the Holmesian Mold. A good chuck of the book is quite like a story in Chesterton’s The Club of Queer Trades. I had never run into Parker Pyne before, but I am glad to know him.
4. Bond, Paddington Goes to Town
A late entry in the series, and it had a bit of a tired air about it. Even still, our dear Friend from Darkest Peru was quite loveable.
5. Steinbeck, The Red Pony
I am not a real fan of Steinbeck; most of his books make me feel like I am being bludgeoned with a large stick on which it is written “This is the Moral of My Story. It is a Very Important Moral, so I will keep Beating you with it to Make Sure you Understand.” Until now, Cannery Row was the only one of his books I truly liked. The Red Pony now joins Cannery Row.
6. Harford, The Undercover Economist
Another of those econ books for people who know nothing about economics. I read these to pick up interesting anecdotes for lectures. This one had several good anecdotes. It is also one of the better books in this genre, so if you are looking for a book like this, you could do a lot worse.
posted by Jim Hartley | 4:40 AM
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