A slow, quiet weekend, just the way I like 'em; caught up on some recreational reading (found a copy of A Confederacy of Dunces at the consulate). If you've never read it, you owe it to yourself to get a copy by hook or crook. I've read that book at least three times, now, and I enjoy it more each time. It's easily the funniest novel I've ever read, while its structure and characterization reveal the sheer brilliance of the author. It is set in 1960s New Orleans, but the city (and the people) haven't changed a bit. What a great way to consume a weekend. Oh, and then there was this Chennai blog-in thing...
- posted by Prince Roy @ 8/29/2004 11:30:00 PM| |

 
It's been a pretty rough couple of weeks, work-wise. But at the same time, I have achieved a couple of more milestones; well, neither such a big deal, actually, so maybe 'yardstones' is the more accurate term. In the first, I served as control officer last week for a high-level visit to Chennai by a senior State Department official. A 'control officer' means what it implies. This is the person who takes 'control' of the entire visit. What I basically did was coordinate each aspect, ranging from itinerary, events, security, travel/accommodation, etc. It was an interesting experience because it got me off the visa line for a few days and allowed me to see how others areas of the consulate operate. Different sections made the actual arrangements, for instance, Public Affairs set up a meeting with media types, Commerce put together some appointments with local business leaders, Travel made all the necessary bookings; it was my job to see that everything made sense time-wise and came off without a hitch. I was very impressed with how well each section handled its role. Talk about stressful,though. I didn't relax from the moment I got the assignment a week ahead of time, until the departing plane was up, up, and away. The thing that made it really tough is that the guest arrived for a weekend holiday in nearby Pondicherry, but was only here one work day. I had to balance all the competing interests that wanted time with the VIP, and had to make sure there was room for individual appointments and social events. I also escorted the VIP everywhere throughout the day. I was curious to try my hand at this, because it put me well outside of my comfort zone: you may remember my previous post describing the MBTI personality test we take at the beginning of A-100 orientation. One personality marker refers to those super-planner types, who like to get every last minute detail down. Well, whatever else I may be, it ain't that. But everything worked out fine, and the VIP left very satisfied, so kudos all around! Today marks exactly four months to the day that I've been adjudicating visas. I did my first on April 26 and haven't looked back since. Through today I've adjudicated over 9000 visa applicants, 9067 to be exact. My target was 10,000. But a couple of things kept me from my goal. Most importantly, since July 26, we take digital fingerprints of every applicant, left and right hand index fingers. Normally this only adds 20-30 seconds to each interview, but multiply that by the 100+ interviews we do each day, and it adds up. Sometimes it takes as much as a minute, especially with the elderly couples. Gone forever are the days when I could crack the 200 barrier. And I doubt I'll ever approach my best week total of 823. I'm also branching out into other consular responsibilities, and although they are visa-related, they don't take place on the line. But I still spend at least 6 hours a day there, at the window. Sometimes it gets insane, the amount of people we see. I'd like to know what numbers my colleagues do at other posts. I just hope I don't get too burned out, because likely as not, I'll have to do at least another year of consular on my next tour...
- posted by Prince Roy @ 8/25/2004 11:05:00 PM| |

 

I spotted this billboard on the outskirts of Chennai, near the airport. It is situated along the major (read, only) road going from the airport into the city, so everyone goes by it. I'll leave it to my esteemed readers to judge for yourselves the extent of President Bush's intellectual prowess (or lack thereof); what is more interesting to me are the legal issues such a sign raises. While a law student at UCLA, I took Constitutional Law II (Free Speech) with Professor Eugene Volokh, who also manages The Volokh Conspiracy, one of the more widely read right-leaning blogs. We covered areas such as libel and slander, which do not quite apply here. Even if they did, President Bush would have a very high hurdle to clear, because as a public figure, and since the statement is related to a public concern (his intelligence is a measure of fitness for office, or so one would hope), he would have to prove actual malice, using the legal test laid out in NYT v. Sullivan. Under this test, President Bush would have to show that the person responsible for the sign:

1. Knows the statement to be false or
2. made it with reckless disregard of the possibility that it was false. a. Acts in reckless disregard of a substantial unjustified possibility of falsehood but didn't try to dispel that chance. 1. Reckless Disregard: a. Publishing while in fact entertaining serious doubts about the truth of the publication. b. Although failure to investigate will not alone support a finding of actual malice, purposeful avoidance of the truth, a deliberate decision not to acquire knowledge of facts that might confirm the probable falsity of the charges.

A tough standard, indeed, but the Supreme Court has lent him a sympathetic ear in the past, so who knows? Anyway, I think the real issue is the commercial exploitation of Bush's name. I'm not sure in whose favor First Amendment law cuts here, but perhaps it is a moot point; the sign is in India and out of US legal jurisdiction. Bush would have to pursue his claim in the Indian courts---maybe the Delhi embassy has a legal affairs office? I've already considered and rejected one possible remedy: a tit-for-tat billboard in America's fourth-largest city (Houston, Texas) concerning Prime Minister Manmohan Singh or Congress Party president Sonia Gandhi. But what's the point? Many Americans would be hard pressed to locate India on a world map, much less know who these people are. But I can just imagine the diplomatic furor such a sign would raise, and things are kind of slow in Chennai these days...hmmm, does anyone have a phone number handy for a Texas signmaker? UPDATE: if you're interested, I put up another 'only-in-India' snapshot on my companion site.
- posted by Prince Roy @ 8/21/2004 05:40:00 PM| |

 
Prince Roy's Realm: The Official Blog of the Athens Games Brother, what a week. And it ain't over yet. More to come on that. Right now though, I am enjoying a brief respite, watching the Olympics on DD Sports, India's answer to ESPN. India is not exactly what you would call an Olympic powerhouse, so it's hard to tell if people here are even watching. Since cricket failed its bid to become a medal sport, I doubt it. DD Sports has purchased the rights to the Australian satellite feed, so all the commentators sound like Matt. The Indian touch is still apparent, however, as they will cut to a domestic studio on a whim where these two local blokes prattle on for minute after agonizing minute. It's kind of funny, though; one guy speaks in Tamil Hindi and the other guy replies in English. Many Westerners in China have experienced similar sensory dislocation when speaking Chinese. DD Sports also goes to commercial breaks at the most inappropriate times, say, right before the judges announce a gymnast's score. Then when the broadcast resumes, we have joined the second lap of a 100m backstroke prelim. Still, I've made a most remarkable discovery: the Olympics are actually an international sporting event! In the past hour alone, I've already seen competitors from over 20 countries, and for substantial amounts of time. How different from the US viewing experience, where I had always been under the impression that the United States was the only country that sent athletes to the Olympics. And at least here in India, we get to watch the events, no matter how DD Sports botches the feed. In the US, we'd see at most 5 minutes of action, followed by 25 minutes of 'up close and personal' fluff filler. These sap pieces are usually about how the athlete's entire family perished when Uncle Joe tried to play chicken with an oncoming train at a railroad crossing and lost, when he was driving everyone to see Junior compete at the trials. Yet Junior gamely takes the field. And the other 30 minutes? Commercials, of course, from the official soft drink to the official SUV, to the official sanitary napkin... UPDATE: I have to hand it to DD Sports. They are doing 24/7 coverage until the conclusion of the Games. 18 hours a day live and 6 hours replay. They're doing a good job with variety (well, the Aussies are), and it's been great to see some of the lesser-known events---ones you'd definitely never see on the US networks. Now if only DD Sports would cease and desist with the Indian studio segments. These guys are as bad as US announcers: inane patter from people with no sports knowledge whatsoever. The Premier League also 'kicked off' today, so I'm looking forward to another coach potato winter. Is it too much to hope for some American football? Double helpings of NCAA and NFL, please.
- posted by Prince Roy @ 8/14/2004 05:55:00 PM| |

 

This is our gardener "N"; everyone calls him "Tata", an affectionate form of address in Tamil that means 'old man'. He started working for us in our first house and when we moved here we brought him along with us, even though these units already have a live-in gardener. We just have Tata take care of our part of the yard. We couldn't bear to let him go. He's an odd character, with the barest of English vocabulary, yet he never misses a day and arrives an hour earlier than he has to. He's mirthful, almost elfin in manner, and stands at a tad more than five feet tall. He is 72 years old, but is as spry as someone decades younger. Tata is kind of a sad case. He worked as the consulate gardener for over 20 years. When he retired, he received a lump sum payment of around 3 lakhs (300,000 rupees). That should have been more than enough for him to live on, but he gave the money to his children so they could buy a house. They showed their gratitude by barely looking after him, and so he had to look for work again. He's gardened for diplomat families many years now, but he had been out of work for several months when we hired him. As he doesn't know much English, he has to use comical animated gestures and expressions to get his point across. Since he's been around forever, all the domestic staff that serve Americans know him very well. They love to tease him, but they are very kind to him. He is especially close to our maid, even more so than to his own daughters. The whole servant thing is an aspect of life here I don't think I'll ever grow accustomed to. It's a cottage industry in many ways, and a way of life in India. All Indians who can afford it have servants to perform every conceivable task: Maids, cooks, nannies, butlers, bearers, launderers, gardeners, drivers, watchmen, you name it. There is also a band of servants who only ply the foreigner market. Positions with foreigners are especially prized, because we pay so much more than the Indians do. I'm pretty sure Americans pay the highest wages, because when an American friend told some mutual Korean friends how much they paid for help, the Koreans were shocked. We employ a maid/cook, driver and a gardener. It still feels strange to have them here, because Princess Roy and I lead very simple lives that aren't extravagant in the least. The saddest commentary is how fast you get used to having them, though. For instance, we have to use food bleach to clean produce because conditions are so unsanitary, from farm to market. This involves soaking it in a water/food bleach solution for a couple of hours, then air-drying or patting with paper towels before placing it in the refrigerator. We also must use distilled water for drinking and brushing our teeth. We have a distiller that requires cleaning once a month, a real pain. It is so convenient to have our maid do these chores for us, plus housecleaning, laundry, dishwashing, etc. And a driver is a necessity. Traffic here is anarchy on a good day, plain chaos the rest of the time. I could drive if I really had to, but my blood pressure would go through the roof if I did. And I thought LA and DC were bad. Still, the very idea of having servants is one that makes me extremely uncomfortable, on many levels. I wouldn't hire them in the States, even if I had the means, and doing so in an overseas setting brings up a host of other issues, especially in a country colonized for close to two hundred years---the whole "Raj" thing and all. I remember researching this post while at FSI and I was dismayed at how having a domestic staff appeared to be an intrinsic aspect of the foreign service culture; it is almost a foregone conclusion that people will hire domestics, and the subtle inference is that this is one of the 'perks' of life as an FSO. Many rationalize it by arguing that we provide native people with jobs that pay a good deal more than what they would get on the local economy, and I suppose that is true, but it still doesn't make me feel any more at ease with myself. It wouldn't be right for me to put the three people we have now out of a job, but at my next post I will attempt to break away from this vicious cycle, and keep my conscience clean.
- posted by Prince Roy @ 8/07/2004 03:45:00 AM| |