Fundamentally speaking….

(might open a big can of worms by writing this…. but –)

Started reading the book Kiterunner. My friend Hardee got it for me for Xmas. If you haven’t read it – do so; The book is hard to put down. I read a chapter this morning and it haunted me: during my run, my drive up to the city, in the shower- it’s intense. And hits me close to home... I have come up close and personal with many similar characters to those in the book: people like Baba, Ali and Hassan, Amir, Aseef and his lackeys, Aseef’s parents…

The book is a lot deeper than I thought it would be. It got me thinking…

You ever notice the small similarities between religious practices? Surya Namaskar is similar to Naamaz. (They have come to represent different ideologies- but have you even seen them done side by side?) Taking Prasad (food blessed by god) isn’t all that different from taking communion bread. Praying in almost every faith is similar in practice... and the list of little similarities (as well as fundamental similarities) goes forever on...

Faith is faith. Some people need it to make sense of the world, some don't. But why the animosity between? (And why do people believe that anyone is wrong if the names they call their god are different?)

Show me one kid who can distinguish between people of different religions, different castes, different races. You can’t. It’s impossible and it’s obvious in it's simplicity. Hatred is taught. Disgust and intolerance are tastes that are acquired.

It’s interesting and upsetting to me to see it unravel in the world around me: these grudges and old scores that are tens and hundreds of years old and unsettled, still unforgiven, still unrelenting. I’ve met so many people who try to school me on "what those people did" and "what these people did"…

It’s not that I want to remain ignorant. I don't condone violence in any shape or form. I don't condone hatred. I don’t want to turn a blind eye to all the injustice there is in the world…. (and here I'm going off an a tangent because I don't just refer to injustices as those steming from religious disputes …. but also injustice toward the environment... and concerning economic and educational disparities …. and the lack of equal access to healthcare, to food, to freedom, to information, to peace….. ) In any case, it is not that I want to be ignorant about any of these things.

But- what I DO want- is us, as a whole world of people, to recognize that by allowing past injustices (back to refering to racial and religious) to shape our future ….. we perpetuate it all. We have to (and should) acknowledge the past... and do what we each can to help those who were pushed down to stand up on their own feet again. But don't perpetuate the "these people" and "those people" .... because kids *grow up* LEARNING to see those differences. Seeds are planted to keep the hatred going. The same mentalities are passed on to the next generation of children, who will grow up and want to recify the past. IT WILL NEVER STOP.

As for me, I refuse to participate in this stupid cycle. I’ll teach my kids and any other kids that cross my path the importance of the similarities. I will refuse to draw lines. I will choose to let the similarities between people outweigh the differences. I'm going to bank on the people that see others as simply people, and see what we can do if we work together.

It’s kind of like in the book I mentioned earlier.... the kite string that characters use to fly kites are intwined with little shards of glass to cut down other kites in the sky. The people are so busy looking up at the kites they are trying to cut down that no one notices that the glass in the kite strings are also leaving their own hands cut and bloody. No one looks at their own hands.

I hope this makes sense, but it might not. It's only now that it's beginning to make sense to me.

where I've been the past few days:

1. Finally got to meet Barack Obama at the Apna Ghar fundraiser (told him I'd vote for him if he ran; he winked at me) (ps. I love the man)

2. Ran all around the city and got to hang out with Hardee, Jobear, Robyn, and Sanj all in one super crazyfun day.

3. Biked 13 km on Lake Shore Drive with Hardee
(who's really talented at capturing moments - he took this pic)

4. Went out to Jon and Chien's show at the AA showcase- got to meet up with Vincenzo and Sara... (aka "Melissa") (who both helped me in covert changing operations outside the fitting rooms.)

5. Hit Champaign with Jenaiya for Mikey's birthday- huge reunion with Erock and her crew.

"Rups, no one cares what you do or where you've been the past few days! What is your point?!?!?!?!?"

Well, the point is that, recently, I have been ALL OVER THE PLACE. Then, yesterday morning, I realize that my bracelet isn't on my wrist. Most of you guys know- it's the silver "Papu" bracelet that my mom made for me when I was in high school. I haven't taken off that bracelet since I got it; that bracelet has seen me through ten years (!!!) of my life. (crazy no? and I know, at this point Robyn is thinking, "damn, that is the most committed that girl has ever been to anything!") (haha, shutup Rob)

Anyway, I've been running around so much that I wouldn't even know where to begin to look. I've decided that it's ok though. I've grown a lot better at letting go of things. Loss and renewal. I've still got everything that bracelet represents- my mom and her thoughtful creativity, my brother and the glimpses of him before he entered his weirdo teenager-ness, and, of course, 10 years of my life lived.

I'm sure there's more philosophical stuff I could throw in the mix but I'll spare you.

Point is: Let me know if you see a silver bracelet laying around that's about 10 years old and says 'papu' on it. :)

(wait! what if..... (how awesome would it be) if Barack was the one who found and returned it to me???!!? and then he fell in love with me, but recognizing his greater love for his beautiful wife and daughter, instead asked me to be his running mate and it was an ideal world where we didn't need to elect bad people when they make us fearful..... and good people actually won elections ......and Barack won and took me with him .... and, by some strange ideal fluke of nature I was suddenly VP of the US of A????!! First order of business would be to get everyone a new pair of socks (because all new beginnings should begin with new socks) and then we would start asking some tough questions about such thaings as economic disparities, and political motives and foreign policies... and every individual in the nation would take a good hard look at themselves and the world around them... and then encourage each other to envision a better world that they'd build together, because the only thing you can think about when you are wearing brand new socks.... (don't believe me? try it. I dare you))

(this tangent is sponsored by: my eerily similar schoolgirl crush on Zakir Hussian.... (before I knew he was much older than I thought and married) and my fantasy tour with him on a make-the-world-dance-tour (like the dancing Zion scene when they finally win the battleship war in the Matrix))

Lessons learned:
1. I need to keep better tabs on my sh*t.
and, more importantly,
2. No more typing when I'm deliriously tired.

Rups has a gun.

Wait, no, I was wrong. I mean, she's back. No gun. She's just back in the states. There's no gun. False alarm everyone. You may return to your regularly scheduled programming.
....