Friday, July 01, 2011
Déjà vu, all over again!
As much as Ecuador was a new country for me, and knowing only a couple of words of Spanish was a constant reminder that I was a foreigner there, there were also quite a few times that places and things felt familiar. Déjà vu, all over again, as Yogi Berra so eloquently described such emotions.
And it is not because of my Venezuela experience either. While that played a role, it was far too minor.
The sharpest of all such feelings of having experienced it before was when I was walking around in the museum/public library by Plaza Grande.
I looked down at the courtyard from above.
"I have seen this before."
I tried to search through my memory vaults, and opening and closing those doors isn't as fast and easy as was the case in the past. If trying to recall things at this age is this difficult, then growing old will not a fun trip for sissies like me!
I walked around. Found the stairs to the terrace-roof, and those doors were open as well.
The cleaning crew was there. Off to one wing of the terrace were the female crew of four. And it was a mixed crew on the other side. I was the only tourist who was on the terrace, and was glad to be there by myself.
It was like the old days at home in Neyveli, or at grandma's in Sengottai. Even at my parents' new place in Madras, where I go up to the terrace almost everyday when I am there, and often think of the times we have had mixed rice under a full moon sky during those Neyveli years.
My mind kept thinking about the courtyard déjà vu, like the tongue repeatedly trying to dislodge a food particle that is wedged between the teeth.
And then it hit me. I figured it out. It was "eureka" time.
I had seen a similar courtyard in Goa!
I suppose the Spanish and Portuguese colonial architectural styles were not all that different on opposite sides of the planet!
It was one of those many occasions when I missed having somebody beside me to share these thoughts. I exited the building, and as I joined the masses down on the street, I was struck by the irony of "being alone" even while jostling my way through the narrow sidewalks, in a city of two and a half million, and in a world with nearly seven billion people.
Was a profound revelation that feeling lonely is merely a state of mind. And that was no déjà vu.
And it is not because of my Venezuela experience either. While that played a role, it was far too minor.
The sharpest of all such feelings of having experienced it before was when I was walking around in the museum/public library by Plaza Grande.
I looked down at the courtyard from above.
"I have seen this before."
I tried to search through my memory vaults, and opening and closing those doors isn't as fast and easy as was the case in the past. If trying to recall things at this age is this difficult, then growing old will not a fun trip for sissies like me!
I walked around. Found the stairs to the terrace-roof, and those doors were open as well.
The cleaning crew was there. Off to one wing of the terrace were the female crew of four. And it was a mixed crew on the other side. I was the only tourist who was on the terrace, and was glad to be there by myself.
It was like the old days at home in Neyveli, or at grandma's in Sengottai. Even at my parents' new place in Madras, where I go up to the terrace almost everyday when I am there, and often think of the times we have had mixed rice under a full moon sky during those Neyveli years.
My mind kept thinking about the courtyard déjà vu, like the tongue repeatedly trying to dislodge a food particle that is wedged between the teeth.
And then it hit me. I figured it out. It was "eureka" time.
I had seen a similar courtyard in Goa!
I suppose the Spanish and Portuguese colonial architectural styles were not all that different on opposite sides of the planet!
It was one of those many occasions when I missed having somebody beside me to share these thoughts. I exited the building, and as I joined the masses down on the street, I was struck by the irony of "being alone" even while jostling my way through the narrow sidewalks, in a city of two and a half million, and in a world with nearly seven billion people.
Was a profound revelation that feeling lonely is merely a state of mind. And that was no déjà vu.
Grandfather is wrong. Are we stuck with the incorrect call?
The following is a letter from the Oregonian:
As the same paper's editorial put it a few days ago, "It's time to emancipate our state from the onerous Measure 36."
But, of course, undoing it won't be easy, though not impossible--requires amending the state's constitution. Oregon is one of the 29 states in a similar situation:
Meanwhile, our increasingly wimpy president, who with every passing day is testing the political winds, instead of going after good and correct policies, displays his verbal skills when he says that his views on gay marriage have been "evolving." Yeah, right! Looks like his ideas have been regressing ever since he announced his candidacy for the presidency!
"Evolve already!"
What my grandfather, John M. Vranizan, fails to see in his June 30 letter on "Gay marriage"is that my generation sees same-sex marriage as the civil rights issue of our time.
His argument that a civil union has the same benefits, without the title, is a modern version of the Jim Crow laws, being separate but equal. Since he grew up in that era, it is hard for me to understand how he can not see the link.
As to his views on the evolution of mankind: Evolution does not stop; we continue to grow and change in new ways. That is how our ancestors evolved from our great ape cousins, to develop a society more tolerant of people's beliefs and ways of living.
If I was sterile, with no potential to have children, I know my grandfather would want me to adopt, as he knows that being a good father is a life-long goal of mine. I do not comprehend how he could not allow gay couples to do so, too.
This issue does not change the way I love my Grandfather, or the way he loves me.
PATRICK M. SCHNEIDER
Southwest Portland
Schneider is 24. His grandfather is 75.
As the same paper's editorial put it a few days ago, "It's time to emancipate our state from the onerous Measure 36."
But, of course, undoing it won't be easy, though not impossible--requires amending the state's constitution. Oregon is one of the 29 states in a similar situation:
legislators are bound not by today's constituents but by yesterday's voters. Many of those voters aren't even around anymore. The strongest support for banning gay marriage, nationally and in nearly every state that has faced a referendum, has come from old people. In Arizona, California, Oregon, and Wisconsin, voters below the age of 30 opposed ballot measures to ban gay marriage but were outvoted by their elders. In Michigan, Ohio, and Virginia, young voters split almost evenly. Today, you can see the same pattern in Ohio, Oregon, South Dakota, and other state and national polls. Gay marriage is becoming a majority position in part because people are changing their minds, and in part because a generation that's OK with homosexuality is replacing a generation that wasn't.
The question now is whether the new majority will get its way. To undo the constitutional amendments of the past decade, supporters of gay marriage will have to pass ballot measures in those states. In Nevada, they'll have to do it twice. Passing ballot measures is hard. People tend to vote against them out of suspicion and fear, particularly when you're messing with the constitution.
Meanwhile, our increasingly wimpy president, who with every passing day is testing the political winds, instead of going after good and correct policies, displays his verbal skills when he says that his views on gay marriage have been "evolving." Yeah, right! Looks like his ideas have been regressing ever since he announced his candidacy for the presidency!
"Evolve already!"
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