Academic Socializing at Home

There was a Medieval India conference here in our building yesterday and today. Since it isn’t really our area and we are both busy with projects, we didn’t go. But as we walked out to go to the market—vegetables only last a couple days here-- this eve, we were accosted by several organizers and virtually required to have a drink. I’ve been dying for wine, as it’s really crazily expensive here…but sadly there was none at this event either. Indian wine I’ve heard is not at all worth the price, and I really haven’t seen any other kind so far. So I opted for a Sprite, thinking I’d have some beer with dinner--Hard liquour seemed to be most popular. Upon hearing that I was drinking Sprite, the organizer exclaimed, “What kind of an American are you that you…bah!” He was quite disappointed and pointed it out again later in the evening too.

The event was in fact much more grand than I had realized—perhaps I wasn’t being as celebratory as was expected. Clearly there had been a large financial commitment, and there were many well-known participants. They had set up a huge white tent, with maroon and gold brocaded decoration lining the canopy, in the parking lot just to the right of our windows. And in a secreted tent behind lunch and dinner were prepared each day on open fires. The tent comfortably accommodated 20 eight-person tables and a huge buffet, and carpets were laid on the blacktop to span the entire area. It was quite impressive. The whole affair lasted all night. We met an historian at JNU, Joy (who studies Christianity and identity in her home state of Mizoram---an entirely Christian Indian state, converted by Welsh protestants in the 19th? century, which borders Burma), and a Portuguese couple who lived in Mozambique during the war of independence. He was an admiral, and she raised their kids and wrote her first book about their experiences there. She said, “You don’t have to be a writer to write that kind of book. Our daily experiences were enough to make it a best seller.” They were shot at pretty regularly apparently. She’s now working on her third novel.