Greetings from the lush green woodlands of Hampshire, England. What a contrast! I write from the gorgeously renovated horse stables that now resemble a large country cottage. In fact, I’ve updated the header of the blog with a photo of the Chawton estate, so you get a sense of just what a change this is from Delhi! The 16th-century manor house at the end of the driveway was owned by Jane Austen’s brother. And the stables, where I live with another fellow, Natasha (see below), and varied guests who come and go, are on the left. In 1993 this estate was purchased by one of the founders of Cisco systems and has been meticulously restored. Today the main function of the estate is to support the research of women’s writing from 1600-1830. Imagine shire horses on one side of the driveway and lots of romping sheep and their newborns lambs on the other, and you’ve got a pretty good picture of my present surroundings. I regularly hear the bleating of lambs even when the windows are closed! If you are still interested in all that is happening here, check out the website at www.chawton.org.
I’ve been here now for nearly three weeks and on Monday Norbert will join me. His fellowship in Delhi ended on May 31 and mine began on June 1, so it didn’t work out for me to get to Germany this summer. It’s not ideal, as I always enjoy our visits, but it has been nice to settle in here and get back to a calm and rhythm quite similar to the one I had in Delhi.
However, I certainly had some culture shock coming to such a bucolic part of the world directly from dry and intense Delhi. I don’t even know how to talk about these differences—since Delhi is a massive developing city—facing intense floods of migration from the drought zones around it periphery. It’s full of both perfectly satisfied people—both materially and physically—and people who long for a glass of water and a cup of lentils each day and who feel lucky to find a bucket of water so they can bath on the side of the road. This contrasting reality is both utterly intense and perfectly normal. But now all of the sudden I am not there, and the wet, green landscape certainly feels more familiar. The aristocratic feeling, however, does not. Many of the towns in this area are postcard perfect images of your best visions of England, with cute High Streets and tea shops and renovated gourmet gastropubs. So, what can I say, I am not really surprised by this contrast—we all know it exists. But I do pause. I now sleep on a splendid mattress with crisp white sheets and a fluffy comforter and my shower is brand new with those faux old fashioned, Parisian-looking faucets…and best of all….hot water comes out of it! Everyone in the world should get to live like this.
I am spending my days again back to work. Now each morning instead of going to my desk in the corner of the studio apartment, I walk across the lawn and up the driveway to that big wooden door at the end of the driveway, where I punch in a secret code and am granted entry to this 50-room hunk of history. From most rooms I am watched by a camera. I work either in the primary reading room with just one or two other scholars, or if I really need to concentrate, I have a desk in “the maid’s sitting room” near a window, where I can leave papers and spread out a bit more. As I describe it I realize that in fact my work environment does not feel as different as it probably sounds. I do really like being around other people who care about these women I have also submerged myself in, and that is in itself inspiring. But in my head I don’t necessarily feel that it’s all that different. What I am realizing is that ideally to get this kind of work done one just needs a very lightly scheduled life and a quiet, undisturbed space. Both are usually so very hard to find, and it is quite nice to be able to find these in such deeply contrasting parts of the world.
Here I do not feel quite the urgency to write about my experiences…as they are so much closer to your own. People wear the clothes we are used to, eat the same food, share the same rules of politeness, and speak the same language (well, almost ;-)!). It’s pretty ho-hum around here…a sort of Ground Hog day of sorts, since each day at 9am I cross the lawn... and at 5pm I cross it going the other way and set up for another hour or so of work in the stables. Whoever is there at the time takes turns making dinner, and we sit around in the lovely conservatory and chat over nice food.
Here is the kitchen and attached conservatory, when it's silent.
I’ve gone into London once, to see a couple friends (what a wonderful thing to see a couple familiar faces after 5 months!) and visit an exhibit on women intellectuals of the 18th century at the National Portrait Gallery. But that sounds fairly bland in light of India. So I’ll see if I can come up with something really interesting to say for future blogs. I will likely force myself, since I cling to the hope that posting might just prompt you to send me a few lines. You can also tell me what I should talk about in future blogs!
Here's a picture of me with the other fellow who lives with me, from Canada, Natasha. We're not sure if this church influenced Jane's Northanger Abbey...but we like to think so!
