I will never stop marveling at the remarkable capacity of airplanes to transport one all the way across the world in a matter of hours. I completed the 10,000 mile journey to India over the course of three separate flights – starting in New York and traveling first to Frankfurt, then to Singapore, and finally to Bangalore. It is odd to travel so far through the dimensions of both space and time. The highways here
Read more ... →
The feeling before new adventure. Why isn’t there a word in the English language for this? Excitement. Fear. Happiness. Nervousness. Exhaustion. All muddled together in what a dear friend would describe as “emotional fullness.” That’s the best phrase I’ve got. I, a rather emotionally-full and extremely bedraggled human, stumbled out of the Bangalore airport at 4:00 am on Thursday, September 19. I had passed through the trials and tribulations of the 30 hour journey thus
Read more ... →
Most of us take healthcare for granted. Even if we have to jump through hoops or pay an arm and a leg, we normally have access to basic healthcare necessities. In many parts of the world, called “healthcare deserts” or “medical deserts,” people go decades without getting the care they need. Whether it’s a lack of healthcare professionals, shortage of resources in communities and hospitals, or geographic isolation, millions of people around the world are
Read more ... →
The idea that human pollution is damaging the Earth has lost all novelty. Since the advent of the First Industrial Revolution almost three centuries ago, smog and waste have slowly but surely begun to deteriorate our planet. Among those areas affected are our oceans, home to some of the most biodiverse ecosystems in the world. Recent research has linked an increase in ocean debris with declining tourism among tropical beach destinations. Marine debris includes any
Read more ... →
According to Indian legend, tea was the divine creation of Buddha himself. Buddha vowed to meditate for nine years straight without rest, but was eventually overcome by exhaustion and fell asleep. When he woke up, he was so upset by his weakness that he cut off his own eyelids and threw them into the dirt. His skin is said to have taken root in that very spot, germinating into plants that bore leaves in the
Read more ... →
