Kolkata (Calcutta) is one place where Jews left of their own accord. Nonetheless, it is sad to see the Jewish culture, rarely linked with India, quickly dying out.
CNN.com recently posted a story on the “fading” Jewish community in one of India’s largest cities. Once a strong community of 6,000 people, there are now only 30 left; prayers can’t even be held in the synagogue due to the lack of 10 “able-bodied men needed to form the minyan, the quorum required for a Jewish service.”
The Jewish culture, arriving in Kolkata during the 18th century from the Syrian cities of Aleppo and Damascus, and also from Iraq and Iran, was an important part of the city until 1947. That is when India gained independence from Britain, whose trade had brought the Jews to India in the first place.
Not only tolerance, but hospitality was extended to the Jews from the Indians, one of the few places in the world that was the case.
I appreciated that the article noted not only tolerance, but hospitality was extended to the Jews from the Indians, one of the few places in the world that was the case. And I can imagine the richness of the collaboration between these two cultures would have been quite amazing. Maybe that’s why I’m so sad to read the Jewish culture, with only an estimated less than 100 left in all of India, will soon be gone.
I began to think about other parts of culture dying throughout the world and not, by any stretch of the imagination, by choice – how climate change is impacting indigenous peoples, the loss of languages, even those poor redheads. Some cultures, like the Gullah people in South Carolina, are fading right underneath our noses.
The Question of Why
What does this mean? Are these cultural deaths really about survival of the fittest, or is it more a plundering of people based mostly on economic gain? Many indigenous cultures live on land with natural resources we like to cultivate for our own consumption, and those who make money from plundering will deny global warming until the cows come home.
In 6 Inspiring TED Talks About Happiness and Belief, we included a video from Wade Davis about the worldwide web of belief and ritual. Here, Davis discusses the diversity of the world’s indigenous cultures, and how they are dying out at an alarming rate:
We lose not only diversity, but humanity each time a culture, or interconnection of two cultures, fades into oblivion. But as many of the aspects of life and the environment continue to be in flux as the big boys remain in charge, it’s hard to know exactly what to do about it.
What do you think about the death of cultures? Share your thoughts below.
“A single conversation with a wise man is better than ten years of study.” This Chinese proverb features prominently in Patrick Shen’s new film “The Philosopher Kings.
The documentary takes us on a journey through the halls of some of the most prestigious colleges and universities in America to learn about life and wisdom from an unlikely source: the custodians.
Watching the film, I was stunned by many things. Certainly the hardship endured by the custodians, and they way they respectfully performed their duties every day. But mostly it was their humour, and the sense of “ease” they had negotiated with the world.
I caught up with director Patrick Shen to speak more about his film.
BNT: How did you come up with the idea for “The Philosopher Kings”?
Director, Patrick Shen
I think it was a culmination of things really. I remember stumbling upon a CD from the band The Philosopher Kings at one of the music stores where I worked in high school.
That led me to Plato’s “Republic”, which then ultimately inspired me to want to make a movie someday called The Philosopher Kings that would somehow challenge our views about whom we turn to for leadership and guidance.
Years later while I was shooting interviews for my last documentary, Flight from Death: The Quest for Immortality, a professor remarked that if we talked to janitors we might gain better insight into the human condition than we might from talking to professors. That’s when it all clicked for me.
BNT: Why did you pick custodians from prestigious universities over other types of environments?
Choosing learning institutions as the backdrop for the film was our subtle attempt to challenge people to reexamine our notion of wisdom and what constitutes a proper education.
We’d all agree that it’s a bit ironic to be seeking wisdom from janitors rather than the professors on a college campus. The question is, why is that ironic? What has led us to think of wisdom being exclusive to a particular profession or class of people?
BNT: In one part of the film, the custodians describe being invisible to other people. Why do you think our society undervalues these types of professions, to the point the we ignore those who perform this work?
We all want to matter in a significant way. We want to matter to ourselves and to the world.
What has led us to think of wisdom being exclusive to a particular profession or class of people?
We’re told from an early age that to matter we have to be famous, wealthy, powerful, or prestigious. The constant emphasis on working hard and making a lot of money just perpetuates our notion of what it means to be successful. Money and power is seen as a buffer against suffering.
If we’re rich and powerful, we’re untouchable. Talk of finding our passion and doing what makes us happy was never a very popular topic with previous generations. We’ve inherited these misconceptions from our parents but I think we’re making progress towards moving beyond that.
BNT: “A single conversation with a wise man is better than ten years of study.” How does this Chinese proverb fit with the theme of your film?
A solid education is important of course but without a real-world understanding of the things we learn in school, a lot of it becomes sort of pointless. An instruction manual, while useful, is a poor substitute for hands-on instruction.
BNT: Did you have any expectations on the type of wisdom you’d learn?
I hoped to learn about hardship and what it takes to navigate that in a constructive way and to do it with courage. Whether we know it or not, I think what is at the heart of a lot of our philosophical and spiritual inquiries is how to deal with suffering.
BNT: The film’s soundtrack was profoundly evocative, reminding me of the work of Jon Brion. How do you feel the music complemented the mood of the film?
I love Jon Brion! I actually used a lot of Jon Brion tracks as temp music when I was editing. Our composer Nathan Matthew David created a beautifully subtle soundtrack that really accents what I like to call the quiet heroism of the custodians.
The custodians are such authentic people and I think the organic feel and sound of the score helps underscore that authenticity. All the guitars and piano were performed live by Nathan. He rules.
BNT: How did producing this film differ from your previous work “Flight from Death?” Was it easier or more challenging this time around?
Being that “The Philosopher Kings” is entirely narratively driven, all the basic rules of good fiction applied whereas very little of it did with “Flight from Death” I think. I had to put a lot of thought into developing relatable and likable characters and creating a journey on which viewers could join them and root for them.
Of course, I had great “characters” to begin with, but deciding how their personalities were revealed to the audience and how their stories unfold required a whole different approach than I what I had done in my past documentaries. I had to rely a lot on some of the narrative conventions of moving a story along and keeping an audience invested.
This film was more challenging overall because I wasn’t just telling one person’s story. There were eight characters that I had to weave in and out throughout the film and somehow had to do so in a coherent manner that wouldn’t just confuse the audience.
Every time I transitioned from one custodian to another, it had to make sense. All eight stories, while very different, had to tell ONE story in the end.
BNT: At one point, Jim Evener (Cornell University) recalls his near-death experience in Vietnam. He says “when something happens to you where you don’t know if you’re going to live or die, you’re whole outlook on life changes.” Have you ever had a near-death experience? If so, what was the effect on you?
The closest I’ve ever come to a true near-death experience was the four years I spent making a documentary about death.
I won’t pretend to know what it’s like to have a near-death experience, but that feeling of being awakened that people often describe after having survived a near-death experience I can certainly relate to. I really dwelled on my mortality for those years while making Flight from Death.
Everything, even the low moments, become more precious. It’s a lot more difficult to take things for granted when you’ve had a glimpse of what it’s like to be without any of those things.
BNT: One of the film’s most poignant moments is watching Josue Lajeunesse (Princeton University) return to his hometown in Haiti and seeing the deplorable state of his friends and family. Since the film, you’ve gone on to help fulfill Josue’s wish of bringing clean water to the town. How did you come to this decision?
Josue Lajeunesse, Haiti
Since the world premiere of “The Philosopher Kings” at Silverdocs in June of 2009, a movement around Josue and his water project has been building among audiences. People literally want to hand us checks after screenings.
When one fan of the movie found out that Josue’s daughter was stranded in Haiti due to the earthquake she donated $1,000 to help bring her home. Though we had hopes to help Josue in some capacity we had no idea how we would do it. The outpouring of love and support for this project and Josue was what really got the ball rolling.
Up to this point fans have donated approximately $15,000 to bring a permanent fresh water solution to the 3,000 people of Josue’s village of La Source. We’re in the process now of producing a follow up film called “La Source” about Josue and the fulfilling of his lifelong dream to complete this water project for his village. We’ll be posting regular updates at www.lasourcemovie.com.
BNT: What role do you feel the filmmaker plays in being an observer of reality, but in some cases, also a participant?
That’s an awesome question. Documenting reality is sort of like looking at a mural from a moving car. Before the car has turned the corner, you have to take in as much of that picture as possible – focusing on one small part of it at a time – and hopefully gain a sense of what it is the artist was trying to tell you.
The challenge for the documentary filmmaker is that as reality unfolds before him, it multiplies into more reality.
He has to instinctively determine which aspect of that reality is speaking to him the most and focus in on the intricacies and dimensions of that reality that will help him paint the most complete picture in the end – and he must do this while reality continues to evolve and multiply.
Ultimately, the filmmaker becomes a key participant in the evolution of that reality when he creates a permanent record of it and passes that on for others to experience and process.
BNT: What was one of your biggest rewards from making the film?
Seeing the completion of Josue’s fresh water project in Haiti – where 33% of children don’t reach the age of 5 mostly due to water-related illness – will undoubtedly be the biggest reward for me.
I fell in love with filmmaking because of its communicative and transformative power, which I think is greater than any other medium. It will be such a beautiful example of what is possible through film.
BNT: What was the most important life lesson you took away from the experience?
There is a quote that appears in “The Philosopher Kings” that I absolutely love.
“What saves a man is to take a step. Then another step.”
There is no magic formula for surviving hardship and suffering. When you’re in the midst of suffering, I think it’s too devastating to ponder the big picture. There is always only the one step right before us.
After I landed back in San Francisco last week, more than one old friend asked me, “so where exactly have you been since you left?”
Yeah, I’m not the best at always being clear to others about my projects and travels. Even if you closely follow my Facebook status updates, I enjoy occasionally being vague. Even Ian asks me sometimes, “um, where are you again?”
What can I say? I’m a bit of a spur-of-the-moment gal. Problem is, trying to build a steady career while spurring-off here and there.
I would imagine that most of you who read BNT and Matador at one point or another have longed to take on the open road and somehow make a career out of it. Whether that means through writing about your travels, vlogging about your spiritual experiences, or even consulting in your chosen field in different countries, the balance of exploration and work is never an easy one.
I took off last July, planning to make my way around the US with a car that already had 170,000+ miles on it, and no real plan other than to contact people on Couchsurfing.org at least two days before I landed in a place. What I quickly realized is that there is a balance of give and take that is necessary when you try and combine work and travel.
Did I ever cut a traveling experience short by the subconscious need to get the most recent one on paper before I began anew?
Though he specifically talks about the perils of balancing travel writing and enjoying the place in which he finds himself, the same is true for any career we decide to take on while being on the road. Sometimes it means giving up fully enjoying, or getting to know, the place you’ve landed.
Making a living this way takes discipline, my friend. And it takes being honest with yourself about what type of person you are.
It takes being honest with yourself about what type of person you are.
What I figured out over the first couple of months of my trip is that I needed to stay in one place for at least a month at a time (that hardly precluded weekend trips to nearby destinations). One or two months at the same destination meant I could have the time to get to see a place AND work the hours needed to pay for living in that place.
Since that time, I’ve spent one month here, several months there. That works for me. Some of you might be better at handling a week or two in one place and getting your work done like a champ. But it is worth thinking about your personality type, how schedules work for you, and any underlying emotional agendas before embarking on this work lifestyle.
But when the world calls you, what else are you going to do?
What are some tips for balancing work and travel? Share them below!
Community Connection
Interested in learning exactly how to go about making a career out of travel writing? Then check out MatadorU, where you’ll not only get the writing skills, but you’ll become part of a community that helps with the ups and downs of working on the road.
Yep, that know-it-all-wanna-be yoga guru is headed in your direction.
With the upswing in the popularity of yoga, it seems that wherever you go in the world, you’re bound to run into this guy:
Yep, Inappropriate Yoga Guy strikes again. Ok, ok, I lived in San Francisco, so I’ve been subjected to more than my fair share. But watch out, they’re multiplying.
Interested in what the yoga/new-age/cheese-muffins are like just north of San Francisco in Marin (quickly exporting to cities across the globe)? Then check out one of my favorite videos, The Man From Marin.
I think there is a great diversity to belief. As with all the answers provided one can learn so much from others.
What I have noticed most in life is that your beliefs change continuously based on your environment and the experiences you live. Therefore there is not any one answer to most of these questions that will be agreed upon by everyone.
No matter who you are, where you are from, what you were taught, your experiences, your desires and your thoughts. These things all influence your judgment, as they should.
The key to enlightenment is learning. If we allow ourselves to see, touch, and feel each emotion and thought, that is when we grow as people. We are all living beings and we have a place in this world.
The old idiom of “you never know a person until you walk in their shoes” applies to each of the questions you presented here.
Question Of Poverty
Why is there poverty? Until you have lived an impoverished life you cannot answer this question. What you think of as poverty may not be poverty to the person living it. They may see it as something else. A simpler, less complicated life with hardships to overcome or live with.
Why is there poverty? Until you have lived an impoverished life you cannot answer this question.
Maybe we think they are ignorant and need to be taught about disease and cleanliness. Most certainly we believe they need to be educated and helped which is why we have created many organizations to help those we feel need help.
Many things attribute to poverty including choice and free will. Yes, we also have to consider that there are those who look to oppress and control others for their own profit, and it is situations like those that we desire to change and the end result is almost always war.
Good, bad, Ying and Yang. Everything has a balance. Choice and consequence.
Where we get into the most trouble as human beings is when we try to impose our believes on those around us who may believe something differently. This leads to war, terrorism, oppression.
We are all kids on a playground bullying each other around to see who is right, who is strongest, and who is the best. All natural internal survival of the fittest instincts. I see it in my children. There is a quiet truth to sibling rivalry that we forget we carry as we age.
Question Of Intelligence
Science and belief intertwined in a daily experiment for us to watch and learn from with constant opportunities for teaching.
The older I get the more I appreciate my friends, my family, my surroundings, the environment, strangers, animals, music, art, wind. These are the things that we can forget.
Why are so many people depressed? They have forgotten how to explore, create, grow, learn, and feel.
Why we forget them is different for each of us. Why are so many people depressed? They have forgotten how to explore, create, grow, learn, and feel. They are afraid that if they share their sorrow they will be exploited, demeaned, browbeaten and bullied. Or even worse? Who would care?
Our human brains that give us so much intelligence also have given us emotion. It is a beautiful quality, if you have been taught that your feelings are OK. There are many who have been taught that their feelings are not normal or they have been forgotten by friends and family or society and therefore have no outlet for their emotions.
As a society we have become closed. In that process we have cut ourselves off from our emotions, we don’t want to care about a stranger who is struggling and that is why we are failing.
Question Of Peace
That is the true moment of possibility for peace. Opening yourself up to the world and the people in it. Taking that chance to look beyond yourself into the life and heart of another and with your whole being care for them.
All of them, crazy, sad, angry, insane, tired, poor, or wealthy them. That is when you are living completely in the present. The more you do this, the easier it gets, and the more you gain from the experience. Wisdom comes with that experience so we need reach out as often as we can.
I guess that is the greatest wish I can have. That we all decide that we all matter and act accordingly and if we could do this then our lives will be fulfilled.
So yes, we are one and we need to remember that when we walk out of our door each day. One living sphere of energy that can only survive through community, conservation and generosity.
What do you think? Share your thoughts in the comments!
Here’s an interesting question I came across on Reddit yesterday:
Does sarcasm exist in every culture?
Naturally, there were a host of replies. More than one person questioned if the Canadians “get” sarcasm (uh oh, expect to hear a few replies to that statement).
Another replier said they had a “friend” whose family lives in Puerto Rico and they don’t get sarcasm. And according to yet another person, sarcasm in Portugal is practically nonexistent.
Don’t forget about those Japanese:
I lived in Japan for some time, and socialized with many locals, and it does NOT seem to be a part of the culture there.
But, according to a LiveScience article, sarcasm is actually a part of our evolution. If you don’t get sarcasm, then apparently you must have some damage to your “parahippocampal gyrus”, a part of the right brain.
And the reason it is so important to understand sarcasm is due to its impact on our social intelligence, as that’s part of what makes us successful as a species. So if you don’t get that you are the butt of a joke, I guess that means Darwin would’ve sent you to the back of the classroom.
Seems like the consensus over at Reddit is that most cultures use sarcasm to “keep people in check”, to not let achievements go to their head, and to maintain some form of equality.
It’s hard to pick up on the intricacies of sarcasm in a tongue that’s not your own.
But I can’t help but question the people who say that foreigners don’t get their sarcasm – maybe because it’s not their native tongue? It’s hard to pick up on the intricacies of sarcasm in a language that’s not your own, but that doesn’t mean those people don’t have plenty of sarcasm happening in their own vernacular.
Luckily here at the Matador Network, we’ve got Nights editors Kate Sedgwick and Tom Gates to keep our witty evolution moving along nicely.
Do you think sarcasm is prevalent in non-Western cultures? Share your thoughts below.
It turns out that chaos theory answers a question that mankind has asked for millennia – how did we get here?
Ever since that iconic scene in Jurassic Park, where Jeff Golbum’s character explains “chaos theory” with a glass of water, the idea has had an enduring appeal.
In this documentary, Professor Jim Al-Khalili sets out to uncover one of the great mysteries of science – how does a universe that starts off as dust end up with intelligent life? How does order emerge from disorder?
It’s a mindbending, counterintuitive and for many people a deeply troubling idea. But Professor Al-Khalili reveals the science behind much of beauty and structure in the natural world and discovers that far from it being magic or an act of God, it is in fact an intrinsic part of the laws of physics. Amazingly, it turns out that the mathematics of chaos can explain how and why the universe creates exquisite order and pattern.
If it felt a little warmer yesterday (well, depending where in the world you find yourself), it’s because spring finally came to save us all. Whew.
Most of the US and Europe dealt with an extremely frigid winter (though according to a extramarital dating website in the UK, they did their best to warm things up), and there seemed to be an earthquake-domino effect happening in other parts of the world.
We need a fresh season.
Cool thing about the official day where light and dark are balanced is not only the fact that we are heading into those longer days of light (at least up here in the northern hemisphere), but that there are a lot of cool traditions steeped in this rite of passage.
Here are just a few:
Put that egg to work. The spring, or “vernal”, equinox is the day that you can supposedly balance an egg on its end. People try and blame the Chinese for this myth, but according to the BBC, it was the Americans who purported the idea this was the only day to make the egg pull a Cirque de Soleil. Good luck, then.
Those crazy Mayans. Did the ancient Mayans think the god Kukulkán, the feathered serpent, was showing himself at the El Castillo pyramid? Well, since we’ve already pinned the whole 2012 thing on them and their calendar, maybe we should let this one be. Nonetheless, it sounds pretty cool that in both fall and spring, “as the equinox sun sets, a play of light and shadow creates the appearance of a snake that gradually undulates down the stairway of the pyramid” at Chichén Itzá.
Reduce, reuse, recycle. It’s rebirth time for all you pagans, tree huggers, and earth dwellers. The predecessor to Easter, Ostara is Wicca’s call to action to renew life after the long and cold winter. Although we like to conveniently forget the connection between Wicca and Christianity, as Dr. Leo Ruickbie notes:
In mythology [Ostara] is often characterized by the rejoining of the goddess and her lover-brother-son, who spent the winter months in death. This is an interesting parallel to the biblical story in which Jesus is resurrected (the reason Christians celebrate Easter), pointing to another appropriation of pre-Christian religious figures, symbols and myths by early Christianity.
For some more cool stories and myths of what the spring equinox means in different cultures, check out Welcoming Spring Around the World.
Hopefully no matter what hemisphere you’re currently blazing through – or sitting in – it’s a gorgeous day outside.
Do you have a personal or cultural tradition to celebrate spring? Share it below!
