Chai Time

Despite the lack of leisure time available for the Indian women in the village Bighana where I lived for my six months, the one indulgence they get is a moment's break for a cup of chai. Perhaps chai time is a vestige of British culture where people stop for a "spot of tea" but chai time is fully inculcated in many-a cracks and corners of India as its own cultural practice. And even if 130 degrees farenheit, we always stopped for a cup of chai mid-day to have a moment to chat or relax of whatever.

Here beverages like chai are a largely part of our culture because caffeine is a drug that keeps you going to maintain your effectiveness. If people go for coffee its often to have a serious chat (perhaps a non-alcohol place to date) or coffeshops are a great place ot study - and tea is for people who don't like coffee.

I miss chai time. The thing that drives me nutty about law school students is they don't believe in chai time. Not just to drink chai, but the idea of takin a moment away from their busy lives, just taking a moment PERIOD is damaging and dangerous.

The one thing I have hated about myself more than anything this year, is the degree which i have bought into this. Not because I stopped having chai time, but because I started to feel guilty about it. But that ruins chai time. The point of chai time, is to sit and drink your tea and stop everything and its such an accepted practice that one doesn't question whether it is an appropiate activity to have as part of the day.

My friend Doug wrote to me, he lived in a Peruvian village for two years and is now travelling through Latin America and he said, "The trip has taught me how the USA is the minority in the world in how it functions. Our lifestyles and speedy, productive, and work first and lives second mentalities do not exist anywhere else in the world."

I've always said that I like to "work hard" "play hard" but you know that philosophy doesn't work so well for me anymore. I want more chai time. Its the perfect time to be being going to India. :)

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My Zen Quotes:

You Don't Need To Feel Guilty When You Take A Break

We all know that we work better and feel less stressed if we take regular breaks during the working day. However, the stressed individual may feel uncomfortable and guilty about taking breaks, even when they admit that their usual driven work patterns are causing them stress ("but the work just won't get done"). Research is beginning to establish a scientific basis for common-sense advice.

When gender inequalities in India brought me down cause I started to take them personally, I turned to a book Emotional Intelligence. (even though I hate self-help books).
I often complain about law school because although I see value in obtaining a set of legal skills I can use for my work, there are many other skills that are more important to human rights work that aren't valued in the law school experience- which is why my grades don't matter to me. Cause my ability empathisize, communicate, adapt, and what not are more important.
(All the things that made me a good teacher, able to cross cultural boundaries, and win trust of people)

Here is a quote from Emotional Intelligence to back me up:

"The problem in all these high-intellect fields--like law, medicine, and business management--is that everybody has passed the same intellectual hurdles to get in," he continues. "Practically all lawyers will have an IQ of at least 110 to 120, good enough to handle law school and pass the bar. Consequently the added advantage of being at the high end intellectually is small compared to the benefit of having emotional intelligence--for which there are almost no selection pressures! At least no systematic ones, which means there's a much wider range of variation. 'Rainmakers' at law firms bring in new clients not because of their LSAT scores, but because of the kind of people they are--charismatic, likable, trustworthy. In all these professions, intellect and technical expertise get you so far, but it's the human qualities that make you a star."

That's what I am sayin!!!!