Learning....It's a Two-Way Street

October 9^th meeting.

It had been nearly two weeks since I last met Norelly.  As I walked in to the Recreation Center, our regular meeting spot, I was constantly wondering how I could maximize our conversational experiences. I immediately came up with a list of things that are different between us and that can strike a good conversation.  A few things that came to my mind were culture, language and our countries themselves.  In my mind, our conversation was set to be engaging, enriching and empowering.  I walked in and the bright sun shone on my face through the large windows. It was symbolic of the knowledge that was to be showered on me, I thought. Norelly was sitting on one of the counters and was waving out to me as she did just the other day.

I exchanged a couple of greetings with Norelly and I noticed that something was troubling her.  So I asked her if everything was well with her.  So after a little bit of talking, she told me that Hugo Chavez, the incumbent Venezuelan president was re-elected for another six year term. Norelly found that disturbing because she was hoping for change. She was hoping for a change in presidency to start with.  Under Chavez’s regime, Venezuela had been subjected to a lot of discrimination and corruption.  Black markets thrived under Chavez and he supported people who supported him.  She told me that he had incentive funds for his voters and hence everyone voted for him to get a few bucks more. But Norelly also pointed out to me that Chavez also keeps his word and constantly works for the betterment of his supporters. My problem here is that he works for the betterment of only ‘his supporters’. Right off, I struck a deep, meaningful and sensitive topic.  I was learning something new.  I only have a surface understanding of International Politics but this talk, in however a limited way, is pushing me to learn more; to be more aware of the global political scene and I am thankful for such conversations. Norelly never talks to her father about politics because he is a Chavez supporter and hence she wants to avoid conflict by avoiding political debates.

Norelly then asked me about the immigration scene in India. I did not understand how the conversation was automatically following my intended goal but I did not ponder over it too much.  I was happy for this two way learning and I continued with my response.  I gave her a brief description of the history of the ethnic wars in Sri Lanka and how that lead to the immigration of Sri Lankan Tamils into Tamil Nadu, a state in India.  She seemed to be interested in this history and listened eagerly.  A few minutes later, she interrupted and told me that I spoke too fast and that she didn’t understand quite a bit of what I was saying. I did get excited in explaining the history of my country and this is why I will never make a good teacher.  I get too excited I lose my audience by either talking too fast or using heavy jargon. I slowed down and explained again. Maybe the learning wasn’t a two way street today?

And the last and unbelievably true topic we transitioned into was the origins of language.  We both imagined and came up with ideas as to how languages came into existence.  Norelly couldn’t understand how so many languages are there in today’s world.  She also asked me if I knew Spanish and I, shamefully, shook my head.  She was surprised that I didn’t know Spanish but in my defense, I told her that my knowledge of four other languages will compensate my lack of knowledge of Spanish.  Norelly said something in Spanish and then asked me if I understood.  I blinked once…twice… and before I blinked for the third time, she translated it for me.  She said, “Manoj, I really enjoy our conversations.” So immediately after, I said the same thing back in Tamil and watched her blink twice.  I translated it back for her and she started laughing.  It was a funny moment.

At the end of my talk with Norelly today, I noticed how we all are one but yet we are different.  That we all have powerful minds but how it is empty.  I realized that there is much to learn about things, people and places out of our bubble.  I walked out of the Rec Center with a greater appreciation of diversity.