“Are you an expert?” I asked. The answer was a lesson for anyone who ever tries to learn anything.
Category: Shorts
The Taxi Driver and the Policeman (and the Difference Between Responsibility and Involvement)
I was so proud of my New-York taxi-hailing skills, artfully applied in Kowloon, Hong Kong, of all places. But then when the police got involved…
The Indian Shepherd
Perhaps the most striking feature of the shepherd is this: He is happy. “I have no stress,” he says, not boastfully, but rather as though he can’t imagine where stress could possibly come from.
The Immigrant Man and the Immigrant Girl
This unlikely story is mostly about the immigrant girl, but it started with the immigrant man. And it ended with every country whose bounty and success attract people seeking a better life, because there in front of me was the whole immigration debate in a nutshell: a girl fleeing a country where she was valued less even than the clothes she wore, a new country that took her in, and a local population increasingly fed up with immigrants.
The Beggar Girl
Would you help this girl? I did, and it got me in trouble with my local friend, who told me that his country would be better off if people like me stopped forcing our judgements on situations we don’t understand. I countered that children shouldn’t be beggars, and I was in a position to help. But…
The Taxi Driver (1) — And How I May Have Aided and Abetted the Enemy
My taxi driver sat ramrod straight, and exhibited a confusing mixture of subservience and independence. Halfway through the ride I figured out who he was. And it was a problem for me.
The Limo Driver (And a Lesson in Tolerance)
“I’ve been to Palestine… or ‘Israel’ or whatever ‘you’ call it,” my driver said, his words highlighting a deep divide between our peoples. We clearly disagreed about a matter of great importance to us both. My Israel was his Palestine. I knew it. And he knew it. So…
The Smiling Vendress in Old Delhi
This woman has risen at 4:00am every day for the past 40 years. What could she possibly have to smile about? And what does it teach us about wealth and poverty?
The Shop Owner in Old Jerusalem (And a Nuanced Lesson in Perspective and Narrative)
It started as a linguistic curiosity, and ended as a lesson in perspectives, as I understood why this man didn’t give a damn what the UN decided in 1948, when that body created the modern State of Israel for the Jews.
On Cats and People
When I saw this cat in a Mumbai market, I thought (obviously), “a cat.” What I didn’t think was, “an Indian cat.” Yet when I saw people in Mumbai, I thought, “Indian people.” This raises the question of whether cats or people are more similar across cultures and continents. On one hand, it’s an easy…
