The arms of an angel...

Today was a particularly long day... I thought I'd close it off with some good mood music... It's now about a quarter to two in the morning and these two songs seem to fit in beautifully...

Local Hero/ Wild Theme - Mark Knopfler/ Dire Straits
Arms of an Angel - Sarah McLachlan

Arms of an Angel - Lyrics
Spend all your time waiting for that second chance
For the break that will make it OK
There's always some reason to feel not good enough
And it's hard at the end of the day
I need some distraction or a beautiful release
Memories seep from my veins
Let me be empty and weightless and maybe
I'll find some peace tonight

In the arms of the Angel fly away from here
From this dark, cold hotel room, and the endlessness that you fear
You are pulled from the wreckage of your silent reverie
You're in the arms of the Angel; may you find some comfort here

So tired of the straight line, and everywhere you turn
There's vultures and thieves at your back
The storm keeps on twisting, you keep on building the lies
That make up for all that you lack
It don't make no difference, escape one last time
It's easier to believe
In this sweet madness, oh this glorious sadness
That brings me to my knees

In the arms of the Angel fly away from here
From this dark, cold hotel room, and the endlessness that you fear
You are pulled from the wreckage of your silent reverie
You're in the arms of the Angel; may you find some comfort here
In the arms of the Angel; may you find some comfort here

And in about 4 days time...

The last 48 hours of my life have been among the most mentally exhausting I've been through. I knew the week before I headed back home for IC was going to be a tough one but for some reason I wasn't prepared enough. That apart, they've also been among the most productive. It's a shame really that this routine I've been settling into is going to be broken once IC begins. The morning Chinese lessons, a relaxed lunch to refresh my head and that little bit of exercise we could all use from time to time sometime in the evening.

A lot of developments have taken place at the Mainland China MC office and we're terribly proud of all of them! For one - everyone of the 5 fulltime staff have their own laptops (up from two last year). We've finally installed a complete wireless LAN system alongwith a central document server for the office. Our fax/copier/scanner/printer depending on what you're using it for is not just extremely versatile - but quite a nice piece of design to look at AND finally - we've even managed to creat an extra desk space for our part time members who come in twice or thrice a week to the office. Not to mention the brand new whiteboard we've had installed for team meetings and the dart board thats been unused for about three weeks now.

We also had our first CSR board meeting today. There were the usual suspects from the MC along with 5 board members - Dennis Driscoll, a colourful, elderly Irishman who has been teaching Human Rights, CSR & Law in Peking University for about 1.5 years. Kate Larsen, AIESEC Alumnus, founding member of AIESEC China and a consultant with Environmental Resource Managment. Liu Yinan - a freelance Sustainable Development consultant, currently on contract with an EU-China Sustainability initiative. Ding Jing - Corporate Partnerships Manager for WWF, China and Catherine Zhang, VP Public Relations & CSR for British Petroleum. We also had the CSR responsibles from each LC sit in on the meeting to ensure that they took back as many ideas as possible, straight to their LCs.

Kate & Dennis later joined us for dinner and for about two hours we talked about various issues - minority rights, government efforts in areas around CSR, where to look if you're trying to find 'underground' documentary films in China, Match-making and the (disenchanted) lives of some Chinese girls, video & computer games and even how pornography could be a form of artistic self expression!

Excellent stuff. Maybe someday I'll write about the areas that were particularly enlightening. I also managed to find out that since no one really checks for student IDs at Peking University, I am free to sit in on any lectures that I might find particularly interesting (or more importantly - those which are in English!) Hopefully I'll make my way to one of Professor Driscoll's lectures. He does have a knack for pedagogy and I'm sure i'd enjoy learning under him.

Anyways, I have about 4 days left until I leave for Agra. I'm terribly excited about the conference. As part of the Indian MC the previous year - I sat in on some of the planning meetings and I know that Dhanur and Dhruv (team mates of mine) have some wicked things lined up for us back at the Jaypee Palace! We're all going to find out really soon about what is quite accurrately being called - the greatest show on earth. (Until IC hits Poland anyway!) :)

Am I reading too much into this?

This was taken from an article on NDTV.com

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh at his Independence Day speech on August 15, 2005:

"I invite everyone to join us to discuss the problems of the state of Jammu and Kashmir so that its people can lead a life of peace and dignity. If violence continues, then our response too will be hard."

Reacting to Indian Prime Minister's statement, Muhammad Naeem Khan, Pakistan Foreign Ministry spokesperson, denied the existence of any such infrastructure and said both countries were committed to resolving their disputes, including the core issue of Kashmir.
"There is no infrastructure of terrorism anywhere in Pakistan or in territories under Pakistan's control. Reports about such infrastructures are fabricated and false," said Khan.

Ignore the rhetoric in the lines above. One part of the Foreign Ministry spokesperson's speech stands out more than anything else: "...in territories under Pakistan's control".

Am I seeing things or did Mr. Khan inadvertently let slip on the real mood of the Kashmir issue in Pakistani Government circles. Separating 'Pakistan' from 'Terrotories under control' is as good as saying, 'It's not ours... we're just holding it for now'. Then again, maybe I'm reading too much into it.

Due South...

It's day 4 in Guangzhou. Nearly the end of a very packed trip. My days here were almost completely filled with daily meetings with the enthusiastic and ambitious members of AIESEC Guangzhou. The most rewarding aspect of my trip has been to watch Guangzhou, a fledgling 3 month-old baby of the AIESEC network raise nearly 12 traineeships in the last month and a half alone! Going back to Beijing, I'm confident that they will grow - fast! I hope that I can continue to play a positive role in supporting them through their extraordinary journey in AIESEC. Best of luck to Jay, Candice, Vincent, Alex, Jo, Dick & the rest of the Guangzhou team! A large part of the credit must go to Crystal for the amazing training she has given to the members before I took over from her. Best of luck with HK, Crystal!

The next day and half should be far more relaxed than the last three. If all goes well, I would have completed a sucessful meeting with the professors at Sun Yat Sen University to give AIESEC Guangzhou greater flexibility to operate on campus. Later that evening I would have finished some shopping for family back in India who I'm going to be meeting in about 2 weeks from now! It's unbelievable that only two months ago, I was in New Delhi and it's already time for me to go back home for IC! On Wednesday morning, I'll be going out for a traditional morning tea and breakfast ceremony to a nearby restaurant with the EB. My return three months from now, will see Jay in charge of the future of 20 new members of the AIESEC network. His first great experience at leadership. I wish him the best!

Other updates from GZ include eating more great Turkish food (in China!), more KTV and a nice brief meeting with Aarti (we share a common friend in India). Guangzhou is one of those showcase cities of China - the swankiest cars, sterile & spacious metros, super clean roads, neon lights & clusters of shopping malls, massive steel and glass office buildings and apartments and many, many beautiful girls! (Just as essential a part of the Chinese landscape as anything else!!)

(That blog was meant to go up a week ago. With IC coming closer, most things have been taking a back seat - rather unfortunately!)