In the presence of greatness

Washington, DC, is the place to encounter people of greatness, as in the few who will pepper my blog post for today’s entry. My mother: brought me into the world, so I am required by rules of biology and society to classify her in this section. ;) Sandeep Pandey: Indian social activist, founder of ASHA, and recipient of the Ramon Magsaysay award in the ‘Emergent Leadership’ category. Don Belt: senior editor of foreign affairs at National Geographic magazine and all-around awesome and fascinating fellow. …and I think we’ll stop there for now and pick up where we left off after this coming weekend.
       
Person 1: last weekend brought to town my mother, her friend Sally, the start of the Cherry Blossom Festival, and a bit of somewhat less-than-ideal weather at times, as it travels with my family wherever they go (it sprinkled last time we were in Las Vegas). Still, we had no trouble entertaining ourselves, and luckily the sun had returned by Saturday and the remaining wind was perfect for the kick-off of the Festival, a kite festival on the National Mall.

After an initial introduction to the city via Dupont Circle (including dinner at Le Pain Quotidien and dessert at – of course – Larry’s, because I love that man and I flatter myself to think that the feeling is mutual), Mom and Sally hit up the usual touristy spots along the mall, for which I joined them on Saturday. The museums and memorials are, of course, the highlight of most trips to DC, but I think Dupont Circle should also be a requirement; it’s one of the main hubs of DC where you can really see the current life of the city, not just the history behind it.

Sally, Mom, and me ( and Medha behind the camera): four of the very few people not speaking French in Le Pain Quotidien. However, it was a good chance to brush up on some dusty language skills via eaves dropping and my first venture into mint lemonade was overwhelmingly positive (as was everything else). 

Luckily, the AID meeting, usually scheduled for Saturdays, had been postponed until Sunday, so I was able to attend and, bonus, drag Medha along as well. Now, as you may have noticed, I’m pretty much in love with my civic engagement project to the point that it’s become much more than that. I go out to dinner with them, celebrated Holi, attended a baby shower, and generally have a good time… to the point that we’re planning past this semester, and even to the end of the summer and next fall, once I’m back from Ghana. When it was asked if I could help with something over the summer via email and when I get back, not only was I not surprised, but I responded with an enthusiastic affirmative. The cause is great and the people are awesome – more than fellow volunteers, they’ve become good friends.
    
Anywho, Sunday presented another great opportunity through AID, again involving awesome people: a visit from and long discussion with Sandeep Pandey, a well-known (and perhaps slightly notorious) social activist from India and founder of the nonprofit ASHA for education, among numerous other projects. When this barefoot, gray-bearded man stepped in wearing a white salwar kameez under an argyle sweater, putting his hands together and bowing his head to those of us already sitting cross-legged in a circle on the floor, he seemed to be some sort of modern-day Gandhi. The real tell: when one of his stories involved him sitting under a tree, having some deep discussion while an angry mass protested around them. Truly an impressive character.

Medha and I with Dr. Mohan Bhagat (left), key player in the creation of AID as it is today and general host/figurehead, and Dr. Sandeep Pandey (far right)… quite the impressive pair. 

       
The next impressive character, with his own fair share of stories: Don Belt, amazing journalist and senior editor of foreign affairs at National Geographic magazine. As you can gather, it was a rather big week for me. Sandeepji on Sunday, our program toured ABC-7/Politico on Tuesday, and I spent several hours at National Geographic on Wednesday afternoon, chatting with Don and sitting in on his speech to current Nat. Geo. interns. Talk about stories; this man has a boatload of them. Even better – he’s great at telling them.
       
When I arrived at Nat. Geo., I met him at the elevator and we strolled to his office, sat to chat for a bit about what we’ve been working on and what is in the works (Ghana for me; Syria, Bangladesh, and who knows where else for him, of course). After some surprisingly familiar banter and the offer of banana and a bottle of water, we gauged two bananas for which was the lesser of evils browning-wise as if we were old friends and headed down to talk with the other interns. This, by the by, was all inspired as my informational interview, required for TWC. I was pathetically excited to hear back from Don, and all the more so when I actually had the opportunity to spend some time with him and chat before, during, between, and after sessions with other interns.

Though I’d visited National Geographic before, previously to see the Terra Cotta Warriors exhibit, this was definitely a first for the insider’s tour. 

       
Moral of the story, for both the interview and the civic engagement: TWC is what you make of it. Frankly, it is easy to cop out on both of those assignments; I, however, recommend that you not. Everyone is doing an internship, but not everyone gets such opportunities outside of that – the experiences of both Sandeep and Don are testaments to the fact that we can and must make our own opportunities. For someone occasionally laughed at when I admit that I’m hoping to get into the vastly changing field of print journalism, meeting a writer like Don was an unforgettable experience. And next time you have the opportunity to have chai with a major social activist, let me know what you think. Absolutely fantastic – but it’s all in what you make of it.
       
More escapades coming soon, no doubt. Until then, I recommend you see what sorts of adventures you can get yourself into… or even better, misadventures. In the words of the box of Sun-Maid raisins I cracked in to while talking to Don, “Stay curious and you will travel to the ends of the earth.” Fitting, was it not?