August 19, 2007

Context

I’ve been thinking a lot about context lately - looking for it in all that I do, especially returning to India. In my opinion, context requires the work of uncovering history, nuance, and detail. Because it is not easy, because it is not obvious, we often think we can proceed without it. However, context is the third dimension. Without it what we see and experience is only two dimensional. Context is what Mr. Square gained when he ventured out of Flatland - and he was never the same. Context helps us to understand what we are seeing and when taken to the most personal level can help us on our way to enlightenment, which is after all what this journey is all about.

For this trip, context means understanding history and culture. When you look at a woman in India, what do you see? Do you see the gold in her sari and understand why it is so valuable? It is the poor woman’s equivalent of a 401K and life insurance. When you see a young woman in jeans coming out of a big box office building, do you see that she has a highly coveted call center job and is precariously balance tradition and modernity? You can’t really help if you don’t understand the context.