I have recently discovered that I have an insatiable thirst
for knowledge. I’ve known this,
yes, and in fact two of my “strengths” according to Strengthsfinder are “input” and “learning”.
Learn something new
every day has always been a motto of mine.
Pumba: What’s a motto?
Timon: Nothin’ – whats a motto with you?
Dundun ching! Thank you, Lion King. And my apologies for the bad joke. Couldn't resist.
And believe me – every day, living in India, I’m pretty sure
that I learn something. However,
the "something" I learn daily isn't necessarily something of intellectual
value. And I hadn’t realized how
much I need that in my life!
On Sunday I had a dinner with a delegation from Rollins
College. I happened to sit
opposite of an archaeology professor, to whom I confessed that when I was first
thinking about college I wanted to study archaeology (still do!). For the rest of the evening, I sat
mesmerized by the stories he told, the research he’s working on.
Did you know that a tribe in northeastern Karnataka (the
state in which I live) celebrates its oral tradition and festive culture in a
language that is only spoken by 30,000 people in the world? And where do those 30,000 people
live? Eastern Africa. Yeah.
I’m hooked.
I’ve always been a world civ girl, but focused more on European
history. So here I go towards the
Indus Valley civilizations. I’m SO
intrigued. How did these people
get here? From what son of Noah
did they come? Why did they travel
from the Mediterranean? Did you
know that during the 600s BC there was HUGE trade between the Mediterranean and
the Indian Ocean? Why didn’t I
ever learn about that during world
civ? And that, according to one
source, the first Jewish people came to India during the reign of King
Darius…the second group coming during the Jewish diaspora after the destruction
of the temple in AD 70?
And that, supposedly, Thomas the Apostle (commonly known as
Doubting Thomas) was the first “missionary” to come to India with the intent of
sharing the Good News with the Jews who had settled here. I’ve studied the crossroads of civilization. I’ve studied the Babylon and Assyrian
empires. I’ve studied early
Christianity. I’ve studied the
Roman empire and the Jewish diasporas.
Why has India never been included?
OH. And did you
know that Sanskrit is related to the romance languages. Yeah. The most obvious example of this is when we look at the word
King (English), Raja (Sanskrit), Rey (Spanish), Roi (French), Re (Italian). I’m also a lover of linguistics, so I
am absolute and completely fascinated.
(Unfortunately Kannada, the Indian language I am learning, is far from
Sanskrit – I believe it is a Dravidic language - and absolutely nothing like
the Romance languages I have studied in my past.)
A word to the wise:
all of my reading and findings have thus far been courtesy of the internet. So they may not be completely
accurate. But I always try to find
opposing viepoints and differing accounts…one of the excitements of being a “Learner”!
So. Needless to
say, increasing my knowledge has brought a lot of joy to my life. Life to my life, in fact. And I realize how much learning is
really a core piece to who I am.
