You can't see through the phone

The job search is going much better than expected. So well, in fact, that I've switched modes from 'Oh no! I'm about to be an unemployed single mother, my life depends on finding someone, anyone, who will hire me!' to realising that I need to think a bit about where and how I want to work.

I have been thoroughly spoiled by several years of complete freedom in my job; no physical office, and no fixed hours. I've internalised this working culture so much that the idea of going to a place, most days, to do something I could most likely do equally effectively from home at midnight on a Tuesday, seems ludicrous. Not that I think every job in the world should decentralise; more that I'm not sure I'm psychologically ready for a normal office job.

I realised this well into the recruitment process for a couple of positions. Plus, while telephone interviews meant that the issue of pregnancy didn't come up at all, I also realised that I really wouldn't feel good going on maternity leave a couple months into a new position. It's nice to know that legal protection is in place to allow it....but it would also be very disruptive, to me and the organisation, and I can imagine it creating a lot of bad will on all sides.

There has to be a better solution...something that will allow flexibility to stay with the baby, prevent me from going broke, and not make anyone feel cheated. I suspect the solution will be back to school for a year of PhD progress, if I can scare up any money for it.

Bottom line: I think I might be nuts for not taking the first job I was offered.

No Happiness in India?

I've been tasked to do some of the preparation for a research trip to Bhutan to study the economics of happiness. Due to logistics of the project (and the high cost of spending time in Bhutan), India will be the launching pad for most of the work. So, in my remaining weeks in India, I'm to have some preliminary discussions with various 'relevant' people in India doing research on alternative economic development models generally, and the economics of happiness and Gross Happiness Index of Bhutan specifically.

The economics of happiness, while perhaps not a core topic of research most places, is also far from a fringe idea. Over the past 30 years, it has made the news, been discussed and criticised, and had think tanks and academic programmes founded around it. Documentaries and TED talks extolling the virtues of economic localisation use some kind of quantification of 'happiness' as a departure point. While it's not a yet a particularly cohesive field of study, there are emerging theories and debates (equality is important. So is the environment. It's harder to figure out what culture is).

So, I was enthusiastic about getting the ball rolling. The problem is, the ball game doesn't seem to interest Indian academics much. I can find virtually no evidence of work being done on the economics of happiness - or even really different models of economic development. Why not? Is there some agreed on vocabulary about 'Gandhian economics' that plays this role, and I just don't know about? Has the spurt of rapid economic growth distracted all academic discourse on economics in India? Is it considered to 'fluffy' for more cash strapped universities?

I'm quite surprised that from the intellectual home of 'Development as Freedom', more isn't being said on this. I'd welcome any leads, or insight into why they are so hard to find...

Incubating in India

I'm sure everywhere in the world has pregnancy related traditions, I'm just lucky enough to get quite a span of them in this particular incubation period. In America, the message seems to be to carry on with your normal routine, but be a bit more virtuous (exercise more, eat better).

A common thread between South Africa and India is the need to keep the right balance of 'hot and cold'. In either place, there's no sitting on the floor. However, in India, temperature extends to food as well, and I'm discouraged from a variety of 'hot' foods - papaya and ginger, for example - and stuffed with ghee instead. Happily, I'm so well cooked for that just about anything could be added or subtracted from my diet and I'd still be round and happy.

Exercise is more or less banned (beyond puddling around the terrace), as are locking and unlocking things, and things that might be 'jarring', like taking auto rickshaws, or picking up anything heavier than a newspaper. I haven't bothered to announce that when I get back to Johannesburg, I may well be packing up and moving flats, on my own....scary thought, and a post for another day.