Category: Culture

Everything cultural that interests me: music, reading, science, arts in general, news, photography…

Intelligence Emotionnelle [en]

L’intelligence émotionnelle par Daniel Goleman.
Critiques sur epinions.com (anglais) – autres liens à  ce sujet

Je me méfie beaucoup des best-sellers américains, surtout lorsqu’ils sont garnis d’une couverture qui fait “psychologie à  deux sous”. Ne vous laissez pas berner, cet ouvrage est bien plus profond que sa couverture!
Goleman explique en quoi notre aptitude à  gérer notre vie émotionnelle et nos relations avec autrui joue un rôle bien plus important en ce qui concerne notre “réussite” dans la vie (sociale, professionelle, affective, santé…) que les capacités dites “intellectuelles” que l’on mesure et développe à  l’école.

J’ai compris beaucoup de choses intéressantes sur moi-même en lisant ce livre, et je suis loin d’être une novice en ce qui concerne l’introspection et l’auto-analyse psychologique… ; )

Emotional Intelligence [en]

Emotional Intelligence by Daniel Goleman.

Reviews on epinions.com – related links

I’m often suspicious of american best-sellers, especially in the domain of psychology. Don’t let yourself be fooled like I almost was: this book is far from shallow.
It explains how and why skills in the emotional realm play a far more important role in our lives than pure intellect (be it in school, at work, with family, or dealing with illness) – even though the development of these skills is not coached in any way, and left to chance.
I understood quite a few things about myself while reading this book – and I’m not thick when it comes to introspection and psychological analysis : )

Des yeux pour entendre [en]

Si j’attends d’avoir écrit une critique complète de chaque livre avant de vous le recommander, je risque bien de ne jamais le faire…

Il est temps de se jeter à  l’eau!

Des yeux pour entendre par Oliver Sacks.
Critiques sur epinions.com (anglais).

Ce livre est une formidable présentation du monde des sourds. Il explore en profondeur les caractéristiques du langage des signes comme langue, et son influence sur le développement et l’épanouissement de ceux qui le parlent.
Un avertissement, toutefois: on court le risque de s’inscrire à  des cours une fois le livre terminé!

Seeing Voices [en]

If I wait to write complete reviews of books before recommending them to you, I might never do it.
Let’s get going!

Seeing Voices by Oliver Sacks.

Reviews on epinions.com.

This book is a great introduction to the world of the deaf. It explores in depth the characteristics of Sign as a language, and its influence on the mind and development of those who use it.
A word of warning, however: you might find yourself taking up classes to learn Sign by the end of the book!

Chronicles of Narnia [en]

I’ve finished reading the Chronicles of Narnia (by C. S. Lewis). It must be at least the fifth time I’m reading them.
Another author who has kept me company lately is Gabriel Garcia Marquez. I read One Hundred Years of Solitude a year or two back (it kept me breathless), and during my week-end in England I finished Love in the Time of Cholera.

Hired [en]

Orange has just hired me to convert their training manuals to HTML (from Powerpoint).
: )
No further comment needed, I suppose!

Apart from that, I have just come back from a week-end in Birmingham with Somak, Aleika, and Akirno. It was really nice to see them again.
Winter is here, and with it, my exams are approaching fast. That means that I will be spending less hours fiddling with my site and writing sometimes meaningless blog entries, and more time in my books. In some way, I’m looking forward to it.

India [en]

I feel an itch to write about India. All these classes on Indian culture at university are bringing me back there.

There are so many things I have to say.

For a start, here is what I have been telling people these last three (heavens!) months when they ask me the usual questions.

So, how was the trip? Tell me about it!

I must admit I’m sick of hearing this question. And as university has just started, I’m again meeting a whole bunch of people I haven’t seen in over a year and who are impatient for news.

The trip was overall a very positive experience but the first three months were really hard… >>>

Would you say India is “behind” the West?

As much as I would like to be able to say that cultures are not to be hierarchically classified, and that they are all equal, but different, my experience of India has somewhat disturbed this position. Let me explain… >>>

So, How Was the Trip? Tell Me About it! [en]

I must admit I’m sick of hearing this question. And as university has just started, I’m again meeting a whole bunch of people I haven’t seen in over a year and who are impatient for news.

The trip was overall a very positive experience. I would encourage anybody who has an occasion to have a similar life-experience to simply go for it.

I grew up a lot (but of course, one always grows up during a year) and feel that I belong to adult-land now.

The first three months were really hard, looking back. My solitary arrival, sickness the second day, a landlady I didn’t get on with and who gently kicked me out, illness and money problems in Delhi – all that was no fun.

The worst at that time was solitude. I was suffering from culture shock, slightly depressed, didn’t know whom to trust, and I had the feeling that try as they might, the people I confided in couldn’t truly relate to what I was going through. That was normal, of course – just as we have trouble imagining what it is for an Indian to land in our culture.

I wrote a lot during that time: my logbook, and “culture shock” notes – which I can’t really find courage to go through and sort out, as they send me back to deeply into those “hard times”.

Meeting Nicola in Delhi and the subsequent weeks in Rishikesh did me a lot of good. I had people to talk to, and got a chance to see how much I had already adapted to this strange culture. Going back to Pune was not too hard, as Mithun‘s family had kindly accepted to put up with me until I found a flat.

The third and last “part” of my journey is the longest – after having met Aleika and settling down in her big and protected home.

When I am asked what I did “over there”, I often answer (amongst others) “babysitting”. People often laugh a little.

It was much more than that, of course. Not everybody gets the chance of living with a baby before having their own. And I must say Somak and Aleika really let me take an important place in Akirno‘s life – I’m very grateful to them about that. It really contributed to making my Indian adventure such a great life experience.