Dorrie Friend on Sunday March 25, 2007

When the Eisenhower Fellowships handed me a sheet of paper with a brief about Dr Theodore Friend, here's what they used to descibe him: Teacher, Historian and Novelist. In my opinion, they missed out a couple of descriptive terms: How about, 'the most interesting and insightful person you will ever meet'? I think that pretty much does the job.

One of the reasons I really looked forward to coming onto the fellowship was to be able to meet people. People who had opinions and beliefs and an objective view of pretty much any topic relating to any part of the world. That's exactly what I got. Dorrie is a former President of the Eisenhower Fellowships and former President of Swarthmore College. His books, Between Two Empires: The Ordeal of the Philippines and The Blue-Eyed Enemy: Japan Against the West in Java and Luzon have been master works - He has been a Fullbright Scholar, Rockerfeller Foundation Fellow at International Relations, amongst other honorariums. His interest in the South Asian region was the reason the four of us were meeting over lunch on Sunday afternoon.

Fatin (Saudi Arabia), Rafael (Philippines) and myself ventured over to the suburban train station. Of course this entry would be incomplete if I didn't tell you that this trip was great fun because of the accutely organized navigational skills of Rafael. In fact, I don't think I have ever come across anyone so organized! With his mental compass and pre-purchased tickets, Rafael led us towards Radnor Chester Road in Villanova.

The train experience itself was fun and gave room for some reflection on the issue of public transport in places like Karachi. I don't think I have actually ever travelled on a train so this was a fun first. But my limited experience about the efficiency of the train system or even the public transport system, has been impressive. How does a train ensure its arrival to a station at a time like 142pm and still be exactly on time? Huh!

Regardless, Dr Friend took us around to show us his home (photographs up on the picasaweb.google.com/rgarib in the DORRIE FRIEND Album) and we talked about our perceptions and views the entire time. Everything from current events to past experiences, leaders and history of our countries. Each time the conversation touched upon the subject of Foreign Policy, Dr Friend had an interesting observation to make. The fact that Dorrie sits on a Foreign Policy ThinkTank and has so much experience in various regions, only helps him to draw conclusions based on insights and a wealth of experiences he depends on.

Of course, our discussions varied from country to country in the South Asian region and was, quite aptly, situated at a Chinese restaurant.

Please write to me if you have specific questions about the conversation since we spoke for almost 3 hours (over some of the best Eidelweiss I have ever tasted!), but the conversation made me think of a lot of issues at hand. I'd like to share one important lesson that was highlighted through the conversation - The whole world is a huge puzzle. It has links. In fact, most countries share a similar progression at different times, depending on what period in history they are at present. This should make the lay person think that countries have the benefit of learning from mistakes that other countries may have made earlier by studying their pasts and drawing similarities, strengths and linking them with weaknesses from their own. However few countries seem to look at the big picture when making a political or economic decision and often, repeating mistakes which could have been avoided. It's amazing how much information is available and accessible, and even more astounding, how much of it is overlooked and ignored for one reason or the other.

Dorrie is working on an interesting book I know I will want to get a copy of when it comes out, focusing on Women in 5 different Islamic countries. It would also be interesting what his thoughts about meeting Fatin and me, once our meet had come to a close. We too, have the benefit of hindsight.