“We should probably buy a pack of cards”, Ashley said as he was briefing us on the Mali shopping list, “I have a feeling we’re going to be stuck outside or inside something, maybe even between something. Given some rope, a book of knots and a pack of cards, we should be happy until we’re rescued!” Surprisingly ecstatic for something that could be fatal, I noted, only to remember the skill requirements for the project: a sense of humor. Even as I got my yellow fever vaccination last month, the advice for rabies prevention was: “Stay away from dogs. If one starts chasing after you, just run faster.” We’re not planning on getting upto any risky business, strictly speaking – only scavenging around the most rural parts of one of the poorest countries in the world, looking for scraps of materials to build a light with. We’re going to return (that’s the hope) with plenty of ‘fun’ stories to tell!

“It is dangerous to put a dreamer in power.”

“Maybe it is not advisable to be an optimist after the age of 30. Maybe pessimism is something we have to start applying daily, like moisturizer. Otherwise, how do you bounce back when reality batters your belief system? Is hope a drug we need to go off of? Or is it keeping us alive?”

Thinking about setting a Tiffany’s solitaire as a goal for my ‘middle age’, I was discussing the grand plan with Smitha. “If you study for an MBA,” she said, “you will lose the value associated with diamonds.” Turns out, DeBeers has been, until recently, manipulating the supply of – therefore controlling prices of – diamonds. With a shockingly dominant position with respect to diamond trading, diamond mining, and industrial diamond manufacturing sectors, it is well known for its monopolistic practices. Naturally then, I should lose interest in the relative value of diamonds. No. I am all the more intrigued and amused. As I realize that we live in a world of relative freedom, thought and progress, absolute value seems irrelevant. Our very existence seems defined by a cost worked backwards from a value that changes with those in power. Even truth has a relative meaning. In this virtual reality, if diamonds are precious, so be it. I want a big one.