Epilogue

(21/21)

I had enrolled for the Research Publication course 75 days ago. In the first week of December, a new assignment was given. There were three rules to follow: (1) Write every day for 21 days, (2) Write a minimum 121 words on a topic of my interest, (3) Write not more than 11 words for each sentence. Today is the last day of the assignment. I thank Fr Joseph, the instructor, and all my cohorts. Every day he sent us an encouraging email. More than 40 members kept on writing. My special thanks go to Jane and her students--Jasmine, Tanvi and Gitanjali. Jane was always there to appreciate and comment on my stories. Jasmine, Tanvi and Gitanjali were generous enough to proofread my stories. I used to write at 10 p.m. after my daily work. So, they received my stories only at midnight. Even then they sincerely proofread them and shared their learnings. We have worked as one beautiful team. I thank all those who have helped me in my journey in India.

At the beginning of December, I could have chosen other themes. But I decided to write about my life journey in India. I have received so much from India. So, I wanted to confess my love and gratitude to India. My stories are ordinary and humble. Yet, they are all I have for my beloved Indian friends. We are all going through an unprecedented adverse wind. I am especially concerned for the Indian youth. I hope my humble stories may somehow encourage them. Together we can sail into the wind. God be with you!

A Love Letter

(20/21)

The Bible has been at each step of my journey in India. This makes the 27 years of my life in India a journey with God. This journey has been marked with many highs and lows. On the highs, the Bible helped me watch my footsteps. On the lows, the Bible helped me stand on my feet. But there were times I could neither watch my footsteps nor stand on my feet. On one of those days, I read Psalm 107:1 which says, “Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever.” But I said to myself, “No, the Lord is not good. He doesn’t care for me anymore.” Since then I neither talked to God nor walked with God. I felt making the journey all alone. I could see only one set of footprints in my journey. I thought those were mine. However, they were God’s footprints carrying me all along. He then spoke to me through Zephaniah 3:17, “The Lord your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing.” Despite my arrogance and unfaithfulness, God was not angry with me. Instead, he rejoiced over me with singing. Then I replied to his love through Psalm 73:25, “Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you.” 

According to factretriever.com, the Bible is the best-selling book in history, with total sales exceeding 5 billion copies. Over 100 million copies of the Bible are sold each year. The Bible has been fully translated into 532 languages and partially into 2,883 languages. Yet, despite all these facts, the Bible has been God's secret love letter to me. With his love in the Book, I can sail into any kind of wind in life. God be with you! 

Gear Wheels

(19/21)

Research had never been my cup of tea. But this year, I had to force myself to dive into it. I first grafted myself on to international research teams. The teams consisted of Fulbright scholars from the USA and Christ University faculty. As my research capability was close to zero, all I could do was arrange weekly meetings. Every meeting was a 'learning feast' for me. Each of the research team members had different skills and capabilities. Yet, we understood our individual roles for the research projects. They also helped me identify some of my special skills that I could contribute. We worked seamlessly and moved forward. We became like gears working together completely in sync. Then, the impossible became possible. 

This year I’ve gone through a full research cycle starting from developing research questions to research publication. Now I have eight research teams. The latest one is ‘YouSearch’ team. Unlike other teams, I’m the only faculty in it. The team consists of students from undergraduate and postgraduate programmes and graduated students of this year. This happens to be my first academia-industry joint research team. One of them presented her paper in a global research conference and was well appreciated. Another is preparing for a PhD programme abroad. I still need to learn a lot. I will continue to learn from the expert researchers and be a bridge for the young researchers. Alone I will drown, but together we can sail into the wind. God be with you!

Sharing Leadership

(18/21)

After joining the University, I participated in a faculty sports competition. A total of thirteen games were played. I got gold medals for all individual games and gold or silver medals for all group games. I have also been a tennis coach at the University for the last eight years. I never thought I would have any physical challenges except chronic diarrhoea. However, recently frozen shoulder, skin troubles and vertigo have been added to my list of chronic health issues. Doctors are either unable to heal me or are out of town. Month after month, the workload from research, Innovation Centre and YouGate keeps increasing. I need to sit and work longer hours than before. But all these problems don’t allow me to work for long hours. At the same time, they don’t allow me to sleep for more than two straight hours. There are many things I must do. But it is not easy. While writing this article, my head is spinning and I feel nauseated. 

Can I still sail into this adverse wind? I have pondered upon it again and again. It is time to convert this challenge into an opportunity. I have been trying my best to do things as much as I could and give less burden to my team members. But from now on I will frankly share my weaknesses with them. A leader doesn’t need to be perfect. At the same time, I will share more roles and responsibilities with them. I’m sure this will make us a better team and each of us, a better leader. The harsher the wind, the stronger we can sail into it! God be with you!

A Chopping Keyboard

(17/21)

Jane and I love to sing together (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QNo66l5RnIw). However, we have many differences. She is fast on a chopping board but I’m not. Instead, I’m fast on a computer keyboard. She stores thousands of household items in their respective places. She can find them even with eyes closed. But I can’t. Sometimes I search for my glasses while wearing them. On the other hand, I’m good at storing thousands of emails and files in their respective folders. Jane’s laughter is world-famous. I cannot laugh like her. However, I can make her laugh even with my silence. Right after our marriage, I couldn’t digest our differences. I wanted her to be like me. Then several cold wars broke out between us. Since then we began to respect our differences. Soon we could appreciate our differences. We could also complement each other through our differences. Jane is such a wonderful cook whereas I cannot properly boil even an egg. However, she likes the way I enjoy her food and visualise its taste. When it comes to any digital-related stuff, she is my baby. I’m her digital magician for a lifetime. 

In life, we come across people who are very different from us. The differences become adverse wind. However, when we start appreciating the differences, we can sail into the wind. God be with you!

yougate.net

(16/21)

Two years ago, I was looking out from my office window. A group of foreign students were passing by wearing Saris and Kurtas. They were on a short visit to India. Their airfares, local travel, lodging, food and program registration fees were borne by their institutions. Their other classmates were enjoying the same privilege in other corners of the world. Unfortunately, our Indian students seldom get such a chance. 

Then I thought of creating 'YouGate'. YouGate is a community-based online collaboration platform. It is a non-profit platform owned by the global academic community. Students or faculty from any country can create their own communities in it. They can collaborate within and across their communities. Our motto is Connect, Collaborate and Create. In YouGate, we are connected to the world, collaborate with the world and create for the world. The logo has the image of a butterfly. A crawling insect is transformed into a flying beauty to transform its neighbouring world. The logo also has a human figure--a side of a face. YouGate is by the people, of the people and for the people. The motto is good, the logo is good, but its execution is a big challenge. There is neither technical support nor financial support. However, I have excellent student volunteers. Some of them actively support YouGate even after their graduation. Recently students from Seoul Women’s University also joined it. I’ve been managing this project through self-learning and self-financing. However, this inspires students all the more. I believe YouGate will open a new gate for the global community to sail into the wind. God be with you! [Since February 22, 2021, YouGate has been renamed as WeJump | wejump.org]

Sail into the Wind

(15/21)

I don’t feel like writing today. After 15 hours of daily work, sitting down again to write is not pleasant. My writing is so short that someone can read it in one breath. But it takes more than two hours for me to write due to my poor English skill. I also need to think about its logical flow and life lessons. So, the writing usually ends at midnight. Last couple of weeks, I've been suffering from a frozen shoulder. Yesterday the pain was so extreme that I had to dictate my article to Jane. Despite all these challenges, today I sat down again to write today’s article. I feel like sailing into the wind. 

In life, we don’t always get good wind. As much as we get good wind, we also get adverse wind. But in modern sailing, a boat moves forward both with good wind and adverse wind (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yqwb4HIrORM). When a boat is slightly tilted against adverse wind, it creates an aerodynamic pressure on the other side. This makes the boat sail into the wind. It is like when we squeeze a watermelon seed with two fingers, it is pushed forward. For the next few days, I’m going to write about my stories of “Sailing into the Wind”. Till now, the title of this blog series has been, "From Pandemic Threats to Panoramic Thriving". But from now on, its title will be "Sail into the Wind". This apt title came to me at a time when I didn't even feel like writing. Sail into the Wind and Soar on Wings. God be with you! 

Dal and Kimchi

(14/21)

Korean visitors to India are crazy about three Indian dishes--tandoori chicken, butter naan and butter chicken. I like these dishes too, but my favourite Indian dish is chana dal. I can eat it every day. Chana dal with rice and kimchi has an indescribable taste. The Health selected the world’s five healthiest foods: Indian dal, Korean kimchi, Greek yoghurt, Spanish olive oil and Japanese soy. These are also the most common foods in their respective countries. 

Recipes of Dal and Kimchi have two common processes—soaking and seasoning. Lentils and cabbages are soaked in water for several hours. During this process, they silently absorb water and become soft. After that, they are well seasoned with various spices. Finally, they are born again as the healthiest foods of the world. 

During the pandemic, we need special care for our bodies and minds. If dal and kimchi are good for our bodies, what is good for our minds? This should be something very common. Every day I have a good conversation with Jane. Just like dal and kimchi, a good conversation needs soaking and seasoning. Some words in a conversation may be hard to digest. We need to soak them in the water of understanding. This softens our words for each other. We, then, need to season our words with humility, honesty and humour. This makes our relationships healthy. A healthy relationship has great immunity to any crises. God be with you!

Magnificat

(13/21)

Christ University celebrates Magnificat every year in December. Magnificat is the celebration of Christmas with choral music. Many choirs, with established conductors and talented singers, across India participate in it. Most of all, they practice throughout the year. The harmony that each choir creates is unreal and heavenly. 

In contrast to those excellent choirs, we have the Christ University Staff Choir. I have been its member since 2013. We gather just one month before the event. We practice not more than 10 hours. In every practice, the number of our members decreass. Last year I happened to be the conductor of the University Staff Choir for the first time. In fact, I had never conducted any choir before. Knowing my own limitations, as well as my choir's, I introduced three strategies. First, Simplicity--we decided to sing only melodies and only the first verse. Second, Smile--we had lots of fun while practicing. We hoped to be the most joyful choir. Third, Sharing--many members had joined a choir for the first time, and for some it was their first time singing. But, each member had his or her unique talents. Some were good in making others laugh, some were good in serving others with biscuits and others were good in either narration or choreography or fashion sense. We put all our talents together and made one team. We went on to the stage and sang like this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FvgJvXyk8xI. It was a simple performance yet full of joy! What we created was not just a musical harmony but the harmony of one heart!

From Ma’am to Mom

(12/21)

My wife, Jane, has been teaching the Korean language at Christ University since 2007. I’m always amazed by her class preparation. Korean is her mother tongue. She has been teaching it for more than a decade. And yet, she always spends several hours to prepare for each class. Students join her Level 1 course in July and Level 2 course in November. Jane arranges their textbooks and workbooks before the first class. Students love such a kind ma’am. On the first day of class, students are asked to write their own stories about how they joined the course. Later at home, Jane reads their stories with great delight. By the end of it, she already remembers their faces and names. She loves to surprise them with cakes on their birthdays. It is not difficult to locate her classroom as it is always filled with laughter and singing of Korean songs. Sometimes, she takes all the chopsticks from home to class. She also arranges potato chips to teach them how to deliciously use the chopsticks. Other times, she holds her Korean cuisine class at home. On those days, I become her cameraman. At her request, I also become a Taekwondo instructor for the students. Indian students are extremely smart in learning the Korean language. They also become experts in using chopsticks and singing Korean songs. Many of them got the chance to study in South Korea. Most of her graduated students are still in close touch with her. They think of her as their mom, not their ma'am. These days they are unable to meet physically. Still, they use the Dunzo delivery app to send home food to each other. Now, I have become her Dunzo-booking man. Jane's teaching through love and care continues.

What’s SPSS?

(11/21)

One day I was asked if I could conduct an SPSS course. I replied, “Yes, I will. By the way, what is SPSS?” I first had to google its meaning. SPSS was a “Statistical Package for the Social Sciences”. I had never used that package. What was worse, I had never studied statistics. This challenge took me back to a work-only mode. I hardly slept two hours a day in order to prepare class notes. My students were faculty who already knew statistics. They taught me how to understand the fundamentals of statistics. In return, I taught them how to use SPSS. Together, we moved forward learning from each other for a semester. Later, some of us formed a team. We started learning other statistical packages like —NVivo, EViews, Excel, R, MatLab, AMOS and many more. Our knowledge was disseminated through many workshops. We also created over 300 free course materials for the public. Andrew Carnegie once said, “Teamwork is the ability to work together toward a common vision. It is the fuel that allows common people to attain uncommon results.”

In this pandemic, the world is just a screen away. The farther we are distanced, physically; the closer we are connected, digitally. We are common people. But together, we can create uncommon results. God be with you!

The Narrow Road

(10/21)

One of my missions at Christ University was to create a partnership with Korean universities. I sent an email requesting for partnership to over 130 universities. I received no replies, not even one. The next year I went to Korea. Instead of visiting my parents, I visited as many universities as I could. Most of them were interested to collaborate only with American or European universities. Then I told them about a story of “one of many and one of few”. Every year more than 1000 Korean PhDs are produced in the USA. Immediately they are pushed into a red ocean. In India, however, it is the opposite. In fact, less than ten Korean PhDs in India have been bridging between India and Korea for the last three decades. This is the Law of Scarcity. This story has convinced more than twenty Korean universities, companies and government agencies to collaborate with my University. They understood the importance of early collaboration with India and Indian universities.  

People want to travel by the broad road. However, it is the narrow road that leads us to the blue ocean. As Robert Frost said, when you see two roads diverged, take one less travelled by. This will make all the difference. God be with you!

A Life Dream

(9/21)

In 2011, the Indian government changed its visa policy. I was supposed to major in Computer Science in order to work in an IT company. I had to leave India within a year. However, the company didn’t want to let go of me. I was asked if I would like to join its office in USA or Singapore. But I had a debt to pay to India. So I prayed for a way to stay in India. One day, Jane, my wife, came back from Christ University after her Korean language class. She told me that the University had built a tennis court. As I’m crazy about the sport, I ran to the court and played alone. After a few days, a priest came and asked me who I was. I apologised for playing at the court without official permission. But to my surprise, he asked me if I could give tennis lessons to students. As advised, the next day I was on my way to get his signature on a tennis lesson poster. This time, another priest stopped me. He asked me what I was good at apart from tennis. I told him about my academic and professional careers. He was impressed by my blended experience—a Social Science PhD from J.N.U. working in a multinational IT company. He advised me to submit a resume the next day. “Sure sir,” I replied, “but may I know who you are?” “I’m only a poor priest,” he replied, “but sometimes they call me Vice-Chancellor.” I got the University offer letter after two weeks and put down my resignation letter at the office. But the company requested me to work for six months more. So, I joined the University on April 23, 2012. It was the day my life dream came true after 19 long years. All I ever wanted was to serve the Indian youth.

Life is unpredictable. As a result, our dreams get smaller and smaller. We turn our life switch to a survival mode even from a young age. But a life dream to a person is like a steering wheel to a ship. A ship without steering wheel reaches nowhere. But a ship with steering wheel reaches its destiny. A life dream transforms one’s life from a survival mode to a surpassing mode. God be with you!

Chew It Slow and Steady

(8/21)

Many helped me complete the M.A, M.Phil and Ph.D programmes in J.N.U. Eventually, it was time to return to South Korea. But I still had the debt of love to pay back to India. One day I got a call for a job interview from Oracle, the Information Technology giant. Thirteen foreigners including me came for the interview. Only one of us would be selected for its global finance operation. My majors were philosophy, history and international studies. I had nothing to do with information technology and finance. But to everyone’s surprise, I was selected. I moved down from New Delhi to Bengaluru in 2004. The office work was too much to chew. Sometimes I worked at the office 100 hours a week without food or sleep. I was scared that I might die too early. Then I self-studied software programming. In two months, I developed software which completed 100 hours of work in 10 minutes with a click of a button. Since then the company let me work only on the team process automation. This helped my team go for chai and pakora three times a day. 

In life, something may be too hard to chew. We then have two choices: We can either spit it out or chew it slow and steady. Nowadays we are facing an unprecedented crisis. We can neither spit it out nor swallow it up. However, we can chew it slow and steady. Who knows we may discover our new potentials? God be with you!

Chapati

(7/21)

In 1996, Jane and I were blessed with our beautiful daughter, Yeeun. However, my bank account was not blessed. In 1997, South Korea was hard hit by a national economic crisis. My parents could no longer financially support us. I couldn’t pay the tuition fee for my M.Phil study. I could barely pay the house rent despite having many part-time jobs. There was not even one rupee at home. Electricity was cut off and the water supply stopped. I couldn’t buy milk for my one-year-old daughter. She kept licking bread pictures, out of hunger. And I felt we were just one step away from heaven. But the next day, chapati was kept in front of my house door. It was kept there day after day. I came to know that it was done by my best friend in J.N.U.. He was poorer than I was. Despite that, he shared with me whatever he had. This made me decide to dedicate my whole life for the youth of India. I am what I am today because of his love and care. Later, he went on to become a Professor of Sociology at Delhi University. 

We all are going through unprecedented hard times. What we have may not be sufficient for ourselves. But no matter how small it may be, sharing can save a life. And the saved life can save many more lives. Even one kind word at a hard time works a miracle. God be with you!

Would You Still Marry Her?

(6/21)

After two years in India, I got a call from my church pastor. He wanted to introduce me to a lady who would be my better half. As I held him in high respect, I was very excited. But he said to me, “Unfortunately she is short and has a dark complexion. She doesn’t talk or smile. Moreover, she doesn’t have faith in God. Would you still marry her?” I knew he was testing me. So, I replied, “Yes, I will.” After the call, I said to myself, “There are many beauties with short height and a dark complexion. A speechless and smileless person can be very thoughtful. Moreover, faith can grow.” However, like the tail fin of an airplane, I was shaking with worry throughout my flight to Korea. I prayed and prayed that I might not change my mind. I wanted to marry not by sight but by faith. 

Then at the Kimpo International Airport, the lady came to receive me. WOW! She was an angel! She was the opposite of what the pastor had told me. We only went for one date and decided to be one before God. In fact, our real dates started after the marriage. We are enjoying our sweet dates every day for the last 25 years. India has become our honeymoon site for a lifetime! We are happy to have Indian students as our children. Sometimes a great blessing comes with a hard question. But when answered correctly, it changes one’s life forever. 

During this pandemic, we have faced many hard realities. We may not have answers to all of them. However, in God, we may be able to answer at least one of them. Who knows that a great blessing is just behind the hard reality? It may change your life forever. God be with you!

Mom, It's Your Son

(5/21)

My diarrhoea continued, but doctors could not heal me. After one year, everyone advised me to go back to Korea. So I left for Korea for medical treatment. My mother came to receive me at the Kimpo International Airport. I went and stood before her. To my surprise, she couldn’t recognise her son. I went a step closer and looked into her eyes. “Sir,” she asked me, “why are you staring at me?” “Mom,” I replied, “it’s your son.” She couldn’t believe her eyes. She didn’t know why her son had come back looking half dead. She didn’t say a word but shed endless tears. Korean doctors confirmed that my digestion system was damaged beyond recovery. And yet, I came back to India: Not to recover my health, but to recover my vision. 

We will soon complete one year of COVID-19 pandemic. It has affected every part of our life. Some have lost their health or careers or even loved ones. I’m not a stranger to such loss. We are doing our best to recover as much as possible. Even then, some things may not fully recover. However, our tomorrow is not built on an undamaged life. Rather, it is built on an uncompromised vision. God be with you!

Me Tumse Pyar Karta Hoon

(4/21)

The very first words I learnt in Hindi were greetings. My classmates told me that Hindi was a gender-sensitive language. Accordingly, I should say 'Namaste' to males and 'Mein tumse pyaar karta hoon' to females. Since then I started greeting ladies this way with all my respect. To my surprise, they did not greet back but laughed hard. It was not long before I understood why. The greeting actually meant, “I love you!” I was lucky to not be slapped. They understood the respect and humour behind my innocent greeting.

Recently, I was surprised to be warmly greeted by a stranger. I had contacted him for technical support. We were strangers to each other. He began the conversation with, “I hope you are staying safe and healthy!” I believe I’m not alone in receiving such concern-filled greetings. Many routines in our lives have come to a close. But a greeting from the heart opens a new beginning. With opened hearts, we are no longer strangers to each other. And together we can cross over these strange and crazy times. God be with you!

A Water Bucket

(3/21)

India's weather is hot, and even hotter is her spicy food. My mouth fell in love with her cuisines at first bite. But the more I loved them, the more my stomach burned. I lost 10 kilos of weight in a month thanks to terrible diarrhoea. At Narmada hostel, J.N.U., I always carried a water bucket. The worst time of the day was just before the first class. The 12 washrooms for 200 students were always packed. What was worse, every washroom had students queuing with water buckets. Chronic diarrhoea has become my new normal. No doctors could bring back my old days. However, in God, I was always refreshed to create my new days.

These days wearing a mask has become the new normal. Standing in a long queue is common. Vaccines may not bring back all our old days. However, in God, we can always create our new days.

I, India OK

(2/21)

Upon arrival in India, I decided to speak only in English. I called my mother to convey my safe arrival. The issue was that neither she nor I knew English. The following was our first ever international call conversation:

I: Hello.

Mother: 여보세요? (when translated, “Hello”)

I: I . . . India . . .OK.

Mother: 한국말로 해. (“Speak in Korean”)

I: I . . . India . . .OK.

Mother: 한국말로 해. (“Speak in Korean”)

I: Thank . . . you.

The call ended, bringing the possible infinite loop to a close. Two days later, I joined my first class in J.N.U. I couldn’t understand a word. My only answer to all questions was a smile. My professor liked it at first but soon got irritated. After the class, she said to me one statement for an hour. She meant, “Go back to Korea, learn English and come back”. However, I stayed back because I couldn’t understand her English. Only after a month could I decrypt her point. I was like a newborn baby in India. My English was broken, but my life wasn’t. “Hello, I . . . India . . . OK” came true in my life.

We all are newborn babies to the pandemic situation. Our languages fail to read our tomorrow, but our life doesn’t. In God, our life knows how to write it with bright hope.

A Blue Water Tab

(1/21)

Today on December 1, my son Joshua joined the Korean army. He will be quarantined for 14 days for COVID-19 precaution. Then he will be in the khaki cocoon for 18 months. He will undergo many ups and downs. But this is for a better-flight of his life.

I was discharged from the Korean army 27 years ago. I came to India in the same year. India was hot. I was drenched with sweat arriving at a lodging place. I rushed for a shower and turned on a blue tab. The water was too hot. I thought India had a different system. So, I turned on a red tab. At this time I got boiled water. Delhi summer was boiling hot, its winter freezing cold. I was put in an extreme cocoon. But this transformed me for a better-flight in India.

We have been in the COVID-19 cocoon throughout this year. We don’t know when we will reach its end. But in God, all our ups and downs work for one flight—a better-flight.