Gauri arrives!

 One of the most beautiful festivals we, Maharashtrians, have is the Gauri Aagman, the arrival of Gauri, the mother of Lord Ganesha and the consort of Lord Shiva. Every household celebrates it in its own unique way. In some families, like our, we pray to the "baithi" (without the stand and typical decking her up the standard human way), while in some families, it is the "khadi" or "ubhi" (with the stand, et al) Gauri.

Often called Gaurai, she is the Mother Principle incarnate. She comes to visit her maternal home for three days. I absolutely adore this concept because it means that the Lord is like a son, a brother. Cute anthropomorphism, though it also bodes a little unhappiness as the Lord would be bade farewell with his Mother!

Till she is with us, she is treated absolutely royally. On the first day, the "naivaidya" consists of the simple bhaji-bhakri. The other two days, there is an abundance of sweetmeats. Must have been truly difficult for Aai's generation. These days, an item or two might be made at home, while the rest is ordered online. 

Hence it is not back-breaking work for the lady of the family. In Aai's generation, for Gaurai's welcome, the real Aai of the family would have to over-strech herself. These ladies, they all managed everything, even when they were working women as well! What wonderful reserves of strength! Now that lots of sweetmeats et al  can be bought, the festivities are more enjoyable for every member of the family, right?

In a way, maintaining such traditions, with the necessary changes given the times today, keeps the family together as it is a kind of return to roots, very much needed in the consumerist paradigm within which the market tries to make most individuals KFC crazy creeps guzzling coke! Only when we think, feel, act locally, globally can we be much valued, right? Happy Arrival of the Mother of Mothers!

Pratima@ Newer frameworks of thinking, being, becoming with the help of science and technology make our lives better. A bow to meaningful traditions, rituals, myths help our memories be 'us'.

Sports

 Yesterday was the National Sports Day which celebrates the contribution of Major Dhyan Singh. Let us see if an acrostic, not attempted for a long time, is possible.

Sports acquire the spirit competitive/              Pirated by drugs n bettings permissive/            Old time excellence, all are dismissive!/          Reclaim we must its glory exclusive/                 Try-n-make games truly inclusive/                       So be the sporting spirit sure innovative!

I have tried to include in this acrostic the theme of the National Sports Day, 2025. Much more than that, such is the word play in this acrostic that it uses triumphantly the near impossible end rhymes that mark this acrostic!

Pratima@In one of his much anthologised essays, George Orwell describes modern day sports as "war without shooting". A few exceptions barring, the quote perfectly describes contemporary sports, both in the national and international arena. Hence this plea in our acrostic!

Farewell

 In certain communities from Maharashtra, Lord Ganesha is bid farewell a day and half later after his auspicious arrival. Mostly, this practice reigns supreme in the Konkan area where it rains a lot, and where the Ganesh idol is mostly made of natural clay sourced from the river banks. Hence it is easily bio-degradable.

The practice hence makes huge sense. Rains ARE a terrible threat. Look at what is up, literally up, too, in the Devbhoomi, Uttarakhand. Cloudbursts, glacial lake bursts, landslides are these days the common most feature there. The Ganesh festival is hence celebrated minimally there abouts, if at all. Well, the Lord is everywhere; the festivals in his name differ, as per the geography, the climate and, oh, yes, the historical realities.

Beyond that, conventions, too, matter, I suppose. In Hyderabad, in the Telangana region, it does not actually rain much. Yet the practice there is to literally carry up the palm the wet idol of the Lord!

Actually, bidding farewell can mean two possibilities. it can either mean 'do well' (fare well in the examination) or ' travel well'. Come to think of it, neither matters for the Lord. He always does well. As for the farewell, when does he really go away? Despite the real time physical convention, he does not really go away. He re-turns back to our hearts, there to manifest often!

Pratima@Farewells are tough! May be, the Lord, too, needs that respite though. Imagine being near to millions whose hearts are harder than the biggest boulder!

Forgiveness

 The Jain community, espcially of the Shwetambar sect, has a very interesting custom. Every Bhadrapada Chaturthi, that is on the Ganesh Chaturthi, they have the "michchami duggadam" day. The expression means 'forgive me for the unintentional hurt that my words or actions might have caused you.' It is indeed a wonderful concept. At times, due to stress, may be, we might unknowingly, unintentionally hurt someone, and it is but basic decency to ask for forgiveness for that minor mistake.

Should, however, conscious and vicious ill-treatment for decades on end be forgiven? Such villainy, moreover, refuses to stop because the crook of a perpetrator (and his minions, the gang/mafia, however much may they pretend to be gooood and decent) enjoys the ill-treatment! Should it be forgiven?

Should conscious black magic intended to ill-treat be forgiven? Should the conscious ganging up to ruin a brilliant career, through subtle viciousness  born out of jealousy and malice, be forgiven? Should vicious most ugly canards knowingly spread to tarnish an innocent reputation so as to cover up one's own ugly meannesses and pervert practices be forgiven? 

Sure these are rhetorical questions because the only answer to such blocking ( or is it blacking?) out  a person's very existence to suit one's own lust for power-n-control, for gossiping endlessly, for one's hidden desires of the worst variety, for hiding one's total dislike of certain individuals in one's own life is that all such wickedness-es can and never should be forgiven, no, not even by the gods!

What must the victim of such deliberate targeting and conscious injustice do? Surely not forgive it because that entire undeserved suffering is a joke to the perpetrators  to be laughed at,  a time-pass that they continue to find funny!

 Better forget it  out of one's conscious mind so that one goes on as per one's ideals and principles, and attains the dreams that are so valuable to one's own self. Equally it is important, I suppose, to believe in the justice that governs the universe, and which makes one's good wishes absolutely potent! Equally important it is to never ever be like the self-obsessed perpetrator(s) because the victim's plight and pain are truly intimately known!

Pratima@To forgive conscious vicious targeting is foolish. To continue most honorably despite it is divine! 

Instead of turning the other cheek, better get away from the range of the hand, however long it may imagine itself to be!

Happy Ganesh Chaturthi!

 Nobody need specially wish me, "Happy Ganesh Chaturthi"! Well, I AM the happiest on this day. As it is, I adore Ganapati. In my opinion, Ganapati is not only a god, distant, different, difficult. He is one with us, a friend, a philosopher and a guide, to quote a phrase rather trite!

Yes, of all the gods, He is the most human(e) in my opinion. Forever He has a gentle smile playing around/on his lips. He is least bothered about how He looks. No body shaming for this god who is contentment incarnate. He is good at very many arts, and yet He chooses to be the scribe for "Mahabharata"! He is a smart thinker as the 'circumambulation' story proves. 

I can go on and on and on reciting His greatness. Let it suffice for the time being to admit that even an amateur artist like me can draw Lord Ganesha, open to any and every abstract depiction. Every kid can make a clay Ganesha, right? He is that accessible to delineation.

No wonder, Lokmanya Tilak chose the ten- day-long Ganesh fest, a 'religious festival for political rallying'. In fact, looked at historically, He transcends the territorial bounds. With the traders, He, too, reached the entire expanse of South-East Asia, Nepal to Japan!

It was hence one of the loveliest moments for me to 'be' at the Mana village Ganesh temple where He supposedly wrote down the 'Mahabharata' Vyasa was dictating. Nearby the effervescent flow of Saraswati was making a huge noise, and hence apparently Vyasa ordered her to be quiet. A few meters away the river plunged in to a gorge, to be forever present and yet absent.

The holy becomes whole thus when related to Lord Ganesh, my favourite most God. Happy Ganesh Chaturthi to all!

Pratima@Each of his names shows how beneficient is this god of wisdom, of all initiation, and of all ends to all evils. Happy indeed to be with Him yet again!

Dog(-)ged Devotion!

 Today is indeed special. Absolutely unique! Why? Because it is "Hartalika" today. Sure, Saraswati as THE goddess is my eternal inspiration. My favourite most goddess, however, is Parvati. Why? Is that your question?

Well, hers must be the first ever love marriage in the whole universe. She follows her passion with a dogged determination. Nothing can repulse her. Her chosen one stays in the coldest of abodes. He does not follow any dress code. From his head, the Bhagirathi flowed. Simply fearsome is the force. Time and again, he gets in to trouble to save the world. Remember the Amrit Manthan? He is, moreover, very naive n straightforward. 

Yet she is adamant about her choice. The outward appearance does not deter her. She knows, he is Shiv, the purest. He is "kaivalya", the utmost knowledge. He can renounce everything. Even "kama", the ultimate desire, cannot move him. He can slay all possible demons. He is the "adi", the beginning and the "ant", the end! 

Look at her, too. She, too, is as unique and special as her choice. Hers is the utmost devotion. Absolutely passionate it is. Truly tough is her penance. In fact, she can be the female version of the lodestar, 'an ever fixed mark', to quote Shakespeare's definition of love. In the process, she becomes the mother of Gajanana, the god of all that is good n beneficient, and of the entire universe.

Now let me discuss the second reason why today is special. That would explain the title of our blog as well.  What is the date today? It is August 26, right? The day is dedicated to 'him' who loves with the whole heart, nay, the whole being. Nobody else except you exists in the universe for him. He can gauge your mood without you uttering a single sound. Treat him with love, and all that is gentle would be yours forever. This is a truth universally acknowledged!

Any guesses about who is thus referred to? But, of course, the dog, literally the most devoted member of the family. August 26 is the international dog day. The world over, in every mythology, the dog is the symbol of faithfulness, devotion and love. Hence the title of our blog. 

Pratima@ Right now, in the Indian capital, the dog sure is the bone of contention. I suppose, we, human beings, who create those mountains of refuse, especially the leftover food, are responsible for the foraging and fearsome canines whom we, moreover, choose to call 'curs', while we actually are the real curse!

Understanding a myth

 If you love English literature, and especially the clean stark honest writing of George Orwell, what do you associate a pig, a boar with? Yes, Snowball, an idealist who is not only hounded out, but whose memory is consciously tarnished as well. 

Much more than that, in most minds, a boar would be Napoleon, the ambitious, cunning, crafty and hugely jealous competitor who lacks Snowball's intelligence, creativity, and most importantly, his care and concern for the good, both the good people who lack voice, and the common good that must reign supreme, whatever/however the powerful who manage the boot-lickers and yes-(wo)men may pretend!

Well, in the Indian imaginary, the boar has another meaning as well. Here is a look at that allusion. Now that the Hindu Consciousness has risen, what with scholars and youtubers batt(l)ing for it relentlessly, suddenly there is now an open admission of the Varah Jayanti. Varah, the Sanskrit word for a boar, is the third avataar of Vishnu.

Very interesting is the story. Many may not know the myth. Sure the Vedas might tell it a little differently  from the Puranas. The Vaidic consciousness looks at it slightly differently, while the Puranas explain it from the avataar perspective. 

Whichever perspective you may read up, how can it be explained in today's terms? May be, through the environmental consciousness? The demon Hirnyaksha who takes the earth deep in to the ocean would be the human indulgences that drown the earth-n-environment? May be! Sure I need to develop this perspective, this interpretation better, read up more and critically! In the meanwhile, thanks be to the Indic awareness that opens up the space for such discussions!

Pratima@ I would also like to compare and contrast the Varah avataar with the Persephone myth. Interesting insights should emerge, I suppose.