Dammit!

Mangalore is in the news for all the wrong reasons.

Don't Look at The Moon Tonight !

              Legend has it that on this day , Ganesha , the hindu god with the elephant head and an obese human body and one extra set of hands was returning home after a grand feast on his behalf.
            Ganesha , our mythological gourmand and our favourite Deity, the destroyer of all obstacles had had more than his fill and his belly was bursting from its seams (though literally impossible)

 As Ganesha was walking back home late at night , he tripped and fell down and his belly which  was impossibly full and nearly bursting , burst open !  Embarrassed  , Ganesha hastily tied his stomach with a snake and resumed on his way.The sight of ganesha falling down and then using a snake as his belt was so comical that Chandra , the moon  burst out laughing !

            Laughter , they say ,when it comes and plops down and sits on your favourite  chair, you are at its mercy until it decides to go by itself.

       Chandra, the moon too was held captive by laughter and Chandra had fits of laughter that later degenerated into sobbing giggles that hurt his tummy.

          Infuriated by the lack of tact on the part of Chandra , the moon, and feeling very insulted and humiliated , Ganesha twisted and broke a part of his tusk and flung it towards the celestial Chandra, the moon forever scarring him.To add insult to injury , Ganesha cursed the scarred Chandra that whoever looked at Chandra on that particular day henceforth would be cursed with being falsely accused of something.

                    Of course, Hindu Gods always gave loopholes on the curses they inflicted.If you happened to watch Chandra on that particular day and did not want to be falsely blamed or accused of something , then you would have to pray to Ganesha and look at Ganesha's reflection in a plate filled with vermilion and water.       Voila ! No more curse !
 
Today was that day.

The day of Ganesh Chaturthi.

I saw the moon tonight.Click here for more.

But I'm not afraid.

Because I saw things that made me sad,angry and mad.

              I saw kids tormenting a tired and weary bitch with her newborn litter of puppies.It confirmed my belief that Humans are the worst kind of animals that God has created (if there is a god ).

            It made me mad that a gang of eight year old hoodlums could inflict such pain and suffering to a helpless creature and its defenseless children.The bitch chased the kids in a desperate attempt to save its litter....The kids were armed with bricks, stones and sticks and were expecting the bitch to retaliate.

            But they did not expect me.

           I chased the kids to protect the mother of the blameless litter of puppies which had barely opened their eyes.

           A bunch of eight year old kids can take on a single emaciated and weakened bitch, but they sure couldn't take on a 23 year old male determined to fight for what he thought was right.

So they ran.

The bitch barked at me once the kids were gone...just as a precaution.After all I was human too.

               I saw the futility in my act .These kids would be back soon.They were poor.They did not even go to school.They had neglecting parents.The kids would be back.And sadly it was not entirely their fault.  I hoped that the bitch saw the futility of its actions too and that it would move away to a more suitable place.

As I left , I prayed for the safety of its family.

         Unbelongingness has long plagued me,and often I have  ended up questioning my purpose and existence , with no satisfactory answers forthcoming.

              I'd walk with my people if I could find them.There were so many false starts, so many crushed expectations, so many false hopes that I'm discouraged to find them anymore.

            "I belong to you " is the biggest lie I've ever told.(Apart from the size of my penis - yes its actually 2 inches longer than what I've told you )
I belong to everyone and no one.

I later went to an old age home and orphanage.It confirmed my belief about humans once again.The old age home was filled with old and the dying and the abandoned and the neglected and the abused and the forgotten and the uncared for.The orphanage was filled with the same...unwanted girls, kids born out of wedlock, abandoned due to poverty and discarded due to mental instability .

It was not their fault.They simply did not belong anymore.

But here they seemed occupied. They seemed happy .Here they belonged somewhere.

      If you don't belong anywhere...my friend...then we belong to each other because we share that common thread of unbelongingness.

I understand.

                   I felt really small when I wrote that cheque to the caretaker.She assured me that she would send me the tax exemption forms along with the receipt for my donation.

Was this all I could do ?  Just give them money ?  Was there anything more?

They assured me that my donation would help educate a girl child for a year.
I felt ashamed because I could afford to give more but did not. But I noticed that all the people at that place who formerly did not belong were happy.It was a festive occasion.It was Ganesh Chaturthi ,the birthday of Lord Ganesha , India's most popular God , who on his birthday had overeaten and fallen down and cursed Chandra the moon.

Seeing their happiness, I was happy to find one instance that humans were not the worst of Gods creations.

Back at home, I remembered that I had inadvertently seen Chandra, the moon.He was waxing slowly. I then went and saw Ganesha's reflection in a bowl filled with vermilion and water , and prayed to him to make this world a better place.

Five Insights

Let love be .Don't give it a name.When you give love a name , it becomes a relationship , and a relationship restricts love .
There is love between you and me .Just let it be.If you name love as brother , sister , mother , father ,Guru , you are making it into a relationship.Relationship restricts love.
What is your relationship to yourself ? Are you your wife , husband , brother , Guru ?

Let love be.Don't give it a name.

Love is in your nature .
When love finds an expression , you often get caught up in the object .Your sight is caught outside .To return back to your nature , you need insight.

Pain is the first insight.It takes you away from the object and turns you towards your body and mind.

Energy is the second insight .A bolt of energy brings you back to your self.

Divine love is the third insight.A glimpse makes you so complete and overrules all relative pleasures.

Ecstasy is the fourth insight.An elevation of consciousness with partial awareness of physical reality is ecstasy.

NON DUAL AWARENESS is the fifth insight , the realization that all is made up of One and only One.

When love glows , it is bliss
When love flows , it is compassion
When love blows , it is anger
When love ferments , it is jealousy
When love is all "No's" , it is hatred
When love acts , it is perfection
When love knows , It is ME


(Excerpt : Sri Sri Ravishanker's Knowledge Form )

Rama Setu

Adam's Bridge, also called Rama's Bridge (Ram Setu in Hindi) is a chain of limestone shoals, between the islands of Mannar, near northwestern Sri Lanka, and Rameswaram, off the southeastern coast of India. The bridge is 30 miles (48 km) long and separates the Gulf of Mannar (southwest) from the Palk Strait (northeast). Some of the sandbanks are dry and the sea in the area is very shallow, being only 3 ft to 30 ft (1 m to 10 m) deep. This seriously hinders navigation. It was reportedly passable on foot up to the 15th century until storms deepened the channel: temple records seem to say that Rama’s Bridge was complete above sea level until it broke in a cyclone in 1480 AD.

 

A ferry service linking the island and port of Rameswaram in India with Talaimannar in Sri Lanka has been suspended for some time due to the fighting between Sri Lankan government forces and the separatist LTTE

The Pamban Bridge links Rameswaram island with mainland India.

 

RAMA, RAMACHANDRA. [Source: Dowson's Classical Dictionary of Hindu Mythology] Eldest son of Dasaratha, a king of the Solar race, reigning at Ayodhya. This Rama is the seventh incarnation (Avatar) of the god Vishnu, and made his appearance in the world at the end of the Treta or second age. His story is briefly told in the Vana Parva of the Mahabharata, but it is given in full length as the grand subject of the Ramayana.

Rama weds Sita , after which they are forced to exile into the forest.Ravana , the king of Sri Lanka (not at present) , falls for Sita , and kidnaps her.

Rama forges an alliance with Sugriva , and then marches their army to Sri Lanka , via a Bridge .Thus the name Rama Setu .

The name Rama's Bridge originates in Hindu belief. According to the Hindu epic Ramayana (Chapter 66, The Great Causeway [3]), the bridge was constructed at Rama's request by his allies. The bridge was supported on floating sand rocks but the gods were said to have later anchored the rocks to the sea bed, thus creating the present chain of rocky shoals. It was said to have helped Rama to reach Sri Lanka to rescue his wife Sita from the demon king (Asura) called Ravana, who was then the ruler of Lanka.(Wikipedia)

But trouble is afoot when progress and religion clash head to head...

Recently the Government of India has approved a multi-million dollar Sethusamudram Shipping Canal Project that aims to create a ship channel across the Palk Strait. The plan is to dredge the shallow ocean floor near the Dhanushkodi end of Rama's Bridge to create enough leeway allowing ships to pass through the channel instead of having to go around the island of Sri Lanka. It is expected to save nearly 30 hours' shipping time by cutting over 400 km off the voyage. However, efforts to conserve the heritage of the bridge has been initiated under the Ram Karmabhoomi movement; and there is fear that the large amount of dredging needed would damage coral reefs in the area, directly and by stirring up sediment.

While experts fear damage to eco system ,  soothsayers predict the end of the world through a Pralaya (Literally the Great Deluge, which occurs in most mythologies including hindu and christian mythologies)

How is this linked to Indo-Us nuclear talks ?Read this...

http://groups.google.com/group/soc.culture.tamil/browse_thread/thread/a99528d6201559ac/a7357ca7c484fe77

A bit over the top , but not entirely implausible ...

Whisper in the ears of Gods !

Religions are , by definition , are metaphors, after all: God is a dream , a hope , a woman , an ironist , a father , a city , a house of many rooms , a watchmaker who left his prized chronometer in the desert , someone who loves you -even , perhaps, against all evidence, a celestial being whose only interest is to make sure your football team , army , business, or marriage thrives , prospers , and triumphs over all opposition.
Religions are places to stand and look and act , vantage points from which to view the world.
-Neil Gaiman (American Gods)

I have a confession to make.I'm afraid of religious fanatics and religious zealots.

Its more fashionable to be an atheist these days !

But I'm a freelance believer.I'd like to believe that I believe in Lord Ganesha as much as Jesus or Allah or Anansi or anyone else.Well India supposedly has thirty-three crore Gods ! so one is practically spoiled for choice !

For me , it was always God, thats it ! , no other name would be necessary for the indefinable belief that I had in God.
My conversations with God have always been candid , informal and friendly.He gives me wise counsel ,guides me and provides me with a philosophy life.
For me , he is a higher being . How high ? Ain't that a silly question... it doesn't matter how high.

In my conversations (always a private monologue !) I told him that he , i.e God was really formless , shapeless and limitless.So his different forms or avatars really didn't matter.
As usual he didn't object.

It was First of january , the first day of the new year according to the Gregorian Calendar which is widely adopted all over the world.
I went to Siddhivinayak temple , a world famous temple in mumbai...
They say some places are endowed with immense power and these places of power attract people .In olden days they built temples , churches , mosques in these places. These days the old gods have been replaced by newer ones : new places of power are inhabited by malls ,casinos, amusement parks and freak shows.People throng here in thousands not knowing that it was the power that pulled them to these malls , casinos amusement parks to spend their money mindlessly.

Siddhivinayak temple : many miracles have been attributed to this holy temple ,as well personal successes of film-stars and gangsters alike , and other events like timely monsoons .

The last time I paid a visit to this temple was four years ago, with my family.We went for blessings for it was the first time I'd embark on a tumultuous journey that would be my career in sea.

Everyone knows of the disparities in mythology.Lord Ganesh ,the god with the elephant head, the main Deity of Siddhivinayak Temple has a mouse as his vehicle.But we were amused to see a cat in the temple right next to a large silver mouse idol .Now the mouse in this temple had powers too.One had to whisper his wishes into one of the ears of the silver mouse while cupping the other so that the wish would not simply flow out of the other ear.And voila ! Your wish would be granted (unless you were a bad person in the eyes of the god)
But being an animal loving person , I spent more time playing with the cat .It was a white , well fed female cat, very cute and well behaved and very very cuddly.We all left the temple smiling from ear to ear!

Four years later things had changed.Lines to enter the temple stretched for kilometres (Yeah , I'm going metric !).Metal detectors were installed and the police would personally inspect your body for suspicious or illegal objects.
It was the New Years day and people who wanted a fresh start came to this temple for some divine grace.There would be many resolutions made and promptly forgotten in the coming days.

My aunt and I went early , leaving the house at the crack of dawn , when mumbai is actually cold(Its all relative , because Mumbai is never chillier than 15 deg C, while I have frozen my balls in minus 22 deg c in montreal and thunder bay).After standing in the line for nearly two hours and being scrutinised by police at two checkpoints we finally were inside the sanctum-sanctorum.Inside the temple , everything was the same except a new set of CCTV's showing Lord Ganesha at all times.We prayed , as usual for a smooth life without insurmountable obstacles (Lord Ganesha specialises in obstacles) and for material wealth that any other mortal would have prayed for.
The cat was nowhere to be found ,but I had something more important to do.The last time I had forgotten to whisper my wishes in the mouse's ears (but they were granted nevertheless ), so I went to the silver mouse, cupped its left ear and whispered "You know what I want , don't you ?" into its right ear and left in search of the white cat to relive the fond memories once again.