Every time Spring Comes

    Look at this picture, and you will know, that even though it is going to arrive, spring always, always surprises us, as if we were never expecting it.....

Every time spring comes, it is a surprise.  

This is how it happens.  

You leave home without realising that you do not have your hat on and you forgot your gloves. And although it is nippy, you can bear it.  Your fingers are turning  red but  you can slip them into the pockets of your light fleece jacket over your wool shirt.  You are wearing two layers of tights, but not your ski pants that work like wind cheaters.  The sky is blue and bright.  Birds chirp earlier and longer in the day.  

The air is breatheable--and before you know you realise your lips have widened in both directions, reaching your ears.  

Must be spring, must be love!! And simple as that, you bow up at the sky, hoping someone is listening and whisper a thankyou.  The change, the contrast, the movement.  And a realisation that something in us remains the same, change of seasons are only for us to shift our mindset.  For those of us who live in stark climates, we get four chances every year to switch our mind set. We must use it.  And you folks, you live where the changes are not so stark...well, create them, at least four major times every year when you decide you are going to swich something in your life. 

Will end with a story from spring of 2005.  Teaching an international communication class in the US.  Asked the students to write an extra credit assignment telling me what they had learnt in that class.  The student wrote, 'among other things, your lecture on spring and easter, when you said that it is a time for renewal.  I walked out fo the class with a determination to quit smoking.'

iOne of the best, if not the best contribution of my academic career. 

May you renew yourself. 

Some Truth on Crisis

PS:  Will update this page for the next few days.   Watch this space and read how people work so hard, and yet media has its focus on creating panic.

So, this is going to be short or not so...but with a specific point.  I have two other posts that I am working on, but thought of sharing this, this week.

A friend wrote and said that BBC is talking about the dire situation in India because of the Chinese virus (people are so afraid to call it that).

The fact is that India is a 1.3 billion people country.  With huge disparity in the wealth and prosperity status.  Yet, the country has mailed vaccines to other countries in the last 3 months.  I know of thankyou notes from officials and citizens from South Africa, Brazil, Morroco, Canada, Israel, and Pakistan. USA got quinine --last year.  

India rode the first wave very well and had very little damage.  The new virus strain is something that the people were not prepared for.  While the situation is dire, it is also getting better at the same time as the following tweets will tell you.  But will the international media cover it?  No, it takes immense pleasure in putting the country down.  I have seen it over and over again. 

The world fears China, and thinks India can be put down.   Also, because as a nation it is rising.  It is defying colonialism.  Its rising respect for Hinduism is also a mark of self-confidence.  The young are reading texts, not considering it superstition.  

Many of our simple ways of Nameste, as a hello rather than a handshake, and eating no jhootha (meaning a lie, is also used when you eat out of the same plate, use a spoon used by someone else, drink out of the same bottle, generally very kosher.  What we eat has to be pure and untouched.  I still carry that in my life.  I used to laugh that my little nephew would not let me drink out of his glass.  But all these habits are ancient Hindu habits of cleanliness.  I remember being appalled at seeing people taste food while cooking, and putting the same spoon back in the pan. Both in Africa and in the US.  The same applied to the body.  A shower in the morning, and clear ideas about who to get intimate with. All these practices are valid even today and especially in the times of pandemic).

The following tweet is about how miseries of global south is usually used in international media.

And you can listen to a podcast that talks about an American 

journalist calling a picture of funeral pyres "Stunning" Having fun at other people's pain.  

The following tweet is correct misinformation provided by a leading Indian journalist Barkha Dutt in Washington Post.  So, BI forces--Breaking India forces in collaboration with western media do this. 

But the western media is having a field day by focussing on the hard times in these pandemic in India, even as the situation gets better.

Here read this and see how common Indians are helping each other for no money...no glory.  Just driving folks who are migrant workers, live in squatter settlements, and driving them to the hospital.  Jai Bharat means, Glory to India. 

Magazines like India Today are heavily funded by people who are anti-India (yes many of them are Indians).  So behind these names India Today, Times of India (called Toilet Paper of India by young Indians)--and they hardly see the news in context.  The aim is to defame the country and its primary religion.  Mr. Frawley is an American and a noted Hindu and an Ayurveda (medicine based on Indian texts) practitioner.  Lives in India and often comments on the situation. 

The following tweet refers to the Vice President of the US. Chitti, means mother's younger sister (aunty)in Tamil (I think). For all her Indian-ness that she used to get votes from Indian Americans, not a peep about helping India.  

here is an Indian American lamenting how disappointed he is the way the US has responded despite being helped by India only a few months ago. 

So, here is one Indian tweeted after the above tweet. 

मैत्रीं भजत अखिलहृज्जेत्रीम् आत्मवदेव परानपि पश्यत । युद्धं त्यजत स्पर्धां त्यजत त्यजत परेषु अक्रममाक्रमणम् ॥ जननी पृथिवी कामदुघाऽऽस्ते जनको देवः सकलदयालुः । दाम्यत दत्त दयध्वं जनताः श्रेयो भूयात् सकलजनानाम् ॥

Here is what it means:

https://youtu.be/zbjAkaec7Lc
Maithreem Bhajatha , Akhila Hrujjethreem,
Atmavadeva paraanapi pashyatha
Yuddham thyajatha , Spardhaam Tyajata , thyajatha Pareshu akramamaakramanam
Jananee Pruthivee Kaamadughaastey
JanakO Devah Sakala Dayaaluh
Daamyata Datta Dayadhvam Janathaah
Sreyo Bhooyaath Sakala Janaanaam
Sreyo Bhooyaath Sakala Janaanaam
Sreyo Bhooyaath Sakala Janaanaam

Raaga - Sung in Ragamalika
Tala - Adi

Though it is not possible to translate the song into English and still preserve its original meaning to the fullest extent, sources available from the WordWide Web suggest the following translation:

Maithreem Bhajatha Akila Hrith Jeththreem - 

to Cultivate Friendship and Humility, which will conquer the Hearts of Everyone.
Atmavat Eva Paraan api pashyata - 

Look upon others similar to yourself.
Yuddham Tyajata - 

Renounce War
Spardhaam Tyajata -

forsake Competition
Tyajata Pareshwa akrama aakramanam - 

Give up Aggression do be aggressive
Jananee Prthivee Kaamadughaastey - 

Mother Earth yields all that we desire,

'Kaamadughaastey'-

she gives that all the things we desire (cloths,food etc)
JanakO Deva: Sakala Dayaalu: 

- There is only one father in common,god he is Our Father, is very Compassionate to All (PLEASE NOTE, NOT JUST KIND TO BELIEVERS)
Daamyata - 

practice Restrain yourself
Datta - 

So, Donate your wealth to others
Dayathvam - 

So, Be Kind to others
Janathaa: - 

Oh People of the World
Sreyo Bhooyaath Sakala Janaanaam -

May All People of this World be Happy and Prosperous.
Sreyo Bhooyaath Sakala Janaanaam - 

May All People of this World be Happy and Prosperous.
Sreyo Bhooyaath Sakala Janaanaam - 

May All People of this World be Happy and Prosperous.

Maithreem Bhajata मैत्रीं भजत is a benediction composed in Sanskrit by Jagadguru Shri Chandrasekharendra Saraswati, renowned as the Paramacharya of Kanchi.

The song was set to a Ragamalika by composer Shri Vasant Desai. It was rendered at the United Nations on Oct. 23, 1966 on the occasion of the UN day, by Bharat Ratna Smt. M. S. Subbulakshmi and received a standing ovation.

Source : wiki

CONCLUSION: Watch media....listen to the news, still always be wary.  The best thing is to take care of those around us and love people.  That will make a better world. May you all be happy, prosperous and very healthy 

Spwing!!

Wow, published April 4, 2010, am republishing this --because I have not published anything for easter.  I know it was a week ago, but I need to honor it.  Normally our easter means feathers.  I have published several  So read it and see how new I was in the country and how fascinated with the traditions. I loved learning about all the traditions and rituals. Also, this is when I was still writing poetry. Have not done it in years. Hope you enjoy this.  A very yellow and bright and 'daffodilly' post!!

Nothing real on the blog for a while.

Its not just that I have been busy, there are many other reasons, but they will follow.

I just want to write about what major events have been happening--nature-wise in my environs.

On my way to work yesterday, I noticed something that I had not noticed before. Two blocks of stone, right in the middle of the patch of ground outside the university. They must have been buried in the snow all this time. Both have the same face carved on them, but one has eyes closed and the other has its eyes open. I wondered what that was. I am assuming, it defines/symbolizes what the university stands for. We are barely alive when we come to the place of learning, and with the right combination of desire to learn and teachers who want to engage us in learning, we leave with our eyes open.

We are changed and the world is never ever the same again.

Just like in places where you have four seasons. With every winter, we have a stronger belief in summer and spring and we learn to enjoy autumn and winter with just as much fervor.

We are changed, because change is all around us. And if we do not change, and evolve, we are dead anyway.

Only a few days ago, we were covered in snow, three weeks ago, we got 36 hours of snowfall.

But last week, when I came home the snow had magically melted. The ground emerged, as if from way below the sea level. The trees sort of have a bit of their dignity back, now that every branch is not twisted under snow.

They are beginning to show their color, a little green here, a little life in that brown bark. The ground is still hard.

But there are daffodils. They are called Pask Lily--Pask meaning easter. So, Easter Lilies.

I could go and write a whole essay about how Christianity is mainly a northern hemisphere religion. It makes sense here. In Fiji and Botswana and most parts of India, neither Christmas, nor Easter make any sense.

But the point is that, it is a time of resurrection. Renewal, hope, and life.

Instead of Easter bunnies, we have witches and roosters. And ofcourse, eggs!!

Much chocolate, usually sold in egg shaped containers.

I had to go into town today to pick up some papers and I realized that the restaurants and cafe’s have arranged their chairs and outdoor seating area. Enticing the customers, seducing the public. Ah, but what else is spring for!!

Why, I am taking so much time out of my tight schedule and writing this is because today, as I walked to school, I stopped by a bare tree, that was tall and stood with its usual elegance, as it did through the winter. But now, instead of snow, there were drops of melted snow, hanging at the end of every branch, every little vein that had survived this winter, that I am told was the coldest in the last twenty years.

The drops were not frozen but not supple like warm water either. They just hung, like the fog above us. Waiting for their completion. Maybe waiting for the sun to absorb them, back into the vast, infinite nothingness!

I simply sighed and walked on. On the way, to the university, I saw these beautiful flowers.

As I stopped to see them.

Crocuses!! My mind said.

White and purple. Spring.

The grass is still quite brown, but in the middle of the parking lot, sans snow, there were some signs of life. And I think they were not planted. So they intended themselves, just like nature. Crocuses for weeds in Sweden, orchids for weeds in Fiji!! How could we complain?

No matter how hard winters are, spring always comes. Hope always remains, sun always shines, may be not often, may be not forever, but always returns.

Why then do we think of time in a linear way?

Time is not the reality, it is an idea created by the self, to make sense of things (From a meditation course that I follow online).

I end here with a poem I wrote the year I started Phd. That spring I had much to consider so I wrote to make sense of things.

Splling

Dew Drops on a Cob Web,

Smiling,

glistening,

like diamonds,

cannot be matched,

cannot be replicated;

gentle breeze,

surpassing the cooling gadgets

considers us human,

stretched days-

allow us naps,

young flowers

inspire us to smile,

rain comes home

like a long awaited guest

and leaves us the gift of a rainbow,

another toddler learns to call out-

splling!!

Things We Remember from Long Ago: Guidance from Spontaneous Thoughts

When we allow our memories and spontaneous thoughts to guide us

When We Don't 

I started this on April 24, 2020.

I spoke with Mother, as I do almost everyday.  I was tired and sad.  

She started mumbling a song. I did not understand that.  She remembers words and melody, but cannot sing it very well.  

I went quiet.  It was beautiful to be lulled into peace by her. 

Mother mumbled the song again. I had never heard it. 

After I hung up, I googled the song.  

When i looked at the date, I was surprised. On our next call, I asked her you were way too young to understand its meaning.  

"Oh i heard it much later in my teens."  We used to hum it.  India had movies, but not TVs yet. Cities started to get television from 1960s onwards.  By the time I was growing up, in the 70s and 80s I do not remember past the age of six not having television at home.  But later when I moved to the US and met people from other towns and cities they said that it arrived to them in the late 80s.  What I remember about the 80s is that I TV would need repair and those few days without it were dreadful.  Also how we ran from another room to watch a TV ad.  TV ads were 30 second stories and just brightened our day.  

Back to the song my mother is singing.  Its a pathetic song. I mean it is a sad love song.  But revelatory of the 40-50s music.  Love-lorn, but sad because of unrequited love. 

bahe na kabhi nain se neer, uthi ho chahe jitne peer, bawre yehi preet ki reet.

Never cry, never let it (water) flow from your eyes, no matter how much pain is in your heart, such are the ways of love, O'Silly One, such are the ways of life.  You can watch it here. 

We can talk about the pointlessness of this pain in another post.  But here, what I wanted to share was that there are things we remember from the past and they just pop up into our heads, songs, poems, stories.  They are all there to give us a direction. 

I also think that when these things pop into our minds, they are there to guide us.  So yes the song was pathetic, but the way my mind reminded me, was actually her way of saying, crying is no use, count your blessings and be happy. 

These reminders are like light filtering through a forest and fog of thoughts, to show us the path. 

May you use guidance from things long before that pop into your mind as an inspiration to continue the path of light, smile and be grateful. 

BURA NA MAANO --Holi Hai!!

:Last week, March 28, 2021 was Holi. The festival of Color.  But I hardly remember dates....and days.  Even though easter is about and I will post some old easter posts next week...by which it would be late, I still wanted to share this Holi post.  Pay attention to how every culture in the north had a spring festival.  Since Christianity has been normalised, people forget that easter was actually imposed on pagan holidays that celebrated spring.  Next week, you can read more about easter and see that both Holi and Easter are celebrated with COLOR.

First published on March 10, 2020 here it is, since nature is dancing in all its colors...enjoy and dance with it....(this is actually 2-3 posts in one, the first one was published in 2010, then 2014, then 2018, 2020, and now 2021.  Each time something was added, pictures, words, memories. 

Happy Spring

Temples invite mandir mandlis (sort of singing minstrels associated with temples)--to send their stars dressed as Gods and Goddesses to visit. Bringing Krishna and Radha is one of the most common. Here, a young woman is dressed as Radha.  

Krishna, known as complete man, and who played all roles in his life, from son to brother to friend to lover to a warrior is most celebrated in his form with his consort, Shri Radhaji, his childhood companion.  

They were never married but their love is supposed to be pure and eternal.  A sign of Hindu thinking, Krishna is celebrated not as victim, nor as a warrior but as the greatest lover.  In a society where premarital relations are still frowned upon, Krishna is celebrated with the woman who loved him more than herself (will share the stories at some point) and never married him.  The love that does not get acceptance in society, gets celebrated in temples. That's Hinduism, you cannot contain it nor can you  compare it to anything else....

Last published on March 3, 2018--Its that time of the year again when colors are returning, winter is receding,--in India spring is at its peak.

And March 10, 2020 is HOLI....!!

Wanna know more?? Here read this brilliant two part essay on the MANY SHADES OF HOLI!

Second part of the same article is here

Here are some images from last year when we hosted a prayer meeting and celebrated a 'dry' holi with powdered colors and flower petals!!

By the way, when people throw color at you or water, or hit you with a water balloon, that can sometimes hurt....this what they also say....BURA NA MAANO --Holi Hai  --Don't mind, its Holi after all!!

And if you do not have the time to read all that I have put here--since this is a long post--just watch this--Lathmaar Hli in Barsana--The bamboo stick holi-where women strike their men with sticks (I laugh when people say women in India are weak :)---please notice the man at 0:55 filming the whole thing....gives you a perspective of rural India...:)

And of course you can read here more about the Lathmar Holi.  The legend is that on this day Lord Krishna visited his 'object of affection' and with his friends teased the girls of the town and threw color on them.  Women in Barsana did not like it, and hit him with sticks and chased him away.  That's our Gods, filled with fun and laughter and not afraid to tease and not offended when beaten by women--so to keep that tradition, even today men from Nandgaon (the town where Lord Krishna is from) come to Barsana and women hit them and chase them away.  Only some of them consider it a blessing and sit and allow women hit them as they use a shield to cover them!!

Holi was India's valentine's day, and much older.  But with much more color than Valentine's day.  Men proposed women this day.  As wiki says, : Males also sing provocative songs in a bid to invite the attention of women.  Women then go on the offensive and use long staves called 'Lathis' to beat men folk who protect themselves with shields" 

Here you can learn some more about the festival in a short video detailing how this festival of love and color was celebrated and it significance.

Finally, and yes Finally, here is an old bollywood song. Not sharing new ones as the old ones have a charm, watch this and know what fun we associated it with this festival:  Here is another Bollywood, old song--  And here is the one talking about Phalgun --the month when holi comes, associated with spring. This song is bit on the classical side.  Btw, months according to Indian calendar are based on seasons and not on names of Kings etc. So Phalgun is spring,Saawan is monsoon Kartik is autumn etc. 

And I end with the one and age old folk song turned into Bollywood song, of love between two 60 year olds  married for decades: Holi Khele Raghuveera, Awadh mein, Holi Khele Raghuveera Means, Lord Raghu plays Holi in Awadh (name of the city). Songs associated with all our festivals actually names of our Gods, indicating how old Hinduism and its festivals are that our Gods from 1000s of years ago were also said to have played the festival.  Still the festival remains one favourite of Lord Krishna....

And what you see in the beginning of the his video is grinding of 'bhaang' a hemp plant.  yes, a hallucinogen, a drink is made out of it, with almonds, milk and sugar.  But having said that, we ordinary middle class folks knew nothing of it.  My cousin last year taught me that the use of hemp --in minimal amount--at this time of the year was also to remove toxins from the body and ready the body for the rest of the year... 

It will take a while to go through the entire post, but I hope you enjoy it.  If you have the time and want to share, do tell me what was the best part of the post.  Which song, or which article touched you the most....

Setting the altar up!!

Here is the altar, after the prayers ---Holi songs were sung and we all danced as we threw flower petals on each other...

Ah my world.  Two young women are my cousins, I grew up under their watch in some ways.  The one in the brown is so dear to me.  B, didi.  (didi means older sister). They lived in Delhi as well, and we visited them almost every week.  She taught  me so much, including the homemade, hand whipped cappuccino --if I have not made it for you yet, remind me when we meet and I will!!  It is delicious!!  The lady in Yellow is my dear -dear aunt.  My mother's older sister.  They have always lived about 4 hours drive away, and so we met every few months.  Or more, depending on if they needed to be in town for some reasons. We grew up in such a way that relatives were always visiting.  There was a sense of security in that.  Knowing the we had this 'padding' in life. My Maasi (mother's sister)  has also always been a social worker, without ever having to attend college.  She got married very young, since India was just dividing and no one knew what was going to happen.  Its like post war, people wanted to marry and have children to preserve life.  A few years ago she got life-achievement award from a local organisation for her information contribution to the community.  I don't think there is anyone in our extended family or even her neighbourhood who did not at one point wear a sweater knitted by her.  My all time memories are of her knitting as she talked.  And we think the educated ones are useful today...they can hardly contribute to community as these women have.  The lady in pink is her daughter.  I remember her as the cousin who has always been smiling no matter what the circumstances.  Always a joy on her face, I aspire to be like her.

Here is the clan, after all the guests had gone, the ladies got together for a very sisterly get together and the only man you see is my cousin brother.  A kind soul, who is always there to help others. And also since he is a little older I remember how he used to make a fool of us.  He told me that if I combined wheatflhour with turmeric and boiled it long enough, it will turn into GOLD--goodness, how many pots and pans I turned yellow because of that.... :) 

New additions to the family.   The young lady is B didi's daughter-in-law and her second born little boy.  The best thing about family is seeing how new members are added and how clans grow.  How people are assimilated into our ways, how they bring new ways of thinking.  I hope these traditions continue and that no one ever undermines the value of togetherness, and learning from older relatives. 

Republishing again--

Time goes fast....First published in 2010, then 2014--and now 2018--.....It was Holi a day ago!!  Wishing you all a very happy spring!

I have been meaning to write for months, on Holi.  May be years since I wrote this article in 2006.  But time is an issue.  I want to do justice to this special Indian holiday.  Regardless, I am republishing this story that was originally published on this blog on Friday, February 26, 2010. This year Holi coincided with St. Patrick’s day, on March 17, 2014. 

The following story was published in Fiji's Culture and Events newsletter in 2006. This year Holi is on March 1st. BasantPanchami was January 20, 2010.

Forty days, like number 9 is symbolic in many cultures. Like there are Novenas in Catholics, in India we have "Chaliyas" (Chaslis- Forty). A prayer or a resolve is taken for forty days. Often times used in the process of bargaining with God. And many times used in disciplining/ controlling/guiding our inner natures to a higher level. All religions use fasting, or some sort form of abstaining from things we enjoy to learn how we are actually freer when we have little needs, greeds and possesions.

And holi is perfect for that because this is one holiday that is not really associated with exchange of gifts, may be some sweets and food. We do not necessarily need new clothes, the old ones would do and no need to go to the salon before Holi!!

Happy Holi!! Holi Mubarak!! May the colors of spring this year reach your soul!!

The pictures below are from Holi 2009, in Fiji.

Holi Hai!!!

In the long list of Indian festivals, Diwali and Holi are the ones always associated with most vivid stories. If Diwali is the festival of lights, Holi is the festival of color.

Starting on Basant Panchami (Feb-1-2006), which marks the beginning of spring in North India, Holi, is a forty-day affair and falls on the full moon of the month of Phagun (Feb-March of Gregorian Calendar). Like all Indian festivals Holi, meaning to offer oblation, is associated with myriads of legends. The most common one is that of a young boy Prahlad, his father King Hiranyakashipa and his sister Holika. Prahlad, against the wishes of his father, worshiped Vishnu, an Indian God. When Prahlad ignored his father’s repeated requests to stop his devotion to Vishnu, an irate Hiranyakashipa sought Holika’s help. Holika, blessed with a boon by Agni, the Lord of Fire, could not be harmed by fire. To teach Prahlad a lesson, Hiranyakashipa asked Holika to walk through a burning fire as she held Prahlad in her arms. But no boon protects a sinner, and soon Holika was burnt to ashes and Prahlad emerged unhurt.

Indo-Fijians have maintained several of Holi’s traditions, especially the Chautal. Chautal is the name given to spring folk songs that speak of love, devotion to God and spring. Holi celebrations in Fiji begin with the tuning of a Dholak (Indian drums) on Basant Panchami. For 6 weeks between Panchami and Holi, families welcome spring by visiting each other and singing Chautal. The host usually provides light snacks, and each Chautal ends with funny anecdotes, something that all kids look forward to.

Being the favorite festival of Lord Krishna, Holi is also associated with uninhibited expression of love and affection. It is a welcome change to a society that prides itself in restricted show of physical affection. If you are a Bollywood follower, then without a doubt at some point you have watched at least one dance sequence where people splash color & water at each other as they wag their hips to Indian drums. In India, weeks before Holi, children get the ‘license’ to play with water balloons and Pichkaris (squirt guns). Although water balloons have been banned, youngsters continue to pelt their friends with water balloons.

The last three days of Holi are celebrated with great fervor. The third last day, the eldest member of the family begins with prayers and sprinkling color on each member of the family and youngsters follow the lead, the second last day, a bonfire is lit as a reminder of triumph of good over evil, and the last day, is reserved for fun, frolic and feast. As people shower their friends and family with color and spray water on them they scream Burra na Mano, holi hai!!! Please don’t mind, after all its Holi!!

If you want to experience Holi this year (March 14-15 2006), latch on to your Indian friends and join in the festival of color.