Now is the season of Mythology

Hello there,

The season of the festivals is here. Starting from now till December, there will be a festival every fortnight until January when the harvest season in Tamil Nadu will culminate with Pongal. Mother Earth's bounty will be celebrated with pomp and grandeur in every house. But the explanation of this grand festival will be reserved for the first month of the new year (which to my belief will be here before u know it, the semester has begun!!!! REMEMBER... Cursing me for reminding u during a weekend is not going to change the truth)

Back to the subject, Today is Vinayagar Chathurthi (popularly known as Ganesh Chathurthi in the rest of India). Being a Tamilian, it feels strange to call our own Kutti (little) Vinayagar by any other name. Though He is the one with a million names, Vinayagar is my favorite and He stands first in the list of a thousand Gods that we worship. He has a special place in the hearts of students, job hunters, "bride" hunters (do not take that literally), etc. U get the idea, He is the one who

Removes obstacles from ur path
Gives u courage, determination and luck to get u where u want to be
Fights to keep evil off ur path
Acts as ur invisible guide to walk through ur journey BY u all the way until THE END

Today is celebrated as His birthday. Yes, u all know that.. But do u know the amazing mythology behind it. If u do, kindly refresh ur memory...

LOCATION CHANGE

Just Married Goddess Parvathi and Lord Shiva in Kailash (or Kailai, as we call it). Picture white snow everywhere with the soothing OM echoing off the peaks. Shiva is happy, this year's financial problems have been minimal and there was good rain for the Earthlings (this means us..people living on Earth). Peace reigns supreme.

Parvathi like all women (no offense meant to the other sex) goes her restroom, which is a palatial pool with a shower shaped like a swan's beak, to take a bath. The pool has no guards. Being a shy, new bride in Kailash, she decides to take matters into her own hands.

(Prior knowledge required: Divine women wear turmeric on their skin, a good sunbloc, mind u, since they live at these great heights. Turmeric is also very well known as a degreaser (oil remover). And this is just for the skin, there are other good values in turmeric. It is a anti-carcinogenic substance. Not exactly a bio-chemist to prove this but i heard that this has been proved. So next time u see ur mom putting a pinch of turmeric while cooking ur food, u know where and why it began.)

She scoops out the turmeric from Her skin and rolls it up into a ball which She shapes into a cute, little boy. She gives Him life with Her divine touch, plays with His tiny hands and feet for a while and asks Him to watch the door for anybody coming in unannounced. The chubby little child kisses His mother and agrees. This child will later be known as Vinayagar. Just as Parvathi walks into the pool, Shiva enters the house. Looking the way He does, with matted hair and tiger skin on His back and ash (Viboodi) applied all over His well built body, Vinayaga gets cautious. The child warns this strange guy to get out of the house. Shiva resists and warns the child to get out of His way. After all, this is Shiva's house and the child is an intruder there. A vigorous battle ensues but Parvathi has no clue of what is going on outside her restroom (a prelude to what will happen for centuries to come in every home). At the end, Shiva, very well known for his temper, flies into a rage and cuts the child's head off. The child lies in two pieces. Parvathi walks in during this and stands shell shocked. She explains the child's existence to Shiva and pours Her heart out.

Shiva, calm now, realises His mistake and says that He will walk out and kill the first animal He finds and bring its blood to fuse the head and the body of His son. (The first instance of organ rejection during transplantation and how it is overcome.) He finds an elephant, cuts the head off and brings it home with fresh blood dripping. He lays it near the child and takes some blood from it. He splashes the blood on the child's body and lo behold!!! instead of the child's beautiful head, the elephant's head fuses with the child's body. Parvathi utters a cry of agony to see the beautiful head lying untouched and the child with the head of an elephant. But what is done is done, Shiva gives life to the child and names him Vinayaga (one who will remove obstacles because he sacrificed his life trying to save His mother's grace).

There are so many other adventures of Lord Vinayaga where He helps others overcome their fears and obtain what they truly deserve.

Infinite eons have passed since then and Vinayaga is now a man. He is looking for a beautiful wife for himself. But since He knows no other women other than His mother and since He saw Her near the pond for the first time, He still sits as a statue near most ponds in Tamil Nadu waiting for the right girl to walk past Him.

Then.....magic happens....

Jai Ganapathi, Stay with everyone as we embark on a new semester.

Arcindya

My Excuse for not posting

This Monday, I had a stroke out of the clear blue. Some "regular" readers (whose identities I would like to protect) scrapped me asking why I hadn't uploaded my latest "post" on this blog of mine. The blood ran to my head and beyond and I decided then and there, whatever work I have on a 'Sunday morning', I will make time to satisfy my audience (if I can exxagerate to that level, what's this...., I can say whatever I want here.... I will exxagerate).

So my reason for not posting last weekend is as follows.

The apartment I live in can henceforth be called "Little India". New room-mates (3) have moved in and are all settling down quite happily.Each one is from a different state and there is always a medley of languages and dialects of Hindi going on in the background. The apartment is so full, we have to, absolutely have to empty the mail box and the trash bins daily. Cooking is going on in 'Ghadothghajan' quantities. But besides all this, there is so much more to do, much more to share,

Mouth watering recipes
Stories and experiences in the "work place" (if they have worked)
Favorite episodes of Friends
Mp3 songs we might not possess
"Sambhar masala"

and

LOADS OF FUN

I am kinda lucky to have got very good room-mates actually.

Changing the subject, today was one of my best days (considering the weather and my mood) in Tucson. The morning looked very bleak and no sun was even peeping out of the cloud cover. I got ready for work and looked out. The sky had turned shades to black. The voice in my head (who i call "Miss BE-WARE") told me, BEWARE!!!! U r not the lucky kind. If u go out without a raincoat, it is absolutely certain that it will rain heavens, cats, dogs and more...

To silence her and make the day brighter (what a gr8 responsibility to place on my small shoulders??), feeling like Atlas, I took out the green raincoat cum wind cheater that my mom had lovingly packed for me when I started for videsh (The idea of sending me with a raincoat to TUCSON was to BE SAFE. My mom is the slightly compassionate living version of Miss BE-WARE.), dusted it a bit... and wore it. An Indian who walked by me on the way to my cycle smiled. It was not even raining. I smiled back saying IT WILL START RAINING ANYTIME NOW.

And no sooner had I got on my bike that the heavens opened up and poured (I timed it exactly 05 minutes and 10 seconds only..... no more, no less). Nice Bicycle ride with rain pouring all around me. I was happy under the hood of MY MOM'S LOVE. Felt like an angel on a passing cloud (again blogger license) with a back pack instead of the traditional harp. Patting myself and Miss BE-WARE on the back for taking such an intelligent decision, I skipped all the way to my lab.

No wonder, the day got brighter and I got happier by the minute.

Miss BE-WARE says sayonara. Turn up the volume of ur inner voice.

Until next weekend,

Arcindya

Tis a new year again

Summer is coming to an end very quickly (not that this has ever mattered in Tucson). We keep track of this natural change only by the start of classes in August. The temperature is still soaring and the new students fresh off the international flights are pouring in.

Lots of new faces to greet into our lives. (advice to give out-and lots of it)
Lots of meals to cook for the dear jet lagged souls.
Bidding farewell to old friends and room-mates embarking on the journey that is 'JOBHUNT'.
('Gracefully agreeing' to take their stuff which will be very economical for u)
Working hard on choosing courses.
Reassuring mom and dad that u will definitely graduate this spring.
Shopping at WALMART (lucky I have u to go to)

and many more things everybody does when the new year begins. Funny thing, our new year begins in august.

U feel like u r on top of everything in ur life and it is all up hill from here. Lets hope this feeling lasts atleast until u hand in the"FIRST ASSIGNMENT" of the toughest course u take this semester. I will try and be a little optimistic at this.

WORK HARD ENOUGH AND LADY LUCK WILL WALK BY U AS U STEP INTO A NEW SEMESTER...

(words will always be ur friend.)

Arcindya