Durga Puja: Remembering Our Humble Beginnings

It's funny when I think of it, I am a jungle girl. I have always been attracted to nature, trees, the forest, wilderness and Animals! However I was born in the greatest city on earth, brought up in a fairly large Indian city, and then did high school in one of the most populated cities in the World - Kolkata, India! Maybe that's why I always wanted to live on a farm? Or maybe because my ancestors were farmers... It's strange why the open spaces, quiet and solitude have always called me, however I settled into city life just fine too, although it truly was NOT my element.

Over the years I have wondered about BELONGING, WHAT AM I, WHO AM I, and other such thoughts on existentialism. I remember wondering when I was very little 4 or 5... that I could have been anyone, but why was I me? Why wasn't I she, or she or he? That thought process blew my mind, and then I think I got scolded for day dreaming. I did that a lot, I would get lost in my thoughts on thoughts, while missing out on the long division method. Sometimes I regret not paying attention. As children we live, and then some time in the teenage years we're taught to "define our individuality" so then the material world comes into play. Before which, all I wanted was to be left alone with my thoughts and imagination. I liked taking my sis and I into this world where we each had flying horse friends, and we were shapeshifters... yeah! :-P Then by 10th grade we are worried about belonging... I just have to point out, growing up in Southern India, I wasn't very keen on my Bengali heritage, cause that itself made me stand apart. Try explaining Durga Puja to other 2nd graders who are other Indian cultures. Being the only Bong in class at that time, sucked. Soon Becky joined me though!

After being forced to go to Durga Puja, tolerate rituals which I didn't understand, spending 5 days in a different city with overly doting relatives, you become ready to adopt any culture other than the one you are born into. It took many years for me to finally be comfortable, accepting, and fond of my Bengali heritage and all the stereotypes that come with it. I am a Bengali American! I am Me! And I belong to me and the world. Yeah but that Bengali bit!

There we go back to the history of my ancestors, it maybe totally inconsequential to the larger picture of life the universe and everything, however it might have some significance? Who knows! Anyway, my family is from a village in West Bengal, and it is such a "village" in every sense... no electricity, middle of no where, no roads, they still have wells and a hand pump for water, and yes people are poor farmers. It's so beautiful there though, from my memories of this place. Running through the rice fields barefoot, felt utterly natural, even when my foot sank into a warm pile of cow dung... mmm! So natural! (I'm not being sarcastic). It felt like home, although that was my first time there. From big city to tiny village, it didn't sink in till recently. The complete opposites of where I am from, finding the complete mish-mash of "things" that I am and coming to terms with it and finally accepting it all. It's peaceful, or at least humorous!

My father just sent a picture of the village's Durga Protima this year, and she is simple but lovely, and I am glad for my family, and our humble origins, still humbling now. <3

Breathe

Isn't she beautiful? Left to right- Gonesh, (bengali pronunciation ok!), Lokhi, Durga, Shoroshoti, Kathik, and Mahishashur somewhere in there, dying! 

Chanting to Raise Your Vibrations

Ram Dass explains that chanting in Sanskrit is important; the language was created during a time of evolving consciousness, so the sounds produced through Sanskrit opens chakras and channels within your body in the energetically level. Hence, I feel that since one decides to use mantra in daily practice they should go all the way with learning pronunciation and chanting in a way that serves the purpose of opening Chakras and balancing the body, mind, and purify the Athman.

A conversation with my little sister

Picture Courtesy Conscious Culture

The Religion Competition

Awesome news! The Shiva Trilogy final book is being released on Feb 27th!

(Please read this disclaimer, for I found it very similar to what I would disclaim in general regarding my blog. Thanks! And please note this blog is a thought process in dynamic progress, please check back for edits! Once again this is not to dis anyone, any religion, language or culture.This is just my rambling flowing thoughts and NOT a scientific document. I enjoy reading books.)

For those of you who don't know what the Shiva Trilogy is about, here are a few pointers:
1- The Shiva Trilogy consists of three books: The Immortals of Meluha, The Secret of the Nagas, and The Oath of the Vayaputras
2-These books are based on "Hindu Mythology", from the perspective what if it wasn't myth but it all really happened.
3- Hinduism is a religion followed in India. It dates back to circa. 2600 BC! Yeah it's pretty effing old.
4- Shiva, known as the God of destruction is the protagonist of the story, and it follows his life, trials, love, and leadership.

There are a lot of misconceptions regarding Hinduism, especially because it is such an ancient religion. In fact me thinks, most Indians/ Hindus have no true idea about Hinduism. It is honestly a lot of reading since there are so many different ancient texts (kind of like in Judaism). Recently I began studying my heritage, my culture etc. out of curiosity, and found out numerous things which I had no idea of before. It was not even taught in my undergrad Eastern Religions or Hinduism class (I happened to major in both Psych and Religious studies). I keep reading more about the Vedas and the Gita, having studied the Gita unwillingly as a child, it was interesting to reread it as an adult. Not everything I read about Hinduism sat well with me. Some books said that women must be subservient to men... Guess how I feel about that!  I am yet to find a "perfect religion". And you know what this is why there are so many wars, because everyone thinks their religion is perfect because they do feel so truly about "their" God, Gods, etc. The thing is... it is so hard for people in general to believe, maybe all of the religions are perfect, and perfectly flawed, and I will respect them all, but by doing so this does not hurt my faith in my God.

My adventures through religions, my childhood witnessing of too many "killing in the name of" such and such God/ religion/ prophet/ religious leader, and my cognitive dissonance with certain beliefs of certain religions was enough to put me off all religions and distance myself from it. Instead, I found myself in a very spiritual place, call it new age, hippie-ism, atheism, agnosticism, whatever else you may want to call it - I don't care, where I believe in a higher power (no sex is defined, if it has to be She will be like me), I keep my morals and values, I use my brain and heart, I love and forgive, I respect other people's beliefs, I respect all religions, I try to remember the whole meaning of "Namaste". I'm glad that some of the Western world is slowly studying the history behind Hinduism and Eastern religions and finding true value in it. Yet just because they value it or respect it, or practice parts of it, doesn't mean that they are converting, it's life we adopt, we change! The East learns things from the West.

It seems the general attitude toward Eastern Religions especially Hinduism they are often looked down upon, considered less real, or generally inferior to Abrahamic Religions. Hinduism seems to get hit the worst because it is taught to be and thought to be a polytheistic religion when in fact ONE true God (Brahman) is the force behind all the other "Avatars". It's always dismissed as a religion based on myths rather than true events, unlike the Abrahamic religions, which claim to be more truer because they have more proof, their writings are more recent, monotheistic religions are more believable? There are many other reasons, in fact the Bible says so in many different verses etc. etc. etc. They always have MORE proof.  However the Bible which most people read from is but a translation and interpretation of the mystical words of the olden days saints scholars what have you, which is same as in Hinduism, Buddhism etc. Whatever! I find all the religious texts highly unbelievable when it comes to truth factors, however they are all nice stories and good guides for people who seek more meaning in their life or something.

What I like about the Shiva Trilogy is it takes the ancient texts of the Vedas etc., and puts them into what I like to call a "Christian" thought process, of let's not think of it as mythology, let's interpret this as if Shiva was really a man. Come on Moses parted the Red Sea and he's only known as a prophet and not God; Jesus turned water into wine and he's only known as the son of God; Prophet Mohammad heard the voice of God and wrote an amazing book, and he's known as a Prophet, not God. With the same premise, let's say there was a strong, hunky, unbreakable guy named Shiva, and he did some major feats as a leader in his time. People looked up to him so much, they equated him to Mahadev (God of Gods), but he was truly just a king. However history, turned this literal, thus making it seem such a man was impossible to have existed. So many stories were interpreted wrong, quite possible. Ganesh was not possible because which man has a head of an elephant? This man does: The Elephant Man. Deformities were something which at the time inexplicable, had to be understood in some way... Ganesh, a good man, with severe deformities, became an angel sent unto earth: We can learn to love those who do not necessarily look like us! All the different colored dirties - Lakshmi - Yellow - Chinese? Saraswati - White - Russian? Krishna - Blue - African? Etc.

Or How about ALIENS! I like the Ancient Aliens (History Channel), version of who are the Hindu Gods or Gods in general maybe. It is a scientific explanation of some sort. It theorizes that maybe Ganesh was a time traveler from the future who they thought was a God! Or perhaps he is an alien thus the different form. Hehehe! (An article which I found very interesting during my research). The fact remains though that sadly at the end of the day such a weapon such as religion can be used for bad or good, or for controlling people. Please be wary of this. In the end we do live in a world where one can believe in anything in the Universe they wish to, from something as whimsical as Unicorns, to God in whatever religious sense, to even conspiracy theories regarding governments. Some may try to find proof others may follow unquestioningly.

Truly, most humans need someone telling them what to do. Very few can just live as is. At work, school and play. Humans also enjoy control over certain things, and need explanations for things they can not understand. We look for meaning in our lives, meaning which we need someone else, or something else like an ancient text which was written through some acclaimed ancient dude who heard it from God or some dude of God's which makes the meaning of our lives totally legit!

Honestly, I am so open to all thought processes, as long as people keep holding the following attitudes "My God is more true than yours", or "My religion is superior and truer than yours", I will be unable to accept than any of them are true. In fact I cry that all of this leads to war, war and more war... terrorism, fighting for land, politics, and worse dirty politics... all in the name of what. Really what? In the end it is all ego... Get over it! Go do some yoga and live and let live! And Stop fighting - You know who you are... just stop war and fighting! In the name of Jesus, Allah, Shiva, Moses, etc. etc. etc. I know you didn't start the fire, it was always burning since the world's been turning, but YOU can stop it! For the love of the Gods or God!

And definitely read The Shiva Trilogy, if just for entertainment... it is the next Lord of the Rings! <3

Namaste - Prana Workshop

This past weekend my sister visited. She and I held a workshop, for meditation, yoga, art, song, and healing. Piyali has been holding such gatherings and workshops in central park, New York for the entire of summer. I was lucky to be a part of one such workshop during the celebration of her graduation. We did this under the mind tree in central park. She was visiting Ohio on business, and meeting with the co-founder of her organization Kevin (More information about their non-profit can be found at this link Conscious Culture). She asked me to organize one of these so I invited almost everyone I knew in Cleveland area. Sorry if I left someone out, it was a rushed project and wish we could have found a bigger place. About 15 people were present and we bonded through the following activities:

We began by introducing ourselves and sharing how we felt at this moment in one word. Everyone said their name, and expressed how they felt right then - examples nervous, calm, excited, open, curious, energetic, anxious. This helped us make ourselves aware of us NOW, making us present.

Next we prepared for the rest of the session by calming our minds and energies through meditation. We sat straight at a place we felt comfortable and closed our eyes for ten minutes, as Piyali led us in meditation, guiding our thoughts, and breathing.

This was followed by Yoga, particularly the Surya Namaskar (sun salutation). My mother, who teaches yoga out of that very basement, led us in one of the many variations of the Surya Namaskar. This variation incorporated the warrior poses, trikonasana, downward dog, plank, cobra and stretching. It was very relaxing, a work out, some people felt loosened up, lighter, meditative.

Forgiveness and introspection was the next activity by means of art and horse stance. We began by forgiving ourselves and through forgiving ourselves, forgiving someone we are in conflict with at this time. We had to recognize what we were upset with the other person about, and make sure our side of the street was clean. We then wrote a loving letter to ourself, or to that person we were in conflict with.

Next we sang songs! Kevin shared a Yiddish song with us which his grandmother would sing to him and his brother when they would fight. It was about non-violence. Piyali taught us a few songs, "All I ask of you is to forever remember me as loving you", "Deep in my heart I've got this everlasting light" and the "Circle Song" which we sang at the end with the angel walk. Sarah shared a song with the group, where we went around in a circle and opened our eyes and hearts to each other it was lovely!

The Angel Walk (in this case Angel Circle) was last and it was emotional, overwhelming, and so much love! This was how everyone finally bonded. We stood in a circle, and a person would go to the center and spin themselves with their eyes closed. This person in the center would receive love from everyone around them. Each person would go up to them and share love, from a pat on the shoulder, a whisper in the ear, a hug, a kiss on the cheek. I was the first to go to the center, at first it felt awkward, but then everyone was singing "Oh Priyanka we love you so, Oh Priyanka we want you to know, there's a circle of love around you, there's a circle of love in your heart. there's a circle of family around you. There's a circle of love in your heart..." Hearing my name and the word "love" over and over really dug deep. I kept getting hugs, kisses, and people touching my face in caring, and whispering "I love you Pree" in my ear - touched me deep in my heart. And i let myself receive this love and began crying. It was very powerful, moving, overwhelming, and one of the best experiences ever. I will draw my strength from this lovely cathartic moment. As of that moment we opened up to each other, and we became a family!

After everyone had a chance to go in the middle - Indira, Eric, Nikki, Sarah, Pedro, Justin, Shelby, Stuey, Kevin, Summer, Nino, Debbie, Gina, Jala, Ryan and Piyali; we proceeded upstairs to have a delicious snack. And snack we did, everyone had brought such lovely healthy snacks, and my mother and sister had prepared Quinoa as a Kichudi (indian rice dish). There was salads, fruits, veggie chips, angel fruit cake, apples with caramel dipping sauce, and chocolate covered popcorn!

People began leaving however Piyali began her fabulous face painting and hoped to spin some fire. I had a crash course in safety and had to be her safety! It was my honor! There was a small music malfunction. Jala, Shelby, Justin, Sanjay and Ryan were lucky to stay for dinner cooked by Kevin, my mom and I. Which was Kale chips, fish cooked in vodka, wheat spaghetti and sauce. There was also lovely salad again. Justin helped out in the kitchen as well! This was mighty lovely.

Lastly Sanjay ended the night for all of us with a lovely Carnatic Raga. He explained to us about how Carnatic music, is different from north Indian- Hindustani music, and from Western Classical music as well! It was lovely and educational.

We all said good night and left as Piyali and Kevin had 5am flights the next morning. It was all quite a wonderful time, and I hope everyone learnt from it, received from it, and gained from it as much as I did!

I hope to host more of these soon. Let me know if you are in Cleveland and would like me to host one of these! Just invite the people, and set a venue.

Baby Buddha