i saw The Merlin at an ATM;

he dropped his gold card and i knelt at his feet.

i tried to hand it back to him, 

but he’d disappeared down the street.

i talked with Saint Lazarus on the crosstown bus;

i thought someone would give him a seat.

he smiled at me and said not to worry that

everyone else looked beat.

Gautama was driving a cab i jumped in;

i probably tipped him too much.

White Tara was shopping on Fordham Road;

She seemed to be a rush.

Milagros was at Barnes and Noble,

Ganesha on line at Whole Foods.

Sekhmet was selling hotdogs;

I was starting to feel really good.

Apollo was sweeping a theater;

La Madama was a CEO.

Lakshmi was giving a manicure;

The Morrighan was taking in a show.

the masters are descending

we’re more open to love now they say

this dimension is  finally bending

i hope to goddess they’ll stay.

iklan dari mulut-ke-mulut memang tidak terkalahkan. Untuk itu buatlah pelanggan mempromosikan bisnis Anda dengan 3 strategi sederhana.

Kebanyakan orang setuju: Tiada iklan yang lebih baik daripada iklan dari-mulut-ke-mulut. Biasanya, pelanggan yang menelpon Anda karena rekomendasi pribadi dari temannya atau rekannya lebih sering jadi membeli daripada batal membeli. Sebab itulah iklan dari mulut-ke-mulut yang positif menjadi idaman setiap pengusaha.

Saat ini, para pemasar telah menciptakan satu pengetahuan manjur tentang iklan dari mulut-ke-mulut (MKM). Bahkan ada Asosiasi Pemasaran MKM untuk para profesional pemasaran yang bertugas membangun iklan dari mulut-ke-mulut untuk perusahaan mereka. Tapi kenyataannya, perbincangan yang tepat tidaklah selalu murah, dan Anda harus secara aktif mengupayakan iklan MKM. Untuk hasil yang maksimum, buatlah satu program iklan MKM dengan menggunakan paling tidak salah satu dari tiga siasat berikut ini:

1. Pemasaran ke orang-orang berpengaruh (influencers): Tiap komunitas punya influencers. Melalui media elektronik ataupun pertunjukan, mereka kerap menjadi pemimpin dalam setiap trend. Mereka tidak hanya tahu restoran mana yang punya koki hebat, atau toko mana yang menjual sepatu atletik terbaik, mereka juga senang banget mengabari semua rekan dan kenalan mereka tentang apa-apa yang mereka ketahui tersebut.

Bagaimana sih menemukan influencers dan membuat mereka membicarakan Anda? Bukalah dialog melalui situs web Anda dengan menampung komentar para pelanggan, positif maupun negatif. Kemudian identifikasi para peserta yang paling aktif dan undang mereka untuk menjadi bagian grup dengan hak istimewa untuk memperoleh info atau akses pertama terhadap berbagai produk dan jasa baru Anda.

Pilihan lain adalah dengan memilah organisasi atau grup yang anggotanya akan mau menerima pesan Anda, dan carilah influencers di antara mereka. Sebagai contoh, pabrikan dari satu produk sirup memfokuskan pesannya tentang bagaimana produk ini menolong orang meminum air yang direkomendasikan bagus untuk kesehatan tanpa gula ekstra atau ramuan kimia, dan pabrikan ini mengirimkan contoh ke para ahli diet dan ahli gizi di seluruh negeri untuk membagikannya ke para pasien mereka.

2. Usahakan mendapat liputan humas: Informasi di liputan editorial umumnya dianggap lebih terpercaya daripada pesan yang diterima konsumen di dalam iklan. Penempatan humas memainkan peran yang tidak ternilai dalam suatu kampanye MKM. Ada berbagai publikasi dan ribuan situs web amatir yang khusus melaporkan subjek apapun, jadi Anda tinggal mengidentifikasi editor atau jurnalis terbaik yang menulis tentang apa yang Anda pasarkan. Sesuaikan pesan atau kisah Anda untuk mereka, kemudian kirimkan surat atau press release Anda. Tindaklanjuti melalui telpon atau e-mail bilamana perlu.

Ulasan editorial adalah penting, khususnya bagi pemasaran produk baru. Tapi hanya produk atau jasa yang bagus yang diberitakan di media yang tepat-lah yang dapat membuat orang-orang membicarakannya — terutama influencers yang dengan lahapnya akan membaca apapun, mulai dari blogs sampai majalah-majalah, demi mencari kabar mutakhir untuk mereka sebarluaskan. Yang terbaik, liputan media seringkali menyebar dengan sendirinya. Satu hal menarik yang diliput dalam sebuah blog populer, sebagai contoh, bisa jadi akan dibaca oleh banyak orang.

3. Semaikan pemasaran menular (viral marketing): Sudahkah Anda mengidentifikasi satu gagasan jelas yang Anda ingin komunikasikan melalui iklan MKM? Viral marketing berhasil jika Anda punya satu topik yang memotivasi pelanggan untuk memperbincangkannya dan Anda memberikan mereka sarana untuk berbagi percakapan. Sediakanlah satu infrastruktur, misalnya sebuah situs web interaktif yang khusus untuk menciptakan satu komunitas online yang kuat, dan fasilitasi koneksinya dengan mempergunakan blog perusahaan, message board ataupun forum. Atau berikanlah pelanggan Anda sesuatu yang menarik yang bisa mereka teruskan (forward). Sebagai contoh, bila Anda menempatkan satu penawaran khusus dalam sebuah e-mail, ini bisa menjadi satu sarana yang mudah-di-forward untuk membangun iklan MKM.

Sebagai tambahan terhadap e-mail, blogs dan message board, beberapa perusahaan sedang menciptakan situs web khusus berisi segala macam hal, mulai dari film online sampai dengan permainan siap-unduh (downloadable games) yang bisa menarik pelanggan sampai ribuan. Cobalah menambahkan satu elemen ceria, misteri ataupun rangsangan –dengan pesan merek atau produk built-in—maka iklan MKM pun pasti akan mengikutinya.

source    :   Kim T. Gordon (entrepreneur magazine, desember 2006)

La exposición “Heroes and Villains: The Battle for Good in India’s Comics” puede verse en Los Angeles County Museum of Art hasta el próximo 7 de Febrero. A través de un recorrido por sus cómics, la exposición desvela la influencia de las divinidades indias en la cultura surasiática. Según la reseña del LACMA, “los superhéroes indios y sus archienemigos son visualizados a través de antiguos arquetipos que han estado presentes tradicionalmente en la pintura o la escultura y que están profundamente arraigados en el imaginario histórico de India“. No parece extraño que mitología y superhéroes se den la mano y de hecho, sería de lo más interesante ver una propuesta similar buceando en el inconsciente colectivo de nuestros mitos occidentales. Toma nota, Reina Sofía.

Aprovechando el momento hindú, os dejo un link a la presentación de Devdutt Pattanaik, autor, ilustrador y gurú en general, quien contrapone en TED los mitos occidentales a los indios, dando lugar a perlas tan curiosas como: por qué los matemáticos indios crearon el número 0, por qué Alejandro Magno aspiraba a ser único mientras los gimnosofistas soñaban con el infinito o, poniéndonos pragmáticos, cómo abrir un negocio en la India.

Para descubrirlo, clicke aquí.

En fin, Los Ángeles me pilla un poco lejos, pero desde luego, ¡si tuviera ocasión me escapaba!

Sabtu, 21 November 2009 merupakan hari yang bersejarah bagi kru 15 karena hari itu dimulainya serangkaian acara inisiasi hingga pelantikan mereka untuk diterima dalam keluarga besar 8EH Radio ITB. Rani jadi PJ Pos, ada Pos Kebanggaan-Pengetahuan Umum, Pos Loyalitas, Pos Kreativitas, Pos Kekeluargaan dan Pos Alumni. Waktu buat pos jadi molor karena kru dan cakru dateng telat, trus ada sedikit miskom. Eh, reward yang harusnya ada di PJ masing-masing pos masih ketinggalan. Bayangin aja kita mesti kucing-kucingan sama satpam, trus Bece sempet ketangkep satpam lagi. Maka dengan lobbying keamanan, Rani berhasil ngebujukin satpamnya hahaha..Meskipun agak kacau karena briefingnya agak hectic, namun dalam eksekusinya berjalan cukup baik.

Sebagai PJ Pos, Rani punya bayangan sendiri dalam output yang para kru 15 ini dapatkan. Pertama, Pos kebanggaan-pengetahuan umum Yaa, seenggaknya kalian kenal siapa itu 8EH radio ITB.  Tak kenal, maka tak sayang kan? Kalau kalian kenal lebih jauh, kalian bisa sayang, loyal dan bisa menginspirasi kalian untuk terus berkarya untuk 8EH. Semoga karya-karya kalian nanti mampu menorehkan citra yang baik untuk radio kita tercinta ini. 8EH sebagai radio kemahasiswaan dan radio mahasiswa. Radio kemahasiswaan sebagai penyampai aspirasi mahasiswa. Radio mahasiswa sebagai pemberi inspirasi untuk mahasiswa, selain education kita juga memberi entertainment. Bukan cuma tau sejarah dan punya kebanggaan semu yang mandeg dan ga ada regenerasinya.

Kedua, Pos Loyalitas. Please, masa’ arti kata loyal aja kalian ga tau? hmmh.. Loyal=setia?! Ini adalah salah satu dasar organisasi yang berkelanjutan. Kalo anggotanya mau loyal, mau berkorban, mencintai dengan sungguh dengan memberikan KONTRIBUSI NYATA maka dengan sendirinya organisasi itu bisa berkembang. Makin banyak kontribusi anggotanya, makin besar pula organisasi tersebut.

Pos Kreativitas. Karena kita radio, juga mesti kreatif kan bikin acara. Tapi kreatif itu juga musti dikembangkan bersama-sama sehingga terbentuk teamwork yang solid. Makanya kalian juga musti kenal siapa aja temen-temen angkatan kru kalian sendiri di Pos Kekeluargaan. Lebih jauh lagi engga hanya kru kalian, tapi juga kru 12, 13, 14, bahkan angkatan yang lebih bangkot lagi dari kami.

Jujur, ngeliat para kru 15 ini bikin dejavu sendiri. Jadi inget masa-masa kami yang dikerjain, kami yang diteriakin.. Sekarang Rani yang ngerjain mereka, Rani yang teriak-teriak jadi agitator mereka.. Wew, time has passed too fast. Best of hopes, untuk kru 15. Percaya deh, apapun divisi kalian it’s a valuable journey in 8EH. Maybe you guys don’t see it yet, but trust me it’s worth your while. Some say that it’s your will to be in this family, but it’s a destiny and a privilege to make history in here.

PS : Semoga kalian ga hanya ngebaca masa pelantikan Rani aja ya. Tapi semoga kalian juga ngerti maksud dari setiap rangkaian acara yang kami lakukan. Ditunggu ya makanan dan sofa barunya hahaha

At last, 107,9 FM 8EH Radio ITB your edutainment and music station. Be smart and stay cool in harmonia progressio.

On Monday, we were on a shopping spree and went to General Bazaar. Taraka bought me two beautiful silver lamps as my birthday gift and I wanted to buy an idol of Ganesha with the right side trunk. We visited several shops in search of the right kind of idol, but in vain.

General Bazaar is located in secunderabad, MG road. One can avail this place for shopping to the fullest. The market over here is the best for all kinds of people and for all occasions. General Bazaar, is the second largest wholesale market after Begum Bazaar.

This road was earlier called James Street and after Indian independence, following convention, a major street in every city in India was named Mahatma Gandhi Road. There is a statue of Mahatma Gandhi on the road. The road leads to a warren of streets called Tobacco Bazaar and Pot Market.

I had never seen so many silver and gold shops in a single stretch and we found many wholesalers in this market area. Several silver shops have unmatchable varieties from one shop to the other. The fine work of their workers is so beautiful and we found lots of variety like dining sets, lamps, plates glasses, and every possible item with silver for all kinds of customers.

Sarees with zardosi work, sarees with plain self works, plain sarees, patch works, kanchi pattu sarees, venkatagiri sarees, gadwal sarees, bengali cotton sarees, graden sarees, printed cotton sarees, samudrika pattu sarees, and almost each and every variety of sarees are found in and around the bazaar.

Taraka bought me a dress material, which we found at an outlet at a very nominal price.

We saw shops selling decorative household itemsbook shops, stationary, footwear and others.

While returning home, we found several wholesale shops of utensils in steel, aluminium, copper, plastics and others. I told Taraka that I would like to visit the place again, but with my hubby dear (then I need not pay for whatever I buy !

TEDtalks have been a very dear thing to me. I can’t seem to get enough of the interdisciplinary potpourri of utter awesomeness.

One of the things that I have struggled with for a while is the imposed dichotomy between the Eastern and Western schools of thought, ways of life etc. According to some it boils down to basic stereotypes but for others there are intrinsic differences caused by geographical location, climate and other natural factors.

So in today’s TEDtalk, Devdutt Pattnaik discusses the differences between the myths of India and the general West and the differences in business models that arise from that. It can be viewed here.

Okay, so he has a good basis for comparison, a very unique approach to understanding business and possibly an avant-garde professional title. Yet when I was watching it, the following points of concern came up.

1. India is a large country. Hindu myths are not the only ones around. In addition, Hindu myths as learned by him the mythologist are hardly the same as the general public. His interpretation of myths come from his extra-textual experiences, which presumably include a lot of interdisciplinary reading. The general Indian public doesn’t go around doing that, resulting in a much different interpretation.

2. The “West” is not just influenced by Greek myths. Local myths are often way more influential in forming cultural identities than those from what is considered to be seat of Western civilization. Also, he stresses the point about the West’s preoccupation with “one” life, linear logic, a step-by-step approach etc. This is a generalization that cannot be easily forgiven.  What about the Second Coming of Jesus? Of King Arthur, once and future king of Britons?

3. People are shaped not by their myths only. There are many more contemporary things which, no doubt may be inspired by mythical writings, but arguably can go further than myths in shaping individuals. The point is that interpretations change over time. Heroes become villains and villains become victims. Pattnaik seems to suggest that myths are static documents with absolute extra-textual relationships. Myths are simply a category of literature. That hardly gives them enough power to sustain a century without being torn apart.

This got me thinking. What is my personal mythology? What are my takes on the traditional mythos of my people?

In the video, Pattnaik talks about how Ganesha revolved around his parents three times implying they are all the world is to him. While that may be a fair example to explain the differences between subjective and objective worldviews, I think it also goes a considerable way in explaining a country full of mama’s boys.

I am sure at one time Rama was like King Arthur. That however does not mean he didn’t have a patriarchal fetish with testing female chastity (What a surprise! That’s around even today! Among the most significant people; brothers, fathers and husbands!). However that may have been interpreted back in the days, I am pretty sure someone somewhere agreed with me, even centuries ago. Just because Rama did it, it doesn’t make chastity policing an okay thing to do for Indians today. A lot of crap is allowed to go down in myth-obsessed societies just because it has canonical precedents.

That brings me to my last point. Should myths be allowed to dictate how people behave in the modern world? How the individuals behave today regardless of what culture they come from? Is it more okay for Indians to be ambiguous and contextual in their business planning than their Western counterparts just because their myths made them that day? Is it acceptable for Westerners to keep being linear and narrow in their focuses and business decisions?

Sure there is a clash of civilization bound to happen somewhere down the road, but simply learning about the other perspective and not budging from one’s own and then throwing your hands up and blaming your myths is not the way.

So I guess I’ll end with a question. What mythology, modern or ancient influences you? How does it help you adapt to the modern worldview?

Igen en smuk hinduistisk sang fra youtube. Sangen her er til ære for guden Ganesha:

Oggi è la giornata internazionale degli studenti, ma ho poco tempo e quindi mi limito a regalarvi un bel santino di Sri Ganesha, il Dio indù con la testa di elefante, Signore del Buon Auspicio, da sempre invocato dagli studenti indù come loro protettore.

Se state per fare un esame, una bella invocazione a Ganesha non può certo fare male.

Colgo l’occasione per segnalare che sono aperte le iscrizioni per il Fra’ Puccino’s Master di I livello per Padawan. Il Corso, che attribuirà 120 crediti formativi*, è aperto a chiunque sia interessato alla carriera nel settore dei Jedi e delle relazioni pubbliche.  Al termine del Corso, che prevede la frequenza obbligatoria e il superamento di un esame finale, verrà assegnato il titolo universitario** di Master of the Universe.

Per iscriversi è necessario essere di sesso femminile, essere nata non prima del 1970 e non dopo il 1989, avere un diploma di scuola media superiore o equipollente, essere di bella presenza o equipollente, essere alta da 1,55 mt. a 170 mt, essere disponibile a viaggiare, anche all’estero o su altri pianeti.

Costituiranno titolo preferenziale la conoscenza delle due trilogie di Guerre Stellari, la disponibilità a indossare la divisa scolastica per tutta la durata del Corso, e la tessera di iscrizione all’Enpa, al WWF o equipollenti.

* Non è stata né verrà mai presentata domanda di accreditamento presso il Ministero dell’Istruzione, dell’Universitàe della Ricerca.

** Non è vero.

STOP Menghabiskan Uang Melalui bisnis online yang tak jelas !!!

Ini Dia: Perusahaan Jelas, Produk Jelas, Sistem Mudah dan Canggih!!

Softlaunching Ganesha E-commerce Solution (GES)

CURI START !!! Web Perusahaan Launch 12 November 2009

PERINGATAN: Informasi berikut akan sangat mengejutkan anda. Saya harap segera hentikan kesibukan anda dan serius membaca, karena bisa jadi ini adalah TITIK BALIK pertualangan kehidupan anda didunia MLM pulsa!
PT. GANESHA eCOMMERCE SOLUTION

http://e-ganesha.net/?ref=13

PT. Ganesha e-Commerce Solution (GeS) adalah sebuah perusahaan

e-commerce yang bergerak di bidang pendidikan enterpreuneur dan perdagangan dengan produk utama antara lain pulsa elektronik. Berdiri di Bandung pada tanggal 20 Oktober 2009 dengan pelopor beberapa alumni lulusan Sarjana dan Master dari Institut Teknologi Bandung (ITB).

Nama Ganesha diambil dari nama dewa ilmu pengetahuan, Ganesha. eCommerce Solution karena misi (GeS) yang memberikan solusi alternatif perdagangan melalui internet dan berbasis teknologi informasi (IT).
• MARKETING PLAN TERBAIK DAN TERLENGKAP YANG DIBURU PARA LEADER
• PRO MEMBER (MENGUTAMAKAN KESEJAHTERAAN ANGGOTA)
• BELUM ADA SAINGAN, TEROBOSAN MARKETING PLAN YANG TERBARU DAN PERTAMA DI INDONESIA.

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Dapatkan fasilitas :

Cashback Deposit Pulsa Rp. 20.000,-
Bonus Sponsor Rp. 20.000,-
Bonus Pasangan 2 Kaki (kiri & kanan) Rp. 70.000,-
Bonus Pasangan 1 Kaki (kiri) Rp. 10.000,-
Bonus Pasangan 1 Kaki (kanan) Rp. 10.000,-
Bonus Level Rp. 2.000,-sampai kedalaman 20 Level
Bonus Pensiun & Reward
Dan masih banyak penghargaan lainnya

Modal Rp. 250.000,- / HU

REWARD

Bergabung bersama Grup kami berarti Anda sudah menentukan pilihan untuk menjadi bagian dari jaringan terbesar e-ganesha.net di Indonesia

CURI START !!! Web Perusahaan Launch 12 November 2009

http://e-ganesha.net/?ref=13

Anda yakin dan Serius menjadi Founder (Pemula) di bisnis ini ?
Silahkan isi Formulir Pendaftaran

Pendaftaran ke perusahaan dimulai 1 November 2009

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Yang Gabung di Team Saya (IGB Rai Utama, SE, MA) Gratis Pasang Iklan di 100 Blogs Bisnis

http://bisnis-links.blogspot.com/

CANDI GEBANG

Alkisah Jawadwipa terdiam tenang paska letusan Gunung Merapi, maka demi keseimbangan alam pucuknya ditebas, lalu ditancapkan di Gebang dan ribuan tahun kelak itulah Candi Gebang. Sedang paku-paku lain darinya menyebar, pertama adalah Candi Borobudur yang terpasak ke perut Nusa Jawa, pucuk lain sebelumnya sejajar melangkah ke utara lagi terpaku komplek Candi Dieng. Paku-paku bumi ratusan candi itu syarat keseimbangan alam Jawa dan manusia kini menjadikannya sebagai Daerah Tujuan Wisata (DTW) bidang religi, sejarah dan wisata budaya, seperti yang dideklarasi BorobudurTrail of Civilisation oleh pejabat setingkat Menteri 6 negara ASEAN Th 2006 lalu.

Pariwisata DIY sarat memiliki keterkaitan ikon peradaban masa lalu, yakni menyangkut tempat peribadatan, seperti Candi, Masjid, Petirtaan, Gereja Hati Kudus dan Goa. Inilah relasi keberadaan Candi Gebang di Desa Gebang, Kelurahan Wedomartani, Ngemplak, Sleman, ± 1 Km ke utara dari arah Kampus UII Condong Catur. Secara astronomis tepatnya 110⁰ 24” 53’.62 BT dan 0,7⁰ 45“ 04’.01 LS yang kini sebelah tenggara Perumahan Candi Gebang Permai. Nama Gebang berasal dari nama tempat muasal Desa, artinya gobang, alat pemenggal kepala. Bangunan Gebang berdiri di era candi-candi kuno; ±730-800M semasa pembangunannya dengan Komplek Candi-candi Dieng (adhi – Hyang) di Jawa Tengah, lebih tua dari Candi Buddha Borobudur.

Kapan Candi Gebang berdiri dan soal arsitektur Candi ini menarik diungkap. Ornamen ikonografi sangat minimalis jika disbanding bangunan lain dengan berjalan ke arah timur, yakni temuan candi-candi kuno yang ke timur kian rumit mulai Candi Kedulan – Morangan – Kadisoka – Sambisari dst. Kelompok ini diduga berdiri jauh sebelum abad ke-7, karena keyakinan orang Jawa akan adanya Tuhan sangat mendalam dan oleh temuan bahwa candi sebagai tempat peribadatan di sekitar Jogjakarta telah ada sejak awal-awal abad pertama. Peran local genius tidak dapat dikatakan sedikit, hingga masa keemasan pembangunan candi di abad 8 merupakan keemasan aktualisasi kepercayaan kuno Agami Jawi di masyarakat. (KR edisi 06/02/06 dan 19/01/06).

Bangunan Candi Gobang 5,25 x 5,25 M, tinggi 7,75 M dengan luas 27,3 m²; ditemukan tertutup material vulkanik dalam kondisi runtuh total (November 1936) oleh petani setempat awalnya berupa sebuah Ganesa, lalu Dinas Purbakala meneliti dan ternyata arca itu merupakan bagian dari sebuah bangunan, maka dilakukanlah penelitian mendalam. Lalu ditemukan lingga yaitu di keempat sudut candi. Eskavasi pemugaran candi dilaksanakan tahun 1937-1939 dipimpin oleh V.R. Van Romondt. Bagian kaki Candi mempunyai proporsi yang tinggi dan polos tanpa relief, tidak memiliki tangga masuk, tapi titik pusatnya adalah titik pusat keseluruhan Candi. Pada tubuh Candi terdapat satu bilik berongga menghadap ke timur, berisi sebuah Yoni serta di kanan pintu masuk terdapat relung dengan arca Nandiswara, Dewa penjaga arah mata angin dan di-kiri terdapat Mahakala, arcanya tidak ada, juga sisi utara dan selatan relungnya kosong. Sebelah barat, relungnya berisi Ganesa yang duduk di atas sebuah Yoni, dengan ceratnya mengarah ke utara. Saat upacara keagamaan, arca Ganesa di Candi Gebang ini selalu dibasuh dengan air suci melalui ceruk, lalu ditampung dan dibagikan kepada umat Hindu.

Di bagian atap Candi terdapat relief Kudu, kepala manusia, yang berbeda satu sama lain di setiap atapnya kecuali satu relief tepat di muka Mahakala pada pintu masuk Candi. Relief Kudu ini juga mirip kepala Buddha yang berciri telinga besar, sisi utara dan selatan atasnya memiliki sikap mudra yang khas, seperti berada di sebuah jendela dengan mata menengok ke bawah. Relief Kudu dijumpai juga pada Candi Bima di komplek kuno percandian Dieng (Adhi–Hyang). Lainnya yang tak lazim, terdapat stupa tapi berciri kubah di bagian paling atas Candi Gebang. Asal kata Kudu disini bisa terkait pada nama “gobang”, yaitu alat pancung pemenggal kepala untuk sesembahan suci kepada Tuhan. Hal ini mengingatkan sejarah terpenggalnya kepala Sayyidina Husain cucu Rasulullah SAW oleh Yazid ibnu Mu’awiyah pada Hari ‘Asyura atau 10 Muharram / 10 Oktober 862 M di Perang Karbala Iraq. Bulan Muharram (Suro) merupakan satu dari empat bulan suci yang disebut Al-Qur’an Surat at-Taubah 36. Sedangkan disini, 1 Muharram adalah Hari dimulainya hitungan 1 Syuro pada Kalender Lunar ciptaan Sultan Agung Hanyokrokusumo.

Apakah relasi kejadian ini kebetulan? Pembangunan Candi, sebagai penanda sejarah jika direlasikan ke masa abad ke-8 bahwa nusantara saat itu telah menjadi jalur utama perniagaan dari Mesir, Madagaskar Afrika, India, Jawa menuju China, diantaranya ditemukan nama Syekh Subakir telah datang berdakwah ke tanah Jawa. Catatan Taufik Abdullah mengatakan bahwa tahun 900-an M, Madrasah Giri Gresik sebagai tempat penyempurnaan ilmu agama Islam dari seluruh penjuru dunia. Juga, di era pembangunan Candi Gebang, terdapat Ratu Sima (Kaling) yang telah menerapkan hukum pancung untuk menegakkan tata pemerintahannya. Pembacaan Semiotika Candi adalah bagian dari kebutuhan sistemik peradaban Jawa, bahwa candi diartikan sebagai penanda sub-sistem masyarakat yang saling terhubung dalam melahirkan pemaknaan lain yang lebih pas bagi masyarakat zamannya. Hal ini berbeda hasil pemaknaannya, jika merujuk pada sumber peneliti asing seperti H.J de Graaf dalam De regering van Panembahan Senopati in Alaga, Den Haag (1954), Lombart dalam Nusa Jawa (2005) ataupun tulisan Peaget tentang Jawa.

Dengan memperhatikan detail Candi Gebang, akan ditemukan hal-hal baru, atau justru awalnya memang demikian keberadaan sebuah Candi di Jawa; berfungsi sebagai tempat peribadatan ataukah sebuah Monumen keagamaan, bersifat agama Hindu, Buddha ataukah Islam. Masih di Candi Gebang bagi penganut Buddha, bisakah meditasi mengelilingi bangunan candi dengan pradaksina, memutar (membumi) ke arah kanan badan Candi; Ataukah meditasi terbalik dengan memutarinya ke arah kiri badan Candi, yaitu pola prasawiya, dengan gerak naik memusat ke atas (mi’raj) sebagai tradisi penyucian spiritual. Filosof Jerman Karl Jaspers berpendapat, simbol laku manusia untuk mencapai kesempurnaan pengetahuan yakni dengan memutari Candi Borobudur secara prasawiya, dan bukan dengan membaca biografi Siddhartha dari kelahiran menuju kematiannya sebagaimana adanya disana yang disebut pradaksina. (Sumber tulisan http://dtur88.wordpress.com).

Not so long ago, India celebrated the 10 day festival of Ganesha – the Obstacle Remover. The festival has many myths and stories associated with it. I would like to elucidate one of these – the use of the red hibiscus flower for worship. This is a common flower that grows on woody shrubs and does not have a particular flowering season, but I have noticed that they bloom in abundance in the wet season. That is perhaps why they are also used widely in the Ganesha festival which usually occurs in the middle of the Indian Monsoons. The green bush is dotted with dark green buds that slowly open up revealing a bit of the crimson red petals. The flower takes about 18 hours to fully blossom and showcase its bright red petals, as well as the maroon calyx. The buds that usually point upwards, start to sag downwards as the flower blooms, but not quite like a bell – it is still angularly facing downwards. Interestingly, this flower is also used in biology or science text books as the “real” flower, one that has 5 green sepals holding 5 coloured petals surrounding the stamen cum calyx with the stigma and anthers – that support the powdery yellow pollen. There are various species of the hibiscus that grow in India, the most common being the 5 petaled red one. Others commonly seen in gardens and parks include the white, pink and orange varieties as well as the multi-petaled thicker red hibiscus. Many devout Hindus go picking the large buds – ones that reveal the petals in a bind, during their evening walks and then store them in water-filled bowls. When left overnight, these blossom into flowers for the next morning prayers, pooja. Getting back to the myth on Ganesha – it is believed that one of the many forms of the Ganesha is the Kshipra Ganapathy (The Quick Acting Giver of Boons Ganesha) where He is resplendent in a deep red complexion like the hibiscus flower, and also holds the flower in his right hand. So people who worship Him with this flower will please him and get their quick responses to the boons sought.  

The hibiscus flower at D Street started its blossoming this morning. Initially it was a green bud, and then slowly it revealed its tightly bound reddish petals; so the market that opened flattish had quite a few green to show at 11 am and 12 noon; but thereafter as the reddish petals unfolded, the greens were hidden behind the large reds and SENSEX dipped into negative territory; not a nose dive, but an angular dip. The frenzy of the reds continued thereafter till it crossed 5 Hundred Points and finally settled at 491 points down taking the SENSEX down with its weight – 15404. This takes the SENSEX back to the Ganesha Festival Days (August) and I could see numerous D Boyz rushing to pluck, pick or even buy hibiscus as offering to the Quick Acting Giver of Boons. So before they get into office tomorrow morning, there are going to be surging crowds at Ganesha temples; in fact I can already see a long queue forming outside the famous Ganesha temple of Mumbai at Prabhadevi – Tuesday is auspicious for the God and some of the D Boyz have ducked their business convention at a Central Mumbai 5 Star hotel to rush to the temple instead (just a km away).

For atheists – The Finance Minister addressed a press conference this afternoon on the Indian economy and since he did not hawk India much in his speech, the D Boyz took it that he was getting hawkish; and so they used some talons to rip away the SENSEX and reveal its inner “real/red” self.

Whichever way you look at it, atheists turn god-fearing at times of adversity. How else could you explain a woman hopping from temple to temple and performing rituals for the longevity of her octogenarian husband, who was undergoing a spine surgery in Chennai; I have nothing against praying for the long life of an old man; I wish him well; I am intrigued though since this gent leads one the largest Atheist Bodies in Southern India. So while in adversity, anything goes, right? So D Boyz; you aren’t doing too bad!

Cheers…..

The ‘Bull Temple‘ is situated in Bangalore- capital of Karnataka. The sculpture of bull is the holy deity in the temple, also known as ‘Nandi Temple‘.The bull temple is dedicated to ‘Lord Shiva Vahana’(vehicle),Nandi the bull. It is 4.57 metre in height and 6.10 metre in length and it is carved out of a single rock. The bull also has a small iron plate on its head. As per the tradition, this plate prevents the bull from growing. The legend goes that the Bull Temple was built to appease a bull that used to consume and destroy all the groundnut and peanuts cultivated in the area, farmers got furious and started hitting the bull. Immediately, the bull set down and become motionless and transform into stone. After that farmers regreted what they have done prayed to lord Shiva and buried bull there.

The temple is typically designed in a Dravidian style and constructed by Kempe Gowda.

Farmers first offer groundnut and peanut to sacred Bull. It is believed that river Vishwa Bharti was originated from the feet of Nandi Temple. The original colour of bull was grey which turned black due to the application of coconut oil by the devotees. There is a huge Lord Ganesha temple of 110 feet high. It is situated in Basavanagudi ‘Basvana’ means Bull in Kannada, which gives the name Basavanagudi.

Every year in the month of November/December there is a huge celebration when the groundnut harvests. There is a huge groundnut fair in that area known as ‘Kadalekaye Parish.

four days and three nights

Today was my third day in Albuquerque.  Save that first lunch on the way home from the airport, I’ve only been out of the house once, to take a 20 minute walk with my mom in the nearby canyon.  Well, they call it a canyon, but it’s more of a wide dip of open space between a housing development and her neighborhood.  Other than that, I’ve only left the computer for naps, the bathroom, and to eat… though I’ve been eating at my machine a lot.

This sordid tale ends tomorrow.  Whether it’s done or not, I’ll be through with this project, this documentation, this employer, this seven year chapter of my life.  I’ll definitely miss some of my coworkers, but I don’t need the job to stay connected with them.  I’d rather kick it when I’m relaxed, not venting about dumb work shit.

still life with peace lily and dull machete

On a lighter note, this awesome scene is the entryway to my mom’s apartment.  Still life with machete, peace lily, ganesha, and peppermint essential oil.  Truly the house of a mountain lady.  Apropos, as well, because in some circles I’m known as Dull Machete (Dully for short), and I’m about to reconnect with those friends in The City.

I used to be good at sketching pictures of Indian Gods, brocade, ethnic stuff, So though I should go back and try someting of that sort. here is a painting, which I see it in two different ways, if you look at it horizontally it says OM (in a different way) and vertically it is the face of Lord Ganesha (Hindu God). Let me know what you see.

Abstract OM

APA YANG ANDA KETAHUI TENTANG DEWA GANESHA???

Dewa Ganesha adalah dewa dalam agama Hindu yang berkepala Gajah. Dewa Ganesha juga sering disebut VINAYAGAR yang berarti pemimpin yang paling istimewa. Dewa Ganesha mempunyai banyak sebutan diantaranya Yanai Mugatthon karena bermuka gajah, Thumbikkaiyar karena mempunyai gading dan Ainggaran karena bertangan lima. Dipercaya apabila kita memuja Dewa Ganisha sebelum memulai suatu pekerjaan maka kita kan terbebas dari kesialan dan kita kan selalu mendapat keberuntungan. Itu salah satu alas an kenapa saya menamai blog ini Ainggaran. Tahukah anda kenapa Dewa Ganesha berkepala Gajah??? Ceritanya………Seperti yang kita  ketahui Dewi Durga adalah sakti atau istri dewa Brahma. Suatu hari Dewi Durga ingin pergi mandi dan beliau berpesan kepada salah satu pengawalnya untuk tidak mengijinkan siapa pun untu masuk. Tak beberapa lama berselang datanglah Dewa siwa. Begitu sampai di pintu masuk Sang pengawal tidak kuasa untuk melarang karena itu juga merupakan rumah Dewa Siwa sendiri. Begitu Dewi Durga melihat dewa siwa masuk , beliau sangat marah kepada pengawalnya. Namun tetap saja Dewi Durga tak berdaya karena tentu saja Dewa Siwa berhak masuk karena itu juga rumahnya.

Kesokan harinya Dewi Durga pergi mandi. Namun kali ini Dewi Durga membuat seorang anak untuk menjaga agar tak seorang pun bisa masuk kedalam. Membuat seorang anak yang hanya akan patuh terhadap perintahnya. Kemudian terlahirlah seorang anak laki laki. Anak tersebut kemudian berdiri di depan pintu masuk untuk berjaga. Sesaat kemudian Dewa Siwa datang dan ingin masuk. Namun anak ini menghalangi. Dewa Siwa sangat marah karena dihalangi untuk masuk ke rumah sendiri. Kemudian beliau menitahkan pengawalnya untuk menyerang anak tersebut. Namun gagal. Begitu banyak prajurit yang sudah dititahlkan untuk mengalahkan anat itu namun tak satu pun yangerhasil. Kemudian Dewa Siwa meminta tolong kepada Dewa Wisnu dan Dewa Brahma namun keduanya juga tidak berhasil. Akhirnya Dewa Siwa menjadi benar benar murka. Akhirnya Dewa Siwa turun langsung mengerahkan semua kekuatannya untuk mengalahkan anak tersebut. Namu hasilnya tetap nihil, anak itu tak terkalahkan. Kemudian Dewa Wisnu memberikan usul bahwa untuk mengalahkan anak itu dengan cara mengelabuinya. Kemudian rencana itu dijalankan. Saat si anak tersebut bertarung dengan Dewa Siwa, Dewa Wisnu dari arah belakang memenggal kepala anak iut. Tak lam kemudian Dewi Durga yang sehabis mandi melihat anakny meninggal menjadi sangat murka. Langit berubah menjadi gelap dan menyeramkan. Dewi Durga menjadi –benar-benar murka. Sehingga hampir semua dewa yang berada disana menjadi ketakutan. Kemudian Dewa Siwa menenangkan Dewi Durga dengan berjanji bahwa akan menghidupkan kembali anak itu. Setelah berkata demikian barulah Dewi Durga kembali tenang. Kemudian Dewa Siwa menitahkan kepada salah seorang pelayannya untuk berjalan ke arah barat dan membawakan kepala makhluk hidup pertama yang tidur menghadap arah utara. Telah banyak makhluk hidup yang dilewati pelayan tersebut sampai akhirnya ia menemukan seekor gajah yang sedang tertidur menghadap utara. Kemudian ia memotongnya dan membawakannya untuk Dewa Siwa. Dewa Siwa kemudian menyambungkan badan anakitu dengan kepala gajah dan…………kemudian anak itu hidupp dengan berkepala gajah. Dan diberi gelar sebagai Vinayagar yakni pemimpin pasukan yang istimewa pemimpin pasukan Siwa yang terbesar dan terangung.

Di India hari lahirnay Vinayagar diperingati pada Vinayagar Chaturthi.

Disclaimer: – The following post may ripple through your religious sentiments…so be it!

“The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated…I hold that, the more helpless a creature, the more entitled it is to protection by [people] from the cruelty of [human kind]”—Mahatma Gandhi

Grr…Grrr…

The nefarious acts against animals seem to be on a never-ending spiral loop

Every 5 years, the otherwise pristine Himalayan state of Nepal witnesses the gory bloodshed which notoriously relates to the ‘World’s largest animal sacrifice’. Animal rights activists have termed the sacrifices a ’shame on Nepal’ and urged for immediate actions to stop the barbaric killing of animals. Come December 2009, the heinous act would be resurrected again and 200,000 animals would go under knives to please goddess Gadimai in Bariyarpur, Bara District. Call me an illiterate canine, if you please but then I fail to understand how the slaying of mute species would please a goddess? Gadimai mela’s carnage has animals attributed as the symbols of the mental smokescreens which are to be removed by the community. How enlightening is that? How can decapitation of 60,000 young buffaloes and 1, 40,000 wild rats, pigs, goats and little birds bring inner peace and sanctity to humans? Such an episode of atrocity and ruthlessness…all in the name of religion! His Holiness the Dalai Lama in his book ‘The Vegetarian Way’ had quoted ‘Life is as dear to the mute creature as it is to a man. Just as one wants happiness and fears pain, just as one wants to live and not to die, so do other creatures’.

Don’t you find it trivial that man has always maneuvered religious connotations to kill innocent animal kind? I guess that he’s doing something more vicious – killing the very soul of mankind. If religion calls for this then us animals have learned enough about the dining table preferences of the deities. The epicurean pleasures that Gods seek are idiosyncratic to themselves, Jesus relishes a baked turkey on a Christmas Eve, Allah prefers cattle and Kali mata will have nothing but the warmest of animal blood. All of it while no sacred text has ever called for animal killing.

I wonder if in this world of thousands gods and goddesses there is one who has a fetish for human flesh? For the truth remains that no sacred text, none of the doctrines call for animal sacrifices but the pundits, the padres and the ulemas have their own interpretations.

…And all of this when the so called human Gods have us as Ganesha’s mouse, Durga’s lion or the Shivji’s faithful bovine. Guess Lord Ganesha is himself part animal!

Is this massacre of God’s worthy creations and flowing ravines of innocent blood, the only salvation for human sins? I am brought back to the thought waves which question if the world in which we live (and where some wait to die silently) is a multitude of Gods and Goddesses for the man alone. Is there not a single divinity for the fauna to be blessed with? Where is the God of small things?

We, the animals also kill but never have we connoted a religious background to our killing for food. For we believe that it’s all in the food chain mechanisms and not in gospels. We kill for survival and not to appease the bible. I have always found the killing in the name of religion, the flagitious of all crimes possible. How in the name of sacred texts, the creed, the hymns and mantras can such a massacre be justified?

From what I’ve learned through Facebook pages, ‘Beauty without Cruelty’ has joined hands with Animal Nepal in their campaign “Worship without Cruelty” to eradicate such an atrocious barbaric ritual.
I therefore request you to please sign the petition:

http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/stop-gadimai.html

Epilogue: call on your fatwa, charge me with voicing anathematized verses against the Bible…crucify me, slay me on the altars of goddess…for I know no fear as you have made me to believe my fate lies below the machete. I started out with the purest of rage in my bosom but now the feeling is also mingled with melancholy or rather regret. Regret for being the most faithful companion of man. I wonder whether my rage would match the atrocious vigor of you humans, truly you belong to a different race. Superior? I don’t think so.

PS The post got selected as one of the top posts by Blogadda’s ‘Tangy Tuesday Picks’ – Nov. 3, ‘09

Ganesha is a restaurant that I have been meaning to check out as I live close, but always found myself fall foul of the strange 11am – 3pm opening hours.  Unless you are still staggering around drunk after a night on the tiles, who in their right mind gets out of bed on a Sunday morning longing for a curry?  Me, that’s who, and luckily enough Mz and my strange housemate, who likes to poke and prod his way around Jakarta.  For the sake of clarity, we’ll call him Roy.  Roy is the kind of chap who forgets himself and speaks in a faux-Indian accent much to the staff’s non-hilarity and the Marmz’ collective horror.

The first problem was finding the place, which was easy for me because I’d done the whole getting lost thing before, but not very evident from signs or building maps.  It’s on the top floor, accessible from the building’s left door and up three flights of stairs, at the front of the building.   The waiters were very keen on getting us settled, but seemed slow when it came to providing food menus.  One waiter extolled the virtues of a red wine that I had no interest in on an empty stomach.  This proved to be a good decision.  We ordered from the rather sparse menu (lacking in dhosa and keema naan, to name just a couple of omissions).  As with most Indian restaurants, vegetarians get a good look in and the menu seemed to be exactly 50/50 split between the meat-munchers and the vegetable-murderers.  Roy ordered the Kadhai Murgh (80K) and a tomato soup, while Mz and I both opted for the chilli chicken (85K).  Roy’s tomato soup (which had an Indian name, surprise, surprise that escapes me) took him by surprise as it was heavily spiced and he had a few lunges for his Ice Teh Tawar before winning the battle.  Seems that he is the soup inspector, rather than me!  His Kadhai Murgh was “alright”, but decreed not as flavoursome as the dishes at Koh-E-Noor in Pasar Festival.  While the dishes were being prepared, I strolled past the pool table (!) and had a squizz in the kitchen window.  The chef gave me a grin and I watched as he mixed white long-grain rice with assorted spices, liquids and butter to create a rather tasty looking pilau rice.

Upon returning to the table, we were served, but in a rather odd fashion.  One portion of chilli chicken was served rather than the requested two and Roy’s cheese naan was served to me instead of the butter naan.  This wouldn’t necessarily be a problem, but I usually shy from cheese in Indian food as I find it rich enough already.  My chilli chicken finally arrived after a good seven-minute wait and after my fellow diners had tucked in, me encouraging them not to be silly by waiting for me.  The chicken was battered which annoyed me and I spent most of my time stripping this off.  I found it rather boring and bland.

What really made me annoyed was their inability to split the bill which then resulted in them adding a mysterious 25% to the bill and then looking confused when we refused to pay the inflated charge.  The waiter also had a mental meltdown when the debit card machine returned a message of ‘Printer Error – Please Replace Paper’.  He poked at the machine as if hoping this might wake it up and ignored my rather sensible non-verbal cue that he replace the paper by showing him.  Still it took another 3 or 4 minutes before the penny dropped and he went rummaging for a receipt roll.  The waitress then asked me to sign a debit card receipt that clearly said ‘No signature required’, as I had already permitted the transaction by entering my P.I.N.  By this stage Roy had left, grumbling expletives on his way out.

I left them a litttle note explaining that it is never a great idea to try to overcharge a restaurant reviewer and the editor of a leading lifestyle magazine.  FAIL.

” Saya mau jual motor,
adakah yang bisa bantu?”, tanya seseorang pada ilyas afsoh

.
” Iya, saya siap membantu,” ILYAS AFSOH

….

atau kita kerja sama saja.

ILYAS AFSOH | 088 1296 3105 | 031 610 56 456 | honda , Yamaha, Suzuki

Hare Lord Ganesha!
‘Salve Senhor Ganesha!’

O Deus Cabeça de Elefante

Ganesha pertence à família de deuses mais popular do Hinduísmo. Ele é o filho mais velho de Parvati e Shiva. Parvati é filha dos deuses Himalayas, aquela cadeia de montanhas nevadas, que cobre o norte da Índia. Ela é uma deusa muito graciosa e linda, mãe bondosa e esposa devota. Shiva – bem, até mesmo seus amigos mais íntimos admitem, que ele não é um pai ou marido ideal. Shiva ama sua família de todo coração, mas a sua maneira. O que acontece é que ele não agüenta ficar em casa o tempo todo. Tem alma de aventureiro, gosta de viajar, mas a sua paixão é a meditação e o Yoga. Tanto, que quando absorto meditando, nem um terremoto o perturba.

Shiva e Parvati casados, viviam muito felizes num bangalô no Monte Kailasa nos Himalayas, longe da civilização. Depois de algum tempo, Parvati percebeu que seu marido estava inquieto, ele abria a janela e olhava suspirando os altos picos das montanhas, e ela via nos seus olhos a sombra de um sonho. Ela o amava profundamente, e compreendeu o desejo que o consumia.

Um dia ela disse a Shiva:

- Por que você não viaja por uns tempos? Eu sei que você levava uma vida diferente, antes de nos casarmos. Você meditava, dançava, deve estar sentindo falta de tudo isso agora.

- Não minha querida – assegurou-lhe o marido. – Os velhos tempos acabaram, não sinto falta deles mais.

- E a sua meditação? – ela perguntou. Ela era a sua principal ocupação. – Você é o maior yogui dentre todos os deuses.

Shiva sabia que ela estava certa. Ele desejava mesmo se absorver de novo, pela prática da meditação, e tinha saudades das grutas favoritas das montanhas, onde se sentava para meditar. E depois foi o poder do Yoga, que o transformou num deus tão poderoso. Mas ele ainda hesitou.

- Mas você não vai se sentir sozinha, se eu for?

Parvati lhe assegurou que ficaria bem. Até porque, queria reformar o bangalô, transformar num lugar confortável e bonito onde uma família pudesse morar, um lar de verdade.

Feliz, Shiva colocou sua pele de tigre na cintura, enrolou suas cobras favoritas no pescoço e braços, chamou Nandi, sua vaca, e dando um aceno de despedida partiu montado nela.

- Não me demorarei. – ele disse a Parvati

Só que Shiva é o mais esquecido dos deuses. Quando medita é impossível despertá-lo. Acima do sagrado rio Ganges, Shiva se sentou e começou a meditar. Passaram-se muitos anos, que equivaliam a milhares de anos terrestres, uma vez que o tempo é diferente para os homens e deuses.

Quando finalmente, Shiva levantou da posição de lótus, lembrou-se da esposa que o esperava pacientemente, no Monte Kailasa, e correu de volta para casa.

Neste tempo que Shiva esteve ausente, Parvati fez um lindo jardim em volta do bangalô, costurara cortinas para as janelas e almofadas para o chão, pintara as paredes e as portas. E nem ficou sozinha por muito tempo. Shiva não sabia que tinha deixado sua esposa grávida. Parvati teve um lindo menino, que a manteve bastante ocupada, lhe deu o nome de Ganesha. 

Anos se passaram e o deus bebê cresceu e transformou-se num rapaz inteligente e sério, muito apegado a mãe, e que adorava ajudá-la.

Numa manhã de primavera, Parvati estava tomando banho, enquanto seu filho se mantinha perto do portão do jardim. Um homem alto, com longos cabelos presos, um monte de cobras e uma pele de tigre enrolada no corpo se aproximava do portão, e atrás dele uma vaca. Shiva tinha voltado para casa sem se preocupar com sua aparência selvagem.

Shiva parou… – será que esta linda casa era mesmo a sua? E quem seria aquele garoto bonito no portão?

- Deixe-me entrar menino!

- Não, – respondeu Ganesha, franzindo as sobrancelhas para o vagabundo que queria entrar.

- Você não pode entrar! Ganesha se posicionou na porta de espada em punho.

Naquele momento, Shiva estava furioso, seu terceiro olho, do poder, apareceu no meio da sua testa, brilhando como fogo. Em segundos o corpo do menino estava no chão sem cabeça.

Ouvindo vozes Parvati se apressou, horrorizada viu seu filho sem cabeça e o marido que há tanto tempo não via. Chorou amargamente. Exclamou:

- O que você fez?! Este é Ganesha seu filho!

Shiva desculpou-se a Parvati, porém não podia voltar atrás, o que esta feito, esta feito. Mas prometeu a sua esposa que o primeiro ser que visse “dormindo errado” (considerava que aquele que dormia com a cabeça voltada para o sul, estava errado, pois o certo seria dormir com a cabeça voltada para o norte) ele cortaria a cabeça e a colocaria em seu filho.

Então Shiva percorreu milhas e milhas, e encontrou um filhote de elefante dormindo “errado”. Shiva cortou-lhe a cabeça e ao retornar encaixou-a entre os ombros de Ganesha. Inconformada Parvati foi pedir ajuda a outros deuses.

Brahma e Vishnu que são autoridades no Hinduísmo tanto quanto Shiva, ao ver o pobre e esquisito menino com cabeça de elefante, disseram a Parvati que nada poderiam fazer quanto a cabeça de Ganesha, pois não poderiam passar por cima de uma decisão de Shiva, mas poderiam dar à Ganesha poderes, para que ele se transformasse num deus muito querido por todos ou hindus. Ganesha seria sempre reverenciado antes de todas as cerimônias religiosas, seria também aquele que destrói os obstáculos, aquele que trás fortuna…

Parvati sentiu-se aliviada, agradeceu aos deuses, e se foi.

E assim se fez. Hoje na Índia Ganesha é o deus mais adorado, sua imagem é encontrada no painel de todos transportes, na entrada das lojas comerciais, e é realmente lembrado com carinho e devoção em todas as cerimônias religiosas, dando proteção e apoio àqueles que são seus devotos. 

Ele é o Deus do conhecimento, sabedoria  e removedor de obstáculos. Ele é venerado ou pelo menos lembrado no inicio de qualquer missão ou novo projeto para bênçãos e patrocínio.  

Ele tem quatro mãos, a cabeça de um elefante e uma barriga bem grande. Seu veiculo é um pequeno rato. Em uma de suas mãos ele carrega uma corda (para carregar os devotos da verdade), uma machadinha em outra (para libertar seus devotos de apegos e vícios), tem um doce em uma das mãos (para gratificar os seus devotos por suas atividades espirituais), suas quatro mãos estão sempre estendidas para abençoar as pessoas.  A combinação de sua cabeça de elefante e um veiculo de pequeno e ligeiro ratinho representa tremenda sabedoria, inteligência, presença de espírito e agilidade mental. 

Texto baseado no livro:
 Ganesh – O Grande Deus Hindu
-  Madras Editora Ltda.
Retirado do Site:
‘Eu Sou Luz‘

The only reason to wake up this morning is the possibility of Surender having gotten better or the cleaning woman, and neither of those things happens until 8:30 at the earliest, which is still a little early since our activities last night ran until 1am. 

But nonetheless I do what I can to be prepared, and by 9:45 I deem it safe to assume that Surender isn’t coming and that I can make myself breakfast once again.  I really worry about making him mad, so I’ll be damn sure to clean up after myself when I’m done.  Maybe he will think the eggs have just disappeared. 

The eggs themselves are a bit of an ordeal.  There’s only one left in the fridge, so I take one from the dozen in the pantry and hope like hell there isn’t something really wrong with them, or that they aren’t months old.  Breakfast, I decide at the end of my meal, is a success.

I work on some work stuff for a bit, attempt to place some calls, unpack, and randomly step outside on occasion.  It’s a slow morning, but I again allow for this since I’m still not feeling entirely well, and it was a late night last night.  At 11 I proudly take a shower, having mastered the art of turning on the switch for the hot water heater.  As I am finishing the doorbell rings and I know it’s the cleaning woman.  Always when you’re in the shower.

I leave it be since there’s no way I can get to her in time.  Then I dress, make some tea, and take a call from Alam.  Alam invites me out to brunch, which I eagerly accept.  I genuinely enjoy Alam’s company—he’s got a great sense of humor, and aura of calm, and a full understanding of how confusing this culture shock is the first time around.  His sympathy is clear when he asks in the car whether Shubh and I had had continental or Indian last night.  “I figured you wouldn’t want either in a row,” he explains.  I opt for south Indian, since I am, in fact, in India and feel like I’ve been a little wimpy so far. 

Alam converses with Rhea, who jumps about in the back seat.  She eagerly replies back, and I catch bits and pieces of the conversation.  It’s either that some Hindi words are the same in English, or they’re inter-dispersing English words—I can’t tell, but it’s a bit like catching words and phrases as one tunes a radio. 

“Ok,” he tells me “I just had to get the decision from you and the confirmation from back there.  Let’s do south Indian.”

The restaurant is impressive.  Wood walls surround an army of staff, all dressed in traditional south Indian garb with long white khortas with colored sashes.  We sit and Alam immediately shoos away the waiter bringing water in glasses and requests mineral water for us (read: me)—he’s extremely mindful.  He takes the time to explain the menu and order us all food.  The waiter then brings what I hear is ‘coconut milk’, but this is not the case; it is a variation of real milk, but looks clearer and has some white particles floating in it.  “It’s like a milk without the cream; they take that out,” says Alam as he finishes off the cup that Rhea has refused. 

I look at the cup for a moment, knowing that I am supposed to stay away from dairy, but frankly I’m getting a little sick of it.  In a country where cows are sacred, it would seem stupid to not at least try something from such a revered animal.  And on top of that, I’m really getting tired of looking rude by refusing food.  I take a drink.

It’s strange—there is a distinct tang on the front of the tongue, almost like the acid of sour milk, but the sour sensation never comes.  It just fades.  I take another sip and set it aside; there’s no point in going crazy unless I absolutely love it.

Before long the food comes, and Alam and I pause our conversation on the previous day’s activities so that he can give me a tutorial.  My meal consists of what is basically a large crepe stuffed with spiced potato with a number of different sauces, one of which he removes since it contains raw vegetables.  His meal consists of large puffy roti and an array of colorful liquids that range from stews to custards; he invites me to try some of his as well. 

All of the food is very good, actually, very delicious, and vegetarian.  I make a mental note to myself; I like Indian food, but I really like south Indian food.  I’ll have to see if I can find a place like this back in Seattle somewhere. 

Alam and Shubh have arranged to pass the Bryan Baton outside the office, so it’s to that point that we move.  We leave the restaurant, which is tucked away on the second floor of what feels like an office building on the weekend, and drive down roads that look as though they have been bombed—we have to drive around a number of the potholes.  Abutting both sides of the road are large mounds of dry earth, stone walls, and shanties with brightly colored clothing hanging from strings surrounding them.  Dogs walk in the street and children climb the dirt mounds, occasionally stopping to look at us as we drive by.  Then we take a right, drive 100’, and are at the office.  It’s that close.

The Parcel is handed away smoothly and is taken down the way to the National Museum.  Shubh and I joke about the night before and talk about my feelings towards old Delhi.  We both agree that I would have been in a bad place had I tried to tackle the spot on my own.  As we round the block to get to our destination, a small red car passes us without a sound on the left, cuts us off by squeezing between the ours and the car in front—which was already a ludicrously small space—passes the other car on the left, and speeds off.  All with no honk, which is a shock that is dwarfed only by the cabbie’s comment—“Wow.  Crazy driver.” 

The museum is home of some of the oldest artifacts I have ever seen.  Spanning back to the earliest known civilizations in India, the collection houses stunningly intricate statues and carvings that date back more than 5,000 years.  While I can only truly appreciate those pieces of Indian history that I have some degree of familiarity with, Shubh does a good job of giving me a jump start on the rest.  I learn many of the gods, Vishnu, his parents (whose names I have already forgotten), Vishnu’s transportation/protector (name also forgotten), Ganesha, Krishna, and of course the Buddha. 

The journey of the Buddha is the most interesting thing I learn about this trip, as I’ve never really paid much attention to the mythology.  Frankly, none of this mythology has interested me before, and that may have been because it was so outlandish and so foreign to me.  As I learn more about it however, and discover the interconnectedness for myself, there’s a spark of interest that ignites within me.  For the first time, I really want to delve into this culture.  But back to the Buddha. 

Firstly, I’ve come to appreciate the correct pronunciation of the name—it sounds more like “but-ha”, with the ‘u’ sounding like the ‘ou’ in ‘would’.  It sounds so much different than the way I’ve been saying it my whole life.  Boooda.  Look at that Boooda-belly.  And this is the next thing—

The Buddha has many incarnations (the pot-bellied one is called the ‘laughing’ Buddha—and this is an Indonesian or asian concoction—there is no mention of it in Indian mythology…and Shubh ‘doesn’t get it’). 

As anyone knows, I am as far as you can get from an art buff—It’d be like calling a coal miner a diamond expert because he works with the raw materials.  So take what I say with a grain of salt and a lot of fact checking.  BUT, I find the tracing of the buddha’s artistic depiction really interesting, so much so that I plan to learn more.  Early on, the Buddha was depicted merely symbolically—as a bundle of swaddling—which represented the idea that he existed, or at least, the concept, but he was not given any physical form.  Fast forward an era and you have an age where people wanted deities depicted and you have the first Buddha—dressed in what appears to be a roman toga—which is due to the roman influence at the time (this apparently was during the early years of the growing Roman empire).  Then the Buddha makes a change to the garb we are most familiar with, which is South Indian, and then at some point I started battling with my eyelids to stay open and felt helpless as residual jetlag took me energy away.  I lost the rest.

I was fortunate enough to find a chair and once I sat down I began to appreciate where I was.  I had stumbled into a room with a number of statues from a dynasty that dated back 2000 years.  And I was alone.  It’s strange to find oneself alone at all in a place like India, but to open your eyes in the India National Museum and find yourself surrounded by artifacts that have seen the fall of Caesar, the birth of your country, the defeat of the British empire, the moon landing, and the invention of the Snuggie is something truly special.  For a while I sat, doing my best not to think.  Understated though it may have been, it might be my favorite memory yet.

We decide that we may have to wait a day on the Great Religion Tour.  I have made my goal and skip going to see Krishna at the temple.  Instead, I opt for a brief detour into the land of material things at the government-run handicraft store.  There I find all manner of handicrafts in gold, silver, wood, camel bone, and marble.  It’s a nice place, but I’m really not in the mood to shop, and before long I find myself very tired and more interested in leaving than buying a $2,000 statue of Ganesha, though I think it’s quite cool. 

Shubh, ever the wonderful guide, suggests we get some dinner at a spot that Alam has recommended, so we get dropped off at a plaza full of young people and climb a set of stairs between a Sbarros and a Subway, across the street from a Ruby Tuesday’s.  Western influence is not lacking here with the young.  The restaurant is nice, and trendy, and not open, but this does not stop Shub from taking a table and ordering us drinks.  The choice actually suits the both of us well, as we are both avid people watchers and the spot is a perfect vantage point for the square. 

After dinner and a few drinks we walk the square some more and stop at a small cart “Do you mind if I have an after dinner fag?” asks Shubh, using the cigarette term that never ceases to startle me.  He walks off to the cart, then excitedly calls me—“Bryan!  Look, come here—these are the leaves I was telling you about!”  He points to a few small bundles of what appear to be cut up banana leaves, but are in fact bedel leaves, a leaf that many people of the region chew after dinner like tobacco.  I’m intrigued, and before I can turn, the shopkeeper, a man a few years younger than me, whips one up between his fingers, covers it in a thick yellow syrup, and hands it to me, gesturing for me to take it.  He says something to Shubh while I try to decide if I raw leaf constitutes a raw vegetable and if this is going to be the item that will do me in. 

“He says that you are a guest in our country and that you always offer a guest a bedel leaf.  In our custom, a guest is like a god, so he’s offering this to you because you are a god as long as you are a visitor to our country.”  My mouth drops a little I’m so touched by the kindness, which is amplified by the look of goodwill that emanates from the young man’s face.  This is a gesture of friendship.  I pop it into my mouth without another thought.

And it is different.  The leaf itself feels like a big rough leaf—no surprise, but the flavor is much stronger than I had been ready for.  The syrup gave a tangy, sweet, almost musky smell while the leaf—once I bit down—tasted very strongly like menthol.  All at once it felt like I was chewing mouthwash tobacco. 

Do I swallow this, mumble, doing my best not to drool in front of my smiling new friend.

“Yes, you can,” assures Shubh “or you can spit it out.  Whatever you like,” he laughs, taking a drag off his cigarette and turning away to walk toward the cab.

I start to follow, then turn back to the man at the stand, press my hands together at the top of my chest, bring my head down until my fingertips touch my chin, and nod slightly.  He reciprocates, though he looks much more graceful that I do.  A genuine human connection—without a word exchanged.  I don’t feel quite so isolated anymore.