Corona Ka Rona

So it has been one week of working from home in a lockdown and there's three more to go. Many of us have been cribbing about the situation so I thought of doing this post on the pros and cons of the interesting situation we find ourselves in currently.

For starters, I am sure like me, many of you would have also come to the realization that work from home is after all not as great as we thought it would be. If we had the freedom to move in and out of the house, meet someone, or even order a nice lunch at home, things may have been much more entertaining. As they stand today, we can't even step out in the evening to chill with friends or catch a movie, so the routine is quickly becoming quite monotonous. But when the Prime Minister of the country himself comes out with a request to stay indoors, it certainly tells us how important these steps are right now.

 

Gone are the coffee breaks in the pantry to exchange gossip, sampling of delicacies that a certain talented colleague brought to work regularly, and even the post-lunch walks in the office compound ostensibly to digest the strictly average cafeteria food. But now that we have given leaves to the maids and are cooking for ourselves, that food suddenly doesn't seem too bad in hindsight. The only walks we get to do now are either in the corridor or the society compound so this is definitely one of  the restrictions we would have loved to skip.

With days now turning into weeks, many people are finding it difficult to distinguish between the weekdays and the weekend with a few continuing to work right through half of Saturday before the realization hits them!

Also, for people like me, staying by themselves some 1600 km from home, another major issue is the loneliness that begins to creep in after a couple of days of being cooped up inside. With the lockdown bringing the dating life to an effective halt, there's no more the excitement of meeting someone new and spending good time over couple of drinks. There are times when you start to feel like an astronaut on a solo space mission, something that I had always dreaded while watching the sci-fi movies I otherwise love.

Okay maybe its not that bad but certainly comes close to this...

Whatever the circumstances, now that I am done with the cribbing, let us also look at the positive aspects of the lockdown shall we. As I see it, there are ten excellent reasons for not feeling low and bored and I am going to enumerate them for your benefit below:

1. To begin with, the first and the most obvious advantage is that by staying at home, and limiting our interactions with all and sundry, we DO NOT help spread the Wuhan Corona Virus. Social distancing helps break the cycle of transmission thereby halting the spread of the disease till the time those who are already infected get a chance to become better.

2. The second, and most practical advantage, that I am sure many of you would also be appreciating is that we do not have to get up early and rush to work in crowded trains/metros/public transport. It doesnt matter if it is raining outside (like it was in many parts of the country last week), or the temperature is 35 degrees, we can get our beauty sleep and work from the comfort of our homes every single day.

3. Third, and am sure the guys would have a lot more to say on this than the women - work from home does give you the freedom to work in your boxers - no more stuffy formals in the summer heat!

4. Also, I hope that the fact that we shall be working from home for an entire month would hopefully make our employers understand the futility of calling everyone to work everyday! This should finally help them understand that it is not the attendance at the workplace that makes people work and they are capable of doing their job remotely with or without the scare of Corona.

 

5. Not going out to party with friends means you have to, per force, spend more time with your family - something many of us may not be doing otherwise due to a variety of reasons. Of course the flip side is that you have to spend all your time with the same people for a month so I am not sure how the married people are going to deal with that ;o)

 

6. For the singles stranded at home, this can also become an opportunity to connect with the dates you have already had on a deeper level through conversations rather than just fun outings. The chat apps also give you a way out of the loneliness adding a flavor of old school romance when people didn't use to directly jump into the bed on the very first meet!

7. The lockdown has also given all of us the time to  introspect. This can easily be the time to pamper yourself, work on the things we want to improve, learn a new skill through online tutorials or even find ways to stay fit without resorting to expensive gym memberships.

8. There is also enough time on our hands now to indulge in the hobbies and take up the activities that we have been postponing all this while. Start reading or singing or painting or dancing once again. I am starting a new book, writing new articles (like this one) and creating new videos like the one below, so am sure you can definitely do something new as well!

 9. Since we are spending so much time online now, we also get to appreciate the humor that is floating around. There are memes and plenty of videos on Corona, the politicians fighting corona, the lathi-charging police and what not to keep us entertained so let us drop the grumpiness and look at the lighter side of life :)

10. Last but not the least, the lock-down has also shown us how insignificant we, humans are in the functioning of this planet. The cats, dogs, birds and all other animals continue to live their lives without any interruption while we, the supposedly most evolved species on this planet, are scared of even meeting each other!

Perhaps, the most important lesson this virus has given us is the realization that Nature has always been much bigger than our tiny insignificant lives and shall continue to remain so howmuchever delusions of grandeur we harbor within our conceited human minds. 

It has also shown us the futility of dividing ourselves on the basis of caste, color, religion, language, ethnicity, nationality and even social status! At the end of the day, we are all the same scared Homo sapiens trying to survive on a planet that has given us a lot and can also sustain us in the future if we just learn our lessons. I wrap up this post with a quote from the Isha Upanishad that I absolutely love and identify with -

ईशावास्यं इदं सर्वं यत् किञ्च जगत्यां जगत। 
तेन त्यक्तेन भुञ्जिथाः मा गृधः कस्य स्विद् धनम् ॥
Ishavaasyam idam sarvam yatkiñca jagatyaam jagat
tena tyaktena bhuñjithaah ma gridhah kasyasvid dhanam  
 

 To paraphrase - There is enough in the world for everyone's need but not their greed.

This is my message from the glass bottle that I am confined in right now and I urge you all to also share your thoughts from wherever you are quarantined :)

Aum Shanti: Shanti: Shanti:

May there be Physical, Mental and Spiritual Peace in the World

The Seven Goddesses of Songkran

Sah-wah-dee-khrap from Thailand!

Passing through the gorgeous city of Bangkok I was caught bang in the middle of Songkran, the Thai New Year  celebrated as the Water Festival in Thailand, Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar. It was so good to see the people celebrate with such pomp and glory especially since we in India are stuck with water restrictions and festival shaming at the time of Holi.

Songkran festivities are similar to the Indian festival of Holi

If you are wondering about the similarity in these celebrations you may be further surprised to know that the word “Songkran” actually comes from Sanskrit Sankrant that signifies the movement of Sun from one zodiac to another. No wonder then that the festival coincides with the Solar New Year celebrated as BAISAKHI in Punjab, POILA BOISHAKH in Bengal & Tripura, RONGALI BIHU in Assam, VISHU in Kerala, VISHUVA SANKRANTI in Odisha, JURSHITAL in Mithila, & PUTHANDU in Tamil Nadu. The water-festival is also celebrated in Laos, Cambodia, Myanmar and this is also the official new year in Sri Lanka and Nepal. 

Every year Songkran is represented by a different goddess who helps give the people an idea of weather forecast for harvests in the year ahead. These goddesses are seven in number and are assigned to different days of the week and the Goddess of the Year is decided by which day of the week falls on the first day. This year, the relevant Goddess is the one who governs Saturday - Mahothorn Devi.

Songkran Goddess of 2018 – Mahothorn Devi

A lot of people would notice the similarity between how Mahothorn is depicted and Indian goddesses. For one, she rides a peacock that is associated with Kartikeya, Krishna & Saraswati and secondly, she holds a Chakra and a Trident in her two hands that are the weapons of Lords Vishnu and Shiva respectively. But not many would realize that there is an actual Devi from Hindu mythology who is very similar to Mahothorn Devi.

Devi Kaumari – the Shakti of Kartikeya

Just like the seven goddesses of Songkran, Hinduism  has a group of seven goddesses known as the MATRIKAS who are warrior Shaktis that had emanated from various gods and are accordingly known as – Vaishnavi, Brahmani, Maheshwari, Kaumari, Varahi, Indran, and Chamunda or Kali.

ब्राह्मी माहेश्वरी चैव कौमारी वैष्णवी तथा । वाराही च तथेन्द्राणी चामुण्डा सप्तमातृ: ॥

BrAhmI MaheshwarI chaiva KaumArI VaishnavI tathA

VArahI cha tathEndrani ChAmundA Sapta Matraha

The Sapta (Seven) Matrikas

The Seven Songkran Goddesses

While they are not very famous amongst the devotees yet the Matrika group of goddesses is one of the most ancient ones in the Indian sub-continent. Seals with seven feminine deities have been found from the Indus Valley and representations of the goddesses are found in many ancient caves and rock-cut temples flanked by Virabhadra on the left and Ganpati on the right.

Indus Valley Seal of Seven Goddesses

Sapta Matrika from temple art

These seven warrior goddesses were manifested by the gods to help Goddess Durga in the battle with demons Shumbh and Nishumbh. While I can dedicate a whole book to the story of the Matrikas but let us here focus on how they compare to the Songkran goddesses:

1.   The Songkran goddess for Monday is Koraka – she rides a tiger, wears pearls and flowers of cork tree, holds sword in her right hand and a cane in her left hand. She seems to me the Thai representation of Goddess Durga who also rides tigers and lions.

2.   The goddess for Tuesday is Raksod – she is adorned with a lotus and wears Mora gem and holds a trident and bow in her hands. She rides on a pig so is most likely derived from the Goddess Varahi who is the boar-faced goddess worshipped in Tantra.

3.  Wednesday’s goddess is Monta – she rides a donkey so in that aspect is similar to Kali or Chamunda. She is adorned with champak flowers and cat’s eye gem and holds a pointing iron and a cane in her hands.

4.  The goddess of Thursday is Kirinee - she decorates her hair with magnolia and her jewellery is of emerald. She rides on the back of an elephant so is similar to Indrani.

5.  Friday belongs to goddess Kimita – she rides a buffalo so is most likely derived from the goddess Maheshwari. She wears topaz jewellery and has a waterlily behind her ear.

6.  The goddess for this year’s Songkran that fell on Saturday is Mahothorn - she is decorated with water hyacinth and black sapphire and as already mentioned, holds a Chakra and a Trident while sitting on her vehicle peacock . She is most likely related to Goddess Kaumari.

7.  The last Songkran goddess for Sunday is Thungsa – she rides on Garuda, wears red, has pomegranate flower in her hair and holds Chakra and Shankha of Vishnu so it is most likely that she has been derived from Goddess Vaishnavi.

Here's wishing you all a very Happy Solar New Year once again and I hope we Indians can rediscover the same pride in our culture that it has inspired in other countries in our neighborhood. I dedicate this post to the Warrior Goddess Kaumari/Mahothorn Devi. May the new solar year be fruitful and bring happiness and prosperity to all!

Om Shanti: Shanti: Shanti:

Holi - the Desi Valentine's Day!

The ‘Festival of Colors’ is upon us and many of you must be making plans to celebrate it in your own style. While elders play Holi carefully with measured quantities of colors, youngsters are more adventurous and am sure the brats in your locality must be already hiding in the corners, waiting for a chance to throw water balloons on you. Oh well, we have all been there and if we are honest, it was a lot of fun as well!

Holi announces the arrival of spring as flowers of myriad hues bloom around us and birds and bees are back in the air. Talking of the ‘birds and bees’ did you know that in ancient India, Holi was also celebrated as the ‘Festival of Love’? In Hindu mythology, the god-of-love Kama-deva (yes, Kama-sutra comes from the same word) was worshiped on the day of Panchami.

Kama is depicted as a handsome, young man who uses a bow to shoot his love-soaked arrows at unsuspecting people, causing them to fall madly head over heels for each other. He is frequently accompanied by his consort Rati and his arrival is marked by the appearance of mango blossoms, humming bees, parrots and cuckoos, all symbols of Spring.

Kamdev & Rati

Art by Rukmini Varma

Holi was therefore also known as Madan-Utsav or Vasant-Utsav and has been celebrated in India since at least 400 BCE! Kalidas in his play Malvika-agnimitra mentions that in the festival of spring, women used to gather together in gardens to collect flowers, make garlands out of them and throw them on each other in fun. Buddhist texts like Avadanashtaka also mention a similar event where Sal tree flowers were used. Flowers still form a big part of Holi although in the form of Abeer or Gulaal which is derived from the Palash flower!

Holi gave a chance to the ancient people of India to forget all notions of social status, caste and gender and revel in the festivities. For a society that prided itself on etiquette and social structure, this was the day of letting your hair down. The Sanskrit epic Ratnavali mentions that on this day, people threw so much of Kumkum and Saffron on each other that whole cities turned golden and fragrant. The Kavya-mimamsa mentions the use of water guns in the festival and the revelry is also associated with Lord Krishna and Vrindavan where the festival is still celebrated with all pomp and glory!

Certain medieval texts like Jain Harivamsa mention this as the time when couples spent time together in the gardens. Bhavabhuti’s Malati-madhava talks about a special temple being erected for Kamadeva for this festival where men and women would gather, throw colors on each other, and sing and dance, much like the way it is shown in Bollywood movies! The consumption of Bhang on this day also helps people let go of their social inhibitions and again the feeling has been immortalized by senior Bacchan’s famous ‘Rang Barse’ song. No wonder our films are so enamored by this festival and every once in a while you find a Holi song pop up in a new movie!

 

The Kumarpal Charitra describes couples enjoying together on swings that were hung on the flowering trees. They would sing songs and spend time with each other, making Holi a sort of Desi version of Valentine’s Day! Today, we find a lot of opposition to the so called ‘western’ tradition, but we forget that it is India that taught the world the importance of love by celebrating the Madanotsava of Holi! So on this Desi ‘Festival-of-Love’, grab a bunch of herbal colors, put your favorite Holi playlist on full blast, and go out and meet the one you have been too shy to propose to all this while. Who knows, maybe Kama’s arrows would indeed find their mark this time! 

Wish you and your loved ones a very Happy Holi!