I keep seeing the incomplete Ganeshas on my way to, well, nothing. I am only bumming around right now. I decided to go inside this place to see how Ganesha is being made.  Ganesha Chaturthi is only a few weeks away, the biggest Hindu festival in Bangalore and most other places in India. Ganeshas were being made from clay and hay. I am not sure what else they need to finish the statues.  It takes about a month for the people to finish a large Ganesha. Some of them are really huge. The interesting part is that, these Ganeshas being made won’t be around for long. They will be around for just a few days. After the festival, every one of these Ganeshas will be immersed in a lake or some water body. Impermanence of it all does not make these statues any less beautiful. They are all perfect.

The people who are making the statues are very talented. Each one of them is a masterpiece. They have to be so careful while making these, there cannot be any flaws. Gods must be perfect. I even saw one Ganesha in a perfect padmasana. The fingers, the toes, the face are all so beautiful. As of now, most of the Ganeshas are white. I like them like this. I was told by the people who work there, that they will start painting next week. I will visit the place again to see the difference.

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This is Bhagiratha, a king who did tapas to bring Ganga to earth. He did one tapas after another to bring Ganga down, as there were so many hurdles on his way. He is a king and his ancestors had been turned to ashes by a sage. Bhagiratha wanted to bring them back to life and the only way to do that was to ask Ganga to flow over the ashes.

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The more I think about it, I should not have been so shocked about it in the first place. For the signs were all there, it had just not registered somehow or subconsciously I had hoped India was above all this. But, no. India adores white people. I cannot find a font size to get the word adores highlighted adequately. So, I will just let it go.

White people are actually mini celebrities especially in places like Kerala. The way Indians gush while speaking to the white people is sickening to the stomach. I was always aware that fair skin is what is considered beautiful. I remember having conversations with my male friends in my teens that they wanted to marry a girl so fair and had a complexion like cheese. I always wished them they would find their cheesy girl. I somehow thought in 2009, such things would have gone away. I was taken aback to what extent it is practiced by common Indians everywhere.

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Guru Purnima is a day to honor Veda Vyasa, who was born on this day. Veda Vyasa is a guru for Hindus for having compiled the Vedas, written Mahabharata, Bhagavad Gita and others. This day is considered the best to progress and evolve in the spiritual path with your guru. Of course, one must have a guru for that.

I was eagerly looking for a guru, teacher, guide last year. Then I just abandoned it even though I like the concept of having  a teacher.  It was getting quite complex to find someone in that role. Most of the texts that I read say that one will find a guru, when the student is ready. May be, I am still not ready. In Sanskrit, the word anatha is used to describe someone without a teacher. In common usage, anatha means orphan. Although KYM has been a guiding force, still it is an institute and not a human being. Books will continue to be my guru. The more I read, there is so much more to read and understand out there. Funny, how that works.

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Yoga is all about finding your true self. India decriminalizing gay sex is a right step towards that. Go, India!

Q. What does the red dot on the forehead indicate?

Recently, I read in a local newspaper, that an Indian woman wearing the kumkum was stopped by the Israeli security at the airport, suspecting the red dot to be a bomb trigger. This was a first for me. If it were a bomb trigger, would anyone display it so prominently on the forehead.

Anyway, I have been asked one too many times as to what the red dot was on a forehead. I have been asked this question by the bums in Haight, San Francisco to the most seasoned yogis. So, I must address this. (more…)

Please, don’t pee.

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The picture is that of Shiva from the Indus Valley times. (more…)

When I got back to India after a decade, I came prepared for the usual changes. India shining, prosperity, malls, cars, excessive pollution and what not (the last few days have been very gloomy here, thanks to Obama saying no to Bangalore). Anyway, I was quite surprised to see so many fat people in the city, especially women in their 30s and 40s. Cylindrical with multiple bulges. I thought it was quite an eye sore. The other thing that I had not expected was the absence of the Indian style squat toilets in the middle class households. I think there is a strong connection here and I miss the squat toilets. I know it is just a puffed up hole in the floor.

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