Saturday, October 18, 2008

ONE DAY I SLOWLY FLOATED AWAY

What's even weirder than my last post is the confession I'm about to make in this one. Hope it doesn't have you running for the hills. There is this show I used to watch as a kid on Sunday afternoons...Maybe it was for lack of better things on TV on Sundays, which was normally devoted to religious worship on the airwaves, but I'm pretty sure I could've found a great novel on my shelf to read if I was bored. So I guess I wasn't bored and actually really enjoyed it. It was called 'Aum Namah Shivaya'; sort of like the Hindu version of biblical stories, I think. And to tell you how great YouTube is, I found some episodes but now that I'm older they're so tedious to go through. It's so drawn out, and tragically corny, but there were some cool moments i.e. tons of people's heads getting sawn off by flying weapons and really great outfits (would kill for every single piece in the show!).

This bit is the honeymoon of Sati and Shiv though, which I thought was funny. It's basically the sex scene. The two people dancing (A.K.A. artistically 'doing it') are Rati and her husband who were basically sent from the Universe to go and instigate Shiv and Sati's 'family life'. Loves it. Read the lyrics too.


My brother and I would just sit in front the TV on Sunday afternoons with whatever baked goodies we made earlier with our mother, and wait for the eerily awesome soundtrack to start up (It's good. I love anything in minor chords. It sounds so full of...doom). We were basically eventually brain-washed into chanting 'Aum Namah Shivaya' without knowing it, or what IT meant. And now, years later, I'm doing it again after reading that awesome book Eat Pray Love (Read it full stop).

Actually, now that I think of it, the perfect example for what this show really is can be surmised from Devendra Banhart's 'Carmensita' music video, which basically mocks the shit out of it.


I don't know what brought this on, i.e. weird posts on Hinduism. Maybe because Divali/Diwali (my favourite holiday in all the world!) is coming around again (Oct. 28th), I started thinking about the awesome times I had lighting deyas/fireworks/fire crackers/anything that does something cool with fire with my Catholic family and Hindu friends back home in Trinidad, stuffing myself silly with gulab jamun, barfi, kulfi, ras malai, kurma, rasgulla, prasad (GOD BLESS YOU!), pumpkin, channa and buss-up shut (sp?)...FUCK. ME. I. MISS. TRINIDAD.

Apart from the feeling of left-out-ness you get when quietly observing your Hindu friends Aum-Namah-Shivaya-ing for eons about how great their two dozen deities are, it is seriously the best celebration ever; glittery, beaded, jingly, vividly coloured saris and my bangles clanging from wrist to elbow, cute little bindi falling off my forehead from the sweat of running around in the moonlight around the deya displays, and having extras stuck to a little sheet of cardboard in my pocket (because you can't NOT have a bindi); being afraid your bright orange silk skirt with intricately patterned trimmings will catch on fire; hearing the next day on the news that at LEAST 2 houses were burnt to nothingness due to lights displays. I know, not exactly righteous but when things go well, it's like what I'd expect a successful family Christmas to be like (seeing as my Christmases never are).

Anyway, so, maybe it's the small percentage of Indian in me, but I've always had a thing for Hinduism and Indian culture (actually, Asian culture on a whole). I collect the elaborate jewelry (both my grad pictures have me in bangles, ear lobe drooping earrings and those pieces that drip down the centre-part of your hair and glitter to rest on your forehead), spent whole afternoons adorning my notebooks with their signature colourful plumage, Om symbols and lotus designs, frequented Bollywood movies at the drive-thru with friends, looked into taking Classical Indian Dance lessons, was asked by one partner during sex to take off the silver bell anklets adorning my feet because their jingling was bordering on annoying (I know, TMI, but necessary for my point, yes?) I. am. a. freak. for. everything. they. churn. out. in. India.

So it's only fitting that I should want to study Hinduism, i.e. buy a ridonculously large book on it, adore it from cover to cover, and pick up and follow any customs that can work themselves into my current lifestyle. I already occasionally practise mantras, and can totally nail a non-wobbly shoulder stand (I do yoga; so much so that my last job was helping hand at a bikram yoga studio). But I'd love to get that much further into the nitty gritty of the thing, Hinduism, that is. It's so...colourful. Plus all the gods and goddesses look so content and...stoned. I love how it's so clear that they're enjoying life, animal parts included or not (have a look for yourself in my last post. Are they not?). No harm in wanting to enjoy life.

Anyway, so here's a link for Diwali celebrations in London this year. When Panda visited me last year we went to the celebrations in Trafalgar Square (they're on tomorrow this year) and it kinda sucked, but maybe I'll check out one of the other events this year; and maybe I'll buy deyas and indian sweets and clean my room and chant all on my lonesome in my dorm room (with the window open, of course. The fire alarms are over-sensitive). But I truly think your best bet is to go to Trinidad lol.

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