Revival
June 26, 2009 at 4:11 pm | In Uncategorized | 1 CommentHere is a picture of flowers growing in our backyard. I took this picture couple of years ago. Just as it represent Spring season, I hope this posting will be a beginning of new adventure.
A new season
Chikungunya in the US
March 30, 2007 at 10:50 pm | In Science | Leave a CommentThe Center for Disease Control reports of 37 new cases of Chikungunya fever in US in the year 2006. In comparison there were only 7 cases of the same in last 15 years. Out of these 37 cases, 82% of the sick individual had recently returned from India. I mention this here because I have written about this diseases in past while I was in India.
Few Photographs
March 8, 2007 at 5:07 pm | In Cultural, Social info | 1 CommentHere are some of the pictures of Alang shipyard and the temple I visited in February. A brief description of each visit has already been posted.
A ship waiting to be recycled. This photograph was taken from moving vehicle.
A cruise ship waiting for recycling.
Another one waiting its fate.
A hand carved cart used during the dedicationceremny of temple. It was used to transport a priest.
The main entrance to the temple under construction. This photograph was taken from the distance of 200 meters to get the complete temple in the picture frame using wide angle lens. (Just to give you an idea of its size since a person standing in front of it is barely visible.)
Back in the US
March 7, 2007 at 4:39 pm | In Uncategorized | Leave a CommentNow I have returned from spending 6 months in India on my sabbatical and therefore I won’t be adding any new posting. However, I shall add some photographs and videos promised earlier and have a brief summary of how it feels to be back.
Art Galleries (February 22, 2007)
February 22, 2007 at 11:39 am | In Cultural | 1 CommentOn Tuesday, February 20th, I visited three art galleries in
Bombay. I had read in the news paper that there was a photography exhibition, couple of paintings exhibits and some sculptures were also being shown in the art gallery complex near the main business district in the heart of Bombay. The photography exhibit was organized by the Indian Photographer’s Association and was a juried show. There were quite a few traditional landscapes, still images and portraits but very few abstract photographs. There were few black & white pictures as well. The paintings that I saw in the other galleries were of postmodern era and abstract. Few artists were present at the show. Another gallery had collection of paintings by multiple artists and one of the artist I liked had painted in the style of Indian miniatures and all the paintings (35 of them) had the same image of Buddha on which was superimposed multiple images of an oil lamp, a lotus flower and a crane. It was amazing to see different color combinations used by the artists and time it must have taken to paint tiny images in multiple numbers on the same visage. The last set of paintings I saw were drawn by a female artists and the theme was “women”. Different activities of women were depicted in bold strokes on large canvas with dark colors. The artists was also present at the exhibit, unfortunately I was the only visitor at that time. After visiting the galleries, I saw outdoor exhibits of your aspiring artists. Most of them were in watercolors and on paper. There was one artists drawing pencil sketches. This reminded me of my visits to the French Quarters in New Orleans. At the end I saw a young man sitting with a pile of rice grains and two paintbrushes. On close inspection I realized that his specialty was to wrote names on rice grain, seal it into a small transparent plastic tube and attach it to a cheap key ring. For one US dollars, he made two key chains for me. This is as close as I came to supporting art!
Shivaji Jayanti (February 22, 2007)
February 22, 2007 at 11:36 am | In Cultural, History | 1 CommentMonday, February 19th, was a holiday in the State of Maharashtra. It commemorates the birthday of Shivaji, Shivaji a local hero who waged guerrilla war against the Mogul empire in 17th century and managed to establish a Maratha kingdom for a short time. Once he was captured by Aurangzeb, the Mogul emperor, and managed to escape from his prison. Following his death, his successor could not maintain their hold and were succeeded by a powerful group of ministers (called Peshwas), who ruled in the name of Shivaji’s descendents. The last of these Brahmin priests participated in the 1857 war of independence (also known as 1857 mutiny or Sepoy mutiny). I bring this up because the last Peshwa who participated in this war was never caught by the British and is believed to have lived a monk’s life in Sihor (my ancestral town). In his heydays, Shivaji’s empire controlled most of the west coast from north of Goa (a Portuguese colony) to as far north in the present day Punjab state. His empire was short lived (~ 30 plus yrs). He is popular in his home state of Maharashtra and today a political party called Shiv Sena (Shivaji’s army) is run in his name.
A musical (February 20, 2007)
February 22, 2007 at 11:32 am | In Cultural | Leave a CommentCouple of days ago, I had an opportunity to attend a play/musical called “Gujarat ni asmita” meaning heritage of Gujarat. The play included important poets in the Gujarati literature from mid sixteenth century to pre-independence period (1930s). The poets came to the stage in their costumes of the day, reciting few well known poems. The whole play was arranged in a traditional Bhavai style in which a narrator comes on the stage, introduces a character with a song and a dance and a bit of humor. He/she or they are the link between different characters. What surprised me the most was that I knew 90% of the poem. I am not sure whether it means that I am well read or that there are only few poems written over last four centuries. I believe the truth lies somewhere else. It held the audience spellbound for little over 2 hrs without nay intermission.
The theater I went to is within walking distance from my folk’s home in Mumbai and was established and is run by a very well known family of film and stage actors. It is small theater with only 200 seats and organizes plays and acts by new and upcoming artists as well as by established artists. The last two weeks in this February are celebrated as Poetry weeks at this theater. There have been poetry readings, short plays about poets and other activities celebrating poets from other languages besides Indian languages
Maha Shivratri (February 16, 2007)
February 22, 2007 at 11:29 am | In Cultural, Festivals | Leave a CommentToday marks the beginning of a 4-day weekend in the State of Maharashtra, whose capital is Mumbai (or Bombay). Friday the 16th is Maha Shivratri day and is a national holiday. Monday the 19th is Shivaji Jayanti and is only a state holiday (observed only in the Maharashtra state). Although Thursday, February 15th, was my last working day at CSMCRI, I left Bhavnagar on 12th and have returned back to Mumbai.
Maha Shivratri is celebrated throughout India as an important event in Indian mythology and is related to Lord Shiva, one of the members of the Hindu trinity. This is also the day when certain liberties are taken by his devotees and others in his name to indulge in Bhang (a drink made with Cannabis) and gambling. Although what is the connection between the God and the practices carried out in his name to celebrate him are not clear, it has become a tradition in many parts of India to indulge into otherwise illegal activities. In general celebration involve fasting and praying to the God. Devotees stay awake through the night and a special prayer is offered past the midnight followed with ritual bathing of the idol with milk and honey. I suppose to help them stay awake someone came up with an idea of gambling. Lord Shiva resides in Mount Kailash, one of the tall peaks of Himalaya. He symbolizes lack of attachment to worldly possessions by smearing his body with ashes and dwelling in cremation grounds. He is also the patron God of musicians, dancers and dramatists. His son Lord Ganesh is also an important God in the Hindu pantheon of Gods. He has controls over all emotions and human faculties but ones in a while he is known to get angry and in this bout of anger he can destroy everything in his path/sight. He also is depicted as having a third eye, which is always kept shut and if opened, bring about destruction in the world. Fortunately, he is easy to please and in many mythological stories he gives abundant power to his devotees who the have to be controlled by Vishnu (another God in the Hindu trinity).
There are two legends about Maha Shivratri. Once upon a time, Gods and Asura (demons) joined their might to extract elixir of life to attain immortality from the Oceans. Before they can get the desired elixir, they came up with a strong poison, which could not be discarded anywhere. To help them out, Lord Shiva agreed to take the poison and kept it in his mouth without swallowing. It was said that if he could perform this task till net day morning, no harm would come to him. Thus, born the tradition of keeping awake through the night to pray Lord Shiva.
According to the second story, a poor aboriginal went out to hunt to bring food for his family. After long days search he was unsuccessful and too deep in the forest to return home. To camp out at night he chose a tree to climb, as this was a safe place from Tigers & Lions who roam at night. As he was afraid, he could not fall asleep. Every now and then he saw some deer under the tree that he tried to shoot with little success. Incidentally, he also dropped few leaves from the tree he was hiding in to the ground. As it happened the tree was the holy tree called Bilipatra, whose leaves are offered to Lord Shiva in prayer. Unknown to the hunter during the night he had showered Lord Shiva’s underground idol with these leaves therefore pleasing Lord Shiva who then bestowed upon the poor hunter many gifts. This story just reinforces the tradition of keeping awake throughout the night to pray.
As far as drinking Cannabis laced milk or buttermilk is concerned, there are no stories in the literature. It is believed that drinking such liquids or smoking them can lead to religious ecstasy. A sect of Hindu monks, who are strict devotees of Lord Shiva, smoke Charas or Hashish to attain spiritual bliss. These monks usually, dwell in less populated places or remain indoors in their monasteries and shun public interactions. They smear their bodies with ash, wear no clothes and often carry a trident (a symbol of Lord Shiva). A westerner, who became a monk, has written an interesting account of this in his book, The Ochre Robe.
Elephantisis or Filariasis
February 17, 2007 at 9:10 am | In Science | Leave a Comment I saw in the local newspaper an announcement by the Maharashtra State Health services will be distributing medicine to prevent Elephantisis or Fialriasis in 17 health district. Their target is to reach 27 million residents (25% of population) who may be at high risk based on the epidemiological data. Even WHO has identified rural and metropolitan areas in South Asia & other countries where Mosquito borne diseases are remerging due to uncontrolled and rapid growth. One side effect of growing economy in
India has been increased population pressure in urban areas and growth in housing needs. Metropolitan city government has not been able to keep up with the growth by supplying adequate housing or related infrastructure. Recently, there have been repeated epidemics of Malaria, Dengue fever and Chikengunya in the state (Bombay is the capital of Maharashtra state).
Back to Bombay (Mumbai)
February 17, 2007 at 9:07 am | In Uncategorized | Leave a Comment It has been couple of days since I returned to Mumbai after completing my assignment at the Central Salt Research Institute. This is preparation to return to US after 6 months in
India. I am taking this last opportunity to visit with family & friends. Although I did not accomplish everything I wanted to do, I have made significant progress in my work. My plans to send bacterial isolates have run into a bureaucratic delay. Clearance to send them to US has not arrived yet and may take some more time. I have developed good ties with the scientists working here and have developed understanding of their problems. Overall, it has been a good experience for me.
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