My ‘Guddi’ Moment

All who have seen the 1971 Hindi movie, Hrishikesh Mukherjee’s “Guddi" would understand what I am going to say. The scene where a school-girl Jaya Bhaduri (as she was known then) in her frocks goes inside a room and emerges out of it wearing a red silk saree, leaving everybody awestruck, was replayed at my home yesterday.

My daughter became a young lady yesterday, when she wore a saree for her school farewell. I can’t remember when my small girl who would hold my hand while crossing the road and look up to me, started staring at me at the same level (an inch taller than me I suppose, in her high heeled shoes!) slipping her arm in my arm, grew up to look absolutely stunning. Is this the same bundle of joy that I brought home from the hospital some fifteen years back? Is this the same chubby kid who would giggle at every gimmick of mine? Is this the same girl who would be uncomfortable in the squeak-when-you-walk shoe, walking confidently in the new heeled shoe?

First day to School - 2002

Last day in School - 2013

Just when did this metamorphosis happen? 

In the three-hour movie I could see it happen with Jaya Bhaduri, but how did I miss it for my daughter? When did she stop wearing lacy frocks and jump into jeans and now a saree? When did Enid Blyton’s Noddy give way to Harry Potter? When did Cartoon Network get replaced by the soaps of Star World? When did small shoes give way to high-heeled shoes? When did giggles on silly gimmicks give way to ‘grow-up-Dad’ looks? Life sure has been fast!

For the moment, I was speechless, and for the rest of the evening, I was worried. How could I let her alone in this big bad world? The small girl has grown up and will soon be ready to fly – will the world be as caring as the confines of my home? Will she find the care and comfort that I have provided her till date? 

But let’s leave the worries for another day and savour the moment, that for want of a better word I call – my Guddi moment!

Kumbh Mela and the Naga Baba’s

In the last post, we discussed the origins and significance of the massive Kumbh Mela which is currently being held in Allahabad, India. Its sheer enormity and the gathering from all over the country and parts of the world, has intrigued many a foreigner, who come down to attend every Kumbh Mela in hordes. Besides the religious fervour, which is at its full display, there is another very intriguing aspect of the Mela and that is the Naga Baba’s, or the naked ascetics.

World over, they seem to be the most photographed and also the most discussed aspect of the fair. In some, they evoke a sense of faith, while in some they evoke a sense of intrigue while for some they evoke a sense of revulsion. Just who are these babas and why are they the way they are?

The Naga babas are notable by their appearance, they are naked, and have long, knotted and unkempt hair, with ash smeared all over their bodies. They do not wear a shred of cloth even in peak winters and keep themselves warm by smoking ‘chillum’ or local marijuana. Many of them carry trishul or the trident carried by Lord Shiva as they are all followers of Lord Shiva. Many are known to perform inhuman tasks and some of them are known for doing things that the modern day civilisation might term weird, like standing on one leg for decades or using only one hand, or sleeping on a bed of sharp nails or standing on their heads for days, so on and so forth.

If one observes them closely, one can find in them all aspects of Shiva, except for the nudity. The nudity is a sign of renunciation of all material possessions and a sign of lack of any human inhibition. It also shows that they have parted with worldly pleasures and nothing arouses them, both sexually as well as emotionally and are at one with their god. This is another aspect which distinguishes them from their Lord (Shiva), who is a much married and a family man with wife and children. However, this renunciation of the baba’s is to end to the cycle of life and death and attain salvation. The reverence given to them can be seen in the fact that the first dip in waters during the Kumbh Mela is allowed to them.

The Naga baba’s consider the god Dattatreya as their Guru (who was considered to be the first naga baba) and the Adi Shankaracharya is supposed to have organised them in akharas, or camps, some of them being the Udasins, the Gorakhnatis, the Aghoris and the Yogis amongst the main ones. They were brave and did not care much for their lives and thus have been part of regiments fighting the early Mughals and later British. This streak of aggression is found in many of these babas even today, and thus often referred to as the warrior-ascetics.

If anybody tells me that they get photographed due to their nudity, then I would like to say, that there is much more nudity (and aesthetic at that), elsewhere and the Naga babas are definitely not satisfying that voyeuristic need. It is their unique lifestyle and the way they are that arouses both a sense of wonder and a squeamish suspicion about the babas. Needless to say, that they also have a heavy following in terms of disciples many of who are amongst the rich and famous of India.

Many feel threatened and embarrassed by this uncanny focus on such people during the fair. To this I only have to say, that these men are the followers of an ancient faith and live in the past out of their own volition and the impression that they create cannot be interpolated on an entire country or a philosophy which has many aspects to feel proud of. I don’t see this even as an aberration, but just another aspect of the diverse fabric of a philosophy, better known as Hinduism.

Kumbh Mela

From today starts the famous and one of the largest religious congregations of the world, the Kumbh Mela (the fair of the pot). This event attracts millions of people from across the world and this year it could be much more as it is also the Maha Kumbh, the Great Kumbh, which takes place once in twelve years.

This event, as we all know has its origins in the famous mythical episode of the Amrita-manthan or samudra-manthan (churning of the ocean). But what many might not know is the reason for the churning. According to a legend, once Lord Indra came across Sage Durvasa (better known for his infamous temper). On seeing Indra, Sage Durvasa took out a garland from his neck and gifted it to Indra. Indra in his arrogance put the garland on his elephant, who obviously unaware of its importance trampled it under its feet. Seeing this, Sage Durvasa was angry and cursed Indra that he and his ilk, i.e. the other gods would lose all their strength and the position, due to this act of arrogance.

Soon, the gods were devoid of any energy and strength and seeing this, the asuras, attacked them and got the better of the gods. The gods assembled and sought help from Lord Brahma, who suggested the churning of the ocean, from which, would emerge the celestial physician, Dhanwantri who could save them with his divine potion or nectar, better known as amrita, the elixir of immortality. However, for this they would need the help of the asuras who were very strong. A discussion was held between the gods and asuras and it was decided that all would get a share of the amrita.

On churning, many riches emerged and so did Dhanvantri with the pot of amrita. On seeing this, the asuras tried to gain control of the pot, but Vishnu took the form of Mohini, the enchantress and ran away with the pot. While Mohini was trying to save the pot from the asuras, the pot spilt some drops of the amrita on Allahabad, Haridwar, Ujjain and Nashik, which have become the famous places of the Kumbh fair. It is said that the gods and the asuras fought for twelve days, which was equivalent to the twelve years on earth to gain control of the pot.

In the war between the gods and the asuras, three gods, Sun, Moon and Jupiter played a very important role in protecting the pot from the asuras. Since then, the Kumbha Mela is held to commemorate this event, and the dates are calculated on the basis of the planetary positions of Sun, Moon and Jupiter. The four places where drops of nectar had been spilt, are supposed to acquire divine powers on these days and bathing in the rivers on these days, washes away all the sins and one can achieve salvation. The fair is held every four years in the above regions and every twelve year is the Maha-Kumbh, like the one which is being held in Allahabad this year.

I don’t know if the sins are washed away on this day or not, but the massive congregation of believers on this day has something to do with faith. Braving the chilling winter and dipping in the cold waters can only be an act of faith and hope for salvation. How many achieve salvation is a statistics for god to maintain, but the Kumbh is definitely a visual treat even for the non-believer. It must be something, which made Mark Twain, in 1895 to comment –

“It is wonderful, the power of a faith like that, that can make multitudes upon multitudes of the old and weak and the young and frail enter without hesitation or complaint upon such incredible journeys and endure the resultant miseries without repining. It is done in love, or it is done in fear; I do not know which it is. No matter what the impulse is, the act born of it is beyond imagination, marvellous to our kind of people, the cold whites.”

Some of the main dates for this year for bathing are as follows –

14 January – Makar Sankranti

27 January – Paush Purnima

6 February – Ekadashi Snan

10 February – Mauni Amavasya Snan (Main Bathing Day)

15 February – Basant Panchami Snan

17 February – Rath Saptami Snan

21 February – Bhisma Ekadashi Snan

25 February – Maghi Purnima Snan

For more on Makara Sankranti, read Makara Sankranti

Swami Vivekananda

On Swami Vivekananda's 150th Birth Anniversary, re-posting my article on him written a few months back -


Swami Vivekananda – an icon of Hidutva

Two Tales of Two Brothers

Let me tell you about an interesting observation. But first stories, which many of us might be quite familiar with.

The first one is from the epic Ramayan, related to the Kishkindha episode. Sugriv and Vali were brothers and Vali was the king of the vanars in the Kingdom of Kishkindha. He had a boon, that he would absorb half the strength of his opponent in a fight/battle. Once a demon by the name of Dundubi threatened him to a duel, but when Vali accepted it, he developed cold feet and ran away. Both Vali and Sugriv chased him till he entered into a cave. Before going inside the cave, Vali asked Sugriv to wait for him outside the cave and in case he saw blood coming out of the cave, then he should assume him to be dead and return to the kingdom and crown himself the King. After Vali had gone inside the cave, Sugriv heard loud sounds and soon he saw blood coming out of the cave. Sugriv assuming that his brother was dead, bolted the entrance of the cave with a boulder and came back to the kingdom to inform all that their King was dead and assumed the throne.

Soon Vali managed to kill the demon, and came back to his kingdom to see Sugriv crowned as a king. This enraged him and he rushed to kill Sugriv. When Sugriv tried to explain that he had done as instructed to him, Vali would not hear and rushed to kill him. Sugriv had no option but to escape from there and live in exile. Vali in the meanwhile also forcefully took Sugrivs’ main wife Ruma. Later when Ram and Lakshaman came there in search of Sita, they met Sugriv and assured him of their support.

As planned, Sugriv challenged Vali to a duel in the forest and while the two were fighting, Ram hid behind a tree and shot an arrow and killed Vali. This singular act is seen as an unfair blemish in an otherwise spotless character of Ram. (We will not get into the details of the unfairness and will leave the story here.)

In the epic Mahabharata, during the war of Kurukshetra, again two brothers were pitched against each other, Karna and Arjun. During the war, when Karna gets off the chariot, to release its wheel which was stuck in the ground, Krishna coaxes Arjuna to kill Karna, even though Karna was unarmed. This too is seen as an unfair act by Krishna and he has been criticised for the same.

Am I telling you stories that you know?

Well now for a very interesting comparison in both the tales related above.

In the first tale, Vali and Sugriv were brothers because they were born of same mother, Aruni, but not the same father. Vali was the son of Lord Indra and Sugriv was the son of Lord Surya. In this case, Ram, an incarnation of Lord Vishnu, sides with the son of Lord Surya to kill the son of Lord Indra.

In the second tale, Karna and Arjun are again bothers because they were born of the same mother, Kunti, but not the same father. Karna was the son of Lord Surya and Arjuna was the son of Lord Indra. In this case, Krishna, an avatar of Lord Vishnu again, sides with the son of Lord Indra, to kill the son of Lord Surya!

The first epic was written by Sage Valminki and the second was written by Sage Vyasa, but the similarities are too glaring.

• In both the cases, the fathers are Lord Indra and Lord Surya, the most important Vedic deities.
• In both cases, the driving force was Lord Vishnu in different incarnations
• In both cases, the death of one of the brothers is by unfair means.

What is more important is that what was done in the Ramayan was reversed in an effort to balance in Mahabharat, a poetic justice of sorts for the fathers, Indra and Surya!

Isn’t this interesting? Two epics, written by two different sages, during two different ages (Ramayan during Treta Yuga and Mahabharata during the Dwapar Yuga) but enabling a balance of justice.

Finally to conclude, Vali before dying is supposed to have told Ram that shooting him from behind and that too when he was fighting someone else was unfair. To avenge this unfairness, Ram allowed Vali to be reborn as the hunter Jara during the dwapar yuga (Mahabharata) who shoots an arrow at Krishna’s feet thinking him to be a deer, leading to the death of Krishna!

Jara killing Krishna (courtesy Wikipedia)

Doesn't this also depict the declining standards of morals? What was unfair during Ram's times and allowed to avenge later, is missing during Krishna's times?