Repost : Virtually Real Ganpati Bappa.....बाप्पा मोरया रे .......

Reposting something, I wrote 3 years ago. It still holds.

Ganpati Bappa had decided on it , long before Dr Douglas Engelbart , invented the keyboard mouse, while working for the Stanford Research Institute. Not one for flying chariots, eagles, and the like ,he decided that the mouse was His vehicle of choice, in his endeavours to preside as the wise and problem solving God.

It's interesting to realize that in today's world, mouse clicking and pointing leads us to huge stores of information, much of which we use for problem solving and research. I can just visualize Ganpati Bappa, popping a delicious 'modak' into the mouth, chuckling and smiling , and patting his mouse on the back, and enjoying his current festival season, as he sees countless devotees rush back to their laptops and pc's after the pujas.....

She was a great admirer and worshipper of Ganpati. Every personal, educational and other milestone that the children achieved in their life, was celebrated, with a thanksgiving puja (service) to Ganpati Bappa. She followed the thanksgiving rituals, more out of a sense of gratitude, and instilling an awareness, than fear or some kind of rigid adherence to rituals. For many years, the short 2 day Ganpati celebration at their house would have a special event of some scholars reciting the Vedas, in unison,and the sound reverberated and percolated in all the nooks and corners of the house. Followed by a delicious repast of traditional seasonal and festival delicacies for everyone.

By and by , her children grew up and had their own celebrations of Ganpati Bappa across the world. After a lifetime of organizing her own Ganpati worship and festivities, she began visiting her daughter, whose children wanted to experience the whole excitement of welcoming, worshipping, celebrating, and then bidding a watery goodbye to Ganpati Bappa on immersion day.

They were relaxing one afternoon after lunch,, admiring the Ganpati decorations done by the children , and talk veered around to the daughter of a family friend, who had had a very complicated limb surgery and was learning to walk again. This was being done in the face of a lot of questions as it was a sort of surgery that was actually not mandatory, but important to the girl. The girl was very gutsy, and they decided to invite that family over for an evening with their Ganpati Bappa, to coincide, with the girl's maiden outing after her surgery.

By the time the friends arrived, with the girl pushing her self up the ramp with her walker, wincing with pain, albeit happily, the children and grandchildren of the house, had rushed out and organized a cake with the girls name ,with "well done" inscribed on it, and there was much hiding and smiling when she arrived.

Everyone crowded around the girl, and she was completely surprised by the excitement, as they implored her to cut the cake. '

She did so, eyes full, her parents watching indulgently, the younger kids planning on which piece to aim for, and grandma landed up with a silver plate.

"Wait. Lets dedicate this as "naivedyam" (blessed food) and then you can have it. "

Cake ? Naivedyam? Eh ? (Things like cakes,with egg in them are a no-no, and almost amount to blasphemy. The naivedyam is a very traditionally defined thing).

They looked at her, perplexed; she, of the rigorous pujas and yearly Veda recitations, who always insisted on her daily interactions with Him, in a freshly washed cotton saree, just pulled from drying on the clothesline; whose pujas were never highly audible to us, but were heard by Those in Whose honor they were done.

"You are celebrating some one's success and progress. While your own effort is very praiseworthy, remember someone Up There, who looks out for you, and remember Him in all your good times. It doesn't matter what the food item is, and what it is made of. It is the thought and faith behind it that makes things sweeter..... Just pray, virtually offer a piece to Ganpati Bappa, and then distribute the stuff."

It simplified a lot of things for her daughter, who was often confused between being religiously correct, correctly religious, following certain prevailing norms, and often reasoning out certain things by herself, in an effort to make religion and spirituality interesting and convincing .

One hears folks doing research on virtual reality today. Virtual has taken on a new meaning in this age of IT.

But thanks to Ganpati Bappa, and his virtual enjoyment of cake , many years ago, that family learned what virtual reality could be. And was. And is.

Fast food tales

Fast food means different things to different people. While today's generation may sink under the onslaught of french fries under the Golden Arches of McD, to most of us, it means something totally diametrically opposite, philosophically speaking, that is.

Fasting, or "keeping fasts", is an integral part of our epicurean life, in my state (Mahrashtra). There are rules on what you can and cannot eat on "fast days". There are people who fast on certain days of the week, because of that days association with a certain deity . Then there are some who fast on certain days, like the fourth day of the Indian calendar(moon based) and eat dinner only after moon-rise. There are some folks who fast on certain special festival days, and prior to conducting certain religious rituals.

And then, there are certain fasts , that unmarried women and girls do, every year, on designated days, to acquire excellent husbands. Though customs vary throughout the country, the custom of girls fasting to ensure a good husband is practiced countrywide. I have always thought that single chaps undertaking similar simultaneous fasts would enhance the quality of a marriage overall (besides giving the mothers a break from cooking), but have met with pitiful looks , from, surprisingly, older women.

Actually, the food that is consumed during fasts in Maharashtra is delicious. It is not unknown for families to cook both fasting and non fasting food , and have the non-fasting types make a grand meal of both. Sabudana Khichadi ( made from soaked tapioca globules, crushed coriander, coconut, groundnuts, chillies, potato pieces, etc), is an eternal favourite. Potato cooked in a particular style with lots of cumin is another. Grated Yam is also used in another dish. Certain grains and veggies are taboo. Milk, fruits, yogurt , buttermilk, are preferred.

The whole idea of fasting was to restrain your mind from giving in to worldly enticements, and develop discipline , besides giving your stomach a rest. It was not unknown for people to follow a lifelong pattern of fasting on certain days, because of some promise made to a deity, or the fulfillment of a wish.

As long as anyone could remember, she always fasted on Mondays. Monday was associated with Lord Shiva. No one ever remembered "fasting food" being cooked in the house on these days. She always believed that folks today parodied the original idea of fasting, and the original idea was more about control than eating. Although household help always existed, her fasting day saw her personally sweep and mop the entire room, in one corner of which was her House of Gods; she would personally make the flower garlands from the jasmines, and when she emerged after her worship ritual , the room would have the sort of aura and smell you associate with inner sanctums of temples.

She would sit with her family at lunch, and partake of a cup of milk and a banana and sometimes a couple of pieces of dates. When her children were younger, they often wished she would make Sabudana Khichadi. But she frowned upon it as a fasting food, although it was often made as an evening or breakfast item for her family otherwise. Dinner would be a proper normal meal, with the rest of the family.

There were several associations one had with Lord Shiva, whose typical depiction always involved a snake around his neck.

On a trip in the mountains when her children were little, the family was enjoying a particular waterfall, resting on the flowing slopes, while the older son was busy with his friends in the naturally formed water pool, diving in and pulling things from the ground. He had just got in hand a strange weed he pulled, and was holding it out and calling to his folks, when she shouted at him and asked him not to move and stand still, for heaven's sake .

She had been resting , amidst the cascading water, with her eyes closed, and simply woke up to see a water snake coiled around her son's ankle, after he yanked out the weed. (Obedient fellow, that he was, he stood still, and the snake quietly uncoiled and slithered away in the muddy waters. ). She always thought that there was something Shiva inspired about awakening at that time to safeguard her child.

As she grew older, it became more and more difficult to wait for dinner with the family which was often late. And so , her daughter would cook an early dinner for her, and urge her to eat early .

The other option was to give up a lifetime of fasting on Mondays.

Well into her eighties, beset with a few old age problems, her children actually convinced her about giving up these fasts. She reluctantly agreed, more out of consideration for the trouble she would cause the family if she fell sick, than out of belief in the move. The first Monday she tried this, she had an uncomfortable stomach ache. She took this as a signal that the move was wrong, and she continued the usual Monday fasts after that.

Sometimes even God agrees.

She had just returned from visiting her sons in the US for 6 months, and was staying for a few days with her daughter, when one Sunday evening , after a hectic day with the grand kids, she started feeling uneasy, collapsed and was rushed to the ICCU. The trauma of the tubes ensued, and she lay, science aiding her every physical function, dedicated doctors watching every sign. She miraculously regained consciousness 2 hours later, but the tubes remained for another twenty four hours and more , so that she could gradually start relying on her own systems.

In the meanwhile her children and other relatives rushed to her. Tuesday morning , saw her lying down , tubeless, but tired, but in complete control of all her systems, physical and mental. When her doctor niece came to ask what she could get her, she clamoured for a decent cup of tea, and then asked what day it was.

That was Tuesday morning. Her last.

But here she was, smiling, holding out and clutching her daughter's hand, saying, "Oh, Good ! I was even able to do my fast this Monday !"

Sometimes, guess even the Gods fall in line....

Virtually Real Ganpati Bappa.....बाप्पा मोरया रे .......

Ganpati Bappa had decided on it , long before Dr Douglas Engelbart , invented the keyboard mouse, while working for the Stanford Research Institute. Not one for flying chariots, eagles, and the like ,he decided that the mouse was His vehicle of choice, in his endeavours to preside as the wise and problem solving God.

It's interesting to realize that in today's world, mouse clicking and pointing leads us to huge stores of information, much of which we use for problem solving and research. I can just visualize Ganpati Bappa, popping a delicious 'modak' into the mouth, chuckling and smiling , and patting his mouse on the back, and enjoying his current festival season, as he sees countless devotees rush back to their laptops and pc's after the pujas.....

She was a great admirer and worshipper of Ganpati. Every personal, educational and other milestone that the children achieved in their life, was celebrated, with a thanksgiving puja (service) to Ganpati Bappa. She followed the thanksgiving rituals, more out of a sense of gratitude, and instilling an awareness, than fear or some kind of rigid adherence to rituals. For many years, the short 2 day Ganpati celebration at their house would have a special event of some scholars reciting the Vedas, in unison,and the sound reverberated and percolated in all the nooks and corners of the house. Followed by a delicious repast of traditional seasonal and festival delicacies for everyone.

By and by , her children grew up and had their own celebrations of Ganpati Bappa across the world. After a lifetime of organizing her own Ganpati worship and festivities, she began visiting her daughter, whose children wanted to experience the whole excitement of welcoming, worshipping, celebrating, and then bidding a watery goodbye to Ganpati Bappa on immersion day.

They were relaxing one afternoon after lunch,, admiring the Ganpati decorations done by the children , and talk veered around to the daughter of a family friend, who had had a very complicated limb surgery and was learning to walk again. This was being done in the face of a lot of questions as it was a sort of surgery that was actually not mandatory, but important to the girl. The girl was very gutsy, and they decided to invite that family over for an evening with their Ganpati Bappa, to coincide, with the girl's maiden outing after her surgery.

By the time the friends arrived, with the girl pushing her self up the ramp with her walker, wincing with pain, albeit happily, the children and grandchildren of the house, had rushed out and organized a cake with the girls name ,with "well done" inscribed on it, and there was much hiding and smiling when she arrived.

Everyone crowded around the girl, and she was completely surprised by the excitement, as they implored her to cut the cake. '

She did so, eyes full, her parents watching indulgently, the younger kids planning on which piece to aim for, and grandma landed up with a silver plate.

"Wait. Lets dedicate this as "naivedyam" (blessed food) and then you can have it. "

Cake ? Naivedyam? Eh ?

They looked at her, perplexed; she of the pujas and yearly Veda recitations, who always insisted on her daily interactions with Him, in a freshly washed cotton saree, just pulled from drying on the clothesline; whose pujas were never highly audible to us, but were heard by Those in Whose honor they were done.

"You are celebrating someone's success and progress. While your own effort is very praiseworthy, remember someone Up There, who looks out for you, and remember Him in all your good times. It doesn't matter what the food item is, and what it is made of. It is the thought and faith behind it that makes things sweeter..... Just pray, virtually offer a piece to Ganpati Bappa, and then distribute the stuff."

It simplified a lot of things for her daughter, who was often confused between being religiously correct, correctly religious, following certain prevailing norms, and often reasoning out certain things by herself, in an effort to make religion and spirituality interesting and convincing .

One hears folks doing research on virtual reality today. Virtual has taken on a new meaning in this age of IT.

But thanks to Ganpati Bappa, and his virtual enjoyment of cake , many years ago, that family learned what virtual reality could be. And was. And is.