Durga - The Slayer Of Mahishasura

Mahalaya is the auspicious occasion for the whole Bengali community and the people of Bengal as it marks the advent of Goddess Durga on earth, the goddess of supreme power, to annihilate all evils. It is the period when Pitri Paksha (Shola Shraddha or food offering) ends giving way to Devi Paksha (Goddess Period). Mahalaya is thus a kind of invocation or invitation to the mother goddess so that She descend on earth and help the mortals lead an evil-free life.

There are several stories / anecdotes associated with Maa Durga or each festival India has , here’s one which tells why is the goddess also called Mahisasur Mardini.

Goddess Durga is also called Mahisasur Mardini, as she annihilated the notorious deamon Mahisa.

This is how the story goes ....

nce upon a time there lived a demon (Asura) named Mahisha. He found great happiness in hurting people. Once, he decided to pray to lord Brahma, who he thought would give him a boon, which would make him invincible. 

Mahisha performed severe penances praying and fasting for months as he stood on one foot. The three worlds trembled under the strength of his penances and a pleased lord Brahma came to give him a boon. Mahisha asked for immortality, which the lord said he could not have as every creature that was born had to die. Mahisha decided that he would ask for a boon that would make him as good as immortal. He asked that no man should be able to kill and, if he had to die it should be only at the hands of only a woman. He was sure that no woman could ever fight against him however strong she may be.

Now that Mahisha was invincible, he and the other asuras went about hurting and killing everyone on earth and then went on to the heavens to fight the Gods. Even Indra's thunderbolt could not withstand the asura attack. Mahisha drove out the Gods and took over Indra's throne. Mahishasura started harassing all pious people who continued praying to Vishnu or Shiva. The Gods and people were depressed and decided to ask lord Shiva for help. Lord Shiva, Vishnu, and Brahma concentrated hard and used their radiant energies, which were joined by the energies from Indra, and the other Gods. This godly energy took the form of a divine lady with thousand arms. In each arm she carried a weapon belonging to all Gods. This was Durga Devi. 

She mounted a fiery lion and roared. It was a roar that shook mountains and created huge waves in the seas. Even Mahisha was worried for a second, but his vanity took over when he saw that the terrible form was that of a woman. Durga created a large army from her breath to fight Mahisha's army and then fought with Mahisha who came in the form of a Buffalo. As he struggled to set himself from the Buffalo form she killed him with her sword delivering the earth and heavens of the Burden called Mahishasura. 

Onion and Garlic folklore!

There was a time when one wept as one used to chop onions , but times have changed drastically now-a-days one is teary when one thinks of buying oinions.Yes - the onion has suddenly turned wicked . This made me wonder there may be many fables and folk-lores about onions too.

Wicked Onion

Look what I stumbled upon - an Indonesian folklore about Onions and Garlic. In Indonesia, "garlic" is called white onion and onion is commonly referred to as red onion. By color association, garlic is seen as "good" and onion, as the "bad" one. This is how the local folklore goes:-

Once there lived a small family of father, mother and a daughter - named Garlic,
They lived in a sleepy village in Indonesia.The father was a trader and mother a homemaker. The three lived very happily, but one day the mother fell sick suddenly and died . The demise of the mother made "garlic" and her father very sad. In the same village there live a widow. The widow had a daughter named "Red Onion",Both mother and daughter used to come to Garlic's house and help her with cooking and other daily chores.After some time Garlic's father thought of marrying "Red Onion"'s mother presuming- that it would give little "garlic" a mother's care and much needed company.

Little did the trader realized what fate had in store for him and her daughter "garlic"! Soon after marriage "Red Onion"'s mother started treating "Garlic" badly.She would make little garlic wash utensils and clean clothes at the river bank. Garlic never used to complain and bore everything with silence. One day garlic's father too fell sick and expired in some time. Garlic was overwhelmed with grief.
After garlic's father's demise her stepmother started treating her more cruely. She would make her toil from dawn to dusk. Little garlic had to clean , wash and cook.

Little garlic had to toil very hard but she maintained her composure and never complained. One day as she had gone to the river to wash clothes.Suddenly one of her step-moyher's dress was washed away in the river current. Little garlic tried her best but could not find it. 

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When Garlic came home with the washed clothes, her step-mother became furious at not finding her red dress. She thundered at little garlic "Go find my dress. Dont come home without the dress?".

Poor garlic started following the path running parallel to the river to find the dress. On her way she met a shepherd. Garlic asked the shepherd -have you seen a red dress? 

 The shepherd replied I have seen one in an old lady's garden by the river. Hearing this garlic went down the river to the old lady's home. On reaching there she saw the red dress hanging on the cloth drying wires in her garden. She knocked on her door and requested her to give her the "red dress". The old lady said she will give her the red dress on one condition - garlic had to stay with her for one week. Garlic agreed.

She lived with the old lady for one week and helped her in her daily chores. When one week was over the old lady gave her the red dress and also asked her to choose from the pumpkins in her kitchen garden as a parting gift. Garlic took a small one and bid the old lady good-bye. On reaching home she gave the "red dress" to her step-mother and also the pumpkin. As they sliced it open it was full of precious gold and jewels. Now the step mother became greedy and asked garlic how she got such the pumpkin? Garlic told her the entire tale.

Now the step-mother wanted more jewels , she sent her daughter "red onion" to the old lady's house. The old lady asked "Red Onion" to stay with her for a week.Onion stayed for one week but never helped the old lady with her work, she just lazed away her time. After one week as she was about to leave she asked the old lady -wont you give me a parting gift? The old lady asked her to pick a pumpkin from her garden as a parting gift. "Red Onion" took the largest one. With great difficulty she reached home. As she arrived her mother lost no time in slicing it open. She thought jewels will fall out but alas! Out came venomous snakes and insects and killed the wicked step-mother and her daughter "red onion". Garlic was thus freed of her tormenting step mother and sister.

Ganesha's wise devotee

Om Ganapatai Namo!!

Lord Ganesha is well known for his wit and wisdom, but this folklore is about his smart and wise devotee, an old lady. There used to live ages ago an old lady in the village of Timarpur, a sleepy village on the banks of Tista river.

The lady resided in her small house with her son and daughter-in-law.

She was an ardent follower of lord Ganesha and prayed daily without fail.

The lord was so moved by her devotion that he used to appear before her everyday and granted her a wish. The lady used to say that she couldn't decide what to ask for. This routine continued for many days.

At last the old lady thought of consulting her son and daughter-in-law. The son asked her to ask the lord for wealth. The daughter-in-law asked her to ask the lord for a grandson. 

The lady wondered my son and daughter-in-law are suggesting what they think is important, let me consult my neighbour. Her neighbour advised her to ask for good sight. Now lady thought that all the three sugestions were valid for her family as a whole and started thinking of a way to get everyone's wish fulfilled.

The next day as the Lord again appreared and asked the old lady to make a wish. The old lady bowed to the lord and wished-" Lord please bless me such that I can see my grandson drinking milk from a golden bowl"

The lord smiled the witty old lady had asked for everything in her wish smarty. He granted the wish and blessed the old lady.

Ingenious Ganesha!!

As the Ganesh Chaturthi celebration slowly comes to its culmination .. here's another very interesting story on Ganesha which teaches us to find simple solutions to any challenge in life.

One day Ganesha , Kartik and Mushaka were playing when they were called by Goddess Parvati. Both Kartik and Genesha ran towards Parvati,on found her standing with a plate full of delicious "Modaks". She gave them the Modaks but as both Ganesha and Kartik were muching the delicious "Modaks" to Parvati's delimnea there remained one last "Modak" to which both Kartik and Ganesha staked their claim.

So goddess Parvati and lord Shiva decided to have a small contest between Ganesha and Kartik. They said that they had to take 3 rounds of the world and whosoever did it first will get the "Modak".

As soon as Kartik heard about the task he zipped off on his vahana (vehicle) the "peacock". 

Ganesha fell in deep contemplation - his vahana- Mouse was very small and slow. How could he win? 

 Then an idea came to his mind , he mounted on his vahana -Mouse and took three rounds of his parent - "Shiva & Parvati".

When Shiva and Parvati saw this they asked him why is he not going to take three rounds of the world? To that he replied "Dear parents you are the world for me so I took three rounds of my parents - that is equivalent to the trip across the world."

Lord Shiva and Godddess Parvati smiled on hearing Ganesha's point of view and declared him winner and gave him the "Modak"

Moral - We should make the best of the resources we have without whinning about lack of amenities. 

Parents are to be  revered !!

Ganesha - teaches Parashuram humility !!

Lord Ganesha teaches simplicity and urges all to be humble. Once he was playing with his dear friend and vahan (mode of transport) - "Mushak" (mouse) at Kailash Parvat. In excitement he and mushak created lot of commotion. Hearing the noise Parvati came there and reprimanded both of them and told them to maintain silence as his father lord "Shiva" was meditating and was not supposed to be disturbed, else he will get angry. Ganesha and Mushak started playing silently. After some time saint Parashuram came there and demanded to have an audience with Lord Shiva but Ganesha said he couldnt allow anyone to visit as he was meditating. He requested the saint to come again. This angered the saint and he engaged Ganesha in a fierce battle. Parashuram's all weapons were destroyed by Ganesha. Then Parashuman took out the weapon granted by Lord Shiva - seeing his father's weapon Ganesha did not neutralize it and took its impact on his tooth. This led to the breakage of his tooth.
So great was the impact that the lord gave out a cry in pain and fainted. This brought Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati to the spot. Seeing his favourite son in pain Lord thundered on Parashuram and both Shiva and Parvati reminded him that with great power comes great responsibility and humility.
Parashuram realized his folly and begged to Shiva and Parvati for forgiveness.
On repeated pleas by Parashuram Lord Shiva and Parvati forgave him.
Due to his loss of his tooth lord Ganesha is also called "Ek-Danta".

Ganapati Bappa Maurya !!!!

Why Moon is a taboo on Ganesha's Birthday!!

As Lord Ganesha is worshipped in many houses this Ganesh Chaturthi do you know why one is not allowed to see the moon on Ganesha BirthDay?

Well this is how the story goes ... We all know the cute and adorable lord ganesha was very fond of delicacies !!
Once he was invited on his Birthday for dinner at a devotee's house ...
Ganesha went there and the devotee treated the God to best of preparations !!
He had a very heavy meal. He blessed the devoted host and then started his homeward journey. 

On his way back home on his vehicle the mouse ...
A very black and scary snake crossed their path, it frightened the mouse so much that it fainted and as a result the lord fell on the ground and lord's stomach burst. 
The moon was seeing all this and the moon who saw this started laughing in a mocking manner!!
This angered lord Ganesha , he killed the snake and tied the snake around his stomach and chased the Moon!!
The Moon ran and hid in his palace and Ganesha came to his palace in search of moon!!
Ganesha thundered at Moon for his rude behaviour!!
Moon got so frightened of the warth of the lord and refused to come out!!
The moon hiding's in the palace caused havoc on earth and the cycle of day and night!!! Seeing this everybody prayed to lord Ganesha and asked him to forgive moon!!
Ganesha relented but he roared at the Moon- You hid in your palace like a thief I curse you that from now on whosoever sees you on my birthday (Ganesh Chaturthi) will be called a thief!!
Hence we are not supposed to see the moon on Ganesha's Birthday ....

Durva grass is dear to Lord Ganesh

There's a wonderful story related to Lord Ganesha " On why Durva grass is dear to Lord Bal Ganesh"
the story goes like this:-
Its said once there was a demon by the name "Analasura" whose eyes used to emit fire and wherever he went he caused destruction and devastation.
So much so that none could stop his trail of devastation- people prayed to lord Ganesha. Bal Ganesha confronted analasura who rained fire on the lord- evrything in the vicinity except for Lord Ganesha was destroyed and the demon started launghing in a mocking tone!!!
Bal Ganesha then took its Virata Avatar ( Huge incarnation ) and gulped the demon.
The fire spitting demon got annihilated but the Ganesha body temperature rose dangerously so much so that lord fell on the ground.
All Gods tried various remedies but to no avail...
Lord Bal Ganesh's burning did not stop. Everyone was worried.

Then, thousands of sages who came there with bunch of 21 Durvas and put on Bal Ganesh's head and a miracle happened. 
The burning sensation of Bal Ganesh was subsided and Ganesh became all right after putting the Durva grass on the head . 

Then, Lord Ganesh uttered that most of the Gods tried to help but only ‘Durva’ a simple grass made my agony into normal.

With this Lord Ganesh announced that whoever with devotion offer me Durva would be pious and get Punya which will be equal to thousands puja's,pilgrims, donations,etc..
Whether you offer flowers or not you should offer the Durva grass to Lord Bal Ganesh in his Puja.
The message this story potrays is - We should not think anyone to be small or insignificant,time changes in fraction of seconds and in that time everyone gets their chance to play their role.

Ganapati bappa Mourya!!!

Random Thoughts and Notes

Premonition
The dictionary meaning of Premonition is :-

1. a feeling of anticipation of or anxiety over a future event;presentiment: He had a vague premonition of danger.
2. a forewarning.

One does gets premonitions. While the happy ones are always welcome  but those pointing to some dangerous event are scary and  leave you shaken. One gets disturbed when you can relate them to a future happening.On second thoughts premonitions are a forewarning and a warning more often than not is about an imminent danger - how stupid of me? The other day over tea in office I was discussing about such fore-warnings with some colleagues  - that how unsettling they can be if its actually related to a real life incident. I recollect standing at one of the floors of my office and suddenly a thought crossed my mind that these unguarded heights had the potential of killing someone and I was terrified as I knew something will happen for sure in the coming days. Also another feature of Premonitions they keep recurring till its true or else you talk about it so much that they are rendered ineffective (that's my hypothesis that if you talk about the forewarning it may be averted though - irrational well I am a very rational person but with premonitions my rationale flies off the window). The same thought crossed my mind again as I was standing by the cafeteria window. To make matters worse a person jumped to his death in that building. Scary isnt it ... Also I think what good is a forewarning if the mishap cant be stopped I better not have a premonition.

Another one which comes to my mind relates to my stay in Chandigarh ... The house in front of ours was undergoing renovation and the day their work was completed , I noticed that the father and son duo of that house were collecting the scrap woods into a pile ... As I saw the pile it quite awkwardly looked like an unlit pyre to me ... I struggled to wish away the thought ~ watched TV , read a book , even went for a walk but that thought just wouldn't leave me alone - at last sleep came to my rescue. In the morning I saw a big crowd outside our house and came to know that the son had meet with a fatal accident and was in a coma (he expired later)... I was thoroughly disturbed ... 

There have been quite a few - I remember getting a Premonition of 2 planes colliding mid-air just before the mid-air crash of 2 planes at Charkhi- Dadri ....

One gets premonitions about friends and family too ..

I have arrived at a prophylaxis- talk about them and render them ineffective ... though one runs the risk of being called crazy or paranoid ~ but its better than people losing their lives ..... 

Smells

Of late I have been getting nostalgic about the various smells and fragrances I associated with my childhood. In our ancestral home there is a storage room where one stores supplies for long periods - this storage room called a "Bhandar Ghor" has a fusion of smells of jaggery, semase, coconut, sour and pungent smells of pickles , smell of condiments, spices .. it was my favorite place to hide while playing "Hide and Seek" ...

The other smell which I fondly remember - is the smells and fragrances associated with the "Puja Ghar" where the smell of sandal paste, fresh flowers and burning incense sticks rendered the atmosphere divine - though at that time the Peras offered to the god did capture my attention and imagination!!!!

The burnt charcoal smell associated with the lighting of angithi too lingers on ...

    

Why are we critical of Anna Movement or Satyameva jayate!!

There are many who are skeptical about phenomenons like “Satyameva Jayate” or “Token Fast by Team Anna” at Jantar Mantar. Many crack unsympathetic jokes at them. I sincerely believe if one can’t be optimistic one should at least not pronounce doom for people who are trying to make a difference. If the issues raised are corrected it will only make our country/society a better place.  Many people may argue the people raising these issues have vested interests or their credentials are questionable. Point taken friends, but so does chemotherapy, but still its used to save lives.  Let’s not miss the wood for the trees; all of us want a better, civil, safer and a more cultured India. An India devoid of corruption, dowry, khap panchayats to name a few is I believe everyone’s dream. Like the most popular President of this country Kalam said I want to see India in the league of developed nations. We can be part of that August league only when we take everything with a pinch of optimism and true/unbiased self analysis. An India which truly recognizes the flaws it has and instead of pushing them below the carpet boldly and sincerely works for solution.

For those who see fault in things will find spots in the moon too (an old Indian proverb), while there are people who see a silver lining in every cloud. So the optimists please take over. Even I too accept all these people are not an absolute philanthropist but at least some leeway will be made in our ultimate goal for an Incredible India.

The following arguments are put forth by many for their criticism or indifference to such initiatives:-

• ·    Nothing has changed in India since independence and hence there is no merit in trying. à So you mean to say a spider is wiser than us humans, it keeps trying till it succeeds. Come on we are more highly evolved than that arachnid so we can try a bit more!!!
• ·    People question the credentials of people driving such moves à For example Aamir charging 3 crore per episode, well if he manages to change public opinion, its well deserved.   
• ·       Some of these movements are politically motivated à let them be we will employ them to achieve the goals that are important for us like get the economy back on tracks or put check on rampart corruption, I guess that concerns everyone and if its solved even by a politically motivated movement I am fine with that. For me what is important is resolution of things which are holding India back. Besides are we so gullible that we can be taken for a ride?
• ·         Many say these movements are becoming personality based that is there are other people doing much work in these areas but they are unsung. Well at least we have the attention of the people now, the next step would we be to focus on the real heroes. Come-on friends Rome was not built in one day!!!  Lets start taking baby steps towards our ultimate goal a Wonderful India!!!

They very fact that India is talking about these issues so openly and these issues trend on twitter the whole day is a good sign that we all Indians aspire for A Better India. Well 1 billion people having that dream will surely make mountains move!!! Being a pessimist has helped no one lets trying being an optimist this time around.

What is wrong with Mamata?

        

I see Mamta as a person of character (if she continues her current form it may be endangered) who braved odds to be Bengal’s CM though she might have been mercurial in nature and at times whimsical. The lady who braved the deadly assaults by Left cadre suddenly cannot tolerate banter and a harmless caricature on her. She or her carders are trying to discipline people what they say/express about her, but isn’t it counterproductive? Trying to quell opposition is like fanning a fire – the more you try to tell others what they should/should not talk about you the more you antagonize them.

Perhaps after getting such a landslide mandate- Mamata doesn’t expect people to be critical? Come-on Mamatadi the bigger the mandate - the higher the expectations. People of Bengal in you see the remedy for all ills that has plagued Bengal. Yes we agree the infrastructure is in shambles but they why not discipline the state government employees who refuse to work. On the contrary mam you have gifted the female doctors in your state with 2 years of maternity leave, why? Anyways these guys don’t attend their duties religiously, so why this incentive? Why reward the inefficient staff? I was expecting some though talking from you but to no avail. I mean you have done things aesthetically like Rabindra Sangeet on traffic lights but Bengalis need basic amenities. What good is Rabindra Sangeet when your kid is dying of lack of medical care? Or can I enjoy the stream of music if you don’t know how you will meet your ends?  

I was most overjoyed when Bengal shrug off the Red … embraced the Trinamool but somewhere the plot has been lost and there may not be a second chance!!!!

She has to realize she is no more the rebel/activist who fought the oppressive left regime – she is the CM of the state and has to think with magnanimity both for her supporters and detractors. She is a statesman now no more an activist … In anticipation that Ms. Banerjee shows more tolerance.