The Orange, the White, and the Green

Dia daoibh! Howaya?

Sunday at Trafalgar Square was an all-Irish day - right down to the weather. There were light showers all day long, and the sky was overcast without being dark.

I had expected the square to be jam-packed when I reached there about 1 hour into the programme schedule of the St. Patrick’s Day Festival. To my surprise, it was relatively empty. So I checked the schedule again, and it seemed that the 12 Irish tenors and Ann Scott should have completed their respective performances. I checked with one of the security guards, and she confirmed that that was indeed the case.

So where were all the Irish folks? Could it be that they were dissuaded by the gray skies?

I forgot the questions for what turned out to be a very short while as the Celtic Masters took stage for their impressive but ridiculously short-lived clogging performance.

So, again, where were all the Irish? Turned out that they were in the parade that starts at Hyde Park Corner and culminates at Whitehall. It was probably the arrival of the parade that had cut the Celtic Masters’ gig short.

As people started pouring out of the parade and into the square, it started to feel more like a Trafalgar Square festival. That said, I have to say that there weren’t nearly as many people in the square as there were at the Russian Winter Festival.

There were droves of teens and tweens: the most I’ve seen in one place outside of a school. And of course, there were the infectiously enthusiastic and completely dressed up old folks.

It took a while, but as the people started settling in with their beers and whiskey, it was time for speeches.

Mayor Ken Livingston was greeted and treated with such enthusiastic cheers that made me wonder where exactly his opponent Boris's lead in the opinion polls is coming from.

Ireland's minister John Gormley observed, "As the minister for environment, I am happy to see so many green hair in the audience", referring to the lengths people had gone to in order to dress-up for the event.

"10% of people in the world are Irish", he said, "and the remaining 90% want to be Irish!"

He closed his spiel by inviting all the non-Irish people in the square to be Irish for a day, and have a good crack. And that was something everyone was ready for.

To mark the official opening of the festival, balloons with the Irish flag's colors were released. While the orange and white ones flew off smoothly, the green ones had a rogue element among them. This one balloon took the net with it and flew towards the stage with the result that the net got literally stuck in spotlight. When trying to pull the net down didnt help, someone had the bright idea to cut the net. But that left half the net hanging, so ultimately a ladder was pressed into service, and the net was untangled and the baloon released. The lucky Irish indeed!

Joe Brown, celebrating his 50th year in show-business, took the stage with classics like "A Picture Of You", "It Only Took A Minute" and "That's What Love Will Do" as well as his newer works like "I'll See You In My Dreams". He started off on the acoustic guitar, but quickly changed over to the ukulele, and stuck with that through to the end. After every song he’d shake his hands vigorously – it was evident that he was cold and playing the strings with cold fingers was taking a toll. That didn’t stop him from performing with all his heart and he even went on to do some interesting country numbers, which isn’t surprising since he started off fronting the likes of Johnnie Cash and Billy Fury.

A bunch of teens on my left took out a bottle and a flask of whiskey; while a sign at the gates advised everyone to pour any alcohol into glasses before entering in an obvious attempt to check teenage consumption, whoever has ever been able to stop teens from doing what they want to do? They hadn’t even started downing their whiskeys to Joe’s music when a security guard noticed and told them to at least keep it under wraps and be discreet about the consumption.

About midway through his gig, Joe was joined on the stage by John Devine with uilleann pipes and Orlaith McAuliffe with a flute. This brought in the sweet, rustic Irish touch to the proceedings, and quite a few traditional Irish songs followed, with the crowd joining in on many occasions.

To add to the fun, a bunch of kids behind me started to have their own clogging crack.

Joe’s act was followed by the performer known as Luka Bloom (Kevin Barry Moore), whose name reminds one of James Joyce’s Ulysses. Luka used his electro-acoustic strumming to good effect in songs like “I’m not at war with anyone”. Clearly he doesn’t shy away from being political. In fact, most of his songs were about his world view – about harmony, world-peace, environment, and putting a stop to hatred and warmongering.

While the gig was in progress, an old lady tore through the crowd and reached right for the front. She was at least 70 years old, if she was a day and intriguingly had made her way through the crowd with surprising agility for her age.

And then, she mooned Luka. Thankfully, both the singer and the cameras took no notice, and she went back without being manhandled by the security folks.

The next act was Roísín Murphy. Murphy, now a solo act, used to be part of Moloko (which name, incidentally, is the Russian word for Milk, молоко, and is the term used in A Clockwork Orange to refer to milk mixed with narcotics).

She enthralled the crowds with several of her popular numbers, including “Ramalama Bang Bang”, “You Know Me Better”, “Let me know” and “Overpowered”.

Roísín is evidently a major hit with Irish men, and I’ve heard people say that she is one of the greatest vocal talents of our day. While I do like "Sing It Back" a bit, I have say that I was unimpressed by her performance in the square. To me, she seemed more interested and, frankly, more proficient in changing hats and attire than in singing.

The last act of the day was the Dublin-rockers Aslan (Aslan means Lion in Turkish), who probably take their name from the lion in C.S. Lewis's chronicles of Narnia. They were energetic and peppy, and the crowd evidently knew their songs. The audience sang along during almost all their songs, with a smattering of shouts of “IRA, IRA”.

One of the little tweens tapped on my shoulder and asked, “I am unable to see Aslan, and they are my favorite band. Could I please climb up your shoulders for a song or two?”

“Uhh…yeah, sure! Why not? Hop on”.

For the finale, all the performers came together on the stage and sang along with the crowd traditional Irish ballads including “The fields of Athenry” and “When Irish eyes are smiling”.

Click here to check out my pictures from St. Patrick's Day Festival in Trafalgar Square of 16 Mar 2008.
P.S. - There are two pages in this album! If you're not running the slideshow, don't forget to check out the second page :-)

The Soviet Square

The difference between life expectancies of males and females in Russia is almost 15 years. Staggering, isn't it? One of the commonly cited reasons is rampant alcohol abuse - those "just one more glass"'s of vodka or samagon quickly add up, it would seem.

And though mostly no justification is needed for downing another Jurij Dolgoruki, trust the Russians to find more reasons to drink (or as us marketers would put it, "more consumption occasions"). Apparently one day of new year celebrations wasn't enough to get them adequately drunk. Or perhaps, after 3% of the new year is over, the hangover of the booze consumed on new year's eve becomes unbearable. Eitherway, on 13 January, they celebrate the new year again. And since the Russian people had very little experience with alcohol before Christianity was introduced, they pay a tribute to Christianity by celebrating Christmas twice too.

All jokes aside, the lively Russians do celebrate Christmas and New Year twice. After the October Revolution, in 1918 Russia gave up the Julian calendar in favor of the Gregorian calendar by Lenin's decree, moving all dates forward by 13 days. So while Russia celebrates Christmas on 25 December with the rest of the world, the Russian Orthodox Church's official Christmas falls on 7 January and is widely celebrated.

Just as well, since we could all use a little more celebration. Some puritans might argue that it would be absurd to celebrate Christmas (contraction of Christ's Mass) on any day other than on the birthday of Jesus Christ. But the fact is that nobody really knows that date.

The Biblical narrative certainly does not provide any reference to it, just like it doesn't to the number or names of the wise men that followed the Star of Bethlehem. And while historians have pinned down the year of birth to between between 8 BC and 4 BC, they don't seem to be able to make up their minds about the actual date.

Sextus Julius Africanus' Chronographiai circa AD 221 is often credited with popularizing the idea that Christ was born on December 25. In keeping with the Jewish belief that prophets live for an integral number of years, he assumed the traditional date of crucifixion (March 25) to also be the date of the Incarnation and contended that nine months thereafter should be the date of birth or nativity. Some scholars assert that Constantine may have chosen the date of December 25th to celebrate Christmas so as to coincide with the celebration the birth of Mithras, the Persian god of light.

Eitherway, 25 December is hardly the only celebration of "chirst's birthday". For instance, early Eastern European Christians celebrated the birth of Christ as part of Epiphany (January 6), which focused on the baptism of Jesus. Considering that Jesus was baptised in adulthood, this date probably makes more theological sense as it symbolizes spiritual birth. Besides, since technically the date of birth is shrouded in uncertainty, it might appear more rational that this date would be more widely accepted for the celebration.

That said, baptism of an adult does not evoke an emotion nearly in the same vicinity as that evoked by the birth of a child, however devout one might be. I would also speculate that the leadership of the early Christian Churches needed to give their new adopters a winter festival, if not to let them keep their winter festivals.

Winters are a hard time - days are short, there is not too much work that can be done, and yet there is a lot of leisure time at hand though the prolonged darkness makes it unnatural to socialize. Hence, many cultures have a festival of lights in winter, providing the followers a means, an occasion to defy nature's edict for gloom, and to socialize and make merry.

Winter solstice has special consequence in this context. The day after the solstice is the first day in the natural cycle that is longer than the previous day. No surprise then that many cultures celebrate this day for the same reason that the new moon is such a vital motif in Islamic tradition.(1) And a new religion would probably not be very appealing to prospective adopters if it were to take away their one day of joy in the long, cold, dark days of winter.

Conspiracy theorists suggest that perhaps Christmas was created to mirror the Roman Saturnalia, a week long period of lawlessness between December 17-25. According to Greek writer Lucian, Saturnalia was marked by a human sacrifice, widespread intoxication, going from house to house while singing naked, rape and other sexual license, and consuming human-shaped biscuits.

According to these hypotheses, Christianity imported Saturnalia in about 4th century CE to convert pagans by allowing them to continue to celebrate the Saturnalia as Christians. To remedy that there was nothing Christian about Saturnalia, they named Saturnalia’s concluding day, December 25th, to be Jesus’ birthday. However, they didn't focus on changing how the festival was celebrated. According to University of Massachusetts Amherst history professor, Stephen Nissenbaum, “In return for ensuring massive observance of the anniversary of the Savior’s birth by assigning it to this resonant date, the Church for its part tacitly agreed to allow the holiday to be celebrated more or less the way it had always been.” The earliest Christmas holidays were celebrated by drinking, sexual indulgence, singing naked in the streets (a precursor of modern caroling), etc.

While speculating, perhaps it was the adoption of these pagan traditions because of which Origen, one of the most distinguished of the early fathers of the Christian Church, denounced the idea of celebrating Christ's birthday and contended that only sinners, not saints, celebrated their birthdays. In fact, allegedly due to its pagan origins, observance of Christmas was illegal in Massachusetts till as recently as 1681.

But I digress. Back to the Russian Christmas.

I guess the Russian Christmas might well be the reason that some of the Christmas decorations in London streets aren't taken down even after Gregorian Christmastide or the Twelve Days of Christmas despite the superstition that keeping Christmas lights up after the twelve days bodes back luck.

And yes, the Russians do also celebrate the new year again on 13 January. They call it the Old New Year. Oxymoron, you say? Yes, that did come to my notice, but that's not what this post is about.

Come to think of it, though, were the Russians to think of pre-1700 (pre-Gregorian) times, would they also start celebrating the Old Old New Year on 1 September? Psst, my Russian friends....I am giving you an idea, and I haven't even copyrighted it. Just don't forget to invite me to the party!

Anyway, fortunately this year the 13th January was a Sunday. Naturally I was in Trafalgar Square to participate in the London Russian Winter Festival, which has quickly become a tradition withing four years of its existence.

By the time I got to the square, the festivities had already started, and a group of colorfully, majestically clad ladies was performing a folk song-dance sequence. The square was beginning to fill up quickly so I wasted little time, and sneaked my way through the crowd towards the stage, till I reached an acceptable distance (translated: as close to the stage as I could get before the way was completely blocked by revelers).

Slavyanye obviously love what they do. These folk-singers were full of energy and exuded unbridled enthusiasm and good humor on stage. They sang one lilting, uplifting tune after another, and even made several valiant attempts to get the crowd to sing along or dance or wave or do something. Unfortunately, it was noon and the crowd, with notable exceptions of course, hadn't had a sufficient number of vodkas by then to accede to the request. Whatever anyone may think of these girls, I thoroughly enjoyed their gig.

Quick on their heels was Baikal - the Buryat National Ensemble. They showcased Buryat traditional costumes, customs, song and dance, which were exotic and charming. At the back of my mind, I couldn't help but think that their folk music and dance resembled those of some cultures in north-east India to quite some extent.

They were followed by a couple of young celebrity acts by wannabe stars. The first was an irreverent latex-clad concert by a "group" that calls itself the Aqua Aerobics Project. Essentially, it's a lead singer covered from head to toe in pink latex, and some random people doing random things around. All said and done, though, its sound is not bad.

Next on stage was Mark Tishman, the winner of a TV talent contest. He has a decent voice, and seemed to be crowd-pleasing performer. In fact, he got off-stage and into the crowd during the act, and performed his last song from there.

The first top of the class performance of the day came from Kostroma, the Russian National Dance Show. They performed several songs, and in every single one of them they were enchanting, charming, elegant, and, most importantly, inspiring. They were zestful, masterful, and full of good humor. I would have no hesitation in paying to see them perform.

I was also thoroughly impressed by the electric atmosphere and the enthusiasm of the crowd, although I have a sneaking suspicion that the intake of the free booze available at the stalls might have contributed to that in some small way.

It was during Kostroma's performance that little Russian flags were distributed among the audience. These were dutifully waved to soulful renditions of some songs, and the crowd even pitched in with their vocal cords.

Then there was the customary "this event is important" talk by London Mayor Ken Livingstone, Russian Ambassador Yury Fedotov and Russkiy Mir General Director Vyaceslav Nikonov.The highlight, I guess, was that Vasily Vanovoi was present, and chimed in with Pushkin's words: “(Eat, drink and be merry) Delight in the time we have left”.

After the dignitaries got off-stage, stand-up comic Sasha Revva joined the compere, who initially tried to translate his words, but gave up pretty soon. Sasha joked about how many Russians coming to London know only "four" English words - Hello, Bye, Thank you, and Orange juice. While I did not understand most of his jokes (because most of the jokes were in Русский), I could see that this guy was born to be a comedian. No, he is not a physical comic, but his mannerisms betray his profession. He coaxed us to sing "moroz moroz" in what he described as a bid to create the world record for the world's biggest karaoke. Fun stuff!

Next, Sankt Peterburg occupied the stage. Their performance was relatively lackluster - a little off, even though it wasn't bad at all. In any case, I am almost certain that this was not the Sankt Peterburg band that I have heard of. It just was not that band, despite what the organizers would have everyone believe.

The yesteryears' super-group, thereafter-pretty-much-spent-force and recently-reassembled-with-fanfare Zemlanye showed why they ruled the rock scene in their time.

The two girl band KuBa was peppy and I can see why they would be popular among teens.

The Fabrika trio was pretty casual and laid back. Their music sounds chic, and might become pretty popular with a little bit of refinement.

I had to leave shortly before the draw of the day, Dima Bilan, was to take stage. What a bummer!

All in all, a thoroughly enjoyable event. Why can't 52 countries just decide that they'd celebrate new year in different weeks, and then have their festivals in Trafalgar Square during the respective weekends? Hmmm...

Dasvidaniya!

Click here to check out my pictures from Russian Winter Festival in Trafalgar Square of 13 Jan 2008.
P.S. - There are two pages in this album! If you're not running the slideshow, don't forget to check out the second page :-)

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1. My hypothesis: Islam spread quickly through Arabic countries and Egypt and became relatively dominant there before most of the rest of the world. A substantial portion of these geographies is covered with desert, and hence outdoor activities, especially travel, are extremely limited during the day. During the night, the moon is a chief source of light and a navigational aid. Thus moon is a vital part of life. And after a dark night, new-moon night is when the light starts growing. Hence the significance of the new moon crescent symbol.

The Story of Diwali - The Legend of Rama

Happy Deepavali
The festival of lights

Today is दीपावली (Deepavali/ RO - Diipavălii/ IPA - di:pɑ:vəli:), commonly and correctly known to the West as the Hindu festival of lighs. In fact, the word Deepavali itself is a compound word formed by the combination of two Sanskrit (or Hindi tatsam) words: दीप (Deep/ RO - Diip/ IPA - di:p/ Meaning - lamp), and आवली (Avali/ RO - Avălii/ IPA - ɑ:vəli:/ Meaning - Line), and literally translates into „A Line of Lamps”.

Over the past few decades, the dimunitive दीवाली (Diwali/ RO - Diivalii/ IPA - di:vɑ:li:) has become the more common word used to refer to the festival within India. In Nepal, it is more commonly known as Tihar (Meaning - festival) and Swanti. In addition to the Hindus, the festival is also celebrated by Sikhs, Jains and Nepalese Buddhists.

Legend goes that the origin of the festival lies in रामायण (Ramayana/ RO - Ramaiăn/ IPA - ɹɑ:mɑ:jʌn), one of the two major epics (the other one being महाभारत/ Mahabharata/ RO - Măhabharăt/ IPA - Mʌhɑ:bhɑ:ɹʌθ) of the Hindus. Ramayana is the story of मर्यादापुरुशोत्तम (Maryadapurushottam/ RO - Măriadapurușottăm/ IPA - Mʌɹjɑ:ðɑ:pʊɹʊʃɒθʌm/ Meaning - the most honorable of men) Lord राम (Rama/ RO - Ram/ IPA - ɹɑ:m), the crown prince of the prosperous northern Indian region of अयोध्या (Ayodhya/ RO - Ăeodhia/ IPA - ʌjɒðjɑ:), who decided to go on a self-imposed exile from communal life for 14 years to fulfil a promise his father, the dead king दशरथ (Dashrath/ RO - Dașrăth/ IPA - Dʌʃrʌθ) made to Rama's stepmother. Wife princess सीता (Sita/ RO - Siita/ IPA - Si:tɑ:) and loyal half-brother लक्ष्मण (Lakshman/ RO - Lăcșmăn/ IPA - Lʌkʃmʌn) followed Rama into the forest while half-brother भरत (Bharat/ RO - Bhărăt/ IPA - Bhʌrʌθ) stayed back to take care of the kingdom as Rama's leige.

After several adventurous years in the forest, the trio of Rama, Lakshman and Sita is broken up when Lanka's king रावण (Ravana/ RO - Ravăn/ IPA - Rɑ:vʌn) abducts Sita. Rama and Lakshman organize an army of monkeys and bears and launch an offensive on the mighty kingdom of Lanka. After an epic battle, Ravana is defeated and killed, and princess Sita reunited with her husband (the day is celebrated as Dashahara). Fortuitously, this happens just 20 days before the end of the 14 years of exile. Thus, after enjoying a few days of Lankan hospitality, the princes and the princess fly back to Ayodhya in an aeroplane lent to them by विभीषण (Vibhishana/ RO - Vibhișăn/ IPA - Vɪbhi:ʃʌn), Ravana's brother and the new king of Lanka .

When the three reach Ayodhya, the citizen welcome them and celebrate by lighting thousands of lamps to brigthen the moonless night. Deepavali, according to the legend, is the yearly commemoration of the return of the virtuous, victorious and beloved king of Ayodhya.

There is also another reason for celebrating Deepavali; one that is more practical or sociological. Deepavali is the "other" new year for the Hindus. While Holi, in spring, heralds the beginning of the year for the agricultural community, celebrating the harvest of the winter crop (rabi) harvest, Deepavali, in autumn, marks the transition from one financial year to another for the traders. Of course, the summer crop (kharif) harvest is also celebrated.

Communities within India celebrate the festival differently. For instance, in Bengal, the festival is more commonly known as Kaali Pooja, and is marked by worship of Goddess Kaali.

In most of India, though, the celebration starts in the evening with a ceremonial worship of the Goddess Lakshmi (the giver of prosperity) and Lord Ganesh (the giver of wisdom). Thereafter, diyas (earthern lamps filled with oil or ghee) are lit around the house. In recent times, candles and Christmas-light-style electric-lights have extensively supplemented, and even largely replaced, the diyas.

It's all fun and frolic after that. People, who can afford it, don new clothes and take presents and sweets to the homes of friends and neighbors. For many, especially children, the whole festival of Diwali is signified by one word: fireworks. It would be tough to find a Hindu who has never enjoyed lighting a sparkler, cracker, "bomb", "rocket", anar, or chakri on Diwali.

Of course, because of all these independent (meaning every home has its own) firework displays, Deepavali is the busiest day of the year for the fire brigades. The police is also on high alert because of high rates of alcoholism and gambling on this day, owing to the superstition that financial gains made on this day bode well for the rest of the year.

Another interesting fact is that Deepavali is always on a no-moon night. No-moon night is of special significant for those that follow the magical and the occult, and Deepavali is said to be the day when the magical and the spiritual powers are at their strongest. Thus, it is believed that there are countless occult rituals and ceremonies performed this night, though it is unverifiable considering that such ceremonies are performed in shrouds of secrecy.

Like many other Hindu festivals, Diwali is also spread over several days. In fact, the celebrations go on for 5 days, with the main festival flanked on both sides by subordinate ones. The first day is धन तेरस (Dhan Teras/ RO - Dhăn Terăs/ IPA - ðʌn θɛɹʌs). Dhan means wealth and Teras is diminutive or contracted form of त्रयोदशी (Trayodashi/ RO - Trăiodășii/ IPA - θɹʌjɒðʌʃi:) which means the 13th day, simply signifying that this is the 13th day of the second half of the month. It is considered auspicious to buy gold, silver and other metals on this day. Making other major purchases (e.g.- buying a car) is also considered good. This practice is perhaps a misunderstanding of the name of the day itself: The day is thought to be the day when धन्वन्तरी (Dhanvantari/ RO - Dhănvăntării/ IPA - ðʌnvʌntʌɹi:), the master of healing and the idol of doctors, appeared in the great churning of the Ksheer Sagar - while the day takes its name from Dhanvantari, it is possible that over time the commonfolk took it to mean wealth.

Day two is नरक चतुर्दशी (Narak Chaturdashi/ RO - Nărăc Chaturdășii/ IPA - Nʌɹʌk tʃʌθʊɹðʌʃi:). Narak is a deformation of the word नर्क (Narq/ Ro - Nărc/ IPA - Nʌɹk) which means hell, and Chaturdashi means the 14th day. It is said that Lord कृष्ण (Krisna/ RO - Crrșn/ IPA - Kɹʃn) killed नरकासुर (Narkasura/ RO - Nărcasur/ IPA - Nʌɹkɑ:sʊɹ/ Literally - the demon from hell) on this day. It is believed that taking a bath before sunrise, when the stars are still visible in the sky is equivalent to bathing in the holy Ganges. Many people go around the house, creating on the floor colorful patterns called rangolis using powders usually found in the kitchen - earlier it used to be different flours and ground spices, but nowadays edible colors are often used.

The third and the most important day is known as Lakshmi Pooja or Deepavali. The fourth day is गोवर्धन पूजा (Govardhan Pooja/ RO - Govărdhăn Puja/ IPA - Gɔ:vʌɹðʌn Pu:dʒɑ:) which symbolizes Lord Krishna's advice that humans should harmonize with nature. It is also known as annkoot signifying that thrashing of the newly harvested crop begins on this day. Additionally, as per the Vikram calendar, this is the first day of the new year.

The last day of the festivities is भाई दूज (Bhai Dooj/ RO - Bhai Duj/ IPA - Bhaɪ θu:dʒ) with Bhai standing for Brother and Dooj meaning the 2nd day. On this day, brothers and sisters meet to express their love and affection for each other.

In conclusion, I leave you with these words from the बृहदरण्यक उपनिषद (Brhadaranyak Upanishad, RO - Brhădarăniăc Upănișăd/ IPA - Bɹʌhʌðʌɹʌnjʌk ʊpʌnɪʃʌð), which sum up the message of this festival:

असदो मा सदगमय
तमसो मा ज्योतिर्गमय
मृत्योर्मा अमृतमगमय
ॐ शान्ति शान्ति शान्ति

RO transliteration:
Ăsădo ma sădgămăyă
Tămăso ma giotirgămăyă
Mrîtyor ma ămrătămgămăyă
Oum șanti șanti șantii

EN translation:
(O Lord, lead us)
From illusion towards the truth.
From darkness towards the light.
From mortality towards eternity.
Oum (the seminal sound) peace, peace, peace (May peace be unto the earth).

Are we as hateful as those we hate because of their hatred?

I keep getting this great stuff from Hannity and Colmes on Fox News; Sean Hannity, it seems to me, represents the emotional, high-on-rhetoric, firebreathing, people-with-other-opinions-are-idiots-and-don't-deserve-airtime, Fox-brand of journalism.

The latest example is today's little segment on prominent evangelist Rev. Jerry Falwell who passed away earlier in the day. H&C had invited over Christopher Hitchens, author of "God is not Great" and a long-time vehement critic of Falwell's cocktail of politics and religion, to comment on the deceased reverend's life.

Hitchens, who appears to be full of hatred for Falwell and his message of hate, predictably reiterated his views and essentially said "good riddance" of his death. He said that Falwell was divisive and dangerous, and a conman in the way he had created a family business peddling religion. He recalled Falwell's statement that 9/11 was God's wrath that Americans had brought upon themselves through their immoral day-to-day living. When it was pointed to him that Falwell had apologized for the statement several times, Hitchens said he did not believe those apologies were sincere.

Hannity took grave exception to Hitchens's comments and was indignant. He attacked the author viciously and wouldn't let him complete his sentences, leave alone thoughts. He criticized Hitchens for his negative opinions on Falwell and came down heavily on him for "attacking the grieving family". That Hitchens had never even mentioned Falwell's family, let alone criticized or "attacked" it, obviously was inconsequential to his vociferous charging.

It seems perplexing and illogical to me that Fox would invite a zealous critic of Falwell to talk about Falwell and then beat him down for criticizing Falwell. But on second thoughts, it all does make sense too; Hannity's "impetuous" indignation is perhaps a premeditated show designed to boost the rankings by micmicing the spontaneous reactions of many viewers of the channel.

The message seems to be "the man just died, let him rest in peace". However, one must not forget that Hitchens didn't go to town shouting "Hallelujah! Falwell is dead"; it was Fox that invited him over and asked him for his opinion. I'm going out on a limb here, but in my opinion the only reason for inviting Hitchins to the segment was to pick that fight and paint a picture of the "Godless, hateful and inhumane" liberals.

Come to think of it, another interesting aspect of this exchange was how Hannity condemned the "criticism of the recently deceased" as un-American and inhuman on a matter of principle. I wonder if Hannity would not celebrate if Osama bin Laden was killed tomorrow, and whether he didn't say "good riddance" when Saddam Hussain went down.

Make no mistake, I'm not equating Falwell to bin Laden or Hussain; rather I am testing how true Hannity is to his principle of being respectful to the dead. If one truly believes a person to be evil, is one still obligated by norms of civil society to praise that person on his/her demise? That certainly seemed Hannity's message during the show though I'm not sure he'd live by it.

Lastly, Hannity mentioned having personally met Falwell and how impressed he was with the reverend. He found Falwell to be a genuine, humble, caring human being. Of course, Hannity has a right to his opinions, but what soured the message was the fact that he was using this "personal experience" to counter Hitchens's fact-based criticism. Here's the problem with that rationale: many of the most destructive and dangerous villains in history are known to have been personally very affable, sociable, humble and principled. In fact, Osama bin Laden is said to be simple, humble and principled; that doesn't take away the blood of thousands of people off his head.

Again, I'm not saying that Falwell was indeed a messiah of hate; I don't know enough of his life and work to be able to take a stand one way or the other. What I am saying, though, is that people should think long and hard before taking stands on matters of principle; by definition, matters of principle do not leave them the choice to pick and choose to suit their likes and dislikes, and whims and fancies.

Corrupting Holi

The Story of Holi - The Legend of Prahlad

Last year, I introduced you to the concept of Holi. As is true of most religious festivals, there is a whole mythological background to Holi too. The most well-known aspect of Holi is the color play, and there is "evidence" of Lord Krishna1 (born around 3226 BC2) playing Holi with gopis (village belles). However, there is little or no indication of the origin of the ritual. There is, however, a mythological explanation for the origin of the festival itself and the ritual of the communal bonfire on the eve of the color play.

To begin at the beginning, the earth was submerged under water, stolen and hidden by an asura/daitya (demon) called Hiranyaksha, who had also stolen the vedas from Brahma3. Hiranyaksha was the most cruel & malicious king history had witnessed, and perpetrated unspeakable atrocities. To save the earth and the people, Vishnu4 decided to incarnate as varaha (wild boar) avatar. He killed Hiranyaksha, returned the vedas to Brahma and land to the people.

Now, Hiranyaksha had an elder brother Hiranyakashipu, who was understandably very upset, and vowed to avenge the death of his brother. He went to the Himalayas and performed the most strenuous tap (penance) for Brahma for years. When Brahma appeared before him5, Hiranyakashipu asked that he may be killed "neither by any weapon nor any creature made by Brahma, neither in the day nor in the night, neither on earth nor in the sky". Brahma said, "Tathastu (So be it)6" and granted him the wish. Swooning with the pride of immortality, Hiranyakashipu went back, reclaimed his kingdom, and went on to become the most barbarous ruler of all.

In the meantime, while Hiranyakashipu was away the sura/dev (deity) king Indra7 had invaded and plundered his kingdom, massacred his cousins and even kidnapped queen Kayadhu who was pregnant at the time. Indra had intended to destroy Kayadhu's womb so that she wouldn't give birth to a ferocious asura. Devarshi Narad8 stopped him, assuring him that the unborn would grow up to become a great devotee of God. Thus convinced, Indra released Kayadhu, who went on to stay at Narad's hermitage. While the baby was still unborn, Narad used to address the it and preach to Kayadhu everyday. Thus, the baby could never forget what it learnt, from Narad, while still in the womb. At the appropriate time, Kayadhu gave birth to Prahlad. Prahlad, the youngest among all sons of Hiranyakashipu, was also the most virtuous. Since childhood, he was a great devotee of Vishnu.

One day, as Prahlad sat in his lap, Hiranyakashipu asked him, "Son, what do you like the most?", to which Prahlad replied, "Father, I want that everyone must surrender himself at the service of Lord Vishnu". Hiranyakashipu thought that someone had misguided his son, so he laughed and sent Prahlad to be educated by Shand and Amark, the sons of Shukracharya, the guru of all aasuri (demonic) knowledge & arts. Shand and Amark started to teach him arthshastra (economics), dandneeti (law) and raajneeti (politics). Prahlad had no interest in these disciplines, but he never showed any disrespect for his teachers. When the teachers felt they had sufficiently educated and reformed their pupil, they took him back to the father.

Once again, taking Prahlad on his lap Hiranyakashipu lovingly asked,"Son, what do you like the most?" And yet again, Prahlad replied, "Listening to the virtues of God, recalling and reciting His name and plays, serving His feet, praying Him and having a sense of dedication for Him are the part of my devotions. By these devotions, focusing one's mind on the Lord is the best thing in my opinion, that the education can be imparted in this way".

Indignant, Hiranyakashipu threw him on the floor, and started to reprimand Shand and Amark. Prahlad got up and said,"Don't be angry, father, its not their fault. Lured by lust, the whole world is moving towards hell. Such people cannot meditate to God. They do not know that their welfare is possible only in respecting the Supreme Being. Whoever touches the feet of God, gets freed from the cycle of birth and death."

That his son worshipped Vishnu, who had killed his brother, infuriated Hiranyakashipu so much that he immediately ordered the execution of Prahlad. The asuras started to hack at Prahlad with their swords, axes and machetes. The weapons had no impact on Prahlad, who sat there meditating. His skin had become impregnable. This only enraged Hiranyakashipu further. He started to look out for even more formidable ways to kill his son. He got Prahlad trampled by mammoths, threw him in a snake pit with angry poisonous snakes, got him thrown off a high cliff, and made him drink poison, but all in vain. He even got Prahlad tethered to huge stone slabs and thrown into the sea. But Prahlad returned unhurt.

Then Hiranyakashipu turned to sister Holika, who had a mystical fireproof shawl. Donning that shawl, and taking Prahlad in her lap, Holika sat on a huge pyre which was then lit. As luck would have it, the fireproof shawl was blown off Holika and onto Prahlad. Holika was incinerated, but the boy escaped unharmed.

Since that day, the people started celebrating Holi, as Holika dahan (burning Holika) by lighting up communal bonfires on the day Holika tried to kill Prahlad.

Prahlad's tale didn't end with Holika, though. The asuras tried, futilely, their illusionary, magical and mystical powers to get rid of him. Shand and Amark even generated a mystical ogress Kritya to kill Prahlad, but she ended up killing them instead. The kind-hearted Prahlad prayed to the God and got his teachers revived.

Hiranyakashipu began to feel afraid and, in a last-ditch attempt, once again sent Prahlad to Shand and Amark's school. There, the 5-year old Prahlad would assemble his fellow disciples around him and preach to them virtues and devotion. The asura boys started following his preachings. Horrified, the teachers sent Prahlad back to his father.

Now, Hiranyakashipu decided to kill Prahlad himself and at dusk tied him to a pillar of his court. Sword in hand, he asked condescendingly,"O fool, with whose powers you have been humiliating me? Now, I am going to kill you. Call your God to save you".

Undaunted, Prahlad replied humbly,"Father, don't be angry. Omnipresent Vishnu is the protector of us all. I am not dishonoring you. One's own mind is his biggest enemy in the world. The God is all pervasive. He is in me, in you, in your sword and is also present in the pillar".

Prahlad hadn't even finished the sentence when the enraged king struck with his mace. The pillar shattered with a deafening crash. From the pillar emerged a creature no one had seen or heard of. The huge wereleo had the head and hands of a lion, and the body of a man. It was Vishnu's Narasimha (wereleo) avatar. Narasimha grabbed hold of Hiranyakashipu, and dragged him to the threshold. On his thighs, Narasimha placed Hiranyakashipu and tore him apart with his sharp claws. Thus, it was neither a creature of nature nor a creation of man that killed Hiranyakashipu, it was neither on earth nor in sky that he was killed, it was neither day nor night when he was killed.

When the rage of Narasimha did not subside even after killing the asura king, Prahlad fearlessly went to Narasimha and lied down at his feet. Overcome by affection, Narasimha picked Prahlad up, embraced him and asked for forgiveness for having taken that long in coming and for all that Prahlad had to suffer in the meantime.

He told Prahlad that he would grant him a wish. Prahlad replied,"O omnipotent, kindly don't put me on test by asking me to seek a boon. Those who seek rewards in exchange of their service are not servers but they are the traders. You are my true Lord. Even then, if you wish to grant me a wish, kindly bless me that never any desire may arise in my mind for anything". He even asked for forgiveness for his father, that Hiranyakashipu may be freed from his sins. The lord granted that wish, and made Prahlad the king of asuras. Prahlad went on to be the most benevolent, virtuous and just king.

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1 Lord Krishna/Kršna was an avatar of Vishnu and is part of the story of the Mahabharata, the world's largest epic, with 100,000 verses. Bhagwad Gita or The Gita which is widely, though incorrectly, believed by the west to be the Hindu Bible, is not a separate book, but a part of the Mahabharata.
2 The Mahabharata Chronology, Dr.K.N.S.Patnaik, The Hindu Net
3 The creator among the Hindu holy trinity of Gods.
4 The preserver among the Hindu holy trinity of Gods.
5 If you perform penance with a pure heart for long enough, the Gods are obligated to grant your wish, irrespective of who you are or what you might do with your gift.
6 Tathastu (So be it) is the typical way in which the Gods granted wishes.
7 Indra, the king of suras has been responsible for many villainous acts as per Hindu mythology. While suras/devs and asuras/daityas are typically classified as gods and demons for the simplicity of western understanding, a more balanced view would be look as them as two races almost constantly at each others' throats. While the west would like to think in terms of black and white, good and evil, things weren't as simple: there were some bad suras and good asuras.
8 Devarshi = Dev + Rrshi (the holy ascetic). Narad is an interesting mythological character and appears in subsidiary but important roles in many tales. He wanders about singing bhajans (devotional songs) & playing his lute, and doubles up as a messenger between warring factions. He is a mischievious character, and can even be seen encouraging some malicious asura kings in their devilish tasks so that their sins catch up with them, i.e. become so unbearable that God has to take action against them. He is also credited with the invention of the veena, the principal Indian stringed instrument.

Add some color to your lives

Happy Holi
The festival of colors

One of the two biggest Hindu festivals, Holi is often described as festival of colors. Indeed, it is a very colorful festival, in every sense of the word. The most obvious manifestation being the color play that marks the day. People smear each other's face with gulal (fragrant, dry holi color), squirt each other with colored water and dunk everyone in tanks of colored water. In fact, if you were in India at this time of the year, you couldn't walk a street without "becoming colorful".

But there is much more to Holi than colors. It is the day of unbridled laughter, ranging from the silly (biggest fool conferences) to intellectual (conventions of humorous and satirical poetry). Fun is the general theme of the day, and even as people color each other, they go about to homes of friends and acquaintaces in groups - always walking there, singing aloud in streets. There are several festival-specific delicacies including the sweet gujhiya and the mustard & cinnamon flavored ferment called karanji.

Most of all, Holi is the day of the embrace or the hug, as people meet each other, close the book of the last year, forget past enmities and embrace everyone as their own.

Holi, also known as Holikotsav (Holi Festival), Vasantostsav (Spring Festival), and Madanotsav (Festival of the God of Desire), is celebrated 20 days after Vasant Panchmi (5th day of Spring) - a festival marked by a kite-dotted sky and worship of the Goddess of Learning. It can also be thought of as the new year of the farmers (Diwali being the new year of traders), and is the time when the harvest of the season is just ready.

For a quick primer (4 very short pages) on Holi, visit http://hinduism.about.com/library/weekly/aa030401a.htm

You can send Holi eCards to your desi friends from http://www.123greetings.com/events/holi/

You may also want to check out the rather amateurishly charming game Rang De (Color Me) at http://games.indiatimes.com/gameslist/gameshow/47845680.cms