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East Meets West – A
Gautami Tripathy Column
This column previously ran
by Deepak Morris is now taken over by Gautami Tripathy.
The purpose of the column
is to bring the culture and joy of mysterious and beautiful India
to the world.
Feb 12, 2007
Brief bio: I
am secondary school teacher. I teach Mathematics. I love to write. Poetry,
prose whatever. I read a lot too.
Gautami Tripathy
s_gautami@yahoo.com
http://soulfullymindless.blogspot.com
(c)2006 Gautami Tripathy
s_gautami@yahoo.com
http://firmlyrooted.blogspot.com
East Meets West – A
Gautami Tripathy Column
This column previously ran
by Deepak Morris is now taken over by Gautami Tripathy.
The purpose of the column
is to bring the culture and joy of mysterious and beautiful India
to the world.
Feb 12, 2007
Brief bio: I
am secondary school teacher. I teach Mathematics. I love to write. Poetry,
prose whatever. I read a lot too.
Gautami Tripathy
s_gautami@yahoo.com
http://soulfullymindless.blogspot.com
(c)2006 Gautami Tripathy
s_gautami@yahoo.com
http://firmlyrooted.blogspot.com
Festivities over? Not by Indian standards!
Gautami Tripathy
Back to grind. Finally Dusshera/Vijayadashami is over.
Ravana is vanquished by burning his effigy symbolically along with his brother
Kumbhakarna and son Meghnath. Rama starts for Ayodhya with his brother,
Lakshman. He will reach on there Diwali.
Goddess
Durga is immersed in the river/sea(as the case may be) bidding her goodbye till
next year. She too killed Mahisasur and had come to visit her parent's place
for four days. She is back at her husband's place. Why do we think of the
Goddess Mother as one of the members of our of our family? That's because she
comes to stay with us for four days in a year like any other married daughter
in Indian customs. The times are changing. Nowadays a married daughter seldom
stays at her parent's place for long. (That's another issue, which I will take
up later).
These traditions and customs just draw
us in maybe because they send us messages of togetherness, love and being there
with each other in times of happiness as well as need. Such timeless emotions,
feelings and thoughts can never change. We long for all that. In the rat race
for survival, we forget all these which are reinforced year after year.
Now I know for sure...my cynicism has
gone to the dogs….
Wait on guys, it's not over yet.
©gautami.tripathy
s_gautami@yahoo.com
http://firmlyrooted.blogspot.com
(to be contd)
Gautami Tripathy
Back to grind. Finally Dusshera/Vijayadashami is over.
Ravana is vanquished by burning his effigy symbolically along with his brother
Kumbhakarna and son Meghnath. Rama starts for Ayodhya with his brother,
Lakshman. He will reach on there Diwali.
Goddess
Durga is immersed in the river/sea(as the case may be) bidding her goodbye till
next year. She too killed Mahisasur and had come to visit her parent's place
for four days. She is back at her husband's place. Why do we think of the
Goddess Mother as one of the members of our of our family? That's because she
comes to stay with us for four days in a year like any other married daughter
in Indian customs. The times are changing. Nowadays a married daughter seldom
stays at her parent's place for long. (That's another issue, which I will take
up later).
These traditions and customs just draw
us in maybe because they send us messages of togetherness, love and being there
with each other in times of happiness as well as need. Such timeless emotions,
feelings and thoughts can never change. We long for all that. In the rat race
for survival, we forget all these which are reinforced year after year.
Now I know for sure...my cynicism has
gone to the dogs….
Wait on guys, it's not over yet.
©gautami.tripathy
s_gautami@yahoo.com
http://firmlyrooted.blogspot.com
(to be contd)
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