Book Review on MYTH=MITHYA: A handbook of Hindu Mythology

I have barely adequate knowledge of Hindu Mythology, I am oblivious to different type of "Satya” and I do not share any opinion about the "Bramanda" but this book comes as the title suggest the ultimate handbook for Hindu mythology and teaches me to decode and analyze why these myths do exist in Hinduism and how culturally we are affected by it.

This book does not aim to be preach about Hindu religion but tries to retell and understand Hindu culture through the stories of Hindu mythology. The book does not glorify mythology but just tries to derive a conclusion on how the Hindu culture operates, it gives the reader the freedom to enjoy the book at your pace and come up with your own conclusions.

The book starts in explaining the term of myth ("Mithya") or the other form of “Satya". The truth that we easily believe in or the reality is called as the "Sat" whereas the truth which defines our destiny, questions our very existence which goes beyond any explanation is called as the "Mithya" or a myth.  This myth does not have a limited construct of things; it is open to debate, open to different perceptions and eventually can be believed by people or discarded completely.

There are few illustrations that have stuck in my mind which I find worth mentioning. I am surprisingly impressed on how the three Gods- Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva are explained in the book. The Gods are always in search for answers to questions regarding destiny and their very existence like "Who am I?”. These questions are answered generally by the three Goddess Saraswati, Lakshmi and Shakti respectively.  Brahma and Saraswati together depict a circle symbolizing the universe as endless and divine. Brahma is called the creator of this universe, as through self discovery he creates and seeks knowledge of this ultimate universe. In search of this constant knowledge, he seeks all the answers from Goddess Saraswati who is the ultimate embodiment of knowledge, arts and music. God Vishnu and Goddess Lakshmi depict a square around the circle which symbolizes the culture that exists in the world.  Vishnu is the ultimate protector of mankind and domesticates in this world and thus establishes the knowledge of culture. God Shiva and Goddess Shakti resemble a point in the mist of this circle and square. Shiva represents this very point which is dimensionless among which the finite circle and square exists. This dot represents the formless divine or the soul. He is considered as the Destroyer and he gains ultimate tranquility by staying away from the trappings of the world. Shiva appreciates this tranquility and respects it as he sometimes ventures out to experience worldly pleasures through form of a Maya or Goddess Shakti.

The other mythological truths that I was specifically was engrossed in was reading about How Pandavas went to Hell, whereas Kauravas went to heaven? How the concept of Sati-Savitri came into existence? How Ram is embodied as the ultimate ruler even though he abandoned Sita? How the "dharma" of God Vishnu is different in the times of Ramayana and the times of Mahabharata and they cannot mutually coexist. How Gods Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva are so different yet they exist because each depicts a man's progression in life.

This book is rich with mythological stories each signifying some basic custom in the Hindu Culture. This book is not preacher about Hindu religion but a consists of brief stories with different analogies that makes us read it in a more logical manner even if it talks about myths. This book has helped me to understand our culture more. I would love to ask if there are any mythical stories that you are inspired from. Be it any religion or culture share your thoughts, as ultimately each and every myth helps us to understand our emotions better and helps in achieving the ultimate "Satya"

I would like to thank Dr. Devdutt Pattanaik for this book, which has been a complete eye opener. Through this blog I have just stated my perceptions on Hindu mythology. After reading this book, everyone will have their own perspective and views and no viewpoint can be considered as the ultimate reality.

Losing My Religion

Every weekend my typical routine includes watching the funny and wonderful "GLEE". It is a musical comedy-drama television series where the actors through their music express the problems they face in dealing with love, relationships, sexuality and abuse.

Something in it has made a quite an impact,  which has actually propelled me to write a blog about it. Good television or any form of creative attempt has this impact on our lives that makes us think and challenge our strongest of beliefs.

I was specially inspired by the episode "Grilled Cheesus" This episode made me contemplate on my faith  and attempted to provide a balanced view on religious as well as anti religious sentiments. It made me ponder on two questions "Why do we Pray?" and "What if God was one of us? What would you ask him?"

Sometimes we feel like a tower of cards which will fall with the sudden whiff of wind.  It is during these testing times we pray to be stronger to find that inspiration which we lose at the darkest of times. When we feel so powerless we pray so that we can hold on to our faith. We pray because we want someone to hear us out and help us in the toughest situations of life. Our faith in someone much mightier who can resolve our difficulties gives us the inner strength to face them even better. I am lucky that I can pray and reassess my faith and find the inner strength in the dire and testing times.

In this episode the Glee Cast sang the very famous song "One of US" by Joan Osborne. I highly recommend this song to all as it tries to make a direct statement on all our faith. If one listens to this song, one can easily find that  it has some success in reflecting the different points of view that people might have in regard to their perception of God. It helps in questioning the spiritual and emotional significance of God.  It makes one wonder about their faith in God. Is our faith, realistically more on love and kindness which is eventually depicted by God?

What is God's glory? Why is God 'good' and 'great'? Does my faith reach out for love and the greater good in myself? Why am I reassessing my faith? What is religion? Am I losing my religion or have just trying to understand it better?

Those Wonder Years!!!

The time when I was a cute, fat kid I used to get rewarded for my good grades and minor achievements  in school by gift from my parents or by a huge bowl of Ice Cream. Today I get rewarded by a salary and very rarely by a  bonus. Even though I get appreciated for a job well done, I do not enjoy my salary as much I had enjoyed the huge bowl of Ice Cream. This actually makes me ponder whether we are losing out on our childlike enthusiasm and curiosity and innocence that would make us enjoy even the smallest things in life.

Our morning starts with most of us cribbing about the morning coffee, getting late to office, missing the bus and so on. Among this hustle bustle we actually take many things for granted and rarely enjoy what we have got. As young individuals we our preoccupied by our work or our "complicated" love life. In our life's journey of love, loneliness, longing and love it becomes highly important that we  recall our childhood experiences because they are the only ones that bring a smile on our face.

As a kid we used to enjoy the smallest of things like riding a bicycle, playing in the rains, watching the CARTOON NETWORK, solving puzzles in our video games. Among all the things we never lost our curiosity or our enthusiasm and kept on learning. In childhood we selflessly tried to help out our friends without any hidden intentions. We spent time with our parents and siblings because they meant the world to us.We were ignorant of the BIG BAD WORLD out there and it certainly was bliss. As an  adult I do not actually have to tap my grey cells to bring back memories when I was in school  playing pranks on my teachers or the way I constantly had dumb fights with my elder sister for the stupidest of reasons because all the moments were dear to me and always will have a special place in my heart..

Remember the time when you first rode your bicycle, won a sport race, got a A+ grade, your first crush, your first meaningful chat with your mom. Those golden years helped us to be the person we are. Those times we enjoyed life without thinking of responsibilities, money or love. Remember the time where you could have endless chats with your loved ones. Unfortunately now we don't even have the time to pick up the phone and call our loved ones. Remember those times where you look back and wonder, share them so that we can enjoy and learn from them. Happy REMINISCING!!!

Book Review of "Those small Lil things in Life and love"

As I commence to write my first blog, I have to give my Thank You Speech(Moscar Speech as in the book). I would thank mom, dad and my ever so right, annoying and the world's  harshest critic-- my elder sister Payal. I thank my friends who bear my presence and irritating voice(I am sure some have their eardrums Punctured). Lastly, I would like to dedicate this blog to my friend Vizo who actually compelled me to write this blog. He just said the three golden words "YOU SHOULD WRITE". He is not that much of a talker, so the three words mean a lot.

I love to read and therefore it was a natural choice that my first blog would be on my thoughts about the current book I have read by Rahul Saini-"Those small Lil things in Life and love". For readers who enjoy beauty in simplicity will enjoy this book as this book contains only the author's bitter , sweet experiences  with life and love. What I love about this book is that the author adds all the Bollywood affects into his daily life moments which certainly brings a smile to your face if you are familiar to Bollywood movies and its grandeur . From the first page he adds the famous Karan Johar line "Love will find its way" and continues my describing his mom as a yesteryear heroine with her flowing chiffon duppatta to the climax where he rides a rickshaw to meet his lady love. This book doesn't  contain any gibberish jabber but only simple life journeys ( Some authors love to explain about the sun setting down and the scenic beauty eloquently for 10 pages straight.--You won't find such long speeches in this book) The book is short and gives moments about the author's ever complicated love life and his daily ordeal with his bad job. The only thing lacking in this book for me is its emotional connect. Its true you cheer for the protagonist when he quits his job for the right reason or when he proposes to his girlfriend for the third time but there is always something missing, you just can't connect to him easily.

Overall, I did enjoy the book though I was reluctant at the start to actually complete it. The problem with the book was it revolved a lot around his relationship with women. Let our lives and decisions not be rotated around love and the complications that comes along with it. There is one question that the author poses out and I would also like to pose it all my readers. We have all heard about great two sided love stories like Romeo and Juliet, Heer Ranjha etc. But is not unrequited love the only greatest, purest and heartbreaking love of all??? Think about it, only unrequited love helps us to go through a new beginning and cherish the dawn of a new relationship. I want opinions and comments and lets share a great story where unrequited love is celebrated and considered the greatest love of all!!!