The auspicious month of Shrawan started and is coming to an end now…with the celebration of Krishna Janmashtami followed by the ever enthusiastic Dahi-Handi. Today, I had a chance to experience the dahi-handi celebration at Dadar and it was fabulous. The enthusiasm and team spirit, the colors and the rhythm, it was just some different kind of energy. The liveliness being the same increases every year.
Many a times the camera takes away what the mind has to sense and treasure. Therefore, there are not many pictures to illustrate and also jotting down the experience in words is a bit difficult this time. As active senses was a priority, thoughts rushed in the mind, connected to past incidents and then came back to the present giving a different meaning.
Note: Do read the boards at the background.
Lord Krishna- the shrewd was born last night and today becomes old enough to eat makhan!!
There was a solar eclipse just before the first day of shrawan. And this reminded me of Lord Krishna. When Arjuna was in a fix whether and how to fight his own cousins, Lord Krishan, his sarthi, advices him a few words of wisdom which we now recite as the Bhagwad Gita. When it was time for Arjuna to kill Jayadratha before the rise of dusk, smart lord Krishna with his infinite wisdom brings the moon in between the earth and sun, thus causing solar eclipse,
creating an illusion of dusk and also creating an illusion to Jayadratha of gaining triumph over Arjuna. Well, this was the end of Jayadratha as he lived few moments of bliss in illusion and not reality.
A verse from the Gita says: The unreal has no existence and the real, never ceases to be; the truth of both these, has been perceived by seers of truth.
It is simple and difficult at the same time to understand and follow what Lord Krishna says in the form of Bhagwad Gita.
An over dose of photographers!! Do I consider myself fortunate enough for being a professional in textile design as there aren’t as many textile designers as photographers?? Yes, I think I do. Apart from learned professionals, photography is also practiced as a hobby and interest and then is taken to the next level called profession. This is not the case in textiles, being a material based discipline one needs to have a thorough knowledge of the material in hand. Well, I guess the digital world has changed much of the scene in photography, is it?
With seventy nine news channels on the television playing the game of confusing the spectator, each news channel manages to have a different angle to the same story. With the humongous amount of crowd downstairs, we did manage to get a bit peaceful corridor on the third floor of a building. In this context, a peaceful place should not be the priority though! A few reporters had also found this place to do their part of reporting. With very blank expressions and emotionless feelings they spoke bland words making them sound spicy enough for the viewer not to surf more.
Color and people
Amazing team spirit I should say. The togetherness and trust on co-group mates towards achieving one goal gave me an out of way feeling after many years. India, which is lost into cricket most of the time, does not actually realize the significance of team-work. (This team work I am talking about regards only to sports and mainly team sports. I do not wish to talk about team work in other disciplines, at least not now and here :) I learnt that one group has only three chances to break the dahi-handi or else it is lost. And to mention, it is not a simple job. It is a result of months of practice and dedication. The dahi-handi is arranged for both men and women separately and are played with equal enthusiasm and attachment. Unlike men, there is an out-burst of emotion in the women team members whenever there is a failure and this is typical female behavior pattern. I remember, when I played basket ball during my high school days, one wrong step would set me out to tears for the team. Today, this thought gave a smile on my face.
Team work
The use of textiles and color is a visual treat and this is seen in every Indian festival. Color as always is used as in identity. Fabric is used in many different forms and ways to built in strength to the human pyramid. It is simply amazing.
Few of the dahi-handi was celebrated without the dolby digtal sound. The beats of drums were used to add the swinging music. This was like an anti-sound pollution campaign. The soft sound of Krishna’s basuri was promoted.
This experience was indeed a treat to the senses linking to the past at many times.
PS: In all this the swine flu had an invisible role to play…
Note: Krishna nee begane baroo means Krishna come soon in Kannada. Colonial Cousins have composed a song with this as title.
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