Wednesday, December 28, 2005
Loser of the Year
There are several, to be honest. But no one person has kissed the canvas as many times this year.
Here's presenting Mr. Loser 2005, who with his Jinnah remarks, his subsequent indignant resignation and his shame-faced withdrawal of the resignation exemplified the foot-in-mouth syndrome. The recent sting operations have thrown even more egg on his face.
Will he last the distance ? Only 2006 will tell.
Here's presenting Mr. Loser 2005, who with his Jinnah remarks, his subsequent indignant resignation and his shame-faced withdrawal of the resignation exemplified the foot-in-mouth syndrome. The recent sting operations have thrown even more egg on his face.Will he last the distance ? Only 2006 will tell.
Friday, December 23, 2005
AB Bas !!!
I am sick of seeing AB in every mindless movie and advertisement that is being churned out - not to mention the hoardings, commentaries, MTV videos, item numbers, KBC. And then we have all the Bachchan wannabes - sporting the ridiculous beard, and trying hard to imitate the baritone.
AB, dude, take a break, and exercise some restraint !! All that's missing is a diaper ad from you, for chrissakes !!!
Wednesday, December 21, 2005
A Cindrella Story
A good PJ on the Cinderella fairy tale:
Why was Cinderella a bad soccer player ?
Because.. (a) she lost her shoe, (b) she ran away from the ball, and (c) her coach was a damn pumpkin !!
Tuesday, December 20, 2005
Kaliya Mardan
I guess, the story of Kaliya Mardan needs no re-telling; it is probably one of the most popular bedtime-stories in India.
I read an interesting variant of this story, though - that the Naga Panchami festival is also associated with the Kaliya Mardan legend. In this variant, instead of the exciting-fight version that I have heard, the serpent quickly realizes that it is no match for the might of Lord Krishna, and begs for forgiveness. Krishna pardons Kaliya, and after elciting a promise that it would not harm anything hereafter, lets the serpent back into the Yamuna river.
Strange how many legends we have, and how they are all interlaced together. I mean, I realized very recently that Diwali is celebrated in honor of Lord Rama as well as Lord Krishna - amazing, I thought ! But, more about that later.
The Legend of Onam
The title sorta sounds like those wierd essays we used to get during our exams in school - 'write 5 sentences about your favourite festival (with appropriate title)'. I always used to wonder - why 5, and not 3, or 7 !!
Onam is the festival celebrated in Kerala, by all and sundry, in honor of the famous demon-king Mahabali. Apparently, Mahabali was the greatest king Kerala had ever seen. What's more, he was neither a Commie nor a Congressman. So the gods got all worked up, and decided that the demon-king had got too big for his boots. They dispatched Lord Vishnu, the master of disguises, who donned his Appu-Raja makeup to become the Vamana incarnation, to get rid of the unsuspecting king.
The king welcomed the dwarfish Brahmin into his palace, and made rash promises. Vamana i.e. Lord Vishnu grabbed the opportunity with both hands, and asked for 3 footsteps of land. When the bewildered Mahabali agreed, Vamana prompty covered all of the Earth and the heavens with his first two steps (the legend goes that during the second step, Lord Brahma cleaned Vamana's foot using the brass jug, and this is how the Ganges river originated).
The king, however, was an honorable man, and he offered his own head for Vamana to claim. Vamana pushed Mahabali to the underworld (patalam) with his third step. However, Lord Vishnu must have felt an iota of compassion for the injustice being meted out to the hapless king, and hence he granted Mahabali the right to visit his beloved kingdom once every year. This day is celebrated as Onam in Kerala.
The picture above shows a typical caricature of Mahabali (or Maveli, as he is more popularly called), with the paunch and the umbrella, as looks over the prosperous (??!!) Kerala.
Introduction
All the stuff I draw - festivals, mythological figures, caricatures etc - will be posted here. Too much of my stuff has got lost in the past; hopefully, during my next trip to India, I will be able to scan whatever is left and upload them as well !!!
