Belated Birthday Wishes

Yesterday was my Mother's birthday, but I unfortunately didn't see her as I had classes and she worked. Luckily I'll be seeing her this weekend, and I hope to make the absence up to her. My Mom's a really cool lady, and I will always be grateful to her. She always taught me to accept people the way they are and let differences be, and was always accepting of my friends and all of the random phases I went through during the years. She wasn't a pushover, often setting rules when she knew it was for my own good, but she also wasn't overbearing, letting me do things even if she really didn't approve of it. Not many mothers take their 16 year old daughter to let her get her eyebrow pierced, especially when said mother won't let the daughter walk home from high school due to the discovery of the Megan's Law website (I live near a LOT of ex rapists). She's an enigma, and I think I get a lot of my oddities from her, which is both a blessing and a curse, depending on who you ask.

It always surprised me that she was so liberal minded. After all, she grew up on military bases in the Southwest, which isn't really the land of breeding tolerance. But she never judged against my gay friends, never really raised an eyebrow when I went goth, didn't care a bit about interracial dating, and managed to be the only person to not jump to conclusions when I would go hang out with my high school Calculus teacher on weekends, even though he was 30+ years my senior. When I told her that I was converting to Hinduism, she didn't freak out, just asked me some questions about what that meant then pretty much decided to let it be. I hope that when I have children, I can learn from her example and raise my kids in the same kind of environment, teaching them to stay away from the things that really harm you (drugs, gangs, bad hair dye decisions) and show them how you can have fun while being true to yourself and respectful of the people around you.

Happy Birthday Momma San. I hope everyone out there can see how awesome you are. <3

This Week in World Religion

For some reason, three stories struck me today as being something of interest, and I figured what the hell, I'm in a sharing mood.

First was an article from the Hindu Blog "12-year-old Kerala Girls Installs Murti in Temple for Worship as Per Tantric and Vedic Rules". This was pretty cool, because very few people are ever taught enough of the rituals to be able to install idols in the traditional temples, let alone women, and her very young age made me happy because it shows that people can do anything regardless of how old or young they are. I especially liked this quote from her dad “We did not face any resistance from the community or devotees when Jyotsna was chosen to perform the ritual. In no scriptures is it said that only men should install idols in temples,” because it shows us that everyone was really supportive of her, going against the common belief that in order to keep with tradition one must also keep with repressive roles towards gender. I found it fitting that she installed an idol of Durga, a powerful and positive female role model for sure. :)


The second story was about a Christian church in Zimbabwe, Mudzimu Unoera Apostolic, and their dispute over the "Girl Jesus", Tepsy Nyanhete. Apparently when their leader died in 1989 he said he would be reborn in three years time, and in 1992, Tepsy arrived on the scene, proving herself as highly intelligent by the age of 6 and causing people to believe she was their founder reborn.

Now, I'm a big fan of reincarnation, so I was already interested in this story, but what really got me was the level of devotion these church members gave to this little girl. Is it a point for feminism when a Messiah is reborn as a woman? I was a little miffed when I saw how much emphasis they put on the now 17 year old's decision to not marry, as if that somehow makes her more legitimate, but all in all I thought it was kind of cool that we can now say that the world's had an African female Jesus.

There are no pictures of a black, female Jesus, so just put these two together. :)

Now, the last story I read today was not as happy as the other two. I decided I didn't want to write about it any more, so all I'll say is that the people involved were Devil Worshipers, not Satanists, and if you have a strong stomach and want to read about it then here you go: http://wwrn.org/articles/33486/

Other articles

http://www.hindustantimes.com/Kerala-girl-breaks-barrier-installs-idol-in-temple/Article1-548084.aspx
http://www.religionnewsblog.com/24347/church-split-over-girl-jesus

Disneyland!

This weekend I was lucky enough to spend time at the happiest place on earth, Disneyland. As always, I had a rockin time, and since we were there for 13 hours (!), we were able to go on pretty much every ride, so that was fun. We didn't remember to bring a camera, so no photos this time, which sucks as I was really hoping to get more pics with the non-costumed cast, as I seem to have lost the disposable camera full of the pics from my last trip.

Some trip highlights:"Great Moments with Mr Lincoln" was a lot more political than I remembered it being in past years, but I always get distracted by how creepy it is when he moves to really notice what is being said. His speech on liberty felt very preachy on the part of the Disney staff who chose it, but I guess I can't complain, as they're working with limited material and all.



We had two rides break down right before we were going to ride them- Peter Pan and Snow White. For most people this would be annoying, to wait in line half an hour only for the ride to break down on you, but I figured this was just the balancing out of the cosmos, as we were able to get on Space Mountain and Star Tours with no lines at all, which is kind of a Disney miracle.

Disneyland needs to stop charging so much for food. When we finally got too hungry to live off of our smuggled in snacks, we went and found one of the only vegetarian options at the park- $12 plates of pasta. PASTA! This is horrid, especially when you remember that you can get two medium pizzas at Dominos for $12. The pasta was nowhere near as satisfying as two pizzas.

There were Indian people EVERYWHERE at the park this weekend. My mom and I kept trying to speculate as to why there were so many Desi families present, with my mom concluding that in 30 years time America will be known as "Gandhiland", as she feels so many people are migrating in. I told her that she should feel lucky that I'll most likely be marrying a Desi boy then, as she'll have an inside access to the future American majority. I don't know what she felt about that.

All in all, I think it's safe to say that the magic of Disneyland still remains for this child at heart, and I can't wait to take others to experience the Disney magic.

Delicious Times at Di-Chan Thai

This Friday I went out on a date (!), and I was taken to this amazing Thai restaurant. Now, most people believe that Indian food would be my favorite considering the large amount of Desi boys that I date, but Thai food really holds the most precious place in my heart for being beyond delicious and for always having an array of vegetarian options. Mexican food used to be my favorite, seeing as how I'm a California gal, but after four years of cheese enchiladas, bean burritos and chile rellenos, I've gotten interested in dishes that aren't based on tortillas and cheese, and Thai food never lets me down, as it's always flavorful and different. Now, for some people, Di-Chan Thai restaurant might not be seen as a dream date location, given its lack of outer glamor:

But I'm one of those who love little hole-in-the-wall places, so I was super excited when he took me there instead of some place that charges more for less flavorful food because it merely has "atmosphere". Give me good food over pretty buildings any day. I got the yellow curry fried rice, and was beyond impressed. I know I'm a wimp on the spicy scale, but that doesn't mean I want bland food, so I was glad that they didn't decide to skimp on flavor just because I'm a 3 on the spicy scale. The date got some dish with shrimp, which was a bummer cuz it meant I couldn't steal some food off his plate, but I gotta give him props for taking me to a good place, so all in all I think the evening was a success. Let's see how he does for Date #2 :)

Wait what?

When the Hollywood Video near my house went out of business, I ended up buying a lot of $2 movies, one of which was the film Religulous. I had heard a lot of good things about this movie, so I figured I'd pop it in today and see what all the fuss was about. I was not impressed.

At first I was just put off by how annoying and belittling he was to the people he was interviewing, but as the film progressed I noticed something that bothered me a lot more- other than a small section where he made fun of Scientology, he only talked about the Abrahamic religions. While I learned later that they wanted to focus on the religions that mainstream America would come in knowing about, it still kind of irritated me. I also didn't like that all of their talks about Islam were about violence, as if only the fundamental, violent forms of Islam were the only true forms of the religion and everyone else is misinformed.

There was only one guy that I really liked in this movie- Father Foster, who was interviewed outside the Vatican and was the most fascinating person in the entire movie. I wish he was the one interviewing everyone instead of that comedian guy.

Finals Fever and Akshaya Tritiya

This week has been a very hectic one for me school wise, between four papers, a quiz, and preparing for finals week. I've been trying to cram as much knowledge in my lil head about Tantric goddesses and yogins as I possibly can, and with hope I can gain enlightenment and just achieve moksa instead of having to worry about things as silly as tests. For now, I can only hope that everything turns out well and my professor falls greatly in love with my paper on the Mahavidyas and decide to give me an A triple plus. If only. :)

But even though school has been trying to overwhelm me, I'm not worried, because this Sunday my luck will surely change for the better. This year the 16th of May is when Akshaya Tritiya happens to fall, which is exciting, as it is one of the most auspicious days in the Hindu calendar, bringing about luck and success. While I am not financially able to purchase gold or property on Sunday like is suggested, this will be the perfect time to hang up my Visnu batik and to clean all of my idols, as some of them are starting to get a bit dusty through my unintentional neglect. Hopefully this will bring me the motivation and luck needed for the upcoming finals week and carry me through my final school year at San Diego State.

Akshaya Tritiya is also one of the best days to start a relationship. Hmmm...

Movies! In Hindi!

I am a big fan of Bollywood movies- the music, the dancing, the really cheesy plots, everything is too amazing for words. So I was totally stoked when my good man Sandy informed me of Gold Spirit Films, which shows Bollywood films right here in San Diego! I can't wait til finals are over and I can watch such films as


right here in my hometown. I know that they won't be subtitled, but I don't really care, I think the experience will be fun enough. I can read the plot synopsis beforehand if I want an idea as to what's going on. Now my only job will be to find someone to take me to Del Mar so I can see them. Maybe I can con Sandy into taking me. :)

Mobility!

Today I got a very happy surprise- my passport arrived in the mail! I am now free to travel the world! If I had any money. But that doesn't matter, all that matters is that I can have the potential to be spontaneous. :)

The thing that got to me was how very very patriotic this passport is. Every single page has pictures of things that I guess people associate with America- buffalo, American flags, cacti, Independence Hall, things like that. While a part of me enjoys it through the amusement factor that it provides me, the rest of me wishes that these pages weren't so illustrated. After all, the pics could make it difficult for me to see what's stamped on there! We can't have that. I guess I'll get to that concern once I actually start traveling, for now I'll just look at it's ridiculous awesomeness.

Friday Ramblings

I know that this isn't a big surprise, but I'm one of those people who listen to songs and will feel like they are telling part of my life, and I assign certain songs to people in my life and big events. This can result in problems though, because some songs are then ruined forever, for hearing them can make me incredibly sad. I never really thought about it too much, until I realized that thanks to my most recent ex, I cannot watch anything involving Hawaii without tearing up. I learned this the hard way thanks to 50 First Dates. I think my roommate filed the site of me crying to an Adam Sandler movie as further evidence that I'm a total weirdo. Poor roomie.

On happier news, I got a very lovely Batik wall hanging yesterday of Vishnu and Lakshmi. Since I have nothing representing either of the two deities, I figured this would be a rather lovely addition to my collection. I just need to figure out where I'm going to hang it.

Hope you have a lovely Friday!

Maybe Some Day... Maybe

So, I work at the dining hall on campus. It's a decent enough job, if a bit boring at times, but there's one thing that I hate about it- I can never watch episodes of Big Bang Theory. While logic might argue that this is because I requested to work the Monday dinner shift, thereby making it my own fault, I am certain this is really a ploy by my dastardly boss Chuck to make sure I will never be happy in this lifetime. (Note: Chuck, if you ever somehow read this, please don't fire me. I love you.) Luckily for me, my darling mother records the episodes for me so I can watch them later, for which I'm eternally grateful.

Now, I'm normally not a sitcom person, but there are two big reasons that I love Big Bang Theory. One is my undying love for nerds and nerd humor, which there is no shortage of in this show, and two is Raj, the love of my life. Raj is adorable and too funny and very cute and I would date him in a New York minute. Who cares if he can't talk to women without getting drunk? He is adorable and I would risk my liver hating me for good if it meant I could date him. It doesn't hurt that he is played by the equally adorable Kunal Nayyar-


who is not only way cute, but closer to my age than my other actor love, Sendhil Ramamurthy, and he's not married from what I can tell, making him a far better crush in my opinion. I have a bit of a problem falling in love with a TV show's token Indian, but when they're as cute as Kunal and Sendhil, who can blame me? So Kunal, if you ever happen to see this and decide that you could date a silly blonde Desi-wannabe, please let me know. I will rock your world.

Aquisition of the Day

Here at SDSU they have this great shopping excursion the week before finals every semester, and this semester I was blessed to come across a lovely woman who was selling idols, batik pictures, and various items. While I was originally going to just buy some bangles, I happened to look over and saw something that made me so very very excited - a Vajra. For those who don't know, a Vajra is a symbolic weapon found in the Dharmic traditions that looks like this:


and has the symbolic nature of a diamond and a thunderbolt. It is symbolic of the ultimate wisdom and power that comes from enlightenment, for knowledge cannot be destroyed by anything (like a diamond), and it is swift, powerful, and unseen (like a thunderbolt). Most stores here in the US only have idols and occasionally pictures, so I was very excited to find this in a small shop right here on campus, as most of my regular haunts don't carry them.

I think this is an omen. Today will be a very good day. :)

My Apartment's So Male Centric

I was looking at my statue collection today (it is very much a collection- I should post pics some day), and I realized something- I only have one goddess statue, which is a very tiny Guanyin. This is sad when you compare it to the amount of male statues I own (17, 18 if you count the linga stone), especially since I have a great deal of affection towards the divine feminine.

Here's a video in honor of my one Apartment Goddess, who I hope isn't feeling too lonely.

Ramblings on Love and Hard Choices

Today I found myself thinking of the story of Savitri. For those who don't know, Savitri was a strong and intelligent princess who chose to marry the equally intelligent Satyavan, even though he was destined to die a year from their wedding. On the day that he died, Savitri followed her Lord Yama (the god of death) to the land of the dead, where she tricked him into bringing her husband back to life. I love this story, because here in the Western religions we rarely see a powerful portrayal of feminine wit like we do in the Eastern traditions, and I really liked that she was just a regular mortal woman, whose devotion and brilliance saved the day.

As much as I love the stories of powerful Hindu goddesses, I prefer the stories of the average woman, for while goddesses can be seen as an exception to the rule in many male-centric societies, the stories regarding human women cannot be made so. These women are just like any other, and there is nothing to keep any one of us from being powerful and intelligent as Savitri was.

I sometimes wonder if I would ever be as in love as Savitri was with Satyavan. Surely it takes a great deal of love to be courageous enough to stand up to the Lord of Death like she did. Even choosing to enter the land of the dead would be a terrifying thought, sure to keep most people from ever attempting what she did. Many of us like to say that we're willing to die for the one we love, but how many of us actually would risk death with no knowing as to whether or not we could save our beloved, let alone save ourselves? I can only hope that if the situation arose in my life I could be half as strong as Savitri was.

Happy May Day!

Everyone break out the may poles and celebrate! May 1st is a pretty cool day- a lot of interesting things happened, like the first baseball game with an African American player (1884), the formation of the states Gujarat and Maharashtra in India (1960), and the legalization of same sex marriage in Sweden (2009). I considered writing about nonviolence today, but I really didn't feel like it. It's the first day of summer for the Wiccans, and I'm in too good a mood to talk about anything remotely serious.


After all, this looks like a lot more fun than talking about whether or not people should wear silk. I wish I had Wiccan friends so I could go to cool parties like this.