People Watching : Laguna Beach....

A series of posts on the SoCal experience. The previous one is on Huntington Beach.

Laguna Beach, a beautiful beach town, of Southern California, is a great spot for people watching. Endowed with a wonderfully curvaceous coastline lined with small mountains and a serene and not-so-crowded beach, this enchanting Laguna Beach further offers a chain of art galleries along the Pacific Coast Highway; apart from the usual entertainment and dine-out places.

It is further known to have a few charming and aesthetically lit, Italian and Mexican restaurants with live music going on inside(appears expensive though!). Some even offer the view of the ocean, more so like, just by the ocean kinds. With this mild introduction to another SoCal wonder, this author of greatly nomadic virtues, keys in a few notable people watching incidents, courtesy those few visits:

• A newly wed couple - the bride in her delicately beautiful virginally white wedding gown, and the bridegroom in his dark black suit, taking a stroll on the wet sands of the beach, with the waves gently caressing the shore. There is that loving interplay between the rays of the sun and the gentle waters of the Pacific Ocean to make it more memorable.
• A couple, presumably, the parents of the bride/ the groom, animatedly taking videos of the newly wed couple on the walk of their lives. Quite understandably, a few relatives also contribute to the festivities.
• A few American adolescent girls, on their girls' day out, totally oblivious of their surroundings, and having a whale of a time. Somehow, it seemed to the author, that the glow on their faces, silently conveyed the fact that they were very much aware of their beauty.
• Some one had written "Spread the love (the symbol of a heart)" on the sands of the beach. There were hearts everywhere, both in action and in words.
• A group of boys, of different nationalities, playing basketball, on the court, by the beach.
• A couple, playing volleyball, just between themselves. A highly impressionable romantic statement of the so-called public display of affection.
• An woman eyeing the author's ice-cream as he was walking down the road. This reminds me of the beautiful ice-cream parlour, Gelato Italiano, with its really soft and it-simply-melts-in-the-mouth ice-creams. The sheer variety of flavors available was bewildering to the author, to say the least. The lady at the counter was at her hospitable best; and in fact, was offering small spoonful offerings of whatever flavour we wanted to help get over the bewilderment.
• An artist at work, painting the beautiful Laguna landscape, in live action, giving finishing touches to his oil painting on canvas, on the pavement of an intersection.
• A couple, sitting on a bench, facing the vast expanse of an ocean. No words spoken. Just, each of them, drinking in the spirit of the surroundings and their partner, in silence. Those moments of silent eloquence.
• A family of four, with the parents watching their kids build a sand-castle.
• Of course, no people watching activity is complete, without a mention of those bicyclists, on their beautiful attires, with their lustful bicycles. What a beautiful way to spend the day, bicycling along the beach!

.... and so on.

A Point of Mention: It is a great mystery to the author as to how he went about writing 85 posts in 2005 alone. Posts have dried up, at a mere 18 for the year of 2007. October 2007, has been a good month for 2007, despite, being just about average by the statistics of 2005. The only silver lining is this present template and layout, which, the author is really really fond of. Suggestions to improve the blog are more than welcome. For those loyal patrons of the blog, a special thank you.

SoCal is Burning....

About twenty wildfires, have been burning since Oct 21, 2007, all along the beautiful Southern California coast, from Santa Barbara to San Diego (and even parts of Baja California, Mexico). With so many homes destroyed and quite a few people dead/injured, Tamaso Ma Jyotir Gamaya prays for the fortitude and the strength for the families of the victims and the brave fire-fighters. A few of my friends and acquaintances had to evacuate their homes; and now, thankfully, things are fine with them. Ironically, natural disasters, often, brings out the best in the people. They show such amazing sense of camaraderie, and concern for fellow human beings and life.

Southern California (SoCal), is a nature-lover's paradise, with its beautiful, pristine, beaches; chapparal based mountains; plain valleys; and the desert vegetation found in Mojave and other places. And, in parts, it is beautifully green too. Surprisingly, this region often records the lowest amount of rainfall, much lower than the national average. This year, the rainfall received has been lower than the driest Death Valley regions of the US. The author wouldn't hesitate to say that SoCal, is a true geographical wonder. The lack of rainfall, dry vegetation and the strong Santa Ana winds, provided, the more than necessary fuel, for these wildfires.

The air is unclean. Lots of small and coarse particulates in the air, that is not good for the lungs. The distinct smoke on the horizon over the usually, beautiful, scenic landscapes. The smell of something is burning. Overall, an atmosphere of gloom and disaster. Around 900,000 evacuations (the largest in peacetime history in the US), huge loss in property, 1500+ homes destroyed, official reports of ten dead and around hundred injured (mostly, those, brave, fire-fighters), overall acreage of burning close to 300,000 acres, four days of continuous burning and spreading due to the winds; this would be in the who's-who list of natural disasters.

*****

The author has been at Madras, Tamil Nadu during the Tsunami disaster of 2004; College Station, TX during the hurricanes Rita and Katrina; Pilani, Rajasthan which experienced mild tremors during the disastrous Gujarat earthquake; and now, the Wildfire 2007 of SoCal. During these times, one is often made to rethink on how insignificant we are, and how, no one can truly stop nature's hath and fury. With so much of a damage to life and property, hell breaks over, and people are always on their toes, wondering as to what would happen next. These are definitely bad times, and no one, really wants disasters.

All these, make the author to wonder, "There is no way of stopping natural disasters. But, then, why not stop all the disasters in the name of war and peace. Iraq, Afghanistan, Sudan, in the modern times, Japan when it was nuked in 1945, etc. must have been subjected to great misery and hell, because of the severe damage to life (infact, the Japanese episode has affected future generations forever) and property (does one count the number of houses shelled and the number of evacuees)." But then, if one were to delve deep into the history of nations, the world has always been in a state of chaos and war. World peace is nothing, but, utopia. This would definitely respect a new post, and the author would like the to end this post, thus,

Life, is the same, everywhere, no matter where.

Indianness XII - Golu....

This post is heavily inspired by two events in the author's life: a friend's seemingly innocuous question, "What is the significance of Golu", and my childhood friend's keeping Golu at her own sweet home. Further, this post is dedicated to all the women in my life, keeping with the spirit of this heavily women-oriented festival of sublime joy.

Golu or Bommal Kolu, is a beautiful tradition followed in the southern parts of India: Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. Fortunately, for the author, he has been born into a family that is steeply rooted in its influences from all of these three southern states. Moroever, with the heavy migration of people from these places, to all parts of the world, Golu is more or less associated now with the entire world. For e.g. the Malibu temple of Los Angeles, sports its own 11-step and 5-step Golu display for this year. The exact importance given to the odd-numbers is a mystery to many people. The quaint excuse given by many elders is, "Don't question the wisdom of our ancestors". Reading about this fanatically upheld rule revealed interesting insights into the concept of the One. The simplest reasoning would be, there is that enchanting continuity with odd numbers, which is a sign of fertility, prosperity, growth and development.

The Golu is associated with Navratri, the festival of nine nights, to be culminated on the tenth day of Vijayadasami, the day of celebration of the victory of the good over the evil. This festival is usually in the month of October, and the festivities begin in the months of August and September. Usually, the dolls are stored in the attic/ the legacy trunk(s), safely wrapped in pure white dhoti's (now dusty with that claustrophobic smell). To the commands of the women in the house, be it the wife, mother, daughter or sister, the lazy weekends for the menfolk during the month of late August/early September are spent, getting the dolls down from the attic. The womenfolk now proudly take over, having been waiting for this, the entire year.

Ragini erupts with pure joy, when she sees her favorite Saraswathi Devi with her veena again. Raga goes crazy when they take out the cricket set, with its eleven players, and the neat stadium. One by one, the dolls slowly come out. To the dismay of the lady of the house, she, Ravana's nose, in the expensive Shiva-Parvathi set purchased last year, has been broken. Mythology states that Ravana tries to dislodge the divine couple by attempting to shake Mount Kailash, their place of residence. She blames it on her husband for his usual lackadaisical attitude. One can see the stage being set for a battle, when, Ragini smartly chips in, "Amma, why do you worry about Ravana, the evil kidnapper of Sita. Look at this set of Rama, Lakshmana, Sita and Hanuman. Just see, as to how beautiful it is." He gives a naughty, understanding, and an all-knowing you-saved-my-day-i-owe-you-an-ice-cream look to his beautiful daughter.

With that timely distraction in place, Ragini, Amma and Paati/Aji/Avva, get hyper-excited with the dolls to be purchased this time. Not to be left out in this, Raga recommends the new LEGO based "City". He, so as to not be outnumbered by the women in the house, supports his son, telling her, "It is good for them. Encourages them to use their minds. Worth the expense". Paati/Aji/Avva's fear is that such things are purely satanical, and gives Thatha/Aja a look, which makes him tell his son, "They should know the traditions of our culture. Why don't we get a huge marriage-based set this time". Like this, the discussions/ arguments/ suggestions keep going on for most of the weekends. The womenfolk, however know that the final veto lies with them. In fact they would be the ones to make the purchases. Why do we need the menfolk to interfere in these feminine aspects of life. Everything is fine, as long as he doesn't object to the use of the joint-credit-card.

Usually, the family decides on a theme, and it definitely brings out the creative and aesthetic juices flowing in everyone at home. With the dolls purchased, and arranged in a neat odd-numbered-padi stand, with the feminine trinity - Saraswathi, Lakshmi and Parvathi, gracing the highest step, the entire golu display, displays sheer grandeur, majesty, beauty and energy. With the onset of Navarathri, the womenfolk are busy with the sundal preparations. One must admit as to how ingenious our ancestors were, when one thinks of the sheer number of different varieties of the sundal. Friends and relatives, especially, women and girls, are invited. Ragini sports her new peacock blue, pattu-pavadai, and she is beautifully dressed in her new haldi-kumkum Kancheepuram silk saree. Both sport a string of jasmine flowers on their well-oiled, amazingly long, well-braided hair; and are well-dressed with that dash of pottu on their face with the sandalwood powder and fair-and-lovely cream giving it company; and the kajal lining on their eyelashes, with the minimalist glistening gold jewellery, greatly enhancing their beauty.

To the tunes of Himagiri Thanaye, in praise of Parvathi, Ragini's friend captivates the audience, with her sweet, and mellifluous voice. Ragini does a short recital of Jagadhodharana on the Bharatanatyam. The womenfolk sing songs in praise of the divine. Most of the menfolk are blissfully ignored. When such amazingly aesthetic musical festivities are going on inside, Raga is found playing street-cricket with his friends. The menfolk are involved in their seemingly endless and infact, pointless, arguments and discussions on the state of political affairs of the country. One often wonders, families do a better job when it comes to honing the aesthetic sensitivities in a girl. Their main line of reasoning being, "She will go to an another house once she gets married. In times of trouble, when we are not there, only music, dance and arts would help her remain centered."

Time just flies by, and the nine days are over in no time. With almost tears in the eyes of Ragini, she moves the sacred kalasam, signifying the end of Navaratri. But then, there is Vijayadasami, and the eternal favorite of all, Deepavali, to come. The thought of the new crackers to be bought, and the new dresses, makes this compelling and yet painful, routine, of keeping the dolls safely packed, to their journey back to where they came from, the attic/trunk, possible with heavy hearts. From this post, one can evidently see the heavily women-centric nature of this festival. In fact, as men, all that we can do, is to encourage the women to have a great time during this festival. And, it would be a great idea to inculcate/hone the aesthetic sensitivities of the boys too. Think beautiful.

Both these festivals, signify, the victory of the good over the evil. May the force be with all of us. One, doesn't need to crassly generalize such beautiful customs as mere tradition. It is a great quality time with the family for the family. Creative talents are greatly encouraged. The benefits accrued there of are many. In the name of modernism, one often wonders, as to what would happen to such beautiful things that exist in this world. But then, the eternal optimist says, "What has withstood the tests of time, be it the Mughal invasion, dis-unity amongst the people, British rule, etc., will continue to exist. It is just that people would miss out on the beautiful things, rather than, the beautiful things becoming a non-existence". A thing of beauty is a joy forever. A very happy Navaratri to one and all. The author ends this post, with a heavy heart, thus, with one of the most sacred sayings, Tamaso Ma Jyotir Gamaya.

The Fortune Cookie....

Over the past few months, the author used to frequent an Asian diner, by the name, Pei-Wei, with one of his Taiwanese friends. The highlight of the luncheon would be the fortune cookie, something that the author used to look forward to, every time. Whoever, came up with the concept, must have been very spiritually strong.

Similar to Jeeves' buck-me-up potions, these fortune cookies, have the sheer capacity to bring in positive energy and high spirits, over just a piece of paper. Only good things are written out there. Thankfully, the fortune cookie doesn't discriminate too. So, everyone, is positively affected by the same mysterious, wonderful, oracular, prophecising cookie.

This only goes to show, as to how wonderful a strategy it is to, focus and harness on the positive, beautiful aspects of life. If one were to go by the law of averages, the meandering journey of life, would takes us through both the best and worst times of life. It just so happens, that, thinking beautiful, no matter what, helps us face those undeniable moments better.

Further, the concept of focussing on the beautiful, helps one to understand the psychological significance of the age-old custom of seeking blessings from the Divine and the elders. What could be purer than the fact, that, someone thinks highly positive for you, and goes one step ahead, in blessing you. Just to have a dear elder bless, "I am sure you can/ will do it", makes one do things that astound the doer itself.

Think beautiful. Thankfully, there are so many beautiful things in the world. Like someone had said, "Both an optimist and a pessimist have equal chances of winning. It is just that the optimist leads a more exciting life."

A Public Library....

Recently, the author had been to the Newport Beach Public Library, in Newport Beach, CA. It was such a beautiful place, with an amazing collection of books, audio CDs, DVDs, etc. Anything and everything to make you get addicted to that place. With really friendly librarians, beautiful in every sense, it is definitely a heaven on earth.

Moreover, the architecture of the library was amazingly done, so as to allow, natural light to illuminate the interior surroundings, for most of the open hours of the library. Very very environment friendly. The library is open on all days of the week, with 9AM-9PM schedule from M-Th. With a checkout limit of 50, and 5 CDs/DVDs, etc., it cannot get better than this. And if one doesn't default, the services are completely free.

And how can I forget, there was this cute little girl, carrying a pile of Harry Potter books, notably, #4-7, towards the checkout counter. Ms. Rowling has done a fantabulous job with her HP series, and one must bow down in reverence and love to this creative genius. I am sure the little girl will have a great time with those books.

This only made me wonder, "Taxes are fine, as long, as they are put to good use". The goodness and badness of the use is open to interpretation; but then, investing in a public library is definitely good for all. I guess, we all, need to learn a lot from the beautiful things in the world, and hope to be the change we wish to see across in other parts - India and the rest of the world.

A post on a similar theme can be found here.