Delicate art of Sand Mandala

Mandala, a Sanskrit word that means "circle," is a sacred diagram created in sand or paint. It symbolizes the pure, perfected universe, and provides a visual framework for establishing feelings of peace, well-being and wholeness. Composed of millions of grains of dyed sand, the mandala is believed to have a positive effect on all who see it as each particle personifies goodness. Created by Buddhist monks and nuns, the mandala is part of initiation ceremonies -- accompanied by other ritual art objects, costumed dancers, music and chanting -- that grant the initiate the privilege to study and practice the teachings of a sutra or tantra, sacred texts that are guides to visualizing a particular deity.

Sand mandala takes weeks to make. After completion it is destroyed signifying impermanence of things. If you haven’t seen sand mandalas being made then you have missed something big. This blogger rates at top must see art form. It is a brilliant conception, consider also that these people have lived in most remotest of region . I spend almost two hours watching it being made, it is so delicate needs very sophisticated handling. After few days when I came back to see the complete mandala I was moved-it affected me deeply, it is an experience that cannot really be described.

Imprisoned voices of Tibet

Tibetans are probably one of the most peaceful communities. Tibet culture is refined and subtle that was sought to be brutally suppressed. Chinese government will have to realize that there are civilized norms to be followed. Freedom of religion and faith is basic right of every individual.

This blogger doesn’t have anything against Chinese people (Incidentally I am a big fan of Jet Li, he is no nonsense). Governments particularly the one’s that are not representatives of the population may not always reflect the aspirations of the citizens. Chinese government cannot repress and brutalize people and still claim to be civilized. Millions of peaceful people are refugees and displaced for decades, their refined understandings threatened to extinction. It is very painful something has to be done by the international community. Chinese government will have to take steps towards process of dialogue with Tibetans.

This blogger quite coincidently is at McLeodganj (in Dharamshala, Kangra valley) where Dalai Lama has taken refuge. Yesterday’s incidents in Lhasa was felt in this part of the world, interacting with youngsters one gets the feeling that they are increasingly advocating violence, though they are still the fringe. The elderly monks-they don’t interact much, are very saddened (Dalai Lama has called for stopping of violence). One gets a creepy feeling of cynicisms and this is dangerous. If violence wins the battle here then only the international community will have to take blame. The protestors who did candle light walk are asking for the UN to intervene and stop the blatant human right violations. If the world community fails then they are giving legitimaticy to violence as option.

Most shops in McLeodganj do carry the message of Dalai Lama of ‘never give up”. It’s been a long and arduous journey for these people. This blogger has seen documentaries of their struggle, and the journey they took across dangerous mountains (I found many of the Tibetan audience crying…this was in IIC delhi, probably in 1998-99). I have also spent hours watching sand mandala being made, it is brilliant. So are thangka painting (I do keep some pasted on my wall), they are very sophisticated people but simple in their mannerism. Surely the world cannot fail them. These lines of Dalai Lama….ultimately, humanity is one and this small planet is our only home, If we are to protect this home of ours, each of us needs to experience a vivid sense of universal altruism.

Below snap of elderly monk walking back home after the evening prayer

Njan Madras pakaran poren !!

These are the lines from a popular Tamil movie song, almost a decade back. This blogger has strong liking for tamilians, when you travel around Tamil Nadu you see so much hope so much potential. Tamil nadu is a place where anything is possible!!. Amazing people, mostly loud but very passionate about things, they have that sturdy primal energy. It is the cradle of the Dravidian culture. India’s future is very much through Tamil Nadu. Despite the fact that politicians of Tamil Nadu are viciously divided sometimes even taking things at personal level it need be noted that whether it is DMK or AIADMK they have taken care of the infrastructure particularly roads. Having traveled on the road all around the country this blogger want to congratulate the Government of Tamil nadu- those who have ruled the state for last decade or so, they have done an excellent job. You can see the difference as you enter from Karnataka or Kerala. There is so much of space, labor and infrastructure in the State that one wonders why these big buildings are constructed only in cities?. Of course Tamil Nadu particularly northern part has some extremely poor population, some of the sights are quite painful. The reason probably that cuisine of southern Tamil Nadu are richer and varied, also immigrants to east Asia are mostly from this region, the prominent being the chettis of chetinadu (karaikudi is a ghost town with huge empty palatial houses, it is one of the kind place). Despite pockets of poverty Tamil Nadu is a colorful place (probably after Rajasthan) the kind of kitsch art you will not find anywhere despite profusion of vinyl posters (even these are oversized!!). It is a place of exaggeration, take it or leave it. Period!!.

After the college when most guys were moving out to different cities I probably was the only person to move towards Madras (now thankfully Chennai). Impulsiveness was predominant character trait those days, so the reason for choosing Madras was equally incredible: Madras had long beaches and I loved to hang along the sea!!. That probably was my first step towards career building!!! (Great start dude!!). Expectedly Madras was very tough on me, it was quite a struggle and I shuffled jobs almost every month and quite incredibly each job was entirely different from other!!. It still beats me, things I did. Few days back I was in Chennai and dropped in for sunset at Marina beach. I couldn’t help smile, the same place I sat so many years back as a pensive, seriously stressed youngster. It is a full circle and been quite an experience (the kind of things one comes across while traveling is amazing). It is great to be me!!.

Chennai too has changed there are more buildings like the Raheja towers at mount road, it seems to be implanted from some Hollywood movie set!! (Spencer’s was hang out place, so was Sathyam theatre). The roads are still able to handle traffic unlike the pathetic scenes in “silicon valley” Bangalore. At one point I knew so many people at Chennai, one job I distinctly remember was working in some Channel related group, making programs and so on. Most guys were youngsters and from very affluent background they were doing the job for fun. It was mostly partying around. I recall very vaguely one fellow I met, he got a small role in Mani Ratnam movie “Bombay”, his was if-you-don’t-look-carefully-you-might-miss-it role. He was supposed to be with the main lead actress (don’t recall her name) while they searched the body of children in the mortuary, he was part of young friends of main protagonist. The fellow when I met him at music academy insisted I should see the movie.

Music academy I used to visit quite regularly since the stretch from Stella Maris to US consulate was the place we generally used to be. The place has become quite congested with a fly over (I must say most aesthetically done by MRF, this fly over is an example that could be emulated) and huge hoardings- this blogger is very much against these hoardings it is unaesthetic and a sore sight, there should be a law against these. There used to be kactheris on regular basis in Music academy. Incidentally I have almost one year of Carnatic music training, so I do have a fine ear for this form. I also met Kamal hassan here with his two daughters, he is an amazing guy and an excellent actor. He interacted with us since he knew one of the guys at personal level. Madras taught me the influence of visual medium and the power it holds on people, it is astounding. Madras also taught the need to be consistent in what one does. It was only much later that I thought of taking writing and reading seriously, and also taking up full time traveling (there is so much to see in India that every time it is new!!).

I recall there used to be an automatic dosa maker (it was kind of a robot) at central railway station, although it tasted quite awful I used to drop in to see how it is made atleast once in a week, and there always was a small crowd!!. While walking on the Mount road I came across TVS showroom&garage, and boy boy boy I suddenly recalled haven’t I worked here briefly!!. I almost forgot about it….well it was forgettable!!. There was some written test later the top guy of Dept told me to join as a trainee Engineer for few days before he can consider, I went for 4 or 5 days (it was quite a physical job from 9-5, and absolutely hate grease) around this time there was science fiction movie festival at US consulate (which was half a Km away, they had theatre at the basement) for a week, so managed to sneak in and forgot about the job!!. Since I had got free accommodation, a small room on top of Government building, I didn’t have to worry about rent and so was quite footloose. Being at Fort St George I used to see the then CM Jayalalitha quite regularly, quite enigmatic that lady (was called Amma or Purachi Thalaivai), people just prostrated before her, it was quite a sight, for a guy fresh from Kerala (where people don’t gave undue importance to politicians or filmstars) it was unbelievable.

Marina beach we used to come most Sunday mornings to play cricket/football (shockingly the same time the Tsunami struck few years back, few hundred people died here. I very vaguely recall some faces…hope they escaped). There also used to be bunch of ‘dupe artists’ who used to practice stunts as preparation for movies, it was amazing. Henceforth I cultivated an interest for watching technicality of stunts, now it has gone hitech. The beach though has become cluttered with unplanned shops. I came across this interesting elderly man who had a contraption that could read your hand and predict future for 10Rs!!. I really got inquisitive on this one. He dusted my hand with black sand and deftly took the imprint of my palm on a white paper. The paper was then fed into a computer and presto the hand print came on the screen and he pressed a key, the print out of my future came out!!. It was an amazing idea and he was doing brisk business. There are so many innovative ways to make money, and yes he deserved that 10 Rs!! (though I have no liking for ‘future reading’….present is interesting enough!!). I ended my day by taking a photo with Thalaivar Rajnikanth!!. Even posing with his cut out is an honor for most people here. He is having a magical hold over people for last three decades, it is a miracle.