Window Seat | 5.9.21
Lord Ganesha
Ganesha
is the most fascinating of the deities of Hindu pantheon. With a head of an
elephant, a mouse as bahana
(carrier), pot belly and love for laddu
and modaka, Ganesha is the most
endearing God.
Why
does Ganesha carry an elephant head? Legend tells the tale of Goddess Parvati
who made baby Ganesha using sandalwood paste and asked him to guard the
entrance while she took a bath. When Lord Shiva wanted to enter, Ganesha would
not even allow him to pass through. Lord Shiva, enraged by this, severed the
child’s head. When Goddess Parvati realised what had happened, she was
overwhelmed and heartbroken. This is when Lord Shiva promised that he would
bring baby Ganesha back to life. He went on to instruct his followers (ganas)
to search for the head of the first living creature they could find to replace
on Ganesha’s body. However, the ganas could only find a baby elephant’s head.
That is how Lord Ganesha came back to life with the head of an elephant. Lord
Shiva named him the leader of the ganas, or Ganapati.
Ganesha
is conferred upon the right to be worshipped first. He is worshipped
before any major enterprise. He is the patron of intellectuals, bankers,
scribes, and authors. Legend has it that it was Ganesha who wrote the Mahabharata
as Vyasa Muni dictated it. He is also considered to be the remover of
obstacles- bigna binashaka.
In some parts of India Ganesha is depicted as celibate, but
in others he is said to be married to both Buddhi (Intelligence) and Siddhi
(Success). Yet other traditions give him a third wife, Riddhi (Prosperity).
Ganesha puja is celebrated across the country. However in
Maharashtra the celebration reaches the next level. Last year Corona proved to
be a dampener. This year too, we might see a repeat.
Mangrove forests cover fading fast
“Mangroves are an
important bulkhead against climate change: they afford protection for coastal
areas from tidal waves and cyclones and are among the most carbon-rich forests
in the tropics.” In the face of rising sea levels (in many parts of coastal Odisha
and West Bengal the impact is visible) and changing climates, coastal buffering
against negative impacts of wave action will become critical and will play an
important role in climate change adaptation.
Mangrove
ecosystems, which make up less than 0.4% of the world’s forests, are being lost
at the rate of about 1% per year (FAO, 2007); in some areas, the rate may be as
high as 2 to 8% per year. From 20% to 35% of the world’s mangrove area has been
lost since 1980 according to a 2007 FAO report.
The rates of loss are highest in developing countries where mangroves
are cleared for coastal development, aquaculture, timber and fuel production.
Experts believe that in as few as 100 years, the world’s mangrove forests may
become so degraded and reduced in area that they would be considered to have
“functionally disappeared”. That would be catastrophic. We need to take urgent
steps to protect the mangrove forest.
Read more about the present state of
mangrove forest here: http://www.travel-impact-newswire.com/2013/08/unep-environmental-alert-global-mangrove-forest-cover-fading-fast/#ixzz2eVJpSZxg
Royal Enfield Motor cycle:
An Indian icon
Amrit
Jha, my student at the Dhenkanal campus of Indian Institute of Mass
Communication (IIMC) has recently published a book on Royal Enfield Motorcycle.
Titled Indian Icon: A cult called Royal
Enfield and published by Westend Books- it is a fascinating saga of a mean
machine that has acquired a cult status. The book also tells the story of
rebuilding a sagging brand and repositioning it in a fiercely competitive
market.
I
personally do not like this monstrous of a bike which is also a loud-mouth
creating a thud-thud-thud sound of high decibel. My son does. So much so that
he has named his motor bike Rangabati (after the famous West Odisha folk song)
and went on a solo west India tour spanning a dozen states.
After
reading this book, I could appreciate the mad love (isn’t it an oxymoron? Love
is and supposed to be always blind) some people have for this bike.
Tail piece: Surround
Sound
Define
surround sound.
Santa
answers: Wife in the front seat of the car, her mother and sister in the back
seat!
(Courtesy:
Social Media)
++
Journalist turned
media academician Mrinal Chatterjee lives in Dhenkanal, Odisha. He also writes
fiction and plays.
mrinalchatterjeeiimc@gmail.com
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