Window Seat | Mrinal Chatterjee | 29.12.19
Santa Claus
Christmas is
incomplete without Santa Claus, the roly-poly old man in red gown with mouthful
of beard- as white as snow. Who was he? How did he become kind of a mascot of
X-mas celebrations?
Jawahar Sirkar
recently posted a well-researched article on the emergence of Santa Claus on
his social media wall. Here is an excerpt:
Legends say
that Santa was an extremely generous bishop of 4th century Christian Turkey
called Nicholas. He used to give gifts secretly to people who needed help, but
would not ask. There is an interesting tale about how this Saint Nicholas went
up the chimney of a very poor man’s house and
dropped a few gold coins down, which fell into the stockings that were hung up
by the fireplace to dry. The harassed man was overjoyed and could marry his
daughters off, but the stockings are still hung up by children who write
endearing letters to Santa. Poems, songs and stories of this generous saint
spoke of how he flew in his sleigh drawn by his reindeer all the way from the
North Pole to deliver Christmas gifts to countless children. Parents fill up
these stockings with toys and goodies when their kids sleep on Christmas eve,
and one of the greatest joys during this season is to share in the excitement
and thrill of innocent children, who rush in next morning to show what Santa
has left for them. When sailing improved in in the 16th and 17th centuries,
sailors carried his stories to different parts of the world, where he was soon
called ‘Father Christmas’.
Later, Dutch settlers imported this legend into America, and
their ‘Sinter-klaas’ became ‘Santa Claus’. Colourful advertisements placed by
the gigantic toy industry only strengthened this interesting tale. Through the
19th Century, Americans visualised Santa wearing ‘Stars and Stripes’ until
1881, when Harper’s Weekly published the now famous image of Santa, with a big
white beard in a red gown, a cheerful belly and an arm full of toys.
Commerce and religion have often thrived on each other world
over, and by the 1931, Coca Cola came up with its gigantic, bright red 'Coke
Santa’, whose model adorns shopping plazas even today. The song of ‘Rudolph the
Red-nosed Reindeer’ became a hit in 1949 as did songs like "Jingle Bells,
Jingle Bells".
In this manner, Santa Claus travelled from Turkey to the
North Pole- to the length and breadth of the world, spreading happiness and
cheer.
Solar Eclipse
Annular Solar
Eclipse 2019 (Surya Grahan or Surya Parag) phenomenon took
place in India on 26 December. A solar eclipse occurs
when a portion of the Earth is engulfed in a shadow cast by the Moon which
fully or partially blocks sunlight. This occurs when the Sun, Moon and Earth
are aligned. There
are three types of eclipses (Surya Grahan) - partial, full and
annular. In a
full or total eclipse, the disk of the Sun is fully obscured by the Moon. In
partial and annular eclipses, only part of the Sun is obscured.
Ancient cultures
tried to understand why the Sun temporarily vanished from the sky, so they came
up with various reasons for what caused a solar eclipse. In many cultures, the
legends surrounding solar eclipses involve mythical figures eating or stealing
the Sun. Others interpreted the event as a sign of angry or quarreling gods.
In Vietnam, people
believed that a solar eclipse was caused by a giant frog devouring the Sun,
while Norse cultures blamed wolves for eating the Sun. In ancient China, a
celestial dragon was thought to devour the Sun, causing a solar eclipse. In
fact, the Chinese word of an eclipse, chih or shih, means to eat. Korean folklore offers another ancient
explanation for solar eclipses. It suggests that solar eclipses happen because
mythical dogs are trying to steal the Sun.
According to ancient
Hindu mythology, the deity Rahu is beheaded by the gods for capturing and
drinking Amrita,
the gods' nectar. Rahu's head flies off into the sky and swallows the Sun
causing an eclipse.
Across the world
many superstitions are involved with solar eclipse. Many people around the
world still see eclipses as evil omens that bring death, destruction, and
disasters. Fear of solar eclipses still exists.
A popular
misconception is that solar eclipses can be a danger to pregnant women and
their unborn children. In many cultures, young children and pregnant women are
asked to stay indoors during a solar eclipse.
In many parts of
India, people fast during a solar eclipse due to the belief that any food
cooked while an eclipse happens will be ‘impure’, possibly poisonous.
Scientists
and astronomers around the world have debunked such claims. There is no
scientific evidence that solar eclipses can affect human behavior, health, or
the environment. Scientists, however, do emphasize that anyone watching a solar
eclipse must protect their eyes.
Scientists and
science organisations across the world including in India have been trying to
make people aware of the science behind the eclipse.
Science Centers
across the country and organisations like Rajendra Deshi Chasa Gabesana Kendra
Niali in collaboration with Bigyana Chetana Mancha Odisha organised Surya Utsav
to watch solar eclipse. Unfortunately the sky was cloudy and eclipse could not
be viewed in Odisha. But strangely, Odisha State Government closed educational
institutions, offices and courts on 26 Dec. for solar eclipse. Events like this
should have been organised in every High School and college of the State
instead of closing them down. People should be encouraged to know what is solar
eclipse- rather than charlatans mystifying a natural phenomenon, creating a
situation ranging from awe to panic.
This could have
been an occasion to promote scientific temper. We lost it. Another example of
populism defeating reason and good sense.
Jayanta Mahapatra’s latest anthology of poems
Jayanta Mahapatra is one of the most widely known
Indian English poets of the modern period. Mahapatra, A.K.Ramanujam and Nissim
Ezekiel are considered to be the three founders of Indian English poetry. He is
the first Indian English poet to receive the Sahitya Academi Award in 1981.
 |
| Publisher: Bijayinee Publications, Cuttack. |
Born in October 1928 he finished his schooling
in Cuttack, completed his masters in Physics and became a lecturer. He began
writing poetry at the age of 38, quite late as compared to other poets.
But this late beginning does not in any way distort his
achievement. His poems have appeared in most of the reputed journals of the
world. He received the prestigious Jacob
Glatstein Memorial Award (Chicago) in 1975. His anthology of poems
include Close the Sky, Ten by Ten, Svayamvara & Other Poems, A Father's
Hours, A Rain of Rites, Waiting, The False Start & Life Sings.
He started writing poetry in Odia quite late in
his life and has been writing consistently and passionately.
At 91 years of age, he has just published an
anthology of Odia poems titled Aau Dasati
(Ten More). It is a slim anthology of just 24 pages containing ten of his
poems. I was fortunate to be in its launch ceremony and to receive an
autographed book by the poet himself.
Happy New Year
2019 has not
been a good year for India. Economy is down. Inflation is up. Prices of
essential commodities are rising.
Maharashtra episode showed the moral bankruptcy of our political class.
Hyderabad rape and police encounter episode exposed the problems of our justice
dispensation system and what could it lead to, if it is not addressed on a
priority basis. Students across the country are out on the street, when they
should be inside their class rooms and lab. Farmers are still in misery, many
of them are still caught in loan trap. The list can on and on.
But there is
that celestial feeling called hope. As day breaks in after darkest of night-
happiness would be there after misery. That is hope. Let’s hope the New Year
will bring happiness, peace and prosperity for the country.
Photo by
Subhojit Sarkar
Window Seat
I was searching for a quote on Window Seat for
my book of the same title to be published shortly- and I got this gem- by
Khalil Gibran, Lebanese-American writer, poet and visual artist, also
considered a philosopher although he himself rejected this title
“Many a doctrine is like a window pane. We see
truth through it but it divides us from truth.”
So true, so prophetic.
***
The
author, a journalist turned media academician lives in Central Odisha town of
Dhenkanal.
An
anthology of his weekly column Window
Seat, published in 2019 will be published as a book. Should you want a copy
with introductory discounted price, write to him at: mrinalchatterjee@ymail.com
