Collecting Deities

Yesterday we stumbled on a flee market outside YMCA on Hope street. There was such a wide collection of household items, vases, planters, clothes, decorative items and what not. Some of it Indian - beautiful dupattas (scarves), cloth pieces used as table mats, beads. The most exciting however was this idol of Shiva. I have seen Ganesha, Buddha, and sometimes Krishna but this Shiva was the first one I saw in US outside of an Indian home or Indian reference. 

The idol in abhay mudra is well made with eyes painted beautifully expressing benevolence. Nandi on one side, Shivalinga on the other, damaru on the trident. 

The lady manning the booth had various Ganesha idols, a bull that looked more like Nandi than the bull outside New York stock exchange. It seems her friend collected deities and these were some of her finds on a trip to India. 

Siddis on the Indian Subcontinent

I found on Facebook the link for the online exhibition named African Diaspora in the Indian Ocean World on the New York Public Library's (NYPL) website. The exhibition is curated and hosted by the Schomburg Center for Research in Black History.

I have talked once in a while with my friends from South Africa about the people of African origin on the Indian subcontinent. I knew of them as Habashis who lived in Gujarat. I know that they came to India first as traders and seamen. However, I did not know anything about them beyond their existence. Habashis or the Abyssinians came to India from Ethiopia (Abyssinia). The exhibit mentions the port of Barygasa (modern day Bharuch, Gujarat) that was considered to be an Ethiopian town because of the east African traders who had settled there. So that is where my story of Africans in Gujarat came from I guess. I also knew of Siddis of Janjira but had not really thought of them as people from Africa.

The online exhibit put a lot of people and events I knew in perspective of the flow of people between different continents. This experience was similar to how things I already knew clicked in place when I was reading the book Sea of Poppies by Amitav Ghosh. I knew of the opium wars in China, the famines in Bengal, the British in Calcutta, history of Parsis in Bombay and so on but all of it clicked together in terms of actual people who moved between different places at that time and how happenings in one affected people in other far away places.

I could identify some of the historical happenings and names but did not know their African origin. For example, Ibn Batutta is a well known name for the record of his travels during 1300 A.D. in India, but I had not thought of his origins. He was a Moroccan. Malik Ambar, the formidable general during the Nizamshahi rule in the Deccan. I know of him but now I can place him in the overall migration, and movement of people from Ethiopia, to Arabia, to India as slaves, seamen, ivory traders. See the map of movement of people here.

The most surprising find was of the group of Habashi slaves from Goa when it was under Portuguese rule who ran away to Karanataka in free India. I had no awareness of these events. When we were growing up I heard stories of how my grandfather sneaked in and out of Goa during the Portuguese rule to see his relatives and friends and visit the temple of the family goddess. I never heard the story of the Habashis though. Now it is too late to ask him about them.

The online exhibition has a lot of images, paintings and photos - past and present that make this discovery interesting and more human than just reading the text.

The Schomburg Center also has an ongoing exhibition of images and artifacts open till July 6, 2013. Here is the information about it in case you are in NYC and are interested.



PS: Africa felt like a far away land when I was in India. I think I understand Africa (especially east Africa) differently now after coming to US in terms of where it is geographically in relation to the Indian subcontinent and how it is connected from land and sea.  Conncections that I did not clearly see before. I wonder if physically being on another continent changes the way you look at the world geographically. Or does the awareness come from the multi-national crowd and subjects I am exposed to in New York City and in Teachers College. 

India portrayed in Indian restaurants

We were visiting Rasoi, one of the Indian restaurants in Providence, with our friends from South Africa (via NYC). We have been frequenting Rasoi for their Sunday brunch. They have the best Indian food I have tasted in a while. They also have huge photos from India as decoration on their walls. I was pleasantly surprised and excited this time to see photos that seemed like they were taken in Maharashtra. On closer inspection I found a note about the exact location. Mandai!!! Who knew I would sit next to photos of women making garlands and a man selling onions taken in Mandai of all the places. For the people who do not get the reference, Mandai in Pune, my home town, is a marketplace bang in the middle of the old city. Well that description doesn't do justice to what Mandai and the whole experience of going to Mandai is all about.

These photos reminded me of other surprising visuals used for decorations in other restaurants.

The following two paintings are from a restaurant in Niagara falls, US. The paintings portray the Peshvas based in Pune, one of the important players on the political scene locally in Maharashtra in 18th century and possibly on the subcontinent during the reign of Bajirav Peshva in the first half of the 18th century. The romantic story of Bajirav and Mastani the courtesan is well know in Maharashtra. The other painting was that of the Shanivarvada, the fortified palace of the Peshvas in Pune. You can see only a part of it behind me in the second photo. I was quite surprised to see the Peshvas as visual representation of Indian. Even in India, many of the people outside Maharashtra do not know of the Maratha and Peshva history as the history books focus more on the dynasties based in Delhi and the Rajputs of the North western region.

The other painting that caught my eye and made me chuckle is in another restaurant in Providence - Not Just Snacks. The painting has all the symbols of 'exotic India' bringing together different pieces of place and time in an unusual collage - elephant, peacock, Tajmahal, coconut, palm, and mango trees,  a boy flying kite, a singer (Meerabai??) with a string instrument who is from some bygone era, and people who look like they are from northern India on the banks of a river (Ganga??) Oh and I forgot the deer mesmerized by the song Meerabai is playing/singing.  Mountains behind the Tajmahal, the river plains in the middle and I am assuming desert behind Meerabai.

Swastika again ...

It was Diwali week last week. A lot of people from home updated their facebook profile photos with images related to their Diwali celebrations. One of it was of a rangoli in the doorway with swastika in the center. I was wondering what people outside of India (Western countries) will associate it with.

I wrote a couple of blog posts some time (years?) back about Indian Swastika and Hitler's Hakenkreuz, after the swastika controversy in TC. I talked with people wherever I went, about the Indian Swastika and the meaning of the word itself (Swasti = wellbeing). I tried to unpack my feelings about how I feel when it is misrepresented as a symbol of hate. Talked with the office of diversity in Teachers College and told them I will help with the lecture they were planning about symbols and their meanings in different cultures, in the hope that I can talk about the difference between the Indian Swastika, the meaning of the word and how it differs from Hitler's symbol of SS. 

Nothing much has changed after that. In the Diwali packet I got a sticker imitating Rangoli design. At both ends of the colorful strip are two swastikas. Rangoli designs are drawn for various reasons. The ones in the doorway like my sister sent, are to bring happiness, prosperity and feeling of festivity. The ausipicious symbol of a swastika, the name of which itself means 'wellbeing' is generally a given in such drawings. I obviously would not be putting it in my doorway in US for the fear that people will label me fascist, anti-Semite. I don't know how I feel about this. I am not a big fan of Rangoli stickers (I rather draw whatever I feel like everyday) but the matter of am I free to draw or stick a swastika on my door (in the context of a rangoli) without being labeled anti-Semite still remains.

As I said nothing has changed.

Obama’s visit to India: Images perceived and portrayed

Some points that came up in the media coverage about perceived and redefined image of India

- Obama rejects view of India as "land of call centers"

- The United States sees Asia, especially India, as the market of the future

- India the land of cold-start (the Loch Ness monster that most of the Indians don’t know they have)

- India the victim of 2008 Mumbai attacks. (Just so that US can proclaim ‘India and US were united against terrorism’)

- On the other hand it is a giant ogling Pakistan on which US needs to put pressure so as to placate Pakistan and get its support in the ‘war against terrorism’

Culinary Adventures

I have been watching Anthony Bordain on Netflix, off and on this year. It is nice to experience various regions through his culinary adventures. I also like and very much appreciate the idea of knowing the culture through its food.

During my first couple of years in New York, we used to hold potlucks where everybody brought one traditional dish from their country, region or family tradition. We also planned food excursions where a group of us will go to experience a particular type of cuisine. All of it on a student budget. I have been fortunate in finding a multicultural and multinational group of friends to share my food passion with.  From my South African friend’s pot of curry with star anise to my Chinese friends taking me to their favorite dumpling place, my Turkish friend introducing me to the dolma, baklava, halva, and  grape leaves,  Korean friend making a special dish of dduk bok ki and the list can go on.

The funny part is that the dduk bok ki and the potluck party around it was planned because one of our American friend craved for it. She was the one who actually introduced me to this fantastic Korean food. Similarly my Turkish friend introduced me to Sushi and sashimi. We are truly an international bunch here with transnational experiences. 

I love exploring people and cultures through food as everything is connected to food. Food opens up conversations about life experiences. Once I took my South African friend to an Indian Grocery store. She saw Maltova there and was super excited. She used to eat Maltova as a kid and her kids like it too. So I learnt the stories of her childhood and her kids growing up in SA. Sharing of Shevayachi Kheer is another such instance. She knows it as Buba (?). Something her Muslim neighbors and her mother’s Muslim friends shared with them on Eid. And then we talked about the friendships between various ethnic and religious groups, traditions that were borrowed and shared, the chat coming back full circle to the spices and culinary influences they have on each other and to her famous curry with star anise.

I went for a potluck dinner last night with a couple of friends welcoming parents of another friend.  We had a nice spread, Marcel’s curry, Amina’s okra, cauliflower rassa, and a medley Aisha brought. The dinner was topped with Amina’s famous fruit cream and wonderful conversation. Everyone talking about their culture, customs and stories of their life.  It was nourishment for the soul. A parallel session of mendi (henna) designs helped as well to un-clutter the mind.

We haven’t been doing this as frequently as we should. Everybody busy with their research, life, and all the stresses that are part of a doctoral student’s life. May be that is what I need. Another culinary adventure. Table full of food from all over the world, conversations as varied as the food.  Perfect therapy for weary soul.

Selctive media hype of terrorism

I was pretty surprised to see the news of the Pune blast on the homepage of NY times yesterday. The article claimed that these are the first major attacks after Mumbai attacks in 2008. I wonder what makes attacks major or warrants attention in western media. Nobody seems to be bothered by attacks in the north east. Is it because they did not involve foreigners or there was no proximity of any shabad house? Are the lives of Indians and attacks on their religious places inconsequential?

Today the article has added this sentence "Any sign of Pakistani attack would worsen relations between the two nuclear rivals and further destabilize a region overshadowed by war in Afganistan." Now-a-days, the 'nuclear rivals' has become a necessary phrase whenever the US media talks about India or Pakistan. It is amazing how none of the other nations with nuclear warheads are ever mentioned in this manner when a conflict arises on their land or of their making. Why this obsession of again and again mentioning the n word? Is this the age old strategy of a media hype followed by a US intervention I am seeing in making?

I also wonder how people/media conveniently forget to mention that US which at present is responsible and actively involved in military conflict in at least two contries itself has nuclear warheads.

PS: Sakal, a local newspaper in the state of Maharashtra reported that Chairman of the Joint Chief of Staff Mike Mullen said that countries of the world should intervene to smooth relations between India and Pakistan. I know there must be something lost in translation from English to Marathi and then to English. But you can't deny that it fuels my fear about US intervention. I am trying to find the original quote in English but haven't found it yet.