I Shot the Buddha (Dr. Siri Paiboun #11) – Colin Cotterill
Laos, 1979: Retired coroner Siri Paiboun and his wife, Madame Daeng, have never been able to turn away a misfit. As a result, they share their small Vientiane house with an assortment of homeless people, mendicants, and oddballs. One of these oddballs is Noo, a Buddhist monk, who rides out on his bicycle one day and never comes back, leaving only a cryptic note in the refrigerator: a plea to help a fellow monk escape across the Mekhong River to Thailand.
Naturally, Siri can’t turn down the adventure, and soon he and his friends find themselves running afoul of Lao secret service officers and famous spiritualists. Buddhism is a powerful influence on both morals and politics in Southeast Asia. In order to exonerate an innocent man, they will have to figure out who is cloaking terrible misdeeds in religiosity.
Today is the festival of Avani Avittam and Raksha Bandhan. Both are festivals which are male centric festivals and which come on the same day each year. I have written about both festivals previously so will not go into the details here. I have always wondered why two diverse festivals – one celebrated in North India and the other mostly in South India, which are possibly the only festivals in the respective cultures which are a celebration of the male gender fall on the same day. Recently I had a ephipany. In both these festivals, the star of the show, if we can call it that, are threads that bind us to our loved ones, to our traditions and to our roots.
During Avani Avittam, which typically falls on the full moon day of the Shravan month, male Brahmin men and boys who have had their thread ceremony done, reaffirm their faith as a twice born and by changing their sacred thread, they symbolically throw away their sins of the previous year and start the year on a clean slate.
The festival is one of the most auspicious festivals for Brahmins and the day is an important one for those who follow the Yajurveda as on this day they start reading Yajur Veda, which they continue to read for the next six months. It is believed that on Avani Avittam, Lord Vishnu has reincarnation himself as Lord Hayagriya, who is seen as the symbol of wealth and knowledge. On this day, God Vishnu who is worshiped as the high deity power actually restored the Vedas to Brahma.
There is a story behind these sacred threads. Lord Brahma, the creator was filled with pride for knowing the entire Veda. Lord Vishnu to crush his pride created two demons Madhu and Kaitabha to steal Vedas from him. Brahma then not being able to save Vedas, he asked Vishnu to help him restore it. Lord Vishnu took the form of Hayagriva and restored the Vedas and supressed the pride of Brahma. Hence, Hayagriva incarnation is associated with knowledge and wisdom.This day is celebrated as Upakarma(Beginning) also called as Hayagriva utpatti. Restoration of Vedas is known as a mark of new beginning and hence Upakarama is celebrated.This day is also referred as Hayagriva Jayanti.
The sacred thread comprises of three strands, joined by a knot known as Brahmagranthi or the knot of Brahma. The three strands symbolise the Hindu trinity – Shiva, Vishnu and Brahma. There are other interpretations which represent many of the other triads like Mahasaraswati, Mahalakshmi and Mahakali; or the three tendencies known as sattva or harmony, rajas or passion and tamas or chaos. You could also interpret the three strands as the link between the past, present and the future or the three states of wakefulness, dream and deep sleep. Some even say that it represents the three dimensions known as heaven or swarga, earth or martyaloka and the nether regions or patala. The sacred thread is also a kind of an indication to the marital status of the wearer. An unmarried man will wear one thread of three stands, a married man will wear two and a married man who has had his first child will wear three. In the old days, when most men did not wear a upper garment, this was the indicator people had about their marital status and if they had any children.
This year, the ceremony of changing the sacred thread was done online at our home. S and BB woke up early and after completing their morning prayers, sat down in front of the laptop where they joined others across the island on a video platform where the resident priest chanted the mantras and went through the ceremony with them. We also received the new sacred thread by post last week after signing up and paying for the ceremony online.
BB had to rush for school, so GG quickly tied her thread of love on his wrist before he headed out of the house.
These are the threads that tie us to our roots and our traditions. I call these ceremonies and functions our anchors because without them, we are left floundering and rootless. Especially in today’s world which is so uncertain and vague, it is good to hold on to traditions that are special to you. Your lineage, irrespective of where you come from, goes back at least a few hundred years, if not millennia, so be proud of who you are and where you come from, so you can show your children and your grandchildren where they can go to.
Happy Raksha Bandhan and Avani Avittam to everyone celebrating these festivals.
August has snuck up and things are pretty much the same. BB & GG are mostly doing home based learning and going to school only when needed. In fact last week, BB had one class at home and then had an hour to make it to school for his next class. He made it with minutes to spare. S could not drop him to school because he had a call at that exact same time.
Over the Hari Raya weekend, we went suit shopping for GG as she has a presentation this week. We ended up buying everything – a skirt, shirt, jacket and shoes so she can look the part when she goes for her presentation. The module actually some points for dressing and appearance so hopefully that is taken care of.
Singapore has about close to 53,000 cases as of now with about 47,000 of those having recovered. Worldwide, 17.5 million people have been infected with nearly 700,000 deaths and more than 10 million people having recovered from the virus. India is still at number three position with 1.6 million infected people with 1 million people who have recovered.
Of course being home for months together has impacted pretty much everyone. Work-Life balance has taken a complete hit and I can see this pretty much everywhere. Many people I know, including S, start working quite early, almost as soon as they wake up, and this goes on till the end of the day when they go to bed. Stuck at home, hunched over a laptop, it is easy to forget health. At times like this, we sit for far too long, eat at irregular intervals and eat a lot of junk food. Let’s not forget that interaction with anyone other than family members is via a screen, so that sense of interaction with friends and colleagues is also missing which is not really good for our mental health. So take care of your helath, there are some stories of individuals who have used this time to turn around their lives.
That’s all from us this week. Take care people and stay safe!
Where the Desert Meets the Sea – Werner Sonne, translated by Steve Anderson
Jerusalem, 1947: Judith, a young Jewish survivor of the Dachau concentration camp, arrives in Mandatory Palestine, seeking refuge with her only remaining relative, her uncle. When she learns that he has died, she tries to take her own life in despair.
After awakening in the hospital, Judith learns that Hana, a Muslim Arab nurse, has saved her life by donating her own blood. While the two women develop a fragile bond, each can’t help but be drawn deeper into the political machinations tearing the country apart. After witnessing the repeated attacks inflicted on the Jews, Judith makes the life-changing decision to join the Zionist fight for Jerusalem. And Hana’s star-crossed love for Dr. David Cohen, an American Jew out of his element and working only to save lives, will put her own life in danger.
Then the political situation worsens. When tensions erupt, a shocking act of violence threatens Judith and Hana’s friendship—and the destinies of everyone they love.
Dal Dhokli is a warm and comforting food from Gujarat. One day, during Singapore’s Circuit Breaker, I woke up with a craving for a dish I had never made. So I decided to make it and this dish pleasantly surprised me. It was warm and comforting and a wonderful addition to my repertoire. You can have this as a hearty soup like we did or over rice as some people do.
Dal Dhokli
Ingredients:
1 cup Toovar Dal, washed ½ tsp turmeric powder 1 tsp red chilli powder 1 tomato 4-5 cups water plus more, as needed 1 tsp jaggery 2-3 tbsp lemon juice 4 tbsp raw peanuts 1 cup whole wheat flour or atta 2 tbsp chickpea flour or besan 1 tsp caraway seeds or ajwain 2 tbsp ghee 1 tbsp oil 2 green chillies, slit lengthwise 1 tsp mustard seeds ¼ tsp asafoetida powder 1 sprig curry leaves Salt to taste Finely chopped coriander leaves to garnish
Method:
Soak about 2 tbsp of the raw peanuts in hot water for 15 minutes, drain and keep aside. Wash the dal thoroughly and cook it in the pressure cooker along with ¼ tsp turmeric powder, 1 tsp red chilli powder, 2 tbsp peanuts, the tomato which has a cross made on the stem and about 3-4 cups of water. Pressure cook it for some 4-5 whistles until the dal is completely mushed. If using the stove top, cook until the dal has broken down completely. Let the pressure be released and then once the cooker can be opened, carefully remove the tomato, peel the skin which should have started to come out and then put the tomato back into the dal. Whisk the dal until the dal, tomatoes and the peanuts are completely mixed into a mixture. Keep aside. Kneed the atta, besan, ajwain, ¼ tsp turmeric powder, oil and salt into a soft dough. Keep aside. Add the jaggery and another cup or two of water and mix well. Put this back into the flame and cook the dal on a slow simmer. Make small balls from the dough and roll it into a thin circle or chapati. Cut the chapatti into largish pieces or even strips. Add these pieces into the simmering dal and add more water if needed. Let the pieces cook for another 10 mins on a low flame on simmer. In a small pan heat the ghee and once the ghee is warm, add the mustard seeds and let it crackle. Then add the asafoetida and then the balance peanuts, the curry leaves and the green chilli let the leaves crackle and the chilli start to brown. When the peanuts become crisp, pour this tempering over the Dal Dhokli and switch off the gas. Add the lemon juice and garnish with coriander leaves. Serve hot.
Notes: This dish does not keep well as the dough pieces tend to stick together after a while. If you plan on serving this later, then make the dal and about 10 minutes before serving, add the dough pieces and simmer before serving. Add more water if needed as the dough pieces will soak up the water in the dish.
Memories and Such 