Out in the world so cold!

During the era of the Soviet Union and Mao China, the farmers had great pride in toiling the land to showcase their produce to the prosperity of the Motherland. The steel workers in Stalin gleamed from ear to ear when the steel yield reach yet another annual record.

The musician bleeds his fingers to give another mesmerising performance in the name of music. To him, music did not die with Buddy Holly and Ritchie Valens with the plane crash, but it lives on. The Bharatnatyam dancer grimaces as she executes another gravity defying posture to honour the spirit of the blissful union of Nataraja. Detractors vilify the dance as a glorification of the decadent lifestyles of the courtesans, but she would like to imagine it as the immersion of Divine powers of Siva and Shakti. Performers of the visual art do not mind shedding their tunic and ignoring the first sensation that man felt as they were outcast from the Garden of Eden, i.e. shame, all for the glory and development of the field of the performing arts.

The householder grinds his teeth listening to all the idiosyncrasies of the bosses. He knows that he has to keep his job to feed his young family. The young burn the midnight oil to chase the dream to uproot the family to a higher level of prosperity. The heartbroken and the wrongdoers indulge various self-cleansing activities to appease the Bigger Force above to offset their demerit point to gain a place amongst the virtuous.

They all engage in some kind of activity with a particular self-interest. They all hope to cajole the 'Big Other', an intangible unseen force that is beyond comprehension and attainment. They hope that the 'Big Other' would act fair, be gentle when the wheel of life turns. Are you under the scrutiny of the eye from the sky or all you all alone to fight your own battles?

Job well done, smoking 'em out of their foxholes?

Job well done smoking 'em out of their foxholes? 

Wow, I just realised that my friends are getting just as twisted as me. I guess that is why they say that friends with the same mental illness flock together. When a naturalised Sikh Canadian gets elevated to the rank of Minister of Defence, normally the whole world would sing praises of equality, of globalisation and acceptance of multiculturalism. That the world is everyone's oyster and all one has to do is show allegiance to a flag, bravery and the zest to fight for the Truth against the tyranny of Evil forces. There are two forces in this world, the Good and Evil. The Evil one is hellbent on crushing something good that the rest of the world (i.e. Good) is trying to propagate.

But, no! My friend looks at it as a betrayal to Sikh community.

The Sikhs have always had a special place in the heart of the people of the world. Before the Partition, Sikhs were the minority in the state of Punjab, overpowered in numbers by the Hindus and Muslims. But still, in Malaysia and most parts of the world, people are under the impression that Punjabis and Sikhs are one. That is speaking much of the charisma of the Sikhs.

At one time, the Malaysian wing of the Standard Chartered Bank used a Sikh security guard as their icon to denote their mammoth structure, steadfastness, strength and cordiality. Some time ago, I saw a public service announcement from India. A young demure girl walks along a deserted street in Chennai. She notices a few mean looking good-for-nothing punks on dirt bikes looking lustfully at this maiden. Thinking of the worst, with many unsavoury scenes of Kollywood and Bollywood flashing through her mind, she hastens her pace. She lets a sigh of relief when she sees another biker in front of her. The silhouette of the burly chap with a turban gives her hope. Hope that she has found a dependable soul to rest her woes. The motorcycle trotting punks, upon seeing their nemesis scoots off in no time.

Turbaned Tornado

So, the rest of the community looked at the Sikhs with awe, respect and confidence. What more, they, a small community, have done well. A Sikh in any part of the world is instantly recognised. These qualities must have used by the learned minister to garner accolades in the army. His CV includes the ability to infiltrate enemy territories to garner vital information to turn the outcome of the Gulf War to the side of self-proclaimed Protectors of the world.

Now, the trust is gone. He has put his whole community in danger. Until now, the Sikhs have not been targets of terrorist activities. Dumb actions by naive Americans who mistook Sikhs as Taliban do not count. The frustrated fundamentalists would now have another area to create mayhem. After all, it would mean to them that the Sikhs had turned over to the 'Other Side'!

Just food for thought...

My brush with the Other side*…Mariska Hargitay™**

6.5.2010
My brush with the Other side*…Mariska Hargitay™**

Over the weekend I was roped in (probably by divine intervention) to be an interpreter to a pious man who was addressing a predominantly non-Tamil speaking congregation at a home cleansing (housewarming) ceremony.
I arrived there with a lot of fanfare. As it was pouring cats and dogs en route to function, my family and I arrived fashionably late. Another faux pas moment happened here. I honked as I parked at the porch to get help to bring in the food and cutlery from the car, not knowing that the prayer was already in session! (Probably to the annoyance of the attendees, I suppose). Anyway, only after parking the car and entering the house did I realise the foot in the mouth moment.

Upon entry to the abode, I was whisked in like some kind of VIP to sit beside the holy man to help him to address the audience. And the sacrificial fire started burning…
The joist of the teaching of the day was (as interpreted by my unenlightened, non-vegetarian mind):

• From a time in memoriam, man has awed by creations around him and was puzzled about its origin and its creator. The elders and the learned told that the black rock (the Shivling) is the original rock representative of the Maker. And so our forefathers decided that it should be our guiding light.

-I have learnt from other sources that the Shivling also signifies the union of the two fundamental union of nature- the male and female components- Shiva and Shakthi.

• That the Shivling is within us. Through meditation and guidance, one can achieve a state of mind where one can be in control of his human desires, temptations and knowing what is right and wrong. And the Shivling will follow you wherever you go like a sun and the moon that can be seen at the four corners of the world.
• That the sound of the universe is the same as our breath – Aum

 -but, but…my simple mind says the universe is vacuum and sound waves need air to transmit!

• That life is a gamble. Everything you do involves risks, your daily duties, your marriage, your spouse from a different background, your relationships, etcetera. All this will progress well via divine intervention and through guided intervention of man and woman.-via religion discipline and self-control can be instilled, I suppose.

I guess we all know all of the above, but when a third person tells you it all makes sense. Just like when a piece of news gets repeated repeatedly, this piece of news becomes a fact of life, and when it is mentioned by a person in power, it becomes a doctrine! And when it whispered by a holy man, it becomes the divine truth. Amen.

*Otherside – Red Hot Chilli Peppers (2000)

**Phony Hindi greeting by Guru Pitka (Mike Myers) in the Love Guru (2008). Mariska Hargitay is actually the name of the leading actress in the Emmy Award-winning TV show Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. She is the daughter of the 1950s sex symbol, Jayne Mansfield.

N.B. The writings in italic are scribbling of my uncontrolled warped mind, excuse me!