People need to see that,
far from being an obstacle,
the world's diversity of languages, religions and traditions is a great treasure, affording us precious
opportunities to recognize
ourselves in others.

-Youssou N'Dour

Kartika Purnima

Kartika Purnima. marks the beginning of Bali Yatra, the day when ancient Sadhabas (Oriya mariners) would set sail to distant lands of Bali, as well as Java, Sumatra, Borneo (all in Indonesia), and Sri Lanka for trade and cultural expansion. They sailed in large vessels called Boitas (picture attached). Ajhala or big fabrics were used to carry the Boita or vessel...

The scientific cause of starting voyage on Kartika Purnima is to take leverage of the favorable wind blowing during this time. Ajhala or big fabrics were used to carry the Boita or vessels by wind.

 

The celebration continues for seven days. In Cuttack, Bali Jatra is celebrated annually as a large, open, fair near the Barabati Fort area. It is said to be the largest fair of Orissa statels by wind. The Sadhabas were given Grand send offs from Cuttak and Paradeep. Bali Jatra bears testimony to the rich maritime legacy of ancient Orissa. It is also known as Boita Bandana Utsab, or the "festival of boats". Today the linkage with Bali and other South East Asian Countries is still reflected in Orissa’s rich culture, textiles and handicrafts.

 

On Becoming the Poet You Were Meant to Become

(note to self)

Many poets are not poets
for the same reason that
many religious men are not saints:
they never succeed in being themselves.

They never get around to being the particular poet
or the particular monk they are intended to be by God.
They never become the man or the artist who is called
for by all the circumstances of their individual lives.

They waste their years in vain efforts
to be some other poet, some other saint…

They wear out their minds and bodies in a hopeless endeavor
to have somebody else's experiences or write somebody else's poems.

There is intense egoism in following everybody else.
People are in a hurry to magnify themselves
by imitating what is popular—
too lazy to think of anything better.

~Thomas Merton

Mythological story of my origin
Long long ago, in ‘satyuga’, Lord Shiva of Kailash wanted to marry the daughter of Himalaya, Parvati. A kumbha, pot was required for the marriage ceremony but not one of all those assembled knew how to make one. At least a Brahmin, Kulalak offered his services, From Lord Vishnu he took his sudarshan chakra to work on as a wheel, using the Mandar hillock as a pivot; from Lord Shiva his ghotana (pestel) for turning the wheel, langota, loin-cloth for mopping, Kamandalu, water jar, for holding the water, and also his jenua, the sacred thread for detaching the pot from the wheel. Lord Brahma offered the adi-kurma, primeval tortoise for smoothing the vessel and making use as scraper. And thus with these tools. Kulalak prepared pots and the marriage was duly performed. For all the time to come Kulalak had set the basic tools of the potter’s craft. Ever since his descendents have been called kumbhar.
The potter community i belong to

“Without pain, how could we know joy?' This is an old argument in the field of thinking about suffering and its stupidity and lack of sophistication could be plumbed for centuries but suffice it to say that the existence of broccoli does not, in any way, affect the taste of chocolate.”

I cannot explain what it is to have people like them in my life. Am blessed with a richness beyond compare in knowing them. They made a bad time in my life better and gave me the strength to move on. They challenged me, pushed me, prodded me and made me be better.They were my hope when I had none.

life

Some situations that happen in life ... we will only understand after many years ....

Sometimes we suffer ....

Cried ....

Question ....

And so it is with me, you ... with the strange ....

In this hour of anguish and suffering ....

grow emotionally ....

grow spiritually ...

and become more sensitive and often calmer ....

And over the years of my life ...

was not different ....

I understood many things ....

some are still with question mark???

but every day we climbed a rung on the ladder ...

And surely all those joys .... happened,

because we do not give up fighting for the obstacles that were placed....