Prologue
The following post is a product of my attendance at the screening of Kadvi Hawa (Dark Wind presented by Shakti Sustainable Energy Foundation and Eleeanora Images at Indian Habitat Centre and a talk by Devdutt Pattnaik on 'From Apollo to Dionysus, Vishnu to Shiva: Mythological Connections Between India and Greece' at India International Centre on 21st March 2017.
"Every Culture is trying to understand itself. Culture is a reaction to nature" ~Devdutt Pattnaik [EAST vs. WEST, The Myths that Mystify]
Continuing with the thread, The Winds of Desire. The same day i.e. 21st March 2017, after I left IHC (Indian Habitat Centre), I walked the lanes leading to IIC (India International Centre). It's always great to walk the lanes of Jor Bagh.There are trees, withered yellow leaves scattered on the roads, huge bungalows who have their inner secrets playing inside, and then there are cars which I just want to stare at.
I reached IIC at about 6:10 PM. I knew that the Seminar Hall 1, 2, 3 where it was supposed to be held, the talk by Pattnaik would be packed before 6:30 PM. It was indeed 'Housefull'. Fortunately, I grabbed a seat. I continued reading, The Narrow Road to the Deep North (This is the reason I carry a book always. I visit talks & fests alone, mostly, books are my natural companion then. Whenever there's a delay in the show, read. When there's someone else who also happens to be a reader will approach you and talk to you. And you become friends instantly. Provided that you do not hide the book cover!)
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At about 6:35 PM entered Devdutt Pattnaik in his usual attire. He's fun, pot-bellied, Hindu deity Ganesha type. The anchor introduced Mr Pattnaik to us and also welcomed PANOS KALOGEROPOULOS, The Ambassador of Greece to India. [The event was sponsored by the Greek Embassay]
Honestly, I was way too impressed by The Ambassador who spoke about the relations, India and Greece share. He's not at all political about it and there's no hidden agenda in it as well. He just plainly highlighted the shared culture we've. The first foreign influence in India was Greek influence. Many of the influences in writing which he pointed out were mentioned by Pattnaik.
I forgot the name of the mythologist which he mentioned (If anyone of you, readers, know about it please do let me know!). He mentioned some, Dmitri X (Not even sure if it was Dmitri either, his heavy accent didn't help much!) who spent his lifetime in Varanasi and did a great deal of work in Hindu Mythology in 1833.
Then the anchor called 'the man's' name who has 30 books to his credit and that Olympus: An Indian retelling of the Greek Myths is his 30th book and that he'd published almost seven thousand blogs.
After a thunderous applause, we welcomed Mr. Pattnaik. Mr. Pattnaik was very kind in requesting anyone standing to occupy the ground and be comfortable.
As soon as he started with the presentation. All lights went out and he was mumbling and waving his hand, नहीं नहीं नहीं नहीं.... . But the lights went out, after a second a light over his head was lightened up. He amusingly welcomed the move and said, 'I'm important'. The crowd burst into laughter.
The first talk which I can remember of Devdutt Pattnaik which I first watched was EAST vs. WEST, The Myths that Mystify. Then I found other Ted talks (Not Quite Avatar and the Indian approach to Business among the others) watching them I was as flabbergasted as I was when I first watched East vs. West, to me he became an image which is insurmountable. I ordered his book Myth=Mithya and once I started reading I didn't close it till I was done with it.
With that admiration and respect, I was eager to hear from Mr. Pattnaik. And in no way the talk was disappointing. It kept all the promises. I was surprised to know the similarities between Greek and Indian mythology.
He talked about Zeus, Olympus, Alexander, Oedipus amongst others. About Trojan war. The similarity between the wars which warlords fought. The beginning slide was the comparison between the sea god of Greek Mythology and Indian counterpart, Varuna.
The highlight of the talk was 'appreciate the differences and celebrate the similarities'. He welcomed the subjectivity. He heavily talked about the idea of culture and humanity. He said if you're very possessive about the idea of 'Culture' you'll fight. One or the other of you will say, 'Mine is better than yours'. Which is why we've so many wars today. This I found was quotable. There're many occasions when he pulled the leg of the current government and how if he'll openly declare that some parts of our mythology are influenced by Greek, he'll be shunned. But he cracked the joke by saying, 'I won't do so and I'm safe!."
One more interesting thing he shared was that the idea of EQUALITY and JUSTICE are borrowed ones. EQUALITY is borrowed from Greeks and JUSTICE from Abrahamic mythology. He said these ideas are NOT universal and are perceived differently in different situations. And to see them as one which is given in an absolute way is to demean the very origin.
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I forgot the name of the mythologist which he mentioned (If anyone of you, readers, know about it please do let me know!). He mentioned some, Dmitri X (Not even sure if it was Dmitri either, his heavy accent didn't help much!) who spent his lifetime in Varanasi and did a great deal of work in Hindu Mythology in 1833.
Then the anchor called 'the man's' name who has 30 books to his credit and that Olympus: An Indian retelling of the Greek Myths is his 30th book and that he'd published almost seven thousand blogs.
After a thunderous applause, we welcomed Mr. Pattnaik. Mr. Pattnaik was very kind in requesting anyone standing to occupy the ground and be comfortable.
As soon as he started with the presentation. All lights went out and he was mumbling and waving his hand, नहीं नहीं नहीं नहीं.... . But the lights went out, after a second a light over his head was lightened up. He amusingly welcomed the move and said, 'I'm important'. The crowd burst into laughter.
The first talk which I can remember of Devdutt Pattnaik which I first watched was EAST vs. WEST, The Myths that Mystify. Then I found other Ted talks (Not Quite Avatar and the Indian approach to Business among the others) watching them I was as flabbergasted as I was when I first watched East vs. West, to me he became an image which is insurmountable. I ordered his book Myth=Mithya and once I started reading I didn't close it till I was done with it.
With that admiration and respect, I was eager to hear from Mr. Pattnaik. And in no way the talk was disappointing. It kept all the promises. I was surprised to know the similarities between Greek and Indian mythology.
He talked about Zeus, Olympus, Alexander, Oedipus amongst others. About Trojan war. The similarity between the wars which warlords fought. The beginning slide was the comparison between the sea god of Greek Mythology and Indian counterpart, Varuna.
The highlight of the talk was 'appreciate the differences and celebrate the similarities'. He welcomed the subjectivity. He heavily talked about the idea of culture and humanity. He said if you're very possessive about the idea of 'Culture' you'll fight. One or the other of you will say, 'Mine is better than yours'. Which is why we've so many wars today. This I found was quotable. There're many occasions when he pulled the leg of the current government and how if he'll openly declare that some parts of our mythology are influenced by Greek, he'll be shunned. But he cracked the joke by saying, 'I won't do so and I'm safe!."
One more interesting thing he shared was that the idea of EQUALITY and JUSTICE are borrowed ones. EQUALITY is borrowed from Greeks and JUSTICE from Abrahamic mythology. He said these ideas are NOT universal and are perceived differently in different situations. And to see them as one which is given in an absolute way is to demean the very origin.
And about Law, he commented that the justice lady which is heavily used as a pomp-pomp item in dramatic movies or 'Insaaf Ki Devi' is actually Greek goddess of 'Good Counsel' Themis. Originally she was not blindfolded. The influence of Christian myth did the alteration and we adopted the alternated version.
One of the slides was very interesting was the one where on the left he depicted a coin where a diminutive figure was carved on it. The coin was supposed to be circulated by Indo-Greek Warlords Yavanas who ruled the northern part of the modern India (originally Pakistan, Afghanistan, India and Turkmenistan). The diminutive figure is of a boy having a Chakra. The coin is 2200 years old. Was that the influence of the modern Indian Krishna figure, which was shown on the right side, with Chakra in his forefinger?
One of the slides was very interesting was the one where on the left he depicted a coin where a diminutive figure was carved on it. The coin was supposed to be circulated by Indo-Greek Warlords Yavanas who ruled the northern part of the modern India (originally Pakistan, Afghanistan, India and Turkmenistan). The diminutive figure is of a boy having a Chakra. The coin is 2200 years old. Was that the influence of the modern Indian Krishna figure, which was shown on the right side, with Chakra in his forefinger?
In one of the slides, he talked about the differences in the idea of 'Nirvana' in both mythologies. Greeks have the idea that 'this' is the only life they have. You live only once. And after the death, you've to cross the river Styx. Depending on how you've done in your life which is verified by three judges. They're sent to heaven, Elysium or sent to Tartarus. However, in other mythology, you need two judges (I'm terribly sorry, I didn't take a note of this). In Christian only one.
He amusingly declared to which there was laughter in unison from the audience. He said, "In the Indian context, we don't need any Judge, we've an ACCOUNTANT. [Laughter] We need to have a proper balance sheet and depending on the figures from your account, You'll be sent to hell or heaven". And that that's a vicious circle. Because Indian myth is based on the idea of a 'CYCLIC' life against the 'LINEAR' life of Greek myth.
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Pic Courtsey: Myself
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The best punchline was we need to look and closely observe that on the whole that segment, an arc of a circle is also a linear one, a tangent to the circle. This is the game of perception, you and people perceive differently. Appreciate it.
You can read whatever interests you but don't mistake mythology fiction writer as a historian.
ReplyDeleteIt takes serious efforts to understand our past, to know what really happened, why did that happen, how cultures are shaped, why different societies evolved the way they are, etc. The truth about the wars and the societies because the winners write the history.
If you are a knowledge lover, try some serious stuff. There is plenty of it.
:)
Hi Anonymous, thanks for reading the blog and painstakingly leaving a comment. Appreciate it. But while I do not appreciate the first line. I have not mentioned that Mr. Pattnaik is a historian. I just attended a talk and I've blogged about it.
DeleteI am interested in knowing what shaped the Earth, how and when language happened to us, how cultures first appeared like they do and we can distinguish people based on the culture they practice and how it evolved. I'm sure I'll find good books about it.
Thanks for stopping by. Cheers. Have a good life ahead