Indian Samurai इंडियन सामुराई

Indigo is an Indian low-cost, my favorite. Brand new planes, a nice TV ad and they are regularly on time.

When I went back and forth to Bhubaneshwar, I found the stewardesses’ haircuts weird: how could they all have short hair? I looked and looked and finally I was sure: they wear wigs!! Poor things... 

 I took Indigo later on and all the hostesses were not wearing the wig but on that flight to Orissa, we felt on Pan Am airline in the thirties! 

 What is even weirder than the wig is the short haircut which is still not common at all in India. It is for “easy girls”. Hostesses to make people fantasize? Another thing I noticed: no steward, only women!!

And still for Indigo, here is the recruitment ad – the requirements are the same for all the companies. It includes a “clear complexion”. Americans would love that: straight to court!! 

 …I arrived in India…

 Here are 2 dialogues quite typical when non-Indian people ask me for how long I have been in India. The 1^st one is usually with a non-Indian who 1. has never been in India, 2. visited India on holidays and 3. has just arrived in India. And the 2^nd is with a non-Indian person who has had some brush with India…

 

-          5 years?? You must be in love with India no?

-          Euh… No. I don’t adore her, I don’t hate her, I have just found a (small) place here.

 

-          5 years?? How did you do it?? (meaning, how are you still holding on?)

-          Euh… I have found a professional and affective balance here. And after 5 years of introspection – I spend a lot of my time with myself! – I think I may have even found some kind of inner balance!!

To celebrate, I decided to select a picture of every place I have been to during my personal trips. It took me a lot of time but gave me the opportunity to kind of travel there a second time and moreover to realise that I have seen some out-of-this-world things!! Maybe it is also why I have been staying ;)

So here is my patchwork (there is an album (see on the right) where the detail of the places where the pictures were taken is mentioned); there are pictures that meant something to me, not necessarily very touristic and none has been photoshoped:

http://www.indiansamourai.com/album/india-in-100-pics/

 

Click on the picture to enlarge it.

 

Places I have visited out of personal interest...

Last month I brought foreign guests to a Hindu temple in Delhi (Chattarpur Mandir). They were amazed by the noise (that particular temple had 6 TVs blasting music!). We are far from the pious meditation of churches… It is also much less clean – this is a known-fact, not a criticism!

 

There are a lot of visuals in Hindu mythology and I was quite amazed by the giant stage (at least 10 meters wide). It is definitely more fun than Catholic statues, but how more kitsch can you do??!

 

So here is Vishnu (the preserver of the universe) and his wife Lakshmi (who brings good fortune). Vishnu is basically resting – as he does 6 months of the year, dixit my colleague – on his coiled serpent which protects him. And his wife his massaging his feet which is very often representated…

 

Vishnu

In the basic Hindu Trinity of Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva, the Hindu god Vishnu is the preserver and protector of creation. Vishnu is the embodiment of mercy and goodness, the self-existent, all-pervading power that preserves the universe and maintains the cosmic order Dharma.

 

Most often, the Hindu god Vishnu is shown with four attributes or weapons. In one hand he holds the conch or Sankha. The second hand of Vishnu holds the disc. The third hand of Vishnu holds the club and in the fourth hand Vishnu holds the lotus. Vishnu also has a bow and a sword.

 

Lakshmi

As soon as the gods saw Lakshmi, they all fell in love with her beauty. Shiva claimed Lakshmi as his wife, but since he had already taken the Moon, her hand was given to Vishnu, whom Lakshmi herself preferred.

Lakshmi was reborn as his consort each time when Vishnu incarnated. For example, Lakshmi was Sita to Rama, Radha and later Rukmini to Krishna.

 

Source :

http://www.sanatansociety.org/hindu_gods_and_goddesses/lakshmi.htm