Indian Samurai इंडियन सामुराई

Every year I go see Ganesh departure in the sea… (The idea here is that Ganesh, the God with an elephant head, comes in people’s homes every year and after a couple of days (up to 10) he leaves, carrying everbody’s sins with him in the purifying water.)

But for the first time I went at night on the main day of immersion…

Walking home took me two hours. Partly because it was overcrowded (especially Juhu Tara Road where all the processions happen) and partly because I was so busy filming!

It was amazing to see the joy, the fervour, the passion!

People also kept coming to my mini video camera and smiled and sang.

My ass got groped only twice which is a performance seeing the number of people gathered…

A truly energising and incredible experience!

Pictures of my previous Ganapati festivals are here. 

Here is the short version (10 min) of the 2 hours of shooting I did:

And here the long (30 minute) version!

I just got to know that the couple Russell Brand and Kate Perry got engaged and then married in India last year…

I quite like the engagement story! (Who wouldn’t??)

“After a whirlwind, four-month romance, Russell popped the question to Katy with a £30,000 Cartier gold and diamond sparkler, during a romantic break in [Jaipur] India. Russ treated his bride-to-be to the Christmas getaway and then proposed during a meticulously planned ceremony on New Year's Eve. The pair drank champagne and ate by candlelight, watching fireworks at midnight from the back of an elephant. Sneaky Russell hid Katy's two-carat rock among the flowers in their candlelit private garde.”

Then, as far as the wedding is concerned, they made

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A philosophy I quite like:

"Although it would be ridiculous to say that eroticism in art or religion began in any one place, it is certain that the specific philosophy known as “Tantra” began in India. It also reached its highest artistic

expression there. Tantric art reached its zenith in the temples dedicated to Shiva at Khajuraho and Orissa.

“Tantra” is a Sanskrit word taken from the root tan-, “to expand.”

“Tantrism” is a form of religious practice that takes elements from its Vedic roots and combines them with elements of Buddhism and Hinduism to form a synthesis with universal roots. Elements of Tantra date back nearly 5,000 years to the Harappan Culture (Indus Valley Civilization, c. 2300–1700 B.C.)

Invasions by the Huns, the Moslems, and Victorian soldiers led to an end of the flowering of Tantrism in India. It continues to this day, but nothing could rival the expression Tantrism found in the Northern Medieval period in India.

Tantra involves esoteric sacramental practice. For instance sexual intercourse is

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