Spirited Materialism

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Bindi'ed Buying Spree

After the temple visits -- I forgot to mention that Ganesh had a bright, red swastika painted on his forehead -- Pat and I set out to boost the Indian economy a bit.

Everything about yesterday countered what I was taught in my Modern Orthodox Jewish day school for the eight years I attended it:

Do not admire or enter other people's houses of worship lest you be suspected to be leaving your own tradition for theirs; do not appear to worship anything remotely idol-like; participate only in Jewish, and no other religions', rituals; do not ride on the Sabbath; do not spend money on the Sabbath....

I wasn't being willful -- just less observant than I learned to be as a kid....Still, I felt in violation of traditions I had been taught...though not sufficiently to keep me from what I wished to do during my Day of Rest.

In addition, I had a new sort of religious anxiety yesterday: Our driver is Hindu and I didn't want to offend him by wiping off the bindi, and so I wore it all day long. Into G.K. Vale to get my Trivandrum photos developed; into Gangarams Book Bureau; into the Cauvery Gift Centre of government-sponsored hand-crafts; into Hatricks Sports shop; into Planet M....I wondered if Hindus who've been to a temple go shopping afterwards, or if my fresh bindi was mocking Hinduism through its accompaniment of me in my materialistic pursuits.

Lovely Leisure

Right or wrong, yesterday was pleasurable nearly beyond how I've allowed myself to let go in India so far. Other than the night of dancing on the beach in Trivandrum with my colleagues earlier this week, until this weekend, I have been pushing, pushing, pushing myself with nearly no break; it was worth it from a work and school achievement standpoint, but I did finally listen to my mom about being kinder to myself in terms of re-gaining some balance.

We bought some gifts for loved ones and a number of gifts for ourselves, too. I bought three books, Corridor, which I relished and finished last night; Dance Like a Man by Mahesh Dattani, which I've just started; and The Diary of a Maidservant / Ek Naukrani Ki Diary by Krishna Baldev Vaid, which I've also just started.

We bought a bunch of DVDs and CDs, too, including *The Namesake,* which was touching, but not one of my all-time favorite movies by a long-shot; "Jana Gana Mana: Exclusive renderings of the [Indian] National Anthem by the musical maestros of India;" "Shooter," starring Mark Wahlberg, who we like; "Glory Road;" "Lagaan: Once upon a time in India;" "Perfect Stranger," starring Halle Berry and Bruce Willis; and three for 500 rupees: "Against All Odds," with Jeff Bridges and Rachel Ward; "America's Sweethearts," with Julia Roberts, Billy Crystal, Catherine Zeta-Jones; and John Cusack; and "London," with people we've never heard of and Jessica Biel.

I bought some remarkable jewelry at the Cauvery Gift Centre, including sterling silver pieces with iridescent Labradorite, Black Onyx and Mother of Pearl.

Music Thrills

My guiltiest pleasure yesterday: Buying pop CDs. I always love the compilations I get in other countries compared to what I find in the United States. I bought "Klub Arabia, The Biggest Hits from the Clubs of Arabia;" "Popcorn: 38 tracks that still snap pop and crack you up!" including Erasure's "Oh L'Amour," Carl Douglas' "Kung Fu Fighting" and Musical Youth's "Pass the Dutchie," a favorite of mine from high school; "Sandstorm," including tracks by a group called the "Bombay Rockers;" "Disco Desi," which includes a track called "Moksh" by a group called "Whosane;" and "Best World Music Album * in the world ever! *," which was produced by EMI Music India and most of the tunes of which seem to originate from India.

Whenever I hear "Pass the Dutchie," I feel like I'm with the singers on a Carribean ocean-front beach. Escaping that way was especially welcome when the song was a hit, in the Fall of '82, when my dad was dying. On the same CD, I'm now listening to Modern Talking's "Cheri Cheri Lady," which reminds me of dancing at Bar Aton, a club on the Mt. Scopus campus of Hebrew University in Jerusalem, throughout 1985/5746.

Please, God, may I always be able to hear music, in 2007/5768 and for the rest of my life....I wish all of you could hear Maduar's fun "Hafanana," playing on Klub Arabia in my ThinkPad right now. Effectively, you can.