Skip to main content

Our car was blessed, an Erin Report

By












Our beautiful beach-beater came to us via Ali, who was letting her go because he was selling most belongings before returning to India for the next few months. When we first drove her as our own, I reached up and began to peel away a golden sticker from the inside of the windshield. I quickly stopped myself and we have since come to love the three Hindu deities that adorn our Accord. I'm not superstitious, nor do I worship Hindu gods/goddesses, but something about taking a sticker off that was put there as part of a Hindu blessing ritual made me feel like I'd be ending our good luck streak.

I did a little research on Hindu blessings and learned that many Hindus believe in blessing everything, especially the tools they use in daily lives. From what I understand, the puja, or blessing ritual, is preformed by a pujari (Hindu priest) upon the purchase of a new car. The purpose is to rid the car of all bad influences. Hands are washed with holy water, the owner is given three handfuls of rice to sprinkle over the front of car, then a swastika is drawn with paste made of turmeric and water (aside: swastikas were born in India 5000 years ago and are good luck symbols). More rice to bless the swastika, then mantras to recite, then meditations on Lord Ganesha, break 1 coconut and 4 lemons. The pujari often places a small symbol of Ganesha in on the dash.

Back to our car. She has not one, but three idol stickers. We've got a sticker of Gansesha - worshipped as the lord of beginnings and as the lord of obstacles; a Lakshmi- goddess of wealth, light, wisdom, the lotus flower and fortune, and secondarily of luck, beauty, courage and fertility, and a Vishnu - All-Pervading essence of all beings, the master of and beyond the past, present and future, the creator and destroyer of all existences, one who supports, sustains and governs the Universe and originates and develops all elements within.


All I have to say is, Thank goodness we have some protection on these wacky Hawaiian roads!

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A view from your shut down

By
The Daily Dish has been posting reader emails reporting on their " view from the shutdown ." If you think this doesn't affect you, or if you know all too well how bad this is, take a look at the growing collection of poignant stories. No one is in this alone except for the nutjobs in the House. I decided to email Andrew with my own view. I plan to send a similar letter to my congressperson. Dear Andrew, I am a professor of astronomy at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (CfA). The CfA houses one of the largest, if not the largest collection of PhD astronomers in the United States, with over 300 professional astronomers and roughly 100 doctoral and predoctoral students on a small campus a few blocks west of Harvard Yard. Under the umbrella of the CfA are about 20 Harvard astronomy professors, and 50 tenure-track Smithsonian researchers. A large fraction of the latter are civil servants currently on furlough and unable to come to work. In total, 147 FTEs
Post a Comment
Read more

back-talk begins

By
me: "owen, come here. it's time to get a new diaper" him, sprinting down the hall with no pants on: "forget about it!" he's quoting benny the rabbit, a short-lived sesame street character who happens to be in his favorite "count with me" video. i'm turning my head, trying not to let him see me laugh, because his use and tone with the phrase are so spot-on.
4 comments
Read more

The Long Con

By
Hiding in Plain Sight ESPN has a series of sports documentaries called 30 For 30. One of my favorites is called Broke  which is about how professional athletes often make tens of millions of dollars in their careers yet retire with nothing. One of the major "leaks" turns out to be con artists, who lure athletes into elaborate real estate schemes or business ventures. This naturally raises the question: In a tightly-knit social structure that is a sports team, how can con artists operate so effectively and extensively? The answer is quite simple: very few people taken in by con artists ever tell anyone what happened. Thus, con artists can operate out in the open with little fear of consequences because they are shielded by the collective silence of their victims. I can empathize with this. I've lost money in two different con schemes. One was when I was in college, and I received a phone call that I had won an all-expenses-paid trip to the Bahamas. All I needed to d
8 comments
Read more