Thanks giving to shiva

Although I may look thankful, I am actually asking for a healthy and wealthy husband from Shiva, a god apparently known for taking advantage of unsuspecting virgins. Naturally.

As you might imagine, religion plays an incredible role in Indian daily life.

First, no one eats meat. Except the Muslims who clearly enjoy hiding from their wives and feverishly devouring some tandoori chicken, as if they were coconut doughnuts. Oh... I mean...

Anyway, in addition to the prohibition on meat, Hare Krishnas refrain from onion and garlic - I'm still trying to figure out where's the offense here. Either they 1) secretly worship vampires or 2) they really want to ensure pious fresh breath. Pious fresh body odor, however, still remains to be discovered. And they call all of their restaurants "Govinda's." (Vampire leader perhaps?)

Now the Jains refuse anything grown underground -- no potatoes, carrots, turnips, onions and of course no meat either... basically they eat lettuce and air. They believe in not killing anything (especially those cute potatoes) and traditionally wear a screen over their mouth to avoid accidental inhalation of bugs. Buddha was a Jain who broke away, supposedly because they don't believe in arguing. How can you not believe in arguing? Then again, sitting under a bodhi tree waiting for a stroke of lightening seems like a fine alternative.

The Sikhs, well, I'm not sure about their diet but they seem to enjoy orange.

While the Muslims make it clear that women are not allowed in the most holy places, I appreciate the Hindu approach -- temples for women only! How happy I was to see a crotchety old woman shoo the men away and usher me inside. Ha!




There are many sects of Hinduism but they have one thing in common: the Swastika. I was taken aback at first (I may have slightly glossed over world history in school... Hilter made it to India?), but then I realized that this is the most holy of holy symbols. In fact, one temple informed me that the languages of english, sanskit, hindi, german, spanish, punjabi, urdu, and thai are all descended from this ONE SYMBOL. I can totally see that.

But seriously, religions that we study as anthropological oddities from our perspective are truly alive and well. Please note the Fire Festival, occurring each evening precisely at 6:15. Yes, we all here certainly Vishnu a Happy Thanksgiving.