Mrigangi Chakravarty

DURGA   या देवी सर्वभुतेषु क्षान्तिरूपेण संस्थिता । या देवी सर्वभुतेषु शक्तिरूपेण संस्थिता । या देवी सर्वभुतेषु मातृरूपेण संस्थिता ।  या देवी सर्वभुतेषु बुद्धिरूपेण संस्थिता ।  नमस्तस्यै नमस्तस्यै नमस्तस्यै नमो नमः ॥ Believed as the root cause of creation, sustenance and annihilation,  Durga   is the principal form of the Mother Goddess in Hinduism. The name ‘Durga’ in Sanskrit means ‘invincible’. The syllable ‘du’ i s synonymous with the 4 devils namely poverty, sufferings, famine and evil habits. The ‘r’ refers to diseases and the ‘ga’ is the destroyer of sins, injustice, irreligion, cruelty and laziness.

Soil To Soul  Every year, months before autumn, Kumortuli in Kolkata comes to life. Artists and idol makers start shaping idols for the festival, the high point in every Bengali’s year, Durga Puja. These are the idols that are going to come to life and be witness to countless prayers, tears, smiles, appreciation, and laughter.The clay is brought by a boat down the river Hooghly from Uluberia, a village near Calcutta, because this clay is ideal for being shaped into idols. It is a ritual in itself. But the banks of river Hooghly aren’t the only place where clay is collected from. Ma Durga’s idol for the Pujo needs to be made from a mixture of cow urine, cow dung, and punya maati (blessed soil).                        This is how it all begins: Clay - The building material     The palette that brings the clay to life  Artisan shapes basic idol structure from Paddy Straw Now that's what you call attitude -...

OBJECTIVITY   theory of knowledge  Objectivity requires us to be mindful, present in the moment, and experience what is happening without judgment.  Objectivity has no specific definition, but if we look at many aspects that incorporate it , objectivity basically has to do with the quantitative branch of things. The greatest example of objectivity is science. Science through the ages has relied on objectivity.  For example, a scientist is trying to investigate the anatomy of a bird. Firstly, for the scientist to study the bird, he must kill it. Otherwise, he will be unable to study it. The scientist’s “gut feeling” is great enough that it can take him away from his objective, which is to kill the  bird, so  he has to make a choice.  OBJECTIVITY AND SUBJECTIVITY  Subjective and objective are two forms of perception, and the main difference between them is that a subjective point of view focuses on a personal interpretation of the subject,...

THE MEANING OF GANESHA Gan means group. The universe is a group of atoms and different energies. This universe would be in chaos if there was no supreme law governing these diverse groups of entities. The Lord of all these groups of atoms and energies is Ganesha. He is the supreme consciousness that pervades all and brings order in this universe. "Ganesha is a metaphor, a symbol that represents the creative and colourful transformation of the universe. Ganesha represents the wisdom of cosmic consciousness - this is why the Bhagwad Gita is attributed to him.  God can also be expressed as a form of art, poem and music and Ganesha's art shows that God cannot be physically human - it ensures that God is present in through all living creatures. The human body is fragile but the mind and its strength is equivalent to that of the largest and calm animal - an elephant.   The greatest form of offering is a selfless act as pointed by Ganesh in the Gita.