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There is also Kalpataru, the tree that grants boons for those who sit under it and pray. The closest to this at IIT KGP is the neem-mango-peepal combo at Harry's (is it still there?)
We Southee Brahmins are somewhat more audacious than Greeks in our unbridled imagination. For, my Father used to tell me that that there are seven seas, which if you cross, will lead to a parrot sitting on a mango (or is it guava?) tree, capturing which, you become Mr Know-All. He tried to list the composition of his seven seas. First was ok...it is all milk instead of brine...don't mix up the two...a pinch of brine will curdle the whole milky ocean and then what would happen to Lord Vishnu who is supposed to recline forever (except when on a rescue mission) on the uncomfy mattress made of the coils of the cobra, Vasuki, who will spread his giant hood over the face of Vishnu so that it is protected from rain, sun and hail. And of course his consort Laxmi will forever be sitting at his feet and kneading them. Phew!
The next ocean, he said, is made of honey; and then he sort of lost interest and dozed off since I happened to be kneading his feet so pillow-mellow while his narration went on. I asked him the next night what are the seven seas and he would 'restart' and go to sleep after honey. I guess the rest are the four popular flavors of Tropicana juices...guava, mango, orange and lichi. The seventh and last is, if my guess is right, the so-called Soma Ras (Teachers Special).
A big digression that!
While I was a student at my University at Vizagh, I was living in the city and busing to my college everyday instead of staying in the hostels. Our college used to a mile away from our Central Library and the only transport available was legging. So, I rarely had the chance to visit it. And I was too poor to buy books. So, my thirst for reading books outside our prescribed Physics texts remained largely unslaked.
And then on the 1st of May, 1965 (which was then not a holiday), I joined as a junior faculty in the Phy Dept at IIT KGP. And on my way to the Dept, I saw a big Legend, LIBRARY. It was a minute's walk from the Phy Dept. The next day I cautiously peeped into it fearing that there would be gate-keepers asking for my ID and stuff...there were none...I just ambled in. And then it was a cute big place...I mean there was no Annexe across the road, there was no false ceiling, there were no locked shelves for Reserved Books. The Central Hall had such a high ceiling that when it was covered a decade later, it occupied two floors other than the ground floor. So, sitting under such a Victoria Memorial and watching the trees, birds and flowers was like sitting on the cement bench of Harrys.
And there were shelves upon shelves of books of all disciplines...mostly sciences and arts. You could scan them all, take out the one you like, sit with it anywhere you like, and read to your heart's content, go out to the Canteen keeping your bookmark under one of the wooden 'Silence' prisms lying all around, have a smoke, return, resume, and if you like it, get it issued...for teachers there was no limit on the number of books you can 'take home'...it is understood that all the books you got issued are needed for your teaching...and return them whenever you like.
That was the first Cornucopia I ever saw and enjoyed in my life...
A couple of years later, I was sitting on the wrought-iron lawn bench of our Faculty Hostel alone. By then I got used to IIT KGP and its students and decided that I would never quit the place, unless I am thrown out. And then I calculated how many years I have left to stay at this Scholar's Heaven...and found that it came to 36 years...THIRTY SIX MORE YEARS!
That was my next cornucopia...as a matter of fact it turned out to be two years more than 36...our retirement age got increased to 62...
Nowadays I don't get to read much. But when I lie down on my bed (for 22 hours a day) I face my small bookshelf with glass doors displaying all the books I ever liked. And the very sight of them fills me with pleasure...although I may never read them again...Ramakrishna Dev is quoted as saying once: "Before I go into one of my week-long trances, I go to the kitchen and have a look at all the food-stuffs there...that is enough to satisfy me..." (I beg to be corrected).
My tiny bookshelf is my present Cornucopia...
Recently an ex-student of mine wrote me that he chanced to discover my blog, and looking at the 1000 odd posts there he felt that it was his Cornucopia...
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Zeus, the Greek God who we saw in the last post was fed by the goat, Amalthea, is reputed for his philandering and sired a host of well-known offspring. See wiki-entry, which also mentions that his Hindu equivalent is Indra...ahem...the chap who pretended to be Sage Gautam and beguiled his wife Ahalya with the result that Gautam turned Ahalya into a stone and cursed Indra that his whole body will henceforth be adorned with his pet obsession. Sages are by nature sadhus and their anger doesn't last long. So, when both Ahalya and Indra apologized and sought redemption, Gautam ordained that Ahalaya would be brought back to her lovely human form by the dust of the holy feet of Raam; and Indra's body tattoos would be turned into 'eyes'...not an easy Image Transformation.
Anyway, South Indian Brahmin Tradition has the Hindu equivalent of Cornucopia in Kamadhenu:
There is also Kalpataru, the tree that grants boons for those who sit under it and pray. The closest to this at IIT KGP is the neem-mango-peepal combo at Harry's (is it still there?)
We Southee Brahmins are somewhat more audacious than Greeks in our unbridled imagination. For, my Father used to tell me that that there are seven seas, which if you cross, will lead to a parrot sitting on a mango (or is it guava?) tree, capturing which, you become Mr Know-All. He tried to list the composition of his seven seas. First was ok...it is all milk instead of brine...don't mix up the two...a pinch of brine will curdle the whole milky ocean and then what would happen to Lord Vishnu who is supposed to recline forever (except when on a rescue mission) on the uncomfy mattress made of the coils of the cobra, Vasuki, who will spread his giant hood over the face of Vishnu so that it is protected from rain, sun and hail. And of course his consort Laxmi will forever be sitting at his feet and kneading them. Phew!
The next ocean, he said, is made of honey; and then he sort of lost interest and dozed off since I happened to be kneading his feet so pillow-mellow while his narration went on. I asked him the next night what are the seven seas and he would 'restart' and go to sleep after honey. I guess the rest are the four popular flavors of Tropicana juices...guava, mango, orange and lichi. The seventh and last is, if my guess is right, the so-called Soma Ras (Teachers Special).
A big digression that!
While I was a student at my University at Vizagh, I was living in the city and busing to my college everyday instead of staying in the hostels. Our college used to a mile away from our Central Library and the only transport available was legging. So, I rarely had the chance to visit it. And I was too poor to buy books. So, my thirst for reading books outside our prescribed Physics texts remained largely unslaked.
And then on the 1st of May, 1965 (which was then not a holiday), I joined as a junior faculty in the Phy Dept at IIT KGP. And on my way to the Dept, I saw a big Legend, LIBRARY. It was a minute's walk from the Phy Dept. The next day I cautiously peeped into it fearing that there would be gate-keepers asking for my ID and stuff...there were none...I just ambled in. And then it was a cute big place...I mean there was no Annexe across the road, there was no false ceiling, there were no locked shelves for Reserved Books. The Central Hall had such a high ceiling that when it was covered a decade later, it occupied two floors other than the ground floor. So, sitting under such a Victoria Memorial and watching the trees, birds and flowers was like sitting on the cement bench of Harrys.
And there were shelves upon shelves of books of all disciplines...mostly sciences and arts. You could scan them all, take out the one you like, sit with it anywhere you like, and read to your heart's content, go out to the Canteen keeping your bookmark under one of the wooden 'Silence' prisms lying all around, have a smoke, return, resume, and if you like it, get it issued...for teachers there was no limit on the number of books you can 'take home'...it is understood that all the books you got issued are needed for your teaching...and return them whenever you like.
That was the first Cornucopia I ever saw and enjoyed in my life...
A couple of years later, I was sitting on the wrought-iron lawn bench of our Faculty Hostel alone. By then I got used to IIT KGP and its students and decided that I would never quit the place, unless I am thrown out. And then I calculated how many years I have left to stay at this Scholar's Heaven...and found that it came to 36 years...THIRTY SIX MORE YEARS!
That was my next cornucopia...as a matter of fact it turned out to be two years more than 36...our retirement age got increased to 62...
Nowadays I don't get to read much. But when I lie down on my bed (for 22 hours a day) I face my small bookshelf with glass doors displaying all the books I ever liked. And the very sight of them fills me with pleasure...although I may never read them again...Ramakrishna Dev is quoted as saying once: "Before I go into one of my week-long trances, I go to the kitchen and have a look at all the food-stuffs there...that is enough to satisfy me..." (I beg to be corrected).
My tiny bookshelf is my present Cornucopia...
Recently an ex-student of mine wrote me that he chanced to discover my blog, and looking at the 1000 odd posts there he felt that it was his Cornucopia...
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