Saturday 22 February 2014

Friday, February 21st, 2014

Mayapura, India

Fabric of the Gods

Anywhere that you roam in India, village or city, you are like to see cloth blowing in the wind.  It could be on someone's person, a woman's sari's end flapping in the wind or even a man traditionally dressed in dhoti or lunghi doing the same.
 
What I like about wearing cloth that may be caught in the hands on an airy day is that from a distance the ongoing and onleaving motorists see more of you.  In my walks through Canada people have been able to see me from a distance.  The cloth is an extension of yourself.  In volume there is more of you.  My mission is to strike a controversy so the monk's attire helps apart from the unique colour.
 
Now I'm bringing up the topic of material as in fabric, because cloth was used like crazy today.  In our delivery of the "Gita Concise" the drama held in the Nama Hatta Building, an aqua with silver thread fabric was used to portray creeks, a much more expansive strip of cloth conveyed an ocean.
 
The play went exceedingly well, the evening session of cloth took the shape of a mellow fashion show, the first of it's kind in Mayapura.  Shukala from Australia and Mandali from Croatia are both fashion designers, who put together a VANDE supported event, "Fabric of the Gods".  Maybe we should describe it as a fabric show instead of a fashion show.  It was a marvelous display of Vaisnava attire from different sectors of India showing the diversity of style.  Colours were vibrant.  Cloth was sick.  The models were modest.  There was no cat walk.  How did I get involved?  And being a monk?  Well as chair person for VANDE, an initiative for promoting the arts, I've got an in.  Besides I was requested to be at least one of the hosts introducing the scenes along with friend Kripomoya from England.  Organizers felt that if a sanyasi monk would back the show it would give the stamp of approval.
 
The venue, the Samadhi Auditorium, was packed even though there was minimal promotion.  It just goes to show there are social needs even within a spiritual community.  In my opinion it was a 'clean' show.  Licentiousness was not an issue otherwise little old me 'monk' wouldn't tolerate.
 
May the Source be with you!
 
5 KM

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