Beatles in India; India's Mystique

India’s Mystique

One of the main reasons the Beatles went to India was to follow the Maharishi Majesh Yogi. The Maharishi was an expert in Transcendental Meditation. He met the Beatles on one of his trips promoting this practice.  The Beatles visited the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi in 1967, shortly after his lecture at the Hilton in London (Beatles Biography 750). Transcendental meditation is a technique of mantra meditation. The meditation practice involves the use of a mantra and is practiced for 15–20 minutes twice per day while sitting with one's eyes closed. It was originally developed by Brahmananda Saraswati.   The Maharishi was his disciple, but because he belonged to a different caste he couldn’t obtain the titles.

The Beatles   agreed  to follow the Maharishi to India. Not everyone in the group,was too fond of the idea. But as always, the Beatles went together. Paul McCartney    one of the band members made this remark “John and George were going to Rishikesh with the idea that this might be some huge spiritual lift-off and they might never come back if Maharishi told them some really amazing thing. Well, being a little bit pragmatic, I thought in my own mind, I'll give it a month, then if I really like it, I'll come back and organize to go out there for good, but I won't go on this 'I may never come back' thing, I won't burn my bridges. That's very me, to not want to do that. I just see it as being practical, and I think it is.” (Beatles Again)

 Another reason for their trip was because the Beatles wanted to get away from  fame  and , they needed an escape. John, “We really were getting away from everything,” –craziness, drugs, fame, inexorable grind. (Beatles Biography 751) They found a safe realm in India, a place without a spotlight and a different aura.  The Beatles, at the time, especially Lennon and Harrison, were looking for more cosmic awareness and had been experimenting with LSD.  The Maharishi’s transcendental meditation promised an alternative to hallucinogenic drugs. (Pop History dig, Beatles in India.) They went to the secluded place, Uttar Pradesh, India mainly to study transcendental meditation and self-realization at the Maharishi’s ashram. They planned to go to from February 15 through April 25, 1968 for approximately three months. All the Beatles brought their wives with them on their trip to India. John wanted to bring both Cynthia and Yoko.  In the end he decided against it and only brought Cynthia, though he kept contact with Yoko through letters.

 The Maharishi’s temple is almost like an exclusive resort.  “People would go strolling barefoot beside the Ganges River. Meditated in half lit caves and organized activities other than spiritual pursuit.”(Beatles biography, 753). At that time it cost $400 for a three month stay. It’s hidden from the public. It’s a fenced  compound, overlooking the Ganges River.  The facilities  are a central courtyard with six concrete lean sheds called Puri; it also had a glass dining area. Disciples in the Puri practiced meditation to redefine their place in the universe. They were given vegetarian meals during their whole stay. Ringo Starr ,“The food was impossible for me, because I'm allergic to so many different thin­gs, so I took two suitcases with me: one of clothes and one of Heinz beans,” (Beatles Anthology DVD).

 George became an instant convert, devoting hours to the contemplative process before leaving England. John Lennon got really into the meditation practice.  He Meditated eight hours a day.  John saw the Maharishi as an important guidance figure, he  admired and , wished to become. Ever since  their manager died, he had been looking for someome to fill his emotional void.Cynthia:  “To John nothing else matter, spent days in deep meditation”(The Beatles biography, 754).

With such a relaxing atmosphere, the Beatles got time to rest, and create their songs.   In total,  thirtyto forty songs were composed during their trip to India, and many would appear on the White Album.   The white album would become one of their best albums.  “In the U.K., the White Album debuted at No. 1 on December 1st, 1968, spending a total of eight weeks at the top of the U.K. charts and holding in the Top Ten for another four weeks.”  In the U. S., the album debuted at No.11, reaching No. 1 in its third week, spending nine weeks there and remaining on the Billboard 200 album chart for 155 weeks.  The White Album sold more than 1 million copies in its first two weeks on the market  (Pop History dig, Beatles in India) .

Two major songs they wrote while in India were Sexy Sadie and Dear Prudence.  Both of these songs were inspired on real people. Sexy Sadie was based on the Maharishi. Dear Prudence was based in Mia Farrow’s sister. Dear Prudence was written by the Beatles on their time with her  in the Ashram. Prudence got really deep into the practice of Transcendental Meditation .She would disappear for days in her room. No one would see her go out, not even to eat. Everyone was worried. So Lennon and Harrison devised a plan to make her come out. They composed the song and sung it to her. Prudence Farrow stayed with the three-month program and became a Transcendental Meditation teacher.

   By the time they made the song Sexy Sadie, the Beatles trip to India  came to a halt.  Problems had been rising , for some time and as they amounted, the desire for the group to leave became more apparent. They had been India for a long time, their trip was  soon to  be over. The first one to leave was Ringo, because he missed his kids, and didn’t grow accustomed to the food. Paul soon followed. He wanted to continue his work, and to compose music. John left with Cynthia, because he didn’t believe the Maharishi anymore, and suspected he had an affair with Mia. Lennon also wanted to resume his, communication with Yoko, being far away and communicating through letters was not enough. George and Patti were the last to leave India, because they were fervent followers. By April 11, of 1967 the last remaining Beatles left. The trip to India was the last time all four Beatles travelled abroad together ever again.  Something changed the Beatles in India. That mystique allowed them to grow more independent from each other, and to seek what they truly desired. Their true selves were exposed. The peace they got in India, would be the last time, they were truly happy together as a group.

 Works Cited:

Books:

·         "Beatles in India." The Beatles anthology. San Francisco: Chronicle Books, 2000. 233. Print.

·         Spitz, Bob. "India." The Beatles: the biography. New York: Little, Brown, 2005. 750-757, 969. Print.

·         Saltzman, Paul. The Beatles in Rishikesh. New York: Viking Studio, 2000. Print.

Websites:

·         "The Beatles and India." The Beatles Bible. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 May 2013.

·         "The Beatles - everything about The Beatles." The Beatles - everything about The Beatles. N.p., n.d. Web. 5 May 2013. <http://www.thebeatlesonline.com/pages 1-5

·         "The Pop History Dig » Beatles & India." The Pop History Dig - a collection of short stories about popular culture - its history, its people, and its power. N.P., n.d. Web. 7 May 2013. <http://www.pophistorydig.com/?tag=beatles-india>.

·         Saltzman, Paul. "With the Beatles in India - Internet Beatles Album." The Beatles - The Internet Beatles Album. N.P., n.d. Web. 7 May 2013. <http://www.beatlesagain.com/with-the-beatles-in-india.html>.

·         Goldberg, Philip. "Beatles in India: The Retreat That Reverberates Across the Universe." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 17 Feb. 2013. Web. 6 May 2013.

Video:

·         The Beatles Anthology.  Dir.Wonfor , Geoff and Smeaton, Bob.DVD .Apple Corporation 2003

Vast Ocean

Vast ocean

A.V.

  “Imagination? It is the one thing beside honesty that a good writer must have. The more he learns from experience the more he can imagine.” ― Ernest Hemingway.   

A writer without imagination is like a ship without fuel, stuck in the sea. My problem is that the waves of my imagination flow out, much more rapidly, than my ship can hold. The ship signifies my mind. My ship  tries to fight against my own rippling tides.  As  ideas flow and crash against rocks,  while I try to moderate them, my ship starts to sink. (my ideas are the tides).So how do I keep a hold of my ship, how do I get a safe bay? I try my best to  lower my anchor or  at least to  manage landing somewhere .  Once  I  am in a peaceful state of mind, my ideas settled down.   I begin to type , the music of the sirens.

The tide keeps entering the main deck, and  every  second that passes by, leads to a vile fight of survival . Im fighting against my own  word choices. Imagination is like water, so pure at first, until it evolves into an elaborate endless  rouse.  With buckets full of unneeded distractions, my crew tries its best to clean the deck. The crew are my ideas enhancements, during my writing process. The sea is filled with life and despair, keeps knocking to the sides of the ship, clearly wanting  to be let in.  But the crew, willing to fight back and  to suppress unnecessary ideas  tries its best to clear the pathway of water .   I steer  this boat  slowly , trying to duck the rocks ,and the waves. Passing the obstacles , and reaching a destination is the  main goal ,when you’re writing.

 

Once the tempest is over, the  radiant  sun clears the  cloudy skies.  The sea seems still, as if  waiting for something to stir up our way. Once on full scale the ship drift’s  through the sea effortlessly. The wind blows our way , and we all know that the voyage is almost over. My ideas  are fitting , and I seem to be inspired, my writing is coming as I expected it to.

But just when you think,  that the path you’re going  through is steady,  something blocks your way. Writers blocks to say.  When that monstrous sea creature, surges up from your deepest thoughts; where you thought it  was safely hidden, and collapses your very ships structure, all hope seems gone. The giant squid approaches your way. Splashing and dripping ink everywhere. The madness of  its red popping veins of frustration is apparent. This animal hasn’t eaten in days. It’s been focusing on destroying the ship, and preventing its every move. The  insomniac menagerie of  crew man are appalled, panic is everywhere. Its tentacles are gripping the ships vessel,  and there seems to be no hope.  Everyone  is hiding away. What to do?   I regain my senses, and  after going through a reverie I  give a brave answer. “We gotta get a harpoon mate.”   When  I get writers block,  I start behaving like the kraken, I lose track and become frustrated. In order to continue my productivity , I must have a period of  stillness, until I regain  my senses, and I’m ready to fight my way through my ideas.

The battle ends, and the ship reaches the end of the voyage. After all  the hardships,  the tiny ship found its way among the stars, into the right direction.” The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes.” Marcel Proust. I finally finished my  writing phase, did revisions and survived writers block. Im ready for  the  critics ,and all the obstacles, that may come my way.  I will finish my work.

 

1Q84

Book Review on IQ84

I won’t lie, it was the title and the  book cover which got my attention. Two letters and two numbers. What could it possibly mean? I have  always enjoyed reading foreign books, but none had caught my attention so forcibly quick.  I had to buy it. A book with mysterious numbers and different faces as the cover, a man in the back and a woman in the front.   I had a small  misconception at the beginning, I confused the one with an I . In reality the title is 1984, the Q means question. This is a very complex book, divided  into 3 sections, and  its separated like a calendar, you can feel  the seasons pass, with every word. This book starts briefly by describing Aomame and her line of work, then it switches into Tengo’s life. Each chapter  has varying different accounts of their life or certain events. Half of the book you are wondering  what is Aomame’s  and Tengo’s  relationship . But with clues lying around in each chapter,  you will be able to access  the whole situation. 

Aomame is a woman, that  is an expert  gym trainer, she works at a private gym company , and sometimes goes  to some clients houses. She had a difficult childhood being raised in a Christian sect, similar to the Jehovah witnesses.  Every Saturday she would knock on doors, to have them shut down. During school days she was forced to say a prayer out loud before every meal, and was ostracized, for it.   One day a boy stands up for her , she would never forget him throughout  her whole life . The day before she decides to escape ,she hold a boys hand, and ever since then she kept loving him.  She never had any close friends, and lives a reserved life.  Her only friend dies, of an overdose of  painkillers, because her husband abused her. She leaves Aomame a letter behind  giving her reasons. One day a dowager offers her an extra job apart of being  her trainer. A job that she believes only Aomame can do due to her expertize. The killing of abusive men. They develop a method that is clean and leaves no trace or evidence

.

Tengo Kawana  has great ambitions. He is an unpublished novelist who works as a math tutor at a prep school. His mother died when he was very young; his earliest memory is of his mother in bed with a man who was not Tengo's father. His father worked for NHK going door to door collecting the network's reception fee, and he used to make Tengo go with him every Sunday. He would see often a girl walking with her mother  near the same  are his father worked. One day he decides to protect the girl and the girl thanks him by holding his hand. She disappears  after some days, and he never hears from her again. But he can’t shake her off his memory, she was  his first love. 

Tengo and Aomames fate is intertwined. They were meant for each other, but in the real world they would never meet. Aomame  going late  for  one of her special jobs takes a cab and  while in traffic decides, to take a shortcut  through some stairs. Once she passes the stairs ,without noticing she is transported into a parallel world. Comes the night and she realizes that there are two moons in the sky. Tengo on the other hand , ends up having to edit  a book by a dyslexic girl with the pen name  Fuka Eri.  Fuka Eri can see little people, and somehow most of what she says in her book  “Air chrysalis” comes true.  Tengo and Aomame end up, teaming up and fighting against the blue people on their side, each relying on some outside help in order to defeat them. At the time their troubles began they  didn’t know that each other was trying the best  to defeat the little people. Eventually they find each other and escape from the parallel world together,  starting a new life.  But I recommend it if you’re, interested in the supernatural, some exotic scenes, and learning  more about IQ84’s secrets.

Adam Lanza

News that could have been prevented

Andrea V

All of you  have probably heard or read about Adam Lanza. Let me refresh your memory, he was the psychotic kid who had a mental breakdown and shot  twenty first graders and their teachers, and his mother.  After these news one wonders what has America turned into? Why aren’t  there more gun control  regulations. Why can anyone order guns by mail and receive them without restrictions?

President Obama hasn’t changed any laws, or applied any new regulations regarding on  the  guns and disarmament issue. He believes in the policy of existing law. That means that he takes steps that protect  the Second Amendment rights of the American people. But that does not ensures that weapons do not fall into the hands of individuals who should not obtain them.

In the past years, President Obama has been involved modestly in a limited regulation of firearms. For example, he made a policy of keeping guns out of inner cities. In 2007, he cosponsored a bill to limit purchases to one gun per month. In 2008 , he endorsed the Illinois handgun ban. He also believes that local action is necessary rather than complete government involvement.

 

In the U.S.  four million firearms are manufactured every year. The main reasons people in the United States buy guns is for safety, and for sport (hunting and competition). This industry brings in a lot of cash, and stronger regulations would mean a loss of money for the manufacturers.  

 An activist group called The Freedom Group  joined with the National Rifle Association to fight against a federal ban on assault weapons.  Both groups want to create simple and effective manufacturing and safety standards, background checks for all gun sales,  propose a  gun legislation that might help law enforcement solve gun crimes, and curb preventable gun violence.

   To  help solve the problem President Barack Obama and other politicians are calling for a renewed ban on tactical assault rifles. There is a study that links stricter gun laws in general, such as assault weapon bans, trigger locks , and safe-storage laws, to a reduction in gun violence. Also, It has  been proven that the more guns in a Society, the more crime it has.  If President Obama reinforces stronger laws, the problem over gun control  will be on its route to a solution.

  I strongly believe that with so many cases of massive killings, we should  teach  at schools the responsibilities and dangers of carrying a gun, and how to use it properly in case of being  in danger.  It would also be better just to give them to law enforcement officials and military, limiting  its use by civilians. I believe that civilians can purchase a limited amount of guns (pistols, revolvers) or rifles, but should not have access to any assault weapon. I also believe that any one applying for a permit to carry a weapon should have a criminal background check and should have psychological tests in order to determine if the individual is fit to handle a gun. This should be a world wide solution, not just in America.

Patriotic Background

Patriotic Background

Andrea V

            It is very easy to find people from different countries in Panama. This is due to the influx of foreign enterprises, as well as our past history. Panama is a place that has a broad number of races living under the same sky. We accept people, and embrace changes with our heads held high. There is no standard Panamanian. 

            But there are some singular things that identify Panama, here and abroad, and one of them is La Pollera , our national dress. Our bonds with Spain since the discovery of the New World by Cristopher Columbus, brought deeply rooted influences in many aspects of Panamanian life. This was specially developed in the central provinces of Los Santos, Herrera, and Coclé. The Pollera we use as our national garment was inspired by gypsy, Andalucian and Valencian influences.  The tradition of wearing Polleras has been in Panama since 1650.  Polleras were worn by maids and low class village people until the restauration of Ferdinand VII, when Santa Ana was shot up by 30 women dressed in Polleras. Since then, Polleras are worn by women from all the social classes.

           

It takes a lot of time to create a Pollera, sometimes years. They are hand sewn by women, using fabrics, filigree and lace from Europe. They are filled with flowered embroidery. Using different techniques, they create unique masterpieces on the white

fabric, using white or a particular color of thread and lace. Polleras are worn with gold necklaces, some pearls and corals, dipped coins or chained necklaces.

The Pollera is so important in our culture that many events are held where it is the central motive. To mention La Pollera is to mention Panama.   Contests to choose the best  Pollera are held every year, as well as La Dama de la Pollera Contest where a lady is chosen for her beauty and best dress. The Parade of One Thousand Polleras takes place in Los Santos every year, and draws thousands of visitors.

Seeing the Polleras, awaken memories of my childhood. When I was about 5 years old I attended classes of Panamanian folklore dances. These classes required to use a long skirt simulating a Pollera. The teacher not only made important remarks on how to dance, and move along the floor, but also on how to show off the Pollera. For special occasions we were asked to have a complete Pollera attire, that includes the matching flat shoes, neck and chest jewelry, and special hair style and ornaments called tembleques. My mother and a friend of her dressed me, and applied make up on my face. My sister also participated. We enjoyed the music, the dance, and the attention we grabbed from the public attending the shows. My parents have many photographs from those occasions.