INDIANS AND BRAZILIANS MEET AND SHARE

A LITTLE INDIA IN 
THE HEART OF SAO PAULO

by Shoban Saxena, Times of India - Alameda Sarutaia is a quiet street just off Avenida Paulista, the main avenue that runs through the center of this megalopolis. Cross a couple of buildings, you come across an old villa and the sounds coming from inside - tabla beats mixing with the strains of sitar and an Indian voice singing an old song devoted to a God - make you stop. A step closer to the gate and you smell incense. This is the Indian Cultural Centre (ICC) of Sao Paulo. 
The ICC has a decent auditorium, but it is overflowing, with people sitting on the floor, on the steps or standing just standing outside the hall. When you see such a large number of Brazilians at an Indian cultural event, it's impossible not to ask what attracts them to Indian dance and music and culture.

The two countries have been geographically as well as culturally so far from each other that there hasn't been much cultural exchange between them. But at least here in Sao Paulo, the scenario has changed in the past couple of years. With the opening of the centre less than two years ago, the ICC has become Little India, where anyone interested in any aspect of Indian culture can drop by and get immersed in Indian dance, music, spiritual traditions or in the impressive collection of books in the library. 
But if the centre has become a thriving hub of Indian culture in such a short span, it's because of hard work and dedication of some people - Indians and Brazilians. The center is always buzzing with activity. Walk through its three floors and you see Brazilians learning Indian dances, music, Hindi and yoga. And it's all free.

The director of the Indian Cultural Centre (ICC) of Sao Paulo, Kamaljit Singh, brings amazing energy to the place. It's his tireless work that has made this centre a Little India in the heart of Sao Paulo, Brazil. Hindu religion or Vedic culture, is not merely a religion. It is a spiritual path and way of life and also offers a scientific way of life, from diet, lifestyle, daily schedule, etc. In Hindu society, the temple has occupied a pivotal position, not only the spiritual aspect of it, but also because it has been the focal point of social and cultural activities. The Hindu temples from the different Sampradayas, and particularly the Hare Krishna temples in the Western countries, have become important cultural centers around which all other activities, such as music, dancing, painting, architecture, sculpturing, and many other crafts, are organized. These "Yoga centers" have been built to serve spiritual and cultural needs of all people around the world. (Editor's note).

WHAT DO THE VEDIC TEACHINGS TELL US? 

Vedic culture is full of knowledge, and a person born in India can fully take advantage of Vedic cultural knowledge and the cultural system known as varnāśrama-dharma. Even at the present time, as we travel all over the world, we see that in some countries human beings have many material facilities but no facilities for spiritual advancement. ... Especially in the Western countries there are ample facilities for material comforts, but no one has any idea of spiritual advancement. Many are hankering after spiritual advancement, but many cheaters come, take advantage of their money, bluff them and go away. Fortunately the Krishna consciousness movement is there to give all facilities for both material and spiritual advancement. In this way people in the Western countries may take advantage of this movement.

Śrīla A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda :
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (Bhāgavata Purāṇa) - SB 4.25.13
Canto 4: The Creation of the Fourth Order 
Chapter 25: The Descriptions of the Characteristics of King Purañjana
Verse 13 - Bhaktivedanta VedaBase
http://vedabase.com/en/sb/4/25/13

Published by dasavatara das - “Vedic Views on World News”
http://www.vedicviews-worldnews.blogspot.com.ar/

SANJAY PATEL AT THE ASIAN ART MUSEUM

POP ARTIST SANJAY PATEL: 
A HIPSTER’S GUIDE TO HINDUISM

www.smithsonianmag.com - Sanjay Patel, 36-year-old pop artist and Pixar veteran (he has been at Pixar since 1996), arrives at the entrance of San Francisco's Asian Art Museum, breathless. His vahana, or vehicle, is a silver mountain bike; his white helmet is festooned with multicolored stickers of bugs and goddesses. The name of the show - Deities, Demons and Dudes with 'Staches - is as quirky and upbeat as the 36-year-old artist himself. It's a lighthearted foil to the museum's exhibition, Maharaja: The Splendor of India's Royal Courts.
Patel, who created the bold banners and graphics for Maharaja, was given this one-room fiefdom to showcase his own career: a varied thali (plate) of the animated arts. "I've known of Sanjay's work for a while," says Qamar Adamjee, the museum's associate curator of South Asian Art. "[Hindu] stories are parts of a living tradition, and change with each retelling," Adamjee observes.

"Sanjay tells these stories with a vibrant visual style - it's so sweet and so charming, yet very respectful. He's inspired by the past, but has reformulated it in the visual language of the present." In Patel's show, and in his illustrated books - The Little Book of Hindu Deities (2006) and Ramayana: Divine Loophole (2010) - he distills the gods and goddesses down to their essentials. Now he wheels through the room, pointing to the cartoon-like images and offering clipped descriptions:
"There's Ganesha, the elephant-headed god, with his cherished stash of sweets; Saraswati, the goddess of learning and music, strumming on a vina; the fearsome Shiva, whose cosmic dance simultaneously creates and destroys the universe." It was while Patel was at California Institute of the Arts (CalArts) that representatives from Pixar saw Patel's animated student film, 'Cactus Cooler'. "Pixar loved it, and they recruited me."

The Asian Art Museum of San Francisco is one of the largest museums in the Western world devoted exclusively to Asian art. It hosted "Maharaja: The Splendor of India's Royal Courts," where you can "explore the life and times of India's great kings by getting close to the objects they used and the art they commissioned, collected, and loved." In that great exhibition, the artist work of Sanjay Patel is outstanding. Patel didn't grow up enthralled with Hindu imagery, but the seeds were there, said Jeff Greenwald, author of the article. Six years into his Pixar career, he opened an art book and came across paintings from India. "The more I read," he recalls, "the more I was drawn into a world of imagery that had always surrounded me. Before, it was just part of my family's daily routine. Now I saw it in the realm of art."

WHAT DO THE VEDIC TEACHINGS TELL US? 

Much can also be said about the art work that is found within Vedic culture. There are not only ornaments, jewelry, but also a wide variety of painting styles that are used in the worship and display of the forms and pastimes of the Lord. Painting and sculpture are like sciences unto themselves in the way such artists are trained. Nonetheless, any artist has full opportunity to express his or her devotion to God through this art. Thus, such art and expression becomes a means for one's personal spiritual insights, realizations and enlightenment. In this way, there are numerous forms of expression that are used in Hinduism, making it one of the most emotionally rewarding and expressive spiritual paths that you can find.

Dr Stephen Knapp (Śrīpad Nandanandana dasa) :
"Why Be A Hindu"
"The Advantages of the Vedic Path"
http://www.stephen-knapp.com/why_be_a_hindu_booklet.htm
http://www.stephen-knapp.com/books_by_stephen_knapp.htm

Published by dasavatara das - "Vedic Views on World News"
http://www.vedicviews-worldnews.blogspot.com.ar/