I found two really interesting sites and i thought i'd share them with you:
http://www.archaeology.org/
which includes interactive digs(!) and all sorts of interesting articles, amongst which some on the crystall skulls..
and
www.asianart.com
which contains, amongst other things, articles written by specialists on very diverse topics. Really fascinanting.
enjoy:)
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Monday, June 23, 2008
Welcome to Nepal!---pe care dintr-un motiv sau altul l-am scris in engleza..
I have spent these last few days (the weekend) at the Pagode de Vicennes. A friend of mine was leaving today, and before she left i absolutely wanted her to come see it, because it's such a beautiful place.
So we went, and to my suprise, the Cultural House of Nepal had organised activities there for the Nepalese diaspora and for people interested in their culture ( East-Asians do the same thing there).
It was great! I've seen traditional dances, costumes, objects, conferences on Nepalese Buddhist art (given by a "conservateur" from Guimet Museum and was trully excellent! the next day was a conference on the Neâlese Thangkas but i lost it sadly:(( ) and all sorts of diaporamas with their magnific sights. I even listened to a Franch alpinist who had climbed the Everest, and who showed us pictures of a friend of his, Marco Siffredi, whom, instead of descending the montain slopes like the rest of them, he went down on snowboard!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
(Does anyone realise the insanity of that?! And the next year he tried it again, and was never seen again. This story gave me chicken skin.)
Just for the record, i was taken for an Indian as well as a Nepalese! (by natives!!)
There was also food!
I bought some fried thinggies made of onions and "pois chiche" flour. Really tasty! And some desert, cocconut balls. And i forced my friend to buy "momos", Nepalese traditional food (Tibetan as well i imagine), which consists of steamed bubles filled in ith chicken meat and some vegetables (now you understand why i couldn't get some). Alexandra David-Neel writes ever so often in her books about momos!It's always si amazing to actually see, "for real", what you read! and Nepalese tea, which was mainly made of black tea with milk and some spices, cardamone i'd say.
Oh! Yes, i've also listened to a conference on Nepalese Tea!
It was really instructive!
For example, i've learned that we Westerners sadly ignore Nepalese tea, which is just as good, if not betted than Darjeeling teas! Apparently, 80% of Darjeeling teas aren't really Darjeelings, and that even those great teas that i've already talked about, that they make, may actually be Nepalese!!! Why? Because the tea plants in Darjeeling have over 100 years old, and as they grow old, their quality drops, whereas, the nepalese plantation are quite young.
There are 75 districts in Nepal, and only 5 are producing tea. But they are hoping that by 2020, there would be 21 district producers of very high quality tea!!!
Vivement l'avenir!
Enfin, espérons-le.
So we went, and to my suprise, the Cultural House of Nepal had organised activities there for the Nepalese diaspora and for people interested in their culture ( East-Asians do the same thing there).
It was great! I've seen traditional dances, costumes, objects, conferences on Nepalese Buddhist art (given by a "conservateur" from Guimet Museum and was trully excellent! the next day was a conference on the Neâlese Thangkas but i lost it sadly:(( ) and all sorts of diaporamas with their magnific sights. I even listened to a Franch alpinist who had climbed the Everest, and who showed us pictures of a friend of his, Marco Siffredi, whom, instead of descending the montain slopes like the rest of them, he went down on snowboard!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
(Does anyone realise the insanity of that?! And the next year he tried it again, and was never seen again. This story gave me chicken skin.)
Just for the record, i was taken for an Indian as well as a Nepalese! (by natives!!)
There was also food!
I bought some fried thinggies made of onions and "pois chiche" flour. Really tasty! And some desert, cocconut balls. And i forced my friend to buy "momos", Nepalese traditional food (Tibetan as well i imagine), which consists of steamed bubles filled in ith chicken meat and some vegetables (now you understand why i couldn't get some). Alexandra David-Neel writes ever so often in her books about momos!It's always si amazing to actually see, "for real", what you read! and Nepalese tea, which was mainly made of black tea with milk and some spices, cardamone i'd say.
Oh! Yes, i've also listened to a conference on Nepalese Tea!
It was really instructive!
For example, i've learned that we Westerners sadly ignore Nepalese tea, which is just as good, if not betted than Darjeeling teas! Apparently, 80% of Darjeeling teas aren't really Darjeelings, and that even those great teas that i've already talked about, that they make, may actually be Nepalese!!! Why? Because the tea plants in Darjeeling have over 100 years old, and as they grow old, their quality drops, whereas, the nepalese plantation are quite young.
There are 75 districts in Nepal, and only 5 are producing tea. But they are hoping that by 2020, there would be 21 district producers of very high quality tea!!!
Vivement l'avenir!
Enfin, espérons-le.
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Pranayama selon Roger Clerc
Am gasit linkul asta spre un site unde autorul a pus online niste pasaje din Roger Clerc despre Prânâyâma:
http://www.lechim.ch/pdf/pranayama_clerc.pdf
Enjoy:)
http://www.lechim.ch/pdf/pranayama_clerc.pdf
Enjoy:)
Maitreyi and Eliade
I was surfing on the waves of the net and i fell onto this comment, by Shirley, on amazon who was saying the following:
"As a graduate student at the University of Chicago in the early 1970's, I was assigned to shepherd visiting scholar Maitreyi Devi around during her visit there to speak on Tagore (Rabi Thakur). She requested that I take her to Mircea Eliade's Mead Theological Seminary office. What happened in Eliade's office was a bit puzzling. But several days later a Bengali faculty member told me about Eliade's book and their earlier love. I've been telling that story for thirty years. This spring I told it to another Bengali scholar at a cocktail party in Canada. He was stunned. He said, "You are in her book!" I bought the second book, and I am in it. The incident is the last chapter of "It Does Not Die" - I am the Shirley in the story. Now I have an even better story to tell. "
Can you imagine!!! Actually meeting her! What i would have given for it to happen to me!
"As a graduate student at the University of Chicago in the early 1970's, I was assigned to shepherd visiting scholar Maitreyi Devi around during her visit there to speak on Tagore (Rabi Thakur). She requested that I take her to Mircea Eliade's Mead Theological Seminary office. What happened in Eliade's office was a bit puzzling. But several days later a Bengali faculty member told me about Eliade's book and their earlier love. I've been telling that story for thirty years. This spring I told it to another Bengali scholar at a cocktail party in Canada. He was stunned. He said, "You are in her book!" I bought the second book, and I am in it. The incident is the last chapter of "It Does Not Die" - I am the Shirley in the story. Now I have an even better story to tell. "
Can you imagine!!! Actually meeting her! What i would have given for it to happen to me!
Sunday, June 15, 2008
Revelatie lingvistica
O expresie foarte incetatzenita in limba noastra romaneasca - si mai ales in mijlocul populatiei studentesti - este "N-am habar". Orice bun roman stie ca semnificatia este "nu stiu". Dar habar nu este un cuvant de origine romana. Ei bine, spre mirarea-mi, tocmai am gasit intr-un manual de hindi, ca "habar" la ei inseamna "veste/vesti", cuvant pe care l-au imprumutat ori de la persani ori de la arabi (ca primul sunet, pe care ei il translitereaza cu "KH" si nu "H", e unul mai nou, care nu exista in fondul sanskrit). De aici am dedus ca si la noi tot de la populati arabe trebuie ca l-am sparlit (!). prin urmare, cand spunem 'n-am habar', la origine fusese 'n-am vesti':)
Friday, June 13, 2008
Maitreyi Devi, Eliade, polemics
I have read several responses to these two books, Eliade's "Bengali Nights" and Maitreyi's "It does not die" and i would like to stress certain facts.
While apparently when Maitreyi's books first came on the market, scholars tended to see in it a poor literary work, now the tendencies (fueled by Indian contributors) seem to go the other way around.
Indians seem to be shoked by Eliade's account of his and Maitreyi's love story, by the fact that he has chosen to write things that were not real while pretending to be writing a "semi-autobiography". This, as you probably know, has greatly shocked Maitreyi herself whose reputation was at stake in their conservative society, even though i suspect that what shocked her the most was that he needed to lie about what they had, as if love without consumption was not good enough. (and it probably wasn't for eliade while it lasted for Maitreyi). This was also the reason why she chose to write her side of the story in order to right the wrongs done to her. In doing so, she has gained the love of her fellow compatriotes, and ours as well but not for the same reasons. Apparently, "Bengali Night" is considered by Indians a sort of "Pulp Fiction", a colonialist's point of view (!!), something that has nothing to do with them and their sensibility. This last bit may prefectly be true.
But:
The novel was destined to a Western audience.
It actually depicts the Westerner's clumsy attitude in a completely different environment and not a critique of this last one.
The love story depicted in it is probably one of the most beautiful ever written. (For Western sensibility anyway)
Grant you HER novel is a lot better and touching than his:) I prefer it. Her litterary skills greatly surpass those of Eliade. Nevertheless, his novel has its worth, and should not be sunk into mud because of cultural taboos. Anyone cand understand the problems it mut have caused for Maitreyi in her conservative society, and the need to reinstore her honour by writing her side of the story. But in our eyes she is just as honorable and lovely even without us having to know that she actually "didn't do anything".
While apparently when Maitreyi's books first came on the market, scholars tended to see in it a poor literary work, now the tendencies (fueled by Indian contributors) seem to go the other way around.
Indians seem to be shoked by Eliade's account of his and Maitreyi's love story, by the fact that he has chosen to write things that were not real while pretending to be writing a "semi-autobiography". This, as you probably know, has greatly shocked Maitreyi herself whose reputation was at stake in their conservative society, even though i suspect that what shocked her the most was that he needed to lie about what they had, as if love without consumption was not good enough. (and it probably wasn't for eliade while it lasted for Maitreyi). This was also the reason why she chose to write her side of the story in order to right the wrongs done to her. In doing so, she has gained the love of her fellow compatriotes, and ours as well but not for the same reasons. Apparently, "Bengali Night" is considered by Indians a sort of "Pulp Fiction", a colonialist's point of view (!!), something that has nothing to do with them and their sensibility. This last bit may prefectly be true.
But:
The novel was destined to a Western audience.
It actually depicts the Westerner's clumsy attitude in a completely different environment and not a critique of this last one.
The love story depicted in it is probably one of the most beautiful ever written. (For Western sensibility anyway)
Grant you HER novel is a lot better and touching than his:) I prefer it. Her litterary skills greatly surpass those of Eliade. Nevertheless, his novel has its worth, and should not be sunk into mud because of cultural taboos. Anyone cand understand the problems it mut have caused for Maitreyi in her conservative society, and the need to reinstore her honour by writing her side of the story. But in our eyes she is just as honorable and lovely even without us having to know that she actually "didn't do anything".
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