June 2007 A busy month, which began with a road trip. My sister & Miss Roshni Panday & I exited L.A. and drove first to Joshua Tree (where late at night a small bat kept me company, and a moth sat on my cheek), the Mojave Desert, Las Vegas (for two Cirque de Soleil shows—Mystère & O—and for the general bizarrities of the place), Death Valley (120 degrees F as we drove through it at midday!!!), Sequoia National Park (highlight: the General Sherman tree, the largest living object on earth, 2500 years old or more). I appreciated O in particular for how smoothly they shifted the stage from liquid to solid and back, and Mystère for its taiko-style drummers suspended in the air, its handstands on partners’ feet, and its one-handed pole climbing, at angles.

Thence to UC Santa Barbara’s commencement exercises, to honor Miss Chandra Easton on the completion of a degree. I particularly enjoyed guest speaker Chris Abani, who teaches creative writing at UC Riverside; Chris, a political refugee from Nigeria where he was tortured, spoke eloquently of how important it is to enjoy “spectacular failures” in life. Keep moving forward!

At LAX on the morning of June 20, a dapper young TSA inspector who was singing softly to himself said to me as I passed him, “You look like Mick Jagger.” All I could think to reply, at that early hour of the morning, was, “Thank you!” Had I been more awake I might have come up with something like, “I wish I had his talent rather than his face,” but still, thanks to him for a fine start to my traveling day.

While in Texas we celebrated my mother’s 91st birthday, and (as usual) watched movies. I can recommend Tsotsi (“thug”), Ushpizin (“holy guests”), and Curse of the Golden Flower, a Zhang Yimou film (like Hero, and House of Flying Daggers). We watched Hero again as well, and though I continue to have difficulty with the sympathetic portrayal of the King of Chin, it yet offers compelling sentiments, like the three stages of mastery of the sword. First, swordsman and sword become one. Next, the sword enters the swordsman’s heart, and without a weapon he can kill an enemy at one hundred paces. Finally, there is peace, and loss of all desire to kill.

And this from the Discovery channel: Planet Earth, which offered African desert elephants frolicking in a water hole (shot from underwater); the first-ever footage of a snow leopard hunting; and the first-ever footage of a wild baby panda.

To complete the month I received a report from India, sent by Prof. Frederick Smith about his teacher Agnihotram Ramanuja Tatacharya. I met Agnihotram, who is one of India’s true Vedacharyas, some years back when he was supervising an intricate Vedic sacrifice. At the time I was struck by his effortless recitation of vast volumes of the Veda, the light that animated his eyes, and the force and vigor with which he argued his points and defended his convictions. Fred wrote:


I visited Agnihotram this morning. Spent a few hours with him. He went to Kumbakonam in April to celebrate his 100th birthday. He's as clear and brilliant and passionate as ever. I asked him his secret of longevity. His answer: "flow with nature." Couldn't have been more succinct. He then pulled from his ever-agile brain a number of Vedic quotes on the beauty of nature and why we were better off sensitizing ourselves to it. I wish I had a tape recorder along. Next time. His health is excellent though he's pretty hard of hearing. It seems to me his secret of longevity is that his passion for what he does and thinks has never diminished, and has always remained pure.


May it continue to be thus! Live long and prosper!

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