clever way to reintroduce Vedic gods to popular culture

January 9, 2008

Since kundalini yoga arguably comes from the " gods " who " made us, "

then this post about those gods, at least as they related to the

descendants of the Harappan culture of South Asia, may be of interest

to this ...

Amar Atma

Kundalini-Yoga/cal//Kundalini-Yoga/?v=2 & t=1\

199909808

washingtonpost.com

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In India, Gods Rule The 'Toon' Universe

Hindu Myth a Fount of Superheroes

By Rama Lakshmi

Washington Post Foreign Service

Wednesday, January 9, 2008; A11

NEW DELHI -- Eight-year-old Tejas Vohra is used to spending most of

his after-school hours watching " Power Rangers, " " Transformers " and

" Looney Tunes. " But these days, one of his favorite superheroes is a

cool cartoon version of Hanuman, the monkey-headed Hindu god.

For thousands of years, Hindus have prayed to Hanuman in times of

trouble, beseeching him to perform miraculous feats in their lives.

Last week, the god was revealed to Tejas in a movie theater. In " The

Return of Hanuman, " the adored deity is reborn as a boy who goes to

school in khaki shorts, uses a computer, combats pollution and, most

important, smashes the bad guys to pulp.

" I loved the film because Hanuman is a boy like me and saves planet

Earth, " said Tejas, a tall, wide-eyed second-grader. " It was awesome

to see the gods laughing, singing and flying planes. The fights were

really good, and in the end Hanuman sets everything right. "

A number of haloed Hindu gods and goddesses have debuted in the

frenetic world of animation over the past five years. Their appearance

marks a shift from a decades-long period in which Indian children grew

up almost exclusively on American TV and movie characters, including

Mickey Mouse, Tom and Jerry, and Spider-Man.

To many parents, though, the " mytho-cartoons " are more than a novelty;

they are a way to introduce the ancient tales to a generation that

seems to be losing touch with its 5,000-year heritage.

" We grew up hearing these stories from our grandparents. But my son is

learning the epics from animation films, " said Tejas's mother, Madhu

Vohra, 36. " I am happy that he's imbibing our cultural values in a fun

way. He can relate to the tales better this way. And I don't need to

monitor him closely when he watches Indian mythology. "

Like many parents in New Delhi, Vohra recently barred Tejas from

watching " Crayon Shin-Chan, " an animated Japanese TV series featuring

a foul-mouthed 5-year-old boy.

In India these days, children have a dazzling array of pop-culture

choices. Parents worry about them being drawn to Western lifestyles,

playing on computers rather than spending time with their families,

and gaining easy access to all that is considered cool around the

world. When sons and daughters greet their elders with a " Hi, " rather

than folding their hands and offering the traditional greeting of

" Namaste, " parents cringe.

The new cartoon films address this parental angst by presenting Indian

mythology and folklore as cool and trendy. Besides Hanuman, deities

featured on animated TV series and movies have included the

elephant-headed Ganesha and the blue-bodied, mischievous Krishna.

Indian jungle stories and princely tales are also being produced for

television and the home video market.

The heady cocktail of ancient culture and popular entertainment has

also fueled a marketing blitz, with manufacturers introducing

T-shirts, toys and video games based on the cartoon characters.

The new shows have their roots in the explosion of private television

channels in India more than a decade ago. It was then that marketers

began to search for an opportunity to put uniquely Indian stories in

cartoon format.

In 2001, the Cartoon Network broadcast the first Indian mythology

show, " Pandavas, " a version of a tale from the classical Hindu epic

" Mahabharata " about the travails of five princely brothers. Since

then, the channel, which reaches more than 27 million homes, has shown

seven Indian animation series, along with international programs.

The latest, " Krishna, " was rated the most popular series shown on any

children's channel in India last year, topping a series based on the

Harry Potter books, according to Anshuman Misra, the managing director

of Turner International India, which owns the Cartoon Network and Pogo

channels.

Misra said it's clear why the myth-based cartoons have become so popular.

" They are successful because there is an element of familiarity with

these mythological characters, the stories are timeless, and Indian

parents actively encourage the children to watch them, " he said.

A recent study by the Confederation of Indian Industry reported that

the nascent Indian animation industry, now worth $285 million, is

expected be worth almost $1 billion by 2010. Because of low overhead

costs, India is also emerging as an outsourcing hub for international

companies such as Walt Disney and Paramount that make animated films.

" But there is a dearth of skilled talent in India, and we end up

bringing people from Korea and America each time, " said Hari Varma,

chief creative officer at Toonz Animation India, which worked on " The

Return of Hanuman. " " So we are opening animation schools across India

now. "

" Hanuman " is the second film to take a revered Hindu story line, tweak

it, put it in a 21st-century context and bring the gods down to Earth.

It shows the gods talking in colloquial " Hinglish, " a fashionable

hybrid of Hindi and English. The deities play the guitar instead of

the traditional sitar, use the Internet and dodge bullets as if they

were Neo, the hero of the U.S. movie " The Matrix. "

Hanuman flies into space, watches over New York with a torch like the

Statue of Liberty's, captures Osama bin Laden and straightens the

Leaning Tower of Pisa. Other characters speak to Hanuman using

irreverent phrases such as " Chill, dude " or " Have you lost it, dude? "

Another big box office hit last year, " My Friend Ganesha, " blended

animation and live-action scenes to show the little elephant-headed

god snowboarding and being taught to speak English by a nerdy schoolboy.

The next challenge for the Hindu " toon " gods is especially up-to-date.

A forthcoming film features Hanuman going to Manhattan, where he helps

the FBI battle terrorists.

" Hanuman is the original superhero. He is thousands of years older

than Superman, Spider-Man and Batman. He is a brand to reckon with

among Indian children today, " said Nadish Bhatia, general manager of

marketing at Percept Picture Co., which co-produced " The Return of

Hanuman. "

" Every society is looking for heroes, and we want to make Hanuman

global, " Bhatia said. " If the Coca-Cola brand can come to India and

connect with our sensibilities, why can't Hanuman go to New York? "

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