#205 - Apasaras and Gandharvas

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Image result for changsha bowls
Changsha bowls

Apsara

Nara and Narayana

So this week flew. When I say I flew, I mean flew. 

Monday - Pulau Ubin and swim at the pool
Tuesday - MacRitchie and Chinatown and swim at the pool
Wednesday - Asian Civilisations Museum, dinner with Laurence and Leon
Thursday - Passport office and Dim Sum
Friday - Library and swim at the pool

All the while I have been reading the Mahabharata. It is such an amazing book. Having read The Odyssey and The Iliad, they pale in comparison in terms of depth and meaning. They are like children's sketches beside a Masters. True, but naive and crude. I cannot imagine the civilisation which conceived them. No wonder the people of our region adopted them wholesale. And this has given rise to the subtleties of Asia. It has given rise to the rich, tolerant and beautiful culture that we have. It is entire underpinned by not just Hinduism but the Mahabharata and the Ramayana.

But, in the meantime, I have also been watching MARVEL Agents of Shield. The first three series are a wonderful exploration of time and human frailty. It has been so interesting watching it while reading the Mahabharata. Because there are so many parallels. Powered individuals and humans, technology and frailty. Loyalties which become frailties. And all the time we are lost.

Ironically, it was Fitz's explanation of the common understanding of the fourth dimension which enabled me to finally understand the theory of time and space. He took a stack of papers and said that this is 2D but we see in 3D and a 2D person will never be able to see in 3D. Just as if time is the 4th dimension, we cannot see in 4D, but it is happening now. All of time happens all at once, if you could theoretically see in 4D. This is where the idea of time travel, the space-time continuum and fortune telling come from. You can glimpse into time. Which means that effectively our lives are frozen in time all the time - it is just that we experience time through space. Which means that we experience it as linear. The future can therefore never be undone. But this is the kicker from this point in time, in which we are stuck. if we could unstick ourselves, we could experience a different present and therefore a different future.

Who knew, MARVEL Agents of Shield would finally unpick that mystery for me?

I did binge watch all three series over the past week and a half. Which is a lot. But it was so watchable. Why is that when you spend 66 hours reading the Mahabhrata , that's alright, but it is not ok to spend 50 hours watching MARVEL Agents of Shield. To me they are the same thing.




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