Sun+doy, ,Jcanuory 25, 1976
THE MICHIGAN DAILY
Page Five .
Sunday, January 25, 1976 THE MiCHIGAN DAILY Page Five
w
PERSPECTIVE
Watching TV again'tonight?,'
Hare Krishna for a day:
An outsider takes alook
By KAREN SCHULKINS first service the day, or the arti.
In any other house it could
IT WAS 4:30 AM. We had al- have been a living room. But
ready overslept for an hour. here, the room was bare of fur-
My friend Ananta was annoy- niture and painstakingly clean.
ed that the alarm didn't go off At the far end was the altar,
since it meant she had to hurry a platform draped with cloths
'woven in Indian designs. Pho
MY STOMACH said it was
time for breakfast, but An-
anta said it was time for class
as the devotees read passages
from the Bhagavad-giat, the
Krishna bible, carefully exam-
ining their significance.
through her morning routine.
"Good morning," I said to her
in my sleepy state. Spending a
night on the floor is not the
most comfortable.
Ananta paused from folding
her blankets. "Hare Krishna,"
she said.
Sometimes 'you find yourself
in strange situations at this
University in the name of edu-
cation. Last term I found my-
self freezing my butt off once
a week looking at buds, twigs,
shrubs and trees in the name of
biological science.
And now, in the name of
journalism, I found myself awk-
wardly trying to wrap a sari in
the Sri Sri Radha-Krishna tem-
ple on the corner of 6th and
Madison. I was a Hare Krishna
for a day.
A MANTA WAS VERY patient
with me Iwho was fresh
from the materialistic world
of Universitydom. But I man-
aged to make a skirt out of
the patterned cotton cloth,
pleated about two feet of it and
tucked it into the front of the
skirt, and brought the rest of
the material around over my
head. For the rest of the day I
tried to keep the sari from
falling around my ankles.
The men were already in the
Country P
sym pathy,
(Continued from Page 3)
"This grown man, he cried,"
she recalls. "But you know it
meant so much to him that we
had remembered him. Big tears
were rolling down his cheeks,
and he came over and just hug-
ge me and said, 'You remem-
bered;"'
HE MATHIAS' dedication to
animals has deep roots.
Horst, originally from the Pom-
eranian region of Germany (on
the Baltic Sea and now a part
of Poland), "always had a dog
and a cat, sure, chickens, pigs,
goats . ."
He trained guard dogs during
the period between World War
II and 1951, the year he emi-
grated to the U.S.,
i
i
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F
tographs of several generations At 8:30 my prayers were an-
of gurus rested there, decorat- swered. And they were answer-
ed with leis of carnations pet- ed in style by the Hare Krishna
als. breakfast feast. Potato "stew,"
chick peas, a sweet rice drink,
Ananta always makes the orange juice, fruit, salad and
offerings. several other dishes that were
a far cry from the fast icod
IWIRST SHE sprinkled flower world outside, lay spread before
petals over the altar, and me on a plastic cloth. I did not
then lit a pot of incense. Drums mind the absence of meat. I am
and cymbals clashed, and the a vegetarian.
Hare Krishnas chanted and The men left to go out on
danced, jumping up and down "sankirtana"-selling books and
and shaking their heads. The preachiniselling books.
ritul gew n niseandfrenzy preaching in shopping centers.
ritual grew in noise and I, of course, stayed behind with
as they became more involved.
TheyAnant beleelolvad.the women who traditionally re-
Then Ananta blew a loud blast main segregated from the men
on a conch shell, and slowly for most of the day.
the worshipers calmed down.
F
TST.... .... .. .... .. ..«.. .7 ...... ,7 .... t....: ,,..
E Women are considered infer or
Ananta gave me a string of by the Iare Krishna. But while
beads adoc gi terov~r riha u hl
was and once again the room they are seen as inherently less
was alive with chanting. But intelligent, the work tney per-
the fervor had been replaced by form is as highly valued as
Hare Krishna, Krishna, Hare that done by the men.
~ae aeRma lr as contented devotee-- the only
Rama Ram, Hare Hare," the One devotee, whose belly was baby of thedgroup.
devotees sang as they moved rounded with advanced preg-
with each verse from bead to nancy, spoke with me as she When the child grows to the
bead. They were careful not to ironed. The ironing bord Was normal kindergarten age, he
i-the only piece of furniture inI will be sent to a Hare I, rislina
touch the strand with their in- the small cold room. Her brace- school in Texas. His parents will
dex fingers. "It gets in all kinds lets jangled as she pressed the not feel torn from him. There is
of strange places," explained gold brocaded material she was no concept of the nuclear family.
Ananta. I dutifully chanted and preparing to sew into a cere- It is unclear what will happen
fingered the string, unable to monial sari and told me other when he finishes his education.
disillusionment with the mate- He is part of 'the first generatiol
experience the same spiritual rial world. A childish yelp of Hare Krishnas to be brn
enlightenment the others por- sounded from the room above, and raised in this country.
trayed. It was the rantings of a not-so-
But it is certain that tie will
be taught the four no-no's: no
drinking, no gambling, no f xtra-
tf em e tery:-G iving marital sex and no (were it'ng.
Nothing is permitted beyond the
essential.
COncern and digniy SIDE FROM their beliefs,
and rituals, the temple 1n-
habitants share another curumon
hood. were absolutely grief-stricken." outlook-a strong disas-e for
Now their numerous pets ' American materialism. I thought
I and 'paying guests' keep them -"I hadn't paid the vet bill, back to my 10-speed bi v, my
busy from before dawn to 9 or and he offered to pay it and suburban home and 'n ailing
110 every night. But their time have me pay him back later," Stereo. I was in no posin to
and effort does not go unappre- she added. argue with them, but to them
dated by clients.what seemed ike extrajaince
"They eveh supplied a plant to me had became neces iues.
"T'HEY HANDLED THE ani- with a little figure of Snoopy My day at the Krishna temple
mal with respect, said one on it which we thought was was over. I shed my s iri and
owner recently bereaved of his delightful." stepped back into my more fa-
10-year-old poodle. "We felt miliar world. I still remained
pretty bad. It was Christmas It was the kindness, the sensi- unmoved by their sniritarl ec-
Day. He did a real good job, tivity, and the respect for ani- stasy, but I was touched ,y tbir
and, put some kind of flower mals that people seemed to find simple,, peaceful way of if.
on the grave. most impressive about the Ma- I yawned rememberizag my
thias. acute lack of sleep, and ny
Another owner lauded their might on the hard wood f!ar. I
helpfulness. IN ESTHER'S WORDS, "That's had eaten their food, slid their
the whole thing in a nut- prayers, sie their songs and
"I think they are terrific peo- j shell - knowing that somebody exchanged philosophies.
ple," she said warmly. "We else cares." And honestly, I had done it In
more than the name of educa-
tion.
hy not join the DAILY ?
Karen Shulkins is a Daily:
THE DAILY IS A GREAT PLACE TO: stuff writer. {
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Now his accent is barely
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ference in the vowels and
's'.
re-.
dif-
the
INGMAR BERGMAN'S
~REAND
ROGER CORMAN presents fiJ
A NEW WORLD PICTURES RELEASE L.
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Esther, who comes trom Big
Rapids, has also raised a ser-
ies of animals since her child-
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THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
Professional Theatre Program
presents
DAVID ATKINSON
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Gene Madeline M
Wilder Kahn Fel
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