Random Thoughts-35: "Taking the Mind for a Walk"

If one is suffering like me from sleeplessness or frequent interruptions in sleep due to some annoying disease or due to some other reason, the question arises what to do from one's mind from worrying or brooding over unwanted things. As that only makes the suffering more intense. Suppose one could utilize this time creatively without being a nuisance to others that would be great. I found out a way unexpectedly. I am admirer of the cartoonist, late Abu Abraham. What he once said about creative idleness caught hold of me. Creative Idleness is like taking your mind for a walk. This sounded great. You don't get up from bed; do not switch on the light and roam the house like a caged lion and annoy others sleeping at home. I decided to experiment and give it a try.

The first day I decided to implement it, I had a small problem. I did not know where to start from. Then I remembered it was already past midnight and I was already into a new day, which was a Thursday. Thursday, well, do I not know something about it? Ya, it was actually Thor's day, named after the Norwegian God of Thunder. Then I remembered that I had come across the name somewhere else too. Where? I remembered that too. It was Thor Heyerdahl, the great explorer, adventurist and scientist and immediately his famous Kon-Tiki Expedition of 1947 came to my mind. He, along with a few volunteers, crossed the great Pacific Ocean on a balsa wood raft (nearly 8000 k.m.!) to prove the theory that when Incas invaded Peru, the natives escaped and migrated to Polynesia by balsa wood rafts. He built a balsa wood raft and named it 'Kon-Tiki' after the Polynesian Sun god and travelled 8000 k.m. in the Pacific and reached Polynesia. The book describing this expedition, Kon-Tiki expedition became a best-seller and the documentary made about the voyage won Academy award.

Now more about Thursday. It is an auspicious day for the Hindus, the Jews and the Moslems and they observe fast on this day.

To Kon-Tiki now. If Kon-Tiki is the sun god for the Polynesians, the Hindus many names for him like Suriya (from which my own name, Suri, is derived) Suresh, Sourav (remember Saurav Ganguly?), and a lot more. In fact, the Hindus worship the sun god by a hymn called 'Aditya Hrudyam'; by the way, Aditya is another name for the sun god; This hymns is full various names for the sun god.

Does Thursday any significance in my own life? Yes, it does. More than 30 years ago, a team of volunteers came to Karaikudi to popularise Maharishi Mahesh Yogi's Transcendental Meditation, TM. I got interested and took initiation from Mr.Frank Carpenter. I still remember the fascinating way he gave us his home address. En Cino, City of Oak Trees, California, USA. I was given a mantra, 'shreem' which I vaguely remember to have some connection with 'Guruvaar', the Sanskrit equivalent of Thursday.

If you turn to literature, there you find many books which has some link or the other with Thursday like:

The Man who was Thursday by G K Chesterton

Sweet Thursday by John Steinbeck

Thursday's Fictin by Richard James Allen

I find other references on searching, like:

Black Thursday referring to October 24, 1929 when the New York Stock Exchange crashed.

Maundy Thursday, the Thursday before Easter.

Thansgiving day in US, which is usually celebrated on a Thursday in November.

The General Elections are traditionally held on a Thursday since 1935 in the United Kingdom.

It went on like this till it dawned. Needless to say, I got up refreshed and excited, instead of being depressed and tired. Unfortunately, this idea slipped my mind. Another reason may be my biggest weakness: lack of perseverance. My people say I always give up things in the middle and never see them through.

Ok, let me take it up again. Thanks to Abu Abraham, may his soul rest in peace!

For those interested in looking up some of the above topics, I have subsequently searched for and have found some links, which I am furnishing below links from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:

THURSDAY
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thursday

THOR
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thor

THOR HEYERDAHL
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thor_Heyerdahl#Heyerdahl.27s_theory_of_Polynesian_origins

KON-TIKI
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kon-Tiki

THOR HEYERDAHL EXPEDITIONS and
ARCHAEOLOGY OF THE PACIFIC PEOPLES
http://www.greatdreams.com/thor.htm

THOR HEYERDAHL'S BOOK,THE KON-TIKI EXPEDITION FROM AMAZON.COM
(BOOK DETAILS AND EDITORIAL REVIEWS)
http://www.amazon.com/Kon-Tiki-Expedition-Bridge-Thor-Heyerdahl/dp/0582530067/ref=sr_1_1/181-1256319-1944528?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1265423796&sr=1-1

KON-TIKI, THE 1951 DVD FROM AMAZON.COM
http://www.amazon.com/Kon-Tiki-Thor-Heyerdahl/dp/B000FDK746/ref=pd_sim_b_1

BOOKS ON AND BY THOR HEYERDAHL FROM GOOGLE BOOKS
http://books.google.com/books?q=+THOR+HEYERDAHL&btnG=Search+Books

THE KON-TIKI EXPEDITION - COLOR FILM FROM YOUTUBE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4m2Z5amr_DE

KON-TIKI, FULL FEATURE PROGRAM (58 MINUTES) FROM YOUTUBE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gGooopCTmpg

OBITUARY OF THOR HEYERDAHL FROM BBC NEWS
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/1938294.stm

OBITUARY OF THOR HEYERDAHL FROM THE INDEPENDENT
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/thor-heyerdahl-729937.html

ADITYA HRUDAYAM
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aditya_Hridayam

SURYA NAMASKARA (SUN WORSHIP)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surya_Namaskara

Grateful thanks to Abu Abraham, Google Books, YouTube, BBC News, The Independent,UK, Amazon.com, Great Dreams.com and Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.