Theory Assignment 2: Burt, Meduri and 29 Subversive Gestures

Here is our reading assignment #2, due on December 20!

1. All read Avanthi Meduri's “Multiple Pleasures: Improvisation in Bharatanatyam” and Ramsay Burt’s “The Performance of Unmarked Masculinity.”

2. Write short response papers: Sandra will concentrate on interpreting 29 Subversive Gestures through these theoretical lenses, while Cyn and Shy can also consider autobiographical more heavily.    

3. Each come up with a few ideas about a choreographic assignment.   

Response to Choreography Assignment 1: Gender Morphing and 29 Subversive Gestures

Here are 4 little video studies 1-2 min each and some comments about things we discovered while in the process.

The passwords for all are: "loop"

1. Take a section of the existing kathak sequence and slowly morph it on a gender spectrum from ultra-femme to super butch.

Feminine sequence:
Fem phrase from Shyamala Moorty on Vimeo.

Femme to butch:
Femme to Butch from Shyamala Moorty on Vimeo.

2. create a  series of masculine gestures (approx same number/length as part 1) in classical Kathak (If need, may also make non Kathak gestures influenced by rules of masculinity as noted by Gere on p. 351, 365 and Shah on p 4.)

Masculine sequence:
Masc sequenc from Shyamala Moorty on Vimeo.

3. Switch back and forth between the feminine and masculine gestures in part 1 and 2. Try different transitions: once "blurring" the transition, another time making it fluid, and once emphasizing the rupture between the two characters.

Gender Morphing Sequence:
  fem to mas sequence from Shyamala Moorty on Vimeo.

FEEDBACK QUESTIONS
1. Babli noted in her theory assignment 1 response that 29 Effeminate Gestures works from a "single-mindedness" whereas 29 Subversive Gestures works from multiple/fluid positions. How do our new explorations deal with the idea of multiplicity vs. singularity of positions? Is the multiplicity or singularity confusing or effective?
2. Do these explorations deal with abhinaya as methodology or as signifier of Indian-ness, and how? 3. Compare and contrast these explorations with our previous Highways draft.
4. Note moments that you find satisfying or pleasurable. Note moments that you find confusing or boring.
5. Any other thoughts?

NOTE: CYN AND SHY WILL POST REFLECTIONS ON OUR PROCESS

Choreographic Assignment 1: 29 Subversive Gestures

This is a combination of a suggested assignment from each of us and thus is in 3 parts.

1. Take a section of the existing kathak sequence and slowly morph it on a gender spectrum from ultra-femme to super butch.

2. create a  series of masculine gestures (approx same number/length as part 1) in classical Kathak (If need, may also make non Kathak gestures influenced by rules of masculinity as noted by Gere on p. 351, 365 and Shah on p 4.)

3. Switch back and forth between the feminine and masculine gestures in part 1 and 2. Try different transitions: once "blurring" the transition, another time making it fluid, and once emphasizing the rupture between the two characters.

While parts 1 and 2 lead to part 3, each part should be videoed separately for feedback as any of the three parts may be fodder for further developments of the piece. 

Cyber Manifesto Rough Draft

Guest Editor Prumsodun Ok has worked hard to put together this draft after many challenges of un-matching frame rates, stolen computers, scheduling etc. But it's all coming together now!

Please give any feedback by next Tuesday the 11th as he will be working on it again Wednesday morning LA time.  He is planning to layer different video footage into the ending section of yeses after Babli's solo, and make a few other refinements.  Otherwise things are getting close and it would be great to get feedback in these final stages! 

Password: manifesto
Cyber Manifesto Rough Draft from Shyamala Moorty on Vimeo.

Theory Assignment 1: Gere, Shah, and 29 Subversive Gestures

Here's our next assignment: due December 3!  

1. All read David Gere's “29 Effeminate Gestures: Choreographer Joe Goode and the Heroism of Effeminacy” and Purnima Shah's “Transcending Gender in the Performance of Kathak."

2. Give feedback through theoretical lens: Sandra will concentrate on the work itself, Cyn and Shy can also consider autobiographical more heavily.    

3. Each come up with a few ideas about a choreographic assignment. 

Feedback on 29 Subversive Gestures

Our first assignment is to give general feedback on 29 Subversive Gestures as it was performed at Highways by Thursday, November 29. 

Here is the video of "29 Subversive Gestures" (password "subversive"):

As reference, here is Joe Goode's original "29 Effeminate Gestures."  (Note: the piece starts around 6:12.  We are actually working with a video of Joe Goode performing the solo, rather than the younger company member featured here.)


FEEDBACK QUESTIONS:
1. What parts of the piece draw you in; what parts feel superfluous?
2. What meaning do you read throughout the work?
3. What do you make of the chair?  What meaning does it hold for you?  Do you find it to be an effective prop?
4. Compare Goode's original work to ours.  How do the differences between the embodied cultural traditions drawn upon, as well as the racialized and gendered identities of Joe Goode and Cynthia Ling Lee, cause the works to read and resonate differently?  How do our compositional strategies replicate or depart from Goode's, and how might you imagine that Goode's compositional strategies could be appropriated or manipulated for our context?

New Project: 29 Subversive Gestures Theory-Choreography Loop

We've decided to embark on a new project!  We're planning to rework 29 Subversive Gestures, the solo that Shyamala created on Cynthia investigating gender and Indian classical dance, which was performed at Highways Performance Space in Santa Monica, CA in August 2012.  Our plan is to revise the work in dialogue with Sandra as part of a praxis-based article to be written by Sandra and Cynthia to submit to an academic anthology on queer dance.  As part of this process, we're planning to establish a feedback loop between the three of us whereby where in-process choreography is analyzed, and theoretical engagement in return affects choreography.  The process thus combines long-distance and in-person collaboration, as well as dynamically moving between theory and choreography.  Following is an excerpt from our paper abstract:

"Cross-gesturing Meets Abhinaya: Subverting Gender in 29 Subversive Gestures

This praxis-based article intersects theoretical and choreographic research on performing gender non-conformity in the context of South Asian contemporary dance. It will expand upon our earlier theorizations regarding South Asian tactics for performing queerness, which examined cross-overs between the performance strategies of identity-based autobiography and the South Asian technique of abhinaya. Establishing a feedback circle where choreography-in-the-making is analyzed, and theoretical engagement in return affects choreography, we will chart the creation of our in-progress solo, 29 Subversive Gestures....The piece translates aspects of San Francisco-based dance-theater artist Joe Goode’s seminal, queer postmodern dance-work, 29 Effeminate Gestures (1987), for the context of Indian classical dance. We find resonances between David Gere’s theorization of cross-gesturing, heroic effeminacy, and camp in 29 Effeminate Gestures and abhinaya’s techniques for a solo performer to fluidly switch between genders."  

-Sandra Chatterjee and Cynthia Ling Lee 

  

Here is a working timeline of assignments that we've created:

• Thurs. Nov 29: All give general feedback on 29 Subversive Gestures
• Mon. Dec 3:
• All read David Gere's “29 Effeminate Gestures: Choreographer Joe Goode and the Heroism of Effeminacy” and Purnima Shah's “Transcending Gender in the Performance of Kathak”
• Give feedback through theoretical lens: Sandra will concentrate on the work itself, Cyn and Shy can also consider autobiographical more heavily.  
• Each come up with a few ideas about a choreographic assignment.  
• Sat. Dec 8: Shy generates assignment based on everyone’s ideas

• Dec 18: Sandra and Babli finalize Theory Assignment 3 (Sandra will decide on Butler, propose Vanita possibility, Cyn will upload Hari’s article) - Make sure Babli has all videos/articles before leaving to India!
• Dec 20:
• Babli gives feedback on Dec 14 study
• All read Theory Assignment 2: Avanthi Meduri on “Improvisation in BN Abhinaya” and Ramsay Burt’s “The Performance of Unmarked Masculinity”
• All write responses to these articles
• All come up with ideas for choreographic assignment based on readings
• Dec 24: Shy generates Choreography Assignment 2 based on everyone’s ideas
• Jan 3: Shy and Cyn upload study and feedback ?s for Choreography Assignment 2 to blog
• Jan 5: Sandra gives feedback on Choreography Assignment 2
• Jan 6: Theory Assignment 3
• All read Hari Krishnan's "From Gynemimesis to Hypermasculinity: The Shifting Orientations of Male Performers of South Indian Court Dance," Vasu Reddy's interview of Judith Butler, "Troubling Genders, Subverting Identities," and Butler's writing on drag from Gender Trouble
• write responses
• come up with ideas for choreographic assignment based on readings
• Jan 7: Shy generates Choreographic Assignment 3 based on everyone’s ideas
• Jan 11: Shy and Cyn post Choreo Assignment 3 on blog
• Jan 13: Babli gives feedback for Assignment 3; all 3 brainstorm possible overall choreographic structures
• Jan 14: Shy and Cyn start working on Choreographic Assignment 4: to combine material from 1-3
• early Jan: bug David Gere about possible involvement
• Jan 17:
• Shy and Cyn upload choreographic Assignment 4 to blog
• Sandra and Cyn start formulating final paper structure
• Feb 12: finish paper
• FEB 15: submit full paper

Cyn, Shy, and Sandra will continue feedback loop and “finish” the choreography by April.

Babli's response to Assignment 4: Saleye Origin Storyboard

This storyboard charts the character of Saleye, an unsuspecting girl, played by Sandra, who comes to earth from PLANET BOLLYWOOD- a planet where life is pre-scripted and uneventful. As she discovers how life on earth works-- that one needs money for everything, for example, and that this money has to be earned-- strange things happen around her. At crucial moments of tension her reflexes take over, she can't help but do a weird sort of dance, only to see the attitude of the person in front of her change suddenly.

She will discover that she has a superpower-- which is to dispel stereotypes in the eye of the beholder.... 

Saleye also intersects with the Ruwaxi character of Cynthia - the exact point of intersection will need to be finalized. 

The video unfortunately is missing one section of sound (the immigration part)- also the sound on this draft is low - so the script is below.

Password: saleye

Saleye Storyboard Assign 5 from Sandra Chatterjee on Vimeo.



Feedback questions:

1) Which parts of the story do you find most compelling?
(2) Does the storyline make sense? If not, at which parts does it need clarification?
(3) Do you have suggestions for translating this into live performance?
(4) Which movement motifs that I tried to sketch at certain parts work for you, which don't?
(5) Do you have any  suggestions for incorporating live feed?
(6) Do you have any ideas about clarifying the connection?
(7)  Any other comments, suggestions, ideas?



Script:

Saleye- Origin Story

Not too long ago on a planet far far away, there lived a girl by the name of Saleye. She was a
quiet girl, living in her own world, while her family was a mainstream, busy, beautiful, successful
Bollywood family. Their life was picture perfect: father and mother happily married, with the
customary ups and downs to work through. They were living in a big suburban house, with too
many rooms, furnished straight out of a catalog. Saleye was an only child, and was living in her
own flat in the parents house. The relatives of the extended family were living in the surrounding
houses. They had everything they needed, and more: living in luxury and harmony, with a healthy
dose of solvable conflicts that were blown up to melodramatic episodes to spice up their lives.
The lives of their friends, neighbors, acquaintances, and colleagues were similar: predictable,
uneventful, stable, fixed.

But Saleye was growing increasingly anxious. She did not trust the outward contentment and peace. She was bored of the melodrama, of the predictability of all of their lives. She was longing for something “real”- “real” life – not sugarcoated, melodramatic luxury problems: and she was longing to be looking for it on PLANET EARTH, because she heard that that is where one could still find “real life.”

In order to reach her goal, she proceeded to go out more frequently to hang out in the vicinity of one of the big stars of the planet, who can travel the neighboring planets like planet earth for public relations: The stars contribute to the fame of the planet.
As was the purpose of hanging out with the stars, Saleye manages to sneak in with the entourage of the big star as someone to iron his undershirts. As one of his entourage she gets permission to travel to planet earth. And they are about to leave on a trip. Secretly she packs and sneaks out to the interplanetary airport...

As they arrive on planet earth, the star and his whole entourage are stopped by immigration. The star is the main focus of attention, but not because the officers are starstruck-- but because they don't recognize him and think he is a threat. They don't want to let him in.

Saleye gets nervous. She is not even supposed to be there, and now she is stuck in this situation!!! When the officer comes to her to question her, her heart is beating, her hands are shaking (but she can hide it), she feels as though sweat is running down her back. To mask it all, she decides to follow the melodramatic conventions she grew up with and is overly nice. She has a huge smile and is her most charming self, to not arouse suspicion.

As he questions her about her passport and permission to enter planet earth (even though he has her complete papers in his hand), she suddenly is taken over by reflexes. Before she realizes, her reflexes take over. She cannot control it, but finds herself looking him straight in the eyes, lifts her arms to frame her eyes and moves her neck and eyes right to left-

The officer's expression suddenly changes to open and friendly. She returns her papers and says “enjoy your stay on planet earth”! Confused about the sudden change in attitude Saleye takes her papers. Quickly she takes her belongings and swiftly proceeds into the world of planet earth.

But she remains to be confused.... what just happened? What caused his change of attitude?

Venturing out of the airport she gets confused where to go, she dances about the city, here and there until she is attracted by a store, that has familiar sounds, images, and smells--- an Indian grocery store.

As she wants to get something to eat and find out about a place to live, she finds out that she needs money for everything.

Saleye: Money- where should I get money from?

Shopkeeper: are you joking? You have to earn it!!!

Saleye: Earn money? How?

Shopkeeper: Uff, try getting a job! Here is the paper- here are the ads. I will even let you make a phone call!

So Saleye did. She found a job as a domestic help-- even with accommodation! Sooner than later she was on her way to the home of a rich immigrant family in the City of Angels. She commenced her job immediately.

On the first evening itself, the family sent her into the room of their daughter Ruwaxi.

Since she had not met her yet, she slowly quietly opens the door to Ruwaxi's room. Ruwaxi
jumped-- she had been lost in her books and studies or writing....

She turned around and stared at Saleye—thinking “who is this stranger in my room?” Ruwaxi got
shy, being looked at. (NOTE: it's to be worked out if now and here, or when they are elsewhere
together.)

Suddenly Saleye's reflexes took over again.... she started moving involuntarily... framing her eyes with her forearms, moving her eyes and neck side to side--- only to be witness to a wonder-some transformation in Ruwaxi.

What just Happened??

As they continue their journey, they will find out in due time....

TO BE CONTINUED....

Manifesto Draft

Prumsodun Ok has been working hard to edit together the video version of our Manifesto.
Here is the first segment of it.

Password: manifesto

Manifesto cut from Shyamala Moorty on Vimeo.



Prum will post questions in the comments for us to respond to as he is working to figure out the other parts of the video.

Shy's response to assignment #4: Plungasana Informercial

Plunga Infomercial 3 from Shyamala Moorty on Vimeo.

password: Plunga (note the capital P)


Feedback questions: 

1.  Are there any moments that are particularly funny/entertaining? 

2.  Is there anything that makes you think?  Is there's the potential for leading into a more serious topic with this.  If so, what topic/s do you see it relating to?

3. As the infomercial  developed it turned out to be more for video then a live performance then I had originally expected.  I do still imagine that there could be some audience interaction, like teaching them to meditate while using the plunga wand etc.  When you watch it, can you imagine any live elements (would the announcer be live and the dancing and yoga be on film, or vice versa?)  Or could there be live performance that is related to this?

4. What are the politics of commercialization in relation to this piece?  Is there a possibility for empowerment of herself and her community through selling the Plunga Flow Workout, or do you think she's "selling out"?  Please explain your answer

5.  is there a relationship to the comic book theme?  how so?   Do you see any connections to other (Un) epic Wonder Women characters or themes?

6.  Who do you think the uninspired woman, the plunger dancer, and the yogasana demonstrator are? (are they Plunga?  are they Nirmala (before turning into Plunga)? are they different ordinary people?)

7.  Any other comments, suggestions, ideas?

"Super Ruwaxi: Origins" at Highways

On Friday, August 10, Cynthia and Shyamala performed the first draft of "Super Ruwaxi: Origins" at Highways Performance Space as part of SUBVERSIVE GESTURES, an evening of queering Indian dance.  SUBVERSIVE GESTURES was part of BEHOLD!, a queer performance series curated by Highways Performance Space Artistic Director, Leo Garcia.

Note:  not seen here is Shyamala in the low left corner of the stage, doing the hands and face into a live feed camera.  So the audience actually sees her live as well as on the projection.  

Here is the video of the performance!  password "ruwaxi"

FEEDBACK QUESTIONS:
(1) What relationships do you see with the other (Un)Epic Wonder Women material?  These relationships could be narrative (ie, different super heroine characters interacting) or aesthetic (ie, use of live feed, narrator, etc).  How might you imagine the different material intersecting in performance?
(2) What moments pulled you in?  Where were you less interested?  What would you like to see further developed?
(3) Do you find the music and sound effective throughout the piece?  (For this version, we were not able to get original music composed, so the tracks should be eventually replaced in the future.)  Does there need to be music during the audience interaction?
(4) What do you think of the theatrical lighting, as far as you can tell from the video?
(5) What do you think of the different backgrounds in the live feed?
(6) How LA or US-specific is the piece and its humor?  Would it be necessary to translate some of the jokes cross-culturally, and if so, how might you imagine doing so?

Sandra's Response to UnEpic Assignment #3

Here is my response to assignment 3.
Cynthia and I retaped it in Taiwan!


Saleye meets unepic woman Study from Sandra Chatterjee on Vimeo.


Password: taiwan

(Un)epic Wonder Women Assignment #4: knitting together

I've been working pretty intensely with Cynthia to get a strong draft of her origin story for "Super Ruwaxi" completed for our upcoming performance (8:30pm August 10th, Highways Performance Space). After talking to everyone, it seems it would be helpful for each of us to have help from another member to cull together our material as well. So, here's the assignment:

Knit together the (Un)epic Wonder Woman material you have created so far into a 5 min piece (minimum length) that is meant for live performance but can also include video or other visual elements.  This piece could be or could include your origin story.  As you add the parts together, please edit them and know that you can chose not to use all your elements, and you can create additional elements to support your vision.   Wherever possible try to relate the piece to Indian and/or Western comic books, and try out costume and music ideas. 

Brainstorm ideas for your piece with another member as follows:

Shyamala helps Cynthia

Cynthia helps Babli

Sangita helps Shy

Due date:  August 15
Feedback due:  August 22

Ruwaxi intro with Shy's hands

Shy and I started working on transforming Ruwaxi's origin story into a live performance for our show at Highways in August.  We're thinking that Shy will play Urvashi, Ruwaxi's former incarnation, who narrates the story.  The footage doesn't show Shy, but in the performance she would be seen onstage facing a live feed camera.

EXCERPT: (for full rehearsal footage, see https://vimeo.com/45816206 password: ruwaxi)

password: once upon a time

SCRIPT:
Once upon a time in the urban sprawl of the City of Angels (La Ciudad de Los Angeles) there was a gated community (reeee) named the Middle Kingdom (That’s an ancient name for Chi-na!) where there lived a girl, Wu Ruwaxi (a made-up name meaning Western Confucian Doll!).  The only child of a hard-working immigrant family, Ruwaxi was loving, dutiful, and the embodiment of the Asian-American dream.

By day she studied assiduously in her elite prep school, mastering calculus derivatives (gi gi go go go, eeeeeeee)  formulating political theories to explain current Sino-US relations (ahem!  mmm (throaty, protesting) growl, bam! zap!  pow!), and writing impeccable eight legged essays analyzing the English literary canon.  (The eight-legged essay, baguwen, was a writing style used for the imperial examinations in ancient China.   Its rigid structure used heavy parallelism and redundancy, rhetorical features that survive in modern Chinese expository writing.) 

FEEDBACK QUESTIONS:
(1) What moments draw you in?  Where do you lose interest?
(2) How might you imagine the piece evolve visually and physically from here?  (Next in the story, Ruwaxi dresses up in her combat-butch outfit and goes to the club.)
(3) How might you see this integrate with other material developed (chakradar, trailer, etc)?
(4) Thoughts about sound/music?

Shy's UnEpic Encounter, Assignment #3

 Part 4: Encounter
 Password: Ganga

Every day to Epic from Shyamala Moorty on Vimeo.




Part 1:  Epic Woman
Not all of this made it into part 4 of the assignment and I wanted to get feedback on other parts of the movement so I included it here (My every day woman is all in the part 4 video above, from the beginning until the music starts).  
Password: Ganga

Ganga study from Shyamala Moorty on Vimeo.


Questions:
1. What movements are most interesting in both videos?  what least?
2. What do you think about the use of sounds in the first video?
3. Do you get any sort of narrative or other associations of meaning in either video?
4. Is the material more interesting in conversation or separate? (together is part 4, separate is Part 1 by itself and the first couple min or Part 4 before the music starts)
5. What could be the next steps with this material?

Cynthia's Response to UnEpic Assignment #3

Here's my response to this month's assignment:

password "dhet talang"

FEEDBACK QUESTIONS:
(1) How would you describe the movement vocabulary?  Suggestions on how to develop further, or parts that don't fit/are distracting?
(2) Who do you see as being the "ordinary" and "epic" woman in this study, and what adjectives or qualities would you use to describe them?  How does this correspond to the characters detailed in my trailer and origin story?  Are there qualities depicted in those earlier studies that are not represented here and which you would like to see expressed in the movement vocabulary?
(3) What story, if any, do you see?
(4) Do you have ideas about costumes and how that could be integrated into the existing movement?
(5) Music/sound ideas?
(6) Other comments?

Un(Epic) Wonder Woman Assignment #3: (Un)Epic Encounters

Here's your next assignment!  Please upload studies by June 15, and give feedback by June 22.This is a multi-step assignment.  Make sure you take into consideration the time spent on and length of each step! Also, try to follow the steps in sequence:)

Step 1:

Think about your super heroine's persona as it has developed through the origin story and create a movement phrase that would perform her persona. Think about what her persona's "movement style" would be. Creat only a short movement sequence.

Step 2:

Image an "un-epic," "ordinary" "everyday" woman character. Who is she? What does she do? What is she like? (no need to do a whole story of her, but get an idea what kind of woman she is). How does she move? Create a movement sequence for her.

NOTE: When you create the movement sequences, think about and consciously use stylistic movement elements (such as elements from classical dance - hastas, abhinaya, rhythm?- , pedestrian movement, release, yoga, etc....) to distinguish the character's movement sequences.

Step 3:

Imagine an encounter between your super-heroine and the everyday woman. Sketch out what might occur during the encounter? How do they meet? How do they interact? How do they react to each other? What might they have to say to each other?

Step 4:

Based on this imagined encounter, make the two characters' movement phrases meet. Create one longer movement phrase, in which the two distinct phrases meet.

Ganga Cleanser of the Universe -Origin Story

In case you can't read the above caption: In the crowded busy city of Los Angeles, there was a little oasis for yoga lovers in the lovely retreat home of a yoga teacher named Nirmala.*

If you can't read the bubble above it says:  "Something Must be caught in there! Just a little more suction and..."

If you can't read the bubble it says "Pop!!!"

should read: "partitioning of land in 1947, splitting Hindus and Muslims into India and Pakistan"

should read "...into the sewer system"

If you can't read the above: "She awoke to find a tiny glowing pearl on her fingertip.   As she gazed at it, it grew and grew until it envelope her - transforming her into..."

If you can't read the "voice of god" it says "Behold Ganga! Cleanser of the Universe!"

should read "yoga students' bad thoughts..."

Sorry about the typos.  I'm still working to clean them up and may be able to post a cleaner version soon, but thought it more important to just get it up!

 Feedback:
1.  What do you think about the origin story of the cleanser of the universe?  Are there any holes in the plot, or things that I should modify to make it stronger? 

2.  I tried using collage images for some of the comic and some watercolor paintings for the other parts.  While these images are just ideas (perhaps it would all be animation eventually), I'm curious if you are particularly drawn to any of the images.  If so, please say which image/s and why. Also, how did you feel about the collage being used in some parts and the paintings in others?  How does the aesthetic of a collage or a painting add or detract from the comic book world?

3.  How might this goddess/superhero interrelate with your goddess/superhero?

4.  Any ideas for ways to dance or stage any of this into live performance?

5.  Any other thoughts?

Mataji --Modern Wonder Woman

Mataji --Modern Wonder Woman During the 21st Century there exists a (dis)ease that is multiplying in Epic proportions. Anxiety/Stress is the silent plague affecting every mortal on this planet Earth. The age of technology and electronic gadgets has erased the ability to focus and affected our ability to see clearly. We exist in a haze. Multi-tasking has morphed us humans into frenetic, flitty cyborg folk that drive in one gear and one gear only: Autopilot. Do not fear, Mataji is here. She is Mother incarnate. Always giving of her resources, a bountiful fountain whose waters never deplete. She offers of herself unconditionally in service to all. She can jump high but she cannot fly. She transports herself to the land of mortals where she uses the power of her gaze to transmit instantaneous peace of mind to those in distress. Mataji is saving the human race by Awakening a consciousness that has been lost. Her spirit was sent to Earth after an emergency meeting was held among the Gods in the Heavens. The earthly inhabitants were in dire straits. The technology age had boomed and exceeded any one’s expectations. Humanity was at risk now as people’s minds began to merge with their computer counterparts. A cerebral epidemic had cut through the mortals, one in which human mind and robot became so interconnected that everyone was “plugged in”. Soul was threatened because it had been slowly hardened by years of mental plaque. Everyone was highly charged and profoundly depleted. Mataji was born via invitro fertilization from a frozen egg via surrogate. Whom did the egg belong to? None other than Bhumi, Earth Mother herself. She had a sixth sense as to the direction humanity was headed in and new that her earthly biological clock was ticking. Why not use the perks of advanced medicine? She obtained the sperm from Surya, the Sun God, one of her best friends. He threw a celestial celebration on the day the surrogate, Radha was impregnated with their child: Sun Showers!!! Nine months later, the rainbow arched from the heavens to the earth as Mataji was born. She was radiant and glowing. As she opened her eyes for the first time, her third eye also opened. It appeared as a bindi on her forehead, between the brows. This child would grow up to work wonders. Like the Buddha and many before her who had attained enlightenment, this child’s life path was to restore peace of mind across humanity. Upon seeing her beautiful child, Bhumi did not have the heart to leave her to be raised by others, but she knew it had to be done. She left the child to a couple, Raja and Rani, who had been trying to conceive for years but were unable to get pregnant. After years of tests and trying, they finally decided to adopt. Both were high ups in Corporate America. Raja was CEO of Robots as Housekeepers, Inc. while Rani could have sat on his throne, she too was just as ambitious and had worked her way up the corporate ladder as head honcho of Cell Mobiles International. Her company was the creator of the latest trend: convertible sized cars in which people traveled virtually (through mental cyberspace) everywhere. It is an understatement to say that these two workaholics were never home. When they learned that there was a baby available to them for adoption though, they were elated. Even before meeting the child, they decided to name Mataji “Macarena”, a name that reflected their favorite Apple Computer and that dance that was popular back in the early 90s. The day for meeting the baby and bringing her home had arrived. Both Raja and Rani had managed to take only a half-day at their respective jobs. As they entered the hospital room, a light seemed to emanate from the bassinet. “Meet your baby” said the nurse (Bhumi in disguise handed her over as Radha watched on). Raja, in the midst of text messaging and Rani, on her headset finishing up some business for the day, dropped their mechanical devices and felt a warm tingling sensation that began in their toes and spread to the tops of their heads. A burning between the eyebrows ensued and then…. the adventures begin…