Author Archives: Nikunj Mistry

Traditional Story – Korea

“In Korean traditional stories, in heaven there is a kingdom and there is a princess who is usually in love with a normal guy. In this story, the princess’s father, the king separates them, far far apart. But, they were crying all the time and complained about the situation. The crows saw what was happening, so they made a bridge for the princess and the guy. So, once in a year, July 7th, all the crows gather and sacrifice themselves so that the two people can meet, then they cry and tears fall. Usually, around July it rains a lot and lots of crows go bald. So, this story was a way to explain the phenomenon.”

Kwangsub said that he first learned of this story from a children’s book that his parents bought for him. He said that it’s like the Korean version of stories like Snow White or Cinderella, that lots of people know it and he thinks that it started out being passed down orally but now it is being written and sold in books. He doesn’t really like the story. From what he remembers, it does rain on July 7th rather often, but he doesn’t really see many crows around that time and so the story doesn’t make much sense to him as an explanation a natural occurrence. Also, he said that now that he’s grown up he has lost interest in the story.

I don’t know if I completely agree with Kwangsub about the meaning of the story, and the story itself. Since he got the story from a children’s book, I think it might have been simplified and there is a more complicated version that is meant for older audiences. I think it’s very possible that the story was simplified for the children’s book, similar to the way the Grimm’s simplified the stories they found and made them more palatable and acceptable for children to read. Also, I think that there might be more to the meaning than just trying to explain why it rains and why the crows might go bald since July 7th isn’t a significant date in Korean culture and many animals go through changes during the year and don’t  have stories created about them. I think the story that Kwangsub read was a simplified version of another story and has maybe become a story of its own, resembling but separate from the original story.

Traditional Story – Korea

“Back in the day, salt was very expensive in Korea, as well as other parts of the world. This is a story that explains why the ocean water is so salty. There was one poor guy, who was very nice. Once, he helped this poor person on the street, took care of the person because he looked sick. The guy who he helped was a wizard. The wizard gave the poor man a bag that produced salt. A certain word made it create salt, and another word made it stop making salt. The poor man became rich from the salt. Then, there was a greedy man who made the good guy drunk and find out the information as to how the poor guy became rich. The greedy guy stole the bag, but didn’t want to be caught and so he ran off to a foreign country in a boat. On the way to the other country, he decided to see if the bag worked, so he said the word so the bag started to create salt and he was happy but he didn’t realize that the boat was starting to sink from the weight of the salt, and he couldn’t stop it because he realized it too late and didn’t know what the word to stop the bag creating salt was. And, that is why the ocean is salty.”

Kwangsub said that the story gives an explanation for why the ocean is salty and also has a moral. He said that he likes this story a lot because it’s is interesting and teaches you not to be greedy. He said that he learned this story from a children’s book when he was younger. It’s supposed to be a very famous story. He said that lots of people know of this story in Korea, and that he thinks that only recently have people started to learn the story from books. I agree with Kwangsub about the meaning of the story. Even though it is from a children’s book, it seems like a complete story that hasn’t been changed much, it explains a natural occurrence and has a moral to it. There are many stories of a similar nature in other cultures, and this one explains why a characteristic of the ocean which is very important part of Korean culture.

Tongue Twister – Korea

“Ganjang gongjang gongjangjang eun duenjang gongjang gongjangjang yida”

“Soy sauce factory manager is soybean paste factory manager”

Kwangsub told me that this is a traditional Korean tongue twister that he learned from a textbook in a Korean language class. But, he said that lots of people know and it and learn it just from word of mouth. According to him, it’s pretty much nonsensical; it has no meaning and is just supposed to confuse you.

To me it means absolutely nothing, even less than the tongue twisters that I know in English. I think it’s just meant for amusement for children. But, it does obviously incorporate things from Asia, soy sauce and soybean paste.

Korean Tongue Twister

Festival – India

“In my house, we used to celebrate Ganesh Chaturthi. Ganesh is the god of obstacles; he has a human body and an elephants head, with only one tusk. Initially, people used to do this in their homes. Then it became more of a community event, especially in Bombay. Small communities would get together and keep a deity of Ganesha and do prayers everyday and have events, like childrens programs and presentations and such. It’s a 10 day event. You have to do it either for 10 days, 5 days, or 2.5 days. After praying every day, on the 10th day you take the deity to the sea and submerge it and let it go. It’s called Visarjan. Every year, people would make these deities, from as small as an inch to as large as 100 feet tall. The deities were made from clay, they were made very beautifully. There are artists who make the statue of the deity Ganesha.  Every day you would have prayers, and Prasad which is sweets prepared to offer to god and is shared with everyone.”

In my mom’s house, they used to prepare for this by clearing the front room. They would go buy a deity and create a sort of alter and present it with silk garments and plants and lights and things. Every day, they would do the Pooja (prayer ceremony) in the morning. Generally the men in the family would do the Pooja, it was usually my mom’s father or one of her brothers or uncles, depending on who was there that day. Every day, after the Pooja they would have Aarti, which was a prayer after the Pooja. My grandmother would make Prasad every day. People who didn’t have the deity in their home would come visit them and we would share the Prasad and food with them. On the 10th day, they would submerge the deity.

I haven’t ever been to the Ganesh Chaturthi festival in India. But, from what I have learned from Sunday School and from what I have read about or seen on TV, I know that the Ganesh Chaturti is a festival that is meant to honor Ganesh, as given by the name. But, I also know that it is a big deal in Bombay more than other parts of India. Thousands of people gather to take part in the Ganesh Chaturthi. When we did the Ganesh Chaturthi at my house, I don’t remember it being that large of a deal, mainly because it takes a while to prepare and having to continue the same process for many days requires a decent amount of time that wasn’t always readily available.

Annotation: This festival is documented in an article in the NewYork Times.

New York Times. Parade Caps Festival for a Hindu God. 30 August, 1997.

<http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D06E2D71031F933A0575BC0A961958260&scp=3&sq=ganesh%20chaturthi&st=cse>

Meal – India

“On cold days we make Khichadi, which is rice and lentil with some spices. You are supposed to have it with soft rice. On a cold day, it’s a tradition to eat, it’s a light meal and is easy to eat and digest. There is also Kadhi, which is made from buttermilk, and is a warm soup. The name Kichadi refers to the entire meal of the Kichadi and the Kadhi, you can use both names, but when someone says Kichadi it is assumed that Kadhi will also be made.  I used to have this on cold days when I was small. Now I make it for my children when it’s cold, or if my kids aren’t feeling well since it’s easy to digest.”

At home, my mom makes this for me and my sister. I actually didn’t know that this was supposed to be eaten on cold days. I knew that it was a simple meal that was easy on the stomach but I hadn’t associated it with eating it on cold days. It is a meal that I enjoy eating, since it’s not made very often. Usually, whenever my mom would make Kichadi she would start to remember things about her mom and tell us how she would eat the Kichadi or how her mom would make it for her if she wasn’t feeling very well.