Why Write Gods as Fictional Characters

... but why this topic? Why can't you write about something else? she asked.

Everyone on Earth knows who Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, and even the Tooth Fairy are thanks to movies and storybooks featuring them. You don't have to be from the West or Christian. I grew up entertaining the notion that Santa left gifts under the tree, the tooth fairy left money under my pillow, and well—there were a lot of chocolate eggs to be found behind the couch at Easter.

The thing is, I'm not from the society and culture that created those customs—but I was able to accept them—as my people have received all things that came out of the West. Eastern traditions are often bypassed, secondary. Do I take a day off in May for Vesak? No. Do I practice the Poya days with every full moon? No. These customs and traditions are left behind in Sri Lanka. As a South Asian growing up in Canada, I left these things behind to be practiced when surrounded by Sri Lankans.

It's not the same for everyone, and it's not done out of rejection or shame.

We're just too used to assimilating into Western culture and silencing ourselves.

The colonialists called our practices demonology and witchcraft.

Today, our practices are used for commercial tourism. You can buy a demon mask, but you won't know what its significance is.

"It's tradition," someone will say. But even that old uncle can't put into words the significance.

We're losing our culture. We're losing our stories. The way they've been told before isn't interesting to the younger generation. While they actively advocate for Santa Claus, they've no clue why I've a statue of Ganesha in my glass cabinet.

Ask my mother how Lord Ganesha/Gana Deviyo received his elephant head, and she'll exclaim that the Indians have it wrong.

He is the brother of our Sri Lankan Katharagama Deviya (a.k.a. Skanda, Karthikaya). Katharagama Deviyo wanted to woo Weli Amma and impress her to marry him. He came up with a plan with his brother. Gana Deviya would disguise himself as an elephant and come rampaging to scare her. In that moment, Katharagama Deviyo would appear as the hero and impress his future wife. Gana Deviya gave Katharagama Deviyo three balls with which to reverse the spell and change him back to his regular form. Unfortunately, something happened to the one ball (my mother doesn't remember what)—so to this day, Gana Deviya has an elephant's head on a human body.

Is she wrong or are the Indians wrong? Who knows. There's dozens of origin stories for the Hindu pantheon. Indians will be the first to make a badly told movie narrating the origin story of their gods. Like with Santa Claus, there's a few traditions that gave birth to the 'one' true deity. We all worship or pay our respects to the same figures but often for very different reasons.

One movie that really inspired me was Kantara, featuring possession by the village gods/spirits. Watching commentaries, there was something inately spiritual in the production. The actor is said to have fasted and been in a trance when he completed the final god-possessed fight scene.

Going crazy or losing one's mind can be synonymous to messing with the gods or making them upset with you. People are right to be cautious when gods walk amongst men. It is a common belief that the gods are active in human lives in both India and Sri Lanka.

So there's a bit of fear in my mother's voice when she's asking why I must write about the gods and demons. She's the same person who sends me as many photos of cultural references, landscapes, and crafts that she can. She's supportive but cautioning me.

Tread lightly here, don't anger the spirits.

-D.M. De Alwis