But as luck would have it, I had lunch with my school chums Marge and Jane last week. We had all gone to Ganesha high school together, graduating in the class of '60. Marge was telling us about the trip she just took to Thailand for a Rotary Club convention. She shared with us this photo of her (on the left) and a fellow Rotarian riding an elephant. One of the perks of her trip.
Marge was also wearing a shirt she got in Thailand with Lord Ganesha printed on the back. Ganesha is one of five prime Hindu deities. He's got a curved trunk and big ears and the pot bellied body of a human. He's the Lord of success and destroyer of evils. He is also worshipped as the god of education, knowledge, wisdom and wealth.
This led to a discussion about why our high school in conservative, white anglo-saxon Protestant Pomona was named Ganesha. I had never given it a second thought. But now that we were mulling it over, we wondered who named the school Ganesha and why. Was it because Lord Ganesha is the god of education and wisdom. I'm sure there were no Hindus in Pomona in 1958 who were on the naming committee. There was a park in Pomona named Ganesha Park and I'm sure this is why the school was named Ganesha. But why was the park named Ganesha? Hmmmm.
And then we were wondering, if our school was named Ganesha for the elephant god, why were we called the Giants?
We should have been the Elegant Elephants or the Plumpy Pachoderms? Did we not have the imagination or the courage of the University of Alabama whose mascot is Big Al?
of a football game:
For more elephant stories, click Sepia Saturday
Well done on an entertaining post that leaves us all asking the same question. If you do ever find out be sure and let us know what the answer is. Plumpy Pachoderms - I like that!
ReplyDeleteHi Little Nell,
DeleteI'm going to try to contact the Pomona historical society and see if they know the answer. I'll keep you posted.
Nancy
Do that research -- I'm left wondering about your school name too! I enjoyed your video but I won't share it with my daughter who would not want to see her precious Albert Gator being beheaded by Big Al - LOL! Fun post all around ~
ReplyDeleteI was hoping you would tell us the source of the Ganesha name. Maybe there was in important person with that name.
ReplyDeleteYes, that's a possibility but I think unlikely. It's kind of an unusual name. I will try to look into this mystery and see what I can find out. Maybe it will entail a trip to Pomona (about an hour away) to do some serious research.
ReplyDeleteNancy
Your post has intrigued me also. Maybe the surrounding Hills looked like elephants?
ReplyDeleteI look forward to hearing the result of your enquiries
Perhaps the Inelegant Elephants rather than the Plumpy Pacoderms. Coincidently while looking for elephant pictures I stumled across the one of Lord Ganesha.
ReplyDeleteWe take a lot of names for granted without finding out their origin.
A mystery! Hope you find the answer.
ReplyDeleteVery funny post on the never-ending confusion of mistaken names and spellings.
ReplyDeleteMy short street in Fallbrook is nameless - nobody liked my suggestion of Easy Street, in particular my neighbor who had teenage girls at the time. Several people wanted to make it an amalgam of various names - I wonder if that's what Ganesha is?
ReplyDeleteI love the idea of Elegant Elephants for the team name. "Go Elegant Elephants!!" rolls off the tongue.
For A Beast So Mighty, The Elephant Remains Cute.A Neat Trick!
ReplyDeleteIt was named Ganesha High School because of the street it is located on. It is now Fairplex Dr but before then had been named Ganesha Blvd. That is why so many old establishments in the local area are also named Ganesha.
ReplyDelete