Friday, February 03, 2006
Dimayuga
Pio Dimayuga Carino is coming into focus, not yet through knowing his exact place on his several family trees--despite some signficant leads-- but through the legends of the Dimayugas, the stories and character of people who share in the name, and the communities wherein Dimayugas first resided: Bauan and Lipa, in Batangas Province.
Mention my search for a Dimayuga and the response has been about the same: 'Ah, Batangas.' I sat next to a man at Alfredo Roces' book party at De La Salle University, an esteemed, retired Dean of the school who received deep bows of respect from his colleagues in all of the opening speeches. Perhaps he was a Dr. Alicarte from an old Manila family. Because of the language barrier, I could not hear it clearly, and became too embarrassed to ask a second or third time. After all, I am part Filipino.
When I mentioned my quest to this tall, white-haired man in a blue leisure suit, he said, 'Ah, Dimayuga. Unshakeable. Dima means 'cannot.' And so, snatching from a Web-site I found years ago, I see the following names have meanings that are suggestive of strength against being beaten down or held in place:
Dimaano untouchable Tagalog
Dimaapi unoppressable Tagalog
Dimabasa unwettable Tagalog
Dimacuha unobtainable Tagalog
Dimaculangan uncheatable Tagalog
Dimagiba unbreakable Tagalog
Dimaguila
Dimailig unbendable Tagalog
Dimaisip unfathomable Tagalog
Dimalaluan unsurpassable Tagalog
Dimalanta unwiltable, untiring Tagalog
Dimanlig
Dimapasoc unbreachable Tagalog
Dimapilis
Dimapindan
Dimaporo unpointable Tagalog
Dimaranan unpassable Tagalog
Dimarucot (dimadukot) ungettable Tagalog
Dimarumba Tagalog
Dimasalang untouchable Tagalog
Dimasuay unstoppable Tagalog
Dimasuhid
Dimasupil(Dipasupil) unvanquished Tagalog
Dimatulac unpushable Tagalog
Dimaunahan unbeatable Tagalog
Dimawili unsatisfied Tagalog
Dimaya
Dimayacyac Tagalog
Dimayuga (dimaiuga) unshakeable Tagalog
Like Pio, like myself. I have many of these traits. It's not a stubbornness, like some mules I know who cannot be budged to move forward. Hindi (no). That's rigidity, when the mind closes down, and loses sight of the goal, or the context, or the consequences of being a mule. That's any number of people I know, with the jaws that clamp shut, the eyes that glaze over, the hands that told together slowly on the table. I could name names, but will not, for fear of judging them, although I often catch myself with those superior notions.
Luckily these people are ultimately stoppable, because I just go around them,sometimes stamping and fuming, other times with head-shaking humor. I just get another donkey to take me where I need to go.
Oo(yes). When the Dimayuga part of me is harnessed, I can be unstoppable. Outside I look cooperative, accomodating, pleasant, unruffled. After all, I am part Filipino. But inside something is in motion. A wave is beginning to form and it is gathering force from somewhere deep. Maybe it is reaching down, under the plates or rock and molten lava, to gather energy from the South Pacific, from Batangas Bay.
Then something happens. One second I can feel the idea begin to surge; in the next it is visible. I can see the shore where the wave will finally break, my final destination. There is relief, clarity, resolve all at once.
If something or someone is constructing some barrier, I begin to resist. But not for the sake of resistance or the demand for control; in this way, I am often misunderstood.
You see, when this Dimayuga part gathers strengths, I am usually going toward something that I judge is leading to sometime very meaningful to me or potentially meaningful to others I love. So I resist anything or anyone who would impede me, even if it's a trip to the drugstore to buy batteries (for my camera for some pictures for someone I love), or the library to look up some arcane reference for my love, writing, or a trip to Florida, or the East Coast, or London, or New Zealand, or Nashvilleto see people I love. Even if it's some crazy, unrealistic, expensive, untimely, frightening, or illogical idea.
Like going to the Philippines, to Bauan, to Pio, someone I loved.
Mention my search for a Dimayuga and the response has been about the same: 'Ah, Batangas.' I sat next to a man at Alfredo Roces' book party at De La Salle University, an esteemed, retired Dean of the school who received deep bows of respect from his colleagues in all of the opening speeches. Perhaps he was a Dr. Alicarte from an old Manila family. Because of the language barrier, I could not hear it clearly, and became too embarrassed to ask a second or third time. After all, I am part Filipino.
When I mentioned my quest to this tall, white-haired man in a blue leisure suit, he said, 'Ah, Dimayuga. Unshakeable. Dima means 'cannot.' And so, snatching from a Web-site I found years ago, I see the following names have meanings that are suggestive of strength against being beaten down or held in place:
Dimaano untouchable Tagalog
Dimaapi unoppressable Tagalog
Dimabasa unwettable Tagalog
Dimacuha unobtainable Tagalog
Dimaculangan uncheatable Tagalog
Dimagiba unbreakable Tagalog
Dimaguila
Dimailig unbendable Tagalog
Dimaisip unfathomable Tagalog
Dimalaluan unsurpassable Tagalog
Dimalanta unwiltable, untiring Tagalog
Dimanlig
Dimapasoc unbreachable Tagalog
Dimapilis
Dimapindan
Dimaporo unpointable Tagalog
Dimaranan unpassable Tagalog
Dimarucot (dimadukot) ungettable Tagalog
Dimarumba Tagalog
Dimasalang untouchable Tagalog
Dimasuay unstoppable Tagalog
Dimasuhid
Dimasupil(Dipasupil) unvanquished Tagalog
Dimatulac unpushable Tagalog
Dimaunahan unbeatable Tagalog
Dimawili unsatisfied Tagalog
Dimaya
Dimayacyac Tagalog
Dimayuga (dimaiuga) unshakeable Tagalog
Like Pio, like myself. I have many of these traits. It's not a stubbornness, like some mules I know who cannot be budged to move forward. Hindi (no). That's rigidity, when the mind closes down, and loses sight of the goal, or the context, or the consequences of being a mule. That's any number of people I know, with the jaws that clamp shut, the eyes that glaze over, the hands that told together slowly on the table. I could name names, but will not, for fear of judging them, although I often catch myself with those superior notions.
Luckily these people are ultimately stoppable, because I just go around them,sometimes stamping and fuming, other times with head-shaking humor. I just get another donkey to take me where I need to go.
Oo(yes). When the Dimayuga part of me is harnessed, I can be unstoppable. Outside I look cooperative, accomodating, pleasant, unruffled. After all, I am part Filipino. But inside something is in motion. A wave is beginning to form and it is gathering force from somewhere deep. Maybe it is reaching down, under the plates or rock and molten lava, to gather energy from the South Pacific, from Batangas Bay.
Then something happens. One second I can feel the idea begin to surge; in the next it is visible. I can see the shore where the wave will finally break, my final destination. There is relief, clarity, resolve all at once.
If something or someone is constructing some barrier, I begin to resist. But not for the sake of resistance or the demand for control; in this way, I am often misunderstood.
You see, when this Dimayuga part gathers strengths, I am usually going toward something that I judge is leading to sometime very meaningful to me or potentially meaningful to others I love. So I resist anything or anyone who would impede me, even if it's a trip to the drugstore to buy batteries (for my camera for some pictures for someone I love), or the library to look up some arcane reference for my love, writing, or a trip to Florida, or the East Coast, or London, or New Zealand, or Nashvilleto see people I love. Even if it's some crazy, unrealistic, expensive, untimely, frightening, or illogical idea.
Like going to the Philippines, to Bauan, to Pio, someone I loved.
# posted by Patricia Pasick @ 5:03 PM 
