War of the worlds.

Has there been a curfew clamped [ I have no living memory of such dampener in here] or is there a full fledged total solar eclipse in progress, scaring the pious and rationalists alike to huddle within ,four walls?[ there was no such news] .

Then why were all the roads , the busiest in Chennai---the corridor between Tnagar and Mylapore deserted, where I was, 0n my way, in the afternoon, on a full working day?

There wasn't even a yee or kaka [ fly or crow] on the streets! But yells and full throated war cries pierced the deathly silence from houses ,lining these streets.

How could I have forgotten that the war of the worlds was in progress, seen and experienced 'live' on TV?

I was jolted awake by burst of fire crackers barely an hour into my sleep.And it went on and on !Is it Deepavali , I thought sleepily? In March !How could it be?

Then it dawned upon me that the' war of worlds' has been won .

Flowering Season.

Yellow and white flowers are in full bloom !

The air is thick with the aroma of neem!

Spring is here ! The sights and smells are there for every one to savour!

The following verses of Gita seem so apt and immediately come to my mind.


Punyo gandhah prithviyam ca,

Tejas c asmi vibhavasau|

Jivanam sarva -bhutesu,

Tapas c asmi tapasvisu|| ---------- [ chapter 7]


In the earth element I am sweet fragrance!

In fire I am brilliance,

In living beings I am life principle,

And in austere men , I am austerity.


Brhat -sama tatha samnam,

Gayatri chandasam aham|

masanam margasiro ham,

Ritunam kusum akarah|| ------ [chapter 10 ]


Among Sama hymns I am Brhatsaman [great chant]

Among the Vedic metres I am Gayathri,

Among months I am Margasirsa [Dec-Jan],

And among the seasons I am the flower -bearing , spring!

Thirumangai aazhwars pasurams on thiru pullani and Thirumaiyam-Translation

Thirumangai Aazhwar ,9 th cent AD has sung twenty verses on Thirupullani . I am referring to 2 of them .


Vodhi namang khulithu uchchi thannaal voli mamalar,

Padam nallum panivom namakke nalamathalin,

Aadhu thara yenillum tharum andrium anbarai,

Podhum mathe! Thozhudum avan mannu pullaniye.


Let us bathe and then recite the auspicious names of Vishnu,

Let us surrender every day to the luminous and majestic ,flower like feet,

Whether he grants my wishes or not ,

My love for him will never diminish ,

Let us go to Pullani and worship him.


Villal illangai malanga saram thurandhu,

Vallalan pinponna nenjam varumallavum,

yellarum yen thannai yesinalum pesidinum,

Pullaniyem peruman poi kettirundhene.


My heart has been taken by the one ,

Who destroyed Lanka with a fusillade of arrows ,

I am wandering around in Thirupullani,

Awaiting his return ,unmindful of the chafing and scoldings of my friends and elderly women ,

At the futility of my wait .


The following verse is on Thirumaiyam----


Veiruncholai villangal choozhindha,

meiya manalar,ivvvaiem ellam,

thayina nayagaravar thozhi! thamarai kangalirundhuvaru,

seiyi kundram thighazhindha thoppa seviyavaghi malarindha jotho,

Aayiram tholodu yillangu poonum acho oruvar azhaghiyavo!



Welcome friend! To Thirumaiyam that is in a hillock ,

Surrounded by bamboo groves,

Here in resides the One who has measured all worlds in one leap!

When I attempt to describe the beauty of his lotus like eyes,

As well as his bright frame as strong as the lofty mountains,

And the strength of his, one thousand shoulders,

Achcho! Words fail me, at the face of his incomparable beauty!



Note:Verses are from Peria Thirumozhi of Thirumangai Aazhwar.

Ooma Durai fort.

We waited at the corner of the main road to catch a moffusil bus to Trichy. There wasn't a single taxi in sight.The long wait was made pleasant from the scent of jasmine flowers and marukhozhundu ,wafting from a nearby shop,selling flowers.

The shopkeeper assured me that a bus would be along any moment, though it took its time coming. And those that did were bulging with school and ITI students ,hitching a ride home after school.So we waited for a bus that could be boarded.

As I got talking to the flower seller enquiring about the history of the fort that looms over the temple we had just visited ,he said that the fort was the place of refuge --Ooma Durai the brother of king Kattaboman, who had stood up against the unjust demand of tributes from the Britishers and fought several battles , valiantly against them, ultimately to be captured and to be hung in public.

According to the flower seller who patiently answered my questions amidst a brisk business , added that the OomaDurai fort is under ASI and that film shootings take place, frequently after the film makers secure the requisite permission from authorities, with apparent ease.

Earlier motorbikes whizzed past me , when I walked on the path leading from the arched entrance of the fort guarded by canons , to the temple . They were using it as a short cut to reach the main road.

Thirumaiyam.

Thirumaiyam is a temple carved out of solid rock. It is at the base of a fort of Pandian kings ,who had installed the presiding deity 2000years earlier .Additions to this temple were made by a long line of successive kings.

Vishnu is in a reclining position. The deity is much bigger than than Sri Ranganathar at Sri Rangam.The chieftain who became a robber baron and then turned into Vaishnavaite saint 'Thirumangai Aazhwaar' has visited this shrine in 9 th century and has sung several verses in praise of the reigning deity.

I had to bend double to circumbulate ,as the prakaram or corridor is constricted by a overhanging rock wall.The circumbulation was over in a trice . Just few hours earlier I had circumbulated the long corridors of Rameshwaram that was so tall and broad that it could easily accommodate several elephants walking side by side.And it had taken me ,quite a while to complete the circumbulation.

There wasn't a soul in sight.I had this ancient temple all to myself after the young priest showed the aarti and explained the history of the temple.In days gone by the stone walls must have reverberated with Vedic chantings and sounds of nadaswaram .Now there was no sound at all save for the occasional squeaks of tiny bats whose droppings lay every where.

An atmosphere so still that it took me to the past and to ruminate over it.

Those were the day's.

I always enjoyed the run up to polls in the place where I live . I could see all the top leaders one normally sees only on T.V, right out of my window, live!

There were elaborate preparations days ahead . The entire area was swept and scrubbed clean, thoroughly sanitised and poles bored in the road with gaily flapping flags. Ear splitting party songs eulogising their departed and current leaders , sung with quivering emotion , rent the air.

Burst of 5000 wallahs , shower of gorgeous rockets and convoy of vehicles---white sumo's, posse of policemen , jeep loads of NSG commando's, with minute to minute commentary on the imminent arrival of the dignitary,blared on huge stereophonic loud speakers, would drum up the suspense and expectations to a high pitch , culminating in the arrival of the noble personages themselves.

I couldn't believe my luck and was thrilled [ I do admit sheepishly] when the CM's, ex and present, union ministers, leaders of various political parties , all those powerful persons came right to my doorsteps--[rather the entrance of the flat] with a smile and folded palms and even acknowledging and nodding pleasantly at us ,-- insignificant creatures!

They would even pause to deliver speeches from the stage erected on the road, with a Kollywood film star or two thrown in , luring youngsters in droves.

Pshaw! It is a tepid show now. All the fizz has gone out.

A candidate of the ruling party , looking more like a junior advocate than a politician slipped in and bounded out like rabbit that has taken fright, without much ado, with a woefully small bunch around him,mostly women, and went unnoticed with all the male inhabitants, sitting glued to a crucial cricket match on TV.

Today the candidate of main opposition passed by addressing none in particular except those few, who happened to pass by from a nondescript three wheeler,bleating like a lamb that has lost its way .After castigating the rulers roundly he made a quick get away.

Hmm! 'Those were the days'.

To Thirumaiyam

Left Rameshwaram in the morning , wading through a sea of devotees , mostly from North India who were all converging at the sea , that is just a quarter km away from Rameshwaram temple, to take a dip and then proceed to the temple and pour water from the very many sacred wells within, on one self and then have the darshan of the Siv ling.

I remember my fathers injunction that a Hindu must take a dip in Ganges preferably at Kasi and complete the cycle by bathing in seas off the coast of Rameshwaram.

We were proceeding to Thirumaiyam ,another Divya desam, near Karaikudi.The journey's ,long,hot and dusty tedium was not relieved by the the landscape. It was dry and barren with a measly sprinkling of fallow fields.It is no wonder that men from this region left their homes to eke their livelihood in distant lands.

Though there are no rivers ,there is no dearth of water . Every village has huge ponds or tanks brimming with water. Dug in ancient times and maintened well, till date.Tractors abound the roads carrying mainly men and firewood, that of the branches of the thorny trees.Large houses of a by gone era ,abut the narrow streets of the towns we had to pass through. Most of these famous 'Chettinad houses' are padlocked.

Having reached Thirumaiyam temple several hours earlier than the evening pooja , I spent the time admiring the ancient sculptures arraigned in two rows, in a wind swept silent hall , the silence sliced only by the bleating of a kid[goat]and the distant cry of a startled peacock.

A blue board declares that the temple is under the control of ASI

Respite.

Hasn't the the cynosure of all eyes' Cooum' dried up in this heat?

If not ,then what happened to the biological warfare[releasing fish or some such creatures to eat the mosquito's] up one's sleeve?

Where have all the fogging machines gone?

Should I wait till the next govt is sworn in for some action?


'O' mosquito you are bent on preying on me and on multitudes, in hordes.


Neither the mat nor the Chinese made bat is keeping you down.

Dawn to dusk and all night through, I hand it to you,none can rival you, in the war you wage.

Hostage I am in my own house, holed up in the Ac bedroom , guilty of widening the hole in the ozone,

There is no magic wand that will do my bidding, cooking, cleaning and breathing in fresh lungfuls,


Fine, your ancestors are as old as mine. How does that justify

your tearing hurry to make me join their ranks sooner than thine?

How long should we hear only your screechings and hummings of the same old song---

"There ain't no-----------------''

[ This is no Humpty dumptyism but, Sujataism]


To put it straight, the mosquito menace has become intolerable.

Concerned official sir,please hurry and take the requisite action and grant us T.nagarites some respite soon.

Vibheeshan Theerth.

There are several Theerthams ---sacred water bodies, in and around Rameshwaram town.

On the way to Vibeeshan theertham , the beach where Vibheeshan's cornation by Lakhmana at the behest of Rama took place,before the war with Ravana, the young driver with a ready smile of the' tourist friendly' auto pointed at the rusted rail tracks lying on the road side ,amidst thick and brooding casuarina forests ,and said that they were retained as the momento's of the terrible cyclone of 1964 that had wiped out Dhanushkodi village and the railway lines leading to it ,as well. The tracks have not been restored. A road connects the place now.

Sri Lanka is but 20 kms , as the crow flies , from Vibheeshan Theerth.

To Rameshwaram.

Our next destination was Rameshwaram, 50 kms away. The temple famous for its corridors. It is the place where Rama is said to have worshipped Siva after his victory over Ravana.

The landscape is barren , stunted thorn trees with scarcely a field in sight.However there are a lot of fresh water bodies like lakes , tanks, ponds and several road side ditches.Some ponds were smothered by pink hued lotuses blooming in gay abandon whilst others were carpeted by magenta colored lilies ,swaying in the breeze blowing from sea,that ringed the entire route.Most of the ponds were confiscated by white and black cranes and water birds in large numbers.Simply stated it was sun ,sea and sand with a pond full of birds at every corner, thrown in

Many old women were sitting in groups on the road side casually ,chatting or haggling in petty shops . They were wearing the sari in the traditional village style and had gathered their spartan hair in a koppu. Their earlobes, long and elongated with globs of gold [ear rings] swaying in tune with their movements.

There was also the disagreeable odour of drying fish that clung stubbornly to the salty air, all the way ,through.A smell [nauseating to some and appetising to others] somewhat dissipated on nearing Pamban bridge ---the bridge over the sea ,connecting Rameshwaram an island with the mainland.

Thirupullani.

On my return from Sethu I saw and heard a group of youths reciting the Veda's in the ashram that we had halted for a brief stay.

The very same boys who were lodged in that ashram,were later present in the Jaganadhar temple [ the temple at Thirupullani is dedicated to Jaganadhar], following the utsavar seated on a palanquin, in the 10 day Bramhostavam festival that culminates with the marriage ceremony of Vishnu with Lakshmi and Rama with Sita.They were reciting Yajur veda.They are students of a Veda patashala at Tirupathi and had come here on the occasion of theBramhostavam ,to chant the Veda's on all 10 days of the festival .Other priests were singing the Sama Veda and Thirumangai AAzhwaars pasurams[Tamil verses].

One of the lads,with a pleasant and smiling countenance, training to be a priest, in a pause in the recitation of Veda's approached me to enlighten me, of his own accord on the ritual unique only to this temple, the reflection of the utsavar in the mirror placed before the processional deity.

Thirupullani is a tiny village , with only two rows of houses.The temple and its tank are the only dominating features of this place tucked in this remote seashore that lies en route to the place of Darbha sayanam --sethu samudhram .It is frequented mainly by Vaishnavaites and those seeking off springs.

Peacocks called from a distance and sparrows that have become more or less extinct in Chennai were in the dozens,flying and chattering merrily in the corridors of the temple.

The presiding deity is said to have been worshiped by Dasarathar to grant him sons. The main prasad of this temple is Payasam ,to commemorate Dasaratha's yearning for children and its subsequent fulfilment by distributing the payasam he had gained through yagnas and worship of the deity to his queens ,who all conceived there after.The prasadam --payasam was delicious ,with the lingering flavour of, firewood smoke.

Rama also visited Jaganathar temple to worship , later. He has a separate Sannidhi . Here Vibeeshna is found seated with folded palms, near the idols of Rama , Sita and Lakshman.



In the ancient spacious hall in front of Ramar's sannidhi, that was empty and very quiet save for the chirps of a flock of sparrows and squeaks of bats the image of a despondent Rama lying on kusha grass on the white sands of the beach, beyond ,his head on Lakshmana's lap,praying for strength flashed through my mind.



Above image is of Ramar's separate sannidhi within the temple.It could do with a fresh coat of paint.

Sethu samudhrum.

At the break of dawn we headed towards Sethu Samudhrum ,4 kms away from the Andavan ashram where we were put up at Thirupullani, to have a dip in the sea on whose banks Sri Rama had lain on Darbha grass,meditating for 3 days at a stretch, engulfed in the sorrow of the separation from Sita , who had been abducted by Ravana. He was overcome by the magnitude of the problem of crossing the rough and turbulent seas with his vanara army ,to rescue Sita.

It is the place ,where Vibeeshna surrendered to Rama . He had advised Rama to meditate on Varuna so that ,Varuna would make it easier for them to cross over the sea to Lanka.

It is the very place where Samudhra Rajan surrendered to Rama when an enraged Rama at the non appearance and indifference of Varuna,broke his meditation and lifted his bow to unleash arrows on the unrelenting seas .Samudhra raja assured Rama that he would calm down and allow Rama to build a bridge across the seas to Lanka.

After crossing tiny hamlets on a barren land ,few coconut , palm trees and salt pans we reached Sethu Samudhrum.

Its calm waters should be seen to be believed. It is unlike the restless raging seas at Marina and Eliott's beach. It is like a huge blue lake . Unbelievably calm with scarcely a wave to ruffle its tranquility.The sands white and powdery!

Several families were immersing them selves in the startlingly blue waters and then saluting the rising sun with folded palms. So did I.The water was cool and refreshing and the sun warm and gentle.

To Sethu Samudhram.

We had to get off at an unearthly hour of 3 am at Ramanathapuram station in order to reach our destination , Thirupullani or Sethu samudhram

I set the alarm at 2.30 am in my mobile. Four years back I didn't know a thing about computer, or about mobile nor was I interested in photography. I just wasn't bothered.

What one thinks will go on ,unimpeded never does ,does it?A life one takes as a routine and for granted can change in a blink of the eye or in the snap of a finger.

The very mention of Sethu brings to one's mind the tussle that took place between Sethu breakers and Sethu savers few years back and the TV visuals of huge ships spewing water in long arcs, as they broke and drilled into the seas.

Well, I was on my way to a temple In Thirupullani which is a divya desam ---Vishnu temples visited by aazhwaars and who have sung in its praise, nearly 1500 years earlier. It is near Sethu samudram a sacred sea shore in deep ,S.eastern Tamil nadu.

We boarded the night train at Chennai at 5 pm. Train travel is a great leveller. Sharing seats with total strangers and eating in front of them and stretching out on the berths to sleep off the night in full view of anybody and everybody ,with a light above and passengers constantly brushing one as they get in and off the train.[like blogs]. In addition to all these distractions was a tiny moonjoor[a tolerable looking rat] scampering hither and thither,underfoot.

My berth mates were a elderly couple. From the time we located and settled down on our seats the woman talked and talked on a mobile , an one sided conversation intersped with loud guffaws and clucking of tongue ,till dinner time ,full 4 hours later. The moment she stopped talking and switched off the mobile and looked as smug as a cat that had,had its cream and was on the look out for a wee bit more,her husband despite his handle bar moustache who was very quiet all this while ,blending perfectly into the background like the back rest or the luggage on the rack ,who was in all probability revelling, in his moment of space , became fidgety,querulous and nervous . He whacked the rug [provided inAC two tier] and made the beds , wrapped himself in a bed sheet,pulling it upto his chin ,closed his eyes, turned on his side , yawning loudly!

My alarm went off at 2.30 am. So I had succeeded in setting it properly!We stepped on the platform at 3 am. The long coaches of the train snaked away disappearing into the darkness,as we reached the gate.An board visible in the dim light welcomed us to Gulf of Mannar Biosphere.Got into an auto who charged a atrocious fee to transport us to Thirupullani that was 10 kms away from Ranmanathapuram station.

The roads were deserted and the night sky strewn with stars of every shape and size ,flashing their lights held me spell bound. Can stars be so near?It is never in the highly illuminated place where I live.
Their glitter and unbelievable nearness tempted me to stretch my hands and try scooping them out of the black velvety sky.

A blogger's doubt.

Can one do without the newspaper?
Even though they all toe the same line?
It is handy to know who is dead and who is fine.
When read at noon it puts me into a comatose, swoon.

Most of the blogs toe another line,
They reveal another set of mind,
All are open , most are fun and fine.

Why whine?That they are not on the same line?

What a bother , for every blogger to look over one's shoulder,when thoughts do gather .

Censoring blogs ,that is on the anvil, betrays a fear , Of the spread of,The scent of Jasmine,

Am I living in India or China? Can you clarify ? O brethren of mine.

Ai'nt no grave...

Slapping my forehead ,scratching my sides,
Lunging in mid air clapping my hands,
Ever on vigil against the nasty darts aimed at me from every where,
My life has been reduced to one long quixotic war fare!
O mosquito ,why do you prey on me so?

This menace makes me grimace,
It snips, pricks and sips my blood without a pause,
The temperature has risen, it is hot, but this gnat is out to bat!

To those skeptics,Mosquito? It is, exotic!
Please walk into my parlour,
It is mosquito ,mosquito every where
Whizzing by ,singing merrily,

'There ain't no grave to keep my down'.

Censor.

I read a news item about the proposal to enact a law to facilitate the Government to censor Internet---blogs, etc, at will.

Now why should that enlightened advocate of civil liberties of 18 th cent France, Voltaire and his following famous statement spring into my mind ---

"I disapprove of what you say but I will defend to the death your right to say it"!

Putri ka putra.

It is the ancient Hindu belief that only a son can deliver his parents from the hell called Put, by performing obsequies when they depart.

The Rig Veda declares:" Endless are the worlds of those who have sons. 'O' Agni may I obtain immortality by offspring"

According to the Veda's an Hindu is born burdened with three debts--" He owes the study of the Veda to the Rishis, sacrifices to the god sand a son to the manes.He is free from debt who has offered sacrifices , who has begotten a son and who has lived as student with a teacher."

Manu ,declares the necessity for a son thus--

" Through a son he conquers the world, through a son's son he obtains immortality but through his son's grandson he gains the world of the sun."
Because a son delivers his father from the hell called PUT, he was there fore called Putra [as a deliverer from Put]

This belief like most of our beliefs have endured and firmed up through the centuries. In the process as is often the case in most of our practises,beliefs and rituals , the exceptions or remedies provided , when nature is unwilling to placate the desire of the believer, has been totally overlooked and completely forgotten .

The ancient law givers like Manu, Narada , Yajnavalkya and so on, who are much reviled in modern times, but greatly revered in ancient times have clearly shown the way out of this impasse. It is not infanticide or the modern day feoticide.

A Hindu blessed only with daughters can ask the son of a chosen daughter known as the' Putri ka putra' to perform his funeral rites and obsequies there after.This Putri ka putra is conferred with the power to rescue his grand father from hell or Put.

Ancient writers and law givers refer to 12 kind of sons a Hindu may have.Legitimate, illegitimate , adopted and so on.

Since Vedic times the legitimate son known as 'Aurasa' was desired above all other types of sons for the spiritual benefits as well as the continuation of the family. Aurasa is the son begotten by a man upon his lawfully wedded wife.

Equal to the aurasa son is the son of the appointed daughter , a daughter who is chosen by the father to continue his line . He was known as the Putri ka putra.

The appointed daughter's son became the son of her father if he had no male issue. And he became so not only by agreement with her husband but by a mere intention on the part of her father without any consent asked for or obtained .The status of the Putri ka putra was that of a son's son.

Manu [ 3 rd century BC],who has always been treated by Hindu sages and commentators as a paramount authority on Hindu Law, declares that the Aurasa and the appointed daughter's son are of equal status.

Vasishtha a sage of Vedic period quotes an even earlier Vedic text that says---' The girl that has no brother comes back to the males of her own family , to her father , to the rest. Returning she becomes their son ... .[Vas 27].

There fore according to Vasishta the appointed daughter herself was treated as a son.

According to Yajnavalkya[ 2 nd AD] the law exponent second in importance only to Manu states that the term Putri ka putra is equally applicable to the son of the appointed daughter or to the daughter herself, becoming by special appointment a son ! [ mitakshara--1]

A true and devout Hindu's aspiration for a son is understandable, but what is not is the falling into a rut , turning a blind eye to the alternatives available in Hindu dharmasasthras and laws.

Blame it on ignorance . Does ignorance of law absolve one from the crime of breaking the law?

Pledge.

When I was pursuing my undergraduate studies in the topmost college for women in Delhi Sanjay Gandhi had circulated a petition in all colleges asking students to take a pledge not to take [if boys] or give dowry [if girls] on getting married.

It shocked me to note that out of a class of 50 , all well off and hailing from educated upper strata of society , only I and another girl took the pledge . The rest refused to take it.

I stuck to my pledge when my marriage was struck. My father did not make a single demand when my elder brothers marriages were arranged ,earlier ,but was willing to go the extra mile for me.My in laws did not openly press for dowry , I had made it clear to them my views on that matter ,but put forth the request to conduct a decent marriage ---that meant , to serve on hand and foot, food and shelter to more than a 1000 invitees every day for three days!

According to me if a man wants money , it shows his incompetence to support his wife and his incapacity and disinterest in the continuiance of his and his spouses genes, there fore,he is not worthy of marriage.I don't put much store in the often bandied quip that marriages in India are between families. It is very much between individuals.

Here amongst Brahmins the demand for dowry is tapering off. It is not as virulent as it was 50 years back. But non- Brahmins have got stuck in the mesh and blame Brahmin's for it , as my neighbour did.I pointed to her that as we have left this practise , they ought to follow suit.It fell on deaf ears.I often see her son- in- law driving a new car proudly, gifted by her whilst she and her husband drive around in much used , battered fiat.

A neighbour of mine at Delhi , during my college days who was very fair, with red veins lacing her eyelids, very beautiful as well as intelligent , was studying medicine . Her alliance was struck with her class mate , hailing from the same caste. He was short, dark and quite ordinary to look at.

Her mother went into a tizzy ,collecting 10 sets of clothes, bed linen, jewellery,crockery furniture's ,etc each! Up north the scale of dowry is very high. They also had to shell out 1 lakh as dowry .A huge sum in those days.

I would often hear my elder brothers , un married then, swearing under their breath ,whenever that girl's beau came to talk to her, rattling on a old Vespa.''This specimen wants an angel with money. What gall?''

The marriage went off well right in front of our houses , in the lawns in a shamiana erected overnight, as is the custom in North.

The results of MBBS came soon after. The girl next door had passed securing a high rank whilst her husband flunked. We ,soon there after shifted to another part of Delhi.

One day after a year or two I visited a govt hospital to have my tooth checked and there I saw her in a white coat. She greeted me warmly ,took me to a dentist and told me that she was in the family way . And her husband?Still giving exams to clear his arrears!So she said .The delicate filligiree in red,that had laced her eyelids had descended into her, once clear eyes.

As every aberration in Hindu custom is sought to be blamed on Manu the ancient codifier of laws,let us see what he actually says on marriage and position of women.

Manu refers to 8 types of marriages , of which Brahma marriage is given the top most recognition and is the one followed to date by all Hindus.The Brahma marriage involves the kanyadhan of a well decked maiden by her father to a man well versed in shastras and is of good character. The crux is the gift of the daughter and not her ornaments.

In the marriage ceremony in which Saptapadi is the most important rite , the maiden loses her father's gothra after the seventh step around the sacrificial fire and acquires her huband's gothra and passes into her husband's domain .

The wife on her marriage was at once given an honoured position in the house. She was the mistress in her husband's home and where she was the wife of the eldest son of the family she exercised authority over her husband's brothers and his unmarried sisters. She is associated in all the religious offerings and rituals with her husband . As a vedic seers put it ,

"A woman is half her husband and completes him".

Manu in impressive verses exhorted men to honour and respect women

" Women must be honoured and adorned by their fathers, brothers, husbands and brothers in law who desire their own welfare . Where women are honoured there the gods are pleased ; but where they are not honoured no sacred rite yields rewards.The husband receives the wife from gods , he must always support her.Let mutual fidelity continue until death." [ Manu III]

Marriage is a sacred union in Hinduism. A samaskara or religious rite .

It is not a contract with offer, acceptance and consideration.

So from where did this 'dowry' concept creep in ?It is food for thought.


[ References from Mayne's Hindu law and usages]

Nimble.

It is common knowledge that mountain goats are surefooted animals ,climbing steep rocky outcrops and running down in great speed without losing a foothold.

The Bharal or the Himalayan blue sheep found in northern parts of Himachal pardesh, Eastern parts of Ladhak , Sikkhim and Arunachal pradesh in altitudes above 6000 feet is a good example . It prefers cliffs to forests .

It was uncommon to me when I saw local village women of Kodaikanal run down the steep incline near Coker's walk nimbly , without a care , full of dare , to gather twigs and firewood and clamber back without a misstep or a slip , holding on tightly to their precious cargo balanced on their heads ,fearful only of its dislodgement to irretrievable depths below than to the loss of their lives in that deadly drop!

Koel.

This is a verse from Gita,in which Gopala says


Yad-yad vibhuti mat sattvam,
Srimad urjitameva ca,
Tad- tad eva vagaccha tvam,
Mama tejo msa -sambhavam.

Whatever ,is endowed with extraordinary glory, Attractiveness and vigour,
Know all that to be born of,
A fragment of My power.

Shelly a romantic poet of 18 th cent England has observed in his poem Skylark ---
'The sweetest songs tells the saddest thoughts'. He must have known first hand . He treated his successive wives so abominably and gave them so much sorrow ,that when they sang as an out let to their sad thoughts , it was sweet music to his ears.

Late at night I heard Lata's old Hindi film songs. The sweet voice , the pathos and longing in the love songs and lullaby's, that indefinable quality in her voice that truly sets her apart from other singers seems to testify that poets observation. She never married and therefore it follows that she never bore a child . The two most momentous events to all women in general.Her voice is tinged with a sad resignation . Events that are normal to ordinary millions were unattainable, to one endowed with a extraordinary voice. This has sweetened her god given gift further.

The rendition of Bhaja govindam and other Bhakthi songs and and clear pronunciation and presentation of Vishnu sahasarnamam and very many other complicated Sanskrit slokas and classical Carnatic songs and ragaas,with a astonishing energy , emanating from so fragile a form , the clarity of mind , the depth of devotion, of Smt M.S. Subbalakshmi is unparalleled.

M.S Subbhalakshmi amma was denied the pleasures of motherhood. One event that makes a woman feel whole. Her god given gift of golden voice , is highly emotive and spiritually stirring. May be due to the under current of sorrow, of the denial of one singular event that is taken as a matter of course by millions of women with average and below average abilities .

Tawam

The teddy bear ---Koala bears of Australia are extremely cute to look at . They arouse tender and protective feelings even in children . Their favourite toy being the cuddly teddy.

I was pleasantly surprised to know that such cute animals are also inhabiting the forests of India. In the wilds of the state of Arunachal pradesh.

The Red Panda is a small bear with a red coat . It looks as cute as a Koala or a teddy bear.It is arboreal and native of the temperate forests of Himalayas. It mainly feeds on bamboo.It makes a twittering sound, is solitary and preyed upon by the snow leopard. It is a distant cousin of the giant panda .

The Red Panda is found in the forests of Sikkhim, Arunachal pradesh and Assam. It is the state animal of Sikkhim and goes by the name Tawam.

It is classified as vulnerable by IUCN.

In the high altitude villages of Arunachal Pradesh , groups of villages come together to protect Tawam and preserve its habitats.

likes.

Like, likely and likelihood are the words I am familiar with,

unlike the 'likes' that is doing the round in dailies.

It connotes a dislike towards the 'likes',

It denotes a coming together of tykes,

It spikes me when it is used in Wikki

When it refers to god like company of compatriots ,

Subhramany Siva, Subhramani Bhatathiar and Auribindo Ghosh as 'likes'.


[ Back ground- of V.O Chidambaram Pillai in Wikki]