For the past few weeks, a very important issue has been rocking my head, after reading the first post, later extended to several pages, as to where should one’s head be, while lying? I threw over the wall all other unimportant matters unnecessarily occupying half a page in the leading newspapers, such as swallowing billions by a simple, single dothy-clad servant of the down trodden and the treachery of a woman selling the security secrets of our country for a few chips from the enemy.
In this series, the best question I liked and which made me motion- less for a moment was, “Position of Husband and Wife in bed. I mean, wife should be to the left or right of the husband.” The question was absolutely accurate and worth pondering but I made a small mistake. Unbecoming of a person of my age, I got excited at the first part of the question, and then moved on to read the remaining part. That, ‘I mean ‘ took away the glee.
Sometime, explanations expel the essence of a sentence.
Till now, I have never worried how my bed was placed and within moments I mount it and shut the eyes, the incomparably compassionate hands of the divine damsel, sleep, hugsS me close to her chest. When I tour the villages in India, what all I needed was a 6 x3 feet space, any where in a corner, preferably under a tree or on a meadow, from where, I can look at and enjoy the moving clouds and shining stars and also look for any flying snakes in the sky of my childhood stories narrated by my grand mother. The fear of the messengers of death dragging me away, the moment I wake up facing the South was not there. ‘Ignorance is bliss’, they say.
Thanks to Sri.N.Balsubramanian’s erudite explanation, now I know which side the head should be and as a science student, I should follow his instructions.
” Man should not lie down with his head towards the NORTH”
But how to know where is the North? That exactly is my worry.
I should find out now, as I am feeling sleepy. My grand daughter looks at me wondering why I am moving around the house, holding a pillow instead of snoring in my bedroom.
“Ananya, where is the North?”‘ I ask her. Spreading her small, silky hands perpendicular to her body, she replies in her wavy American accent. ” The sun rises in the east. when you stand facing the sun, the South is towards your right, the North, towards the left and the West is at your back”
I understood. Children teach us many things in life if you are prepared to hear them.
With the satisfaction of providing the right answer, she goes to her bed.(Lucky one, she doesn’t know the law of lying ).
Ananaya has slept. But my problem still exists.There is no sun in the sky to look at. It is night. How to find the East?.
My son Sharath is playing with Nikhil, the mini motorbike without wheels.
”Sharath, where is the East?”‘
‘” How do I know,dad?”
“Unlike me, you do sandhya every day and do not know where is the East?”
‘By six, I leave for the office, you know dad. Where is the opportunity for me to see the sun?”
‘You don’t look at the sky while driving?”
“No dad, I look at the road ahead and not at the sky”
But what about the week ends? You don’t come out of the house and watch the sky?”
‘I do . But the sun doesn’t appear on Baltimore sky, on week ends.”
He did not wait for my reaction. Once they know that they have answered your queries accurately, as my son did now,our children move away. In our young days, We didn’t do that as we were uncertain of the accuracy of our replies.
‘Appa, is it not time for you to strike the bed?’ Inquires Meghana.'”Why do you walk around with a pillow in hand?'”
“There is a problem. a small one of course” I assure my daughter in law and ask her,” In which part of the sky does the sun rise?”
Stretching her long,lovely hands towards the duck, she replies,”‘Yesterday,I saw the sunrise right about the cherry tree there”
“Fine, to day the sun chose a different place, to rise ?”‘
” Could be, appa” her reply was convincing, “being Saturday, I got up late today and saw the sun above the Oak tree there” She points to a different direction.
Suddenly it dawns on me that tomorrow being Sunday,the sun will not visit the Baltimore sky which means I have to spend two nights without lying on the floor.
Placing my medicine chest and a tumbler of water on the side-table near my sofa, Ammalu, without giving me an opportunity to ask her my question, which has become standard now, comments:
“Phavan Kishan kizhakkem irukkar, vadakkem irukkar (God is there in the East as well as in the North). In the twinkling of an eye, she has disappeared and I could hear the sound of our bed room door, closing behind her .