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Chapter 5
“You throw away all these?” Swamy asked Ramya, surveying the stock of waste Newspaper and cardboard cartons piled up in the trash can.
” Weekly twice, all the trash accumulated in the two big wheeled -boxes are cleared by the Town Sanitation department, and materials such as paper, tin or plastic waste, collected separately, will go for recycling.” She explained.
“You recover some money?”
“No, dad.” Ramu answered expecting some more questions from his father.” In fact, we pay some amount for clearing the waste which is included in the monthly service bill”
” Trash is generated in tons in this country” commented the old man and added with a smile,” with this much waste, I cam make sufficient money in India, to pay my electricity bill. ”
The door bell rang. Swamy was excited to receive his old friend Sundaram along with his son, Chandru, who helped Ramu to come to USA and secure a job in his office. They came to meet Ramu’s parents and spend a night or two over there. The old pals had a lot to share about their insipid past.
“While pushing the tube-deflated Hero bicycle through the street of our village, did you expect that one day you would fly over the oceans and we will meet here in this country to share our food on a posh dining table in a palatial building owned by your son,?” asked Sumdaram while Swamy raised his head and glanced at his son, when the word,’owned’ was mentioned. Ramu twinkled his eyes and nodded his head to sign, ‘don’t worry dad, one day it will become my own’.
” Sundaram, we are indebted to your son for making this possible” Swamy replied, passing on a ‘thank you’ note to Chandru, by a nod. ” All the agonies undergone by us to bring up our children, vanish like a due drop, at the sight of a sun-ray, when we see them happily settled in life.”
“Good” Sundaram agreed, ” but tell me frankly, are you able to cast completely your past, forgetting all the cuts, bruises and scratches it inflicted on you, and enjoy the new riches rightly due to you, willingly shared by your son?”
“No, Seshu ” admitted his friend,”that exactly is my problem. And I have a reason, very valid one, for that. The injuries inflicted on me by the past is not just skin-deep. It sliced my inner self with its mighty weapon named ‘poverty’, into slices. That wound will not heal till my last breath”
” I was not from a ‘rajavamsam’ royal family ” clarified Seshu, “but I do not worry much over my past, drenched in poverty because it was not my making. I rejoice that I could come out of the dreaded dragon’s grip, though after a long spell , thanks to my son.”
“My case is not that simple, Seshu,” Swamy said and his son mildly rebuked, “Appa, poverty is not a sin. Forget the past and enjoy the present”
“True, Ramu” Sundaram agreed, “poverty is not a sin but it can force you to commit sin, as it happened in my case. And therefore, it is not possible for me to forget the past as Seshu could.”
Every one around the dining table looked anxiously at Sundaram, worrying what sin did he commit.
“Appa, enough” Ramya took over the situation as women always do.” Enough of this talk before ‘annam’ rice. You can continue after you finish eating.
The dining hall became silent, but for the movement of vessels.
Later, when they all reassembled in the drawing room, Ramu, anxious to know what was bothering his father asked him to continue from where he had left.
Swamy was mum for sometime, his mind wandering through the thorny path of the past.” I should have somehow managed to stay in my village till the last days of my father,” he mused, “no, it was impossible. it was impossible” He consoled himself.
“You have told me that thatha wanted to die in his ancestral house but could not, as you shifted the family to Coimbatore. That is all what we know”
“Why did you shift him in his old age?” enquired Seshu.
“Because I had no job when my old school building collapsed and it would have taken an year or more, for the management to construct a new one. My ancestral agricultural land was captured by the Land Reforms Act. I had no bank balance or any other source of revenue to lean upon. Recommend by a student’s father, a mill owner offered me a gumastha’s job, which I accepted and decided to shift my wife and children, under unavoidable circumstances, to Pollachi. I wanted to leave my parents in the village under the care of a distant relative but my mother insisted that I should take them along with me.
“If something happens to your appa, who is here even to send a telegram to you ?” she asked .
“If something happens to me there, will your son bring my body here and convert it into ashes on the bank of our village pond, where the bodies of my great ancestors were burnt to ashes? ” enquired my father, unable to suppress his anger in leaving the house.
” ‘Appa, I assure you, nothing will happen to you in an year or so after which we will come back to our own place.” I tolld him. What I didn’t tell him was that our ancestral agricultural land had been taken away from us, lest his heart would have stopped pumping blood, at least for a short while, had he known that shocking news”.
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“Nee Brahammavoda? Areyou the god to decide when I will die?” asked Appa, his heart still steaming .”
I was certainly not. Within a week after reaching Pollachi, Appa’s health deteriorated and he had to be put in the hospital. The total cash available with me at that time was less than one hundred rupees, after meeting the travel expenses and settling some dues in my native village. Krishnswamy Gowder, my new master had promised free rice and vegetable as a reward for the daily pooja I agreed to perform in his house and therefore, feeding the family was not a very big problem. Accomodation also was free. But cash? How to ask Gowder for an advance within a few days after taking up the job.?”
Swamy stretched his legs as if the pain in his heart was spreading to his feet. Ramu sat on the floor pressing his father’s leg seeing which, little Swan came running towards them and started pressing the other leg as if he wanted to prove that in no way, he was less considerate than than his dad. The old man, overwhelmed by the care and consideration of his progeny, combed slowly Ramu’s hair and collected his grand child, put him on his lap and started pressing the kid’s tiny, rose petal-like feet. He wanted to sing but it got stuck at his throat. The child’s grandma came to support her husband and sang a lovely cradle song, in a low rhythmic sound and that folk song, like the small waves of the village river, moved up and down which made the kid to slip into the bliss of sleep.
The old man too, agitated over the memory of his father’s death in a most undesired place but slightly smoothened by the song, fell into sleep.
Ramya collected the kid and took him to her bedroom and Ramu held his father’s hand and lead him to his bed.
The wife supporting her child and the husband supporting his father! How well- knit are our families, whether they are in India or abroad.!
Comments:
Top class narration.
Heart warming scene sketching.
I had no problem visualising this touching scene in my mind’s eye.
Is it only me who, reading this with an Iyer’s perspective, sees shades of R K Narayan’s Malgudi days in these stories ?
Please keep sending me my personal copy.
The same posting at our Iyer123 group gets closely packed into one long unreadable para unlike this decently spaced email to my personal email address.
Awaiting chapter 7 eagerly.
Regards
GV
Thanks for being with me to hear this story patiently.
Love and regards,
sperinkulam
from Vaancouver
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Comments:
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Chapter 4
Chapter 04
“Are there no temples or ponds around here?” Shyamu mami asks.
“No ponds similar to the ones we have in our village, but Temples are there.” Ramu replies, “We will go to the Greater Baltimore Temple this evening”.
“We can show them a swimming pool also,” Ramya adds, “heated pools, I mean”
“Ramya, a top covered, sides covered water body with almost- as -was- born men and women floating on the water or moving around , is not what Amma has in mind” Ramu remarks and asks with an intended smile,” of course, if she is interested in seeing, we will take her “
“No harm in seeing once, to know what a swimming pool is.” Swamy shows interest.
“No need,” his wife rejects his suggestion outright and adds with a stern look, “eschew any such erratic ideas from your mind’
“What harm is there?” Ramu enquires, as if he failed to see the catch in his Amma’s admonition.
“Ramu, you don’t know him as much as I do” Mami is not in a position to relent.
“Contain and control “that is all what your mother has been doing with me, all these years”. Swamy complains, “let your mom be here; I will go back alone to our village.”
“Eschew that aspiration also from your mind,” Mami warns,” I will follow you not like your shadow, but like your kudum[1]i.”
“Oh, mam that is fantastic. Your following dad not like his shadow but like his kudumi, tuft”
” Ramu, that is not following,” Swamy clarifies with a concealed joy, ” that is sitting on my head . Following is less worrisome.”
” Appa, what she wanted us to know is that she dances to your tune, every time you shake your head” Ramya’s humor rocked the house. Even little Swan bursts in laughter as if he enjoyed the joke.
“Shall I take bath and get ready to go to the temple?” Swamy asks in the evening.
”Dad, this is not your village temple where you walk in, fresh from a dip in the pond behind, with barren torso”
Ramu, recalls his frequent dips in the village pond along with his father, “dad, you remember you used to lift me above your head and plunge into the water?”
“I and your mother remember every small talk, walk, fall and rise of your childhood days.” Glancing at his son and feeling proud of his physical growth, Swamy speaks, emotion embracing his paternal satisfaction, “even while I am left with only an ounce of life in my body, I can recognize your foot steps”
“Thanks Appa.” Ramu decides that he should bring back the old man to the normal ground and asks Ramya to get the parents ready for the temple trip.
“Abnormal.” his father comments, while Ramya was helping him to wear jacket, shoes and other protective wears.
“Not at all, can you visit a Himalayan temple, chest- barren?” Ramu asks, “if you are not comfortable to meet the gods with a shirt on, you can leave it outside, cover your chest and back with a woolen shawl, during worship.”
While helping the elders to remove their jackets and shoes, at the side room, Ramya tells them, “The restroom is to your left, you can wash your hands here in the basin. If you are ready, we will move on to the temple”
“How far is it?”
“Here in the same building” she shows the direction. ”Just a few yards away”
“The toilet in the same building where the sanctum is?” Swamy’s eyebrows raise.
“So what, dad?” Ramu explains,” this is a huge building and toilet is in a corner. Are we not having, in our house, three toilets in the same building?’”‘
“That is true, but in a temple?” his father was not convinced. However big the Temple building is, toilet should be away from it.
“Ah, what a sight!” The elders were awestruck at the beauty of the gorgeous idols adorned with dazzling apparels, jewels and garlands. The wall to wall carpeted, high domed, well ventilated central hall which led to the sanctum, the greenery in the vast land around the building ,the spacious flush green front lawn- all these mesmerizes them .The priests, clad in snow white clothes, spoke politely and distributed apples, banana and dry fruits . There was serenity and peace. But with all that, when they came out, the elders did not have the fulfillment of expectation. They didn’t have the satisfaction; they used to derive in the temples in their villages and outside. Without any paraphernalia, those simple deities, housed in meagerly ventilated, moderately illumined sanctum, instantly vibrated the inner chord of devotion and they could establish a one to one relationship,’ soul to soul ‘ as Swami remarked later. Neither the oily walls and pillars nor the devotional verses flowing from the throat of other devotees diverted the concentration.
“Why was I not able to think of my children and hold my hand close to my chest and pray, ‘God, protect my children’ asks mami.
“Simple, amma” Ramu aires his reason, “you were familiar with the village temple and it will take some time for you to replant your attachment to the new environment”
“What is it that I have missed ?” Swamy muses, while boarding the car.
” Dad, let me ask you a question,” Ramu turns to his father, while driving, and asks, ” which house do you like better, our ancestral village house or the one here ?”
‘You house is palatial with all modern facilities, ideal for all age group”
“Appa, answer to the point please,” the son insists,” reply this or that”
‘To be frank with you, Appa likes our village house better.” Mami gives the reply.
‘”Fine, what about you, mom, let me know your preference.”
“I don’t have an opinion of my own.Whatever Appa likes, me too like”
“When it rains, you need an umbrella to go to the toilet ” Ramu argues with mock anger,” because that facility is far away from our village house, in a corner of the back yard. If you forget to close the back door at night, reptiles will enter inside. Even during daytime, you need a lamp to go inside the store room. There are so many minus points there and still why do you prefer that house? Because–”
” We love it as we continue to love our body, though it is aged, wrinkled and getting disabled ” Swamy intervenes conclusively, “We love the smell of that soil, in which is mingled our ancestors’ s breath, belongings, memories and our own aspirations, failures, happiness and disasters”
“True, like that, this abode of the gods, despite all its riches does not attract you as much as your village temples, as you are used to them right from your birth and were also patronized by your ancestors, even before you were born..”
Little Swan, least affected by the talk on present or past, is sleeping in the backseat of the car.
Lucky guy.The future is his.
Comments:
Hi SivaThis serial is good and revels the generation gap between parents and their children who are settled in more developed parts of the worldJust imagine the gap between the grandchildren and grandparents who are used to stay in some agraharm in Palghat !!!!Some of us who stay in Mumbai and kids stay US or UK ,still have some adjustments to make !!!! You sure have a style of writing keep it up regards Ramani krishnan |
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[1] Tuft. The elderly Brahmins used to sport a tuft and even some do.
Posted in B04 — The smell of the soil Leave a comment Edit
Comments:
Hi SivaThis serial is good and revels the generation gap between parents and their children who are settled in more developed parts of the worldJust imagine the gap between the grandchildren and grandparents who are used to stay in some agraharm in Palghat !!!!Some of us who stay in Mumbai and kids stay US or UK ,still have some adjustments to make !!!!You sure have a style of writing keep it up regards Ramani krishnan |
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The elder couple enjoyed a good sleep, forced by jet lag and facilitated by plenty of warm materials, room heater, thick and soft mattress over a spring bed at comfortably reachable height, night lamp, chukku vellam (medicated warm water ) in thermos and a toilet close by.
Ramya had thoughtfully hung a picture of the God Guruvayoorappan, on the wall opposite to their bed, after removing a wildlife picture there. They were happy and contended to see the God’s smiling face, the moment they opened their eyes. Swamy sits on meditation, on the bed, for some time while mami was looking for a ‘suprabhatham’ recitation by MS[1], and Ramya, noticing her mother in law’s searching eyes and sharpened ears, switches on the computer and plays the favorite devotional music. Thus started, really well, the first chapter of the maiden morn in America, for the elders, on their maiden trip, outside their country.
The second part is hot filter- coffee and the newspaper.
“Hindu paper kidaikkuma? (The Hindu paper available here?)” -Swamy to his son, as soon as Ramya placed two tumblers of coffee on the table, for the elders.
”Vasallae kolampottaya (have you drawn kolam [2] in the front?” Shyamu,, to her daughter in law.
Ramu explains that only local papers are available. He places a big bundle, which his father rejects outright, as there were hardly any news, none on India and only advertisements. The Indian TV channels were being arranged and within a day or two, said Ramu.
” Appa, you should learn to handle the computer so that you can read the news online and also hear YouTube music,” he suggests.
“At this age?”,Swamy asks, but covertly wondering,” am I really that old?”
Every time he tells someone, “I am old, I can’t do this” etc, he hears a message from within, that he is not that old. But, he worries about his aging, the moment his wife says, “onkalukku vayassu aayatchu, jagradai-you are getting old, take care.”
Ramya tells mami that it is not possible to draw kolam outside as cold winds are blowing and moreover, the floor is not ideal for any drawing, as it is wet. She had, however, drawn before the deities in the kitchen. “Let me try” says Shyamu and returns within a moment, unable to stand the cold breeze outside.
“Where do I dry my cloth after bath?” enquires mami, “are there strings or ropes at the back?’
“No, ma, you cannot dry them outside” Ramya clarifies, ‘‘the machine will wash and dry too”. Mami’s face shrinks. She doesn’t like the idea of her sari getting mixed with other clothes, rotating in a closed machine and getting dried without the sunshine treatment. She fondly remembers her washing the clothes, applying Sunlight soap and beating it on the granite step of the temple pond, dipping it fully spread, into the clear water and drying in open air. “There is a joy in doing that”, she mutters unintentionally which was overheard by her husband.
“In doing what?” he asks instantly.
”Oh! Your ears?. You were a snake in the precious birth” Mami chides.
“I was, no doubt” he jokes, “that is how I chose you as my partner in this birth”
“Where do I do my sandhyavandhanam[[3] ?” enquies Mama after his bath, “in the front or back or in the deck?”
“In summer, you can do anywhere outside, but not now.” Ramu tells his dad. Now mama’s face shrinks.
The memories of his ablution in the village temple- pond and performing the morning and evening prayers on its bank, surges and he feels sad that for the next six months he will miss that pleasure. The imaginary sight of his white veshti 5, held high in his hands, fluttering in the breeze, making soft sound as if it was talking to the wind, amuses him and he explains to his grandson, through hand movement how the cloth attempts to escape from his hands and fly in the air but he holds it back. The little one understands nothing though he enjoys the hiss made by his grandpa. ‘Thatha, show that again” he demands and Subbu repeats the show with joy. Swan tries to imitate and unsatisfied with his attempt but determined to prove his caliber, picks up a whistle from his mount of toys and makes repeated whizzing sound. “Thathaa, see whether you can do, as I did? ” asks he, handing over the instrument. Thatha pretends as if he is unfit to do the job. The child grabs the whistle and blows more forcefully and proves his superiority, to tom tom which he rushes to his grand ma. ‘Thatha can’t whistle, thatha can’t whistle,” he boasts clapping his hands.
“Thahta doesn’t know anything,” Grand ma supports him and complains, “he knows only to shout at me.”
“Amma, you mentioned Appa is your everything for you, a few hours before and how do you say now that he is nothing?” Asks Ramya with a naughty smile.
“I know nothing and that is how I became her everything,” clarifies the jovial husband, ” which woman wants a husband, who knows something ?”
“Appa, damaging statement,” Ramu laughs .
Swan realizes that all were blaming thatha for his inability to whiz and being a good friend, it is his duty to help him. He holds thatha’s hand and asks him to follow.Thatha obediently, silently follows the child,who makes his grand pa to sit comfortably and handing over the whistle, teaches how to hold it in the mouth and operate. ” Blow once, let me see whether you are doing properly,” the infant Guru orders and alas, the sishya is now able to do the job perfectly. Now none will scold him .The kid’s face glows with happiness.
Then, thatha explains how, after bath, he enters the temple,” and there stands a big elephant ! “.
”How big thatha?, this big,?’” he enqires, rising his tiny hands and thatha explains, “this big” stretching his hand as much as possible and standing on tip toe.
“Appa, be careful,” warns Ramya,”don’t slip”
Mami is getting down the stairs, for taking bath, which does not escape the eyes of the old man, though the cataract has partially dimmed their brightness.
“Wait, wait. I am coming, ” he yells and tries to reach her, when he notices that Ramya is already there helping his wife.
“Does he keeps a watch on amma’s movements even in his sleep,?” wonders Ramya.
Mami did enjoy the warm water shower though she had some hesitation initially.
“There is no privacy,” she complains, “I don’t like the glass cover on two sides “
“No privacy?” Swamy laughs, ” true, not as much as in your village tank, fully exposed to the sky and surroundings. I presume that your problem her is, you have a closed chamber with opaque glass sheets and in addition a curtain too ”
” I don’t know ” mami replies, “moreover, I miss the satisfaction of washing my sari with my own hand and Sun-drying it.”
“These are unwanted imaginations and you should come out of these inhibitions ” Mama remarks and laughs, loudly.
“Why are you laughing?” Mami enquires wondering what was there to amuse him in what she said.
” I too had the same feelings, imaginations or inhibitions, whatever you call it ” he replies and laughes again.
“Appa, that is real fun” adds Ramu couple who overheard their conversation .
“Amma, I have finished my bath; shall I prepare the ‘neivedyam’ for Appa’s worship? ” Ramya asks, “Shall I keep rice in the cooker?”
“No, you open the suitcase in which my clothes are kept” Mami instructs,” there is in it, a small brass vessel with lid. Take it out. I will cook rice in it for neivediyam “
“How did the vessel escape from my notice when I cleared your baggage?” enquires Ramu.
“It was well wrapped in my clothes to prevent damage in transit,” his mother clarifies, “that vessel belonged to your great grandmother.”
“Are you hearing Ramya ?” Ramu. “Yes, I am ” She answers.
“if you have finished your Sandhya, have some snacks and coffee, appa ” Ramya suggests, ” your pooja can be performed after that”
“App will not eat unless he feeds his gods?” Mami says, “but he will have one more tumbler of coffee”
“Because the gods doesn’t drink coffee,” adds Ramu with a wink.
Swamy’s pooja lasts over an hour and his son, reminiscing the days when he too had performed the same, before coming to US, thinks, ” I should not have left it ” but corrects ,”where is the time for me ? “
Again, after a moment, the same thought surges in his mind and with a determination, he takes shower, wears fresh cloth in the conventional panchagattcham style and sits near his father to recite Rudram along with him.
The women are happy. Ramu too has a unique satisfaction of having retrieved something which was loft for a long time. He recalls his young days, when wearing a small dothi and applying holy ash on his forehead, chest and arms, he used to follow his father to the temple, stand before the sanctum and recite mantras and on reaching home, his father used to explain proudly how their son recited the slokas accurately.” I should not have left the recitation and the routine pooja,” he muses and immediately ask the question to himself, “where is time for all those activities?”
Swan, sitting close by watching the magic of his thatha, pouring water and throwing flowers, wonders why the two elders are shouting at the dolls and pictures before them. He should show his competence. “I can make more noise” he avers, picks up his pipe and plays as loudly as he can. “Swan, please, you can play later,” his mother pleads..
“Don’t stop him, Ramya, ” Swamy instructs, ” let him continue. My Easwaran loves instruments during worship, especially when played by kids”
” But Appa, you used to scold me when, as a kid, I disturbed you.” Ramu complains.
“Because you are only my son, not grand son” Swamy replies smiling.
Chapter 02
Distribution of gifts and parting of property documents
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The moment Swamy enters the ‘restroom’, he is awestruck seeing a row of bright lamps, above a big mirror flooding the whole room with powerful light, and wonders why so many lamps for a bath cum toilet. Why such large mirrors not one but two, he asks himself. The glistening walls and wall to wall carpeted floor makes him wonder whether so much luxury was really necessary. “Devalokam aattama irukku (it is like heaven)” he coos. The urge to eliminate the extra fluid surging, he postpones the survey of the interior and looks for a conventional toilet seat, which to his disappointment was not there. He settles for the ‘European’ seat, though he is uncomfortable to clear the bladder in a standing posture. And, alas, there was no provision to collect water from the tap! Timely, Ramu knocks the door and passes on a plastic jug, through the gap of the partially opened doors. “May you live long my son”, blesses the old man. Once the bladder pressure was relieved, his brains works better and Swamy notices, to his surprise that the partially carpeted floor has no water outlet. He circulates his eyes and finds a white porcelain bath tub and is relieved that he can stand inside the tub and shower. But how will Shyamu have her bath? She needs a stool to sit on. Will a stool fit inside the bath tub? Even if it does, won’t water spill outside and wet the floor? Moreover, the wall of the tub is more than a foot above the floor level. Will she be able to cross it without slipping? He surveys the commode again. Water has to be collected from the tap and while stretching the body there is every possibility of slipping or water spilling or both. With these problems, now he is convinced that the ‘restroom’ of Ramu is neither a room for rest nor a heaven as he evaluated at the first sight.
“Instant evaluation invariably fails” he consoles himself and quotes a Sanskrit verse to supplement that.
“Ramu, is there another bath room?” Subbu enquires and was relieved to know that two more are there, one in the basement and the other in the floor above. When he explained the problems he anticipated, Ramu suggested to use the one in the basement which has a cabin for shower, only a few inches above the ground level and with a flat base so that a stool can be comfortably placed inside. Ramya will keep a bucket of water with a jug near the commode and if necessary the carpet will be removed and water extracted by mopping and drying. A stool and a bucket will also be kept inside the shower chamber. Only problem is the stairs.
”You don’t worry about that,” Swamy assures his son,” I will hold Amma’s hand when she goes to the basement”
”Enna asambandam peasarael-what nonsense are you taking? “Shyamu chides her husband, from the kitchen,” I call you every time I want to go to toilet? ”
“Why do you quarrel on such trivial issue?” Ramu admonishes his parents.
“Trivial issue?” Swamy is yet to come out of the disturbed mood., “Bowl movement is the most important issue for elders like me and your mother; then comes sleep, then–” ” food ” Ramu completes with an indented smile.
“No. then comes the feeling that we are wanted, we are yet to become disposable”. He affirms with all seriousness he can draw on his face, “the feeling those whom we loved even before they were born, have not deserted us when we are incapacitated. The anticipation that they will, when we are gone, miss us at least once a while and will unintentionally a warm drop will fall on the earth from their turbid eyes. That is the only ’tilodakam[1]‘ we expect and not an elaborate post mortal ritual.
Shyamu mami’s eyes become moist and she tries to wipe with the end of her sari. Swan watching keenly from a corner, comes closer and consoles consciously, convincingly though incoherently, “thathi, aszahathunkol, en car unkalukku tharaen- don’t weep, grand ma; I will give you my toy car”
“Appa, amma, you don’t know how much we love you ” Ramu and Ramya hug the parents again and again and the elated elders, unable to find suitable words to convey their appreciation and joy , thank profusely their family deity in blessing them with such a wonderful son and daughter in law.
“Nanna irunkol, kozhanthaikal–be happy my children,” they manage to utter, controlling their emotion.
“How considerate is[2] Appa” wonders Ramya,” even in the restroom he thinks bout Amma’s comforts. Will Ramu also be like his father, when we become old?”
Swan unaware of all this complication continues playing with his toy cars and trains and believes that those are the real ones.
Belief is a great gift the God has endowed us with.
Comfortably settled on the sofa, Swamy could not resist the temptation to ask, “how much did you pay for this?” “Not much appa,” Ramu assures and adds, “it is on a loan.”
Ramu takes his parents around the interior of the house when the father asks the cost of the house, “it is really spacious”, he conveys his appreciation too.
“It is on loan and will become my own after 20 years, Appa”. The son clarifies as if it is not a big issue.
Swamy who had not availed a pie as loan though there was a provision for that in his service conditions, is amazed and sad to note that everything, his son possesses, is on loan.
There comes Swan not moving like a swan bird but rushing like a whirlwind.
“Cars, sofa, house, everything is on loan, is my grandchild too on loan?” The old man didn’t want to be so rude but his anguish pushes him to be so. The old people of my era and earlier ones hardly knew the knack of polishing their tongue, though they used a rib of coconut leaf for cleaning it in the morning every day. Words, as they emerge from the base of their heart, poured unfiltered, which may be unacceptable to the younger ones, as their unfiltered coffee too was.
Ramu couple rightly takes his diatribe as a joke and responds with a smile,” no appa, he is our own”
Shyamu asks her son to open the baggage and takes out laddu, murukku[3] cheedai and other snacks. “Ramu likes kaimurukku and vella cheedai’ she adds,” so I made them with my own hands”
Ramu and Ramya are amazed at the packs of things coming out of the baggage the elders have brought – Variety of eatables, dolls and curry powders, appliances for making different dishes like sevai, appam, vdam etc, a small granite grinder with pestle and many other things. There was a small chendai (Percussion instrument) and a mini nadaswaram for the kid, grabbing which, the little devil created havoc in the house. Then comes a copper vessel containing the salagramam and other idols, with conch, bell, abhisheka patram and other auxiliaries for the daily panchayathana worship, from the cabin luggage.
Mami takes out a packet of clothes places that on a plate along with eleven one rupee coins and asks for akhshatai and kumkumam[4]. Ramu and Ramya prostrate before the elders and collect the gifts along with their blessings. The packet contained a neck tie, two sets of ornaments for neck, ears and wrist, all made of silver and a ready-to-wear panchgatcham and kurtha for the kid.
Ramya and Ramu are immensely pleased with those presents.
“There is little meaning in bringing saris which you seldom wears,” mami explains, “I took the help of the neighbor to choose the jewels. Hope you like them?” she asks..
“These are awesome ma”, Ramya was still wondering how thoughtful the old lady was in selecting those fashion jewels.
“Swamy hands over another packet to his son.” This contains the documents related to our village house, which I constructed with great difficulty when my income was meager. Under no circumstances you should dispose it off. I know it has no utility value now as you will not be staying in it or even if you let it out, it may not fetch much. But your children and grand children should have something to claim as ancestral property. I didn’t have that, or my father.”
“But why are you giving the documents to me now?” Ramu enquires.
“Not only the documents”, Swamy replied, handing over another packet, “this contains the key of the bank locker along with a list of the contents, which are your mother’s jewels. Another list is the small savings I have as bank deposits and in shares. Their value is not much but however small it is, that should come to you. All the jewels, pattu saries, silver, gold coins, vessels, whatever Ramya brought from her house, have been handed over back to her father. I called him one day and asked him to take charge of them. It is not safe to keep those valuable with us.”
“That is fine Appa”, Ramu intervenes, ” but, why the bank locker key and documents ? Planning to become a sanyasi? “
“I should be prepared to face the inevitable, any moment. And once I am out of the gate, this frail and faithful woman should not stay alone. I have absolute faith in you and Ramya that you will take care of your mother, if I quit first”
“The moment you saw your children, you started blabbering?”, Mami chides her husband again, “do you think I will allow you to go alone ? Haven’t I followed you like a shadow during the past fifty years?, mami asks and ask her husband to go to sleep.
“Yes, where do I wash my feet? Get me the viboothi (holy ash) dabba. ” Ramu lead him to the deck though it was cold, as he knew that his father would not be happy to wash his legs in the bathroom, before he reads ‘Adyadmaramayanam[5]‘ prior to sleeping.
Before going to bed Ramu, seeing the light on, enters his parents’ room, ” Appa, you haven’t slept yet?’ he enquires seeing Swamy sitting in deep thought.
“Not yet. Come and sit near me; call Ramya too. I saw her working in the kitchen moments ago”
” Appa, you have come after a long journey of twenty four hours ” Ramu scans the room and makes sure that the heater, night lamp, pillows, comforts are all in the proper place, “tomorrow we will discuss; sleep now”
“I admire your trust for a tomorrow for a man of my age ” Swamy was adamant, “let us talk now”
Swan came running asking his dad to put him to sleep. “Don’t make the child to cry; put him to sleep” Swamy insisted.
“So Appa, the moment you saw the kid crying, you are convinced that you have a tomorrow?” The son asks, a sparkle glowing in his eyes. “Poda madaya,” the father dismissed the junior with a proud statement, ” I have never allowed a tear drop to appear e in your eyes, when you were a kid”
.
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The smell of the soil- Chapter 1
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The maiden visit of an elderly couple to America
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Here, my friend Swamy has landed at the New York airport along with his wife, Shyamu mami. Before occupying the wheel chairs, they raise their clubbed palms above their head to thank their family deity, for safely transporting them to the land where their son and his family live.
The wheel chair men help to retrieve the heavy baggage filled with a hundred and odd items from koorkai kizanghu [1]to kolu bommai[2], from the conveyor belt and also in the immigration and customs clearance formalities. The old couple is excited to meet their son Ramu, waiting at the exit along with his wife Ramya and little son Swan. Before they enquire, “kozhanthaikala, nanna irukkela (‘Childre, hope you are fine’ is a poor equivalent) they acclaim their parents with a ‘hi dad, hi mom’ welcome and warm hug. The elders bless them and try to grab Swan, ‘vada en thangam’ (come, my sweet precious child). The little imp screams as if the motive of the intruders was kidnapping.
Ramu takes charge of the baggage dismisses the wheelchair men with a note of thanks and two 5 dollar notes. Swamy is amazed, as his strong base in Matriculation math works out the amount just parted by his son- nearly five hundred rupees more than his monthly electricity bill ! “Why so much?” he enquirers and receives the reply “It is OK, dad”. Ramya drapes her in laws with the warm jackets, she had carried thoughtfully with her.
Ramu helps his parents to mount the Nissan; they feel the glaze of the exterior, scan the interior and feel proud in that valuable possession. “What is the cost?,” the father enquires and gets the reply, “don’t worry, dad, it will become mine only after five years when I repay the loan”.
Ramya serves hot coffee, thoughtfully carried from home and then some snacks, probably idli or dosai. The elders convey their happiness though internally a comparison of the flavor of Sekaripuram Seshu’s coffee powder takes place. The little joy- bundle, looks at the new comers again through the corner of his lovely eyes and enjoys their trick of raising the tumbler inches above their mouth and the liquid dripping from it exactly into the cavity between the nose and chin . He is yet to accept them as friends, though now realizes that they were not the dragons he took them for. Fire comes out of dragon’s mouth; here liquid goes into it!
Though disturbed by the two 5 dollar notes dangling from the depth of his mind, Swamy enjoys viewing the wide, clean roads, prominent guiding posters and hundreds of four wheelers moving in high speeds, without making a single horn sound, “Rottilae oru mado manushiano illayae, Ramya ( not a single man or animal on the road )” wonders Shyamu mami.
Exposed to the chill of the waning winter, they shiver but do not fail to watch the elegance of the house prefaced by a lavish green lawn. Swamy wanted to enquire the cost of the house but decides to postpone the query when Ramya welcomes her in-laws gracing her house for the first time, with a smiling face and ‘Appa,amma, vango, okkarungo’ (please come in and be seated) .
Mami doesn’t sit but enters the kitchen and Swamy too doesn’t sit but asks the location of the toilet. “Appa, restroom is there “Ramu points his finger” Mudaallae moothram peyattum da-let me urinate, first” says the old man. Ramu explains that toilets are called restrooms here and leads his father to the place where he wanted to visit first.
“Bagavathi, thayae, en kozhanthakalai kappathu- Mother Goddess, protect my children always”, prays Shyamumami, her eyes shut in meditation and clubbed palms collected towards her chest, as she sees the deities and pictures of the gods, neatly arranged in a corner of the kitchen, along with flowers and other materials for the daily worship. She is proud of her daughter in law, an educated working girl from an affluent family, following the traditional practices and proudly and affectionately combs Ramya’s hair with her fingers, as she is unaware of complimentary phrases such as ‘ I am proud of you’. That single affectionate mild touch however, tells everything she had to say and Ramya thinks of her own mother who was no more. Sometime, we realize the real value of a possession only when we lose it and when we find a near alternative our joy is immeasurable.
”Where is our Cherunatturi’s picture?” Shayamu asks and when shown, does one more prostration, picks up her ‘mangalsutram’ hanging from her neck and takes it to her eyes as a mark of reverence to her husband and seeking the blessing of her family deity to give him a long life.
Ramya looks deep into her mother in law’s eyes when she does that followed by a remark,
“avarakkum ennodu lokam- he (my husband ) is my world- my everything. Those simple words, Ramya knows, haven’t emerged from her lips, but from a much deeper, divine soil.
“God, may I be able to repeat these words about my husband in my old age!” Ramya prays silently.
Thripundram, Thiruman, Tattoo and a fancy hand bag?
After paying a silent homage to the departed soul of the ‘King of pop’, Michael Jackson, one of the most influential entertainers of all times, right before the house of his last stay in Hollywood, we moved on to the Hollywood walk of Fame, a side walk along the Hollywood Boulevard and Vine Street. It serves as an entertainment museum, embedded with more than 2,000 five-pointed stars featuring the names of not only human celebrities but also fictional characters honored by the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce for their contributions to the entertainment industry. Street- shows mimicking the popular artists, display of various physical skills. enchanting parades of fictional characters and showcasing the latest trend in the fashion industry are some of the attractions on the street. You can have a photograph with dummies of your historic heroes or a warm hug with your favorite cine star- for a price, of course.
The concrete blocks set in the front of the Grauman’s Chinese Theater, which bear the signatures, autographs, footprints, and hand-prints of nearly 200 popular motion picture celebrities from the 1920s to the present day, are another attraction.This theater is an important land mark, opened in 1927 with the premiere of Cecil B, DeMille’s film The king of Kings and a venue for some Oscar award ceremonies and several prestigious parties.
I am not aware of any place in India,, where foot prints of celebrities are preserved though there are several holy places like, Gaya, Badarinath and Rameswaram where the Hindus worship imprints on rock etc, believed to be the foot prints of the Gods.
I see around a large number of women proudly projecting the tattoos on their body and that sight brings to my mind the three black dots on the chin of a village girl which added abnormal beauty to her well-chiseled face. There was a black dot on her Adam’s apple too and it was exactly below the dots on her chin giving an impression that it has just dropped, after a quarrel with the others in her chin.
“Kathukuthy thakkai pottu kuriparppen, ammea!
Kuriparppen ammea!
Kanthasami vandhu undhan kurai theerppan”
That is Rakkamma, a dark skinned damsel, sitting on the ‘thinnai or raised platform in front of my house, whom, as a child, I used to watch with admiration and enjoy her melodious songs. A bundle of colors, wrapped in a red and yellow cotton sari, long hands adorned almost up to half the length with multicolor glass bangles, the humble and humorous villager used to visit us often, carrying a friendly though caged parakeet in her basket and a magic wand. She was many things- in -one. A palmist to alleviate the anxiety on any front, a mid -wife to help the pregnant women when they needed most the help of another woman and a baby sitter when the mothers have to go to the river for a bath and a money lender for my father when he falls short of cash to pay the wages of his employees.
I do observe keenly( from a safe distance of course),the mailanchi/marudani/hanna paste, applied artistically on the hands and feet of girls and young women during wedding and other auspicious occasions and appreciate the intricate designs of the cosmetic coloring, but on many such occasions, the three simple dark spots on the chin of Rakkamma, used to pop up in my mind.
Here in Hollywood as well as in several other cities, women, project the elevation, depression or even level of their body, by painting, some delicately but others elaborately and by trimming their apparels at the required level at the required places so as to obtain the maximum effect of the art work. Even men project their well developed muscles with paintings of cobra,scorpion, wild animals, birds and several other designs, an effort to show-case their masculine power, I am told.Those with impoverished muscles like mine, paint their bald head or neck. My head (exterior!) is enriched; so I do not have that option too.
Tattooing has been an age old method used for various purposes, in several countries- For branding and identification, as a mark of status, rank,decoration for bravery, sexual lure and mark of fertility.Some believed that it helped to ward of ill effects and some had religious significance for that. Slaves and convicts and outcasts were identified by these marks and so were the cattle stock.
The art of tattooing is gaining importance as a powerful tool for attracting the opposite sex, in western countries.
Ammalu, however, dislikes the extravagant display of designs on the body and call it derogatory-‘maha avalam!’
Looking at the big, round red colour dot on her forehead, I ask her in a slow voice.
” Don’t I lavishly paint white lines on my forehead, chest, hands and some time on my big belly too? Don’t we anoint the idols of our Gods with sacred pastes vertically or horizontally. Even the stamping of Sanku-chakra mudras on shoulders is tattooing. You are free to express your dislike but don’t condemn the artistic designs as ‘maha avalam”
“What a lovely piece!” She points her finger to a hand bag displayed on a show window, without answering me but looking at another direction.
“That is maha avalam” I tell her and I have a reason for that. Buying a fancy hand bag from a shop in Hollywood! Am I crazy?
Siva,
Baltimore,
Jan 20, 2010
The thin veil has vanished.
There has been continuous snowing since last night; glistening thin white pellets are still dropping. The sun, in the distant horizon, is slowly raising his head , veiled by a thin layer of muslin cloth- like mist , to watch the lavishly spread luminous white marble chips spread all over on the earth’s surface and on the top of the slopping house tops.. As if to compensate the loss of colorful leaves during autumn, the nature has decorated the sad, silent and moaning dry trees with shining white snow petals in abundance which hang like pendants of pearl from the branches.
I am sitting close to the window in my study here, gazing at the unbelievably amazing extravaganza of nature, which will not be opened before you every day, even during the winter season here.
When nature gives, it gives in abundance.
P.K. comes in along with his wife, touch my feet as a mark of respect, while bidding farewell. I hate anyone falling at my feet but accept the salutation of these youngsters, unwilling to offend their sentiments.
“ Thanks, mama, for those consoling words and that warm hug” said P.K. while I hugged him again close to my chest..He continued,” for a moment I thought it was my departed father who had followed me from the temple and accepted me on his hairy chest”
Sri.P.Krishnamoorthy, my son’s friend came to Baltimore yesterday to perform his father’s sraadham, annual ceremony for the departed souls, in the Greater Baltimore temple, not far from our house. Availing permission to be absent from his work, with much difficulty and driving over 100 miles, he comes twice an year to perform the annual ceremony of his parents and a spends a night here with my son recalling their school days.
P.K. came to America over ten years ago to earn his living, as he failed to get a suitable job matching his qualification in India and also wanted to study further. By sheer hard work, he prospered in this country and unlike many other youngsters, saved enough money to assure a comfortable life to his parents back home , educated his siblings, performed the wedding of his sisters and gave a fitting farewell to his parents who closed their eyes with the satisfaction that the offspring left behind them in this world was an asset indeed.
The old couple’s only unrealized wish was that they could not visit the country of settlement of their son and smell the soil in which their grand children were born.
“Call me there every year for the annual ceremony. I will cross the seas, flying over the clouds, happily” His father, from his death bed, had told Kittu with full hope that his beloved son would offer him sesame seeds and water, after his departure from this world.
. “Nanum avar koode varenda, Kittu” –I too will come there along with him-His mother too said. Their last wish suited Kittu as well. It will be practically impossible for him to visit India twice an year, to perform the annual ceremony of his parents, considering his busy work schedule, wife ‘s job, children’s education and several other factors.
I accompanied him yesterday to the temple and the pandit , wearing crystal clear pancha and equally pleasant smile, conducted the ceremony strictly according to the vedic sanction. It was a solemn occasion with no intermittent cell phone sound or distracting talks or bargaining for the fees, though the priest’s pronunciation of mantras was slightly different from the vaadyars from the south. There was also some minor variations in the procedure, for example, archana or floral tribute along with arkhyam ( offering of water) for the departed souls , devathas (divinities), Rishies (Saints) and great aacharyas (teachers) like Bheeshma, Anjaneya etc was performed with great dedication.
Kitto and his wife were completely satisfied and sincerely believed that his father’s soul would have crossed the oceans and accepted the beloved son’s offering of fruits, vegetables and cereals, comfortably seated on darbha grass neatly spread on the bamboo mat placed over an absolute clean floor surface.
Their happiness, unfortunately was short- lived. When we returned home for food , Kittu, unexpectedly saw the print- out of some of the posts from our forum’s website, which I had placed in a tray on the computer table for studying . Those were related to the commentary on Bagavatham, a Hindu scripture, by a well known vedic exponent.
One of the extracts said:
“Do not perform sraadha in foreign countries and call the pitrus there! When you do avahanam of the Pitrus in the kurcham, they actually come there”
(Explanation: In the annual ceremony, the departed soul is invited to be seated on a spread of darbha grass and the belief is atman (soul or spirit) does respond to the call and accept the offer of clothes and food in the form of water, sesame seeds, fruits, vegetables etc. In a more elaborate form of annual worship, the offer is made through the tongues of the holy fire generated for the purpose,accompanied by appropriate mantras.
According to the exponent, the Bagavatham do not sanction the invitation of pitrus or departed souls to foreign countries.)
The second one was the learned Veda exponent’s reaction to a query :
“Oru payyanukku, avan thayyarukku karmam pannarathei vida verey periyya velai enna irukku ? Appadi leave kedakkaleinna, velayei vittu vittu varattum. Intha velei pocchunna innoru velai kedeikkamala irukka pokarathu ?”
(Explanation: For a son, what other activity can be more important then performing the ceremony of his mother? He should resign the job if permission to absent from the work is not granted. After all, he should be able to get another job)
Kittu went through the comments, remained silent for a while, lifted his head and with tears rolling down his cheek, asked me, “did I commit a sin by inviting my father to cross the sea and come over here to accept my offerings?. Intha velai pona (if I lose this job ), won’t my family be in the street mama?” I patted his back to console him.
”Please answer my query, mama!” he pleaded again,” did I commit a sin by inviting my father to cross the sea and come over here to accept my offerings?”
“No my son” I consoled the youngster, hugging him close to my chest, “ Your father would have come even to the Sahara desert to respond your sincere invitation. The scriptural sanctions seize to act beyond the border of life. And remember, the sanction of your own conscious, clear and pure as the snow around here, supersedes any dictates, from the present or past, human or divine.”
I watched silently while that obedient and worthy son was moving along with his wife towards his Mercedes-Benz.
In the distant sky the sun shone brighter. The thin veil has vanished.
Love and regards,
Siva
Baltimore
Jan 08 2010