Shades of India

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'pandhariche bhoot mothe' by Sant Tukaram

A friend sent me a video link of an abhang recently. It was sung by noted vocalist duo Ranjani and Gayatri. The abhang was composed by much revered poet-saint Sant Tukaram Maharaj (1608-50). Maharaj spent most of time of his life in Dehu at around 25 km from city of Pune in Maharashtra. He along with other contemporary poet-saints like Samarth Ramdas was instrumental in keeping alive the cultural and religious identities of the religion in and around Mahrashtra through the Bhakti Sampradaay's philosophy. It is also known as Warakari Sampradaay and Bhakti Movement. The efforts were praiseworthy in the atmosphere prevailing then in the region. The region was was in great turmoil due to the never ending assaults and oppressions upon the natives thrusted by the Moghul army from the North and sultanates of Nagar, Vijapur (Bijapur) and Bhaganagar (today's Hyderabad). He also attacked the hypocritical behavior of a certain section of priestly class in the Hindu society. He spread the message of equality and devotion to Shri Hari Vitthal through his compositions.

At a later stage of life, Maharaj traveled to South and preached his philosophy, spread his thoughts through numerous compositions, written mostly in Marathi. He also restored a number of temples of Shri Vitthal, built many new temples with the help of local community. In Tamilnadu, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, he is still remembered and his compositions are sung by people. I attended a few such programs, kirtan, in Chennai, Kalpakkam and Thenangur wherein the groups performed compositions of Tukaram Maharaj devotedly. Native Tamil singers with no knowledge of Marathi singing those abhangs is the icing on cake. These groups and the artistes like Ranjani and Gayatri are the reasons for Tukaram Maharaj's compositions in South India to survive test of the time.

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पंढरीचे भूत मोठे
आल्या गेल्या झडपी वाटे

बहु खेचरीचं रान
बघ हे वेडे होय मन

जाऊ नका कोणी, तिथे जाऊ नका कोणी
जे गेले, नाही आले परतोनी

तुका पंढरीसी गेला
पुन्हा जन्मा नाही आला

The abhang 'Pandhariche bhoot moThe' is in the praise of Shri Kshetra Pandharpur , also called as Pandhari, and which is the chosen abode of Shri Vitthal and Devi Rukmini. Some of the characteristics of the place are described by Maharaj in this composition. He has adopted an unusual way while narrating the characteristics. He terms the place as the notorious one and goes on giving his own experience as an example to prove his hypothesis. It may be mentioned here that it is nothing but natural to understand that what he really means is not what his words literally suggest. Maharaj has used a soft humor in instilling a deep belief into the minds of people that the place is special. It is divine. It is the final destination the soul is searching to rest in peace. The abhang also tells us that one can have humor over Gods. The well intentioned one will please Gods and also can become wonderful vehicle for Him to reach the common man. This narration can be likened to descriptions of Mathura or Gokul known for the numerous tales of the naughtiness and deeds of a divine baby named krushna. The arguments put forward by Maharaj go as follows.

पंढरीचे भूत मोठे

आल्या गेल्या झडपी वाटे

Beware people! Pandhari (Pandharpur) is haunted by a dreadful ghost. Be careful when you are passing by this place or visiting it. This ghost nabs every one going near the place. If you are afraid of being possessed by the ghost, change your path or just cancel your plan in the interest of your (so called) well being.

That was literal meaning. In the hindsight, Maharaj wants to suggest exactly the opposite. He hints, if you stay away from the place, you will never have the divine experience which is possible only in the company of Vitthal-Rakhumaai. (Rukmini is referred to as Rakhumaai in Pandharpur and elsewhere by devotees.) And this is possible only if you go to Pandhari. The place will possess you when you will reach this place. You will loose your own self, ego, desires and the earthly beliefs. Thus, in no time, you will experience a closeness to the God.

बहु खेचरीचं रान 

बघ हे वेडे होय मन

The land around Pandhari is so fertile, and it is full with green. It is nothing but natural that the animals from all over would rush there for grazing. Hence the land is full with animals of all sorts. The sight will make your mind go crazy if you go even near to Pandhari. (खेचर is a hybrid between horse and donkey.)

The purpose of using this metaphor is not very clear and the metaphor may have different interpretations. I am picking the most logical according to me. It could possibly go like this. Like the land full with grass attracts the cattle, Pandhari being the food - source of energy - attracts mobs of people from all over the world. And when somebody goes there, the ghost does not leave him or her in its original form. This can be applied to the gender, race, caste, religion and species too. Thus forms hybrid minds which is possessed by the divinity.

जाऊ नका कोणी, तिथे जाऊ नका कोणी
जे गेले, नाही आले परतोनी

Maharaj cautions everybody that such a place which you are tempted to visit, a place which hosts a dreadful ghost whose only business is to nab and possess each passerby, should be left at a distance. Every sane person, every one who does not like such possession and the one who wants to escape if possessed, should not go to the place. Because, Maharaj says, no one has returned from this place. What a dangerous place! Even thought of going there should be forbidden.

तुका पंढरीसी गेला
पुन्हा जन्मा नाही आला

Maharaj gives his own example to support his arguments. He says, finally Tuka (Tukaram Maharaj himself) himself went to Pandhari intending to find the truth. Not only that he never returned, but also that he was never ever born again!

While concluding the abhang, Maharaj describes the great centripetal force the sacred place possesses that acts on each visitor and eventually does not let him go away. He goes on to tell us his own experience that underlines the holiness of Pandhari. He suggests that the life cycle of one's soul can completed with the pilgrimage of Pandhari. You attain moksha at sacred place. Actually, Sant Tukaram subtly tells us that he attained moksha after visiting Pandhari by saying that he was never reborn. In reality, numerous folklores exist about his सदेह वैकुंठगमन, the travel to Vaikuntha without shedding his physical form.

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Story of a ride to Alamparai fort

(A candid account of the ride on 25th morning to Alamparai Fort in Kadapakkam village near Cheyur in Tamilnadu as told my friend and co-rider, Jam. I am sure you're going to enjoy this lucid narrative. - Prasad)

A superposition of strokes of icy cirrus, splendid and dark heap of cumulus, and the rhythmic rhyme of bell from a nearby church marked the beginning of my Christmas day. The joyous cycle ride from my hostel to the Institute's main gate in cold and crisp air bring in some soothing experience that ended up with a cup of "hot" chips coffee. It was while having my coffee that I self-assessed my health condition - "Should I go for it?". Its only a couple of days back that I caught cold and I have been on medication which had drained all the energy that was left in my body.

"I still can stop all this", I told myself, "by calling Prasad and come up with an excuse". "Sorry yaar, my cycle tyre got punctured...I overslept and just got up...my brother is coming to meet me..."and so many such excuses came to my mind while I aimlessly browsed for an application on my mobile. "Why not I facebook one more time?, or I can check the weather forecast for today", thinking this I opened my application folder from the menu. Something odd caught my eye that time, ya... it was the application I downloaded previous night, but din't install and configure as I slept while the downloading was in progress. What is it? Nimbu or something? No...Nimbuzz. Is it from Google (because it has "buzz" on it)? No! It seems to be a chat application.

Well, its asking me for a tag line! What shall I type here? What's coming in my mind at this moment? Concentrate...Think hard...

I think my inner voice told "Let's do it"! Is this a tag line? Or is there a hidden message that tells me what I should decide upon that moment? Ok...here we go, "Hello Prasad! This is Jam, I just reached main gate. I'll catch bus to Tiruvanmiyur now. I'll call you once I reach the bus stand. Please guide me to reach your place from there on".

No...it's not about visiting my friend's place. Its a different thing. Its a thing that sounds like "motorcycle diaries" of Che. It was decided a week ago that me and my friend Prasad will go on a motorcycle drive in his Bullet to Alamparai Fort and the date was fixed to be on the Christmas day. I didn't ask Santa Claus for a gift, but little did I expect that time that there was indeed a gift awaiting for me to come and pick it up! My confused beginning soon started to evaporate like mist on grass in a sunlight and soon the enthu of the drive overwhelmed me completely. And thus we started our drive, from the periphery of Neelangarai, a drive that will last for a little less than 2 hours with a break in between for breakfast and tea. A drive that would take you to the road that is frequently traveled; the East Coast Road drive to Muttukad and Mahabalipuram; the road with a view of silvery reflection of the rising sun on the tropical waters in front of Nithyakalyana Perumal temple, the road that is used to frequent between Chennai and Pondicherry, the road which is simply used to exploit the pleasure of driving. It requires a different level of enthu to search and find a location such as Alamparai fort through the road that is less traveled by, and such is the enthu my friend Prasad posses, who had frequented to this fort a number of times in the past.

 The entrance

Once a magnificent fort, but now its nothing but ruins, Alamparai fort is located in a village called Kadapakkam, about 50km down south from Mamallapuram. The fort was used during war time and also as a port, thus I came to know from the numerous sources on the internet. When I heard the name for the first time, I thought its "Alam (banyan) + Parai (rocks)", meaning the fort with a banyan tree. We did spot some banyan tree rooted on the dilapidated walls which, once upon a time served as the walls of the fort.

Prasad (left) and myself (right) with Prasad's Bullet

Set in a typical village background, the village of Alamparai fort is a scenic beauty with lush greeneries on one side, and backwater fisheries on the other. The people here are found to be either at the fish market bargaining for the catch, or playing cards under a shady banyan tree. We reached the entrance of the fort, parked our Rajdoot in front of a modern day structure that housed a village family, asked them to take care of our helmets while we are on for the venturing. I should mention the hospitality of those village people here, for only they can not only agree to take care of our helmets, but also asked if we were coming on a long drive without having our lunch. In none of my world would I offer a stranger a meal and hospitality that we experienced!

 The ruined remains

After taking photos of the ruined fort from various positions, we went on a boating trip to the beach through the backwaters. The view of fort from the backwaters tell us how the fort would have looked like once upon a time. In fact, the highlight of this trip is the boat ride through the backwaters, which has got us two new friends, the boat drivers Ranjith and Kumaran, both localites who survives on fishing and taking the fort visitors on a boating trip.

A portion of ruined fort wall lying on backwaters

It's not the "road less travelled" thing, nor the fort or the backwaters, nor the hospitality shown by the village people, nor the drive on long stretches of the traffic less road on which you could not spot even a single bumpy drive or potholes, nor the scenic beauty on both sides of the drive that highlighted our trip, but a simple and extraordinary experience of having a siesta in a temple premises in some remote village located on the ECR road! The nap refreshed both of us and we both could feel the reborn much needed enthu in us that helped us to complete the trip. As my friend said, "If you aren't enthusiastic enough, you can't enjoy the ride".

Srinivasa Ramanujam aka Jam

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'Why not study ethnobotany' by Clem Starck

Poetry by Clem Starck, photo credit by Carla Perry.


“Why not study ethnobotany,
or practice juggling?
I could learn to read Chinese, and start in
on the ten thousand poems extant
of Lou You.
It’s unlikely I’ll take up blacksmithing,
or become a backhoe operator.
For the time being
I think I’ll just concentrate
on finding the words
for the mist that rises from
the fields in the morning,
or the moon
as seen once from Joel’s truck
on the way home from a job in Corvallis.”
- Clem Starck

Weather - Cycle JAL hitting Tamilnadu coast on Sunday evening

Cyclone JAL will cross Indian coast on Sunday evening. It is expected to hit coastal line around state capital, Chennai, within two to three hours after 11.30 pm on Sunday (07/11/2010). Before reaching the coastline, if it follows the path predicted by IMD, it would have traveled around 500 km of ground distance or 270 knots. The above snapshot shows the predicted path. The cyclone is expected to slow down and shed its severity after travelling a few hundred kilometers in-land.

Google's diplomacy over India's political map

This is a snapshot of Google Analytics page for this blog. There is has been an increased visitors' activity due to Diwali time. Most visits are coming from the google search for diwali greetings. But real point of this post is a little different. Analytics shows two different maps for India! Map of Southern Asia has India's map in the 'American way' whereas map of India alone (after zooming in) shows the map in 'Indian way' at least from India. I would like to know if it is the same from locations outside India. I will be thankful if somebody stationed abroad can throw some light on this.