The Bond!!!!

Just wanted to share this strange coincidence with you'll:
I've been going "Down the memory lane to Ooty" for the past 2 weeks.


Similar to this week's post about the elephant calfs and the ever-protective mother-elephants....I  happened to see an article in the Tamil newspaper, "Dina Thanthi". {see below}



Not just this!!
The same day when I was surfing the channels of the T.V. channels....I happened to see a movie, which  revolves round the hero's desperate effort to unite the mother-elephant and her 'cutie pie'....
 In another couple of days I  had a strange dream :
I am chased by a  single-tusker!!!!
And would you believe the mammal did not harm me; instead threw  a garland on me.
Before I could come to terms with what next....

(bonk) a nice thud on my head....my brother (my chella villain!) "Shammu,there's somebody at the door asking for you"....


I combed the messed up hair..and got out to see:
"Amma inaikku varamudiyaatham ma..avangalukku udambu sariyillai" (Mam, my mom is not well ..she asked me to tell you that she can't come for todays' work).
--that was my servant-maid's son.

After nodding my head in the still-sleepy vague mood..I went down the stairs to get the milk packets..the boy was going back to his home. I was thoughtfully looking at the way he was walking..and then came inside.

Ah! wait..there was this something familiar I had seen.
What was it...yes! I got it..he was wearing a T-shirt which had a cartoon image of an elephant!!!!



The cartoon image



What do you say for all this?



But please don't ever ask about all these to my 'chella villain'..i.e. my bro. For his interpretation is :
'Neeyum oru annakutti pola irukkradhinale un mela andha aanaigaluku oru parivu thaan!"  (rant)

(since you too resemble an elephant-calf ...may be the elephants like you so much.)



Anyways catch up with me in 'Hairpin bend -3'.
Love,
Saras

"Destination Deity"!!

[This is the II part of  the blog, "margazhi and mysorepak"]

It seems the whole vicinity got startled, with the amicable village-folks volunteering in grand-father's 'mission' towards tracing my whereabouts!! As for the 'kutties' (titny-tots) they were asked to be in the house with our aunt. Charu, my niece was for her part creating a problem..pestering that she too be taken out on the 'mission'..as she was an avid reader of "The Secret Seven"! (what started adding to her "Detective fantasises" was that ..she owned a dog quite similar to "Timothy" in the story!!!) finally only God knows how she was put to rest.

The exhausted elders were ranting and raving about the mishap. The echoes that filled the house with laughter and noise..now was filled with  melancholy.

All of them had never seen grand pa look so let-down!! My mother too it seems had fallen unconscious too!! It was a horrible night for our family.! Even our doggie who cannot stay without his feed of milk-rice in the night, refused to eat.  

"Aiyya, aiyya...."--there was a loud knock at the door; and when my uncle had got up to see who was at the door..only then had we come to know that it was 6.00 in the morning. 

It was our gardener's wife, Maari ..gosh! even now I  can recollect that hilarious moment!! 

"Vazhakam pola kaalaiyle Koyillai koota ponapothu unga papavoda kolusa paarthein!!!!"  (As usual when I had gone for my sweeping work in the temple I saw this anklet..) My grand pa asked her,"Entha Koyil?" ( Which temple?)Taking Maari  along with us to show the way, all of us travelled towards what seemed to be our only 'Destination of Hope'!!

Even before my granddad could park his vehicle, i had spotted the jeep and came jumping and hopping...alongside with the 'gurukal' , who had taken me to his home last night, waiting for someone to come and '''claim''' me!
On reaching  there,..the first thing that my grand pa did was to prostrate before the Deity..

..and from that year onwards he never did forget to include the Shrine in our pilgrimage: the "Koothanur Maha Saraswathi Temple" in Poonthottam village:-

                                    The  entrance to the temple....
  
                                      

           

                        A Profile of the Gopuram....                                                           

                                                  

                                                               The  Deity!

We still don't know as to how i actually got here, neither can i recollect....but my grandfather strongly believed that it was the GODDESS'  'Leelai'  to make all of us come to HER abode..which we still keep doing, come what may. 

                                                      

'MARGAZHI AND MYSOREPAK....

                 

That year's 'Margazhi' too was as usual, a pot-pourri of 'raga & tala' and visits to Shrines!

I started looking forward to it ..and would you believe, I was the first one to step out of the exam-hall during the last exam..such was my anxiety to start off with my 'Michaelmas holidays!!'


It is a tradition in our family to go on a pilgrimage during the 'Margazhi' season : in fact, it also did serve as a family get-together of all our cousins, who normally were away from the South. This was a desire of my grandpa, as well.


He also used this opportunity to play with all of us, which normally is not possible, as he was such a 'busybody'. I still remember how we all the tiny-tots would love crushing the betelnuts for 'our thaatha's 'tamboolam'. 

 My granny's round of  story-sessions,exclusively hosted for us,was yet another  'scene-stealer'.Along with her steaming degree coffee, we would help ourselves to her "AMBULICHUTTI" stories. (Perhaps in a subsequent blog I shall narrate one of her favourite stories).
Around  8.00 a.m. ,we would all head towards the temple-tank  to take a dip. I bet no other 'waters' in the world ..even the swimming-pool of  great  5-star hotels, would be as serene and pure as the temple-tank's'!!!! One could cherish the tingly feeling of the small fish,nibbling at our feet.


With the strands of our wet tresses wafting in the gentle breeze, we would have a happy stroll all the way, pausing to see butterflies, mynas and even  peacocks. There used to be a contest between my cousin, and myself, as to who spots the most number of butterflies...our grand-father being the 'contest's judge'! If she wins then I would be waiting to take revenge by beating her in the 'Dayakkatai' game, which we would play in the court-yard of the huge mansion.

At times even after several calls from our granny, we would never go for break-fast, as my grandpa would have already treated us to sumptuous delicacies from the "Sriranga Iyengar's Sweets". In fact, Grandpa, a diabetic, would also take a bite of those irresistible Mysorepaks, soaked in dollops of pure ghee.


The evenings were a different story altogether: all of us would  go to the 'Adhivinayahar temple'..those "Saayaratchai -moments" would be a treat to the eyes, feasting on the 'beauty' of  the Lord in His 'swayambu' pose with a human face!!   
My grandpa, a well-known personality in the 'temple-circuit, loved taking  us on a 'Devotional-Spree",that still continues to be a part  of me.  


With just five more days to go for the school to re-open, I started to wear a gloomy look already.The state of my cousin, even worse. She started to have one of those spells of 'school-going phobias', if there could be such a word-coinage!!


In the noon all were keenly glued on to the television,  watching 'Rajinikanth  rescuing  the poor elephant-calf from a pit'.
"Oh!  what a tragic fate for 'Rajni's mom"!! so saying,my granny was having tears in her eyes..
just when my mother was trying to explain to her that it was only a movie;-


-The maid-servant came in saying,
"Amma! amma!" namma papava enge thediyum kaanomma" ( mam, shanmu kiddo is missing )....  

MY DIVA OF ETERNITY...........

Whenever  I've been at the cross--roads  of  my life, there was one force that always  followed me with a 'Passionate sense of Curiosity'! Actually I really don't know at which point / phase of my life 'SHE' came in....kind of it's been a vibration of sorts. After the doldrums in my life, I stumbled upon HER..and then onwards there's been no looking back. I actually look upon HER as a 'Soulmate'!!!!!And I'm sure that aura of Divinity will surround me, EMPOWER me and stay with me, come what may.
That force I'm raving  about is none other than my driving--force Goddess Saraswathi.