*From To Sathish*-Sathish's new movie Info & Pics pg20! - Page 119

Why can't Indian Americans be more Indian?
 By Francois Gautier Source : SIFY
 
It's lunchtime at the home of the Consul General of India in New York, Dnyaneshwar M. Mulay.
A young Hindu American arrives. Her name is Suchitra Vijayan and she teaches part time in Columbia University, one of the most prestigious in the USA & plans to start there a course on South Asian Human Rights.
She says that she is first going to travel to India to interview Kashmiri Muslims and Christian Nagas - obviously an anti Indian agenda - while her Indian consular mentor smiles proudly...
Welcome to America, the home of millions of Indians, some of whom make a living out of bashing India in American universities and in US publications.
Let's face it: Indians who emigrate to America most of the time merge totally into the American way of life and their children never come back to their homeland.
The culprit, of course, is Indian education that mass produces brilliant Indians, who are only good for export, because students are not taught to be proud of their own culture, the way French are proud to be French or the Americans proud to be Americans.
As a result, Indian Americans know nothing about Kalidasa, probably one of the greatest poets ever, or Shivaji Maharaj, who is on par with Napoleon, or Sri Aurobindo, India's greatest contemporary philosopher- but all about Shakespeare, the latest Dan Brown novel, or the best Italian restaurant in New York.
This is the greatest brain drain in the world, which allowed the Silicon Valley to flourish (80% Indian engineers), or the American medical system to expand (60% Indians).
Compare this to the American Chinese: Not only do they unabashedly stand out as Chinese, but they repatriate many of their funds to China and even go back to the mainland, to be part of the great Chinese economic boom.
American Indians rave about the American way of life, but it burns out a human being in 30 or 40 years. They start early for work - by 7 am, America's millions of highways are already clogged with traffic.
There is fierce competitiveness in the work place - you can be fired in a minute for no reason. Imagine the late hours and heartburn produced over the years by food too quickly swallowed on the run or in the car, the immense stress at airports where security - thanks to continuing terrorism - has reached inhuman proportions...
If only American Indians did retain a bit of their Indian-ness...
Today's Hollywood stars all do yoga, India's gift to the world. Yet not only it is not taught in Indian schools and universities as it should, but our Hindu Americans do not practice it.
What else? Pranayama is the ancient Indian science of breathing. Through it you can not only gain more energy, but also de-stress naturally and balance your mind.
 
 
It is also a perfectly secular science: Respiration has no religion and a Muslim, a Hindu or a Christian breathe the same air.
In fact, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, who has revived and modernised pranayama, has many Muslims and Christians teachers and disciples. Yet, neither is it taught in India, nor do our Indian Americans seem to practice it much.
What about meditation, this most ancient technique that has again no religion, and can be practiced by anybody, with wonderful effects on the mind and the body?
In fact, American companies have begun introducing meditation in their seminars and it is becoming mainstream in the US. Does that mean that meditation is taught in Indian schools, as it should be, or that our Indian Americans practice it? Not at all.
What about Ayurveda, the oldest medical science still in practice that understood 3000 years before western medicine, that many diseases have a psychosomatic origin? Do our Hindu Americans use Ayurveda? Unlikely.
Yet, what would happen if Indian Americans practiced a little bit of that Indian-ness? They would shine, be an example to their fellow Americans, and make India proud.
Instead they want to become more American than the Americans. In this process, they drop their unique identity and are a loss not only to India, but also to America, as they bring nothing new to American culture.
And because they do not stand out, they allow these multiple South Asian groups that sprout everywhere, to be dominated by hostile Indian Americans, who, for instance, convinced the US Government for ten years to deny Narendra Modi a visa.
At the same time, it is true that America, whatever its faults, has always stood up for freedom and democracy. It did so during World War II, when it saved Europe from Nazi domination. It is doing so today, by being the only country in the world willing to take on terrorism head on.
Americans are friendly, hard working, and it should soon dawn upon them that India is their natural political ally, in an Asia confronted with terrorism born out of Pakistan, Afghanistan or Indonesia. It is also the obvious democratic, pro western and liberal economic destination to counterbalance China's aggressive hegemony in Asia.
Meanwhile, it is very unfortunate that the second highest Indian official in the USA, endorses and promotes anti-Indian agendas, whereas he should be the first one to hunt them out. This Nehruvian mind-set in diplomats has got to stop.
 
The author is the editor in chief of the Paris based La Revue de l 'Inde.

There are times when we know our strength is inadequate to face life's adversities and then the question is do we retreat,do we lie down and give up or do we forge on regardless of the end result.But wait there is another way and that is ask your dearest and nearest for their perspective and take the hand given to you in good faith.for in times of peril who else can we turn if not our loved ones and our closest friends.The minute you lay your problems is the minute you can breathe more freely and be rid of the burden for at least a little time.and sometimes taking timeout for a breather is all that is required to fight on,to carry on the good fight called love and life.Call them as you wish and i will call them oasis,yes for they are like the sweet water that gushes out from the burning desert floor and yes friends are just that,water sent to quench and soothe your thirst and pain.It is as if mother earth herself understands and recognises your struggles to make sense of it all and she sends timely help in the form of friends and family.But look and really look again,open your eyes wide and look again for you have words,quotes and proverbs from great men,wise men who have said it all for you,for me and for everybody to read and ponder and they have done it many thousands of years ago and still do.Drink from their wisdom,learn from their experiences and live,fight and die fighting even if vain and even in defeat for it is better to die fighting than lie down and wait for death.

"Perseverance is more prevailing than violence and many things which cannot be overcome when they are together, yield themselves up when taken little by little".Plutarch (C. A.D. 46 - C 120) - Greek Biographer and Essayist

When i was a child,i used to to put my hand against the burning sun and marvel at the red in my palms.I used to wonder about it and later in science class i learnt  it is largely due to the protein in the blood which is responsible for oxygen transport.I used to wonder why the leaves were green and why the clouds ran away from me.I used to sit near the window and watch the rain fall sideways in an angle and bent my head to see where it came from.Squinting my eyes,i used to strain and look high up and wonder if it was actually a rain god spraying water on me and earth and later realised that it was because of clouds and atmospheric conditions.Sometimes it is nice to imagine and get lost in fantasy for reality is so boring.To be in love is so much better than actually loving for then you are in control and you dont need a partner.see,everything comes down to the mind and is machinations.

                                BRAHMIN


Besantnagar was and is to a large extent still filled with residents who  are brahmins.Having been in this area from 1982 and having lived here from 1990,my tamil has imbibed a few words from their dictionary,which i find a bit difficult to shake off and which also gets me into a bit of a mess when i am dubbing.Director saravanan in whose film VALIYAVAN, i have played a character asked me when i was dubbing for my scenes if i was a brahmin.I said no and he said then you need to change your residence and your entire set of friends.It made me think and as i was driving back from the studio,my mind rewinded my life back to the point from where i possibly could have got this influence and i think i can pinpoint it to somewhere from the year 1995,for it was then i in the grip of depression i turned towards god and turned inwards to myself for strength.Temples,reading a lot of religious books in tamil and listening to lots of tamil discourses,me thinks has warped my tamil lingo, but for the good i guess.for earlier the first word out of my mouth was 'O..A' and i remember some of my pals  teasing me ' dei machaan satishu.porakkum pothu ellarum amma,amma appidi oppari vechukutu varuvannga,nee mattum thaan 'o..a,o..ainnu sollikuttu vandha mathiri irukku'. It is embarassing but that is who i was and maybe still am.I learnt a lot of tough and rough tamil words when i studied in krishnaswamy matriculation school and although it kind of  died a bit when i joined besant arundale,it reared its dirty head later and has kind of subdued as i am getting older and wiser.

The past ten to fifteen years,my morning walk,jog and run routine has brought me closer to the members of the older community and who,a few at least have become friendly with me because of my tv actor status.But i am happy to say that i have made some really good friends and of whose association i am proud of.
But sometimes the old tamil lingo jumps out and rears its ugly head and i wonder for days where it was and why it had not vanished as yet.
A year back,on a sunday i sat among some of oldie pals and we were discussing k.balachandar and his influence on films,when a few teenagers sat a few feet from us and started smoking.One old gentleman who was the last in the small crowd asked the boys not to smoke near them and go away,to which the boys smirked and turned to the other side and kept puffing and huffing away.I should have kept quiet but then that is not me and i stood up and walked to them and whispered slowly and softly 'yei o..a ,sonna puriyatha,o..a m...u,vera engayavathu poi udha vendiyathu thaane' and yes,it did have the desired effect and the boys left
probably thinking 'machaan antha iyeru mama enna asingama tamil pesuraan.pakrathukku padichavan mathiri irukkan,vaiya thorantha koovam thaan varuthu'.


Maybe then or maybe later it dawned on some of my oldie friends that i was not a brahmin and one caught me alone and this is the gist of that conversation.

HE-satish,neenga iyeraa ille iyengaraa
 satish-yen
HE-summa,summa thaan
satish-ungalukku enna thonuthu
He-iyeru thaan but mooku,muzhiyaan paartha iyengar mathiri irukku
 satish-saree,yen kekkureenga
HE-naan iyer,sarees neengulum athe thaane nenachen
 satish-rendum illa,brahmin ille aanaa brahman thaan


Needless to say,he stopped talking to me and kind of told everybody that i was on adhigaprasanngi and periya pudungi nennapu.

Iyer,iyengar,kshatryian what does it matter.All souls from all holes including brahmins to avva,satta podathavaan flow into the brahman.dont you think.
But at least that is how i have been from the start.My first and best friend was PERRY,a poor anglo indian boy during my second std in saraswathi matriculation school and i used to go along with him for lunch and there was only rasam saadam and nellika uruga.my eyes are filling with tears for i wish i could meet him and his mother now for i want to give back the love which they gave me.Many years later i felt that love with ALAN,MARCUS and valerie whom i have always called mum and do to this day.

Yaar yaar sivam nee naan sivam
vaazhve thavam anbe sivam

Aathigam pesum adiyarkkellam
sivame anbaagum
naathigam pesum nallavar endral
anbe sivamaagum

Anbin paathai sernthavanukku
mudive illaiyaada
manathin neelam yethuvo
athuve vaazhvin neelamada

Anbe sivam anbe sivam enbom
anbe sivam anbe sivam enbom
anbe sivam anbe sivam enbom
anbe sivam anbe sivam enbom

Fire ants use ancient jungle survival skills to ride out recent rains

A scene out of the Brazilian rainforest played out in a Fairhope puddle as fire ants native to the Amazonian jungle relied on an ancient trick to survive early June's deluge.After their nest was submerged under several inches of water in a park, the ants managed to create a floating raft composed only of their bodies. Chained together in a network of interlocking legs, bodies and mandibles, the entire colony drifted around on the surface of the puddle.

Crawling atop the writhing mass, worker ants could be seen carrying white larvae and the slightly more developed pupae of their young, rescued from the nursery areas of the sunken colony. Giant soldier ants, perhaps three times larger than the workers, marched back and forth across the top of the living vessel like sea captains surveying the horizon. And every now and then, the queen would emerge from the center of the mass, surrounded by thousands of her minions.

Scientists studying fire ants in their native Brazil have spent years puzzling over the ability of enormous colonies there to form floating lifeboats several feet across. In the frequently inundated bottomlands surrounding the Amazon, the ants have been known to float for months at a time. The mystery lies in the fact that ants are heavier than water, and a lone ant quickly sinks. How then do thousands of ants manage to stay afloat?

Working in the Hu Biolocomotion Laboratory at the Georgia Institute of Technology, David Hu and his fellow researchers solved the mystery. Locking together "tarsus to tarsus," Hu wrote in a scientific paper published in 2011, the network of ant bodies and legs forms a sort of waterproof fabric.
"The ants are basically a waterproof surface the world hasn't seen before ... it is a great mechanism to deal with a deluge, one that took millions of years to evolve," Hu said in a Tuesday interview. "It is the same principle that Gore-tex works on. It's highly porous fabric that has lots of air pockets. The water has to do a lot of work to penetrate the fabric."

To study the ant rafts, Hu froze the ants with liquid nitrogen and analyzed how they were joined together under an electron microscope. Tiny hairs all over the legs of the ants served to make the living waterproof fabric they created even tighter. In addition to keeping water out, those hairs and ant bodies worked to trap tiny air bubbles beneath each ant.

Those bubbles joined together beneath the raft, increasing its buoyancy, and ensuring that none of the ants die, even those buried on the bottom of the raft. Hu filmed the ants forming the rafts and filmed a scientist pushing down on top of a raft with forceps. Incredibly, the forceps were able to push a portion of the raft more than an inch underwater without it breaking apart, and without leaking. A bubble of air can be seen surrounding the ants in the video.

"Our intuition of water doesn't hold at small scales. Water acts like a trampoline on the scale of ants," Hu said. "The ants are surprisingly elastic. They can build these membranes that are quite strong. The water doesn't penetrate the ants, which boggles our expectations."

Hu said the research is applicable in the cutting edge field of modular robotics.

"Robots of the future will have a big bucket of parts. You dump them out and assemble a machine" purpose-built for the job at hand, Hu said.

"Ants are like that. There are millions of parts. They can assemble into something, like a raft, or a bridge, and do it without central control."

Hu's research lies at the nexus of engineering and biology. For a time, his focus was on insects that walk on water, such as water striders. A device constructed in his lab out of a 7-Up can and elastic from a tube sock can walk on water. Called the Robo Strider, it weighs less than a postage stamp.

"I'm interested in the biology, but also what animals can do to show us how this kind of behavior is possible," Hu said. "Clearly we can build machines that outperform nature in some respects " airplanes and cars, for instance " but other challenges, things like linking together and cooperating, we don't have a clue how to build a machine that can do those things."

                                              Chapter 12

 

"In each of us, two natures are at war - the good and the evil. All our lives the fight goes on between them, and one of them must conquer. But in our own hands lies the power to choose - what we want most to be we are."? Robert Louis Stevenson

 

What is good and what is bad ?. When does the line between them blur and it becomes difficult to tell one from another?. Are we sometimes good and sometimes bad or do we make peace between both of them.Who knows, but only the soul which resides in that mind.But then again there are many depths and layers to this facade of good and bad. A little bad,very bad and totally evil we name them and the other side is branded,good,decent and saintly. Funnily,all these by other souls who themselves are the product of both,But in the end what matters is what is done or delivered to the majority. Needless to say just because it pleases many,one is sacrificed and one is crucified.See all this is bent and aimed at society and the upkeep and development of the people who inhabit society.In the end it is just furthering the human species. For millions of useless people,a few hundred brilliant minds are sacrificed, when they are the ones who will take life forward into glory and into the realms of god. So ultimately it does not matter what is good or what is bad but what pleases the multitude.Ha,ha,ha

 

                                           Madurai

 

 

Madurai,also called koodal managaram,a term referring to the majestic gopurams of meenakshi amman temple can trace back its roots to 3500 years ago when it is mentioned that the three tamil sangams were held in the famous city during the years of 1780 BCE to 3rd century A.d. The recorded history of the city goes back to the 3rd century BCE, being mentioned by Megasthenes, the Greek ambassador to India, and Kautilya, a minister of the Mauryan emperor Chandragupta Maurya.

The city is referred by various names like "Madurai", "Koodal", "Malligai Maanagar", "Naanmadakoodal" and "Thirualavai". The word Madurai is derived from Madhura (sweetness) arising out of the divine nectar showered on the city by the Hindu god Shiva from his matted hair.Another theory is that Madurai is the derivative of the word Marutham, which refers to the type of landscape of the Sangam age. There is a town in the neighbouring Dindigul district called Vada Madurai (North Madurai) and another in Sivagangai district called Manamadurai. The different names by which the city has been referred to historically are listed in the 7th-century poem Thiruvilayaadal puraanam written by Paranjothi Munivar.

 

 

 

The mobile hummed its ringtone and sadashivam again pulled over and took the call.It was the Jayalakshmi from IIT and she told him that she had the results from the carbon dating of the paintings and sketches. Jayalakshmi confirmed what the late prabhakar had told sadashivam, that the paintings had its origins in the late 13th century and thanking her sadashivam turned to buddha ' well,the old man was right. so we are on the right track.'

 

Then sadashivam realised that since buddha was with him, getting a  hotel room was going to be difficult.So he picked up his laptop and googled hotels in and around madurai and selected Kadambavanam Ethnic Resort,which was on the outskirts of madurai and azhagar kovil was just 12 kms away from the resort.

 

They reached the resort and sadashivam chose a cottage type of accommodation and was pleasantly surprised to see that he could drive his car right up to the door of the cottage.With the magnetic key in hand he and buddha drove up to the cottage and went inside.But buddha refused to come in and sat outside the door and after sometime disappeared into the bushes surrounding the cottage. Sadashivam decided it was better to leave the dog alone and he knew buddha could handle himself and so he decided to shower and order something for himself and the dog.

 

Leaving the door slightly open,in case buddha decided to come in,sadashivam ate his lunch and just dropped into a deep sleep.

 

Buddha sat hidden in the bushes for he sensed something was wrong and so stayed on high alert.

 

The phone rang and Rajadurai picked it up and said 'hello'.The voice on the other end whispered ' the paintings have come out,but sadly they have been purchased by an old scientist named sadashivam.I sent one of our men in the guise of a courier person and found that sadashivam is not in station and will be back only in a week's time.The wife was the one who gave the details,but refused to tell us where her husband it right now,since it was none of our business. So,what should we do.'

 

Rajadurai closed his eyes and thought for a second ' Find out where the husband is and at whatever cost.dead or alive.for right now the paintings are of vital importance and he will come,surely come if we have the paintings.so limb,life does not matter but just get the information as soon as possible.'

 

Beware of the alien nation

Beware of the truth that they seek

They pray for eternal salvation

They pray for your soul to keep

Walk on past the alien nation

Walk on to the end of your reach

They pray for eternal damnation

They pray for your soul to keep

 

             scorpion-alien nation

 

 

Sadashivam opened his eyes and found buddha sitting next to him. Slowly he got up and realised it was nearly 5.00 p.m. and looking at buddha ' okay,i guess it is time to follow the old man's words and go to azhagar kovil and see what we will see although in my mind i know we are heading for some disappointments and all this will turn out to be some big joke.'

 

He showered again since he was going to the temple and drove out of the resort in the direction of azhagar kovil.

 

It got dark by the time they reached the temple but there were lot of people still going up and down the stairs which lay like a white snake on the small hill. Sadashivam bought some flowers and turned to see where buddha was and shook his head with a quiet smile for the dog had disappeared again, as usual.

he slowly made his way up and entered the temple and prayed to the lord and looked around to see if the old man who he had met on the highway was there.

But the man was not to be found and finding the temple premises very calm and peaceful, sadashivam  sat and leaned against a pillar and closed his eyes in contemplation of all that was going on.

 

Time slipped and a gentle nudge woke sadashivam from his sleep and he woke to see the temple security man hovering over him and realised that it was time for the temple to be shut. Mumbling sorry, sadashivam slowly came down the stairs and found buddha sitting calmly near the car and the old man was near the dog,ruffling his head.

 

The old man looked at sadashivam and smiled gently and whispered 'PERUMALVARAM.'

 

Sadashivam 'what,i am sorry what did you say?'

 

The old man 'PERUMALVARAM,it was once called but now is called PERUMALPURAM.It is about ten km's from here and is part of the Azhagar hills.It is a very small village and it is said that the people who live there are very suspicious of strangers. It is a different world, a world which hasn't changed its ways in about 800 years. the temple and its deity have never been seen by anybody other than the people who have lived there. But i am known by them and so will be able to take you into the village but that is it and you can go no further. So, i will meet you here again at 6.00 a.m. and maybe your questions will be answered.'

 

Sadashivam and buddha returned to the cottage and the night slowly enveloped everything.

 

 

Three people came for kamalam and they came with a purpose and determination that had raged in them and in their ancestors for many generations. The order had been given and they came ready to kill or maim for it mattered not what came first, but in the end they would find out what they wanted. Trained assassins, they had carried out many executions of people who their leader thought of as a threat to their clan and as the clans warriors, they carried out the orders without even pausing for a second to ponder on the assignment.

 

It was just after 1.00 a.m. the start of a new day and yet the land is always covered in darkness for the first rays of the sun was still five hours away. They parked their innova a few buildings away from sadashivam's house and quietly checked if anyone was about. One man made a call and the man on the other side cut the cables in a junction box, which connected the power supply to the street in which sadashivam's house stood and the two streets running parallel to it. A few faint beeps wailed and died down which signaled invertors signaling their house masters that they were now working in place of the city's power supply.

 

In total darkness, the three men slowly got out and slipped into the compound. But from the darkness emerged a tall man, totally covered in black and only his eyes shone and he whispered ' leave now quietly with your lives intact and never come back or you will die here in the next few seconds.'

 

The three men were experienced assassins and had never known fear but the man projected something and for the first time in their lives, something akin to fear passed over them but it was too late to turn back and they launched themselves. But it went exactly as the tall man had whispered and all they had their limbs and necks broken before a few breaths were taken. Quietly the man casually picked two and flung them over his shoulders and swiftly ran to the innova in which the three men had come and lay them inside. he hurriedly came back for the last one and picking him up like a toy carried him and flung him in the backseat of the innova and with the keys which he had taken from one of the men, slowly started the vehicle and drove off into the night.

 

 

Buddha rose and let out a growl that made sadashivam jump out of the bed and he stared at the dog who stood near the window staring into the darkness. The massive dog turned towards sadashivam and in the little light sadashivam saw the dog shimmer, glimmer and look like  huge blackmaned lion.The growl was answered with loud wail of a conch.

 

 

The man stood on the mountain near PERUMALPURAM and blew the conch for the time had come for war and their boy, their hero, the legend would return just in time to save them and their village.

 

 

The innova was parked near pallikaranai marsh and the tall man made a call and whispered ' pick me up and make arrangements as follows.Let it be known that i will be not available for a few days, maybe a week. And not a word and not one move until i say so. now hurry up with that vehicle.'

 

 

"My own heroes are the dreamers, those men and women who tried to make the world a better place than when they found it, whether in small ways or great ones. Some succeeded, some failed, most had mixed results... but it is the effort that's heroic, as I see it. Win or lose, I admire those who fight the good fight." George R.R. Martin

I am fire and i am water. I am hell and i am heaven and i will bring peace to you.

The boy who went into the dark and came back with light.

Edited by s.satishkumar - 9 years ago

                            CHAPTER 13

"Look to my coming at first light on the fifth day. At dawn, look to the east." Gandalf

He came from the east,with the burning sun behind him. He stood tall and he gazed with burning eyes and people dreaded when he twirled the massive spear and the stars on his left forearm danced and writhed like snakes. He came like the fire and he came from light, and he saw for his blind mother and sang for her with his sweet voice of all that he gazed upon. The blind woman cried tears of joy and whispered that she was happy that she was blind for she could hear her son talk,sing and describe life and love for her. He opened his eyes as an infant on her lap and when she breathed her last,she lay as an infant on his lap. His heart broke and the lion roared in pain and rage and the boy,the man to be and soon the legend of the four kingdoms carried her in his arms and vanished into the dark forest and was not seen for many a year. After he vanished,the forest stood guard around the village and mountain and it shielded them from time and history.

I am fire and i am water. I am hell and i am heaven and i will bring peace to you.

The boy who went into the dark and came back with light.

 

 

 

                                      PERUMALPURAM

 

Azhagar hills is a tropical forest and its length extends from madurai to natham and is protected by the forest department. Very few from the public are allowed access into the forest and it is more of  a sanctuary for animals and rare plants.rumors and legends spoke of powerful siddhars who made their home there and one powerful rumor which had now become a legend stated that deep in the forest roamed a very old man,a siddhar with a huge black maned lion and they called him NARASIMHASWAMY.

Sadashivam heard all this from Palam swamy and shivam thought vague name for a vague man and his vague tales.The road lost its tar clad clothes and soon mother earth paved a way for the car. They arrived at a fence whose gates were manned by tough and armed police from the forest department.

 Seeing palam swamy,one of the forest guards smiled and folded his hands in respect and welcome him.He looked at sadashivam intently and ' He too is an old man like you and i guess he will not get into trouble. But swamy,just tell him to follow the rules when you enter Perumalpuram and not to wander off or touch anything without prior  permission. The village has its own rules and maintains its own law and hence,if you get into trouble we will not be able to be of any help. So better be cautious and leave as soon as your work is done.'

 

He signaled to the officer near the gate and it opened its arms and in a few minutes Azhagar hills forest embraced them in its greenery.The small road soon led to an open ground and palam swamy asked sadashivam to leave the car and get ready to walk for an hour,before they reached perumalpuram.

Sadashivam sighed loudly in irritation and got out and was about to take his laptop and camera,when palam swamy told him to leave them all in the car and just take the water bottle.

 

Sadashivam ' but what will we do for food or if we need more water.'

 

Palam swamy smiled ' shivam,please don't worry for it will all be taken care of and right as we speak,eyes are watching us from all directions. So just calm down and walk behind me quietly or we can go back right now.'

 

Sadashivam did not know how to react to this ultimatum, but took a deep breath and nodded okay. Buddha who was quiet all this while, slowly nudged sadashivam's right palm and he instantly felt better and more positive.

 

Just as they were about to enter the small path into the forest,a huge giant of a man stepped out of the clearing and stopped them.He whispered something to palam swamy who turned and glared at sadashivam and said 'please go leave your mobile phone in the car and your watch too. do it right now or this giant will break your head.'

 

Sadashivam had completely forgotten about the phone in his pant pocket and hurriedly took it out and also unstrapped his watch and left them in the car.

 

The giant who must have been nearly seven feet tall towered over sadashivam and looked into his eyes and threw his head back and roared in laughter

 

He turned to palam swamy ' Iyya,ivar pazhaya thangam thaan,iruppinum manathil innum kurumbu singam thavalugirathu.Migavum kadinam.migavum kadinam.En manam intha maanidarai,Thollai swamy endru azhaikka vendum endru virumbugirathu.'

 The giant roared again in laughter and led them into the forest and with those steps into green,the present vanished and rolled into the past.

There are still adventures to be had and enjoyed and there are still hidden lands in our country which waits for brave souls to step into their domain.I want to shed these clothes of metrosexual and modern man and become one with nature and the forest.I want to stand on top of the mountain and greet my father the sun as he lays his eyes on my mother earth.I want to lay my body in hidden streams and feel the pulse and heartbeat of this earth which is four and a half billion years old.

I want to lay down and die among the tall grass,so that they can taste and feast on my flesh and feel content with the nourishment from my soul.

I want so much,so much more and so i will dream on and on and you the readers can see it and feel it through my words.

Edited by s.satishkumar - 9 years ago

            Buckcherry dont go away

                                                         CHAPTER 14

"Famous men have the whole earth as their memorial." --Pericles

 My name is Maximus Decimus Meridius. Commander of the Armies of the North, General of the Felix Legions, loyal servant to the true emperor, Marcus Aurelius. Father to a murdered son, husband to a murdered wife. And I will have my vengeance, in this life or the next.-The gladiator.

Heroes, Billions and billions of human beings have walked the earth, fighting battles, winning,losing and dying and have died and in their last dying moments have seen their loved ones slaughtered in front of their eyes and have gone to their graves knowing that they could not save the ones they wanted to save.How many heroes do we know and how many stories have been forgotten over the Millennium. What great stories they would tell if they had voices to speak. Where are they, but lost and have turned to dust in the wind. Does the air remember their tragedies and does the sky remember their dying wishes thrown up to their gods. Does the water in the rivers and does the water in the oceans hide their ravaged and ancient remains, to one day whisper of great men who walked this land, this ground we call earth.




                                          Mountain of tears


The path through the forest was a bit difficult to travel for sadashivam, but he kept quiet when he realised that but for him,everyone else was walking barefoot.The group had been walking for nearly half an hour and then all of a sudden, sadashivam thought he got a glimpse of some mountains and to be more exact,the gopuram of a temple,with a flag fluttering on it.

The giant stopped and whispered again to palam swamy who turned to sadashivam ' we will rest for a a few minutes here and then carry on. Importantly, we are stopping here for i need to tell you on a few rules on what to do or what to say. Today is a very important day for the village for they are celebrating something important and it is something about which even i have no clue. They are very secretive in their ways and it is has been this way for many hundreds of years. I trust you and i think there is a reason why they have allowed us to enter the village on this particular day and my mind tells me something beyond my understanding is unraveling and i am even thinking that it might be wise and prudent to turn back right now.'

Sadashivam with sweat pouring down from every pore in his body tiredly smiled and said 'swamy,i am having the greatest time i have ever  had in my life and i am not going to turn back now,right now when it is getting really interesting.Please don't worry for i will be on my best behaviour and i swear i will not get you or myself into trouble.'

Palam swamy looked at the giant and nodded and off they went through the forest,but not for too long for the dense forest suddenly came to a abrupt halt at a waterfall and even before sadashivam could react the giant gently pushed him into it and to his surprise,sadashivam realised it was just a cover and then they walked in darkness for a few more minutes and sadashivam noticed armed men standing hidden in the shadows and their eyes were all trained and focused on him and him only.

The darkness of the cave soon shone with a dim light in the distance, like the light a dying man imagines  is beckoning to come forward as his soul departs and the light brightened and out of the tunnel into light, bright daylight came the party of three. Sadashivam closed his eyes for a few seconds and then opened his eyes and realised that he opened his eyes to paradise and to a place that he had only read in books of fiction and fairy tales.
Perumalpuram or perumalvaram was like an oasis in the desert, for flowers bloomed in every bush and mighty trees towered over the entire village. A small stream gurgled,murmured and danced through the small village. Sadashivam realised that he had entered the village in the direction of west  and to left and right,small thatched houses ringed the way and they lead up to an arch, through which he could see a rocky path winding its way into the distance and into the womb of the mountain.

Sadashivam slowly took in the whole picture and it was look a painting done by raja ravi varma.The people looked like they had been transported from some old MGR film like adimai penn or arasa kattalai and the men stood straight and tall and the women were all beautiful.Their skin was neither black or brown but kind of a nutty,coffee color and what hit sadashivam like a brick was the silence and the calm that prevailed in the village.

The giant slowly led him to the center of the village, where under a huge tamarind tree sat an old man.Sadashivam thought to himself ' This whole adventure started with me thinking i am getting old and then i met the late prabhakar,then i meet this palam swamy and now i get to meet an even older man. God,i do feel young and vital compared to these gentlemen.'

The thoughts brought a smile on sadashivam's face and the old man who was sitting there smiled and said ' wrong,there are older people whom we call siddhars living in these forests. older and wiser than you and me.'

Sadashivam stared at him and then remembered how vadivelu kept feeling shocked and surprised in the film CHANDRAMUKHI,when superstar rajinikanth kept telling whatever he was thinking, and although he felt like laughing,he kept a straight face.

The old man introduced himself a Periya swamy and asked them to sit down and then gently told the giant to bring them some water to drink and some fruits to eat. The giant bent down and whispered something in the old man's ears and sadashivam again thought 'Periya swamy,so his wife should be called Periya maamy. nice.'

Periya swamy looked at sadashivam and said 'i never married,so there is no periya maamy in this village. But now i see more than thollai swamy,kurumbu swamy will be a much better name for you. Anyway please tell me how i can be of help and more importantly why you are here in our village.'

Sadashivam did not know how or what to answer to this question for surely the old man would fathom what was going on in his mind and so decided that he would be honest with his queries.' I came across a few paintings and purchased them in an auction. From information i managed to gather, i understood that they are from a very long time ago. But one painting of a pregnant woman really caught my imagination and since in my retired life i have nothing much to do, i thought i would follow my heart and try to collect some information about the painting and if possible the artist who sketched it. I had no idea that this place existed but thanks to palam swamy, i am here.'


Periya swamy closed his eyes and sat still for a while in contemplation and yet sadashivam felt that something was troubling the man and just like that periya swamy opened his eyes and gazed deeply into sadsahivam's eyes. 'Yes,i am troubled with many things and i am more troubled and confused on your arrival. I am sorry to disappoint you, but you will find no answers for your questions in this village and i think it is better that you rest for a while and then make your way back. I humbly request you not to wander off on your own and stay inside the village boundaries.'

Saying this the old man periya swamy  abruptly got up and left sadashivam and palam swamy to their confusion and disappointment and both looked at each other wondering what to do.

Palam swamy  ' shivam, i am truly sorry for this but i promise you on the god i worship that it was he who guided me to bring you here. I don't know what was supposed to happen or how your questions were going to be answered but this is all i know and i am sorry that things turned out to be so disappointing.'

Sadashivam sighed deeply and let his eyes travel all over the village and drank in the beauty of what lay spread before him and then looked at palam swamy ' Please don't  apologize for something which is beyond your control. anyway, i knew from the beginning that questions and answers related to ancient stuff is difficult in asking and also answering .But,it is all worth it for thanks to you, i am here in this heaven on earth and the other option, would have been me idling and rotting at home in chennai.'

Then all of a sudden sadashivam looked around and palam swamy asked him what he was searching for and sadashivam said one word ' Buddha'.

Both looked at each other and tried to recollect where it was that they had last seen buddha and palam swamy said ' he was in the car when we entered the forest reserve but i kind of lost track after that.shivam. please don't worry for i am sure he must be somewhere near by running around, checking out the forest and one thing i am sure of is that even the large herbivores will avoid him, for like i told you earlier,that dog is going to play a significant part in your life.Shivam, if you don't mind, i am going to take a small nap under this tree, for my legs are really aching and my body is showing its age.'

Sadashivam sat next to palam swamy as the old man gently dozed off and started gently snoring and thought of the pressure cooker at him,which sounded somewhat similar when it was cooking rice or vegetables.Even though the thought of a nap in the beautiful surroundings was tempting, sadashivam's heart told him to search for buddha and getting up he slowly walked around enjoying the scenery. The tall and tough looking men near the cave tunnel was warning enough and sadashivam walked around to see if buddha was anywhere in hiding inside some dense growth that bordered the two sides of the village.Slowly his walk brought him to the temple and he stood there straining his eyes and trying to peer into the gloom to see the deity inside. Then, totally immersed in the temple and completely forgetting what the village head man  had told him, sadashivam entered the temple and this condition is what you call temporary insanity or let me be exact it is correctly termed ' throwing caution to the wind '.

The temple which looked small was actually quite a long corridor and it took sadashivam a few seconds to adjust his sight, for he had come in from bright daylight into the gloom of the temple. Sadashivam wiped his glasses and placing them back thought to himself  Old man, i think it is time for that cataract operation.'

At the end of the narrow passage in the temple, stood a medium sized statue with a garland around his neck and a stick in his right hand and there seemed to be some other statue near his left side.Sadashivam stood near the statue and realised that seeing a young boy with a stick, the deity which he had mistaken for lord muruga in his palanimalai avatar was in fact the statue of a young man and the stick was actually a huge spear and near his left hand stood a lion and both boy and man seemed to have the most beautiful smile on their faces.

Why or what it was that he felt this way but sadashivam felt the hair on his forearms stand up and then suddenly realizing something from his dreams,sadashivam looked at the statue's left forearm and finally saw the image or tatoo and it was in the shape of stars or was it a cloud.

That was the last thing he saw or would remember, for the heavy stick hit him on the head and he just dropped to the ground. The giant picked him up and threw him on his shoulders and came out and looked at his leader, periya swamy. The old man nodded and cast his eyes in the direction of the mountain and then even the old man palam swamy was dragged behind them.

Palam swamy calmly begged periya swamy ' Iyya,the man is from the city and a very famous scientist. he must have entered the temple out of curiosity and i assure you that he is an honorable man, but just a bit impulsive. So please forgive him and let him go. If you need to punish someone, then punish me for it was me that led him here and into this tough situation.'

But his pleas fell on deaf ears and they entered the small canyon,and carved rock steps led them into the bowels of the mountain and after half an hour they were on top it.

Both men were tied to two small rock pillars and periya swamy turned to palam swamy ' this place is more sacred than you will ever know or understand. There are secrets here that are worth protecting and if it means sacrificing our very lives or in this case executing you people, then it is worth it. Just know this that your lives are nothing compared to what lives and breathes here.'

Periya swamy then took a huge conch and blew and everyone in the village stood and stared towards the mountain and the whole forest echoed with the noise.

Sadashivam's eyes flickered open and slowly focused on the situation around him and his sharp brain realised that he had broken a sacred law by entering the temple and was now paying for it. But he was more shocked to see the old man,palam swamy also tied next to him.

But something else caught sadashivam's attention and it was a sound that was alien to this beautiful surroundings and it was a mechanical noise of an engine. It was the chakk-chackk-chak-chak, chak-a-chak-akk-chk-chk-chk noise of an helicopter landing.

Periya swamy looked at the giant warrior, warning him to be ready and then placing the conch to his lips, blew and a strange noise flew out of the conch and sadshivam realised it was a warning to the villagers to be ready for battle.

He then turned to the giant and said ' off with their heads right now and let us go down to chop more heads off those who have dared to enter our sanctuary.'

The giant reached for his huge sword and closed his eyes and then opened them gently and both sadashivam and palam swamy saw to their surprise that the giant's eyes were filled with tears.

He looked at them and then gazed into the bright skies and then loudly roared 'Maasilan,Mamannan,kathiravan,azhagan,meykandan, engal deivam Kavin peril idhai seigiren.Mannithu vidungal ennai.'

The giant raised the sword and the old man Periya swamy raised and blew the conch loudly and then even louder than his conch,came the answering and thunderous noise from another conch and in shock and surprise then old man and the giant went to the edge of the mountain to see who or what was making the noise.


A tall man ran up the mountain and he was dressed in white and even his face was covered in white.He ran and he flew up the mountain and he carried a huge spear and alongside him ran an animal and it looked like a dog or was it a lion. The giant watched in surprise for once he had ran up the mountain in a race and had reached the top in about 18 minutes and here was a stranger and a beast coming towards them effortlessly and it looked like they would cover the distance in just a few minutes. Behind them like specks came the rest of the villagers armed with spears and swords in hot pursuit of the stranger and animal.



I am  a boy born to a blind mother and she called me azhagan and although people have called me by many names, my heart skips a beat when i am called azhagan for it reminds me of the times with my mother.

I am azhagan,i am kavin and i will sing my story if you will lend your ears.it is a long one and so take these hands of my mind and listen to my tale.


I am fire and i am water. I am hell and i am heaven and i will bring peace to you.

  The boy who went into the dark and came back with light.

Edited by s.satishkumar - 9 years ago

                  A page from my lord Rama days

I had many heroes to worship and whose actions i tried to imbibe when i was growing up and one still sticks,yes it really stuck in my cousins forehead.The film Sampoornaramayanam which had the late N.T.R. acting as LORD RAMA really caught and fired my imagination.I decided that i was going to be lord Rama and my cousin Pradeep,Bujju as we called him was going to be lord Lakshmana.Well Sita did not figure for we thought her as an alien and we used to giggle and hold our stomachs in laughter,when the thought of asking Bindu my kutty cousin sister to be Sita.Both me and Bujju looked at each other and thought that our Ramayana could be better off without Sita and as for all the villains,our pet albino German shepherd TONY agreed to play the part willingly,but he rarely understood the part and always ended pushing us down and licking our faces with his slobbery tongue.But someday's he would be ok and just lie still and me and Bujju used to stab him with sticks as if we were killing Ravana and Kumbakarna.No, we did not hurt him but we used to frustrate him a lot by climbing the guava tree,which was in the back of the house and he used to sit and bark at us.And soon,one of my aunts would join TONY and bark at us.
One day i made bujju stand and tried to be william tell and i had made some arrows with needles tied at the end and the bow was made from one of the guava tree branches and well,i had a sore bum and a swollen head for a few days.i shot the arrow and lo and behold,it went into bujjus forehead,who giggled first and then the pain hit him and off he ran, screaming mummy,mummy and spankings followed.It was only tony and me for a few days and we both ignored bujju for a while and after he bawled repeatedly, we let him into our circle,but not before he promised to never run and bitch to our elders if he got hurt in battle with the demons and our singam,tony