Nature's Fury-serial story

Thanks satya and cheer for your encouraging words.

Regards,

TDU

 

Dear Shanti,

Thanks for your appreciation and I hope I won't disappoint you. I am posting the next episode now and I am sure you will enjoy reading it.

Regards,

TDU

 

Episode 4:

The captain said, 'Dr. Raman before you proceed, how was the dinner?'.

Dr. Raman had a laugh and said, 'The dinner was good and to quote from your favourite P.G. Wodehouse, your chef is a 'God's gift to gastric juices'.

Dr. Raman then began his description of the historic events of tsunami recorded in Tamil history. He said,' I would like to narrate the events like stories with fictional characters to give you a clear picture of what I am aiming to convey'.

It was about 1500 years ago. Tamil Nadu was being ruled by big kings like Cholas, Cheras, Pandavas and Pallavas. Of these, Chola kings were very powerful at that time and a king named Veera Cholan was ruling the Chola kingdom. There was a war going on between the Chola king and the neighbouring Pandyan King. Our hero, Marudhu was a fisherman by profession in Pandya Kingdom. He had been drafted into the army to fight the Cholas and as the war was nearing the end with Cholas becoming victorious, Marudhu left the battlefield and returned home. He was worried about his wife who was sick at the time he left for war.

Kosalai,Marudhu's wife was initially happy to see him back. Then she asked whether the war was over and Pandyan King was victorious. To this, Marudhu said, 'We did not win the war and I escaped from the battlefield to come here'. Kosalai became unhappy and got angry with Marudhu. She said,' It is cowardice of you to come from the battlefield showing your back. You should have fought till your last drop of blood for the sake of Pandyan King. I am ashamed to see you'. Marudhu went on to convince Kosalai that he could not fight thinking of her lying sick and so had to come back. He then asked how she managed to survive in his absence. Kosalai said,' Our neighbours were good. There is an old man who could not go for war as he was not eligible. He used to go fishing and give some rice and fishes to me to eat. But, all the fishes are over and there is nothing to eat in the house'. Marudhu heaved a sigh and said,' O.K, I will go into the sea and catch enough fishes for few days and take rest afterwards'. Kosalai was not allowing Marudhu to go fishing since only a few hours were left to become dark. She said,'If you are going don't go too far and return before I light the lamp'.

Thus, Marudhu took his battered boat and set sail to catch fishes. He wanted to catch big fishes and so he took his boat to deep sea. The sea was calm and there was a cool breeze which put Marudhu to sleep as he was tired after fighting in the war and travelling by foot all the way home. By the time he woke up it had become dark and also the wind had taken his boat nearer the capital of Chola kingdom, Kaviripoom Pattinam also known as Poom Puhar. There was a big celebration going on to celebrate the victory of the Chola king over the Pandiyans. Hundreds of elephants making sounds ( in Tamil it is called piliruthal), thousands of horses making sounds with their hoofs, soldiers making march pasts, Drummers beating big drums, fire crackers lighting the sky, local dancers doing Karahaattams. All these revelries were shaking the whole earth and its impact could be felt by Marudhu in the sea.

As the sounds from Poom Puhar reaching a crescendo, Marudhu's attention was drawn to see the sea raising in the distance. Waves reaching several tens of feet high were seen by him and he panicked. He started rowing as fast he could so that he can reach the shores and save himself. But, the advancing waves were faster than his rowing and soon they hit him tossing his boat in air. Although he was an expert swimmer, he lost balance in the force of the waves and started drowning. Just before he lost his breath he saw the great city of Poom Puhar going under the sea and the flagpost on the Chola King's palace broke and the Chola flag came floating and surrounded his neck as a garland.

Kosalai, got worried that Marudhu did not return as promised before dusk and she went to the shores and waited for him. In the faint moonlight she suddenly saw the giant waves advancing towards her. Not knowing what to do she ran as fast as her legs could carry her. She managed to reach the village and shouted for everyone to go to elevated places shouting, ' kadal konthalikirathu (sea is fast raising)'. Men carried their children and women and started climbing cocanut and palm trees. Since Kosalai alerted, many villagers were saved from getting washed away. Kosalai was very much worried about the fate of Marudhu and she was crying. There is a recorded history that after the rough sea subsided for many days Kosalai waited on the shores for Marudhu inspite of the villagers forcing her to come back to the village. She eventually died on the shores waiting for Marudhu and the villagers erected a statue of her in memory of her brave deed of saving the people. In due course, the people of the area started worshipping the statue and called her Kosalai Amman.

To be continued...

 

Dear Malathijagan,

Thanks for your prompt response. Actually, I wanted to elaborate Marudhu's struggle against the giant waves much like in Ernest Hemingway's Old man and the sea. But, my imaginative power is very limited. I hope to sustain the interest in the rest of the story.

Regards,

TDU

 

Dear Manjula,

I enjoyed your witty comment about the Amman. But, if you carefully read the story, Kosalai Amman comes in the Pandyan Kingdom and not exactly in Poom Puhar.

Regarding your query about the natural frequency of the bridge, please read the following text which I have quoted from the literature.

Basically, all materials are slightly elastic or "springy." It might not seem like it, but steel beams, pipes, buildings, bridges, and tuning forks can all be made to vibrate in different ways. Like a stretched guitar string that makes a certain musical note, materials and structures tend to vibrate at certain natural frequencies. If you could push on a building really hard, it might vibrate back and forth at a frequency of 1 cycle per second, or Hz. That's its natural frequency. (Actually it is more complicated - the building might vibrate sideways at 1 Hz and up and down at 3 Hz.) A drinking glass might vibrate at 500 Hz if you hit it with a spoon.

There are two types of vibration: free and forced. Free vibration is when a component vibrates under the action of forces inherent in the system, specifically mass and stiffness of the material. Every system has this property and it is called natural frequency.


This natural frequency resonating with the frequencies of boot sounds of marching soldiers for example, will push the bridge to vibrate harder leading to its collapse.

Regards,

TDU

 

Dear manjula,

I have not visited present Poompuhar yet and so I come to know the stories given by guides through you only. Kosalai Amman came to me in a flash and it is purely the pigment of my imagination. May be I have been biased by Kushboo Amman.