Nature's Fury-serial story

Dear Sudha,

I was just wondering why you have not posted your FB to this story so far and I saw your post. The theory that noise (not exactly the decibels) frequency when it resonates with the natural frequency of nature, we get events such as tsunami was thought by me as the reason behind Kaviripoom Patinam going under the sea. Historians have started regarding the event as a tsunami now, But, the actual causes triggering the tsunami such as under water earthquakes have not been reported to have taken place at that time. Also, I am building up a case to connect with the climax which I am sure you will enjoy reading. Regarding the youngsters making noise, you can protect yourself by listening to ipod or mp3 player.

Regards,

TDU

 

Episode 5:

As Dr. Raman took a breather after narrating the first known event of tsunami in Tamil history, the captain and others were quitely musing over what Raman had narrated.

One person broke the silence and asked the captain,'will this ship be affected if tsunami comes now?'.

The captain said,' I think if we are sailing then the ship will be hit by tsunami waves and it may even get toppled upside down as it has been shown in a Hollywood movie titled 'Poseidon Adventure'. But, if we can detect tsunami early and put anchor, the ship can be saved. Luckily, we have Dr. Raman here who has the tsunami warning system with him and it should help us now and may be in future all ships may be fitted with these systems like smoke alarms and Dr. Raman will be in big business'. Every one had a hearty laugh at captain's remarks.

Dr. Raman said,' There is nothing to worry about tsunami at present as my research has shown that the frequency of its occurrence is small and tusanami early warning systems are being installed worldwide which can detect and warn hours before tsunami can strike'.

He then continued to describe the second event which although has not been accepted as a tsunami, in Dr.Raman's view, it is a case of tsunami having been triggered by man-made sound waves.

Dr. Raman said,' The year around 1960, the scene is set in Dhanushkodi, a small temple town south of Rameswaram along the east coast of Tamil Nadu. Next to the big Shiva temple in the town was the house of Vaidyanatha Sasthrigal, the chief priest in the Shiva temple. He and his forefathers were vedic scholars and his only son Sankaran also was inducted into the profession of Prohitham.

On that particular fateful day Sasthrigal addressed Sankaran and said,' Being a Brahmin and that too a prohith you still have not had your bath and done Sandhyavandanam. You know what day is today, today in Rameswaram a big business man from Madras is organising a Varuna Jabam and Homam. They are calling all prohits in the region to assemble for the Jabam where the business man will give each prohith a silk dhoti, angavasthram and Rs. 100 as dakshinai. Get tready and go immediately'.

Sankaran had taken the profession out of compulsion and actually he wanted to study well and become a scientist like his class mate Abdul Kalam in Rameswaram.

Remembering Abdul Kalam brought to his mind the incident that took place in the school one day. Abdul Kalam and Saambhu,a a Brahmin boy used to be seated together in the first bench in the class. That particular day one new teacher came to the class and on seeing the Brahmin boy seated next to the muslim boy, he did not like it. So, he ordered Abdul Kalam to go the last bench. Saambhu could not bear the separation and he went home crying. His father, the correspondent of the school and the chief of Rameswaram got furious when Saambu narrated what happened in the class. He sent for the teacher and when he came he told him not to separate boys on the basis of cast or rligion and reinstate Abdul kalam next to Saambhu in the class. He also warned the teacher that if he failed to do so he would be dismissed.

Sankarn thought wryly,'a muslim boy is patronised by Brahmins to become a scientist, but a Brahmin boy is destined to continue prohitham which is not patronised by anyone including Brahmins unlike the olden days when the kings used to patronise Brahmins'.

Sankaran took bath and wore the dhothi which was washed in 'madi' the previous day. He swiped three lines of vibhuthi on the forehead, shoulders, hands and on stomach. He did sandhyavandanam, took the gunny bag where he carried a spare dhothi in case he was asked to take bath again after reaching Rameswaram. he then left the house on bare feet as he could not afford the chappals, walked on the hot thar road leading to the Railway station. Reaching the station he boarded the passenger train which was being run as shuttle between Rameswaram and Dhanushkodi, not knowing that he would never return to Dhanushkodi.

To be continued....

 

Dear Sudha,

Thanks for your appreciation of the feelings of brahmins and the culture. Ofcourse, what is in store for Sankaran at Rameswaram has been partly told by manjula in her post. Wait for some interesting twists and turns. I hope I can bring out vividly what I have imagined in the story.

Regards,

TDU

 

Dear Manjula,

Your experiences, observations and comments are all of very high order. Actually when I talked to few people about Dhanushkodi, I found to my shock that they were not knowing its whereabouts and totally ignorant of the event that took place in 1960, I suppose. I came to know about the incident from a first hand description by my elder sister who was working as a teacher in Rameswaram High School. We were at Madurai at that time and the communications between Rameswaram and the main land was severly affected and we had to wait in agony to hear about her. She came after 5 days of the incident and told us how she and other staff and students were moved to a safe place and were served food (Kootanchoru which she described as very delicious) and I wanted to be there for Kootanchoru inspite of the risk.

Regards,

TDU

 

Dear cheer,

Your FBs are quite encouraging to me and I certainly look forward to your FBs for the future episodes also.

Regards,

TDU

 

Episode 6:

After boarding the train Sankaran selected a window seat and sat. The train was not that crowded and the benches were wooden. So, Sankaran could keep his 'madi' status. But, not for long he could do so.

Just before the train was about to leave lot of people boarded the train and came and sat close to Sankaran. He got curious as generally the train used to be less crowded. One nearby person told him that they are going to the temple at Rameswaram where the king of Nepal is going to do poojas. King of Nepal had the first right to do poojas at Rameswaram temple and he used to be liberal in giving food, cloths and money to the devotees.

Sankaran thought that he has to take bath after reaching the mandapam where the Varuna Jabam and homam had been organised. He relapsed into remembering all the mantras that he has to recite in the jabam.

The mandapam is a huge place with several pillars and a roof but with no side walls. It was on a land portruding into the sea. When he reached the mandapam after alighting from the train, as expected the chief prohith asked him to go to nearby Pushkarni (pond) and take bath and come.

Before starting the jabam, the chief prohith gave a small speech. He said,'The Chettiar business man is organising this jabam as there is no rains in the mainland. He is giving to all of you Rs.100 plus a silk dhothi and angavasthram. So, we should tell the mantras clearly, loudly and in unision so that the chettiar can hear it in Chennaai'. Saying this he had a big laugh.

He also said,' The chettiar is a kind man and so he has arranged coffee for all of you. Take it now. Once the Jabam starts it will continue for three to four hours and in between no one can drink a drop of water'.

Sankaran went and had coffee as he had nothing to eat or drink before he set out for Rameswaram. If his father came to know that he had coffee before jabam, he would raise hell not only with him but also with the chief prohith.

Some two hundred to three hundred prohiths had assembled and the number was increasing by seconds. Prohiths had come from Rameswaram itself, Mandapam, Ramanathapuram and even from Madurai. Hundred rupees was a big amount in those days.

Sankaran thought how many of them would have really taken bath although everyone had smeared vibhuthi on their foreheads. He had heard that in Kerala temples if someone tried to enter without having taken bath, snakes would bite them. He imagined what will happen if a snake was let loose in the gathering there and started laughing. Nearby seated prohiths looked at him strangely and one prohith commented, 'It takes all kinds of people to make the world'.

Shortly, the jabam started with the chief prohith reciting the manthras and others repeating in loud voice and in unision. At each mathra of 'Swaha' they poured a utharni (spoon) full of ghee into the homa nearby. As the time passed by, the tempo of chief prohits' reciting increased.

Sankaran was feeling uneasy as there was a kind of warning bell ringing in his head. He was not to know that in one of his previous births he was our Marudhu, the fisherman of Pandya Desam who died in the sea uprising and swallowing Poompuhar. As the sounds were reaching a crescendo, he could not bear it. He stood up and shouted,'stop the jabam' to the utter shock of the chief and other prohiths.

To be continued...