Online shopping , gaming on alienware,malls and brands are the norms of today. Norms that highlight my greys and make me reminesensce on tales of yore !
My daddy was a storyteller beyond compare! Everynight we gathered around him, massaging his back and listened to stories of his adventurous youth, his grandparents ,his father,the swami who transformed their lives...interpersed with world war stories, Nehru, Gandhi,Germany, Hitler, the cameras he bought, the rifles he owned, the cars he loved....
He insisted that we the dark skinned were the true 'sons' of the soil the Dravidians ! while the fair skinned like my mother were the invading Aryans ! So somehow we were happy and proud to be what we were!
My dad was generosity personified. He could not listen to a sad tale and turn a blind eye. He would loan out thousands naively believing that when the tides turned his friends would return the money. Luckily for us he gave some money to a book shop owner who repaid the money in kind ! Books of all sorts were thrust upon him and he happily brought home chandamamas,amar chitra kathas, and loads of self help books 'Learn malayalam in 30 days! Driving in two weeks ! Gardening, Motorcycle mechanics, The theory of relativity, Astrology, Palmistry, Ayurveda, Home remedies, Islam, Buddhism,Home decor, Amateur photography, Medicinal plants, Puzzles, House and Garden, Ghost stories, 'How to speak with the dead ' ! (in Tamil) , Countries of the world, Pocket books on Birds ,Spiders... Hitchcock ,Shaw,Kannadasan, Kalki, Tchekov ,Sputniks, Discovery of India...Something of everything found a way home ! Our education was effortless,complete,joyful...
My dad's maternal grandfather whom he called 'chiyan' was one of his favourite persons. He was big and strong and once caught and hung a thief upside down on a tree ! We too adored this great grandfather!! Once upon selling the produce from the land... he sold the cart and ox too and just upped with the money to roam around India!..abandoning his wife and two daughters . " Highly irresponsible ! " my mom would glare. ... but he came back to recount his tales of adventure.. of travelling to far off lands ... of even spending a day with some Bandits of Chambal!! My mom was not pacified though!!
My grandfather was much revered by my father. He was a soft spoken gentleman, pious, of humble origins...He married my grandmother on knowing she could steam and pound even a sack of paddy with ease! His only condition on marrying her was that she should feed anyone he brings home with a smile or at least without a frown !! .A strange condition it may seem but he had this compulsive habit of meeting sadhus whom he would invite home and expect my grandmother to prepare their special wants. There was a sadhu who drank only milk three times a day,another angry one who threw away the rasam on tasting it!! So everyday there was a guest even though their earnings were meagre.Most unfortunately my grandfather gave up agriculture to start a cloth shop with fine muslins and cottons imported from Britain. This shop was ransacked by zealous patriots who were against foreign goods. As he struggled along... my grandmother would ensure that their plates were piled high with all the seasonal delicacies .. mangoes and fish and the choicest meat ..everyday!! She was rearing cows,dyeing sarees,making appalams and a hundred other things! He was a scholar who would read Thirukural and Kaivalyam ( a Tamil equivalent of the Upanishads ) while she could not read nor care to!.. but they complimented each other to raise their brood of five of which my dad was the youngest and the 'pet' of the family !
One such sadhu my grandfather chanced upon was a swami who was passing by...He was popularly called Manikatti Swamy because during his days of tapas in the forest the goatherds who saw him tied the goatbells to his girdlestring amazed that someone could be so unaware of the world around him!! Immersed in the Self , in search of Shivam ...he was venerated by the village people who discerned he was alive only by a slight movement of his little toe! He was a wandering medicant , a siddhar who left his shrew of a wife and a son .... in search of the truth . From his hometown Mandhi thoppu where he was a landlord with coconut farms and mango groves , he would wander around as far away as Kasi even Burma studying medicinal plants and practices .He soon prepared his own catalogue of effective medicines for various diseases.With intuitive understanding of the nature and properties of various herbs, barks of trees,metals ...even red ants and small animals were used in preparing various medicines He was looking for a suitable disciple to pass on this great knowledge, when my grandfather met him.Impressed by his simplicity,spirituality his loving respectful service to the sadhus and the implicit trust and love that the family showered upon him- Manikatti Swamy made a decision to tutor him as his disciple.
From the forests of Kerala and Tamilnadu he put together oils and herbs and roots and barks... a thailam that cools and heals the body. He revealed the secret proportions and procedures to my grandfather who started producing and marketing the product. My father would recall washing and polishing Swami's brass jug until it gleamed and filling it with the cleanest water, his mother preparing the choicest meals and respectfully serving him as he stayed on.. teaching my grandfather a long catalogue of medicines.
The sale of the thailam turned the tides of fortune. Soon my grandfather could buy a bigger house ,a bigger shop as people across Tamilnadu enjoyed the benefits of this oil .
Strange were the ways of Swami. While my grandfather benifitted materially and spiritually from the wisdom of Swami, he refused to reveal his knowledge to his own son. My dad would recall how , on the day he attained samadhi, they all rushed to Mandhithoppu to pay their last respects. The Swamy was lowered into a vault filled with the sacred ash which he himself had collected!! We listened with awe as my father recounted these hoary tales with suitable dramatic effects!
My grandfather missed the Swamy -his guru ,friend,philosopher and guide -dearly. The Swami's blessing brought great prosperity to the family. My grandfather would religiously perform Gurupooja every year as thanksgiving to the Swami. After surviving a nasty stab by a jealous neighbor he decided to move to a bigger town.
As his family prospered and grew my grandfather retained his simplicity- never dorning anything more than a dhothi , whatever the occasion! and continued reading and pondering till his last day!
Thus unfolded stories upon stories- more exotic than those in mere books! These tales of yore comfort and soothe.The deceptive melody of the cellphone chased away my muse hurtling me right back into snapdeals and flipcarts -the cyber savvy world and my cyber inadequacies!!
My daddy was a storyteller beyond compare! Everynight we gathered around him, massaging his back and listened to stories of his adventurous youth, his grandparents ,his father,the swami who transformed their lives...interpersed with world war stories, Nehru, Gandhi,Germany, Hitler, the cameras he bought, the rifles he owned, the cars he loved....
He insisted that we the dark skinned were the true 'sons' of the soil the Dravidians ! while the fair skinned like my mother were the invading Aryans ! So somehow we were happy and proud to be what we were!
My dad was generosity personified. He could not listen to a sad tale and turn a blind eye. He would loan out thousands naively believing that when the tides turned his friends would return the money. Luckily for us he gave some money to a book shop owner who repaid the money in kind ! Books of all sorts were thrust upon him and he happily brought home chandamamas,amar chitra kathas, and loads of self help books 'Learn malayalam in 30 days! Driving in two weeks ! Gardening, Motorcycle mechanics, The theory of relativity, Astrology, Palmistry, Ayurveda, Home remedies, Islam, Buddhism,Home decor, Amateur photography, Medicinal plants, Puzzles, House and Garden, Ghost stories, 'How to speak with the dead ' ! (in Tamil) , Countries of the world, Pocket books on Birds ,Spiders... Hitchcock ,Shaw,Kannadasan, Kalki, Tchekov ,Sputniks, Discovery of India...Something of everything found a way home ! Our education was effortless,complete,joyful...
My dad's maternal grandfather whom he called 'chiyan' was one of his favourite persons. He was big and strong and once caught and hung a thief upside down on a tree ! We too adored this great grandfather!! Once upon selling the produce from the land... he sold the cart and ox too and just upped with the money to roam around India!..abandoning his wife and two daughters . " Highly irresponsible ! " my mom would glare. ... but he came back to recount his tales of adventure.. of travelling to far off lands ... of even spending a day with some Bandits of Chambal!! My mom was not pacified though!!
My grandfather was much revered by my father. He was a soft spoken gentleman, pious, of humble origins...He married my grandmother on knowing she could steam and pound even a sack of paddy with ease! His only condition on marrying her was that she should feed anyone he brings home with a smile or at least without a frown !! .A strange condition it may seem but he had this compulsive habit of meeting sadhus whom he would invite home and expect my grandmother to prepare their special wants. There was a sadhu who drank only milk three times a day,another angry one who threw away the rasam on tasting it!! So everyday there was a guest even though their earnings were meagre.Most unfortunately my grandfather gave up agriculture to start a cloth shop with fine muslins and cottons imported from Britain. This shop was ransacked by zealous patriots who were against foreign goods. As he struggled along... my grandmother would ensure that their plates were piled high with all the seasonal delicacies .. mangoes and fish and the choicest meat ..everyday!! She was rearing cows,dyeing sarees,making appalams and a hundred other things! He was a scholar who would read Thirukural and Kaivalyam ( a Tamil equivalent of the Upanishads ) while she could not read nor care to!.. but they complimented each other to raise their brood of five of which my dad was the youngest and the 'pet' of the family !
One such sadhu my grandfather chanced upon was a swami who was passing by...He was popularly called Manikatti Swamy because during his days of tapas in the forest the goatherds who saw him tied the goatbells to his girdlestring amazed that someone could be so unaware of the world around him!! Immersed in the Self , in search of Shivam ...he was venerated by the village people who discerned he was alive only by a slight movement of his little toe! He was a wandering medicant , a siddhar who left his shrew of a wife and a son .... in search of the truth . From his hometown Mandhi thoppu where he was a landlord with coconut farms and mango groves , he would wander around as far away as Kasi even Burma studying medicinal plants and practices .He soon prepared his own catalogue of effective medicines for various diseases.With intuitive understanding of the nature and properties of various herbs, barks of trees,metals ...even red ants and small animals were used in preparing various medicines He was looking for a suitable disciple to pass on this great knowledge, when my grandfather met him.Impressed by his simplicity,spirituality his loving respectful service to the sadhus and the implicit trust and love that the family showered upon him- Manikatti Swamy made a decision to tutor him as his disciple.
From the forests of Kerala and Tamilnadu he put together oils and herbs and roots and barks... a thailam that cools and heals the body. He revealed the secret proportions and procedures to my grandfather who started producing and marketing the product. My father would recall washing and polishing Swami's brass jug until it gleamed and filling it with the cleanest water, his mother preparing the choicest meals and respectfully serving him as he stayed on.. teaching my grandfather a long catalogue of medicines.
The sale of the thailam turned the tides of fortune. Soon my grandfather could buy a bigger house ,a bigger shop as people across Tamilnadu enjoyed the benefits of this oil .
Strange were the ways of Swami. While my grandfather benifitted materially and spiritually from the wisdom of Swami, he refused to reveal his knowledge to his own son. My dad would recall how , on the day he attained samadhi, they all rushed to Mandhithoppu to pay their last respects. The Swamy was lowered into a vault filled with the sacred ash which he himself had collected!! We listened with awe as my father recounted these hoary tales with suitable dramatic effects!
My grandfather missed the Swamy -his guru ,friend,philosopher and guide -dearly. The Swami's blessing brought great prosperity to the family. My grandfather would religiously perform Gurupooja every year as thanksgiving to the Swami. After surviving a nasty stab by a jealous neighbor he decided to move to a bigger town.
As his family prospered and grew my grandfather retained his simplicity- never dorning anything more than a dhothi , whatever the occasion! and continued reading and pondering till his last day!
Thus unfolded stories upon stories- more exotic than those in mere books! These tales of yore comfort and soothe.The deceptive melody of the cellphone chased away my muse hurtling me right back into snapdeals and flipcarts -the cyber savvy world and my cyber inadequacies!!
