Padma athai's 90th

 Padma Athai's 90 th birthday lunch event was a   very informal,gathering of family and friends to felicitate a very warm, affectionate and multi-talented lady  with a wonderful family.

The Kuratthi and her kuravai Kutthu

Kamala was a Bharatha Natyam icon and a role model for every Tam Brahm girl inclined to the fine arts of classiscal music and dance. Tributes have been pouring in from all quarters for renowned Bharatha Natyam dancer Kamala,who passed away recently. Watching her perform live made every girl long to emulate Kamala's movements and expressions. Such was the power of her dance ....it swept the versed and unversed into a flood of a dance extravaganza. It was the year 1970. i was a ten year old....a Me Too to the Bharatha Natyam art form. My father was in the Faculty of the Indian School Of Mines; my mother a homemaker, trained in Carnatic music and nurturing fond artistic dreams for her daughter. My voice could not lend itself to the manouevres and modulations that the Carnatic style demanded. The next best alternative was dance... I was also inclined to the dance form because where Sangeetham could not find a path, my knack for Talam and Rhythm paved the way for Bharatha Natyam. It was then that Kumari Kamala . as she was always known came to Dhanbad in Jharkand to perform a claassical repertoire....and what a performance it turned out to be for the sheer brilliance of the Nrittya form and the musical choreography. So I started learning Bharatha Natyam from a teacher who came from Calcutta to teach children Of the Coal Belt. But there was no soul in my dance.....even I realized it. My feet just padded to the Thai Thayi beats of the teacher who punctually turned up once for classes in two weeks . The dance classes were routine and drab...the master taught sincerely and pedantically. He could not however inspire and kindle the creative spark; it was mundane,lifeless and just that.It was at this juncture that Kamala burst uopn my Dance world like a meteor blazing a trail of sparkling brilliance. I almost remember her performance as if it happened only yesterday. Kamala darted with fleeting, dainty, tiny steps from one end of the stage to another. She was here and she was there.....ingum irunthal....angum irunthal. Around the time of Kamala's performance,my Dance Guru changed. I started learning from Shri K. R. Radhakrishnan, Nattuvanaar and Dance teacher in the Ramiah Pillai baani. Kamala had also trained in this style and she faithfully adhered to this baani. Now when I think back, I realize destiny had a hand in the whole matter. Guru Radhakrishnan had also done Nattuvaangam for Kumari Kamala for a period of time, Also he had a deep sense of quality music and padams.. the lyrical Tamil songs soaked in metaphorical love and devotion to the divine Lord. Coming to Kamala' performance, I watched in spell-bound awe as Jathiswaram followed Alarippu... then onto a Varnam, padams and an electrifying Thillana. The varnam that day was the grand, majestic yet rarely known Swathi Thirunal Dasha Ragamalika composition Kamala Jaasya with the lyrics fitting into Adi Tala with mathematical precision. I was not much immersed in the soft, subtle Nayaki Bhavas of the Padams but the crisp, catchy, Kutrala Kuravanji dance from the verdant Pothigai mountains made me sit up. It was a light, tacky song- Pachamalai Pavazha Malai composed aptly in Raga Anand Bhairavi. The dancer, a disciple of Kamala admirably danced in a jaunty, folksy manner to this lilting song. I sat through, completely captivated and spell-bound, admiring both the gaily coloured,bold check patterned paavadai with a matching blouse, her beads and pearls as well as the dancer's raunchy whirls and twirls. The next day, after my dance class, I requested Shri Radhakrishnan rather hesitatingly to teach me the Kuratthi dance. I told him how I had been totally taken up with the kuratthi experience... that the song and dance were lodged in my inward eye. The sport that he was, Guru Radhakrishnan taught me in a very short span of time, the dance with modified steps compatible with a beginner's ability. Wonders will never cease. I got a chance to perform Pacchai Pavazha Malai on the stage, complete with kuratthi dress and paraphernalia....strings of chunky and gaudy coloured beads and the kuratthi hairdo which like Andal's is coiffed to the side of the head with braids of flowers and beads adorning it. My mother sang Pacchamalai Pavazha malai melodiously to Guru Radhakrishnan wielding the cymbals in staccato Nattuvaangam. Kamala's performance kindled a spark in me; a lifelong love and passion for the fine arts. My dance life was short...but the learning experiencewas evolving. The lyrics of the transformative song Pacchamalai Pavazhamalai are loosely translated as follows: From rocks of coral'n' vales of green, lush and plush with dreams complete, from the land beautiful of the Tamils, do I, Valli,come with secrets to share and a future to tell! With a spring in my step and a stringed garland in my hand, do I dance ...THAM THAM THAKAJONU THAI THAI THIMITHAKKA THATTHOM THATHINTHAKKA THOM THOM....THATHINTHAKKA THATTHOM.... Oh TAMILNADU... the land of milk and honey;of learned and creative people, to its deep and dense jungles, where tuskers and wild life live in harmony with nature That land of golden paddy and sweet honey, to forests of monkey entwined trees and gushing little streams of sparkling crystal water; Do I, Valli, consort of the gracious Lord Muruga, come with a spring in my step and a song in my heart, to aspire the company of the learned and blessed,of the wealthy and the wise..... THAM THAM THAKAJONU THAI THAI THIMITHAKKA THATTHOM THATHINTHAKKA THOM THOM....THATHINTHAKKA THATTHOM....

The Kiki Park in Jayalakshmipuram Mysore

 Kiki park near my house is a typical Mysore park with creeper entwined arched walkways, a neat oval garden with a Goddess with a Water Sprinkler in the middle. There is a Children's corner where  children can play on swings and seesaws. There are benches for adults to sit and relax. Also  animal figurines like a horse and a parrot, very unusual in a park. One finds elephants usually cut out of the shrubs in a park.

          I did not think much about this odd feature  of the park till I read an interesting and touching story behind  the parrot. Apparently a family in the locality near the park had a pet parrot called Kiki. The entire family  was very fond  of the parrot .When the parrot died, the family installed a  seesaw in the shape of a parrot in the park so that children using it come to know about their dear pet. What a touching gesture and what a quaint,cute way to spread the message of love and kindness. A resident of the locality writes that he was so inspired by the story of Kiki that he named his pet dog KIKI!  

  Thus the park came to be called Kiki park after the parrot. In fact, nobody refers to it by any other name. I think the owner (s) of Kiki must have been Enid Blyton fans...Kiki is the talkative parrot in one of her story series. 

SHADY, ARCHED WALKWAYS

                                                                        

KIKI

                                            

                                                      

OVAL GARDEN LIT FOR DUSSERA

                                                            

                                          ANOTHER SECTIONAL VIEW OF KIKI PARK

The Paavai Vilakku (The Elephant lamp)

 

Meenakshi Bhalla and her World of MB ( Make Believe)

• She bore the name of an all powerful goddess, Meenakshi but all these years later, I can only recall her as an avid fan of  a very non-spiritual literary genre, that of Romantic Fiction. She was the type who makes friends easily, a nice girl, with a cheerful face and a permanent warm, smile. A trifle gawky and unstylish, but the warmth was there for all to see.We were all students of the Arts stream in the Intermediate Course at SSLNT College, Dhanbad. Dhanbad is a large coal based industrial town in Jharkand. Its demography consisted of engineers, scientists, businessmen and miscellaneous  contributors to the local Economy. It was a brave new world right out there, with technocrats and small industrialists alike toiling  to make some money in the land of the BLACK DIAMOND and the pioneering work of spreading quality education through English was being done in stages by the nuns of the Carmelite order. Carmel schools were opened at different community/ industrial colonies …..thus we had a main  and older Carmel school at Digwadih, a Suburb of Dhanbad and then another came up later in Dhanbad to meet the  demands of the growing business class there.  We, the children of this nascent very powerful socio economic order attended the different Carmel schools and our value systems were ingrained fairly early…..concentrated study in order to achieve set professional and economic goals. I have gone into great detail over this in order to highlight the general milieu and consequently, our  tastes and hobbies.
• I studied in Carmel Dhanbad and Meenakshi came from Digwadih Carmel. She was a  year junior to me but definitely very adult in her literary tastes.We were all students of SSLNT College, the only Women’s  College in the area with predominantly Hindi speaking students. The Carmel crowd, with their different and better academic accomplishments, therefore stood out. By the same token, we therefore mingled also only among ourselves, i.e. the Carmel group. I do not remember our first meeting . I suppose it must have been with a cheery, “HI! I am Meenakshi”, kind of  greeting and  very soon, a new hitherto unheard and unknown genre of books started circulating  widely in the friends’ groups. HEY PRESTO!  To the  giggling, awkward bunch from the prudish MORAL SCIENCE sermons of Sr. Felicia’s class, it was as if the floodgates of the world of Adults had been opened.
• School life had given us Enid Blyton, Richmal Cromton, Frank Richards, Alistair MacLean etc with their varied fare of adventure, fun and excitement all instilling values in mild doses. We certainly had not heard of Mills and Boon in the unsophisticated, professionally middle class world of the Dhanbad neighborhood…. our mothers were not the type who would have ever read  a Mills and Boon. They were staid, no nonsense types with their feet planted firmly on the ground and expecting the same value system in their children. Reading was greatly encouraged except during exam time. A visit to Rajendra Market definitely had a treat in store for the bibliophile- the purchase of a Famous Five or Secret Seven.
• However now the Fives and Sevens made way to the world of Adult Passion.  “Hi”, and Meenakshi’s curly head would bob uo from the covers of “ Virgin Bride” and the book would change hands after she was done. Alluring, colourful book jackets with a picture of man and woman in differing degrees of intimacy; the ubiquitous symbol of a rose tucked between the catchy logo of mills& Boon; all designed to draw the unsuspecting teenager. The  naughty childishness in us urged on to glimpse the absurd ( We were still at the stage where Romance was considered absurd) world of a Romance novel. Typically  one of the girls one day, piped up with" Man of Granite " is very good". "Why",chorused the rest.  Because the hero is unscrutable; the heroine can't read his mind and  he has very stern looks". So playing Hard to Catch and possessing dark, forbidding looks were the key to the spell that M &B books cast on the SSLNT gang.. 
• Now there is one secret, that I will let you into. Very often, a title with a voyeuristic undertone was given ,accompanied by a passionate love scene on the cover just to attract readership. Gentle romance was encouraged but not blatant permissiveness. M & B readers had their guidelines laid out…. exotic locales to set the romantic tone and mood, some intimate scenes to accelerate the path of true love and to provide meat to the reader, and the predictable ending of a happy marriage. The heroine coud have plain looks but she had to make up this deficiency with her personal qualities like smartness, elegance and a degree of female and professional independence, all of which must be sacrificed eventually in the altar of True Love. True Love was the single most goal of these women. By contrast, the hero would have perfect physical features, modelled on a Greek God ( no wonder, Greek heroes were a big favourite with the writers ) and the most essential quality of being impervious to feminine charm and guile. Of course, the heroine would succeed in bringing a change of heart after many trials and tribulations.
• So, if one got the above formula right, one made the grade  and joined the group of successful writers of the Mills and Boon books. MB’s collection tumbled onto us with audacious titles…..DARK AVENGER, HANDSOME PREDATOR and the like. To this day, I have wondered how Meenakshi managed to lay her hands on to such a big collection. How did she escape the watchful parental eye etc.?   
• Mills and Boon readers have spanned generations of women.Like so many others, I can’t understand the spell that they cast on their young readers.  Perhaps it was because of the first peek that these books offered to most of us into the fascinating world of adult behaviour.Perhaps we identified ourelves with the poor waif of a heroine who had to face  emotional challenges while struggling with the practical realities of life. Which is why it was all important for us to find out if the heroine got in the end, what she deserved.
• Otherwise M & B fiction  had very little  values or ideas to offer. If anything, these books showed their heroines in a poor light—women with no mind of their own, incapable of leading a life of economic and social independence. Finding Mr. Right was what life was all about.
• We passed out of SSLNT. The once close group of friends  dispersed and scattered to various destinations in the course of  life’s changing fortunes. I, like so many others lost touch with Meenakshi. To date, she remains elusive , as elusive as those Mills and Boon heroes that she fancied so much. But there is one thing, for sure.  I hope and believe that life dealt her a good hand; that a nice, simple girl from the back of beyond succeeded in  fulfilling her romantic  dream.
• M & B has gone desi nowadays. So young readers can read of either  Deepak or Shyam, replacement of  Peter Dedalus etc.
• 
  

Rambo Has An Adventure In The Land Of Eternal Happiness

Wonderstruck by all that they had heard and seen, Sunil and Rambo walked on. In this strange country, they saw orderliness, cleanliness in the buildings and roads, and people going about their work briskly and happily. Soon they hit the City of SUSTAINABLE ETHICAL EMPLOYMENT. As the name said, the city bore signs of development.  They saw parks and roads, shops and malls, hotels and houses but did not have a coin in their hand to buy even a drink. “ I think I’ll die of thirst and hunger”, said Sunil almost in tears. “ Come on, Sunil”, barked Rambo encouragingly. “ Take heart. I am sure we’ll run into some refreshments soon “. Sure enough as if  on cue, they came upon a small Darshini called Akshayapatra which was selling sandwiches, chapatis and snacks. “Wonderful”, they said, rubbing their hands in glee and then their faces fell. “ How could they pay for the food? “ Not to worry”, said the genial looking man at the Cash Counter. “Here we serve all  without prejudice, even those who cannot pay. Service above Profit is our motto. But those who can can afford must pay according to their ability. All you have to do is to sit in front of your plates and mentally order the food that you would like to eat.” Rambo and Sunil looked at each other in amazement. Whoever heard of a hotel serving free food?

They sat down at a table, ravenous with hunger. “Tomato Sandwich,” Rambo licked his mouth in anticipation and immediately two sandwiches appeared before him. Similarly Sunil got a Masala Dosa.  They tucked into their food hungrily, watching a fat man also eating at the next table. The man kept on ordering while dish after dish appeared before him and  disappeared into his cavernous mouth. Rambo and Sunil wondered when and where it would all stop. They were to know  soon enough.

The man ordered and waited for the  next dish to appear on his plate. But nothing happened. Instead a piece ofpaper appeared on his plate but it was not just one piece of paper. An endless roll of paper started to stretch out on to the table, on to the floor, like a carpet. Rambo and Sunil stared in amazement. Sunil went a step forward to find that it was A WHOLE REAM OF BILLS. Must be BILLS FORI ALL THE FOOD THAT THE MAN HAD EATEN. The man almost fell off his chair in shock and fright. He got up to walk away rapidly to the exit without drawing notice. But just then two men approached his table and stood menacingly on  either side of him. “ Trying to run away without paying your bill, you greedy glutton. Dirty dishes await you in the kitchen ”, they roared, marching him off to the kitchen.

Rambo and Sunil’s eyes almost fell off at the scene they had just awitnessed. Hearing a sound, they turned around to find the proprietor clapping his hands and saying loudly, “ Haha….. THIS IS THE PUNISHMENT FOR TAKING ADVANTAGE OF OUR GOODNESS HEAR EVERYBODY. TO THE NEEDY, WE ARE GOOD BUT THE GREEDY, BETTER TAKE HEED”.

Rambo and Sunil quietly exited. So should you if you ever visit the Akshayapatra Darshini

Where Have They Come?

It turned out to be even more giddying little later for they suddenly found themselves losing height and flying lower and lower. Houses, people and animals suddenly and slowly grew larger and they were flying crazily and frighteningly close to rooftops. Nothing was in their control as they swung close to some tall building and suddenly and almost violently were lifted clean off it. “ Phew that was close,” muttered Sunil alarmed. suddenly a big patch of ground opened out before them and as suddenly and alarmingly as it had begun, their crazy flight came to a sudden abrupt end. the two hit the ground suddenly with their breath nocked out and their heads in a whir. “Goodness”, said Sunil breathlessly.“ Where have we come?” “We will soon know “, said Rambo who had already got up nimbly  and was running ahead. “ Come on Sunil. Hurry up. This is our big adventure.”

On and on they ran till they suddenly  came upon a huge signboard mapping their location. WELCOME TO THE LAND OF ETERNAL HAPPINESS, it said. THIS WAY TO THE TO THE TOWN OF GOOD WILL”, it pointed towards a particular direction. Both looked at each other in wonder but decided to follow the signboard. They walked on, now tired and hungry but not seeing a soul on the way. “ Hey Look”, said Sunil suddenly pointing his finger.”Isn’t that a policeman? Looks like one.” It was one. On drawing nearer they found a man dressed in a policeman’s uniform.  “ Excuse me”, said Sunil to the policeman. “ We are new to this place. Can you guide us to somewhere where we can get food and shelter?” “Welcome to our World of Eternal Happiness”, said the friendly policeman.” “ You look to be from a different country. Right now, you are in the Town of Good Will.  Here we have schools and colleges where  our children learn the qualities of honesty and hard work and to earn a sustainable living in harmony with nature and society. “ Over there”, he waved pointing out his hand in one direction, “Is the Big City of SUSTAINABLE ETHICAL  EMPLOYMENT . See those buildings and factories. People work  hard  there  to create GoodWill and Wealth, the tools of Prosperity. There you will get plenty of whatever you want because this is the festive season of Diwali.”