Going Crazy

But for a very few flowers of ‘Nandi battalu’ or the ‘Ananta’ , which flower through the year, my flower bowl has been empty for the last three months. I think rainy season is the time for the plants to rest and relax. It has not rained for a week now and there is bright sunlight. The plants are back in action. My bowl was full today. It is a sight which ‘makes my day’ as we say. The pleasure is twofold when there are a lot of ‘parijata’ (some call it the ‘night flowering jasmine’) flowers. I get to enjoy the sight as well as the fragrance. It sort of fills my soul (assuming that there is one in my body).  

The flowers are for the daily worship. My worship is the shortened version - lighting a lamp and placing the flowers on the idols. We offer the fruits and flowers to the lord and take them back as ‘prasada’. But in my case the lord gets the flowers only after I have enjoyed the sight and fragrance. I enjoy the fragrance when the ‘parijaata’ buds start flowering at night and then enjoy the sight of the flowers on the plant in the morning. I enjoy picking them and also enjoy the sight and smell of flowers collected for worship. Only then the lord gets them. I hope he does not mind.

He shouldn’t actually. He was the one who told Arjuna “Pick up your bow and kill. It is my will. Actually you are not killing and they are not dying. I am the one who is killing and I am also the one who is dying. I play this game and all of you are just pawns.”

If and when I get to talking terms with him he is sure to say “You fool, you are not enjoying the fragrance. I am. I made the flower fragrant and I gave you the senses to enjoy it. In fact, I am the very essence of that fragrance also” or some such thing. Incidentally the parijaata is supposed to be his favourite. 

(My wife usually does not read what I write, which explains how I have my limbs intact till now. She was attracted by the picture of the flowers and read this post. She has an explanation - Every flower is first touched by the wind, that is, 'Vayudevaru' or 'PraNadevaru' as wind is known in dwaita philosophy. PraNadevaru is supposed to be in a constant worship mode. 24*7 if you understand that better. So, the moment a flower is touched by 'Vayudevaru' it is said to have been offered to the god. What we get is always the seconds and we offer it to the lord again just  for our satisfaction.) 

Parijata flowers, I feel are the embodiment of the word ‘delicate’. They start flowering late in the evening. They remain on the plant till early morning and then fall to the ground. Try to pluck them before they are ready to part from the plant and the delicate petals get torn. When they fall to the ground, even if there is as much as a drop of water/dew on the ground, they get wet / soggy and are spoilt. The same happens even if there is a light shower after the buds flower. If you want them in good condition, you have to gently separate them from the branches just before they get detached (Hoovu 'biDisodu' as we say in kannaDa. Not 'keeLodu') or pick them up as soon as they fall to the ground. Very difficult to time it. 

I remember one of my neighbours who had a parijata plant in her compound. She would spread a bed spread under the paarijata plant every night to make sure that the flowers did not fall on the mud. She would come down early in the morning, shake the plant gently to bring down the flowers stuck between the leaves and gather all of them. I used to think her crazy going to such lengths to get a few flowers.  Now, I understand her and in fact, that is what exactly I do. I am getting crazy!

Maruti gad

I have passed in front of this hillock known as ‘Maruti gad’, situated close to the famous Shantadurga Temple at Kavale, Ponda, hundreds of times. Every time I have passed in front of the hill, I have strongly felt that I should go there and climb the hill once. It is not something daunting. May be, just about 200 steps. And it is not more than 5-6 kilometers from my house. I could have made it any day. But I had not done it - during the past thirty years.

Last night after a birthday party, someone in our swimming group (probably in a state when the brain did not know what the tongue was saying) suggested that we go for an early morning walk up to the Shantadurga temple. Nothing big, just a walk of about six kilometers. Still, a surprising suggestion to come after a party at twelve in the night.  Bigger surprise - Five hands went up and the biggest surprise - four of them turned up at the designated spot this morning!

In less than ten minutes we had reached the new road leading to the Shantadurga temple. This is a beautiful stretch of road of about two kilometres, with lot of vegetation on both sides, no ‘development’ along the road yet and hence no traffic. Rains have just ended, mornings are getting foggy and it was very pleasant early in the morning. We reached the end of the road chatting and enjoying the walk and were about to turn back when we noticed the steps leading to Maruti gad. They looked inviting and we decided to go up. It was a cool climb of 237 steps (as one of us counted) and a feast for the eyes. I had carried my camera expecting a Kingfisher or a crane near the swamp next to the road and managed to get some pictures in spite of the early morning fog. Here they are.

The road to Shantadurga

The inviting steps leading to the top of Maruti gad. A bit slippery but beautiful. 

The Shantadurga temple as seen from the top of Maruti gad - with the dew covered hills in the background. 

The chapel of St Roque on top of another hillock near Maruti gad - just before it got fully engulfed by fog. 

A flock of cranes flying in formation over the swampy area next to the road.

A Tribute to Our Elders

Sri A S Narayana Rao, we called him Narayana mava,  also known as ‘aNNaNNa’, passed away recently at the age of ninety six. He was my mother’s first cousin. There was a connection from my father’s side also. He was a classmate and close friend of my paternal uncle, my father’s elder brother, Late Sri M S Ramachandra Rao. His younger brother Late Sri Krishnamurthy (KiTTaNNa) and my father, Late Sri M S Srikantiah were classmates and good friends.  My mother has very fond memories of a childhood spent in association of Narayana mava.

Almost all of our relatives, belonging to this generation, have struggled in life, have had very firm beliefs, morals and values and had retained these qualities throughout their life. We, in comparison, have had an easy life but (at least me - let me not speak about others) have also gone easy on values and morals.

I have felt a sense of losing something very valuable every time one of our elders have passed away, starting with Sri Venkatesha das  (H/O Indira, known in family circles as ‘Inna’.) followed by, in the chronological order, My father, my uncles Sri Venkataramiah (H/O Smt lakshmi - popular as ‘Buchchakka’)  my maternal uncle Sri Vijendra rao  and Sri Anandatheertha rao (H/O Smt Savitri  - known as ‘Saatha’). All the ladies mentioned in the brackets are my mother’s sisters. I am unfortunate not to have known one of the couples Smt Satyabhama (Satyakka) and her husband Sri Venkoba rao, closely  (Sri Venkoba rao actually passed away long time back even before Sri Venkatesha das) and have missed another couple, my mother’s eldest sister and her husband (I do not even know their names) entirely.

The ladies of the family, mentioned above, had their own unique characters and each one of them, endearing in their own way. 

All of the family were highly dignified. It is a pleasure to recollect the way in which they always dressed, spoke and in general, conducted themselves.

I miss every one of them and feel a great sense of loss with each one of this generation passing away. This feeling which had remained dormant surfaced yet again when I received the message for Narayanamava’s vaikuntha samaradhane. A patient missed the appointment providing enough time to try putting my feelings to words. My vocabulary is not sufficient  to put down the feelings exactly and effectively but this will have to do as a tribute to all our elders. 

I might have missed or misspelt some and if so, request my kins to add/correct.