he looks the way i imagine socrates would have. middle aged, medium height, thick set, checked shirt, big face, bald and bearded, and a pair of thick spectacles perched on a pug nose :-) he sells peanuts on the palghat coimbatore train route - small bundles of some well roasted tasty nuts that i love buying and munching away while i absorb that breathtaking ride. and we converse a bit - he likes practicing his hindi on me, and i enjoy listening to him :-) this is our regular ritual - two "friends" who meet occasionally on a train, connect, and then ride away. happened this saturday too - except that i've been having this cold and cough. so i told him "you see, i have this cold and cough so i wont be buying peanuts this time." "no problems. eat some ginger candy," and he magically produced this cardboard sheet with little squares of a cellophane packed ginger sweet pinned on it. gave me one. ginger sweet? maybe i can buy that! so i took a ten rupee note out and pointed to the ginger candies. "no! no payment!" and he thrust the candy and note back in my hand and walked off angrily. it had been a gesture of friendship, and not salesmanship :-) there was a thoughtful smile on my face as i popped his ginger candy in my mouth and watched his figure gently recede into the distance. potent medicine, his!
this is a world too, where you fight to give and not to take. its not a mythical world of long ago, its a ram rajya that exists too all around us, anywhere where love speaks :-) today is thiruonam the main festive day of onam and its a day in kerala when mother's love sings directly to the stomach and how the stomach gurgles for that onam sadhya - the mother of all festive meals! its always been a joyous festival to experience in amrita - onam. flower decorations bedeck the freshly cleaned homes and campus buildings, the oil lamps add warmth to that beauty, the students look stunning in their traditional dresses, the girls so beautifully elegant in their dance, and the sadhya- the traditional onam meal lovingly served by students to the staff and workers - is something we eagerly await every year. tradition says that the beloved king mahabali is coming to make his annual visit to his people, and the air does get festive :-)
one of the pleasures of being indian is that we sure have a lot of festivals to celebrate! give us the smallest of opportunities and we'll organize a festival around it and celebrate it with flowers, lamps, gay colors, and some great food! every corner of this vast country has its reasons and its seasons and when you put it all together you have one amazing parade of celebrations, each with its own traditions, beauty, and of course, feasts! all those things happening in delhi notwithstanding, this is our common wealth as an indian, and these games i'm always ready to take part in! happy to be a manglorean during easter, a punjabi during baisakhi, a malayali during onam, a brijvasi during holi & janamashtmi, a gujarati during navaratri or a bengali during durga puja, a deepak during diwali, a goan during xmas, and a tamilian during pongal :-) and do remember to bring on those sweets :-)
the food and the ceremony aside why i really love the festivals are that they invariably stand for and remind us about the best in us. i truly do not know religion, or the scriptures, or many stories about our gods. but i do know this, we will each take away from them what we want to, and for me they have always been symbols about the purest, the highest, the mostest that we are each capable of. just as the peanut seller reminded me the other day with his gesture, we were, and are, meant to be kings on earth, and not beggars :-) deepavali is truly about the triumph of light over darkness within us, christmas about the existence of a love that redeems everything. just as onam, they say, is a reminder of the world that emerges when goodness is allowed to rule, and love to express itself.
When Maveli, our King, ruled the land,
All the people had equality.
And people were joyful and merry;
They were all free from harm.
There was neither anxiety nor sickness,
Death of the children was never even heard of,
There were no lies,
There was neither theft nor deceit,
And no one was false in speech either.
Measures and weights were right;
No one cheated or wronged his neighbor.
When Maveli, our King, ruled the land,
All the people formed one casteless race
(translation of traditional onam song, from wikipedia :-)
this song is not only about a time long past, or some unattainable utopia, its about the here and now, and the quality of life we ourselves give birth to, when we chose to rule our world like mahabali did. true, the gods that be may get jealous, we may get banished to some poor quarters far away from where the powerful plot - but what a life it would have been :-) and how richly celebrated!
the flowers have been admired, the lamps stilled, the dances lived, the stomach fulfilled, and the beauties carefully detailed :-) the holiday may be getting over but the festivals always green if you know what i mean, and yes, you've just been. monday morning emailed!
happy onam and much love,
d&s
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