Tarangini A Keralaiyers E-Magazine for the changing times

March 2010

Visit us at http://sites.google.com/site/taranginiki/

Perinkulam

Ratholsavam From the Adukulai:

Aviyal

Carnatic Music &

Nadopasana

Also in this issue:

Kerala Iyers Trust

A write-up on one of the most

successful charities run by and

for Kerala Iyers

Bridging the generation gap

A story of how the older generation

is catching up with the gen-next

Tarangini is an excellent idea because oth-

er Iyer spaces are being used mostly by

older gens. I concur fully the younger gen

should be involved - I think it should be in

circulation of Tarangini , though the young

gen can contribute to Tarangini by articles

etc., because if the culture has to be con-

tinued and maintained, young generation

should have knowledge of what the older

generations have done. After my profes-

sional retirement at my 53rd year I have

been , thru' mail as medium, circulating in

my family and known circle of friends about

our Sanatana Dharma concentrating on

Nita aacharanam as 5min Readable till a

year ago. If you think it will be interesting I

can send you the same. The need of the

hour is to keep the young gen in track else

cultural web sites or news letters will be

extinct devoid of culture.

-K Vaidyanathan

I want to know what sort of feedback I had

received for the contributions I made. This

is a sin qua non for me to think in terms of

relevancy of keying in more and more

words for the subsequent editions. Time,

energy, web space, goodwill and a plethora

of other factors may be lost for and on be-

half of me if I am not diligent on this issue.

If only contemporary issues like making

chakkarapongal and nolumbadai would

attract the crowd, where is the relevance

for Bagavat gita?

-K V Ananthanarayanan

At the outset, I am indeed astonished by this

new innovative thought of e-magazine. I real-

ly enjoyed reading it. It’s a great idea and I

wish all success to this e-magazine. It would

be nice if you could include classifieds in this

magazine.

-Lata Ramaswamy

My dear friends, hearty congrats for a great

job and a great idea. I am one of the found-

ers of the www.keralaiyers.com (the entire

write up is by me) and am greatly interested

in the welfare of our community. I hope to

contribute to your magazine. With best wish-

es.

-P R Ramachander

Reply from Editors:

We would like to thank all our readers for

providing us with their valuable views about

the issues released so far. It is really heart-

warming and pushes us further to improve.

Regarding inclusion of classifieds, we would

be more than happy to include them once a

greater community need arises and we have

established ourselves sufficiently well. We

are still in the process of setting up things.

Some readers and authors alike have ex-

pressed their displeasure at not being able

to learn how write-ups are read and rated by

the readers and in near future, we plan to

include features which will allow readers to

directly communicate with the authors and

rate their articles.

-Hridya

-Navneet

Ungaloodu Abhiprayam

March 2010

Volume 1, Issue 3

Tarangini

In this issue:

Monthly Visheshangal 3

Stories behind the monthly

festivities: Panguni Uthram

and Kodungallur Bharani

4

Bridging the generation gap 5

Kakkai Raman Anecdote 7

Festivities in Villages:-

Perinkulam Ratholsavam 9

Humour—Kerala Iyer Lingo 12

Humour - Such is Life! 13

Carnatic Music &

Nadopasana 14

Short Story & Kirtan

details 16

Kerala Iyers Trust (KIT) -

a write up 17

Bhagavad Gita 18

From the Adukulai 20

Aikamatya Sooktham 22

SUN MON TUE WED THUR FRI SAT

1 2 3 4 5 6

7 8 9 10 11 12 13

14

Meenaravi Sankaramanam @ 21.33 hrs Karadayan Nombu

15

Meenam month begins. Sarva Amavasya

16 Ugadi - Telugu new years day

17 18 19

Shukla Chathurthi Vratham

20

Meena Bharani, Kodungallur Bharani, Saarkara Bharani *

21

Shashti Vratham

22 23 24

Sree Rama-navami

25 26

Sarva Ekadasi

27

Maha-pradosham

28 29

Pournami Pankuni Uthram *

30 31

SUN MON TUE WED THUR FRI SAT

1 2

Sankatahara chathurthi

3

4 5 6 7 8

Saravana Vratham

9 10

Sarva Ekadasi

11

Maha-pradosham

12 13 14

Vikruthi Samvatsara aarambam Mesha Ravi Sankramanam

Vishukkan Sankrama Tarpanam, Medam

month begins.

15 16 17

18 19 20 21 22 23 24

25 26 27 28 29 30

Monthly calender of "Visheshangals" from Panchangams and their significance

March 2010 Meenam/Panguni

April 2010—Medam/ Chithrai

For those living outside of India: It is important that the nolumbu should be at the junction of Kumbam and

Meenam months and since it is fixed at 9.33 PM may be a few minutes plus or minus, the equivalent time at

your foreign location will have to be considered.

- Compiled by K V Ananthanarayanan

* See related article explaining the occasions

Panguni Uthram: This day happens to be the

birthday of Lord Aiyappa. Parvathi Kalyanam and

many other celestial marriages are stated to have

been celebrated on this day. In Palani, people

from the banks of river Kaveri at Kodumudi

bring water pitchers tied in the shape of Kavadi

and offer the theertham as abhishemkam to Dan-

dayuthapani.

On Chathurthi days coming after amavasya or

Shukla Chathurthi, Vratam with mild or no rice

(food) is observed in honour of Mahaganapathi

and in the evening before concluding the Vratam,

Arghyam is given. On Chathurthi days coming

after Pouranmi, Sankatahara Chathurthi is cele-

brated. In Ganesha temples in the evening ab-

hishekam is offered and sumptuous quantity of

Paal Payasam (porridge or rice and milk) is of-

fered as naivedyam. Lord Ganesha is happy

about this day so much that he is said to relieve

the people offering poojas of all unhappiness and

shower wealth and well being on them.

On Shashti days coming after amavasya or Shukla

Shashti, Vratam, with practically no food during

the day is observed in honour of Lord Subrama-

nia and in the evening Arghyam is offered to the

God. On Ekadasi days, both after amavasya and

pournami, mild vrtatam is observed in honor of

Lord Mahvishnu and the Paarana of consuming of

thulasi theertham is done on the next day

(dwadasi morning)

On both Mahapradosham days, vrata is observed

in honour of Lord Siva. Especially after about

4pm in the evening till 7 pm rudrabishekam,

dhara, etc are conducted in all Siva temples

where people attend in large numbers. No food,

even water should be taken during pradosham.

One need not visit any other temple other than

Siva temple during Pradosham because all deities

are supposed to assemble at Siva Temple to see

the Dance of Shiva during that time. When Pra-

dosha falls on a Saturday, it is sanipradosha and

considered very auspicious. On amavasya

days, Brahmins who have lost their fathers have

to offer Tarpanam to pitrs of their fathers side

as well as mothers side.

Kodungallur Bharani: This falls on 20-03-

10 this year. Devotees, most of them poor,

start their journey by walk from far off places

in Kerala and outside shaking a curved sword

with chalangai tingling, clad in red clothes, visit-

ing every house on the way announcing that

they are going to Kodungallur for Bharani and

collecting contributions to be dedicated to the

mother.

The men and women arrive at the Devi Tem-

ple Kodungallur, near Trichur, wearing red or

ochre dresses, women who go as komarams

are practically letter less, but they know they

are one with Kodungallooramma. They reach

Kodungallur by Bharani day in Meenam and as

they approach, they forget themselves. The

Devi is just their mother, many have anger to-

ward the mom because she has not looked

after them well in the way they expected. But

it is their mother and so they present their

views in the most abusive language. It is their

privilege to shout at their mother. But the

mother could understand it because they are

all her children. If they are drunk, she knows it

is out of frustration and partly out of the em-

barrassment to approach the great mother in

their lowly status in life. For the Lokamatha,

the ignorant drunkard who addressed her with

love in the most abusive language and the Ve-

dic pundit who praises her with vedic sookthas

are all her own Children.

Page 4 Tarangini

My paati was just like any other PI paati until a few years ago. She was an extreme orthodox – she wouldn’t enter the kitchen without having a bath and praying to God, she disliked women of the house going out after the evening lamp was lit and similar things. We, the younger generation always were at logger heads with her for silly things she imposed on us – like if we touch the vessel in which milk or curd is kept, she wouldn’t let us touch the rice bowl without first washing our hands, or if we trip on the door step, she ensures we sit down, have a glass of water and then leave the room and the such. Little did we realize that when we ar-gued with her, we actually hurt her ego. As long as our thatha was alive, she had someone to stand by her side. Thatha was a hundred times more orthodox and superstitious than my paati was. But after thatha passed away, she had no one to defend her, and she grew pretty insecure thinking that we were actually picking on her. I do not know who gave her this idea, but it has helped all of us a lot. Someone told her that in order to make us understand her point, she must come down to our level and make us understand, in a way that we appreciate. And that she must change according to times. In modern days it was not easy to practice her orthodox customs, especially as she was living with us in Bangalore. We kids were all in school and college and so there was a regular fight for the bathroom every morning. She

couldn’t afford to first have bath and then start cooking for us. Soon she started accepting the mod-ern way of live. It was a breather for all of us. One fine day, she realized that she needed to upgrade her behaviour to-wards us. She wanted us to feel more comfortable towards her. She thought if she spoke our vernacular, that would make her more approachable. I must admit, we found this extremely cute. Let me cite a few examples: One day she was going to visit a cousin of mine in Salem. None of us knew how to cook, paati would never let us into the kitchen. So while she was leaving with a heavy heart, she told us, “kuttigala, paati vegam van-doodaraen. Geyser la narayya sambar panni vechirukken. Chaapudungo te-la?”. We looked at her totally con-fused. We asked her to repeat. She pointed out to the regrigerator and said, “geyser la sambar vechirukkaen da. Ithra kooda puriyaadekki neengal ellaam enatha padichu kizhikka poraelnu theriyalai”.(she of course meant freezer). Another day, my chitappa wanted to take her to see the venna alangaram in the pillayaar kovil. She says, “illai, naan varalai. Onnoda sucooter la sputnee illai. Naeku okkara bayamma irukkum”. Chitappa looked at us in total disbelief.

Bridging the generation gap

Page 5 Tarangini

- Nithya R

Last monsoon she was sitting by the window and looking at the rain. She turned to us and said, “ethra nalla climayte. Honeymoonukku elaam enathuku aalkaara shimla kkum ooty kkum ellam pora. Ingaye desert aa-tama irukku” (yes she meant hill sta-tion). What amused us even more was the confidence with which she pulled it off. Slowly we helped her improve her vocabulary. Now when she talks, she’s like, “ketela, Ambedkar oda chelaikku slipper maalai potturkaalaam. Inda akramatha kekarava aarum illai paarungo.”. Or the other day she was complaing about the auto drivers, “ellam cut – throating people aakum”.(cut throats) You know, she doesn’t use a lot of English in her language, but she fits in one odd word subtly. Well, my point here is , many many people from our older generation are making extremely good attempts to try and improve their lifestyle, just so that they don’t feel out of place in today’s fast paced world. I must say this is truly laudable. There was a time when I remember, my thatha and paati would scold us real bad if we spoke in English at home. Thatha

would crudely ask us, “ennada Peter’k-ku porandhavan aatama English pesharaai. Tamizh marandaacho?”. but now things have truly taken a good turn. And the best part of it all is that, they do make an attempt to come to our level and help us under-stand our roots better. My paati gives us a solid explanation to all our ques-tions regarding our customs and be-liefs – and believe me she gives us scientific and logical reasoning as to why people used to follow something and then she tells us, “ippo daan technaalagy nanna munneriyaache. Ip-po aaru adellaam kandukkara? Kaala-pokkula iniyum narayya imbrovements varum. Neengal decide pannungo ithu follow pannanam vendaama nu”

Bridging the generation gap

Page 6 Tarangini

About the author:

Nithya Raghunath— I am Mrs. Nithya Raghunath. I’ve done my PGDBM in HR and Marketing.

Used to work for an HR consultancy. But now I am at home writing its and bits now and then online. I’ve published a few of my work on www.8hop.com. I also have published a tiny work of fiction online. I love writing a lot and I am truly glad to have Tarangini as a platform where I can share my ideas and thoughts.

Contd...

************************

Credits: Jeff Stahler, The Columbus DIspatch

About 45 years ago, it was an annual festive event for lovers of puranas and such divine lores, that some great scholars from Tamilnadu like Sengalipu-ram Anantharama Dik-shithar, Manjakkudi Ra-jagopala Iyer, Santhana-gopalachariar, Sivanantha Vijayalakshmi etc would be invited to Palakkad to give discourses on some Pura-na, Itihasam or Bagavat Gita and other Vedantic subjects. Usually the ven-ue would be the front of Thiruvangattappan san-nadhi at Vadakkanthara, or somewhere near Nurani, Palakkad. (Nowadays the Brahmana Sabha arranges similar discourses but there are special chairs arranged for persons who pay money and cold frowns reserved for people who just linger around to hear the discourse.) Old and middle aged ma-mas and mamis would walk long distances to assemble at the venue of discourse. I was very

young; aged around 9 - 13 years and Kakkai Raman mama would take me also along with him to hear the discourses. One reason may have been that he was visually impaired and he felt the need of some-one to keep him company, the discourse tim-ings usually being from 8-30 pm to the mid-night. Somehow, I was a dreamy fellow and I loved to attend such discours-es. But Rama Iyer, as a matter of spe-cial consideration for my late night vigil and long walks, would purchase some “naaranga mittayi” for one and half annas, and hand it over to me with an advice that I should just keep the “mittayi” in my mouth without biting it so allow it to dissolve slowly in the mouth, thus keeping me awake during the dis-course. Being a kid, I would gobble up the sweet immediately on re-ceipt. Nonetheless, I nev-er felt sleepy and listened and learnt the nuances of Ramayanam and Bhaga-vatham at that age be-cause I attended many such discourses. I used to pay keen attention to them, but Kakkai Raman, our hero would doze off

within minutes of start of the discourse and usually I would have to wake him up towards the end of it. The roads we had to nego-tiate were very unfriend-ly and the return path to Sekharipuram, our native village, was a really ardu-ous. There were no street lights and the path was infested with stray dogs, donkeys, old horses which had lost their utility as cart pullers and you can add some reptiles as well to this list. Although there were a lot of other mamas and ma-mis walking back to their respective villages, our hero was obviously slow and I was compelled to fall in steps with him. There was a place called Kuppavandipura where the carts carrying the en-tire dirt of Palakkad were parked and this place was also the rendezvous of donkeys and street dogs. The place would instill mortal terror in me, a boy of ten years, but the hero was nonchalant, al-ways. From this point, we had to take a diversion to our village through a lonely mud track. Usual-ly no one else would be near us as others would have walked home

KAKKA RAMA IYER AND UPANYAASAMS

“The roads we had

to negotiate

were very

unfriendly and

the return path to

Sekharipuram, our

native village, was

a really arduous. “

Page 7 Tarangini

- K V Ananthanarayanan

Page 8 Tarangini

faster. There was one tree called etti maram en route and a Cobra was sup-posed to be occupying the bottom of the tree. In fact, a boy from the village had been bitten by the reptile leading to the boy’s death. So it was always a nightmare to pass through that terrain even in broad day light, then what to say about being there at mid-night!. On one such occasion I was on the brink of tears of fright, when fortunately an old paatti was also return-ing from the

upanyasam along with her two daughters. They had fallen behind their group because it seems one of them had the urge to urinate and so wanted all people to pass on. After achiev-ing their purpose the paatti and the two girls were coming along behind us and the patti was in her vocal best swearing at the two daughters by two un-parliamentary words (1)&#####& and (2) #&&&&&&#, and the old wom-an was repeating these two words like some manthra. So to console me and allay me fears, Our hero told me “ enthukku

KAKKA RAMA IYER AND UPANYAASAMS Contd...

bhayappedanam konthey nam-ma koodey 1)&#####& um (2) #&&&&&&#, irukkaley, pinney antha jagajilly patti-yum, paampu ivalayellam kan-dal nalu nalakku sekharipu-ram pakkamey varaathu” ( my child, why should you be afraid, (1) and (2) are keeping company with us along with that witch of a paatti, so if the serpant sees these three it will not come anywhere near Sek-haripuram for at least four days. The naranga mittay, ka-thakaalakshepam and the paatti and daughters are all part of my memories of Sri Raman.

Dictionary: Naranga mittayi - a sweet solid piece of sugar candy mixed with lemon flavor - it was so cheap those days that you would get about twenty of them for 10 paisa i.e., one and half anna.

About the author:

K V Ananthanarayanan - I am K V Ananthanarayanan, a senior officer in the Indi-

an Revenue Service, a postgraduate in applied Physics with Industrial Electronics as specialization. The culture and divine nature of our country is more dear to me than my own life...I had formal education in Sanskrit, and some parts of Vedas and can use Malayalam, Tamil and a little Telugu in addition to English and Hindi. Post-ed as joint Commissioner in Incometax at Trivandrum, an upper middle manager in the service of India.

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Perinkulam Ratholsavam is celebrated at Perinkulam, a village about 3km from Alathur in Palakkad District. You need to take the NH47 from Pa-lakkad to Alathur ,the town nearest to Perinkulam. A left turn from the highway at Swati Talkies Junction leads to Perinkulam village, the village of our forefathers; a village that today has only distant relations living there. Perinkulam actually comprises of three gramams – Kariot Gramam, Padinjara (West) Gramam and Thekke (South) Gramam. The Mahalakshmi temple is at one end of Kariot village. As you turn into Padinjara village, you encounter the Shree Vardaraja Swamy Temple. Further ahead is the Perinkulam lake that gives the village its name. There is a Siva temple beside the lake, which is considered com-mon property of all three villages. As you move down the road that forms

the main thoroughfare of Thekke Gramam, you come across the Sree Krishna Swamy temple. Near the Krishna temple is the Suryappam lake and you can view the Veezhu Malai from here (the story goes that this hillock was a part of the mountain that Hanuman bore on his back when he returned with the Sanjeevani herb and that a piece of the mountain fell down at this spot, creating the Veezhu Malai). Come Masi Pournami and you can see that Perinkulamites from all over the world have conglomerated for the occasion of Theru and they do so, without fail each year – you can feel the good unanimity and enjoy every bit of it. In the early days, the car festival used to be performed twice a year by 2 Villages combining i.e, Krishnan temple and Siva temple once and varadarajaswamy and mahalakshmi joining to perform. Then at one stage it was decided that there will be only one car festival and all the 4 temples of the village take part in it at one stroke and fixed Pournami day of Maasi month ( Malayalam month Kumbam ) as the day of the Car festival. It is only to make sure that all the people in the villages co-operate and perform the function with a unified mind. The function goes on for 10 days culminating the day after the Pournami day. This year it was on 28th of February. Information goes that the Idols of Varadaraja Swamy and Mahalakshmi were brought from Thirupathi some 200 years ago. The significance of the Theru is the marriage of Goddess Mahalakshmi with Lord Varadarajaswamy.

Every day right from Kodiyettam, we have Poojas starting with Ganapathi Homam and Alankarams, Vilakku etc. sponsored by Devotees (people of the village included). We have Kalabam every day during this season (Chandana Kaapu ) offered by devotees. It is very auspicious to get the Kalabam on the Car festi-val day as it is the day of marriage of Goddess Maha-lakshmi. The villagers of Kariot Gramam belong to Bride (Goddess Mahalakshmi)’s side. On the 6th day of the car festival, people from Kariot gramam go to Varadarajaswamy Temple for “Kalyanam Chollal” with traditional Yellow coconut, Vethalai (betel

Perinkulam Ratholsavam

Page 9 Tarangini

leaves), flowers, fruits (poo and pazhangal) etc . inviting the Groom's side ( Varadarajar swamy ) to come and participate in the wedding. On the day prior to the car festival, Ezhu-nallathu or ceremonial procession with caparisoned ele-phants is scheduled. Each of the temples is colourfully deco-rated and well lit. The traditional decorations that go onto the chariots and the elephants accompanies them. Once Varadarajar Swamy arrives, the Nadai is opened for his pri-vate Dharshan of the Devi. Only after this we devotees get to have a glimpse of the Devi and she with her sparkling smile blesses one and all. Then Varadarajar and Devi sit in

an Oonjal for sometime followed by Thirumangalya Dharanam. The Prasadam is brought in a 5” diameter Charakku – this is full with Idichu Puzhinja Paayasam and offered to the Gods, not seen by us. This is then followed by the Deeparadhana. Subsequently, Varadarajar takes Devi with him in a ca-

prisoned elephant going round the Theru 3 times and puts

her into the Car and leaves for his chamber at his temple.

In the evening, the function starts from Krishnan temple

(Padinyaru gramam), where all of us are offered the ritual-

istic welcome. The Thayambaka with the elephant starts

from there and the elephant starts pushing the theru and

the devotees pull from the other side. It stops before the

Siva temple for the Sivan Temple car to join. The next stop

is at Varadarajar Swamy temple when that Car also joins

and finally the Temple car of Mahalakshmi joins in and all 4 Cars are parked at the entrance of the vil-

lage. The Cars are pushed from the back by elephants and pulled by

devotees enthusiastically from the front.The next evening, people

from Kariot village go to Krishnan temple to traditionally invite them

with Vetthalai pakku etc . asking them to join us for taking back their

Theru.

All the people from the 3 Villages conglomerate near the Theru and all

along the way, the occupants of the houses on either side are offering

panakkam, buttermilk and other coolers to the onlookers . All the 4

Therus go to Krishnan temple and after leaving it there, the Siva Tem-

ple car is left next. Now comes the interesting part. Varadarajaswamy

comes along with the Devi, alights from his car, leaves Mahalakshmi in

her abode and goes back

Perinkulam Ratholsavam Contd...

Page 10 Tarangini

finally to settle at his place. It will be really very interesting if you watch it “live”!; An atmosphere of fes-tivity pervades over the entire village on all the days. On the last 5 days breakfast, lunch and dinner are offered at the Temple in a nearby hall. All the expens-es are met by the temple funds and the devotees also contribute to the Annadhanams everyday. People who have come in just for the festival very reluctantly go back to their homes outside of Perinkulam but the feeling that we will come back for the festival next year, gives some solace!

Perinkulam Ratholsavam Contd...

Page 11 Tarangini

About the authors:

P V Rajan - I am basically from Perinkulam and hail from Kallai family. We

moved to Madras in the early 60s but still keep in touch with our roots. I am very much interested in Carnatic music and I think it runs in the family, we all love music!

Arun P V - I earn my living in the IT Industry but would rather be a tour organ-

iser. I love travelling, photography and Carnatic music, not necessarily in that order. I maintain a travel blog, but write too infrequently. Currently live in Ban-galore with my family consisting of wife, son, daughter and two guinea pigs!

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We Kerala Iyers are unique in many ways. But the stand–out feature is our lingo! It is neither Tamil nor Malayalam! We have been speaking this lan-guage for ages and the usages are getting passed on from generation to generation. This article is not to study the history of our Pa-lakkad Iyers (PI) lingo in detail. Nor is it to teach the lingo to the younger generation. There are some usages in our language which are exclusive to us PIs – these usages cannot be found in Malaya-lam or Tamil. Such phrases make sense to us when we speak but when translated literally into Eng-lish, some of the usages can really be funny. Here I am attempting to bring out the humour hidden in our day to day usages. Rather than just analyzing the phrases one by one, for the sake of humour, I thought of creating a situation where we can see the usages and how funny it would look when translated into English. The story is around a PI family who are on the verge of migrating to the U.S. The family consists of father, mother and a son of around 5 years. The wife is not too well versed in the use of good Eng-lish and in her attempt to master the language before their migration to U.S, she decides to speak to everyone only in English. Let us see how she gets on with her attempt! Her son is going on nagging her to give him some toy, which she does not want to give to him for some reason. While she is fully occupied in the kitchen, the son goes on asking her for the toy. She gets angry and forms in her mind what she wants to tell him “ Yenda ippidi pidungi thinnarai?

Ippidi pazhi edukkathe!”. She translates it in her mind and says aloud: “Why are you snatching and eating like this? Don’t take revenge like this!” Now let us think of another situation. Her husband returns from office. He is crestfallen because a promotion that he was surely expecting went to a colleague. She wanted to console him with some kind words. She thought in her mind in PI lingo what to say: “Ellaam namma poraatha kaalam! Nammal kuduthu vechathu ambadathaan! Vittu thallungo!” What she tells aloud after translation is as follows: “All our insufficient time! We have given and kept only that much! Leave and push!” She went to a neighbour’s house and saw the paati of the house playing with her grandchild. The tiny tot was sitting on her lap and the paati was doing “Krishna Rama Govinda, Rama Krishna Govinda, Venkata Krishna Govinda, Venna Thirudi Govinda, Govinda Govinda Goovinda!” She just thought in her mind how grandmas in U.S will play with their grand children: “Antony Robert Christopher, Christopher Antony Robert, Butter Robber Chris-topher, Christopher Christopher Christoopher!” Then she saw the paati swinging the hand of the child and chanting: “Kai veesamma kai veesu, Ka-dakki pokalaam Kai veesu, Mittai vaanglaam kai veesu”. She formed the translation in her mind: “Swing your hand, swing your hand, We will go to shop swing your hand, We will buy chocolate, swing your hand!”

Let us hope that she masters English language very

well by the time they settle down in the U.S!

Kerala Iyer Lingo - Hari Krishnan

Page 12 Tarangini

About the author:

Hari Krishnan - I was born in Bangalore, grew up in Ernakulam. I graduated in chemistry

from St. Albert's College, Ernakulam, started career as a medical representative and settled in Chennai in 1984. I have been working in Qatar since 1992.: 5 yrs in the field of perfumes & cosmetics and now in a medical company since 2000, in marketing. I am married, with 2 daughters, both well settled. A member of Orkut and Facebook, I created Palakkad Iyer Airlines in Palakkad Iyers community in Orkut. :)

Humour

************************

I would like to share a couple of incidents

which took place in my in-laws house imme-

diately after my marriage. I was married to

my father's own elder sister's youngest son

only. I was just 14 years old.

On the first during the sadhya (grand lunch)

in my in-law's house, my elder co-sister

gave milk paysam vessel with small kuzhial

in it in my hand and told me to serve

paysam on all the leaves that were laid

down. As I was about to begin doing so, she

asked me, "Do you know where to serve

paysam" to which I immediately replied-

"Yes Manni - I know". At that instant, my

mother-in-law came near me, gave me a

stare and murmured softly into my ears -

"See, even if you know something, you

should say - Please do tell me, I will do as

you tell''. I was terribly upset at this, but

out of respect for her, I said "OK Athai,

hereafter I shall do that".

The same evening, my mother-in-law told

me to light the lamp and subsequently

asked me " Do you know the directions for

lighting a lamp in the morning and in the

evening? " Though I knew the answer very

well, I remembered her warning in the af-

ternoon and hence told her- "You tell me

Athai, I shall do accordingly". As soon as I

finished my sentence, she frowned with dis-

pleasure thus-"What ? You don't know even

this too? What a shame.... You mad (adi

prandhe), in the morning, you should light

the lamp towards east & in the evening, to-

wards west"

There were many incidents like these and in

the beginning, I used to shiver like hell. But

after some years, I learnt the tactics of

moving forward each day by securing good

name from all :)

Such is Life! - Ranjani N

Page 13 Tarangini

About the author:

Ranjani N - I am Ranjani N (D/o. Late. Shri. V V Narayanan Iyer of Vellarakad, Thri-

chur), now residing in Bangalore.

Humour

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Indian musical forms are very unique in their own ways when compared to western and other genres of music. Indian music has basically 2 branches:- Hindustani music, which has been influenced by Persian culture and Sufism, and Carnatic music, distinctively a tradition devel-oped in the south. Although music everywhere is for entertainment, the primary goal of Carnation music has been Nadopasana. Nada Brhamam is where the whole universe has been conformed as a form of nadam or sound. Sound has 4 levels according to Indian scriptures: Para, Pasyanti, Madhyama and Vaikhari. In this only Vaikhari is audible, the rest of the sound forms are to be experienced. Carnatic music is developed to use this nadham to reach the para Brhamam. The upasana of that sound is called as nadopasana. In the kriti, Nadopasana composed by Thyagaraja, he mentions how the upasana of nada leads to self realization. All the great stalwarts in carnatic music tried to use nadopasana as a tool to reach that ultimate goal.

Carnatic Music and Nadopasana

Page 14 Tarangini

Sa Shadja (वड्जॊ) Sagar peacock mūlādhāra मूऱाधार (base of

spine) Ganapati

Re Rishabha (ऋवभ) bull bull/skylark svādhishthāna स्ळाधधष्ठान (genitals)

Agni

Ga Gandhara (गान्धारॊ) Gagan goat manipūra मणिऩूर (solar plex-

us and navel) Rudra (Shiva)

Ma Madhyama

(मध्यमॊ) middle dove/heron anāhata अनाषत (heart) Vishnu

Pa Panchama (ऩॊचमॊ) fifth cuckoo/nightingale

viśuddha वळऴुद्ध (throat) Naarada

Dha Dhaivata (धैळतॊ) Dharti horse ājñā आज्ञा (third eye) Sadasiva

Ni Nishada (ननवादॊ) outcast/hunter

elephant sahasrāra शषस्रार (crown of

the head) Surya(Sun)

- Rakesh Ramachandran

The table gives us a glimpse of how each swara in music is connected to our body as well as the Brahman or the supreme spirit of the universe. When upasana is done on the Nada, we can experience the inner sounds and also the levels of sound like para, pasyanti and madh-yamma. Today, we see that students learn carnatic music without realizing the ultimate goal. For them, it is something which gives them fame. Parents send their sons or daughters to learn carnatic music so that they can proudly tell their neighbours and relatives that their child has studied carnatic music or worse, during their marriage proposals !!! This is a very pathetic situation for carnatic music when people use it as a tool to increase their fame and prosperity. This is the chief reason why we do not see any more Thyagaraja or Dikshitar although people are learn-ing more vigorously these days. In the kriti Swara Raga Sudha Rasa, Thyagaraja mentions his own experience of how the sound originates from his muladhara and it reaches the sahasrara and he experiences the whole universe within him. That is the goal of music and when someone reaches that goal, that is when he or she could say to himself that he/she has studied something in this ocean of music. Yaskan, a great grammarian and a Sanskrit scholar says one who does not understand the verses and recites them is equal to a don-key that carries kumkum and does not know the value of it. The onus is upon the people who want to study music especially, carnatic mu-sic, whether they want to be those donkeys or come to a stage where they can also say like Thyagaraja :- “Swara raga sudha rasa yuta bhakti swargapavargamura o ma-nasa”.

Carnatic Music and Nadopasana contd..

Page 15 Tarangini

About the author:

Rakesh Ramachandran - I hail from the family of Thrithalla Krishna Iyer. I am presently working in Jamcracker Technologies in Bangalore. I practicing psy-chology and also Sri Vidya upsana in dakshina marga. My hobbies include writing and reading; I also engage myself in intellectual debates in various topics including vedanta, agama, bhagavad gita, political science, metaphysi-cal science etc.

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Page 16 Tarangini

For the benefit of our readers who are interested in Sampradaya Bhajans. Kirtans, slokams, you could check out the following websites: 1) http://www.acidplanet.com/artist.asp?songs=520018&T=8394 2) http://www.acidplanet.com/artist.asp?songs=681309&t=4950 These 2 websites contain nearly 950+ kirtans, abhangs, geetagovindam, slokams and bhajans sans pakka-vadyams but with sruti potti. There are lyrics for majority of the songs in these websites. These websites are maintained and are a product of one of our readers, Mr V K Raman. Mr Raman holds a mas-ter's degree in finance and grew interested in music from his father who was a Gospel singer. He has been living in the US for the past 27 yrs. He served as an honorary Director of Better Business Bureau, North Alabama for 2 years, Director of Opportunity Center (ARC) in Huntsville, Alabama and was a member of a Task Force for the Step Up Program for underprivileged living in Huntsville Housing. He has been honoured by the Governor of Ala-bama as Executive of the year in 1994 for serving the mentally challenged children.

Bhajans, Kirtans and Shlokams! - V K Raman

Short story: Agasthya and Vathapi - P R Ramachander

There was a great Sage called Agasthya. He was very dwarf and stout. At that time there lived two asura brothers called Vathapi and Ilwala. Vathapi could take any form and Ilwala knew the trick of raising the dead. These two asuras used to invite guests. Vathapi would take the form of a goat .Ilwala would kill the goat and cook it and offer it to the guest. Then Ilwala would call, “Vathapi, come back”. Vathapi then would tear the abdomen of the guest who has eaten him

and come out. This way Vathapi and Ilwala killed and ate lot of good people. One day they invited Agasthya. As usual Vathapi turned in to a goat and Ilwala cooked him. Agasthya ate the cooked Vathapi. At this time Ilwala called, “Vathapi, come out.” Realizing the trick, Agasthya patted his belly and told, “Vathapi, get digested.” As soon as this words were uttered, Vathapi got digested. Ilwala ran for his life.

Our first obligation is to help the members of our own fami-ly. This is to be preceded by the community, if we have the capacity to help others. In today’s world many among us, are financially better off and are willing to help needy peo-ple who are suffering in our midst. Kerala Iyers trust is only a platform to help such poor and unfortunate individuals. Currently the financial assistance is restricted in the spheres of education, health and welfare. Yes, some children find it difficult to pursue their education and Kit had been supporting them to pay up their fees. There are few old people who do not have regular income and no one to take care. Certain people meet with accidents incurring large expenditure which goes beyond their means and income. Diseases like cancer, kidney failure, heart attacks are becoming common even among poor people which drain all their savings and they have to depend on others to cross over these life threatening situations. Con-ducting marriage of girls by poor parents is also often found. Many such Appeals come to KIT with a request directly or through members. KIT was started in the year 2001 Our community is able quickly collect whatever amount needed with lot of enthusiasm. Other community people are ap-proaching us to understand the manner in which we are conducting KIT activities and they want to emulate us and form groups like us. Uniqueness of KIT: KIT is quite different from regular charitable trusts. Yes, KIT became unique in several respects and stand out from other organizations. * Trustees do not have decision making powers to collect or donate. * We should not compel anybody to give funds and it should be their own decision and judgment. * We should be a ZERO expenditure organization. * We should not collect a large corpus and keep an idle fund. * Money to be collected on need and appeal basis. * It should be a transparent organization and anybody can verify the accounts with prior appointments. * Audited balance sheet is to be published every year. Structure of KIT: Kerala Iyers Trust is registered as a Charitable Trust in Mum-bai, India, under the Charitable Trust Act, 1950. The regis-tered office of Kerala Iyers Trust is at 2204, Glen Classic, Cliff Avenue, Hiranandani Gardens, Powai, Mumbai 400 076. (telephone: 91-22-66965746)

KIT operates with inputs from the Local Volunteers spread across the Country and abroad. These ambassa-dors of the KIT would co-ordinate in the identification/validation of the beneficiaries/claims and more im-portantly, the progress of the projects undertaken by the Trust. Volunteers carry out field visit when appeals are received, with their own expenditure. The field visit reports are sent to the Executive committee (who are located at different places) and their opinion is consolidated to arrive at a decision. The opinion of the majority is the final to raise fund or not. The moderator posts the appeal for collection of funds to all our yahoo group members. The contributions are sent directly to the bank or the Trust office. We consolidate the amount received and post the same. Fund raising is often stopped because it overflows. Excess amount col-lected goes to the next cause. Some donors have sent large amount with their specific instructions. It is heartening to note that collection of a lakh of rupees generally do not take more than a week or maximum 10 days after posting of the appeal to our members. In addition from time to time KIT also seeks the advice/opinion of local Samoohams / Brahmana Sabha units in the identification/validation processes. Future of KIT: Yes, KIT is growing steadily. It is mainly due to the whole hearted support of members, work done by the volun-teers and executive committee. Our moderator is doing excellent coordination of all activities of KIT. Kerala iyers trust should further extend its activities and we should have ability to identify very deserving people who need help. We need your support and suggestion to make further improvements in the administration of KIT. Please send your thoughts and suggestions to

KIT@keralaiyers.com. We will put our best of efforts to

make further improvements in terms of accuracy and

speed of execution. We also look forward volunteers who

can work for KIT.

Kerala Iyers Trust (KIT)

Page 17 Tarangini

- Dr Kasi & Mrs. Annapoorni

(For Kerala Iyers Trust)

The scene of war is Kurukshetra, the Dharmak-shetra or the field of Dharma. Dharma has many connotations. The literal meaning, virtuousness indi-cates that ultimately right will be done. Dharma is the name of Yama the God of death and sure he is going to have sumptuous fodder in this war. It is presided over on side by none other than the son of Dharma who again is the embodiment of Dharma. Although the Kauravas are larger in number and army strength, the psychological advantage and pop-ular backing are in favour of Pandavas. The opening words of Duryodhana, the King of Kurus amply re-flects Hamletian dilemma. Even the lion-like roar of the conch shell of Bhishma is subdued by the Pan-chanjanya of Krishna. The entry of Arjuna to the warfield is also very impressive. He has the chariot given by his father Indra, Lord Anjaneya guards the flagstaff and more than anything else Achyutha is his driver- the achyutha who never encounters any fall. Four immaculately white horses drawing the great chariot enters the battlefield, with Arju-na, giving an emphatic command to his driver Krish-na, “oh achyutha take my chariot to the middle of the two armies”. His intention is to have a last detailed view of his own people to whom he is going to bring glory and to the foes who he is going to slay mercilessly. Suddenly a cloud of anguish arises in his mind. On either side he could only see kinsmen, rel-atives by marriages, gurus, friends and at the worst, some evil people. He is haunted by the doubt as to what achievement could match the loss of all these kinsmen, and alternately what virtue can be there in slaying the sinners. For a moment, he tends to forget that the very purpose of his birth is to kill the enemies and mercy for others and self-pity should have no place in his psyche. But his psychological burnout is a fait accompli. He drops down like ninepins on the floor of the chariot declaring to Govinda the Krishna that “I will not fight”

Now the entire focus shifts to Krishna. He had many choices - He could have empathized with Arju-na and as bidden he could have taken him away from the battle. That action could have reduced the death toll in Bharatha war at least by half. Alternately Krishna could have taken Arjuna away from warfront for some time (This strategy actually cost dear for Kauravas where Karna had refused to enter war till Bheeshma was in) but Krishna did something bet-ter. It is meaningless to show kindness and dish out sweet words to a recalcitrant friend. Knowing Arjuna to be a hot-blooded Kshatriya, whose hesitancy was only temporary, Krishna started admonishing and chiding him in very tough words: Kuthastwa kasmalamidham vishame samupasthitham, anaaryajusta maswargyam akeerthikaramarjuna Klaibhyam ma sma gam paartha naithat twayyupa-padhyathe kshudram hrudaya daurbhalyam thykthothishta paramtapa Here I would summarise the words of Krishna, “Arjuna, your mind is turbid, depressed, unbecoming of a sane person. You are inviting eternal infamy; you are behaving like a eunuch. You abandon this state of mind and rise up” Now the great Master reveals his tricks of the trade one after another to drag the ace archer Arjuna from his temporary state of stupor. Krishna is very quick in reading the mind of Arjuna. The prima-ry reservation that plays on the psyche of Arjuna is indecisiveness and sense of inadequacy before an ar-ray of warriors like Dronacharya, Bheeshmapitama-ha, Aswathama, Karna, and maybe to a lesser degree, his hundred valiant cousins. Of course to camou-flage his fear he presents it as his reluctance to take arms against Bheeshma and Drona. “katham bheesmam aham saankhye, dronam cha madhusoodhana, ishubhih pratiyotsyami, poojarhau

Page 18 Tarangini

- K V Ananthanarayanan

Bhagavad Gita—The scene of war

arimardhdhana.” Krishna had anticipated this argu-ment and that is why he does not hesitate to rebuke him as behaving like a eunuch. (It should be remembered here that the same Arjuna, in the garb of a eu-nuch Brihannala, staying in Virata Rajya had defeated the whole Kaurava army including all the so called stal-warts and saved that kingdom from disaster). Another lame excuse presented by Arjuna is that he, along with his army was fighting for the Kingdom and the riches attached to it only to keep their kinsmen in happiness and prosperity and that many of such relatives are ar-rayed in the war against him , willy nilly, offering them-selves to be the fodder for his arrows. Here what Arjuna forgets is that greater number of relatives and kinsmen have assembled on his own side, depending solely on him for victory and restoration of their honour. Now the blessed lord makes his first attempts to drill in some reason into the muddled mind of Arjuna. He starts by declaring that Arjuna was crying over the fate of group which deserved no sympathy; His argument was an exhibition of pseudo intellectualism at its worst. Moreover, those who have real knowledge will not cry over either whose lives have not been lost or those whose lives were still intact, because life was ephemeral. “Asochyaan annwasochasthwam pranjnaavaadhamsch bhashsey Gathasoon agathasson cha na anucsochanthi Pan-dithaah” The Lord goes on to state that the existence of the vital force in the human body was a transient phenome-non. Just as the body starts with infancy and grows to adolescence and maturity and finally to decay related to old age, the cessation of life in one body and the germi-nation of the same in another body (may be it is human or any other living being) is but a natural process and the man with strong mind should not lose his good sense over such occurrence.

Further the one who considers himself as the killer or the one who is taken as killed, both of them do not understand that the former is not the killer and the latter in not the victim, but only time does the trick. “Ya enam veththi hanthaaram yaschainam manyathey hatham Ubhau tau na vijaaneetho, naayam hanthi na han-yathey.” The Atman temporarily attributed to the body through illusion is imperishable. It is neither born nor will it die. “Ajo nithyah saaswathoyam puranah, na hanyathe hanyamaaney sareerey…” Then the lord gives a beautiful example. We wear nice clothes. We wash them many times and use them repeatedly. But when the clothes become torn and colourless, we discard those clothes, and cover our bodies with newly made clothes. In the same way the vital force also takes leave of the body which is ren-dered useless either through injuries, diseases or old age and finds a new body to occupy comfortably. Where is the room for regret in this change of clothes? “Vaasaamsi jeernaani yadhaa vihaay navaani gri-hnaathi naro aparani Thadha sareeraani vihaaya jeernaanyannyani samya-thi navaani dehee..” The understanding of the geriatric process in the body, the inevitability of war, the need for capacity to view at things with non attachment and equanimity are all relevant for all humans as canvassed by the Blessed Lord in Gita. But Arjunas mind is utterly confused. Such gen-tle admonitions could cut very little ice with him. The lord knows it and he reveals more and more tech-niques of reaffirmation to affect the recovery of Arjuna to his normal state of mind and the process unveils over more than seven hundred slokas of Geetha. Hopefully the Lord’s strategy and its success-ful execution will unwind themselves in the future editions.

Bhagavad Gita—The scene of war Contd..

Page 19 Tarangini

Variety 1:

Ingredients:

Vegetables: 250 g of mixed vegetables.

Turmeric powder: 1tsp.

Grated fresh coconut :1½ cups

Green chillies: 5 to 8 nos. according to taste

Curds 3-4 tbsp lightly sour

Salt to taste

Curry leaves : a few

Coconut oil 2 tbsp. (it is the coconut oil which gives aviyal the aroma and taste, hence do not substitute)

Method: 1) Wash and cut all the vegetables lengthwise into 2" pieces 2) Boil the vegetables until just done, with turmeric powder and salt. One should be careful not to overcook

the vegetables: they should remain “crisp". There are some vegetables which cook very fast and some which take a long time.

3) Keep adding the vegetables to the boiling water according to the cooking time, the longer cooking vege-tables first and the quicker ones last).

4) Grind the coconut with green chillies, without using water. 5) Drain the vegetables. Put them in a wide mouthed large pan in mild heat, add the coconut mixture, beat-

en curds, curry leaves and coconut oil and gently toss for few minutes, until all the vegetables are coated with coconut and coconut oil.

6) If using a spoon, be careful not to mash the vegetables. 7) Remove from heat add fresh curry leaves. Variety 2: Ingredients: Vegetables: 250 g of mixed vegetables. Turmeric powder: 1tsp. Grated fresh coconut :1½ cups Green chillies: 5 to 8 nos. according to taste raw mango or extracted tamarind juice Curd - I tbsp Salt to taste

From the Adukulai - Aviyal - P R Ramachander

During the reign of Marthanda Verma, It is said that after the Mura Japam which is held once in 12 years, lots of different vegetables were left over. Each was not sufficient for any curry. It was at this time that the famous minister of Marthanda Verma called Ramayyan Dalawa invented Avial. Since the seasoning for avial is done by raw (uncooked) coconut oil, most people outside Kerala do not like its smell. They have modified it by seasoning using refined oil or oil in which mustard is spluttered. Traditional Keralites do not prefer Potato. They also do not use okra or any other western vegetable. Here I put forth to you 3 versions of the simple recipe.

Page 20 Tarangini

Curry leaves : a few Coconut oil— 2 tbsp. Method: 1) Wash and cut all the vegetables as mentioned in method 1. 2) Boil the vegetables until just done, Add raw mango also as a vegetable. If using tamarind extract pour at

this stage) with turmeric powder and salt. 3) Grind the coconut with green chillies, without using water. 4) Drain the vegetables. Put them in a wide mouthed large pan in mild heat, add the coconut mixture, curry

leaves and coconut oil and gently toss for few minutes, until all the vegetables are coated with coconut and coconut oil.

5) Add 1 spoon of curd after removing from the stove for giving white colour.(optional), be careful not to mash the vegetables.

6) Remove from heat add fresh curry leaves. Variety 3: Keerai Aviyal Ingredients: Vegetables Red Keerai—200g Drum sticks—3 Chakka Kottai—100g Raw mango - 100g Turmeric pdr—1/2 tsp Salt - as per taste Coconut—1 for grinding Jeera - 1 tsp Dried red chillies - 5 Seasoning—1 tbsp coconut oil Method: 1) Cut the keerai and mango in to one inch long pieces. 2) Cut drumsticks in to two inch long pieces. Cut Chakka kottai into thick long pieces. 3) Boil them well along with turmeric pdr and salt.

Page 21 Tarangini

About the author:

P R Ramachander - I am a resident of Bangalore, India. My roots lie in Kerala and my life journey took me to other parts of India before I settled in Bangalore. A scientist by profes-sion and a story teller by heart is how I would like to describe myself. For years I worked in the field of science in a horticultural institute in Bangalore. Soon after my retirement, the poet and the storyteller in me pushed itself out. Among the challenges I have undertaken are the translation of several slokas to English in a poetic form. These can be viewed at www.geocities.com/ramya475/ . I am a poet in a very small way too. Some of my poems can be seen at www.poetrypoem.com/ramya475. My other interests are cartooning, histo-ry and sociology.

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The Aikamatya Sooktham is considered to be the song of unity of the Brahmin, the last stanza of Rigveda.

ऊॉ शॊशममद्दळुशे ळवृन्नग्ने वळश्वान्नयय आ इलस्ऩदे शममद्धध्यशे श नो ळशून्न्या भर ।। शॊगच्छध्ळॊ शॊळदध्ळॊ शॊळो मनाॊमश जानताॊ देळा भागॊ यथाऩूळे शॊजानाना उऩाशते ।। शमानो मन्रस्शममनतस्शमानी शमानॊ मनः शषधचत्तमेवाॊ ।। शमानॊ मन्रममभमन्रये ळः शमानेन ळो षवळवा जषुोमम ।। शमानी ळ आकूनतस्शमानो हृदयानन ळः शमानमस्तु ळो मनो यथा ळस्शुशषाशनत ।।

Thou, Mighty Agni, gatherest up all that is precious for thy friend. Bring us all treasures as thou art enkindled in libation's place Assemble, speak together: let your minds be all of one accord, As ancient Gods unanimous sit down to their appointed share. The place is common, common the assembly, common the mind, so be their thought united. A common purpose do I lay before you, and worship with your general oblation. One and the same be your resolve, and be your minds of one accord.

United be the thoughts of all that all may happily agree.

।।ऐकमत्यशकू्तम ्।।

Page 22 Tarangini

- Complied by K V Ananthanarayanan

S UBSCRIBE N OW ! !

Articles contributed by:

K V Ananthanarayanan Arun P V

Hari Krishnan Nithya Raghunath

P V Rajan Rakesh Ramachandran

V K Raman P R Ramachander

Ranjani N

Special thanks to:

Dr Kasi & Mrs. Annapoorni (Kerala Iyers Trust)

Send us your write-ups/material at: E-mail: ezine.tarangini@gmail.com

Website: http://sites.google.com/site/taranginiki/

Editors:

Hridya Ramani Navneet T Narayan