The Kerala that I saw

I am nearing the end of my stay at an Ayurveda centre in Kerala. I am visiting the state after perhaps a decade.
I must state up front that I have always felt a love for Kerala. I don't know why.

This time I expected a lot of changes - basically a more urbanised place, with Bollywood influences and ubiquitous smart phones and traffic snarl ups.
Let me tell you what I saw:
1. The people here (this is a village sort of place) are surprisingly rustic even now. No trace of urban influences.
2. Keralites are still quite uncomfortable with English.
3. This place has discipline and hard work. I find a very attractive trait of job focus. I didn't hear  about this before - people said the folks are agitationist work-shirkers. In fact I read a couple of days back that 80% of vegetables consumed in Kerala come from Tamil Nadu.  And they found out there is very high pesticide level in them. When I asked a veteran from Palakkad why they don't find a way to grow their own vegetables, the answer I got was that they are too lazy.
But at least in this place I find people to be punctual and hard-working.
4. I saw some movies on TV, TV reality shows and a movie award function on TV. Most women continue to be buxom, Mohan Lal is fighting goons like when he was a 25 year old slim man. Given his girth and age, it must be a challenge for fight sequence choreographers.
5. There is hardly any influence of North India on the cuisine here at least.
6. It is green, beautiful, rustic as I saw it 25 years ago.
7. They still believe in melodious music. Most music I hear is raga based.
8. Lots of temple music carried over the wind to my ears - thrills me morning and evening.
9. People are up front, smiling, no politics it seems.
10. I like this Kerala. Of course I didn't touch Trichur or Kochi etc. Maybe they have all changed a lot.

It's God's mercy that we have green and simple places still in India.

Elephant Medicine

I am at Gurukripa Ayurveda Heritage centre near Pattambi. This is run very well by Dr. Unnikrishnan and Mr. Krishnadas.
It's been two days,  and I have met the doctor thrice. We have conversations about medicine, life style, yoga and guru etc. Especially about the Guru, we both agree that finding a real guru is a rare blessing. We mention Ramakrishna Parahamsa. Adi Shankara. And I ask him about his guru.
"His name is Sri Nilakantha Namboodaripad. I am really lucky to have met him,  right here. I had heard about the Himalayas but I didn't know if there were real gurus there. But here, I was lucky to meet my master Sri Nilakantha Namboodaripad, when I was 14.
He knew and taught me many things: yoga, meditation, ayurveda,  chikitsa, martial arts,  even elephant medicine.

"Do you know that the science of caring for elephants has been documented in texts? As much as or even more than treatment for humans! There is an ancient text called Paalakapyam (see the link in the end)

"To treat an elephant is very difficult. We have to sit, maybe on top of a tree,  and watch him for several hours. Then only we can understand the medical problem and give treatment. We have all the same treatments for an elephant - kashayam, dhArA...

"I was lucky to find such a guru. That is why we have dedicated this hospital to his name. "

Postscript: This place treats only humans. Right now 32 people are undergoing therapy. It is more a wellness centre than a critical care  place.
The elephant photo is from the  internet  taken at Guruvayoor temple
 http://gurukripaheritage.com  

Elephants in Kerala Culture 

Reconciling Myth and Science

The Hindu is joining the discussion about laughable claims made nowadays in regard to mind-blowing scientific and technological progress in ancient India. Authors who ought to remain buried are being given a voice to mouth inanities about the need to be rational and scientific.
Read this:
Scientists debunk ancient spacecraft claims

Now I think even I have something to say on this:

1. Old Indian mythology is full of inventions that compare well with man's latest and greatest inventions. Rama's arrow that he diverted from drying up the ocean before the Setu was built is supposed to have created a desert when it struck northwest India. Pushpaka Vimana, miraculous multiple births etc. are commonplace.
2. Our rishis had astounding observations on astronomy and pathbreaking contributions to mathematics.
3. Nobody in his mind will dispute 1 and 2.
4. That ancient Indians made spacecraft and head transplant etc. are only a part of legend. They cannot be extrapolated to actual scientific and technological constructions because ancient India was not so keen on developing experimental set-ups, the rishis were basically thought leaders.
5. Ayurveda, metallurgical marvels, and our progress in areas like food cultivation, textiles and jewellery are actual achievements from ancient times we can verify and be proud of.
6. If we believe ancient Indians were scientific, we also have to understand they would not make fabulous and unprovable claims. They would welcome the evolution of science in the west eagerly as AN EXPERIMENTAL IMPLEMENTATION OF THEIR THOUGHTS AND CONCEPTS. The resultant inventions and discoveries would be welcomed by ancient Indians as much as by the western scientific community.
7. In any age and time there are charlatans, progagandists and crazy scientists. Being an ancient civilisation, India would have had its due share of them.

Let us celebrate the Iron pillar. Mohenjadaro and Harappa. Dwaraka. Taxila and Nalanda. Brihadeeshwara temple. The Taj Mahal. These are more than enough to show how great ancient Indians were. Our languages, our cuisine, our yoga, our music, our dance, our festivals, our clothes and adornments, are all proof that we belong to a fabulous and glorious tradition of science and culture. We don't need to fly kites or launch spacecraft 7000 years ago. Or indulge in head transplant to show how great we are.

Finally, let us understand human civilization, science and technology is still a works in progress.

Pravasi Bharatiya

NRI Anthem

Born in a dusty backstreet,  just like you,
Some time,  somehow, I flew over here.

Made my mark,  made my dough, learnt to drive on the right.

But inside me, like bucolic bacteria, grew home-sickness.

True I  was given the key to this city.  True I won patents for obscure inventions. True I found a cure for cancer.

But I still missed my sundal, that nagaswaram in the pandal, some hot prasadam at the car festival.

So I erected a replica temple. I founded my Sabha called Shabash. Imported priests, artistes and caste marks.

Call me "that NRI" . It no longer hurts. Call me a caricature in Bermudas.  I don't care.

I have arrived home. I don't need a visa for Margazhi.

Life's choices : accepting and rejecting

This brainwave of a matrix came to me this morning. We can either accept, reject or choose Life. We can accept, reject or choose God.  By Life I mean all that we see around us and all that happens to us. By God I mean the supreme Truth or Being experiencing which symbolises the ultimate experience of liberation.
Whereas accepting and rejecting are obvious terms,  choosing means making it the basic driving force of our life. Choosing means pursuing and prioritising that choice always.

So the nine types are:
Bhogi- he rejects God and Chooses Life.
Rogi- he rejects Life,  he rejects God.
Humanist- he rejects God and accepts Life.
Dharmi- he accepts God and pursues Life.

Tyagi -  he rejects Life and accepts God.
Bairagi- he rejects Life and chooses God.

Yogi- he accepts life and chooses God.
Buddha- he accepts Life, he accepts God. He is choiceless.
Sadguru- he chooses Life,  he chooses God. He lives amidst everything and integrates Life and God.

There are many states from Rogi to Sadguru. One can be pro Life and be a humanist. One can be rooted in righteousness and be a Dharmi. One can be a renunciate, Tyagi. One can move from that position towards God as a Bairagi. He can become a Buddha.

(The Buddha shown above came from Myanmar courtesy Kiran Kannappan.)

Tooth in my fries

News.au report: 

A HUMAN tooth was found in french fries sold at a McDonald’s in Japan last year, the firm said Wednesday, the latest in a series of woes involving contaminated nuggets and a chip shortage.A customer complained to the Japanese arm of the fast food giant after finding a foreign body in a serving of potatoes from an outlet in Osaka, two senior vice presidents told a press conference in Tokyo.
An independent investigation ordered by McDonald’s determined that the object was a tooth but concluded that it had not been cooked, said McDonald’s Japan senior vice president Hidehito Hishinuma.

Now I am thinking, how would a great dancer like Padma Subrahmanyam depict this with nava rasa bhava sancharis?

1. Adbhuta: This is the obvious. Imagine finding a tooth with your fries. It makes you sit back, open your eyes wide, and say, "what miracle is this, a real tooth in a real favourite of mine!"
2. Hasya: You're on your way home from the dentist, with your extracted tooth nicely wrapped up in a napkin resting in your breast pocket, and you find it in your bag of fries!!!! Surely that deserves a toothless smile. It's the tooth's way of saying good bye with due decorum.
3. Sringara: this is a bit of a stretch, but Padma will pull it off. She will show a daughter-in-law gloating over the tooth of her erstwhile tormentor, her M-I-L, duly sent away to the next world, now cringing forgiveness after making an appearance in her bag of chips. "Teaches the M-I-L right, now I can have all the good times with my man!"
4. Shanta: I am The Yogi @ McDonald’s. I stare at everything, a bag of chips, the Big Mac, a human tooth, all with the same equanimity.
5. Karuna: I call the store manager, calmly point at that tooth, and see his horror at the discovery and the pathos in his eyes as he sees his plum job saying good-bye to him, and I say, "don't, worry, I won't tell." Maximum compassion.
6. Bheebhatsa: a child finds the tooth. He says, my God, that school bully has planted this to spoil my meal...now the whole bag of chips has to be trashed....
7. Raudra: Strict Vegetarian, vadhyar types, goes into a paroxysm of anger at finding the tooth, and that means the only thing he might reasonably eat in goddamned McDonald’s is now shown to be pure Non-veg.
8. Bhaya: The girl at the counter, and this is her first day in the McDonald’s, sees the tooth coming back on a tray carried by the livid customer, demanding an explanation. Job Chuss?
9. Veera: Headline: "Famous palaeontologist discovers the missing link in a bag of fries!"

What makes the world go round?

It is the grand grand finale of the Kaun Banega Karodpati. Big B has invited the four biggest names in Indian cinema:
1. Aamir Khan
2. Salman Khan
3. Shah Rukh Khan
4. Rajnikanth

The BIG question, with the GRAND PRIZE, is going to be asked and the one with the right answer will win the GRAND PRIZE.

The question is asked in a solemn voice by Big B:
What makes the world go round? Each one has to give the answer, and in the end Big B will give the right answer. They draw lots.

The first to go is Aamir Khan.
His answer:  Planetary Motion.

The second to go is Salman Khan.

His answer: US Dollar.

The third to go is Shah Rukh Khan.
His answer: Love.

The last is Rajnikanth.
His answer: Curd Rice.

There is a deafening silence. Big B finally rolls his eyes towards Rajni and says, "Of course, ladies and gentlemen, Rajni has the right answer. He is always and forever the BEST. HE GETS THE GRAND PRIZE.

Rajni says, "Wait, macchan, no hurry. Let me explain my answer for your billion viewers., Let them understand the GREAT TRUTH.

" The world goes round no doubt following the laws of planetary motion. Aamir seems in a way  to be right. But the question is what makes the world follow planetary motion?

"Salman said, US Dollar. That also sounds quite precise. After all, everything, including all the armies of the world, all the banks of the world, all the governments of the world, all the jobs of the world, need the backing of the US Dollar. But actually, the US Dollar goes round in correct and wrong ways around the world, but why?

"Now Shah Rukh gave the text book answer. But it is actually a British conspiracy that spread the word about Love. Love is a nice thing, I myself like it quite a lot, but is that a special thing? Even if the world did not go round, it would be still there.

"Big B, your Big question for the Grand Prize is about WHAT MAKES THE WORLD GO ROUND!!!????

" Now my answer is Curd Rice. Credit to KBC for having given the correct answer also as one of the options.

"You know better than anyone else that the oldest, grandest, most scientific, most powerful civilisation in the world is the TAMIL CIVILISATION.

"All cultures, languages, sciences, everything, was invented in Tamil. Even Sanskrit and English and Physics and Maths. Now the world goes round because of Tamil Culture.

"But what is the most important, key, thing in Tamil Culture? CURD RICE.

"Let me tell you the story. Sage Agasthya came down to Tamil Land and created the entire race. He made them the greatest civilisation. They were better than Asuras. They were better than Devas. But the Tamil people were very upset. They told Agasthya that the gods had got Amritha or nectar of immortality from churning the ocean. The demons had got immense power, and the biggest of all powers is the power to do Tapas. So they could thrive even without Amritha.

What about the Tamil people. They threatened Agasthya that he would be in serious trouble if he did not give them something better than Amritha.

"Sage Agasthya meditated for 1000 years. At the end of it all, he was tired and hungry. But he had the answer. It had to be CURD RICE!!!!

"Curd rice is better than Amritha. Every Tamil civilised man, woman, child and creature eats it at least twice a day. They carry it secretly on trains, planes, to schools, colleges, and even in space ships while testing them in ISRO and NASA. Google, Microsoft, Apple, NASA, everybody serves curd rice in their canteens. All airlines serve curd rice. All trains and buses stop for curd rice.

That makes Tamil people intelligent, happy, and powerful. They fly around the world. They rock wherever they go. They control science, industry, weaponry, politics, movies, music and love. They are singularly driven to achieve. And that drive comes from Curd Rice.

"Take away Curd Rice. The Tamil heroes and heroines will be powerless and witless. The world will stop going round. Period."

Thunderous applause. GRAND PRIZE. RAJNI RISES TO STRATOSPHERE, FOR A MORSEL OF CURD RICE.