The awful Covid-19 pandemic

Note:This was broadcast on the ESD service of AIR on 30 th March 2020 

The world is in the grip of a pandemic caused by the novel Corona Virus or COVID-19.Though there are a number of diseases like polio,measles,flu and the common cold caused by viruses, problems arise when the body encounters a virus it has not seen before. Corona Virus is one such instance. There are three reasons why it is dangerous.Firstly it is a respiratory disease that spreads from one person to the next. Secondly our body has no natural immunity to this virus, there are no vaccines for it and no pharmaceutical products have yet been shown to be safe and effective for the treatment of COVID-19. Thirdly for some of the infected people, the disease can be fatal.
The symptoms of having been infected with this virus are almost like flu. This may include high fever,a dry cough and exhaustion. There may be body aches,shortness of breath ,muscle and joint pain, sore throat, headache and sometimes diarrhoea. It appears to affect the elderly more and those with a pre existing medical condition like hypertension, diabetes, heart ailments, lung disease or suppressed immunity.
The disease spreads largely through droplets that are emitted when someone who is infected coughs or sneezes. These droplets hang on to surfaces like someone’s hands, doorknobs, rails etc and when you touch them they get transferred to your hand and then reach your lungs when you touch your mouth or face. Therefore to prevent spread of this disease a number of precautions have to be taken. One is washing hands with soap and water thoroughly or with an alcohol based sanitiser. Then we should also avoid touching our face with our hands. The most important way to prevent spread of this virus is “social Distancing”. A safe distance from people is about three to six feet. One should avoid crowds so that there is no physical contact. Greet people with Namaste or adab or just a verbal greeting instead of shaking hands.
Many countries of the world including India are now in a state of lockdown. This has been done to ensure that there is no physical contact between people and the spread of the virus is contained. People have been asked to stay indoors and all schools, colleges and a large number of offices and institutions have been closed.
During this lockdown period when we are required to stay in our homes and not venture out a number of situations may arise. When venturing out people should stand at a safe distance from each other. There is no cause for panic if precautions are taken. At home children will be restless. They need to be kept busy. Everyone in the family will have to take on responsibility of household chores as house- helps may not be able to come. In an enclosed space tempers may rise. Keep cool,keep calm. Watching the television, playing board games, learning new skills from each other or the internet are good ways to pass the time.Listen to the radio esp All India Radio which has some of the most educative and informative programmes on air. Go back to the ways older generation used to keep themselves busy with story telling or playing Antakshari.
The government has taken steps to make life smoother for the citizens by arranging for food and vegetable supplies. Chemists shops and other essential goods shops like groceries and home delivery of food  are still open.With active help from all its citizens  Let us hope that this lockdown will help us fight the pandemic and India will be able to contain and control it.

Pongala Mahotsavam—A Festival of Women

India is land of diversity and its different regions have customs and traditions which are very unique and hold a lot of significance. The home of an ancient civilization it has traditions which have been carried on for centuries. It is a land of gods and goddesses. God is worshipped not only as the only absolute “one” omnipresent and omnipotent but also in different and manifold manifestations and with different names, forms and divine attributes. According to ancient puranas, Shiva and Shakti both were worshipped. In India the female form of God has been worshipped with as much devotion as the male form.

No wonder then that in one of the southern states of this country we witness the largest congregation of women for a religious activity. In fact this gathering has even entered into the Guinness Book of World records in 1997 and 2009.The certificate given by the Guinness Book of world record states that: ‘The largest annual gathering of women is achieved by 2.5 million women in an event organized by the Attukal Bhagvathy temple in Kerala India on 10^th March 2009’. A gathering of 25 lakh women in one place. Isnt it amazing? The number is increasing every year and has reached upto forty lakh in recent years.

The Attukal Bhagvathy temple in Trivandrum is an ancient temple and is also known as the Sabarimala of Women because most of its devotees are women. So much so that during the Pongala  Mahotsavam men are forbidden to enter the temple. Several legends are associated with this temple. According to mythology, Attukal Bhagvathy is an incarnation of Kannaki who was the heroine of the Tamil epic Chilapathikaran written by The Tamil poet Ilango Adikal. Her husband was falsely accused of theft and beheaded by the king. Kannaki cursed the city of Madurai and left the city. On her way to Kodungallur she took a sojourn at Attukal.  Kannaki is also the incarnation of Bhagvathy hence Bhagvathy is the presiding diety of this temple. Another story says that ‘Attukal devi’ is Bhadrakali, born from the third eye of Lord Shiva to kill the demon king Daruka. Mother Bhadrakali is a form of Shakti (Mahakali) worshipped mainly in Kerala. ‘Bhadra’ means good and ‘Kali’ means goddess of time. So Bhadrakali is often referred as the goddess of prosperity, time and salvation.

Whatever be the origin, the Goddess in the temple of Attukal is worshipped as the Supreme Mother, creator of all living beings and the mighty preserver as well as destroyer of them all.

Pongala is a ten day long festival Oof this temple and commences in the Karthika star in the Malayalam month of Makar-Kumbham which is February-March by the English Calendar. The festival begins with Kappikettu ceremony when the idol of Devi is adorned with Kappi or bangles.The ceremony is accompanied by musical renderings of the story of Kodungallur Bhagvathy annihilating the Pandyan king and symbolises the victory of good over evil. The temples and the nearby area are decorated and bear a very festive look. The musical offerings, bhajans and chanting of the various names of the goddess continue for nine days. However it is on the 9^th day, when the Pooram Nakshatra coincides with full moon night that this festival reaches its zenith. All roads in Trivandrum are lined with brick hearths and earthenware pots. The area in a radius of five kms from the Attukal Bhagvathy temple is treated as consecrated ground for this ritual and all houses, shops, commercial establishments keep their doors open on this day for thr devotees. Women from all over Kerala start converging to this temple in the very early morning hours of the 9^th day. One can see crowds and crowds of women carrying earthen pots, jaggery, rice, coconut, firewood and going to their designated places on the roadside to build hearths and  cook the Pongala or the sweet jaggery rice in the open, as an offering to the goddess. They wear new saris called Pongala saris. For Pongala shops keep saris for as low as Rs 75 so that even the poorest can afford to wear a new sari for this ritual. The signal for lighting of the fire in the hearth is given by the head priest of the temple at the auspicious time or muhurtam. First the fire in the temple kitchen thadippaly is lit by the chief priest. Then the hearth or the panadara aduppu prepared in the temple premises is lit by the co priest to prepare the Ponagala. This is followed by a beating of drums and then lakhs of brick hearths on the roadside of Trivandrum are ignited and women prepare varieties of sweet rice as an offering to Attukalamma to bless them with prosperity and fulfill their wishes. Of course no traffic movement is permitted in the area around the temple that day and all schools, colleges, offices are closed. No men are allowed entry into the consecrated grounds. The devotees do not eat till the Goddess has been offered Pongala in the nivedyam ritual. This can be sometimes around two pm in the afternoon. After the offering the priests extinguish the fire in the temple hearths.This sanctified water is supplied to all the devotees on the roadside to extinguish their hearths. Now the devotees can go and distribute their Pongala to friends, neighbours, relatives and their family members.

It is indeed an atmosphere of festivity but also of devotion and faith. The women sitting on the sides of the roads, in new saris under the scorching sun cooking on brick stoves with firewood and in earthen pots have a prayer on their lips at all times. Their faith in the goddess is unflinching, pure and absolute. They have lit the flames of faith and offered to the goddess her favourite food.

Pongala also has two more rituals. One is the THALAPPOLI by young girls who make offerings to the Goddess for health wealth and happiness.The other is  Kothiyottam by boys under the age of twelve.They are considered to be the wounded soldiers of the Goddess Mahishasur Mardini . The boys  have done a week long penance in which they have to sleep on the mat, observe strict diet restrictions,stay in the temple, perform 1008 prostrations before the deity in the morning and evening. On the ninth day they perform the Kutthiyottam with the hope that the Goddess will bless them with inner and outer beauty and health,wealth and happiness.They accompany the Goddess when she goes in a divine procession to the Sastha temple in Manacaud reaching there in the wee hours of the morning. After a few rituals she comes back to Attukal and is welcomed with a “deeparadhanam”. The boys are delivered of their penance in an orderly manner. The ten day festival ends with the ceremonial removal of the Kappu and a sacrificial offering called “Kuruthi Tharpanam” at night.

Witnessing this unique festival and the faith of the women devotees is a moving experience and representative of the diversity and richness of our ancient heritage.It is a land where the continuity of our heritage has been preserved.

Us is just a bundle of emotions

What is us if not just
a bundle of emotions
Not work, not just a job
Duties and obligations must
Yet with no feeling, no love,
 Where is the passion?
You look at years and years
And make sense of what you have done
Excellence and success
And all things right.
Touch your heart, look deep within
darkness
No laughter, no tears, no surrender
No one
Just a long line of
Works well done!

We are killing the trees

There were lakhs of us here
Looking at each other
Growing,deeper and taller
Shadier,
Sheltering lives,nests with little ones
The breeze through the leaves
Humming a melody
Holding life together
The clouds stopped to drain
The ground received bountifully
Holding firm the earth .
Sunlight filtered through small holes
Now there are only holes left
Big gaping holes
No breeze sings a melody now
The earth gives way
The sun batters
The nests are going away
Searching for their lost homes.

The path to light

And when the lights shine and
banish the darkness
And a hundred thousand diyas show the path
Evil hides its devilish face
And yet has nowhere to go
It disappears,it dissolves
And negatives words and thoughts
Have no legs to stand
In the dictionary or our minds
The flame twinkles and lights a flame in our eyes
We see the world devoid of anger and hate
Love for everyone and like Ram the honourable king
Whose return to Ayodhya we celebrate
Honour the smallest the humblest
And speak alike to the mightiest
Respect adversaries for their virtues
And wisdom guide us always
And so when the diyas are lit
And the lights shine
Let us be gentle and kind
And respectful
Strengthen and protect our lights
And be mindful of others lights
And so when the mud Diyas are lit
Let us go back to the earth
Repay its debts and promise to
take care of it
And light our paths forever !
HAPPY DIWALI

(Poonam 6th November 2018)

A Beginners guide to the Green

It has been six years now since I first touched a club

A day that made me wander into many a tree and many a shrub.

It was the damndest day I tell you and I cannot decide till now

Whether I call it sad or happy 'cos I really got hooked and how.

The Irons, the woods, the driver, the putter not to forget the wedges

Looked quite pretty in the bag but drove me to the hedges!

I practised and learnt for quite a while and then I hit the course

And mistakenly thought I'd perfected the swing with just the right force!

The small dimpled devilish cheeky thing looked up from near my feet

Seemed to say you may have the balls to swing but I refuse to meet.

You have the back swing wrong my friend, your hand has not to bend

And when I had straightened my hand just so, there was no ball at the end.

I looked up puzzled, scratched my head, I thought I had got it right

The know-all with me smirked and said you raised the arm too tight.

He knows the shots, he knows the distance he knows the club to use

He knows what went wrong with you and his looks will cook your goose.

So the arm was raised just right and the ball was smacked so good

Happy I looked straight ahead to see it vanishing in the wood.

I found I had violated another rule the golden one of all

Sure you may watch nature's best,with your eyes on the ball.

I sighed, frowned, stamped about  and I  worked myself into a lather

And I swore to keep my bloody head down till the ball lost its swagger.

I hadn't reckoned for another error in this unfolding comedy of errors

The follow-through had not been followed through and that was a terror.

The ball is lost, it had to be found or count an extra stroke

While others give you dirty looks as if I was a joke.

The putting hole I can clearly see and think the ball will sink

However it thinks differently and from the bunker gives a wink.

The club is wrong, the birds chirp too much, the sun is in my eye

I knew I could have got this one but for this twitch in my thigh.

I swore I would never set foot on this or any course again,

Never would I touch a club or look a ball or suffer so much pain.

But come morning and I knew I had to go back to the green

'Cos I knew just what I'd done wrong and what should have been.

And so there I was day after day swearing and muttering a threat

Thinking I would quit today and sell my rotten set!

Just then my second was on the green on a hole par five no less 

And I knew nothing was over yet and 'fore' was shouted with happiness! 

Seven kings and a Begum -Qutub Shahi Tombs

Hyderabad is a city of history,of culture,of romance,of culinary delights,of pearls,of Dakhni,of tradition and of monuments.The awe inspiring majestic Golconda fort looks down on the city from its perch and was the seat of power of the Qutub Shahi kings of this land.

I have been an ardent fan of the Heritage walks in any city.For the layperson it gives interesting insights into the history and stories that go with each monument.So it was gladly that I signed up for the Jashn-e-Hyderabad trails and joined a large group to discover the very intriguingly titled  "Seven kings and a Begum Sahiba". From the Cantonment side we pass through the Fateh Darwaza of Golconda fort,go pass the fort on the left and reach the Qutub Shahi tombs.It is a royal graveyard where the seven kings and one queen of the Qutub Shahi dynasty are buried along with about 40 other tombs of their relatives and doctors and even two courtesans.

We assemble at the ticket counter and promptly at 4.30pm Gopalkrishna calls us to order.It is a large group and it is a happy thing to see so many people from different spheres showing an interest in the history of the city.We move towards the tombs and assemble in the gardens of the tomb of Abdullah Qutub Shah.

In the days when the city was not so crowded and there were no high rise buildings the eight domes of the bigger tombs were clearly visible from almost anywhere in the city.The tombs are about 2 kms north of  Golconda fort.Going for a Heritage walk is like a moving story telling session.Just before we enter the main gate where our tickets were checked is an unfinished tomb on the left.This is the tomb of Abdul Hasan Tana Shah,the last Qutub  Shahi ruler who died a prisoner of Aurangzeb and is buried in Daulatabad .He lived the life of a mendicant in his early years and was named Tana Shah by a Sufi saint meaning child saint.A benevolent ruler he spent the last twelve years of his life as a prisoner and sadly is not buried with his family.

Incomplete tomb of Tanashah

 We enter the main complex,assemble at Abdullah Qutub Shah's tomb and start a voyage of discovery of the kings who found this remarkable city and gave a century of peace and prosperity.All tombs are surrounded by gardens and are made on raised plinths.Bulbous domes, parapets, columns,arches, minarets and spires on top resembling the spires on Hindu temples.We are introduced to the  lotus designs,pineapple motifs,some blue and green tiles which originally had been used for the overlay design of the tombs,arches,minarets,galleries,Hindu brackets and pendants Gopal points out several unique features of the architecture and the motifs.

We assemble again at Mohammad Quli Qutub Shah's tomb,the man who founded Hyderabad,built the Charminar and whose 453rd birth anniversary is being celebrated this month.We hear of court intrigues and conspiracies and to the south we can see the Golconda fort clearly where Jamsheed Quli Shah murdered his own father to sit on the throne and how Ibrahim Quli Shah was sent to and  brought up in the court of the Raja of Vijaynagar to protect him.He learnt Telugu and literature and became a patron of art and culture. Ibrahim married a Hindu girl and was thus a tolerant loved ruler.He tells how line of sight and being in the visual space is very important and hence all temples or palaces were built on hills. The Charminar, visible from Golconda fort and from even his tomb,  built by Quli Qutub Shah in the village where for a girl he loved lived  so he could see the place always.But that is nother tale with different versions.

Quli Qutub Shah lies here and in the backdrop is Golconda Fort

There is a mortuary bath nearby where the bodies would be dressed before their burial.Interestingly the gate or tunnel once used for a funeral procession from the Golconda Fort to this necropolis would be sealed forever so that spirits of the dead do not go back.The Hamam is in Persian style and hs channels for the water to flow.
We move to an interesting tomb of Hayat Bakshi Begum,the daughter, wife and mother of kings.Stories say that Aurangzeb came to meet her and was so impressed by her wisdom and dignity that he married his son tio her younger daughter and did not trouble Golconda for next thirty years. Her mausoleum is truly befitting such a great lady the Ma Saheba of Golconda.Next to it is a mosque with pineapple motifs, mashaals and corns,two imposing minarets and calligraphic inscriptions Folklore has it the Aurangzeb being an austere Muslim did not want to offer prayers in  a mosque which was so embellished.So there stands a small mosque just at the entrance of Bakshi Begum's tomb,small,simple,built in a day so Aurangzeb could offer namaz. Another account is that one of the motifs on the arch of the wall looks like a lion and hence Aurangzeb did not offer prayers there and got another small mosque built .Whatever be the truth it all adds up to the mystique of these historic monuments.There were times when  days when they would be covered with carpets,ceilings with chandeliers,and tombs with  velvet canopies and tops with golden spires.Readings of the Quran held at regular intervals.Time is a great leveller.

Inside the tomb of Ma Saheba Hayat Bakshi Begum

Some other interesting tombs are those of two physicians in the court of Abdullah Qutub Shah,which are open from all sides because anyone should have access to hakims at anytime.The famous courtesan Taramati and Premmati are also buried here in the complex of their patrons.

We visited the Baoli or step well  three tier structure which has been restored some three years ago by conservation efforts.The rainwater collected here and was used to water the gardens and orchards of this sprawling necropolis.The walls were cool to the touch and the water collected is now being used for irrigation of the place.

Corridors of time and spirits past and present 

The Qutub Shahi tombs covers a vast area and it would take much more than two hours to explore it.Fortunately lot of restoration work is being undertaken  and one can see signs of work going on.This is indeed a boon for the city and monuments. But the graceful tombs of this Royal graveyard warrant another longer visit to appreciate the dynasty that gave Hyderabad to us,the city,its monuments and its culture.