A tale from the life of Marudhu Pandiyar

I heard this touching story from my friendly Aasiriyar- David Ayya. I cannot help but recording it online and sharing it with all.
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The Maradhu Pandiyar brothers were the rulers of SivaGanga, who fought the British and declared independence long before Rest of India even planned the First war of Independence(1857) ! Click for a short history of Maruthu Pandiyar

The brothers didnt exactly hail from aristocratic family lines, but were normal people. By virtue of their bravery and skills, they rose among the ranks and occupied top ranks of Defence ministers, and Commanders of the armyin the court of the then Queen Velu Naachiyaar. After her period, they took over the reins of the kingdom, and were generally loved and accepted by their subjects as their legitimate rulers.

The story relates to an incident that happened under their reign. They built a temple to Siva (Kaalaiyar Koil)during that period and held the consecration ceremony. A huge chariot (ratham) was built to carry the Lord's idol in a procession, and all preparation were done to start the procession , in this brand new chariot, pulled by thousands of devotees.

But the twist in the story starts when, the chariot refused to budge an inch from its original position, despite the best efforts of young, strong devotees. That was a surprise since the chariot itself looked constructed correct to the specifications, and nobody could find the reason for the physical stubbornity of the chariot.

The embarassed Maruthu Pandiyar , were very keen to see the procession moving, and summoned the skilled constructor of the chariot(Achaari), to help them in this tight situation. The carpenter suggested that the chariots refuse to move, since its constructor has not been paid for his services. The ruler-brothers offered reasonable amounts or precious articles worthy of his work and actually apologised for their negligence in prompt payment.

But the adamant carpenter had other plans, and calmly refused all these costly gifts. He demanded to be the king of the country for just one day, and on the very same day. The crowd was certainly shocked at this request, and heaped curses on this man, for his opportunism and unreasonable greed for holding high position. But Marudhu Pandiyar were true devotees, and were only too ready to give up anything for the religious event to be successful. They accepted his demands and crowned him King for that day. This also meant that the carpenter occupied a seat near the God's statue on the chariot thats actually reserved for the King himself.

The rally continued, and while the Maruthu Pandiyars walked alongwith the crowd, the chariot and its occupants rode high above, passing over undulating terrain on the way to the temple. This required a large effort by the pulling crowd, when they had to pull it up the slope, and also when they had to control the pace when the chariot went down-hill too.

One particular downward slope was particularly demanding, and all of a sudden the harnesses gave way and the chariot raced downhill threatening to crush some devotees on its path. After a major struggle, the able men took control of the run-away chariot, after it had come to a stop due to a casuality that occured. A man was trapped in between the wheels, and that apparently stopped the chariot, but after inflicting mortal wounds to the poor devotee. And this was none other than the carpenter king who had lost his balance in the commotion and had fallen to the brink of death, bleeding profusely having been badly injured by his own work of craftmanship.

In his dying moments he held out a piece of papyrus manuscript, which appeared to be some kind of ancient poetry. It was deciphered , and the complete picture reached the people who had cursed the One-day king. He was found to be a firm believer of Naadi astrology and the manuscript had the predictions for the day. It contained the statement that the King of the country would have to die an unfortunate death, at the end of the chariot procession !

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I heard this story right after watching the movie Rang de Basanti which has the main characters killing the corrupt Defence Minister of their own country !

என் சுவாசக்காற்றே

கரங்கள் இரண்டில் மென்மையாய் பற்றி
என்னருகே உன்னை அணைத்து இருக்கி
என் சுவாசக்காற்றினை உன்னுள் ஊற்றி
மூங்கில் தோள்களை உடையவள் பெயர் சூட்டி
நித்தமும் உன்னையே முத்தமிட்டு இசைப்பேன்
மூங்கிலால் இறைவனே படைத்தறுளிய - என் குழலே !

Yesudas enthralls..

The man with a golden voice was here yesterday(21 Feb), in connection with the consecration ceremony of Arulmigu Velmurugan Gnanamuneeswar Temple in Sengkang, Singapore. I was a bit sad that I had to miss music class, to attend this one, but it was a pretty good lesson in music by itself.

Attended a whole lot of Indians and locals, more than half of them standing, the President of S'pore SR Nathan was one more fan of Yesudas' musical evening. He sang mostly devotional songs, but included wise quotes, tips and light humour to make it a pleasant combo.

Some memories :
Yesudas took efforts to explain the raaga, and the special significance of the song lyrics and ofcourse the actual rendering of the song. All this was appealing a lot to a beginner in classical music like me.

He explained a raga, whose name I forget, which differs from Hamsadhwani by only the rishabam, and clearly sang and highlighted the beauty of the jeevaswara of that raaga. I understood the true importance of jeevaswara only then.

He quotes while offering his gratitude to his Gurus, there are no separate Gurus in any field of study or art. Its the force of the supreme Guru - God himself, who manifests his power of knowledge in the form of the worldly teachers, gurus and masters who in turn impart the skill to us.

He also did a amazing demo, saying that he was trained by his father to be able to sing with or without the mic/amplifier. This was in contrast to, he said ,to the younger generation of singers who preferred to sing in husky voices hoping to sound sexy.
Then he slowly moved the mic away, switched it off, and sang a few verses. I was standing quite far away , and the crowd was probably more than a 1000 strong. As the the people were keen and silent, even the last person could hear him singing, even the gamaham were clearly audible to me. Wow !

After a few enjoyable songs, he was winding up with the Mangalam dedicated to Lord Ayyappa, stopped suddenly and said "Lord says, sing praises to my brother before you sing in praise of me". He had apparently forgotten to sing a beautiful song dedicated to Lord Murugan, which was written by a Muslim author, music composed by a Hindu, and ultimately sang by a Christian(himself)!

I have never heard any of the singers like SPB, KJY in person, and this experience was quite an unforgettable one for me.

A date with Bugs Bunny

Shot in Ooty, India in Nov 2005 near market at Ooty Lake
Speed: 1/80s,Focal length f/6.3, ISO 200

A kind of Chain Smoker

Shot in Clarke Quay,Singapore on 31st Dec 2005,
Shutter speed (1/250sec), Aperture f/13.0, Focal length=78mm equiv, ISO 1600

Meddling at Manukan Island

With one more day to kill after climbing down the stairs to heaven, our tired limbs allowed us to enjoy a trip to a tropical island near the city Kota Kinabalu, Sabah.



After a while I got just too tired for snapping any more pictures and decided to snorkell near the coral reefs. I shall delibrately avoid to qualitatively describe with formidable adjectives, on how incredibly fascinating it is, to swim with the brilliantly coloured fish, deceptively beautiful corals and slimy sea-cucumbers in their own naturally suited habitat !

The Descent of ulabaniK

I have always believed, that if the return journey is as exciting as the onward, only then a trip seems fulfilling. A strange rock which resembled a 'thumbs up' sign served to reinforce the point :)


In this case, it was actually better on the way down the mountain , since the sun was up, and we could see the impressive rock structures, going on and on for miles. The first shock came as we saw the steep climbs for the first time in daylight, and found it hard to believe that we actually climbed up the same way in complete darkness !




Here again its impossible to bring about the massiveness of the many peaks and my already wet camera system further gave poor results. Anyway most of it has been captured streaming video my own memory cells, and am waiting for somebody to develop an interface to download the stuff!

Sunrise at the Summit (4096m)

Easy Goal :
Wake up at 2am, and start climbing to reach the top of Mt.Kinabalu- Low's peak at 6am to view sunrise

Operating conditions :
Complete darkness except for star-studded sky(pretty obvious at 3am?),
Temperature 10 degree C, to a minimum of 5 degrees at peak,
Steep uphill climb over sheer rocky surface with just a rope for guidance
Rapid chilly winds, with light rain for some "cool effects"
Rarified air causing shortness of breath, demanding frequent stops

Physical conditions:
Headache (not a hangover:), body pain, and mild fever from prev night, dry cough from previous week, violent shivering due to rain,wind and insufficient warm clothing(insanity in hindsight!), Nausea and slight giddiness due to high-altitude.

Mental conditions :
"This is craziest thing you have ever done. Why the hell are you doing this ? What are you going to gain in 'real terms'? You dont want to fall dreadfully sick up there. Its better to stop now, that return in a stretcher. Its time to QUIT ! Now !"
the above running in an infinite loop in the head, on top of the headache.

Results:
Exhilaration on reaching the peak in good time, wait in biting cold conditions.
Realise at 6.30am, that its too cloudy to see any decent Sunrise :(
Climb down hastily, not because there is nothing to see, but it had started to rain, and rocks would soon be slippery.

The most difficult part was to capture the faint sunrise, and "We were here" pics, because a shivering hand , and some wet lens dont produce a razor-sharp image !




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Nothing , really nothing else could justify all the pain, than the unique feeling of achievement that grasps the sinews of your heart in such moments. All this also makes me realise the greatness of all the mountaineers, who have battled and some conquered mightier peaks, snow-clad peaks that are more than double the height of this one, belittling my ascent.. The difficulties in their efforts is presently unimaginable to me, but their joy certainly is.

I finally stop at this last thought : Nothing on earth except Mother Nature, is stronger than the power of the human will.

A Night at Laban Rata

At the end of this ascend was our over-night stopover at Laban rata, at a surprising well equipped dorm-style lodge. A few guys were playing a kindof leg-volleyball(i forget the name of the game), but most people were enjoying a well-deserved rest sipping hot chocolate or tea and viewing the sunset.

Apart from the rest, the stop was also to get used to the high-altitude sickness/effects which were beginning to show, in terms of thinning air, headaches, and feverishness.

The number of nationalities of men and women at this place was staggering, and it was nice to see all of them focussed on to one common goal. Labanrata is situated above the level of the low-clouds, and the view was very similar to being seated in an airplane.

Upto here it can be termed as a climb of moderate difficulty, but with some basic fitness and regular rests, most could make it to this level. But the attempt to the summit of Kinabalu - Low's Peak(4096m), making it the tallest peak in SE Asia, is better avoided by the faint at heart(and body), very young or very old people.

Middle Earth at Mt.Kinabalu (2500m-3200m)

The whole experience from here on was completely new to me - the vegetation, the landscapes, the very look of the place and ofcourse the feeling. I found myself taking more pictures here, but barely capture the desolate beauty of this place.

The dense forest thinned down, and so did the air. They were replaced by wind-battered trees and logs, shrubs and hardy flowers and the image of the clouds amidst the blue skies. As the mist started to descend on us, the cool moist air caused the full-shirts to be put on. Most people were awe-struck too, and the usable adjectives thinned down like the air.

I hope the photos give "a better picture", but if you want a better idea, go there yourself !

At lower altitudes of Mt Kinabalu(1500m - 2500m)

Its time to move on the experiences and visions we saw on the way to the top. The initial phase of the climb was in high spirits, as you can see in the pics where my friends Praveen and Ananth have all the energy to 'pose' for a shot(actually stealing some rest). The small, lithe man is Mollonius Tinggal, who was our mountain guide and impressed me with the effortless ease with with he seemed to conquer the mountain(thrice a week)- his simple method- "do it one careful step at a time" ;-)

The forests were dense, with vegetation everywhere and the temperature and humidity quite high. Most interesting were the smaller plants, wild orchids ,ferns and mosses which gave a impression of a green sari woven over the mountain (pachai pattaadai porthaal pola- Bharathidasan on seeing SriLankan Kandy mountains). The climb was well organised by the authorities, and there were small huts with basic amenities at every km of the 6km trek.

There were quite a few climbers that weekend due to Chinese New Year holidays in SE Asia. While the fittest were cruising up, most others were trudging along, taking ample rest wherever they felt like. Dont ask me how I fared, since I dont like to boast nor try to be modest, I prefer to be hopelessly uninformative on such personal matters :)

"A Lesson in Botany" by Alfred Hitchcock

One the way up the mountain, we trekked thru tropical lowland rainforests, and was packed with flora and invisible fauna. One particular species that caught our attention (with some help from the guide ofcourse) is the pitcher plant. And we also managed to catch the picture of one adventurous bug like us, who decided to checkout what it feels like being in the depths of hell. There were some specimens sized upto a 2Litre capacity, but none were (fortunately) six feet high..!

Waking up one morning

After a sound sound-less sleep at Rose Cabin, we woke up and peered outside the balcony door to get a first look at what we were supposed to confront in the following days- Mt.Kinabalu. The prev evening it was hiding behind clouds, and the first look was impressive, and we were a bit scared at the prospect of climbing outof bed, and having to climb it.

A Rose at the Rose Cabin

Probably the most photographed species in the world..! Okay..Okay..second only to the female version of Homo Sapiens.

Kinabalu Park Headquarters

Anybody attempting to climb Mount Kinabalu, cannot miss the Park Headquarters(Brown-red hut). They help organise the climbs, provide the useful facilities, arrange for the mountain guides, and even provide a summit completion certificate..in short make an inconvinience into a memorable adventure.

We were blessed to get acco in a place called Rose Cabin, (oft misspelt Heaven) and was one of the most scenic low-cost hotels I have lived in. Except for a small mishap where they added some curled-up prawns to a Vegetarian fried rice dish, our stay was very pleasant there !

Klicking at KLIA

This was my first visit to Kuala Lumpur International Airport, and we reached there "early morning !" at 0330hrs. We were to catch the flight to Kota Kinabalu and had 5hrs to kill. While my friends decided its completely natural to grab a nap,I decided to wake up the camera, and (wake them up to pose for a few pics). And here are the results.