Lula : A majestic new mom

It was exciting times when I was in my ancestral village Mundur. Lula, a stray dog from the area had chosen a big mound in front of our house as the safe haven to birth her pups.

My aunt told me that Kanni maasam ( Malayalam month Kanni – zodiac sign Virgo ) is the mating season for the dogs. It was early December and almost a month had passed since Lula delivered. My paternal aunts and uncle hadn't seen the pups yet. They were waiting anxiously everyday. The day, I arrived from the city with my two kids was the day the pups chose to see daylight for the first time. We were all very excited and counted a total of five adorable pups.

Lula was an amazing mom. She caressed them so lovingly and licked them all over before letting them suckle. It was a beautiful sight to watch. Over the next few days I watched Lula closely and saw how she tended to her pups all alone relying only on her instinctive knowledge.

She would sleep only when the pups returned to the safety of their hole after every feed. The only time she was away was to get her own food. No other dogs were allowed anywhere in the vicinity of her mound. She was very aggressive if she sensed one nearby and barked fiercely. She was fine with us humans close by as she figured we meant no harm.

She was wild and free and yet domesticated in many ways by the close proximity of humans. She lived life on her terms, roamed free, socialized with the other stray dogs, she mated and birthed every year following the rhythms of nature. It was a joy watching her live her life in complete freedom!

Nature's nurturing ways and infinite love bestowed on every mother continues to amaze me day after day!"God could not be everywhere, and therefore he made mothers." - Rudyard Kipling

Medicines from the Wilderness

A few minutes walk from my ancestral home in Mundur, Palakkad is the "Ayurveda Raw Drugs Collection Centre". It has been here for decades and I have walked past it many many times without casting a glance in that direction. On my recent trip back home, I was curious to go in and take a look.

 

 

I walked in with my father. The warehouse had heaps and heaps of dry leaves, stems, barks, roots stacked up to the ceiling. These raw materials are dried, powdered and sent to the Arya Vaidya Pharmacy in Coimbatore where they are mixed and processed to make Ayurvedic medicines to treat all kinds of ailments. The staff at the center revealed to us the potency of these wild medicines when compared to their farmed local varieties. All local, insipid varieties are rejected. Wild black peppers and gooseberries I learnt are very high in medicinal value. 

A native community of medicine men leave early in the morning in small groups to collect these materials. They climb up the mountains and walk all over the wild forested areas and return late afternoon carrying large bundles on their head. These men are experts in identifying medicinal herbs and they know the landscape like the palm of their hands. 

Later in the evening, as I was talking to my paternal aunt about my visit and she told me about the extraordinary health of these men. The daily physical labor and the scent of the medicinal herbs in the pure mountain air was enough to keep them in the peak of health upto a ripe old age.

We are steadily losing these wild areas to cultivation and massive clearing for so called rural development. The key to our health lies deep inside the untouched wilderness. When the wilderness is lost, the ancient medicines and cures will be lost forever. We must preserve and protect the wilderness. The destiny of the wilderness is the destiny of mankind!

"In wilderness is the preservation of the world" - Henry David Thoreau 

"In God's wildness lies the hope of the world - the great fresh unblighted, unredeemed wilderness" - John Muir

Patra Lakshanam: Traits of a Danseuse

Dancers at Kalakshetra, Chennai

 A danseuse is called "Patra" in Sanksrit. This shlokam from the ancient epic "Abinaya Darpanam"  enumerates the qualities of a dancer.

Tanvi roopavati shyama pinnonata payodhara
Pragalbha sarasa kantha kushala gruhamokshayoha
Vishaala lochana geeta vaadhya taalanu varthinee
Paradyo bhusha sampanna prasanna mukha pankala
Evam vidha guna peta nartaki samudhiritha 
(Slim, of great beauty, dark complexioned, full-bosomed, swan like, lovely, intelligent, large-eyed, able to dance according to song, orchestra and rhythm in keeping with the beat. Endowed with precious qualities and a smiling face resembling a lotus flower. All these qualities are possessed by a danseuse )

On my recent visit to Chennai, I had the opportunity to tour the world renowned Kalakshetra Foundation. Every single dancer I met there embodies these qualities to the fullest. This shlokam holds the essence of a beautiful and intelligent woman!

P.S: This description is not complete as I don't know the meaning of the following phrases "pragalbha", "gruhamokshayoha", "paradyo bhusha sampanna" and "samudhiritha".  I plan to refine the meaning when I find out.

Types of Charity : Satvik, Rajasik and Tamasik

While writing the previous post about charity, I remembered that like the 3 classifications for food, Vedic literature also classifies 'charity' into 3 classes. I asked my father and he immediately recited the Sanskrit shlokams (verses) for me and explained their meaning. They can be found in the 17th chapter of the Bhagavad Gita.

datavyam iti yad danam
diyate 'nupakarine
dese kale ca patre ca
tad danam sattvikam smrtam
( Charity given to a deserving person, at the proper time and place, without expectations of any return is considered to be Satvik (virtuous) form of charity).

yat tu pratyupakarartham
phalam uddisya va punah
diyate ca pariklistam
tad danam rajasam smrtam
( Charity performed with the expectation of some return, or the desire for some results, or charity done begrudgingly or for pomp and show is considered to be Rajasik (materialistic/egotistic) form of charity).

adesa-kale yad danam
apatrebhyas ca diyate
asat-krtam avajnatam
tat tamasam udahrtam
( Charity performed at an improper place or time and given to unworthy persons, or charity given without respect or with contempt is considered to be Tamasic (ignorance/darkness) form of charity. Charity that promotes indulgences in intoxication and gambling fall in this category).

My Mother's Generous Heart

As far back as I can remember my mother's handbag was always loaded with bundles of crisp new notes from Reserve Bank of India where she worked as a manager. 

To this day, I have never seen anyone as selflessly generous as my mother. To put things in context, we were an ordinary middle class family of 3 girls. Most people pinched pennies to save up to marry off a single girl let alone three, but my mother never ever showed us a single sign of this burden. 

Mom and me

She was financially independent and controlled her bank account and spending herself unlike my 3 aunts who were also employed but handed over all their earnings to their spouses. Her income was the primary provider for our family as my father was burdened by financial support from his extended family. 

She lived fearlessly and money freely flowed out from her purse. Her acts of generosity to extended family members, known and unknown people are countless. So many people have been touched by my mother's generosity and kindness, all done in anonymity.

• She used to give 5 rupees to beggars back in the days when people hesitated to spare 10paisa
• In the early 1990's she took a huge bank loan for close to Rs 50,000 because her niece asked for a computer. She was paying off this loan in small amounts long after the life of the computer. 
• In 2010, she payed off a Rs 40,000 loan that her house maid, a single mother of 2 small children owed for her tiny house in Trivandrum.
• Around the same time, she again gave Rs 5,000 for this maid's son's education
• She worked in the Ombudsman's office and came across a desperate letter from a poor handicapped man who was being harassed by the bank and police to pay off his loan. Without even seeing this man, my mother wrote out a cheque of Rs 30,000 to clear his loan, simply because she was touched by the man's desperation. 
• She payed 1 lakh rupees for her brother's son's divorce settlement which was later repayed.
• She gave her niece Rs 80,000 when she needed money to build her house.
• She bought the same nieces son a laptop for Rs 30,000 and another Rs 30000 for his education. 
• For years, even to this day she shares the expenses to keep a home nurse to care for my father's ailing older sister.
• My mother wholeheartedly took complete financial responsibility for the care of my grandmother right up to her death. 

The most truly generous persons are those who give silently without hope of praise or reward  - Carol Ryrie Brink 

Capoeira, the Dance of the Slaves

I had never heard of Capoeira until my visit to the old city Pelourinho in Salvador, Brazil. Pelourinho means "whipping post" in Portuguese. This is where African slaves were severely punished and humiliated even for petty crimes. My mind conjured up an image of a tall black man tied to a post being whipped mercilessly. I quickly brushed aside the image and the feeling that accompanied it.

In the old city, I saw a group of men standing in a circle and two athletic men at the center performing an acrobatics of sorts to the accompaniment of strange singing, drums and a stringed instrument. It was a mesmerizing dance ..a mix of martial arts, dance and animalistic moves. I was very intrigued and stood watching for a long time.

I later read that Capoeira was born from the depths of a man's survival instinct as a form of self defence. It was an escaped slave's only hope of survival and freedom against powerful, armed colonial forces trying to recapture him. Capoeira was practiced in secrecy amid the thicket of the plantations, risking their lives if caught.

Despite all these odds Capoeira survived and lives on. It survived because it lived in the hearts of the people who practiced it, who loved it enough to risk their lives to teach others. Anything so sacred will not die easily, its fragrance is too strong to be snuffed out. Capoeira will surely spread across the globe just like Yoga, Karate and other great art forms.

They are not dead who live in the hearts they leave behind. - Tuscarora

"Quiet" Matters

I went in to my son's kindergarten class today for an observational visit. My son's teacher Mr Janzen mentioned that just like his sister, my son too is usually quiet in the class. He also mentioned that the quietness didn't mean that he didn't know the answer, he just was not keen on being very verbal in school.

A few years back I was apprehensive about my daughter’s quiet nature, especially in school. Now I am more comfortable and accepting of this side of their personalities, primarily because I see a lot of the other side of them at home and other familiar environments. They are expressive, talkative and at times quite rowdy.

In today's noisy world, talking more is associated with confidence. There appears to be a need to verbalize everything. Silence is thereby associated with a lack of confidence and social awkwardness. This view I think is mostly a modern phenomenon.

Silence in the old days was associated with inner strength and composure. Silence and quietness was an integral part in learning and a prerequisite for great creativity. When we are silent, we listen more keenly. Behind the silence is a deep process of listening, comprehending and registering. It will do us all some good to embrace silence.

"That state which is beyond speech and thoughts is silence. Learning happens in silence." 

 "Silence is the element in which great things fashion themselves together; that at length they may emerge, full-formed and majestic, into the daylight of Life"

"Silence is the sleep that nourishes wisdom"