Islam and Kothai...

I tread this path carefully.. why is that all of a sudden I started this comparison? How is kothai related to Islam? She adored the deities of Srivilliputtur, Sri rangam, Tirupati and Tirumaliruncholai. She ultimately became one with the reclining lord of Sri rangam. She even proffered a hundred measures of butter and another hundred measures of akkara adisil ( a sweet dish made of rice , ghee and jaggery) to the lord of Tirumaliruncholai, if her union with lord of Sri rangam was possible. She pleads with one god for her union with the same god in another name in another place. Isn’t this what the prophet had rejected?  He called upon to submit to the one and only God. While our girl, appeals to the cupid( Manmatha) to interfere on her behalf for her union with her lord. In another verse, where she dreams of her marriage with her lord, she tells Goddess Durga , lord Indra were from  the bride’s side siring the  nuptial ceremony. She involves so many dieties, but she is clear in attaining the one and the only lord..Kannan.

If I google search the meaning of Islam, it says that islam is derived from a root word- salema, or surrender. With further search, the first verse of Qur’an and the 29^th pasuram of Kothai’s tiruppavai sounds similar..

To compare those verses..

The Opening( Al- Fatihah)

....Iyakka na’budu wa iyyaka nasta’in

......

Sirat alladhina an’amta ‘alayhim..

( Thee only do we serve; thee alone do we ask for help.

.....Not the path of those who incur Thy wrath)

The opening is the first chapter of qur’an

Of kothai’s verse

உந்தன்னோடு , உற்றோமே ஆவோம், உனக்கே நாம் ஆட்செய்வோம் 

மற்றை நம் காமங்கள் மாற்றேலோரெம்பாவாய்..,

(  we belong unto thee ,and thee only do we serve,

I pray, bless us from veering into other desires)

Isn’t this a total submission, a surrender to the One and only lord. Perfect example of salema? Isn’t Kothai the embodiment of salema of south India? Oh, but we have Mira bai beyond the Vindhyas..

akkara adisil.. thanks.. elaichii.blogspot.com

(Actually kothai writes.. today, forever, in all our births.. we belong unto thee.. and thee only we serve.. this inspired me to write this following writeup.)

I am yours, you are mine..

What does but come between us?

You sent people to rejoice

When I first opened my eyes

And when my eyes remain closed

I wouldn’t hear all those wails..

Then,I wouldn’t have a tongue

To say your sweet thousand names

Nor  an eye to see your form

To behold all those purest thoughts

Melt in you, the greater glow

Or be a dot , in darkness though..

I would be yours and you are mine..

till you send me forth again..

(Hope, Yvonne and Hephzibah should say what their scriptures say about surrender... )

Radheya...( Part- 1?)

She stood there for him to finish his prayers. The last time when she kissed him,he was a just born kid. She set him sail along this same river where he is now offering his prayers.The kid who was born with a vest  and ear rings of gold, was now stripped of his birthly possessions. How much more has he got to lose, to have born for a fateful mother on a spiteful day?

She had watched him many a times. She recognized him instantly when he came storming into the arena, challenging Arjuna.The breasts which had never fed him, swelled in pride.Her eyes welled, for she could identify the shield over his chest and those lustrous ear rings. His radiant face shone with the same intensity as that of the morning sun.Wasn’t he the heir of the sun-god? the son who was born to a  naive girl who fell in love with the bright life giving  sun?.When his challenge was subdued and  when he was ridiculed , her heart bled,bled for the royal blood which he couldn't claim as his own,bled for her own fate which left her stiff and  to obscure her emotions.With the turn of events, she watched him being crowned, his glory restored. She had glanced Duryodhana with a passionate gratitude.

Even now, her veiled face could shadow some of her emotions, could curb the longing of her eyes,But there was no shroud for her thumping heart. Their echoes could be heard and felt in that eerie dusk.Though her heart ached for him to turn, nevertheless she was afraid to face him.  Afraid of the purpose she came for, of the claims she wanted  to make, of the place  and the timing. Tomorrow was his day as a warlord, the chieftain of Kaurava army.,A day for him to repay his gratitude to his friend , his benefactor. She had come to claim his bloodline, to ask for a boon which he can never give but with an alternative at hand.  She wanted to demand  that he never touched her sons, those whom she fed and raised,yet she had to address him as her son. She thought, that she was never born on this day.

(P.s. The Kannan whom I say bonds , breaks, cures and claims was present at the same time as these events were taking place..He stood as a mute spectator of the events which happened to Karna or Kunti. I always say that he connives every instance for his benefit. This is an off hand re telling of whatever I heard or read in Mahabharata. There may be some differences with the original. I just want to touch upon the emotional aspects of the events which took place. Probably I have the luxury to feel down on this sunday.The query in the title is because i may not complete this story. Probably i just conversed with myself today...)

My version of the story..

Adhi climbed up the bed..He was mildly annoyed with me because I had refused to get him new colour pencils for his drawing competition on Sunday. He had a book in his hand.. 555 questions and answers about science and nature. He picked up a page for me to read.. I was lying down, meddling with my cell phone..And whatever page he had opened.. I read it for a while and pondered..To quote the book..” In the beginning, all the universe was squeezed into an unimaginably small , hot, dense ball. The big bang was when this suddenly began to swell explosively, allowing first energy and matter, then atoms, gas clouds and galaxies to form. The universe has been swelling  ever since.”

I closed the book.. I took him out to the balcony.. showed him the moon, stars clouds, the vast expanse of land and speaking something gibberish all the while. How can I make him comprehend whatever I thought was the origin of universe..We came back to bed and I read those pages to him now..He turned the next page and told.. “this one  too"..  I asked him about what he understood of whatever I told.. He told something in his own words..And that turned out to be another version of whatever the universe wanted to tell about itself..I told him, enough for today and pulled him towards me.. and kept thinking...

Then started typing in my cell phone..Anyway I got a post to amuse myself..

In the tiniest of tiniest of tiniest of whatsoever,

He rested, unmoved,  unheard and unsure.

His roar, His pace, His penetrance and the bang,

I compare with the sun, the earth and its pace for a turn.

In flesh, In words, In deeds and In feel

Are the fragments that burst, that formed and that perish.

His day and night are years woven together.
The numbers are whose and compared with what?
When He rested, He was the tiniest of all force,
And  he manifests somewhere in the humility of my heart..

Farewell and a welcome...

I chased you Out 

I chased you out

As a kid,

I chased you hopping into the yard

I chased you out

As a kid,

I chased you pick a grain or two..

I chased you out.

When yards were big, and grains abound

When afternoons were a time to rest..

I chased you out

When we were kids..

when T’was just fun to chase..

I chased you out

Out of his world

What have I got to say to my son??

http://caughtoncamera.aminus3.com/image/2011-01-04.html

( A note by the photographer:..When i saw these little sparrows, did i realise that its been ages since i saw a sparrow.. Thanks to the Great Indian urbanisation, these birdies have bade farewell to our concrete forests... How much more are we going to lose?)

 And this was a post inspired by Sahana.

(.http://arsahana.blogspot.com/2011/07/beauty-of-birds.html)

Actually I started writing about something else... So I will write the one which I originally intended to write

I woke up with a message...

http://caughtoncamera.aminus3.com/image/2010-11-13.html

A blanket of concern covered my form                  

Like  warmth spreading on a misty vale.  

Eyes tied down, yet spreading calm

My heart set sail, with a gentle gale..

The words did flow from a  distant land

Simple, yet caring, smile and all..

Strange it is, like a magic wand,

To live today, with a song in my heart..

( I had been out of state on official work.. and came back early in the morning..And then this word of concern from a long forgotten friend from UK..Yeah.. I am fine.. dear friend..)

Rays... of hope..

photo courtesy sri raam kalingarayar...

I better myself each passing day.

Today is different from yesterday

Tomorrow will usher with greater hope..

A fortress of ice, I’ve built around..

Tis reassuring, till the coldness prevails..

Your warmth, your rays may melt them all

Who knows, I may start liking the grass..

Your love is like carrying

Loads of grains on my shoulders..

I couldn’t convince that I am more happy

‘cos my shoulder hurts less

As the grains are lost on the way..

Some words  of passion flow with ease

Some words do hold the mirror to my heart..

For those deep words which fail to come..

They send other words on their behalf

And all along , my heart does cry..

“Wait, Hush! He does listen to them all..

On the day of reckoning

I  hide  a coin from His sight..

‘I couldn’t use this all the while

Please lord, Do let me play again’..

கண்கள் மனதின் சாளரங்கள்

பிரியாத உறவென்பதொன்றுமில்லை..

பழகாத பிரிவென்பதொன்றுமில்லை..

சொல்லாத வார்த்தைகளை தேக்கி வைத்தால்..

கண்கள் கோள் சொல்லாமல் போனதில்லை..

பஞ்சைக்கு முன் இட்ட 

விசம் கலந்த விருந்து நீ..  

உண்டு சாகட்டுமா?

காணாமல் வாழட்டுமா?

I thought I started conversing with me alone .. writing in tamil.. but Yvonne and NRIgirl promptly shook me from my recluse...( hey, I no more converse with myself .. So I thought I'll edit again..)

eyes are windows to the heart..

who stays forever? For every dear one leaves..

so does the separation, and we adapt to the loss..

eyes are the culprit, for they always reveal

all words unspoken, stored in the vault..

For my hungry eyes.,

you are a perfect feast..

poisoned and tempting

should I eat to die?

or turn blind to live??..