Being a Thamizh!!

Thamizhukkum amudhendru per
andhath thamizh inbath thamizh
yengaL uyirukku ner, uyirukku ner.

These lines written by BarathiDasan are my favorite among all the song lyrics that i've ever listened to.

Meaning: Thamizh is also called amruth (the nectar that the Gods drink to get immortality)
That thamizh, lovable (comfort giving) thamizh is right next to our life in priority.
Now I realize translating tamil into english is just a waste of time. U can never convey the emotions and hidden thoughts that a poet expresses in his mother tongue in any other language. To be fair, i will say that this is true in the reverse case also. Will not sidetrack further....

The language is to die for! Wikipedia calls her "the only living classical language" where a classical language should be ancient, it should be an independent tradition that arose mostly on its own, not as an offshoot of another tradition, and it must have a large and extremely rich body of ancient literature. She is one of the very few languages whose origin is not Sanskrit. Along the way, lots of words were absorbed from it. The special characteristic is the letter "zha" and the way people pronounce it.

Thamizhukku Zha Azhagu - Vairamuthu (Zha makes thamizh beautiful!)

She ranks 17 among the world's most spoken languages and she grows as we speak. The wealth of literature and culture that she built up over the eons will stay with us forever.

Now about the people... We are a very ancient race (Dravidian) with recorded history dating back to 2 millenia. Did u also know that we began the Harappa and Mohenjadaro civilizations?

"Dravidians, whose descendents still live in Southern India, established the first city communities, in the Indus valley, introduced irrigation schemes, developed pottery and evolved a well ordered system of government." (Reader's Digest Great World Atlas, 1970). This is just a theory.

We migrated down into peninsular India in search of greener pastures and settled in the land now called Thamizh Nadu (land of the thamizhs).

The land was classified as

Kurinci (Mountainous regions),
Mullai (Forests),
Marutam (Farmlands),
Neithal (Sea and the surrounding lands)
and
Paalai (Desert regions)

Three big empires arose.

The Cholas with their capital, Thanjavur on the rich delta of the river Kaveri, (on whom I will blog later)
The Cheras who ruled over most of Kerala (the fertile lands which receive ample rainfall and are criss crossed with rivers bringing silt) and
The Pandyas with their capital Madurai - the land which gave thamizh three sangams and ample literature to make her one of the best.

The Pallavas rose to importance a lot later. They were sea farers with their capital somewhere near present day Chennai.

All of them contributed to the culture, architectural wonders in the form of temples and literature. Thamizh was having her GOLDEN AGE.

And after the golden age comes the slow decay of once strong empires. Small lords and vassals of northern rulers ruled for a while. The Mughals came in to plunder the wealth sometimes or take advantage of the fertile land or sea accessibility for their progress. Temples were destroyed and some literature was totally wiped clean. Then, the British East India Company ushered in another round of the Dark age with their nice talk and promise of trade. The small rulers fell like domino pins owing to greed of becoming GREAT. U know what happened next!!!
MADRAS PRESIDENCY... They brought every kingdom under their rule. Some resisted and were sent to the gallows (Veera Pandya Katta Bhomman, for eg. Watch Sivaji act the part of the great hero in the thamizh movie of the same name).

FREEDOM came after nearly 100 years of unwanted bondage. I don't even want to go into that. (U can expect any Indian's blood to boil at the thought of this.)

U know the rest of the story. Well, there is definitely more to come.. Lots of areas i never covered. Keep reading.

VAZHGA THAMIZH !!! (or Jai Thamizh!!!, as my roomies describe my frequent outbursts about the majesty of our language).

Thamizh Blood :)

Mercy droppeth as snow

Ladies and Gentlemen, Someone u've been waiting for all ur life arrives.... SNOW IN ARIZONA!!!

How it began??
Sunday evening, raining hard!! As always, we had to do grocery shopping. Returning in the rain with bags laden with stuff is absolutely the last thing on earth that u want to do. Obviously we took a taxi, but carrying the bags upstairs in the freezing downpour was torture itself. Then, as we settled in chairs with a bowl of hot soup and music filling our ears, it happened.... The phenomenon of white flakes falling down from the skies. Misquoting Shakespere,

The quality of mercy is not strain'd,
It droppeth as the gentle "white" rain from heaven
Upon the place beneath: it is twice blest;
It blesseth him that gives and him that takes:
'Tis mightiest in the mightiest:

Mercy from THE ONE above, that was what it was. The parched throat of the desert had just been quenched with water and HE sends dessert along with it.

(if u didn't understand that, i am comparing snow to ice cream. That probably spoilt the whole fun of it, but i want to make myself clear!! To be known as the essence of lucid writing.)

First snow and the thrill in ur heart that comes with it.... The beautiful laughter that it brings with it. Out of this world!!! The whole neighbourhood was engulfed in a Christmasy aura... the carols and a Santa shaking his belly like a bowl full of jelly with his characteristic laughter were the only missing pieces.

We played in the snow until our finger tips started to prick with pain. Scraped snow off the carpet which had just formed and threw it on each other. None of the pics we took came out well but hey, who cares??

Changed me totally. If u r in India, especially TN which is starved for rain even, u must take a trip to HEAVEN ON EARTH, Kashmir to wonder at this God-sent miracle. If afraid of mere mortals, I would strongly recommend Himachal Pradesh or Darjeeling (in winter please).

Arcindya

Way to GC

For the being that is said to be human who hasn’t set his sight on the Grand Canyon YET

Where do I begin.. to talk about a natural wonder which has no parallel. So I’ll start at the very beginning. We were 7 and since I’ve already been there once, I became the person to ask about what “this” is, where do we get that and all that. I played it down and didn’t hype thing up as they did it for me. It really is good to go see a beautiful place without any preconceptions. No expectations.. no big disappointments even if the day is cloudy and u cannot see half the canyon. Therefore half nods and mono-syllables were my replies to all their queries.

Being a student at the UofA, Tucson, people would laugh at u if after 5 years, u are talking to friends and u said u never set ur eyes on this marvel. What’s wrong with u, u lived in the GC state and u never saw it…. So it began.

Saturday morning, Veteran’s day… 11 a.m. The car arrives just as planned and space in it is just right for 7 gals. Awesome legroom and luggage space (chevy something… not one to remember car names and all). Loaded in and set off to Phoenix, capital of the state about 2 hours away. Anthakshari and regular gossip made the drive very smooth and quick.

Lunch at a Andhra restaurant in the capital, Priya’s. U will not believe it. I have never in my life in USA (by this I mean Tucson, only Tucson and no other place) eaten such good South Indian food. Mark my words and repeat, I will never eat at any other place if I am in Phoenix. The Buffet cost $10 but it was worth every penny and more. Being my veggie day (my friends call it my “dry” day), I couldn’t eat chicken. But still, I devoured every morsel of veggie food that I could lay my hands on. The owners are a friendly lot and since they were friends with our team leader, Miss Music, we got lots of inside info about some recipes (trade secrets!!). Had a photo session and then loaded into the car once more.

Drive to Flagstaff lasted 2 hours and 30 minutes. Some more gossip and photo sessions later, we arrived at this beautiful little town which looked as if it were rooted out of sleepy Europe and placed on the typical American Inter State Highway. Slopy streets, and beautiful stone houses with gardens, lawns and pets on them with a climate to match. Could one ask for more. But there is more, a university in this town, NORTHERN ARIZONA UNIVERSITY. Blessed are those who get to study there. No need for a European vacation. Just camp outside ur dorm and save tons.

Then came Williams in another 45 minutes. This is another town known just for being the closest, cheapest place to stay in when u wish to go to GC. Our destination was 50 miles away.

One hour later came Tusayan (sorry if I got the spelling wrong) which is one mile from GC village. We were going to put up in the Red Feather Lodge. There was lots of merriment and dancing and games that night. The food was the American usual, pizza. 11.30 at night, I went to bed, tired out and slept like a log. For the next morning, we had to catch the sunrise.

Woke up with a jolt in the morning, got ready really early and stepped out. There was the usual smoker’s mouth gimmick to do and make others laugh. Stepped on the road and did some disco (there was ice on the tar road and being Indians who have never seen that, took pics of that too). The car was covered with a thin layer of ice which both Music and B scrapped up. Loading and going on.. The pass costed $25 for 7 people. I think a pass for one year costs $20 and if u are going to other national parks later in the year, u can get the pass here for $50.

Then the grandeur that is the GC rose before us. We were mesmerized. No one talks, no giggles.. just plain awe. We stood transfixed by the sight before us. The sun was playfully touching the mountain tops at one corner of the scenery while the other parts were still shrouded in darkness and then slowly she blushes like a newly wed. The pink changes to red as the sun rises and a gasp escaped from everyone’s lips. Time stood frozen as each eye vied with another to take in more of that …. what do I call it, FIRST LOVE…

Arcindya