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Sunday, October 24, 2021

From her Birth to the Passing: The Life of Bakuli

  

From her Birth to the Passing: The Life of Bakuli

by Dhiraj Sindhi


Dedicated to those who don’t get enough time and space to grieve for their animal companions


Few words before you begin. I don't think I know and can create the art of poetry, as I do feel with other forms of writing. While grieving the loss of this little one, I had to express and let it all out. But, for better or worse, I eventually chose poetry. Feel free to comment. Would love to hear from you all readers.


From Her Birth to the Passing: The Life of Bakuli by Dhiraj Sindhi | Poetry and Prose | Dedicated to those who don't get to grieve for their animal companions
The Mother-Daughter Duo

 

That was the night, her mother was meowing louder than ever
A huge sign for the little life that could not wait to see the world
As if she knew that her house was set up days before we came to know of her
That that Peti of Alphonsos and that Washing Machine were meant for her
Not us humans. She knew, being a single child, she’ll get all of it to herself
Love, care, comfort and compassion that we would die to protect her
Only if you could tell your future that you won’t be able to do so
That I need to be more vigilant and be on my toes to be able to do so

The morning rays were spreading happiness more than light
Because the Lord Ganesha had blessed the family with a child
After some twenty-two years, we were to witness the magical world around the new-born
Where your worries and thoughts would perish the moment you saw the new-born
Like mother like daughter, the same number of black stripes squeezed into her tiny stretch of skin
A glimpse was enough to lose your heart to the fresh pink glow and her smell, like a baby shampoo
For the next few days, we wouldn’t touch the baby, ravishing the view from afar
Because we need not breach the privacy of the duo, relishing intimate moments of their lives

For the coming week, the cat mother won’t budge from her tiny abode in the attic
Caressing and grooming her daughter with licks full of affection
It could be the rains that she didn’t carry her daughter anywhere else
On Anant-Chaturdashi, we were away at the gulf, getting drenched in rain
And the baby was fast-asleep against her curled up mom’s tommy
Camouflaged, you couldn’t tell where the baby rested amid the fur of her mommy
Finally, as they say, it was time to move the kitten through seven houses
In our case, she took the kitten through four different rooms and moved twice in the same room

A tiny frightful gasp would leave us stricken, whenever the mother decided to shift
The shifting would involve a lot of meowing at first and then that scary sight
The wrapping of jaws around the neck of her kitten, swinging from side to side
Walking through many doors, springing up on and down from the parapets
She once tried to carry our heart away through the shared courtyard
Enclosed from the all four sides, eventually, she had to return
Climbing up the three storey building, leaping across roofs in the dead of the night
The baby intact, clasped in her jaws, finally, got to breathe as she again put her to sleep

When in her second house, Bakuli opened her eyes that had world of its own
Whiskers and eyebrows growing faster than ever, as if to compete tigress of her mother
Her tiny little claws sharper than her mother’s, snagging out stiches already
Soon she started imitating her mother, licking her paws, as if to launch on her preys already
That’s when we started talking to her, and her foxlike ears would perk up in response
She would raise her head to look up at us, with all the attention she could muster
Her flowery black eyes staring deep into our souls, with slightly tilted head
Pure innocence flashing into your eyes, you couldn’t resist but caress with the back of your hand

Now, she dared coming out of her little abode, stumbling down every now and then
But it was not long before she began scampering up and down the rooms
We needed to be extra careful now that she could greet our legs any given time
Even while sleeping, you do not turn sides without ensuring she’s indeed inside her space
In the early morning the duo would wake us up from deep slumber
We would agree to all their demands, chasing them around the house all day
In the evening, after a much tiresome playful field day with her
We would tuck her into her mother’s furry bosom like our own daughter

There were some days difficult for them, but the duo endured them like warriors
The Gulaab cyclone struck the coast of Cambay, completely opposite in nature
It gave us and the duo some of the most life-threatening thunderclaps ever heard
Heart-stopping sound effects, as if divine energy of the Dancing Three-eyed God 
Had been released from the sky, cascading down the steps made of cloud
The mother-daughter duo sat in darkness, chin up and calm as ever
Warrior queen and the warrior princess were the reason we felt composed these days
Not realizing how incredibly blessed are those who’ve got someone to check in on every few seconds

In her fourth week, she had truly grown up, slits visible in her big blue eyes
Chewing on things and biting our toes and fingers now that canines were developing
She had now chosen for herself the favorite spots where she would spend most of her time
Jumping up and down the threshold between hall and kitchen became her most favorite activity
Second was to hide under the fridge and the washer, making the mother anxiously meow with agony
Pacing backwards and pouncing on us humans, you couldn’t tell who’s more like her mommy
Twisting her body and licking her tail, climbing was another of her ambitions
She conquered all the cartons she ever lived in, descending on the same courageous paws

Then, the fateful day arrived that had been looming over us since long
The clouds of worries that had been contained till now had broken lose
The morning greeted us with distressing sight of kitten all shriveled up 
Puking every now and then, getting thinner than before, her steps getting weaker
Seeking solitude, she would sit alone in the middle of a room, refusing to eat
Gleaming eyes, staring into void or maybe conveying how bad she felt, crying for help
Can’t even bear the memory of that sight; the following day, minutes before she was pouncing around her favorite place
And that was the noon, the daughter ceased to meow, forever; the mother in deep slumber, and us, wailing

The medicine and the dropper that she left behind had been souvenired
Did the vet know this was coming? Was it the Sunday Holiday?
Or the lack of vets? Can it be the evil eyes?
Or was it us who made this happen?
We should have been more careful, but that’s that.
The mother had been searching for her in every corner
But now, the grieving mother is back to normal, though one thing has changed since
The nameless mother has naturally acquired the name of her daughter – Bakuli.


To the eternal memory of most precious thirty days with the bravest paws to walk on earth.
17th Sept. 2021 – 18th Oct. 2021


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Will see you in the next post. Till then buh-bye. Take Care. Peace. ☮

Friday, October 1, 2021

Kala Krishnan’s Lyrical Prose in Mahasena Harmonizes the Novel’s Striking Elements, Creating an Undying Ode in the Reverence of the God of War and Victory

 

Kala Krishnan’s Lyrical Prose in Mahasena Harmonizes the Novel’s Striking Elements, Creating an Undying Ode in the Reverence of the God of War and Victory

Book Review by Dhiraj Sindhi


Mahasena: Part One of the Murugan Trilogy by Kala Krishnan


Mahasena: Part One of the Murugan Trilogy by Kala Krishnan | Book Review by Dhiraj Sindhi | Indian Book Blogger
Mahasena by Kala Krishnan


AuthorKala Krishnan

ISBN: 978-9390679133

Genre: Myths, Legends & Sagas

Length: 264 Pages

Publication Date: 19th July 2021

Publisher: Context – An Imprint of Westland Publications Private Limited

Cover Design: Saurabh Garge

Cover Designer: Website: theaoi.com/ | Instagram: @garge_saurabh

Order your copy right now: https://amzn.to/2YaUKS8


About the author:

Kala Krishnan works in Bengaluru. She is the author of two books of poetry, He Is Honey, Salt and the Most Perfect Grammar and Offer Him All Things Charred, Burned and Cindered, in which the god Murugan appears in surprising versions.


Mahasena: Part One of the Murugan Trilogy by Kala Krishnan | Book Review by Dhiraj Sindhi | Indian Book Blogger
Kala Krishnan (PC: Kinshuk Rawat)

Instagram: @poetkala

Website: poetry.sangamhouse.org/

The Hindu Article: ‘I see Murugan as language’


DisclaimerThis review is only intended for initiating discussions. The opinions and views presented in this article are my own and do not reflect anything about the book's author. 



REVIEW


Not long ago that I came to know of the associations between my hometown and the young lord Kartikeya. While there is only a single prominent temple in Gujarat that is dedicated to Balamurugan, one of the Mahapuranas tells a wholly different story. According to the local legend, as mentioned in the Skanda Purana, a golden pillar was fixed at the place along with the Shivaling (Stambheshwar Mahadev, a temple in Kavi that hosts thousands of pilgrims after its redevelopment, on the full moon and the new moon of every month) on the battlefield where Tarakasur was slain by Kumara—the young God of War, to celebrate the victory. This place was then a much-revered pilgrimage region called Kumarika Kshetra where the Mahi River met with the sea, thus Mahisagara-Sangam Tirtha, also known as Gupta Kshetra, which is now represented by Khambhat—a town on the coast of Gulf of Cambay, Kavi—a town on the other side of the gulf and the neighbouring region. That is how Khambhat has received its name, after applying phonetic laws with contraction, assimilation and elimination; the Sanskrit name ‘Stambhtirth (The Pillar Shrine)’ was transformed into modern-day Gujarati name ‘Khambhat’. I’m saving the details for some other blog, now, let’s see how the poet and author, Kala Krishnan pays ‘a homage to a cherished boy-god’—as Sharanya Manivannan says—as well as to the language of the South in a unique way and probably the perfect way for the modern world era, something that is essential to preserve and uphold the cultures cascading through centuries of generational changes.
 
Mahasena by Kala Krishnan—a mythological fiction, is a synthesis of several literary and non-literary elements that are emphasized to achieve an effect, a sense of high regard and admiration for the Lord Murugan and everything he touches in his lifespan; woven together as one lyrical phenomenon that flows rhythmically like a river, gushing down from its source at higher altitudes to the plains where it’s much needed, cutting through the grounds, rocks, valleys, mountains called Skanda, Kartikeya, Guha, Mahasena, Kandhan, Murugan, Kumara and ceaselessly thrives not knowing how many lives depend upon it in myriad aspects; it is thus the exceptionally beautiful, written in rich prose, a musical story of the God of Tamizh from his birth to battlefield, from Kumara to Mahasena, and most importantly from ‘ the Kumaras’ language’ to the fully-developed rich culture of Tamil people.
 
Let me now shed light on the five major elements that are seamlessly ingrained in the text and into one another, which bursts open the floodgates for lively imagination and even wilder creativity.
 
Nature: The free-flowing nature, something that is boundless and limitless, the flora and fauna, the earth, the sky, the fourteen worlds in the universe, the rivers, the mountains, the seasons and the likes of it, all are depicted as natural it could get. It is quite responsive and sensitive that it reacts to everything the Gods do. While it is not bound by time, space or any living being, the very presence of the divine being comforts nature and it starts moving as if dancing to the rhythm of Murugan’s heartbeats. This is because, of course, Murugan treats himself as an inseparable part of it, which is evident by the breath-taking scenes where the boy-god is shown playing with snakes and where “Kandhan was mud” and the creatures—“worms, bugs, caterpillars, bees, butterflies, dragonflies—were swimming into him, passing through skin and swimming out.”
 
Music: Music and the art of writing and reciting poems, verses, and the likes is the second thing that is given utmost importance in Mahasena, the first being the language of the South, Tamizh. The music is accommodated in the storyline as well as the writing style from the very beginning before the younger brother of Ganesha was born. The music comes to Lord Murugan as naturally as Dance comes to Shambhu and Shakti to Parvathy. Murugan always has the anklets of music wrapped around his feet and gravely condemns any flaw he recognises, which he always does. The author has cleverly ensured that the two leaders on the battlefield are equal, no more, no less. The Dashagriva Ravana also plays a small part along with the opponent of Murugan—Surapadman. As these Asuras are depicted as engineers and experimenters, they also have achieved perfection in the art of music.
 
Tamizh Language: The Tamizh language is one of the most prominent aspects of the novel. This language is portrayed as the most natural language that can occur to any being; that also goes hand in hand with everything from people to objects. The grammar, the words and the phonetics of this language are such that the words or noises a child barely a year old would make on seeing a newborn and that would be in none other than Tamizh. Murugan makes the language perpetual and never-ending by teaching it to Kuru Muni Akaththi, also known as Agastya or Akattiyam, who in turn, spreads it across the land of the South with the help of grammarians, poets, bards and scholars, where it “grew surer and more adventurous, it sank roots, and like a giant tree…and on its branches perched the mighty-winged birds of poetry, grammar and music.” And thus Kartikeya gets yet another name—Tamizh Theivan means the God of Tamizh.
 
Magical Realism: It is debatable that whether to treat the fantastical elements in mythology as pure miracles or as elements of magical realism. Well, I have chosen to call it magical realism because even in the set boundary of mythology some things go beyond comprehension and reasoning. Some of the magical realism devices are communication via dreams, epiphanies, the very birth of Kartikeya, his ability to speak to the anklets as if using a similar mellifluous sound.
 
Reconstructed Myths, Legends and Sagas with Freshly-developed Characters and Unique Working Mechanism: The author Kala Krishnan has developed her own mythology world that has its own creation story and own way of functioning. I am utterly in love with how she has presented the enigmatic images of the gods and goddesses; they are depicted as human-like as they can get and at the same time, they never lose or stop radiating the god-like aura of divine energy. It is also absolutely remarkable how the author has detailed the relationships between the siblings—Ganesha and Kartikeya, Murugan and Aambal, and one that has no equal in the universe—Shiva and Parvathy, the Mother and Father of Creation, whose relationship is just as Kala Krishnan describes it—“you couldn’t tell where one ended and the other began.”
 
I will be eagerly waiting for the next part in the Murugan Trilogy to uncover the secret behind ‘Mahasena’, a name given to Murugan by Indra’s daughter Devyani, also known as Devasena or as Murugan calls her, ‘Theivanai’, which is also the title of the next book.


Happy Reading!

Thank you @vivekisms for the review copy!


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Follow me on InstagramFacebookTwitter, and Pinterest. Don't forget to subscribe for more content. Thank you so much for reading!

Will see you in the next post. Till then buh-bye. Take Care. Peace. ☮

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