Age is catching up with me

When Sridhar called Aswath to find out if he would join the group on the proposed trip to Hosaholalu, he said, ‘I wish I could, but you know how it is. With my backache and my knees not cooperating, it would be very difficult for me to manage the travel. Age is catching with me and my body is no longer in a shape to let me do what I want to do. As the saying goes, the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak’

Our group of classmates from long, long ago consists of old fogeys all past seven decades in age. It is, therefore, no surprise to hear someone or other complaining of one ailment or another. Many are diabetic, a few have had heart surgeries and one is afflicted by Parkinson’s disease. Almost all have enlarged prostates causing numerous breaks in their sleep for bathroom trips. Some are widowers, some have ailing wives but almost all are in good spirits with almost child-like curiosity about everything on earth. Many are addicted to classical music and attend cutcheris regularly. Some are inclined towards spiritual matters and philosophy and argue endlessly about God, Soul, Life after death, Dharma, Karma, Bhakti and so on. Almost all are secure financially due to prudent financial management over the years and assisted in no small measure by support from children working abroad.

At the meeting to plan the trip, Sridhar informed the group about Ashwath’s opting out and the reason.

Jayaram: Isn’t it amazing? All of us suffer from aches, pains and age related diseases but somehow we keep our spirits high. It is almost as if our spirits are not subjected to aging unlike our bodies.

Ananth: You should have heard Swami Hariharananda’s discourse last Monday. He explained how our tradition emphasizes that Soul, call it Atma or spirit is separate from the body and one should strive to realize one’s soul to attain Moksha or liberation from cycle of birth-death-birth.

Venkatesh: Bunkum! We have been hearing this all through our lives, but it is difficult to believe in a soul which has no feelings just like that.

Ananth: OK, OK, Non-believer. The Swamiji explained it this way: When a child is born, it has sentience or life or spirit or whatever you want to call it. From the time a child opens its eyes, it is constantly subjected to external stimuli. Guided by its sensory organs, it keeps acquiring knowledge which if you analyze is all external to its soul. Call it Ego or I, it is separate from the world outside.

Venkatesh: So why should I break my head over some abstract theory? I am very aware that it is I who suffers when there is injury or sickness or even due to horrible weather and to me, I and my body are inseparable.

Jayaram: I also heard him say that the Soul does not age but only the body does. Even as the body ages, you do not feel aged but only suffer body aches. And you suffer the diminished physical abilities of the body.

Venkatesh: But according to Scientists, it is all physical and everything can be explained using scientific tools.

Ananth: Yes, you can, if you consider the Soul to be a physical entity but it is not. One can only experience it and not feel it physically. Look at it this way. A dead body and a living one will have all similar physical features but yet the living one has that ‘life’ ‘sentience’ or spirit. How would a physicist explain it?

Venkatesh: That is all very well. Tell me, when you look at an attractive female even at our age the urge that you feel, is it felt by the soul or the body? I firmly believe that it is all physical.

Jayaram: That proves Ananth’s point. Because even though the ageless soul feels the urge, it is your aging body that will prevent you from satisfying it. Hence, the two are separate.

Ananth: No. That’s not it. When a soul occupies a body, Ego, Intelligence and Sensory organs are created within and as part of the body. Without these the soul is without any attributes. It is given to one to live a life time with the soul and body as integral parts. But that doesn’t take away the fact that soul and body are separate.

Venkatesh: Come on! We are here to talk about the trip to Hosaholalu. Let’s finalise the arrangements of moving our bodies there, feeding our bodies at lunch time and keeping the pace slow to enable our bodies to manage the travel, OK?

Jayaram: Also, at the same time pray at the temples to gain blessings and wash our sins.

Venkatesh: Gaining blessings and washing of sins for our souls or our bodies?

Jayaram: You are incorrigible and the debate is endless. To each his own.

                                               

High in the Estate

It is now nearly nine years since we moved to Mysore after living in Madras/Chennai for 40 years. What is really gratifying is the continued association with friends from Chennai, especially Rotarians, and the affection they show towards me and my wife Kamala. So, it was no surprise to receive an invitation from Rtn.R.N.Veerappan and Ann Olagi to visit them over the weekend at their estate in Pandalur near Gudalur on the Western Ghats. We are really happy that we accepted because it turned about to be an excellent holiday beyond anything we had imagined.

Since Gudalur is around 100 Kms from Mysore and Pandalur is another 25 Kms away, we decided to drive down. Starting early on Saturday the 11^th, we could reach Gudalur by 10 AM. I had dreaded the notoriously bad stretch of road from Mysore to Gundlupet but we were in for a pleasant surprise driving on the newly laid 4 lane highway. Things were not so fine for a while after Gundlupet but not for too long. We were then in reserve forest range of Bandipur which slowed down our speed considerably because of the countless speed breakers. But it was very pleasant driving through the forest though very disturbing to see the ravages caused by the recent forest fires. Deer and Langur monkeys roamed around freely, unmindful of people driving by. We crossed the Karnataka border and entered Mudumalai forest reserve in Tamilnadu which was very similar to Bandipur. Though we reached Gudalur fairly early, a wrong turn made us reach Pandalur nearly half an hour late. Veerappan was waiting patiently at the Petrol Bunk and we trailed his jeep to his Thangamalai Estate in quick time.

Veerappan has over 100 Acres of plantation almost fully covered with tea and coffee plants. Since the elevation is 3500 ft., it is possible to grow coffee. The estate is surrounded by two estates of Parry Agro, Mangorange and Athikunna each covering over 2500 Acres. Each estate has its own Tea processing factory which makes it convenient for Veerappan to supply his produce without any difficulty. It also makes it easier for him because Parry Agro’s major shareholders are his relatives. After a delicious lunch and a short nap, we were ready to go round the estate. Estate manager Kuruvila got us sticks to negotiate the slopes and up we went. The neatly laid out Tea plants with trees in between present a very pretty picture and it was a very pleasant climb up. We saw cardamom, areca and clove trees planted here and there along with some coffee plants. Soon we came upon a tunnel dug in the hills which we were told was used for Gold mining! They used to extract Gold from the hills and gave up after the yields stopped justifying the labour put in. Veerappan said that there is still some Gold in there. No wonder the estate is called Tangamalai(Hill of Gold) estate!. Kuruvila showed us spots where a wild elephant had trampled some trees and plants in its foray for food the previous night. Wild animals keep roaming around in estates during nights because of reduction in their natural habitat. Veerappan said that they could not safely keep live stock or dogs because of the wild animals. We got back to the estate house all ready for the scotch treat that Veerappan had set up for the evening.

The day-after turned out to be a memorable one. We went to a 400 year old Krishna temple belonging to the Maharaja of Nilambur set in sylvan surroundings. We then set out to the Pandalur club which was holding its annual Tennis tournament. Executives from estates around and far away had gathered for a day of fun and frolic. Club tennis players of varying ages with their ladies who seemed to step out of the pages of fashion magazines displayed bonhomie creating a lovely picnic atmosphere. Non-stop supply of eatables and drinks helped a great deal in building up a joyful atmosphere. Then there was a sumptuous spread of lunch in the club house built by the British which we were tempted to take in, despite all the snacks and drinks already imbibed. It was around 4.30 PM by the time we got back to the estate with feelings of drowsiness and lethargy. Not ready for any more food and drinks, we sat around chatting and enjoying the sunset and the cool weather.

When day broke, it was time to pack up and go, after thoroughly enjoying the wonderful atmosphere and the great hospitality of Olagi and Veerappan, wishing that there were more such memorable diversions in our lives.

Many, many thanks Olagi and Veerappan!

Scent of a Region

As I walked down the road on my morning walk, a flower seller on a bicycle went past me leaving a trail of the wonderful fragrance of Jasmine flowers. Blessed I am, I thought to be walking in the pleasant weather of good old Mysore, fully enjoying the Mallige Parimala (scent of jasmine). There is something about Mysore which gives you that sense of smug comfort and ‘All is well in the world’ feeling. As if to substantiate that view, one of the regulars coming from the opposite direction saw me and gave a big smile and asked ‘All well? Haven’t seen you for a few days’ I told him that I had gone to Chennai on work the last couple of days and missed the walk. There is an atmosphere of gentleness and softness in Mysore which you will find hard to come by in other places.

The Tippu Express from Bangalore stops only at Mandya en route to Mysore. The other day when I was on the train, we had crossed Mandya and were looking forward to timely arrival at Mysore. Suddenly, near Pandavapura the train halted with a jerk. I thought that it had halted to facilitate crossing of a train from Mysore when I heard a commotion at the next compartment. Coming out, I was told that someone had pulled the chain to stop the train. It transpired that a young man from Bihar having failed to get off at his destination, Mandya because he was dozing and realizing it suddenly, had pulled the chain so that he could get off. A crowd had gathered in front him and there was a lot of shouting. A man obviously from the North said, ‘Maro! Sale ko’ (Hit the bugger) threatening to do so. The culprit, almost in tears, said that chain pulling was quite common back in Bihar. One local said, ‘Che Che. Hogli Bidi Papa, What could he have done?’(Che Che Let him be, poor chap). Other locals nodded displaying sympathy rather than anger, while the Northerner glowered at them not being able to understand their reaction. This ‘Hogli Bidi, Papa’ could very well be the anthem of the region.

The region is what used to be called the Mysore state, before the formation of Karnataka state in 1956. Away from the harsh weather of both the coastal area and the dry northern districts, Mysore state which came under the benevolent rule of the Wodeyars is blessed with very temperate weather which many say determines the nature of its people. ‘Lotus Eaters!’ is the derisive term for Mysoreans used by many in the always hot Tamil country to the east. To a Mysorean, it is difficult to understand the rather harsh (at least outwardly) ways of the Tamilian and the Malayalee in their dealings with others. Visitors from outside seem to get upset that nothing gets started till late in the mornings whereas they boast that they are up and about at 5 in the morning. A typical Mysorean’s reaction would be ‘Why on earth should one get up so early!?’ Some say that people’s attitudes get formed due to incidents of history and the weather. They say that people in the South have never been exposed to invasion from hostile armies and do not know extreme weather conditions. They point to Punjabis who are portrayed as martial and aggressive in their outlook because they were in the forefront of fighting invading marauders. While this may be generally true, one can not the paint the entire population of the area with the same brush. I remember reading Khushwant Singh’s piece on the subject, ‘I have seen mousy Sardarjis, uncultured Bengalis, aggressive Kannadigas and many such to say that there are always exceptions’.

Old Mysore state was really blessed with benevolent, non-aggressive and visionary rulers such as Krishnaraja Wodeyar and illustrious Diwans who served them. Apart from genuinely being concerned about the welfare of their subjects and ensuring implementation of many pioneering projects, they represented an era of culture where Music, Arts and Education were given utmost importance. It seemed that there was a sense among citizens of being well looked after by the rulers. This highly remarkable way of ruling enhanced the cultural values of the people in the region which continues till date. The effect of the temperate climate cannot be underestimated, either. We all know how pleasant it is to keep sleeping covering ourselves in a blanket in winter and basking in the mild winter sunshine. However, this gentleness has not prevented remarkable achievements of Mysoreans in all spheres of activity all over the world.

This all pervasive gentleness is portrayed in much of Kannada literature of all genres. It is no surprise that many of our novelists and poets were influenced by Romanticism of English literature. Mysore Mallige by K.S.Narasimha Swamy is a classic example of depicting this gentle, laid back and romantic way of life. Even D.V.Gundappa’s classic which is compared to the Bhagavad Gita was called Manku Thimmana Kagga (Dull headed Thimma’s Writings). Finest of poems, great works of literature, sophisticated philosophical works invariably had that streak of gentleness and self effacement. When Kuvempu writes about setting the spirit free to break the shackles, he does it in a beautiful gentle poem ‘O, Nanna Chetana, Aagu Nee Aniketana’(O, my spirit, please become unbound). Or when Nissar Ahmed describes the land in his poem, Jogada Siri Belakinalli(In the rich lights of Jog), the feeling conveyed is of Romantic richness of the greenery and hills of Malnad.

This gentleness is not confined to one class or section of society but is all pervading. Since it seems to be caused by the lay of the land and the climate, even people migrating from harsher lands fall prey and become gentle over time.

As I neared the end of my morning walk, I passed by the Sampige (Magnolia Champaca) tree near the temple with the heady fragrance of the yellow flowers drenching me.

Ah! To be in Mysore…