Diwali in Chennai

This was a unique diwali. But then, most of the Diwalis I have celebrated have been unique. The first one, in 1997 was in Rajasthan, close to the border. Then, there was one in Kashmir, where we woke up to the muezzin’s call to the faithful for prayer. We lit crackers and distributed sweets amongst the devotees and maulvis at Baba Reshi. The Diwali in Tripura was celebrated by just a handful of us, in the dense jungles that surrounded our HQ, over drinks in the Mess. One advantage of being in chennai, close to sivakasi was the cheap rate at which we got fire-crackers. One cannot plan to have a quiet diwali in the Forces. I talked to a whole lot of friends and colleagues, apart from family. One special moment was talking to Jairaj Padmanabhan and Sanjay Ruparel after around 15 years. Felt good. I have mainly to thank ‘Facebook’ for this.

It is unique experience to watch the meeting of two oceans, each having different traits. The waters on one side are as silent as a lake. The waters on the other rage with waves rising high. This is Dhanushkodi, around 20 kms from Rameshwaram. The four wheeler that took us to the land’s end rattled over the sandy remains of the erstwhile town of Dhanushkodi, which had been wiped off in the 1964 cyclone. It is from this point that Lord Rama built the bridge to Lanka with the help of the Hanuman and other divine creatures. From Dhanushkodi to Maudrai is a 4 hr drive by govt buses that run every 30 min. The Meenakshi temple is an architectural splendour dedicated to the Goddess Meenakshi, the sister of Lord Venkateshwara of Tirupathi given in wedding to Lord Shiva. It is a huge temple, with imposing gopurams resplendent with figures of gods, goddesses, animals etc. The 1000 pillared Mandapam inside the temple premises is indeed one of its kind. It is astounding to listen to the seven music notes emanating from a stone pillar when tapped! A whole day is required if you wish to take in the beauty of this temple.

Rameshwaram

Rameshwaram is one of the 12 Jyotirlings of India. According to myth, when Lord Rama returned from Lanka after slaying Ravana, some sages advised him to perform penance before a Shivling for having done a ‘brahmahatya’ – Killing of a Brahmin. Finding no shivling in the vicinity, Hanuman was dispatched to Mt kailas to get one. As usual, the monkey god, being the perfectionist, spent time looking for the perfect one. In the meantime, sita built a shivling from sand, which Lord Rama worshipped. When Hanuman returned with two Shivlings, he found that one shivling had already been built and consecrated. He was dejected. But Lord Rama assured him that in the future, whenever devotees came to the temple, they would first worship the two shivlings that Hanuman brought and then the one that Sita built. It is so till this date. Before going to the temple, one has to bathe in the sea (a mere 200 mtrs away), followed by a bath each by water from 22 kunds (wells), change and then worhip the lord shiva. Of course, the sand shivling no longer exists. But the grandeur, the fervour is still evident. Beware of fake godmen and intermediaries when you visit Rameshwaram.

Mind it

“Leave the ladies, I say!” Not me. This is what Sh Q G Murugan tells ‘gunpowder’. This is ‘Quick Gun Murugan’, the iconic Indian Cowboy (Strictly veggie!) from MTV. This is one rip-roaring cowboy yarn, with Q G Murugan returning from the dead to battle ‘rice plate reddy’ and his goons with the help of ‘Mango dolly’. More than the movie itself, it was great fun to enjoy it in a movie hall, jam packed with Tamilians enjoying every bit of the spot in the sunlight of their very own ‘cowboy’. For us, the laughter came from reading the subtitles. For them, it was spontaneous. Action, emotion and humour at its quirky best. Mind it! Also a must watch is a local blockbuster, ‘Kanthaswamy’. Great fight sequences, exotic locales (the Mexican deserts are ones that we normally see in movies from abroad), good songs, music that threatens to blow you off your seat and a sultry Shriya Saran. People in Chennai enjoy their movies. There are no seats available in any theatre, for any movie on a weekend.