As silent shadows of
the night fade into the vibrant colors of morning light, I take you for a
journey, through a land that bridges the vastness of the oceans to a fabulous
yet enigmatic world, which has never known the boundaries of brotherhood,
happiness and human spirit. An encounter of the glorious past, the relevant
present and the aspiring future. A society that binds the forces of religion,
practicality and time immemorial…
Taking
me as a Casanova, you’ll see that when you share my experiences, you can
actually feel them, imbibe the concealed ideas and get the complete picture, as
clear as a crystal, as true as truth itself…as I show you
THE WAYS OF LIFE
My mother calls out to me again, as she’s done every morning I can remember, to
get up and have a bath. She has lit the holy lamp (Vilakku) that
symbolizes the warmth of mind and religion in every heart that yearns for
prosperity and happiness, and wants me and my family to pray before it. My
father (Achan) takes up the responsibility of taking care of the family, single
handedly. He works at his office from 9 to 5, six days a week…a normal way of
life in the city we are brought up in. After prayers, Mother (Amma) lays down
our breakfast, which is usually a combination of ground rice batter and dal
cooked on a flattened pan with some spicy chutney to go with it or something
different depending on what she has planned for the day. After that it’s all off
to work, as happens all round the world. The typicality lies in the fact that
these procedures, even though seemingly ordinary, are ideals passed through
generations, where emphasis is given more on the serenity, purity and
willingness to do them rather than the time it takes to perform the holy rites
every single day. Plucking the flowers, severing the petals and making the
garlands is a job amma does so skillfully and routinely that it has been her way
of life ever since she was a child of eight or nine, or even smaller maybe, I
don’t know. She works at home, does the cleaning job, washes all our clothes,
prepares lunch and when she gets a little time, she turns the TV on, not to sit
and watch but to aid her work with the entertainment. Achan has his job cut out
everyday at the office, it’s not painstaking, but it is a bit tiresome.
When I
was at school, everything was done earlier than it is now. My school started at
8 am and classes went on till 3 pm. Over here it is the teachers that change
every period, rather than students going to various classrooms every hour. It is
simply because of the number of students that are to be taught, whereby
management becomes really tough. We were taught all the basic subjects in a way,
which is slightly primitive, where the teachers only teach and children have no
other job, but to study. We have our local competitions and inter-schools, but
then both the family and school give a little bit of pressure on students to
take studies really seriously. It is simply because of the competitive nature of
society, as there are a real lot of students of the same age passing out each
year and limited options open, only the best tend to make it higher. Schools and
good teachers make children into professionals more than colleges, simply
because they sharpen their character, instill in them the spirit of belonging
and national pride, and make them fit to face the world outside. College life is
a bit freer and the infatuations of teenage and latter years tend to take shape.
But still if you ask a boy or a girl about studies, you’ll see that at the back
of their head this urge to achieve is still alive and kicking, since our roots
are so firmly fastened that even hurricanes of trends and time tend to leave no
impressions.
Twines of society life are intriguing and complex and yet well knotted. Family
relationships are bonded well with respect for the elders as the foremost
thought. Parents’ words are wisdom unbound and lot of our lives depends on how
our fathers and their parents have shaped them. My grandparents have taught me
the prayers I recite everyday, taken me to the temples that they have relied
their lives on, taught me the logic of love and friendship, and made me feel
that firm sense of sensuality, which alone has let me have a clearer mind for
thought and action. Sanskrit is the oldest language in India, and I am proud to
have learnt it. Our holy books are written in Sanskrit and my school taught me
the grammar and my grandparents taught me the scripting. If you have learnt this
simple language, you can master the artistry of any other language ever spoken
by humanity, is what the saying goes. Malayalam, my mother tongue, a palindrome
in itself, is a direct derivative of this very language. It is rich in its
vocabulary and through the ages, subtle refinements have made it have a
relishing phonetic sounding. As I had stated, every aspect of the Kerala
society, are from seeds sown by our forefathers. Even marriage is a phenomenon
in itself, where the concept of arranged marriage, pretty common in this part of
the world, takes its place.
The heritage of the past is the pride residing in every heart. Age-old festivals
and customs that the entire family has to perform are many and close between.
That is, in every couple of months, the entire family unites to celebrate the
occasion together in a grand scale. It accounts for the various sweets prepared,
tasty food served and a complete sharing of experiences by all members of the
family. If it is Vishu, Onam, Diwali, Christmas, Ganesh Chathurthi, Raksha
Bandhan or any other occasion for that matter, every one contributes to make it
a grand event. These festivals, though thoroughly regional, have had a lasting
influence on family life in Kerala. Being the land of coconuts and described as
the God’s own country, one can see almost all realms of human compassion, rolled
into one. These occasions bring each of us closer each time, and the following
generations derive these uniting ties not through genes, but through thought. As
is said, Man shapes his own future; we believe that every man has a job he has
to perform to the people around him. The Vedas glorify human versatility, making
ones own self above the others is natural behavior but stress is implied on the
way he achieves it. He must follow the path of Dharma, or righteousness, and do
his Karma, or job, to the utmost fulfillment of both himself and his patrons.
The world moves on faster each day, and keeping pace symbolizes advance in
society. An entity, which keeping its riches to itself only showcasing it to the
world, and simultaneously undergoing radical advancements in novel frontiers, is
a boon our sub continent has as compared to lot of other countries round the
globe. We are an open market to foreign goods, ideals and history. As one eats
the fruit and sheds the skin and seeds, our society over the years has imbibed
ideas from all over, short listed the best and followed them. I believe good
things come in small packages. If you can have something so good and yet within
your arms’ stretch, grab it with both hands. You’ll see that, when time has gone
its way over eons, it forgot to carry us with it…thankfully…
Sandeep Mohandas
