NAVRATHRI DAY THREE !

The skies had been torn apart.A fierce Goddess had opened her third eye. Lakshmi,Saraswathi.Karthik,Ganesha and the Devas watched from a distance.

"The dark thunder clouds that cover the firmament are Devi Durga's long ebony curly tresses said Ma."The embodiment of love and compassion is on a mission today," she added.

A little girl, listened to the tales that Ma wove so b

eautifully.and each time as Ma said something new,her curiosity would be aroused further.A clever Ma went on to say "Her empire extends over the vast expanse of the skies and across the earth. The Universe is her creation,it belongs to her and equally to all her children.Her benevolence reaches the good and the needy.She is an image of pure love and pure love alone , can appease her.She will not tolerate evil in any form and hence she is there out in the skies,raging a fierce battle to vanquish an evil demon "...Ma went on .......

Mahisasur was causing untold miseries to the Devas in the heavens and also on innocent men,women and children on earth."The Goddess has taken this incarnation to establish the victory of good over evil....Shall we continue the .Navrathri celebrations in anticipation of her victory ?"...a loving mother asked her child.."Oh ! Yes ! Ma !Please "..."Remember we also have a job to calm an angry Goddess "...the mother added.

As I went about my Navrathri assigned work today,I remembered her words."Light a Kuthivilakku every day and maintain an Akhanda deepam ,"she would say....The Sundal is important too.The Goddess will be pleased.Make a special payasam every day and offer it to the Devi."

Words of advice have not fallen on deaf ears.A well illuminated temple is a pleasure to behold to the eyes and the ambience turns divine on its own.

It rained heavily last night....and continued till the early morning hours.As thunder and lightning struck intermittently, I was wondering if Ma was indeed right.....Earlier in the evening.and for the past few days,news channels have been agog with tales of extortion and amassment of dispropportionate assets in the form of real estate......

I was bewildered."Far above,beyond the horizons,Devi Durga must be quite annoyed," I muttered to myself....."She has perhaps taken upon an onerous task yet again and hence the unabated growls ,"I thought...

Unable to battle out tenhandedly ,has she deputed thousands like her,to cleanse and purify the self styled empires ?".......I wondered .

I chuckled.....Unable to hide my laughter I told myself AAH !"That's another story to be handled later,"...I better send out the Golu invites right now ...& That is PRIORITY....:-)

The iyers were a jolly lot who worked hard to freak out.times were hard and water was scarce.With a dozen mouths to feed,kannamani went about her daily chores in steadfast fashion.She had a modest upbringinging in a tiny village near Villupuram.A young bride barely in her teens stepped out into the big good world.With a short Krishnamoorthy by her side ,Kannamani made Calcutta her home.

Chokanayaki is back......& the rewind begins.The little girl loved dreamland but Chandru didn't.The eldest two siblings had a bodyclock that woke up the rest of Krishnamurthy's progeny.....and the entire family worked in tandem like a factory.Four and a half decades later,things haven't change much.The scene of action has shifted from the land of the bhaghirathi to the land of the Cooum.Infused with the sense of discipline coupled with the lessons learnt from a military regime...the soft yet firm whip has changed hands.

The Fragrance of Papyrus!

A curious Nayaki peered into the newspaper over the shoulder of Chandru.Admiringly she looked at him and  wondered " Well !!!!Why is this uncle of mine walking up and down early in the morning for a few sheets of papyrus? My dear uncle seems to be knowing everything.He is a walking Brittanica.....with a brain packed with grey cells.....and yet he needs the paper too, to further recharge the hyperactive cells."

The newspaper man was a few seconds late that day...and Chandru was restless.A frail looking young boy on a bicycle hurled the newspaper into the balcony of the second floor.By the time Chandru could open his mouth to give the fellow a piece of his mind,the boy had vanished.The daily newspaper was a bundle of joy and each member of the Iyer family waited for his/her turn.Each page was given due importance.There were no breaking news and the headlines were the  news for the day, The black and white printed newsprint was a treasure and was handled with care.

Newspaper reading is an art and has to be cultivated.It is a dying art now and in the face of competition from the visual media, newspaper companies vie with one another to increase their customer base by making the contents more colourful and commercially acceptable in tune with the changing tastes.With online versions and E- readers available the present generation of ardent book/newspaper lover has the added advantage of dependence on virtual reality as well..

It was during the seventys that Nayaki had the first taste of the papyrus that left her addicted for life.The smell of the fresh paper fascinated her and when the world was not entangled in a web she was connected with reality........and it also marked the beginning of yet another association.....of wordy duels and a daily date at her favourite corner with the grids.......

The Chemistry is lacking!

It was the year 1979.The princess was in the IX th standard.She travelled daily by a state transport bus from Gariahat to Carmel High School at Jodhpur park.A stern Subbu remarked"The next two years are very crucial and I wish that you perform very well."

Studies were getting tougher.Maths, History and the languages were favourite subjects.The English teacher was a soft Hitler....A lovable teacher who walked with a cane in her hand.Had the media been around she would have been in the limelight.A strict academician with the interest of the wards in heart, Nayaki thanks her profusely for instilling the values of sincerity,discipline and punctuality in all her students.The history teacher was softspoken,a sweetheart and the girls admired her. Biology and Geography were interesting but Nayaki didn't have a flair for the other science subjects."Why do I have to test the tubes and spring the balance moaned the girl?I care no less for the elements and the symbols.The molecular weights are heavy and the atoms miniscule.Do I care if iron ore is smelted or copper anodised?I am neither a Tata nor an Ambani and why would I invest in the industrial production of steel or drill deep into the seas in search of oil?I have been sent to this earth with some other purpose I guess !!!!and why am I wasting precious time learning Greek & Latin?The gases are odourless, senseless,the salts tasteless,the acids pungent , the alkalis baseless and the mixtures colourless compounds with complex solutions..... bemoaned Nayaki.The chemistry maam was a terror and her equation with the Nayaki always an imbalance.A roar would send all the girls scurrying for safety and in the process a few chemical changes would take place....irreversible changes like the breaking of test tubes leading to an appointment with the principal at all odd hours and Yes.....The 1980 Madhyamik batch was rocking....a fun loving set of carefree playful but ambitious girls with dreams in their eyes, focus in their minds and  goals to attain........

My Alma Mater!

The backgate was a popular hang out.A little minibus took Nayaki from the crowded market place at Gariahat to the back gate...a gate which now has the distinction of opening into a sesquicentennial old institutrion.The gate meant three glorious years of friends, long conversations between class breaks and the happiness in sharing the excitement of bunks.A basic hangout zone did not exist within the campus and the cool place filled in as an oases for discussions ,creative arguements and merry making...a gate were crosswords were completed,hearts met ,fought and lived happily everafter.The  hangout ran from the favourite Delights upto Hungerford street and the street  holds precious memories for Nayaki.Her minibus dropped her there in the mornings and another one picked her up after college hours......

Subbu accompanied his little girl on the first day.The father was an alumnus of the same institution.It was a moment of great pride for both the dad and the girl.It had been a cherished dream for the father and it was being fulfilled....an admission into one of the most prestigious colleges in the country.The proud father completed the formalities for his girl and he had given her the very best.

Nayaki came from an orthodox background grounded in values of Iyer traditions and customs.The  conservative Brahmin family had  her upbringing in a very protected environment.Having studied in an all girls school...the new atmosphere in a co-ed college was scary.A little wary...the lone TamBram stepped into the classroom and was in for a rude shock.The Ist year ECO batch boasted of a male majority and the timid Nayaki  was terrified.She mumbled to herself..."Yes I guess girls can coexist here.Let me give myself a chance to act bold."A little apprehensive, she occupied the first bench.The braver girls and some of her schoolmates had easily mingled with the new set of friends.

The groups were formed and the gangs headed to the back gate or to the canteen between breaks.Pretty Nayaki headed straight to the Girls Common Room on the first floor.The room  always wore a desolate look and the management maintained it for Nayaki.The heritage building on Park Street boasted of palatial classrooms.The girls Common Room was no exception and Nayaki was to spend most of the three years within the confines of those walls.........

My First Love!

The Iyer's Kitchen is buzzing with activity and it is one of those busy Monday mornings.It is an electrified environment .The Coffee maker and the kettle bring cheer,the mixer lends the much needed spice and the silent  wet table top grinder is a gourmet's delight.The latest addition to the family is the induction stove and Nayaki's competitor in speed.As the milk cooker whistles the daily tune ,the pressure cooker blows its top and screeches to a halt.With four hot hobs and a warm family around her a dancing Nayaki is amused......her mind racing back to the bygones as the blogging Tambong dreams of setting up an Iyer culinary school at Rash Behari Avenue in south Calcutta.

Rashbehari Avenue is one of the most prestigious and important avenues of Kolkata.A major portion of this road commonly referred to as Gariahat , is the prime shopping and aristocratic residential neighbourhood of south Kolkata. Rashbehari Avenue falls in the posh residential neighbourhood of Ballygunge.It was destined and Nayaki considers herself very lucky to have spent her childhood in the heart of a commercial hub in the City Of Joy.The princess lived in Yashoda Bhavan with the finest of sweetmeat shops and saree boutiques such as Adi Dhakeswari Bastralaya and Traders Assembly for neighbours.

She was a teenager when the family shifted to the new house on the third floor.......a landmark on Gariahat junction.The sprawling balconies overlooked the Gariahat junction.She would roam....wander around.The place was mayhem and she guesses it still is....with people shoving and pushing one another,making a bid for the best buy at the craziest prices and purportedly believing in having clinched the best deal.The hawkers with makeshift shops that crowded the sidewalks were lively men waiting to pounce upon the prospective buyers...and once in, the gullible buyer had no way out.A tactical move on the part of the buyer had the hawkers going, and it just needed a simple bargaining to begin the process.Often the bid started at less than half the price quoted by the paan chewing seller and he would lure the tolerant buyer in his inimitable style of refusing and finally relenting.

It is during these days that Nayaki was to come across her first love and the first rush of love holds a special place in her heart.She didn't need a reason to love.She was destined to.It marked the beginning of a beautiful relationship.Phases of the moon ,the radiant rim of the sun and the colours of nature started fascinating her.She was blindly in love.As the drapes embraced her, she loved the snug hugs...the cottony feel of  the Tangail,the silky touch of the Baluchuri and the light smoothness of the Dhakai Jamdanis.Nayaki was a sweet sixteen and it was love at first sight,a love that had the approval of her parents........the love that was to linger on and stay with her forever........