-- From The Recycling Bin: Part 7/10 --
Jose Thekkumthala
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- FROM THE RECYCLING BIN -- Part 7/10 -
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+ My Encounter With MahaBali : Part 1/2 +
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+ by +
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+ Jose Thekkumthala +
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Kerala's Onam festival commemorates the golden era of prosperity
that flourished in Kerala under the rule of the legendary and
enigmatic king, MahaBali. As the story goes, the prosperity
that flourished under his reign invited the divine intervention,
because the Gods became jealous. No lesser a person than
MahaVishnu himself became earthbound, impersonated as a wretched
dwarf(vamanan), and asked for a small piece of land, a piece
so small that it will be covered by his three steps. The generous
king was more than obliging to grant that wish. As soon as the
wish was granted, as the story goes, the dwarf transformed himself
into a gigantic person. He took the Earth with the first step and
took the Heaven with the second step. There was no room for the
third step! So, the great king offered his own kingly head in
place of the rest of the land promised to MahaVishnu, because a
promise is a promise is a promise is a ... This was a golden
opportunity for MahaVishnu to get rid of the king from the face
of the earth and getting rid of the king from the face of the
earth is exactly what he did. He stepped on the kingly head
offered to him and sent him to the Underworld(Paathaalam).
However, in return for his generosity, MahaVishnu
offered the king visitation rights. This meant that MahaBali
could visit Kerala once a year, on the Onam day. So MahaBali
comes to Kerala on the Onam day to visit his dear, long-lost
kingdom. That is why, if you come to Kerala on the Onam day,
you can see the great king back in his old kingdom, making
sure that his subjects are still happy and prosperity
flourishes. You can see His Excellency with all his past glory,
but with an infinitely sad and forlorn look for having
lost his dear Malanaad. You can see him even today and you can
see him every Onam day to the end of the Time.
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I was wandering aimlessly like a cloud on the Onam Day,
in the famous pooraparambu of the historic town of
Trichur in central Kerala, blissfully unaware of the
problems of the world when I set my eyes suddenly on
you know who, none other than His Highness Mahabali
who was on his routine annual visit of his dear Malanaad.
As all of us know, the proud king met with his disaster on an
encounter with MahaVishnu long long time ago. Prosperity was
flourishing in Kerala under his rule and there was no
sorrow. This invited divine intervention to Kerala.
No lesser a personality than MahaVishnu became
jealous of the happiness of His kingdom.
As ill-luck would have it, MahaVishnu came disguised as a
dwarf and dethroned the Great King.
I was taken aback by surprise to see His Eminence. Here was
the beloved King of Malanaad, the idol of tens of thousands of
generations, the unforgettable and legendary King of Kings
standing in person right in front of my very own eyes!
I could not believe my eyes. Am I dreaming? Could this be true?
By what streak of golden luck is it that I am chosen to see
this immortal King? What path of destiny showed itself to me
to parttake this historic meeting? Does he have a message to
give to me? Thoughts started rushing into my mind.
I was overwhelmed. Time was standing still and I was petrified
into a lifeless entity. This was a dream of dreams come true for
any Keralite, that is, to see the most renowned King of Kerala
after centuries of his golden reign, and yet, here I was, nervous
and trembling like a mouse in front of a cat! Here I was,
standing helplessly, lost for words.
He must have recognized my dilemma. He shed a broad smile to
make me feel at ease. He looked glorious and elegant just like
how he was as the emperor centuries ago. He looked just
like how he was when he was sent to the underworld in disgrace
by MahaVishnu. He has not aged a bit!
I quickly composed myself. I was eager to ask him questions
and a lot of them at that. I was curious to know what went
through his mind when he was wiped out of the face of the earth.
I was curious to know how he was coping with his life in the
underworld. I was curious to know if he would be allowed to
come back to earth to resume his golden era. I was curious
to know what he thinks of the present day Kerala. I was curious
to know hundreds of other things. I was exploding with curiosity.
By this time, he was moving in my direction getting closer and
closer. I quickly ran to the nearby sidewalk merchant and got some
coconut drink. I was prepared, in my own humble way, to welcome
the long-lost emperor. I offered him the drink when he finally
reached me. He accepted my humble offering with thanks. He drank
it with relish because he was quite thirsty and tired
after a long walk from the underworld.
I invited him to the nearby park around the famous temple
in pooraparambu. Once settled down on the parkbench, both
of us were ready to talk. I frankly did not know how to or
where to start. I was nervous.
"It is a nice day", I blurted out.
MahaBali: There were better days, my son.
I: I beg your pardon?
MB: I am referring to the days when I was ruling over this
beautiful land. There was no hunger, no thirst, no greed,
no corruption, no dishonesty, no politics, no
mass-migration to Gulf in search of prosperity. There was
peace, happiness, contentment and goodwill. Now look
what has happened. I hardly recognize this place.
He looked sad. There was disappointment written on his face.
There was a moment of silence and then he continued:
MB: What happened to the smile?
I: Smile? What smile, your Majesty?
MB: The smile that was aplenty on everybody's face during
my reign. That is the smile I am referring to. What happened
to that? During my walk today from the underworld to here
I saw millions of Keralites, embodiment of misery. There was
not a single smiling face I saw. They have forgotten how
to smile.
A cool breeze that was caressing the flowers in the pooraparambu
passed by us, as if to alleviate the pain the Great Soul was
experiencing. I was little disheartened that the conversation so
far was making His Highness sad. I wanted to cheer him up as much as
I possibly could.
I: But they are happy to-day! They are happy to see you and
welcome you! We all have been waiting for one year to
see you! We live every year just for this day! To see
you, to be with you and to commemorate your Golden era!
Today is Onam and we could not be happier! Today is the
day we say goodbye to misery and sadness. Today is the
day we live like the subjects of your great kingdom. We
are not as fortunate as them to have been ruled by you,
but at least we try to create heaven on earth on this
day just like in the olden days. Please, please do not
be sad! It will break our heart!
My utterance was spontaneous. I uttered these in spite of myself.
There was pleading in my voice. The Great One was listening
intensely. He looked like he was pleased. There appeared a very faint
trace of smile on his infinitely sad face. I composed myself and
continued.
I: Your proud kingdom of Kerala has undergone infinite
transformation after you left. We were like a herd of sheep
who lost their shepherd. Who in his right mind would
have thought that your generosity would lead to a disaster
like losing your kingdom to MahaVishnu? We wish you were
not fooled like that. We wish you never granted his wish
for three feet of land. Look what you did to yourself
and to ourselves! You lost a kingdom and we lost the most
eminent of the emperors. Why did you do that? Why? Why?
I was vehement. I was furious. I was furious for the fact that
he let himself be fooled by a smart-ass MahaVishnu
and I was furious that Kerala lost a magnanimous emperor forever.
I wanted an answer immediately.
MB: It was not in my nature to turn down plea from any poor
soul. I never refused cry for help. I could not do that.
That is how I am. That is how I built a paradise on
this earth. Misery did not have a place in my kingdom.
If a single person in my kingdom was unhappy, I would
forget about the rest of the kingdom and go after that
poor person and try to alleviate his pain. I was the
proverbial shepherd who would give up ninety-nine sheep
in search of a lost one.
Then he started narrating the intriguing episode wherein MahaVishnu
took the form of a dwarf(Vaamanan) and asked for his help. MahaVishnu
knew that generosity was MahaBali's weakness and he played upon this
weakness to seek his destruction. His philanthropy led
to his own downfall and dethronement in a humiliating fashion.
He was even excommunicated from this earth. I was all ears
to listen to this event from the Master himself. I listened
with utmost attention.
MB: One fine afternoon, after I got the news that everything
was fine in my kingdom, I was quite pleased and I was
relaxing in the palace garden when this poor wretched dwarf
dragged himself to my presence and asked for my help.
Said that he did not have a place to sleep and he wanted
a small piece of land like three feet. Said he
wanted to set up a small abode and settle down. That way,
he could stop wandering. He was getting too old for that
sort of thing.
"If only he did not grant that wish!", I told myself.
My heart was telling me that if he did not grant that wish,
history would have been different. Kerala would have been
a paradise even today! I became vehement in my entreatment.
"You did not have to grant that wish", I intercepted.
I continued with added vehemence: "Lots of people in this
world do not have a place to sleep. Look at the homeless
thousands in the NewYork city. Look at the homeless ones
in Calcutta. Look at the homeless ones in Bombay. Look at
the homeless ones in Los Ang..."
"shut up", said his Eminence.
I shut up. His Eminence was getting irritated by my interruption.
And he continued:
MB: The poor soul looked very tired and about to collapse. There
was pleading written on his face. My heart was melting with
sympathy. I granted his wish right away. No sooner did I grant
the wish than he transformed into this gigantic form. He took
Earth with the first step, Heaven with the second step and
said he had no place for his third step. Now, I
am the king whose promise is a promise. I cannot go back on my
words, come what may.
"If only he did not grant that fatal wish!", I told myself
again.
I: You could have stopped the S.O.B. right then. You could have
put a stop to the treachery. You could have declared your
promise null and void because of the treachery involved.
Any lawyer would have argued your case and got a jury
verdict in your favour. Indian Penal Code would....
I had to abruptly stop. It was that stern look that emanated from his
Eminence and rested upon my poor soul that made me do so.
MB: Now, the only recourse that was left for me was to offer my
head...
I: Your kingly head.
MB: ...to account for the third step that I promised. I kneeled
in front of him offered him my head. He silently
stepped on my head and sent me to the Third World, I mean
Pathalam or the Underworld, sometimes also called
MahaBaliworld.
I was agonized with rage. I could not contain. Being a Keralite, his
humiliation was mine also. And here he was standing there as if
everything was fine! He was even trying to be humorous by calling
the Underworld as the Third World. I was outraged. I mean, I was
OUTRAGED! I was not going to be intimidated by his
stern looks any more. I was going to speak my mind. And speaking
my mind is what I did.
I: Your Excellency, you are the greatest king that ever walked
on the face of the earth. With all the respect we have towards
you, let me tell you this: You were carried away by your
goodwill on that doomsday. Don't you see, it was a gross
miscarriage of justice that was perpetrated! When the
Vamanan transformed into the real form of MahaVishnu, you
should have suspected foul play. You know the story of
Lord Krishna, the incarnation of MahaVishnu. He was a
very clever God and even though he had promised Duryodhanan
that he would not take sides in the MahaBharatha war,
he indirectly helped the Pandavas by driving the chariot
underground to prevent the deadly arrow that came towards
the head of Arjuna. This is the very same guy who lived with
his sixteen thousand and eight wives and survived! His
cunningness should have given you a clue on how he would
have treated you. Why did you go overboard? Why did you
sacrifice a lovely kingdom? Why did not you think about us?
Why did you abandon us? why?
There were tears in my eyes, that slowly trickled down my face.
It was not so much because I was sad as I was angry that my eyes
welled up.
A flock of birds gathered around the tree to listen to our interesting
discourse. They had stopped singing and were listening intently.
The tree branches were dancing in the breeze to celebrate the
arrival of the Great One to the Promised Land. The leaves that landed
in the pond nearby created ripples one after another. His Highness
was probably moved by my earnest argument and pleading. He sent
a benevolent look to the nature around him.
In a remote corner of the park, a crow joined a crowd of birds
reciting Onam songs. Crow is a good friend of mine and he
was trying his miserable best to sing along with the birds with
his hopelessly pitiable coarse voice. God bless him!
A butterfly came fluttering its wings and settled down on the
chrysanthemum nearby. Butterflies are part and parcel of the
Onam day, symbolizing the liveliness and the rejoice accompanying
this great day.
The clouds in the sky flying around like cotton wool gathered
around the park. They could not help coming closer to watch the
Emperor and listen to his message. The sun was shedding a bright
smile from amidst the faraway sky. Mother Nature had stopped the
business of the day to witness and parttake this supernatural visit.
----------------- WILL CONTINUE ------------------------
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= =
= jose =
= Dept. of Computer Science =
= jo...@csd.uwo.ca Univ. of Western Ontario =
= CANADA =
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