-- From The Recycling Bin: Part 8/10 --
Jose Thekkumthala
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- FROM THE RECYCLING BIN -- Part 8/10 -
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+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
+ +
+ My Encounter With MahaBali : Part 2/2 +
+ +
+ by +
+ +
+ Jose Thekkumthala +
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
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+ Contents of Part 1/2 +
+ +
+ ------------------ +
+ The author met MahaBali, the legendary king of Kerala +
+ on an Onam day in Pooraparambu in the historic town +
+ of Trichur in central Kerala. The king was on his +
+ routine annual visit of his long-lost kingdom. The +
+ author blamed the king for being trapped in a +
+ mischievous plot schemed by MahaVishnu, thereby +
+ losing the kingdom forever and being thrown into the +
+ underworld. The author is asking the great king why +
+ he decided to abandon his dear Malanaad in favour of +
+ the promise he made to Mahavishnu who came disguised +
+ as a dwarf. His Excellency replies as follows: +
+ +
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His Eminence replied as follows:
MB: I have not abandoned you. That is why I am coming here
every year, to be with you and see how you are all doing.
Let me tell you, what I see do not please me at all. The
more I come, the less likeable things become. It is not
easy for me to keep on coming like this in my advanced
age. I am centuries old. Still, I keep visiting my darling
Kerala hoping against hope that things will improve.
But I will keep on visiting this beautiful land come
what may. I will not rest until things are retrieved to
how they were under my reign.
In came a song breaking the silence around us. It came from afar
sailing smoothly through the tranquil air that enveloped us on this
peaceful and festive day. It ran like this:
"Maamalakalkkappurathu marathakapattuduthu
Malayaalamennoru Naadundu
Kochu Malayaalamennoru Naadundu
Kaayalum thirakalum nurakalum pathakalum
........"
It was obviously a glorious song praising the virtues of Kerala.
The Great King looked pleased and proud to hear the song.
The birds in the park repeated the song. They were merrily
flying around the Banyan tree that was standing proudly
in the park with a commanding presence. The legendary tree seemed
to be whispering to the birds to quiet down so as not to
interrupt our conversation. Here was a great
tree having witnessed hundreds of the Onam days. The great banyan
was paying close attention to our discussion.
The Great King was appalled to see the pitiable state of affairs
in his kingdom. He could not understand the misery and unhappiness
that were rampant.
He did not understand nor did he care for so many modern
things like the currency-based economics. He could not
understand how prosperity could be measured in terms of
the bank balance. I had to educate His Excellency on various
things like banking, inflation, recession, currency, Dow Jones
Industrial Average, New York Stock Exchange, Trade Deficit,
US National debt, Cochin Stock Exchange, etc.
He was indignant when he heard about Keralites fleeing Kerala to
Middle East in search of prosperity. He was saddened to hear
about the educated Keralites abandoning Kerala and going abroad
for higher education. He continued:
MB: It breaks my heart to see my subjects abandoning the
kingdom in search of gold. My kingdom is a blessed
Promised Land, abundantly furnished by Mother Nature
and yet see what you are doing! Kerala has fertile soil,
large number of natural resources, an extremely
favorable climate for agriculture, a fabulous
fishing industry, a competitive forestry industry and
a number of other covetable factors like rubber,
coconut, spices etc., that make a strong economy.
There is gold right in front of your eyes and yet
you are deserting this place. Theatrical arts,
music, literature and a distinct culture alone are
enough to attract anybody to this place. What happened
to my kingdom? What did you do?
"I did not do anything", I wanted to say, but could not, because
deep in my heart I knew that I have to take some blame myself.
He was disheartened. He looked sad. He sat there like a statue,
staring at the vast nothingness of the infinity, completely
mortified, pale and withdrawn. His eyes were set at a far, faraway
place. He wiped his tears. Birds nearby were overwhelmed. They
came flapping their wings and consoling His Excellency. Their
innocence and soothing music alleviated his pain. He resumed:
MB: Who is the current king of Kerala?
I: Huh? Current king?
MB: Yes, current king. Who is the king ruling over Kerala
today?
I: Your Majesty, there is no King presently. Those days
are long gone. I am sorry to say this, but you are
talking like a modern day Rip-Van-Winkle. Hope you were
not in a deep slumber in the underworld all these
centuries. We have a Parliamentary democracy in Kerala
right now. This is whereby people are ruling over people.
We have representatives in the Legislative assembly,
who are elected by vote. The chief of the state is the
Governor and the ruler of the majority party is the
Chief Minister.
MB: A minister ruling over my kingdom? No wonder things
are bad. The minister comes under the king and he is
supposed to be subservient to the king and not supposed
to rule. I never let my minister rule over my kingdom.
What you need is a king just like in the olden days.
I had to enlighten the Great One of the history of Kerala, history
of India, the British rule, principles of the Parliamentary
Democracy and so on. I had to explain to him that even though
the olden days had ministers to be subservient to the king,
present-day minister is a full-fledged ruler of the state. I had
to explain that Kerala is no more a self-contained independent
kingdom, but a unit of a larger entity called India.
MB: India? You even let my kingdom be taken over and ruled by
an outsider? Kerala is a land insulated by the natural
landmarks from the outside world. How could anybody
take over Kerala? How?
I had to explain that Kerala is not really ruled over by an outsider.
I had to explain how Kerala has got representatives in the
National Parliament and how the democracy is in action in this
scenario of the state-nation relationship. I continued:
I: Oh, my dear King, the system we have looks perfect and
ideal. India is lauded by the entire world as the biggest
living democracy and yet, things are much worse than what
they appear to be. We really wish we could go back to the
olden days. We wish your kingdom came back. we wish we had
Onam every day of the year. Could we please go back to
the olden days? Could you please come back and reestablish
your kingdom? Couldn't you talk to MahaVishnu and ask
him to retrace those three fatal steps? Please do come
back, please!! We miss you dearly.
I was begging. I was shamelessly, vehemently and desperately
begging like there was no tomorrow. I was weeping like a child.
I was dreaming against dream that my wish would come true. I was
hoping that Utopia would be resurrected. I was hoping that
time would fly backwards to unearth the golden days of the
MahaBali rule.
There was intense silence. Not a single sound emanated from
any corner of the park. Even the daffodiles stopped "fluttering
and dancing in the breeze".
The elephants of the nearby temple started wandering carelessly
in the Pooraparambu. The circle in and around which Trichur is built
echoed a sad silence that every Keralite felt for having lost
Mahabali.
It was nightfall now and jasmine started spreading its sweet
otherworldly fragrance in the air. The coconut palm tree,
the state tree of Kerala, swayed and danced in the wind.
The tree repeated the melodious song that came flowing from
the yonder.
The golden rays of the setting sun illuminated the park with
a heavenly brilliance. The king replied:
MB: I wish I could do that. Nothing would please me more.
But I cannot. What is done is done. I am doomed to
spend an eternity in the Underworld. The paradise that
I established in the Kerala brought about my own
downfall. Even the God himself became jealous of
the happiness and the prosperity that prevailed
at that time. He will never let me come back. But I
promise that I will never stop paying this annual visit.
This holy pilgrimage is the focus of my dreams!
He composed himself and continued with a vehement voice
that was equally solemn:
MB: My heart still lives here, in this lovely land.
I will always think about Kerala, I will always
worry about Kerala and I will always dream about
Kerala!
Mother nature was immensely moved by this display of deep
affection for Kerala. She started weeping; the thunder and
the lightning that carried in a tumultuous rain were symbolic
of her deeply felt sadness. I stood there with a heavy heart.
"It is time to go, Mr. Bali", shouted a voice from behind.
We turned around and there was standing, behind us, you
guessed it, MahaVishnu himself, with a mischievous smile.
He descended to Earth from Heaven amidst thunder and
lightning that were rampant in the turbulent skies.
He addressed MahaBali:
MahaVishnu: The day is wearing thin and it is time you
got back to the Underworld. I gave you
visitation rights only for a day, remember?
Don't overstay or else! The Underworld is
eagerly awaiting your arrival. The place is not
the same without you, you know.
This sarcastic comment was the last straw that I could take.
Already I was boiling with rage over the misdeeds perpetrated
by this anarchist and here he was, cool and composed and
trying to throw his weight around. What a nerve! How dare
he come to Trichur, the cultural capital of Kerala, on
no less a day than Onam and insult His Exalted Excellency,
MahaBali! My blood was at the boiling point. I wanted to get even.
I even wanted to correct history. Here was my golden chance!
I turned around and grabbed the creep by neck. I started
systematically strangling the Godly neck. I enjoyed and
relished every minute of it. He was making my day. In fact,
he was making my Onam day!
I blared:
I: Apologize to our Great King, right here and right now!
If not, I will make a soup out of you and serve it
during our Onam dinner! Here is your chance to
correct your misdeeds. Here is your chance to
retrace those three treacherous steps and give back
our king his Kingdom. Do it!
He was gasping for breath. He was very angry. He least
expected that some mundane hands will some day try to grab
his neck. He shouted, or rather he whispered, because
he could not raise his voice:
MahaVishnu: Let go of my neck, you little frog! If
not, I will send you along with your
King to the eternal damnation.
Now, I did not doubt for a moment his determination to send me
to damnation. I did not doubt his ability to do so either.
After all, here was the expert who sends people to whatever world
he deems appropriate.
Being addressed by the word "frog" is something that
I took exception to. I least wanted to be addressed by that
word. That got me even more infuriated. I tightened my
grip. I was not going to stop, come what may.
"Let him go". A voice spoke. I looked around. The owner of
the voice was MahaBali himself. The Great Philanthropist was
trying to make the world a better place by eliminating violence.
I loosened the grip very reluctantly and let him free.
MahaVishnu addressed the King again:
MahaVishnu: Let us get going. I will let you come back
next year as promised. Now, if you do
not get moving, I'll have to send you
to the Fourth World along with your froggy
friend here.
"Froggy friend" was in reference to me!
I struggled to restrain myself. I restrained myself. He paused
for a brief moment and continued:
MahaVishnu: Who knows, one day I might even make you
the king of the Underworld!
The sarcastic bugger! If he is the one ruling over the Heaven, I
would not want to be part of it.
The God escorted Mahabali out of Trichur, out of Kerala, out of this
world and into the eternal darkness of the underworld.
They left silently. the great King was looking enigmatic in spite of
the insult showered upon him. He waved his hands and slowly
disappeared after showering his blessings upon Kerala.
He promised that he will come back next year.
I stood there completely lost. I felt very lonely. In that
long-lasting moment of utter desolation, a prayer erupted from
the innermost recess of my heart. I prayed silently:
" MahaBali in the Underworld,
Thy name be praised
Thy kingdom come
Thy will be done in Kerala
Just like in the Heaven
And not like in the Underworld
Amen "
Pooraparambu was deserted by this time. I started my trip back
home. I felt melancholic. I wiped my tears. But deep in my
heart, I knew that I will have a future rendezvous with
this great personality. I knew that I will be able to meet
this King every Onam day.
That thought made me happy.
I left the park with that happy thought.
By this time it stopped raining. The moon was already out.
Mother Nature already sprinkled the sky with a sea of stars.
They were whispering to each other and together they started
singing the Onam songs with a heavenly voice. In the profound
tranquillity of the infinite sky, they started weaving dreams
that Onam is made of. They smiled upon Malanaad and extended a
soothing presence.
... THE END ...
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= =
= jose =
= Dept. of Computer Science =
= jo...@csd.uwo.ca Univ. of Western Ontario =
= CANADA =
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