WONDERFUL SCENERY

WONDERFUL SCENERY

When we reached the village , we got down and walked with the others and reached a river. From a distance it was just an ordinary river , but from the bank of the river , it was wide and I was struck by the grandeur of the wide river , which is quite shallow . People were taking bat in the middle . If only I could take a photo of the river. Meanwhile they began to enter a van and I too go got in.

Where is my purse? My pockets were empty. How shall I pay the fare?

Then I woke up. It was all a dream!

MULA RIVER

MULA RIVER

The river we saw at Pune is called Mula. It is a tributary of the Krishna river originating from the Western Ghats.. There is a big dam Chasma which collects the waters of the Main Krishna rive and Mula . Afterwards the combined river splits into three branches , before it falls into the Bay of Bengal.

TWIN TRAIN ACCIDENT AT HARDVA IN MADHYA PRADESH

TWIN TRAIN ACCIDENT AT HARDVA IN MADHYA PRADESH
It happened at about 11.45 midnight , when most of the passengers were asleep.
At Hardva in MP , the railway track near the river , which was in spate , caved in , the sleepers were dislocated by the flowing water and engine and several bogies of a train came under water. Almost immediately afterwards , another train came from the opposite direction also suffered the same fate. In this case the engine escaped intact. As it was dark , the passengers could not even know what had happened . 28 people lost their life and several were injured.
Accident special train soon came and took the live passengers to Itarsi.
Full facts will be known only after enquiry by Commissioner for Railway Safety

ORIGIN

Parashar Maharshy was crossing the river in a country canoe. A tribal woman was rowing the vessel. There were no one else in the canoe.
In the middle of the river, the sage felt sex urge and so he did it with the woman. Vyas was thus born. He had some ugly skin dicease. Vyas is credited with authorship of Vedas, Mahabharath and also Bhagavath puran- all voluminous books.
When the Royal family at Indraprasth was threatened with extinction, Vyas was invited to father children Maharanis. The first one closed her eyes to avoid seeing the ugly man; the child born was blind. He is Dhritarashtr, Suyodhana’s father. The next one felt revulsion and the child was Pandu, father of Pandavas.
Vyas enjoyed sex with the maid servant also. She welcomed it and a wise and honest man, Vidur was her son.
As Dhritarashtr was blind, the war was described to him by Sanjay who was gifted with the power of seeing the events, with the mind’s eyes.
Krishn and Balram
Both were brought up by Yashoda. Balram was straightforward and honest. He favoured Suyodhan and taught him the use of Gada, a club with one end enlarged and weighty. During the war, he was away on pilgrimage. He was sad to know about the war and its consequences.
Bheeshm
He vowed to remain Brhmachary (bachelor), because his father wanted to marry Ganga who wanted to ensure the throne for her sons. In fact, he was very powerful and used strong arm methods to bring women from their marriage pandal and forced them to marry his brothers. He was sympathetic to the Pandavas, but sided with Suyodhan in the war. He could have prevented war by exerting his authority as grand uncle, and, threatening to stay neutral.

OPEN WELL FOR WATER STORAGE a href=’http://www.blogsurfer.us/

When we water the plants, it keeps the earth wet, but most of the water evaporates quickly. As the air pockets around water droplets inside the earth’s surface, prevent water from traveling inside the soil, the effectiveness of the method is minimal.
I am trying open well method. The wells may be small in size, but deep enough to wet the soil below the surface. These wells will get filled during rainy season or may be filled with PANCHAYATH WATER, SO CALLED BECAUSE THE PANCHAYATH IS PUMPING WATER FROM THE RIVER AND SUPPLYING TO FARMERS IN OUR SIDE.
When full, these must be covered, to prevent evaporation. Air pockets are less in deeper strata and so water molecules will easily travel in all directions. Minute roots of plants will use this water.

This is still my experiment and I shall convey the results to my viewers in due course.
The first well of one yard diameter was dug, two yards deep and filled with Panchayath water today.

SHORT STORY- RESEARC IN PALM LEAF GRANTHAS IN SAMSKRITHAM <a href=’http://www.blogsurfer.us/

I was waiting for my bus. As the destination is written in Malayalam, I was unable to read it.
Could you kindly tell me which bus goes to Kavalapara? I asked a young lady who looked educated from her dress and demeanour.
Oh! Most gladly; in fact, I am going to that place.
I feel much relieved. I am going there to study old records written in Palm leaves. I work for Allahabad University.
During our journey, she told me all about herself, as to a bosom friend. She is working in a bank and is going home to see her aged parents who have to manage themselves. Of course there is a maid to help them. She asked me: why don’t you stay with me? My house is near Kavalapara. It is a far flung village without any lodging available. Otherwise you may put up at Ottapalam.
So I accepted her offer.
We had to walk along narrow path until it opened into a panorama of green scenery, with rice fields and a river running across the fields. We walked along narrow embankments, made to prevent water from flowing away into the river. I had to be careful.
We entered a plot with plenty of coconut trees, areca nut trees, and, all sorts of trees which I had never seen before. It was a treat to the eyes!
She ushered me to her room. She said she would sleep with her parents.
I kept my small bag on the stool by the bed and relaxed. Presently she brought hot tea and biscuits. She said: you can take bath in the pond. I will tell others not to come near the pond. You can be quite comfortable. I have a friend belonging to Kavalapara family. We will meet her. She can locate the old palm leaves books.
Before the British rule, Kavalapara was something like a “principality”. The Nair had the power to sentence to death; a beam supported on two pillars can still be seen, from which the hangman’s noose is pitiably hanging, in the spacious ground of the old “palace”, remnants of which instill a sense of melancholy on the beholder. All members of the family are now scattered. Only Sushma, her friend is staying there now. All this was told me by my friend and hostess, Kumari, on our way to the Kavalapara palace.
Sushma is a very young girl, somewhat dark complexioned, with bright, truculent eyes. She promptly took us to the attic.
There were all sorts of documents, in Malayalam, English and of course, palm leaf granths in Samskrutham. The girls dusted them all and brought them downstairs.
I asked Kumari: may I take them all to Sushma’s room where I am staying?
By all means, she shouted. She knew English well and was very helpful in tabulating the documents. I liked her. I said jokingly: If I were young, I could have married you.
She shouted: I am ready to marry you now.
How old are you?
Forty.
Are you not married?
No.
I have never seen the North. Will you take me there?
Oh! Sure.
Next week, Sushma came. I told her that I have sent a report to the University about the treasure I got at Kavalapara and asked for assistance by way of grant for my research. I proposed that I shall appoint Kumari as my assistant, hearing which she jumped with joy.
One Sunday we all went to see around. After some half an hour walking, we came near to a hill.
Shall we climb it? I asked.
Sushma was wary. Kumari started walking towards it. Let us see; if not feasible, we will abandon the idea, I told Sushma.
The top of the hill was covered with thorny shrubs. We went round and some opening came to light. But it was a huge rock, like the back of an elephant. The girls managed to climb it and began describing the surrounding country side. I desperately tried, without success.
Then they gave me their dupattas. With one end in my hands, and the other ends with them, they pulled hard and I too came on top.
Wah! This is our EVEREST! We all shouted.
We had a jolly time and my thesis was ready. One copy I forwarded to Calicut University. I was given special post in the university, for studying documents obtained from Samoothiri’s palace.
One day Kumari said: Sushma has a love affair. Because of caste difference, her parents are against it. After you came to stay with her, her man quarreled with her. He even doubts her chastity.
I felt very sorry about it. And guilty too. She used to tell me everything. Why did she conceal this?
I accepted my assignment in Calicut University and shifted to Kozhikode. Kumari came with me as my assistant.
Afterwards we heard the sad news of her death in mysterious circumstances.

A MODERN PORT AT KOTTAYAM =’text/javascript’ src=

A very modern port was constructed at Kottayam, the business centre of Travancore. at a cost of Rs. TEN CRORE, financed by the Central Government. It remains un-utilised since its inception, some years ago.
The reasons are hurdles created by various departments.
By an effort of citizens, this can be overcome and the port used, at least now.
The river transport will be much cheaper, s it it is direct, towards the sea.

ELANKUNNU (WHERE SANTA MARIA ACADEMY IS LOCATED) IS A RICH SOURCE OF WATER.

The legendary Kamadhenu (cow) gives anything you ask her. Elankunnu is a Kamadhenu.

The lens shaped hill near our house (Elankunnu) is full of water. Its South West portion has already been removed by quarry contractors. You can see water in the quarry even in summer. During rainy season, water from this granite hill fills all ponds and wells in the neighbourhood, through subterranean water channels.

I saw a well with water level very high up, alomost you can touch it; but no attempt is made to draw water from the well. Most buildings in the locality have their own well. Others depend on tap water provided by government, which pumps water from the near by river, into a water tank on the hill.

At the foot of the hill, by the side of the temple at Njeruvisseri, was a small hill in my childhood. Now there is a very deep and wide well, after continuous quarrying of granite for more than half a century. I have recently seen water flowing into this well, from the Elankunnu. As there is an under-rock channel, from this well to the river, Karuvannoorpuzha, water cannot be stored in this well. If the outlet hole is plugged, we can stop water from going into the river. In this way all surrounding villages can be irrigated by gravity flow.

Now water is pumped from the river and rationed for two hours.

it is a pity that water from KAMADHENU is not used, even though there is great scarcity of water in summer.

WATER SUPPLY SCHEME AT ARATTUPUZHA

At the right side of the scenery you see in the” home” background of my blog, is a steep hill, which one has to climb, to reach the Sastha temple at Arattupuzha.

To the west of this temple is a vast open ground. earlier rice fields.

 I enjoy the cool breeze in the evening. I prefer it as the destination of my walk.

The river runs parallel to the road. Between the river and the road are several Harijan colonies which have come up after my childhood days, and un-tarred roads connect these settlements.

Last evening I walked along one of these and was surprised to see huge tanks coming up which reminded me about reactor building in an atomic power plant. Of course, it is imagination.

The workers were taking bath in the river, just a hundred metre down stream from the house which father built. Being deep, the water is clean here. I envied them. I have a liking for project site, cut away from the “madding crowd”. All those employed in the project have a sense of cameraderie and the structure is a triumph of human endeavour.

The water purification tank and the water tank are designed to supply drinking water to vast areas, I was told by one of the workers.

There is plenty of water in the rivers. We must uilise it; that is all.

HOLIDAY IN A REMOTE VILLAGE

Kaithapram is a well known Malayalam film music director and lyricist. His village is known as Kaithapram.

More than five hundred years ago, a group of twelve namboodiri families came down to an uninhabited area, almost encircled by a river and settled in the uninhabited,fertile valley. Then three more groups followed.

Now this village has more than two hundred families, all of the same caste and is known as Kaithapram.

Long ago, when my niece was married to a family there, we felt sorry for her. The village was too remote for us to approach, equidistant from Kannur and Payyannur stations on the Mangalore-Shoranur railway route. After leaving the station, we must travel by bus up to Plathara and then walk for an hour or so. Not a single terrace house and the only toilet, thankfully belonging to a lady who recently came there from south Malabar, was my relief. In those days, people just defecated any where outside the house!

Now I was taken aback by the changes, during the last two decades, which were a pleasant surprise. Almost all houses had concrete roof. Most of them have a car. We were picked up from Plathara by one of the twins of my niece (one is studying for engineering and one for medicine, with government scholarship) in their jeep. They had internet connection at home. Most namboodiries are computer shy. Many do not know what a blog is.

That evening they took us to the Parssinikadavu temple. It is an impressive big temple, right at the bank of the river by the same name. It is full of clean water. There are some boats, but something could be done to remove plastic bags and bottles.

The deity is Muthappan or grand- uncle. The head of an old man is worshiped here. The devotees are offered tea and dhal free of cost. Free meals are also given all the time.

Next morning I went for my walk with just a bath towel, after my bed tea. Within a few minutes, I reached the river. As the water was dirty, I reversed the direction and reached the Srikrishna temple, with good clean water in the pond in front. As there was no one around, I removed the only cloth I was wearing and plunged into the water It was my first dip in a pond, on coming to Keralam, this time.

After praying in the temple I roamed about for some time, but returned early, as I had not taken my break fast. I saw two old men reading newspaper, at Kaithapram Grameena Vayanashala (library). I too had a look at the head lines. I am a newspaper addict.

We were confined to the house, because of a hartal (bandh). In the evening, we climbed the highest hill in the locality. The top of the hill was a plateau, quite wide. I could not believe the spectacle of palatial buildings, constructed in feudal, artistic style. I was told that it was meant to be a music and dance academy , but the man found it impracticable and sold it to an engineering college.

There is a wide road along the periphery of the hill, from which we could see the surroundings.

The whole village is encircled by mountains and the river, which originates beyond Kerala border, in the Western Ghats. This explains the fertility of the soil and the abundance of water.

There is a well at the top, near a Shiva and Devi temple under construction. Water is available just ten feet below the ground. A large pond near by, also has plenty of water. This can only be explained by my theory of subterranean water channels, connecting the entire rocky crust of the earth ( Saraswaty- myth or reality? ).

At the foot of the hill, water level in the wells is fifty feet deep.

There is a rain gauge, well protected by fencing. I wonder if any one takes readings, climbing all the way up the hill.