These Rains...

Yesterday Bengaluru was washed by season's first rain, bringing cool and relief. It rained the whole evening. As it had been quite sometime that my face was hit by those pristine tiny drops, I went walking from the office to home- a distance of 8 kms.

The rain drops on my face and my arms felt like heaven. The aroma of wet mud was wafting through my heart. The breaths were deep and full. The leaves of trees gently touching my cheeks. There was silence in my mind. Everything appeared so beautiful- that dog running for cover, that man selling boiled nuts, that woman covering her head with her pallu, that boy jumping in that puddle, that cow in the middle of the road unmindful of anything...

There was celebration of life. Trees looked decked up, flowers refreshed, mud fragrant, animals lively and feelings deep. There is some strong link between rains and old memories. Suddenly you put brakes to the hustle-bustle of routine. Life goes on a rewind mode. Your school days, your college days, that smile of your teacher, that arm of that close friend on your shoulder, that morsel of your mother, that endearing touch of your father, that ringing of bell of your bicycle, that 'Mere Hansini... kahan uda chali' song of Kishore Kumar, that hot mirchi bhaji and chha, that Chemistry lab, that bespectacled lecturer, that eyes of that beggar standing at the college gate, that old jeans you wore full semester, that feeling of freedom... so much time seems to have passed.

Rains are so fertile.

Ramayana and Mahabharata

I have read more than half of Ramayana. It is not for nothing that it has been raised to epic status in our country. There is tremendous wealth in every event of it. There are fundamental differences between Ramayana and Mahabharata. In Mahabharata, there is no one hero and heroine. But Ramayana comes very close to our general assumption of a story- it has a hero, Ram- who does all the good things including bashing bad guys and a heroine, Sita- who is embodiment of all the virtues.

But Mahabharata is different. Here even Yudhistira who is known for his 'Truth' and 'Dharma', banishes them on the battle field. Arjun considered a great warrior had to kill Karna, Bhishma and Drona with deception. Even Krishna- who is called God follows "unrighteous" ways to help Pandavas win. These characters seem close to our selves. Pandavas cannot be called good guys and Kauravas bad guys rigidly. They just had varying degrees of grey qualities. To an extent that I felt pity for Duryodhana (the cause of the battle and so much bloodshed) after Bhima kills him. But Ram was white and demons were black in Ramayana. May be people had evolved after all there are so many years between the 2 epics. The description of Sita in Ramayana is to my special liking. Ramayana is Ram through out but in Mahabharata every person gets his/her share.

Mahabharata appears more colourful and happening than Ramayana. In Ramayana one can easily predict what a particular character's response will be to a given incident. But in Mahabharata, no. They surprise you by behaving in exact contrary to their known nature- Arjuna's deception, Krishna's mavericks, Duryodhana's friendship, Karna's loyalty, Bhishma's weakness, Drona's love, Draupadi's angst and so on. But in Ramayana it's impossible for Ram to betray- even his wife's abductors, it's impossible to Lakshmana to disobey his brother Ram, it's impossible for Dashratha to admonish his wife's evil asking of sending Ram in exile. Ramayana is full of love and romance. Dashratha's love for Ram- he even lays his life in the grief of his separation. Bharata's love for Ram- he even rejects the throne. Lakshmana's love for Ram- he even goes to exile when none asked for it. Of course Sita's love for Ram- she being a princess follows him to forest. Ram's love for his 3 mothers, father, brothers and even demons are sublime.

Both the epics are worth many reads and understanding. They enrich us in many ways and exalt our souls. They appear to be 2 oases in this mad mad world.

Beluru and Halebidu

First day, 31st March 2012, Saturday

This time it was a trip to historical places of Beluru and Halebidu. One partnership that can equal that of Sachin-Saurav's opening for India is Akshay-Vinayaka's I guess. As per the schedule we left Bengaluru bus stand at exactly 7 am by Bengaluru-Chikkamagaluru bus. This bus goes directly to Beluru. As usual we chatted, howled, laughed our way, so much so that the driver of the bus exclaimed that we both can beat 20 people in debate and called our talks "good time pass". Our talks (civilized people call it gibber) spanned a wide range from- scriptures to losing our culture to how stupid people are and how intelligent we are to of course girls- the fact that the last topic took 82.71% of our discussion time and effort is a different matter. We had breakfast at Kallur cross.

We reached Beluru at 12:30 pm. Took a room at Sumukha Residency. The receptionist was pretty. This hotel was stone's throw away from the Shri Chennakeshava temple complex- the reason of Beluru's fame. After freshening ourselves up we left for Yagachi dam- which is around 4 kms. We visited the back waters and had lovely time kayaking. It was meditating to sit idle in the middle of the waters, which was calm with occasional small waves. If this is not beauty, then what is? It was first of its feeling rowing a boat. Our screaming 'left-left right-right' was music to only our ears. We were given drop till Beluru by a bunch of college dropouts. We entertained them with tea and a puff. They have given their numbers and have promised us a great time if we were ever to visit Hassan again. Look, friendship knows no bounds!

Then after having 'haap cup cha' we proceeded to the Chennakeshava temple. The temple complex was started by a Hoysala king Vishnuvardhana Ballala and completed by Ravi Ballala- his grandson. It took 103 years to complete. The gopura is magnificent. We hired a guide for taking us around. Absolute Beauty! Beluru is celebration of femininity and womanhood- so much so that even Chennakeshava swamy (a form of Lord Vishnu) is dressed as a woman- not Bangalore types but- saree, nose-ring, waist-band, earrings, necklaces, ankle-lets and kumkum. The idol of the deity is magical. I was not able to move away from it. I visited the temple again in the evening just to see Him. The complex is huge. The Chennakeshava temple has 48 pillars- all different from each other. Just 2 of them are monoliths others are pentaliths. Monoliths- Ugranarasimha pillar (which is stupefying due to its intricate carvings) and Mohini pillar (true to its name it is indeed attractive). On Mohini pillar is Vishnu's female form- Mohini. Breathtaking! The compassionate yet dignified expression, the body language and the body itself. Whoa! I wish to write a separate blog on Mohini statue itself. This was the thing that impressed me the most. Then there are 'shila balikas' in their different dance poses. The temple is star-shaped like any other Hoysala temples. The temple has a base of 3 layers of rocks- first layer has carvings of elephants, second lions and third horses. Well, now how to express Beluru's beauty in words? I have realized the wealth of the words- Words are silver Silence is Golden. Indeed! I will remain silent with a final line- if you die without drinking the nectar of Beluru then yours was an incomplete life.

When I came out of the temple complex there was a feeling of completeness, a feeling of 'I have achieved whatever there is to be achieved'. Even Vinayaka told me that I behaved differently- such was the impact of Chennakeshava, Mohini and the whole temple itself. We finished the day with our talks which had even greater depths- our personal lives, Chennakeshava, essence of life, beauty of life. 'Girls' were conspicuous by their absence from our talks.

Next day, 1st April 2012, Sunday

We left for Halebidu. We reached at 11 am. This temple complex is dedicated to Lord Shiva. It has 2 huge shivlingas- Hoysaleshwara and Shantaleshwara. The nandis before them are one of India's largest and most beautiful. This complex is double the size of that of Chennakeshava's in Beluru. The architecture remains similar. The temple exterior is richer than Beluru's. But this temple- constructed by a minister in Hoysala kingdom- is incomplete, due to attacks from foreign armies. The temple is star-shaped and various stories from Ramayana and Mahabharata are carved on the walls. As Narasimhaswamy was the family-deity of Hoysalas, his idols appear regularly. But that feeling of completeness was somehow missing here in Halebidu.

We visited a museum and a Jain basdi and took private tempo to reach Hassan- listening to new Kannada songs through the dusty roads. We reached Hassan at 3pm. Had lunch at Sanman and took a KSRTC bus to namma Bengaluru with a satisfied yet heavy heart. Reached Bengaluru at 8:30pm.