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Friday, January 15, 2010

Centuries ago, Centuries later

Centuries ago, there lived a couple called Sorimbe and Avipaa, by the banks of the Ganges. They made a living out of the agriculture in the piece of land they had. Though, it was a hand-to-mouth kind of life, they lived contented and tried to save as much money they could. They were hard-working, truthful, helpful to the neighbors, thankful to whatever they had and fearful of God!

God was taking his yearly census of good, bad and ugly (appraisal); he noticed the good nature (kiss ass) in Sorimbe and Avipaa and decided to give them outstanding. So, he appeared in front of them and blessed them with good health, ample wealth and a donkey. As an appreciation for their addition in devotion, he broke the convention and gave them a promotion (Sorry for the TR mode); he told them to wish for a boon (performance appreciation). Avipaa, first thanked God for all that He had given them till now (feedback) and added that they wanted to have a child so that they can bestow all the care and love; God blessed them with a baby girl. He told them to name the girl as Nellaranma and the donkey as Hatalizethuhu.

With the health and wealth, Sorimbe expanded his farm (not farmville) and did the bread winning, meanwhile, Avipaa took care of Nellaranma and Hatalizethuhu. Soon, they prospered good enough that their farm grew to such an extent that they hired workers from the nearby villages. Eventually, there were no homes in the surrounding villages, that did not have earnings from Sorimbe's farm. Even Avipaa did an excellent job of bringing up Nellaranma to a beautiful young lady. Also, Hatalizethuhu was well-trained to help in the farm, for Sorimbe's transport to the market and other household work.

As their status grew, Avipaa only became more innocent and humble, whereas Sorimbe was becoming rude, selfish, lazy and greedy. He was treating the workers very badly by being a miser in giving them their wages, getting them to work so impractically hard and not considering their feelings. He had become so money-minded that he even got Hatalizethuhu to work thrice harder than before. When Avipaa noticed something and asked about it, Sorimbe used to lie and the innocent she is, believed it all.

One day, Avipaa reminded Sorimbe that it was high time that they got Nellaranma married. She suggested that he go and talk to the landlord of the nearby village, whose son seemed to a perfect match for her. Sorimbe was definitely not in a mood to get his lazy ass up and do the job. So, everyday, he gave Avipaa some reason or the other to keep pushing it away. Finally, one day, when Avipaa pressed so much, he replied that it was the month of Margazhi and it is bad to proceed with any good deeds till it got over. Months later, Nellaranma's marriage got fixed and when asked about the date for the marriage, Sorimbe, who did not want to start working soon for his daughter's marriage, said, performing marriages in the month of Aadi is not good omen.

The marriage happened, days passed by, Sorimbe(Somberi) kept becoming lazier, Avipaa(Apaavi) kept believing Sorimbe's stories, Nellaranma (Nallaneram) got married and went off to another place and Hatalizethuhu (Thalaiezhuthu) kept working harder but sincerely, though at some point it realized that it was God who predestined its life.

Centuries later, people still believe that Marriage (a fantastic thing) has to be put away during Aadi (July15th - August 15th). Infact, if you go through the checklist, man, its tiring (not to fix a date, just to read the checklist once). I was amazed at the fact that the registrar office is not busy at all during Margazhi (Dec15th - Jan15th) because its not good to buy houses during that time, or for that matter its even inauspicious to start working for the most auspicious things. People don't buy houses that has the gate straight opposite to a street or opening (they call it Moola Kuthu in Tamil). If you tell me that some drunken lorry driver is gonna come and gate crash, then probably it is a valid reason. These are just three weird things. Yet, there are so many million rules in this society. I just broke one rule today! :)

I just believe, there is no good time to do anything bad and no bad time to do anything good. What say? :P

Glossary (:P)

Somberi - Lazy
Apaavi - Innocent
Nallaneram - Good Time
Thalaiezhuthu - Fate

PS:
1) I saw the eclipse today for the first time in my life. It was so beautiful. Please get over the myth (if applicable) that its inauspicious to see the sun/moon during an eclipse. Of course, looking at it directly is not good for the eye. Use coolers or an x-ray film and look at it the next time. Its awesome! :)
2) This would be one of the bed-time stories for my kids, in future.

16 Expressions:

Divya Arikere said...

Wat an eye opener ;) :P
Glossary ellam !! Too much....
Good Post :)

Chiju said...

:P I know glossary ellam too much! this was a three much post eh.. so.. :P

Vivek said...

Nice!
I had to read each tamil name twice to get it :(

Chiju said...

@Vivek
:) In the end everyone learnt something! :P

Charan said...

Hmmm.......seri udu un feelings puriyudhu.....anniku sonniye andha ponnu daaana...vidu, pesiduvom...vara aadi maasathula....oru pandhala potuduvom......that's why friends are for....!!!

Sheetal said...

good one.. :):)

Chiju said...

@Charan
Thanks da... but... Endha ponnu??? :(
@Sheetal
:)

Charan said...

Sabai la vendame.....nu paathen...da

VJ said...

people are so ridiculous... even people @ work - they wouldnt eat till it was 3:15! God knows why! No water or food from 11 onwards...

And as far as the eclipse itself is concerned... it was brilliant no? the eery white light. Right out of a Science Fi book.

And you know they build houses according to Vastu. The house that appa has taken in Hyd is weird that way... The kitchen is soooo small!!!!!! and so horribly planned. they even have a door for it.. and it opens INTO the kitchen and covers the sink when opened!!!! The hall is toooo huge. The fans however are not in the right places (and hyd gets pretty hot in summer). They have very FEW plug points in the house. MY GOD! and a whole lot of space wasted... That was the case even in Madurai.. the hosue me and Nit stayed in... The door opened into the shelf! And they always had to have the bathroom next to the kitchen!

Chiju said...

@Charan
Sure da! :)
@VJ
true..

VJ said...

i reject your reply comment. I sent you such a nice long one. I want a nice long reply :(

Chiju said...

@VJ
I have always wondered about what vasthu is.. i have no clue about it and i assumed that it should take into consideration proper logical consideration of the arrangement of the house!
It all seems like rules that one might have come up with, to put some constructor or architect out of business. :P

Panto(a)phobe said...

Nice ... Glossary laan vechu konjam overa poitiyo ??

Vivek said...

I'm not good with vastu either, but I dont think its in any way related to the size of the rooms.. :)
vast u think?

Chiju said...

@Navneeth
:P
@Vivek
Well!!! Lets leave that to the experts!!! They invented it! They will follow it! :)

vk said...

A toast(post) to Rational Thought.

Good Good :)

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