*From To Sathish* - Thread 3 - Page 9

There is a reason and a valid one at that as to why i have stopped at this junction,where kulashekaran,amudhavalli and kulothunga cholan meet and the events that led up to their meeting and the events that happen after their meeting.

Even a mighty tree spring from a tiny seed and likewise great stories are born from a single event,a single sacrifice or a single act of sacrilege.One word,one action,one moment is all that requires for a legend to be born and likewise the mighty ganges starts its journey from a single drop.

The epics of ramayana and mahabarata are filled with great and fantastic stories and legends that stand as great examples even today and they are relevant in the 21st century and forever,as long as there is life and a mind.

As for me the chapter of yakshaprasnam in mahabharata,which takes place when the pandavas are in exile is the most significant and thought provoking questions and answers i have ever read.The only other book which lifts me up is AYN RAND'S book THE Fountainhead.But coming back to yakshaprasnam is the event when the pandavas are in such of water to quench their thrist which comes over them after they chase a deer into the forest.One by one,the pandavas go in search of water and fall dead without heeding the warning of the yaksha who guards the water.finally dharma putra answers all the questions and also gets back the lives of his brothers.

"To sell your soul is the easiest thing in the world. That's what everybody does every hour of his life. If I asked you to keep your soul - would you understand why that's much harder?" Ayn Rand, The Fountainhead

The last chapters are pertaining to these fundamental questions such as why do we live,why do we go on,why do we persist and are we true to our souls.Is sacrificing our soul and happiness for other lives justified and does it do any good.Is there a right way or a wrong way to live

Is suicide a bad thing and why do we call people who commit it as being selfish and cruel.

Doesn't one have a right to know when to go and when to stay and when to live and when to die.

16 years
It was many years ago since the embarrassing day when a young woman, with a baby in her arms, entered his butcher shop and confronted the butcher with the news that the baby was his and asked what was he going to do about it?
Finally he offered to provide her with free meat until the boy was 16. She agreed.
He had been counting the years off on his calendar, and one day the teenager who had been collecting the meat each week, came into the shop and said, "I'll be 16 tomorrow."
"I know," said the butcher with a smile, "I've been counting too, tell your mother, when you take this parcel of meat home, that it is the last free meat she'll get, and watch the expression on her face."

When the boy arrived home he told his mother. The woman nodded and said, "Son, go back to the butcher and tell him I have also had free bread, free milk, and free groceries for the last 16 years and watch the expression on HIS face!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=81PEowbpsJQ


Watch this and be amazed.

Chapter 31

"Listen to what is being preached today. Look at everyone around us. You've wondered why they suffer, why they seek happiness and never find it. If any man stopped and asked himself whether he's ever held a truly personal desire, he'd find the answer. He'd see that all his wishes, his efforts, his dreams, his ambitions are motivated by other men. He's not really struggling even for material wealth, but for the second-hander's delusion - prestige. A stamp of approval, not his own. He can find no joy in the struggle and no joy when he has succeeded. He can't say about a single thing: 'This is what I wanted because I wanted it, not because it made my neighbors gape at me'. Then he wonders why he's unhappy." Ayn Rand, The Fountainhead


I am s.satish kumar.I am now as i write these words a product of life and i am the product of evolution on this nearly 4.5 billion year old planet.How much has this ball of earth seen,endured and swallowed.How many kinds of plants have come and gone and remain.How many species of animals have come and gone and remain.The skeletons,the dust tell their stories and from them we visualise dinosaurs and other scary creatures.Billions nay trillions have come,lived,loved and died.This is the place of life and this is the place of death.When i am old in my seventies or eighties and maybe if some of you remember or have lost touch,think of this moment,think of these times when i sang to you,wrote to you as a poet and as a storyteller.These are the times,these are the lives and these are the days.Every second is a birthday,every cell of your body is new life and every bit that falls to dust is your story.Be well.


The fall and the promise


The new day came for its performance as actors enter a stage to play their roles and it brought along a new sun and they came as witness to all the drama that would be laid out for them.The white bit of a moon asked the sun to pass on what happened by the day for it would not be able to see through the bright light of its father.

The mighty chola king Kulothunga cholan strode like a bull elephant and entered the coronation hall of the pandya kings.He saw that the king and queen were discussing something with his minister,Nikantan and with his main army generals.

Kulothungan " kulashekara,have you changed your mind from last evening or do you still think that your reasoning is right."

Kulashekara pandyan slowly stood up and bowed to the king " Mighty king,not now,not ever.i remain the same and steadfast i my ideas and i remain yours to be dealt with as you please."

Kulothungan " okay,that settles the argument.so i request all of you to come outside for i have an announcement to make and i want the people of madurai to hear it.so please follow me." saying this kulothunga cholan walked away.


He sat on his white horse,the mighty king kulothunga cholan.A veteran of many great wars and victorious in all of them.A good and just king and one blessed with a brilliant mind he calmly surveyed the king,queen and the people of the pandyan land.

" dear people of madurai.I guess all of you know what is happening in your kingdom and why i am here.I want all of you to know that i respect your king as much as you all do and feel that he is the best man to be your king.But sadly he has other ideas and i have tried and failed to convince him to change his ways and mind.Since i am left with no other way but to shock him out of his stubborn stance i apologise for what i am about to do.But i am certain that what i am about to do will bring back your king to you and my vassal to me."

Saying this the king turned and glanced at his general,who raised and blew a trumpet like instrument and everyone heard it and then they saw it and recoiled in horror. A thousand arrows sped towards the coronation hall and they carried one element with them and that was fire.Fire and it brought the fury of the chola king in its wake and it embraced the coronation building of the pandyas like a lover embraces his woman after they have been separated for a long time.Like lovers mouths hungrily kissing each other,the fire kissed the wood of the building and rose to the skies.

There were screams of horror and screams of protest and then the queen screamed as the king collapsed next to her and convulsed in fits.The shock of seeing his heritage being destroyed ,the shock of seeing his lineage razed to the ground,the shock of a thousand years of history burning was too much and a small,very small capillary exploded in the brave and gentle kings brain and he suffered a massive stroke.

But as he lay on the ground his eyes as they slipped into a coma witnessed his minister nikantan and his army generals being imprisoned and dragged away by the soldiers of the chola army.The eyes closed as hot tears filled and poured like the vaigai river and his body and tears became one with the ground.

Fire,smoke,ash mixed with the dust that was raised by the army of the chola empire as they marched out and a chapter of the pandya kings came to an end.


Azhagan stood with his lion on the mountain and saw the smoke rising from madurai and knew that something bad had happened and then he saw an old man,a very old man slowly climb the mountain towards him.

The old man smiled gently " my child,my son,madurai cries and she cries for help and for a king and a brave warrior to lead it and guide it.Soon your time will come when you will lead the sun into battle and will avenge our king.Come with me and face your legacy and prepare to change from a boy to a mighty warrior."

Azhagan looked at him and the man said " yes,i am appanar iyya and i am old,very old and one day you will know the secret as to why i am still here.i am here for you and you have known me from the time you were in the body of Avini."

Azhagan gave his hand and appanar iyya took it and boy,man and lion walked into the forest.

I am azahgan and i am the son of avini.I am fire and i am water. I am hell and i am heaven and i will bring peace to you.

The sun as it slipped into the west whispered sadly to its child the moon, " i saw a great man fall.i saw a king crumble to the ground.But i saw a great warrior choose his path.i saw a new and powerful king rise and he will bear my light and i blessed him with my might.He will burn his enemies to ashes as i do to the earth during summer and the pandyas will rise with this new star from the east.

Hey neele gagan ke tale

Summer is here and it is going to be a bummer
Like crossing into or stepping into a different world
I slip out of the chilled bedroom into the hall
and it like walking into a sauna or steam room
I switch on the fan and breathe deeply and take a moment
It is 3 in the morning and the world is quiet
my neighbours snores came in waves through the window
and a few bees lazily fly through the same
a few hundreds have made a hole in the dead coconut tree
and the light in the hall cheats them into waking up
they buzz angrily about banging against the light and fan
and soon i am shivering and cowering behind the curtain
hell with it and i switch on the light outside
and they slowly move from the yellow cfc to the white cfc
milk boiled,filter coffee ready
i am in my second round and the big mug is nearly empty
and i am nearly finished with posting crap on facebook
posting ramblings and musings in the blog that i blog
It is 5 in the morning and the dark of the night is slit with grey of the light
crows are awake and there are shrieks and eerie calls to arms
and yes the crows are chasing the black cuckoo
who is ready to coo,coo and call his mate
and which crows nest they will lay their alien eggs is left to fate
Mate,fate and i am getting late.
grey light is turning to white and becoming bright
and with the laces done i gingerly step out of the house
and smirk happily to see that the bees have gone back to their hole
in once a coconut tree and now a just a dead,dried wooden pole
I stretch,i sway,i swing my arms and jog on my feet
and yes i am ready for a new day of my life and for my soul
what it will bring,what it will do i have no clue
but then do i or do you
from four walls of the house i step out
into the four directions of the world
my eyes see left and right
and my heart tells me this way please
and my feet tell me that way today please
i wrap my earphones around my skull
and i press play
and today it is the soft voice
of mahendar kapoor singing

Hey neele gagan ke tale
Dhartii ka pyaar phale
Aise hii jag mei. aate hai. subahe.
Aise hii shaam Dhale
Hey neele gagan ke tale
Dhartii ke pyaar phale

Shabnam kii motii phoolo.N pe bhikre
Dono.N kii aas phale
Hey neele gagan ke tale
Dhartii ke pyaar phale

Chapter 32


"A fine glass vase goes from treasure to trash, the moment it is broken. Fortunately, something else happens to you and me. Pick up your pieces. Then, help me gather mine."? Vera Nazarian, The Perpetual Calendar of Inspiration


A smile that comes from where a purpose dwells.A smile that reflects the light of your soul more than the white of your teeth is precious and when given without any expectation and given with the pure purpose of love is the purpose itself.What is the purpose if not the spirit that moves stars and massive galaxies.What is the purpose if not the power that came before the universe.Yet in our ordianary lives in an ordianary world that is the third rock from the sun,we are aware of the power of love and what benefits it brings to a life.Love is not sex and yet it is sex.love is not the first kiss and yet it is.love is not just sacrifice and yet it us.love is everything and you,me we are all part of it.love is,it just is and it is the universe that shines,floats in all ways and in all directions.Love is not just giving and it is also taking the love that is given to you.Love,live,breathe and die.



The spirits of the forest


Azhagan looked at appanar aiyaa and asked him to wait and like the swift breeze he rushed back to the village and stood outside his house.He called for his mother and avini came out wondering what the boy had done.

Azhagan 'mother,i am going into the forest and i will be back by evening.If there should be some delay in my coming,please do not worry for i have got my guardian friend with me and i will be all right.I am just worried if you will be okay.'

Avini remembered the spirit and the kiss that had bloomed azhagan in her body and also realised that things were happening that would be soon beyond her control and reach.Her child was just seven and yet he spoke and behaved like an adult and unlike most adults he spoke little and even they were measured and tempered with thought.There were times she could sense him thinking a million things and pondering countless mysteries and yet he never troubled her as if he knew that she would not be able to answer them and would feel embarassed about it.

Avini kissed her son's forehead and said " remember, small steps and never forget who you are and trust me when i say that you were meant for greater things."

Azhagan smiled " nothing is greater than being with you and by your side and our village.don't worry for i will tell you more when i get back and maybe even surprise you with something or someone."

Appanar aiyaa watched the boy race like a lion and in the shadows he saw the boys companion and knew that nothing would or could harm him.They walked the old man and the boy and soon to be an young man.

The sun travelled along its path casting light as the two of them entered the bowels of the forest and this was land scarcely touched by humans and those that ventured never ever left it.

Appanar " boy,are you not nervous or scared that you have come so far into the forest and just because i said so ."

Azhagan looked at him " why should i be scared of you when i know i can trust you and if there was something wrong then i would have felt it and even if i make a mistake,my friends will not and would have alerted me.but then it would have been too late."

appanar " too late for you."

" no,i meant it would have been too late for you for though i see that you are aware of the lion that is shadowing us there are others who are following us and they are here to protect me from harm."

Appanar nodded his head " well child,it is they who want to see you and explain certain things and also teach you much more."


The two of them reached a clearing and it was more like a circle for the forest stood dark green on all sides fencing off the place tighter than a stone wall.In the middle of the clearing was a small rock with a flat space in its center.The place looked like a diamond set in a jade ring.

Azhagan felt something else, a vibration,a pulse that he had known since his birth and maybe even while he was in his mother's womb.He felt a strange peace and a sense of belonging that he had never felt before and he was surprised for he felt the best when he was next to his mother.

From the forest the spirits moved as lights and a voice gently whispered " please leave for the child is safe with us."

Appanar aiyaa bowed and left without a word and dissappeared into the forest.

Azhagan stood alone in the clearing and yet he was not nervous or scared,just curious and happy that something new and strange was happening in his life.He also knew that his maned friend was not with him and this was the first time he had been away from him.

The voice whispered gently " come child,come forward and sit on the rock and take your rightful place."

Azhagan went towards the rock and climbed the few steps carved into it and sat on the flat space on top of it.He sat in the lotus yogic position,which had been the way he was used to sitting and the lights whispered merrily and chattered to themselves.

The spirits moved from the shadows of the trees and slowly they came forward and circled the rock that azhagan sat on and he looked at them and smiled and now he was one with them.They moved closer and closer and soon they were around him and then in unison they all kneeled before him.

The light was white,it was bright,brighter than the sun and it poured from the skies shining around azhagan and the spirits.

Azhagan closed his eyes and let the light enter him and he drifted away.away far away and did not come back for fourteen days.

It was evening and avini stood strainin her ears for the sounds that her childs feet made and strangely she heard a familiar noise and a huge smile burst on her face and tears poured down her face.she moved forward with hands outstretched and they found the soft and comforting hands of her Appanar aiyaa and like two long lost friends meetin,like a father and child meeting,like a mother and child meeting,they came together and she poured her heart out in tears on his chest.

Appanar aiyaa " amma avini,don't worry about azhagan for there is nothing in this world that can harm him except maybe you.He is in the forest with the spirits and he is being prepared for a great cause.it might be days,it might be weeks but be patient for he will came back safe and sound.now i will be really happy to have some food and get some sleep for it has been years since i have had a good night's sleep."


"I want to be magic. I want to touch the heart of the world and make it smile. I want to be a friend of elves and live in a tree. Or under a hill. I want to marry a moonbeam and hear the stars sing. I don't want to pretend at magic anymore. I want to be magic."? Charles de Lint


Roads go ever ever on,
Over rock and under tree,
By caves where never sun has shone,
By streams that never find the sea;
Over snow by winter sown,
And through the merry flowers of June,
Over grass and over stone,
And under mountains of the moon.

Roads go ever ever on
Under cloud and under star,
Yet feet that wandering have gone
Turn at last to home afar.
Eyes that fire and sword have seen
And horror in the halls of stone
Look at last on meadows green
And trees and hills they long have known

poem from lord of the rings


I am azhagan and i am the son of avini.My father is the sun and the forest.I am the spirit and i am magic.I breathe the power that is bestowed and i rise now for the time is near.the time is here for heaven and hell.

Chapter 33


Nursing care comes in many forms. Sometimes it is the ability to make someone feel physically comfortable by various means. Other times it is the ability to improve the body's ability to achieve or maintain health. But often it is an uncanny yet well honed knack to see beyond the obvious and address, in some way, the deeper needs of the human soul. ~Donna Wilk Cardillo, A Daybook for Beginning Nurses


Dressed in white,young and old,black,brown and white,thin,skinny,fat and sometimes just right they go about their work in hospitals and clinics and they call themselves nurses.Yes,just as a mother nurses her child with milk from her breast,the nurses in white nurse patients from sickness to health.I do agree that you get a rough one and a tough one at times and some scare me more than my maths teacher with her numbers,divisions and algebra and yet they go about their work.Its been a long time since i rolled my sleeve and it has really been a long,long time since i dropped my pants and showed my butt for an injection.but from what little i remember the nurses have been gentle and kind.Thank you very much.


Thenmozhi and kulashekara pandyan

He wondered " where am i ? I am lost and far away from home and have no idea how to go back.But who am i ? Everything was dark and his mind saw shadows in the darkness.He saw a building on fire and the flames flickered and reached the clouds and he saw himself lying prostrate on the ground at the feet of a mighty king.The flames licked at his feet and he knew he had to save himself or he would die here and only his ashes would remain.From the blazing fire,strode a boy with his curly hair like a black flame and next to him walked a huge lion. The boy reached out with his left hand and effortlessly lifted the man from the flames and the lost man saw the strange markings on the forearm of the boy and as the boy lifted him out of the fire his eyes blazed with a strange light.

Kulashekara pandyan who was lost in the darkness of his mind and pain gasped " i am,i am the king.what has become of my kingdom and people."

He smiled gently and said " rise my king,rise up now kulashekara pandya.rise now for she beckons you and her tears are my tears and seeing her thus breaks my heart."

Slowly,very slowly his eyes flickered open and they opened to the face of thenmozhi whose eyes brimmed with joy and yet they poured tears and the hot emotions of the young girl bathed kulashekara pandyan's face .

Thenmozhi " you have come back.you have come back."

Thenmozhi screamed at the top of her voice and people came rushing into the room and the queen rushed to the kings side and sat by his side and cupped his face and cried,smiled and tried to speak at the same time.

Kulashekaran tried to speak but found that he could not form words and only spit ran down his chin and he knew then that he had suffered a stroke and that he would never be the same again.But his mind was back and for that he was thankful to god and to the boy who raised him from the darkness that he had lain in.

In the early 13th century there were no Icu's or operation theater's to do emergency surgeries and even now in the 21st centruy the effects of a massive stroke are plain to see.The paralysis that sets in either the right or left side of the patient who has suffered a stroke leaves them permanently disabled.It takes years of physiotherapy to restore a semblance of mobility in a patient.But the most important factor in a person's recovery is his own brain and mind which controls it.

Kulashekara pandyan was a man and yet not an ordianary mortal for he had skills which far exceeded mere mortals.Years of Meditation,yoga and a sharp focused mind started the recovery process the minute he used them to channel and guide his body to mend and heal quickly.


It was early in the morning and the sun would rise in the east in a few minutes and kulashekaran opened his eyes again and saw two beautiful women sitting next to him.By his right sat Thenmozhi and by his left sat his beloved queen,wife amudhavalli.He smiled and winked at them both with his left eye as if to tell them that he was okay.

Kulashekaran looked at Thenmozhi and tears welled up in his eyes and he turned towards the eastern sky and as if reading his thoughts,Thenmozhi called in the kings personal physician and and guards and they slowly dragged the cot towards the balcony and into light.

The king lay with his head facing the east and the sun came up swiftly and brightly as if to greet him and wish him well.He beckoned with his left eye to thenmozhi and she sat by his side and both watched as the mighty sun rose over his child,the earth.

Kulashekaran closed his eyes and remembered the boy with black curly hair rushing through the flames and the lion that ran besides him and smiled for he knew it was the sign,the sign he had been waiting for and the same time Thenmozhi raised both her hands and making claws with her fingers growled loudly as if she was a lion and pointed to the sun.


Years later and in the future,kulashekaran would realise who azhagan was and he would breathe his last as the sun came up and Kavin would stand next to him holding his hand as the king whispered in his dying breath " Pakalon,Maasilan,Kathiravan,Meykandan,Koman,Nikaran and pandyan."


I am azhagan son of avini.I have come from the east and i have come from the light.

I am fire and i am water. I am hell and i am heaven and i will bring peace to you.

The boy who went into the dark and came back with light.

The story of Aashritha and mani lasted 21 chapters.The story of dhanashekara pandyan and balaji lasted a bit more,32 chapters.
The story of Azhagan,avini and thenmozhi now stands at 33 and the story is just beginning.
As the chapters flow and as my thoughts flow i realise how much there is in relationships and in silences and so much more in sacrifices.
They are all part of you,me and us i know now why i write them.

Magic,stories have filled my childhood dreams and they still do.
From dressing up like lord rama and then wearing a towel as a cape and just my underwear and running around like superman,i have believed in stories and the pleasure they bring in mine and all our lives.