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Chapter 10
"Travel is like love, mostly because it's a heightened state of awareness, in which we are mindful, receptive, undimmed by familiarity and ready to be transformed. That is why the best trips, like the best love affairs, never really end." " Pico Iyer
Get your motor runnin'
Head out on the highway
Lookin' for adventure
And whatever comes our way
Yeah Darlin' go make it happen
Take the world in a love embrace
Fire all of your guns at once
And explode into space
Like a true nature's child
We were born, born to be wild
We can climb so high
I never wanna die
Born to be wild
Born to be wild
STEPPENWOLF "Born To Be Wild"
January and march of 1995will remain forever etched in my mind for they were the months seeni and me left chennai on my rx 100 yamaha and travelled through kerala,karnataka and reached goa.Two skinny guys in their 20's and armed with two carry bags one on the tank and one on the rack which seeni said was good for him to lean on.Two jeans,a few cotton tees and a couple of stone washed shirts and a kodak hot shot camera and my loafers and we cruised with the wind on my face and free air swirling like whirlpools around us.I sped,ran,raced and escaped the mundane and made history.Even today seeni talks in a hushed tone and his eyes widen in amazement ' machaan,did we actually ride all the way to goa.wow.' I tell him yes and i think back to the black tarmac as it slithered and whizzed under our wheels as we flew on it.I nurse this ache to leave everything behind and wander all over india in my car.Stop at villages which are not on maps and stop to see the green carpet of paddy fields.Stop and look at people going on with their lives.Walk the earth all over my country and feel its history and try to understand my heritage.I am going to do it someday and off i will go,just me,my car and my freedom with the open road welcoming me.
Life is a highway
The digital clock stuck to the dashboard gleamed 8.30 in red and Buddha whined a gentle noise that made sadashivam turn and he understood.He switched on the left indicator and slowly pulled to the side of the road under a huge tamarind tree.Many more of the trees kith and kin stood in a straight line and their lineage continued off into the horizon.It was the same on the opposite side of the road and sadashivam opened the door and let buddha out and he himself slowly got out and with a sigh stretched his body.He had driven at a speed which he was comfortable with and even though the 80 to 90 kms felt slow they had managed to cover nearly 200 kms and were in the outskirts of Virudhachalam.Buddha gently got out and went to nearby bush and did the same thing which sadashivam did.Buddha went around sniffing the air and generally walked around the trees and the adjoining paddy fields and sadashivam thought this would be a good time to finish breakfast and then he thought of buddha and what to give him to eat.Sadashivam opened the four storey tiffin carrier which had a five storey friend next to it.Sadashivam ' What did kamalam think while she packed these giant food vessels? did she think that i was going to feed people all the way to madurai or did she want me to survive on this food alone for the time i am away from home? '
The four storey steel containers had idlis packed in two and chutney in the other.the top most compartment was filled with a few cheese sandwiches and the minute he opened that one,buddha came and sat next to him and let out a small whine,and looked at the sandwiches longingly.The two sets of sandwiches vanished into thin air like a trick performed by a master magician and all sadashivam was left with was his open mouth in amazement.
Sadashivam was happy that at least the dogs food problem was solved for the moment and wondered what else the animal fancied.But he didn't have to wonder for long for buddha let out another whine and sadashivam with an idli that was about to attain nirvana in his hungry tummy,turned and looked questioningly at buddha.The huge dog looked at the idli in his hand and then looked down at the tiffin carrier where mini mountains of idlis were tightly packed together.
Saashivam had never heard of a dog eating idlis although he had heard one of his friends raghuraman tell him that his dog liked athirasam a lot.
He slowly put a newspaper next to buddha and placed two idlis on it.One moment they were there and next moment they had travelled at the speed of light into buddha's huge mouth.The dog whined again and sadashivam placed two more and then two more and the dog looked at him with an expression more of content than gratitude and gently burped in his face.
Sadashivam rolled his eyes and thought ' when it comes to food,it looks like buddha is similar to kamalam' and started laughing.The dog stretched itself in the cool shade,but its eyes were on sadashivam. The road vibrated constantly when a huge truck or lorry whizzed past leaving a vrrooom noise.Alone,highway,under the shade of the tree,not a care in the world and all the time to go about the plans.well this is bliss thought sadashivam and he wondered why he had not done this earlier.
The calm was stirred when buddha let out a small growl of warning and then lay stretched on the grass but the growl shook sadashivam out of his thoughts and he turned to see an old man standing near his car.Sadashivam asked him waht he wanted and the man gestured to his throat and mouth and sadashivam realising he was thirsty gave him a bottle of water to drink.
Sadashivam asked him if he wanted any money to buy breakfast but the old man gently refused it.
The old man ' where are you off to sir ?'
' sadashivam.please call me sadashivam. i am off to madurai.'
'Madurai.Its been such a long time since i saw my mother meenakshi amman and my father sundareswarar.sadashivam is travelling to madurai to see himself.'
Sadashivam thought to himself that the old man was rambling and decided to let the poor man finish before he and buddha got ready to leave.
The old man looked at sadashivam ' ellam shivamayam.sadashivam,if you dont mind me telling you,then do as i tell you.for it will help you.after you visit the meenakshi amman temple,please go visit azhagar kovil for it will be good for you.'
Sadashivam nodded ok,just to please the man and thought of telling him that they had to leave and try to reach madurai by late afternoon.But the old man himself got up and thanking shivam was about to leave,when buddha went up to the old man and put his paw out.The old man,surprisingly agile for his age,crouched by buddha and took his paw and shook it.He then slowly lifted the dogs jaw and stared at the markings on the neck and tears bloomed in his eye.he then laughed to himself.
The old man saw sadashivam staring at this and said ' please go visit azhagar kovil as per my request and i am also now very sure that i have met you for a reason and realise that our paths will cross again.'
Saying this the old man walked away and sadashivam stood staring at buddha and the receding figure of the old man.He did not know what to make of the whole incident and also was getting a feeling that something was happening and that it was beyond his perception and intelligence.He looked at buddha ' so madurai temple and then azhagar kovil.what next i wonder, for but poor me everyone else including you seem to know what is going on.'
With both in the car and with his seat belt on,sadashivam checked his rearview mirrors for traffic and also checked the lane he was getting into, for in india people drove on which lane their heart fancied or which lane lord yama,the god of death had fixed their appointment to hell or heaven.With the lane clear,and his right indicator switched on he slipped into the highway and accelerated towards madurai and to his final destination.
"The path to our destination is not always a straight one. We go down the wrong road, we get lost, we turn back. Maybe it doesn't matter which road we embark on. Maybe what matters is that we embark." Barbara Hall
"Travel is like love, mostly because it's a heightened state of awareness, in which we are mindful, receptive, undimmed by familiarity and ready to be transformed. That is why the best trips, like the best love affairs, never really end." " Pico Iyer
Get your motor runnin'
Head out on the highway
Lookin' for adventure
And whatever comes our way
Yeah Darlin' go make it happen
Take the world in a love embrace
Fire all of your guns at once
And explode into space
Like a true nature's child
We were born, born to be wild
We can climb so high
I never wanna die
Born to be wild
Born to be wild
STEPPENWOLF "Born To Be Wild"
January and march of 1995will remain forever etched in my mind for they were the months seeni and me left chennai on my rx 100 yamaha and travelled through kerala,karnataka and reached goa.Two skinny guys in their 20's and armed with two carry bags one on the tank and one on the rack which seeni said was good for him to lean on.Two jeans,a few cotton tees and a couple of stone washed shirts and a kodak hot shot camera and my loafers and we cruised with the wind on my face and free air swirling like whirlpools around us.I sped,ran,raced and escaped the mundane and made history.Even today seeni talks in a hushed tone and his eyes widen in amazement ' machaan,did we actually ride all the way to goa.wow.' I tell him yes and i think back to the black tarmac as it slithered and whizzed under our wheels as we flew on it.I nurse this ache to leave everything behind and wander all over india in my car.Stop at villages which are not on maps and stop to see the green carpet of paddy fields.Stop and look at people going on with their lives.Walk the earth all over my country and feel its history and try to understand my heritage.I am going to do it someday and off i will go,just me,my car and my freedom with the open road welcoming me.
Life is a highway
The digital clock stuck to the dashboard gleamed 8.30 in red and Buddha whined a gentle noise that made sadashivam turn and he understood.He switched on the left indicator and slowly pulled to the side of the road under a huge tamarind tree.Many more of the trees kith and kin stood in a straight line and their lineage continued off into the horizon.It was the same on the opposite side of the road and sadashivam opened the door and let buddha out and he himself slowly got out and with a sigh stretched his body.He had driven at a speed which he was comfortable with and even though the 80 to 90 kms felt slow they had managed to cover nearly 200 kms and were in the outskirts of Virudhachalam.Buddha gently got out and went to nearby bush and did the same thing which sadashivam did.Buddha went around sniffing the air and generally walked around the trees and the adjoining paddy fields and sadashivam thought this would be a good time to finish breakfast and then he thought of buddha and what to give him to eat.Sadashivam opened the four storey tiffin carrier which had a five storey friend next to it.Sadashivam ' What did kamalam think while she packed these giant food vessels? did she think that i was going to feed people all the way to madurai or did she want me to survive on this food alone for the time i am away from home? '
The four storey steel containers had idlis packed in two and chutney in the other.the top most compartment was filled with a few cheese sandwiches and the minute he opened that one,buddha came and sat next to him and let out a small whine,and looked at the sandwiches longingly.The two sets of sandwiches vanished into thin air like a trick performed by a master magician and all sadashivam was left with was his open mouth in amazement.
Sadashivam was happy that at least the dogs food problem was solved for the moment and wondered what else the animal fancied.But he didn't have to wonder for long for buddha let out another whine and sadashivam with an idli that was about to attain nirvana in his hungry tummy,turned and looked questioningly at buddha.The huge dog looked at the idli in his hand and then looked down at the tiffin carrier where mini mountains of idlis were tightly packed together.
Saashivam had never heard of a dog eating idlis although he had heard one of his friends raghuraman tell him that his dog liked athirasam a lot.
He slowly put a newspaper next to buddha and placed two idlis on it.One moment they were there and next moment they had travelled at the speed of light into buddha's huge mouth.The dog whined again and sadashivam placed two more and then two more and the dog looked at him with an expression more of content than gratitude and gently burped in his face.
Sadashivam rolled his eyes and thought ' when it comes to food,it looks like buddha is similar to kamalam' and started laughing.The dog stretched itself in the cool shade,but its eyes were on sadashivam. The road vibrated constantly when a huge truck or lorry whizzed past leaving a vrrooom noise.Alone,highway,under the shade of the tree,not a care in the world and all the time to go about the plans.well this is bliss thought sadashivam and he wondered why he had not done this earlier.
The calm was stirred when buddha let out a small growl of warning and then lay stretched on the grass but the growl shook sadashivam out of his thoughts and he turned to see an old man standing near his car.Sadashivam asked him waht he wanted and the man gestured to his throat and mouth and sadashivam realising he was thirsty gave him a bottle of water to drink.
Sadashivam asked him if he wanted any money to buy breakfast but the old man gently refused it.
The old man ' where are you off to sir ?'
' sadashivam.please call me sadashivam. i am off to madurai.'
'Madurai.Its been such a long time since i saw my mother meenakshi amman and my father sundareswarar.sadashivam is travelling to madurai to see himself.'
Sadashivam thought to himself that the old man was rambling and decided to let the poor man finish before he and buddha got ready to leave.
The old man looked at sadashivam ' ellam shivamayam.sadashivam,if you dont mind me telling you,then do as i tell you.for it will help you.after you visit the meenakshi amman temple,please go visit azhagar kovil for it will be good for you.'
Sadashivam nodded ok,just to please the man and thought of telling him that they had to leave and try to reach madurai by late afternoon.But the old man himself got up and thanking shivam was about to leave,when buddha went up to the old man and put his paw out.The old man,surprisingly agile for his age,crouched by buddha and took his paw and shook it.He then slowly lifted the dogs jaw and stared at the markings on the neck and tears bloomed in his eye.he then laughed to himself.
The old man saw sadashivam staring at this and said ' please go visit azhagar kovil as per my request and i am also now very sure that i have met you for a reason and realise that our paths will cross again.'
Saying this the old man walked away and sadashivam stood staring at buddha and the receding figure of the old man.He did not know what to make of the whole incident and also was getting a feeling that something was happening and that it was beyond his perception and intelligence.He looked at buddha ' so madurai temple and then azhagar kovil.what next i wonder, for but poor me everyone else including you seem to know what is going on.'
With both in the car and with his seat belt on,sadashivam checked his rearview mirrors for traffic and also checked the lane he was getting into, for in india people drove on which lane their heart fancied or which lane lord yama,the god of death had fixed their appointment to hell or heaven.With the lane clear,and his right indicator switched on he slipped into the highway and accelerated towards madurai and to his final destination.
"The path to our destination is not always a straight one. We go down the wrong road, we get lost, we turn back. Maybe it doesn't matter which road we embark on. Maybe what matters is that we embark." Barbara Hall
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