Ginjee is a couple of hours drive from Chennai. An hour or so before Tiruvannamalai.

On the way from Chennai to Tiruvannamalai, one passes the town of Ginjee (a.k.a Senjee) and two ancient forts, built on top of hills on either side of the road. One is called the King’s fort and the other the Queen’s fort and the two together are referred to as the Ginjee Fort. Originally a small fort built by the Cholas in 9^th Century AD, it has later been expanded and strengthened by other dynasties viz, the Vijayanagara empire, the Nayaks, the Marathas…The most famous occupant though, was Raja Tej Singh, known locally as Tesingh. So brave was he that his life and exploits have become a part of Tamil folklore - and to this day, ballads are sung about him…

This Ginjee fort was considered impregnable and has been compared to legendary city of Troy. Chatrapati Shivaji’s son, Chatrapati Rajaram stayed here, when he fought with the Mughals. So safe was the fort that although Aurangazeb’s forces laid a seven years long siege of this fort, they could not succeed in getting Chatrapati Rajaram.

Lets cut to some pictures now.

A picture that I took this May. The fort is on top of the hill seen in the background. The hill is around 800 feet high, and the fort has a massive moat around it.

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Here’s a closer view of the hill and the fort, from a different angle.

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And below are a few photographs I took a couple of years ago.

Here’s another view of the hill. The building on the right is the Kalyana Mahal - a multi- storey marriage hall, which is a part of the palace complex.

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One really walks back in time when one visits the fort complex. Ruins and ancient trees. Here’s a tree-and-he picture.

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It’s a hard climb up the hill. But is worth the strain. And you can find lots of place to step off from the steps and relax on the rocks….The outer wall of the fort can be seen in the back…

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And the view from top is real cool. You could just take a deep breath and take off. Hang-gliding anybody?

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Next stop - Tiruvannamalai….

…. To be contd …

You should see the queues lining up at Petrol Bunks in Chennai.

The bunks are going dry and the rumor mills are overflowing. But then if there is no smoke, then it is fair to assume that there is no fire. Sure does look like the country’s oil comapanies have little or no reserves for the common man. Someone said that they are rationing it by state. And giving three days quota at a time. And that the diesel demand rate in India is increasing at 30% per annum - thats doubling every three years. And that the state owned oil companies have simply no wherewithal to match that with supply. One would have called it comic, had it not been farcical, when one sees the rulers summon the oil campanies and order them to “Resume supplies”. Reminds one of the biblical reference of Sam Manekshaw to Indira Gandhi’s call to battle - “let there be light”. The financial planners havent budgeted for light - so how can there be light? What then of the eloquent and adept product of Harvard Business School, our Honorable minister of Finance, Sri PC? Of him, perhaps we should echo the words of Alice in Wonderland - “An author doesn’t necessarily understand the meaning of his own story better than anyone else.” (To which he might respond with another Alice quote “I can’t explain myself, I’m afraid, Sir, because I’m not myself you see.”).

Rumors are news now. Roadside murmers have it that some big ocean liners are on the way and that they will be arriving amidst tight security tomorrow night. Roadside rumors whisper that Nero is alive and fiddling and that Reliance is exporting gas. I dont know about  that, but this I do know that many roads in Chennai are periodically dug up. The roads are dig up every few months, creating major traffic stress. This time around they were saying that these have been dug for Reliance. Cable? Or is it gas? Sure wish that there is a seperate ministry for Road Digging in the state. An Alician question comes to mind - “when you have no roads, why do you need gas?”

Coming back to the gas situation. There is talk that dealers are being incentivised to sell less. Now thats an innovative business model.

Nuke-deal deadlock. Gas crisis. Raging inflation. What is Sonia to do? Call for Elections this winter?  “Sentence first — verdict afterwards!” as had said the Queen of Hearts? Perhaps then its time that the Indian electorate looks at the Coalition-Adharma opportunists in the eye and and respond the way Alice did  - “Who cares for you?’ said Alice, (she had grown to her full size by this time.) ‘You’re nothing but a pack of cards!’ “ 

Field Marshall Sam Manekshaw is no more.

Commander Vijay Kumar, a retired Navy officer and a friend of mine, sent in this mail in memory of the great soldier…

“Field Marshal Sam Hormusji Framji Jamshedji Manekshaw popularly known as SAM Bahadur or simply SAM is no more. He passed away today. Even after 35 yrs since he hung his uniform he still remains the most admired Army Chief from India. Vigour, Dash and Elan - typical traits of a great soldier , he had them all.

I had the occasion of interacting with him for about 10 mts during one of the cocktails when I was in Staff College. That time he was about ” 80 ” yrs of age , still standing erect like a ram rod and enjoying his “Dimple” drink. He was bubbly , candid and retained a terrific sense of humour even at 80. His professional views were interspersed with some wise cracks and some suttle pondy stuffs which threw us into laughter but the ladies could only blush… Boy ! mus say the ol man had a fair collection of it.

Here are excerpts of a high level Cabinet meeting held to take stock of emerging situation in East Pakistan in Apr ‘ 71 as brought out in the NIC website of Indian Navy

QUOTE

General Manekshaw, in an interview to the naval magazine “Quarterdeck 1996″ stated:

“Sometime in April, there was a cabinet meeting to which I was summoned. Smt Gandhi was terribly angry and terribly upset because refugees were pouring into West Bengal, into Assam and into Tripura. She said to me `Look at this - so many are coming in - there is a telegram from the Chief Minister of Assam, a telegram from ……….., what are you doing about it ?’

I said “Nothing. What has it to do with me ?”

She said `Can’t you do something ? Why don’t you do something ? I want you to march in !’

I said `That means war’ and she said `I don’t mind if it is war’.

So I sat down and I said `Have you read the Bible?’

Sardar Swaran Singh said `What has the Bible got to do with it ?’

`In the first book, the first chapter, the first paragraph of the Bible, God said “Let there be light and there was light” - so you feel that “Let there be war and there is war”. Are you ready ? I certainly am not ready.’

Then I said, `I will tell you what is happening. It is now the end of April. In a few days time, 15 to 20 days time, the monsoon will break and in East Pakistan when it rains, the rivers become like oceans. If you stand on one side you can’t see the other. I would be confined to the roads. The Air Force would not be able to support me and the Pakistanis would thrash me - that’s one.

`Secondly my armoured division is in the Babina area, another division is in the Secunderabad area. We are now harvesting. I will require every vehicle, every truck, all the road space, all the railway space to move my soldiers and you will not be able to move your crops and I turned to Shri Fakruddin Ali Ahmed, the Agriculture Minister and said `if there is a famine in India, they will blame you. I won’t be there to take the blame’. Then I turned around and said `My armoured division which is supposed to be my strike force has got twelve tanks which are operational out of the whole lot’.

YB Chavan asked, `Sam, why only twelve ?’

`I said `Sir, because you are the Finance Minister. I have been asking, been pleading, for months. You said you have got no money that’s why.’

`Then I said “Prime Minister, if in 1962, your father had asked me as the Army Chief and not Gen Thapar and your father had said “Throw the Chinese out”, I would have turned around and told him “Look, these are the problems”. Now I am telling you what the problems are. If you still want me to go ahead, Prime Minister, I guarantee you 100 percent defeat. Now, you give me your orders.’

Then Jagjivan Ram said `Sam, maan jao na’.

I said `I have given my professional view, now the Government must take a decision’.

The Prime Minister didn’t say anything. She was red in the face and said “Achccha, cabinet char baje milenge’. Everybody walked out. I being the juniormost, was the last to leave and I smiled at her.

`Chief, sit down’.

So I said `Prime Minister, before you open your mouth, do you want me to send in my resignation on the grounds of mental health or physical ?’

She said `Oh, sit down Sam. Everything you told me is true ?’

`Yes. Look its my job to fight. It is my job to fight to win. Are you ready ? Have you internally got everything ready ? Internationally, have you got everything ready ? I don’t think so. I know what you want, but I must do it in my own time and I guarantee you 100 percent success. But I want to make it quite clear. There must be one Commander. I don’t mind, I will work under the BSF, the CRPF, under anybody you like. But I will not have a Soviet telling me what to do and I must have one political master who will give me instructions, I don’t want the refugee ministry, home ministry, defence ministry all telling me. Now, make up your mind’.

She said “All right Sam, nobody will interfere, you will be in command.”

`Thank you. I guarantee you accomplishment’.

UNQUOTE

Rest is History. Now , was’nt he truely a great military leader.

SAM Bahadur Sir, your mortal remains may now go the way of Parsee crematorium, fed to birds, but we all know ——” Great Soldiers don’t Die , they only merge into History “

All channels are talking of June 25, 1983… The day when India won the Prudential cup - the cricket world cup. And my class e-group had a lot of fun talking about “where were you on that day?”…

And then someone asked, about the same date, in a different year:

“How many of us remember June 25th 1975? And what were you doing then?”…

One of my class fellows, NR, of Kerala, guessed right, when he replied “Emergency?”

Yes, that was the day when the Indira Gandhi Government declared a state of Emergency in India.

Civil liberties were suspended, opposition leaders jailed, press freedom suspended, judicial freedom curtailed…

And heres what Joseph remembers of that day… I quote from his mail…

“emergency i wont forget !

I just about did not make it into RECT ( you lucky devils !) was in the tail-ender batch in August - not enough marks obviously !

i was visiting my school one day in July and had hung around till 7:00 pm with some pals. my close pals had all left by then to BITS, JIPMER, etc. I had applied only to RECT & a hurried one to REC Calicut. i was sh*7$ng in my pants ( damn that silly mistake from over-confidence - old problem , still with me - for maths in CBSE that knocked off 10 marks in a really simple question !!)

As i waited for a bus back it was getting dark. Then i heard this rumble of an overloaded old jeep spewing smoke trundling up the steep road as police men in helmets stood up at the back & were also packed into it. I was grinning at the sight sitting on a culvert, as it passed me. I also had this CBSE smirk for all local offices & machinery.

I guess it must have pissed off the Sub Inspector coz the jeep that passed me stopped about 20 meters away and the athletic police men in helmets & really heavy boots that went KATAK, KATAK, PACHAK, KATAK ran towards me shouting ” come here u dog!’

I was in shock as 3 of them grabbed me, bend my hand behind me and push me to the ground, pulled me up, pushed me to the jeep and shoved me in !

inside a sub inspector turned around bored and asked me what are you doing here?

F*&$ man - i had not even started shaving and the F-&^%$-R thought i was some criminal??

i cud not speak in malayalam well then as the Refinery school did not have a great malloo crowd and neither were we taught malayalam . So i spoke in english and that saved me !! The SI then had to respond in English to save his face in front of his goons. I was surprised that i was showing that i was pissed though i was scared & intimidated like hell with these KATAK KATAK KATAK boots of these cops.

I asked him - what did i do? why are you doing this to me? i just went to my school!

He asked what school ? I explained. Then he said -’ look its Emergency- do u understand? dont hang around here on the roads after 6:00. OK? Now go home !!’

They then almost chucked me out of the jeep and puttered on as the guys standing at the back glared at me & i back !

So - how will i forget the Emergency , 1975 and RECT & you F-&^#@-S ?!!

KATAK, PACHAK, KATAK, PACHAK

enna?

NR

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So, where were you on June 25th?

The Kesava temple has three shrines in the sanctum. The main one is Kesava Perumal. The other two are Venu Gopala (Krishna) and Janardana.

Here are a few pictures of the outer wall carvings…

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The one below looks like a carving of Hanuman, carrying a Siva Linga. But I am not sure, for the icon also has hands carrying Shankha and Chakra…

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The temple reminded me of the Kailasanatha Temple at Kancheepuram. That temple too has a fabulous architecture and sublime carvings. Like that temple, this one too has an open corridor along the outer path, which is said to have housed some sixty four idols - once upon a time…

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Have a look at this picture of the pillars in near the entrance. Just look at the smooth finish - looks like it has been carved on a lathe….

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So that was Somnathapura. Driving back to Bengaluru, we stopped at Maddur. Maddur was earlier known as Arjunapura, named after the Pandava hero Arjuna, who is said to have come here. The town is famous for ‘vadai’ and and for the Ugra Narsimha temple, also of Hoysala period, that we came to visit. Time was around 7 pm, and the sanctum sanctorum had been curtained for some ritual. The priest asked us to visit the Varadaraja Perumal temple nearby and come back. And what a temple that turned out to be. A massive idol of Varadaraja Perumal. Some devotee had organized a big Abhisheka ceremony that day… And then we came to Narsimha temple…Curtains  were off… A large black stone idol of Ugra Narsimha… After Darshan, we had some divine “curd-rice” prasadam from the temple…

And then we were off to Bengaluru.

Before I log off from this post on Somnathapura, I would like to leave you with a picture of the outer garden of the Somnathapura temple.

So that was the day trip. Started from Bengaluru around 11 am… Stopped at Ramohalli Banyan tree..then Bidadi banyan tree… then off to Somnathapura… Maddur on the way back. Back to Bengaluru by 10 pm or so….

A nice day indeed!

On the Mysore highway, we stopped at a nice “cafe coffee day” restaurant. After a decent refreshment, we started for Somnathapura. We had to take a left before Sri Ranga Pattina… Soon we had left the urbanity of the highway behind, and eased into bad roads and good fields… Here’s a picture of the landscape that we drove through.

The Somnathapura temple is not a formal place of worship now. It is a monument maintained by ASI (Archeological Survey of India). That being so, I was anxious that we reach the place before 5 pm, as the premises might be closed at the end of office hours. The approach road to Somnathapura wasn’t very good, and we had to struggle along. We managed to reach the village by 4:30 pm or so.

After purchasing entry tickets (just a few rupees each), we entered the neatly maintained temple garden…

Walking through the portal of the temple, I had my first glimpse of the Kesava temple inside. And I must say it was an awesome sight….A masterpiece of Hoysala architecture…

Below, is a side-view of the temple…

And as I walked around the temple, I told myself, ‘If there was ever poetry on stone, it is here, it is here, it is here….’

Here is a close-up of the carvings at the bottom…

                                                               … To be contd…. 

We leave the Ramohalli Banyan tree, and get back to the Mysore highway.

Driving down the highway, we come to Bidadi, and go past the turn that leads ‘Dhayanpeetham’, Swami Nityananda’s Ashram. A little further in the highway, I notice a sign that points to another Banyan tree. We drive past, and after a few kms, decide to trun back to visit this Banyan tree as well.

The Banyan tree signboard pointed to a kutchcha road, that went under a bridge…and there was some road repair going on as well. So we gingerly made our way across…On the other side, the road was no better. It had its ups and downs, and rain water troughs. Some real estate development work was going as well…Some years down the line, you could expect to see lots of apartments out here, I think. Well…well…

Right out there was the Banyan tree.

Here’s a picture.

I then realized that the Banyan tree was a part of the Dhyanapeetham Ashram that I had visited a few months ago. The tree is at the back of the Anandeshwara temple.

The tree was beautiful. Beneath the tree, on one side, was a large idol of Dakshinamurthy - Lord Siva as the Silent Preceptor.

The tree was something else. There were all sorts of birds out there. So many types of birds. Perhaps it was the fruiting season for that tree. The ecosystem was magic out there. Right in the base of the tree trunk was an opening that led to a hollow. An ideal sort of meditation cave, The Ashram priest mentioned that the hollow was the Samadhi spot of some sage of yore. And that a Siva Linga had been in existence there. That Siva Linga has since been shifted to the Anandeshwara temple adjacent to the tree, and has been consecrated there.

Here is a picture of that tree cave.

It’s a real nice tree. And if you are driving down the Mysore highway, it is barely a couple of minutes off the main road. It is worth stopping here, and just sitting in peace for a while…Enjoy the shade…Watch the birds…Savor the sounds and silence of nature….

…. To be contd…

Pankajamma contd…

“Once, we were to celebrate Vinayaka Caturti… We had bought a clay Ganesha for the function. The night before the festival, I was fast asleep… And I suddenly felt a wonderful sensation… Someone was patting me on my head, as I slept.” she said, running the palm of her hand softly from her top of her forehead, backward along the crown…”And I woke up with a start…And what do I see? A small sized Ganesha! He was patting me with his trunk…

Another time… It was the first friday in the month of Adi, a day special to Goddess… Early morning, some ladies came home, gave me traditional offering of Coconut and tamboolam… I have not seen them before… This repeated the next two Fridays as well…The fourth Friday, some ladies came, and gave me a cup of milk… And then on the last Friday of the month, a majestic lady came home. She was wearing a brilliant red silk saree, with large border… She looked glorious, ajaanubahoo (tall, and with long arms)… She had long hair, with lots of flowers.” (Pankajamma mentioned a particular flower species, but I forget which…)…

“I was so overwhelmed by her presence that I rushed to her and hugged her, saying ‘Amma!’.

I didn’t know who she was. Later I mentioned this to Sri Kunjuswami, who was staying with us those days. After listening to the description he told me that the lady was none other than Goddess Meenakshi!

I have never gone seeking for these experiences, never entertained any such desire. But they just happened.

After I came to Bhagavan, I suddenly started composing songs on Bhagavan. What do I know of these! I am but a fourth standard pass. But the words and the tune would just occur to me. I have no knowledge of classical music. I have no idea of raga or metre. But the tune and the name of the raga would occur to me. And so would the Taala (metre). More than a hundred such songs in Tamizh have been noted by me. Songs on Bhagavan! But sometime after 2000 AD, the songs stopped coming. I never went after them in the first place. Now that they don’t come, that’s fine too…”

She has been through some severe bouts of physical sufferings due to illnesses, in different times in her life.

“I know that these sufferings are but Karma being erased. This I know that this birth is the last one. All Karma will go by the grace of Bhagavan”, she said, with complete faith and confidence.

On our request, she sang the last song that had “come to her”. She was not keeping well and was also suffering from sore throat. But she didn’t hesitate to sing. After singing she excused herself saying, “Old age affects the body…Can’t help that…But what does that have to with real? Adu vEra AaLu (that Person is different)” she said tapping her spiritual heart (on the right side of the chest).

These were the kind of conversations that Pankajamma, the simple old lady, shared with us, on the eve of her 87^th birthday. Her son and his family stay with her. There was a kid running in and out. It was a normal Indian family….Except for this lady called Pankajamma!

We started at around 11 a.m or so.

The idea was to head to Somnathapura, near Mysore, to see the Kesava temple, considered to be one of the masterpieces of Hoysala architecture… A part of the Hoysala triad of temples Belur-Halebid-Somnathapura, it is not as well known as the other two, but is considered to be ‘right up there’ along with them…

So here we were, in a Hyundai Santro, proceeding in a ’snooze’ sort of way, that comes so naturally once one leaves the crush of metro (which takes an hour or so) and eases into the timelessness of old Mysore…

It was sometime past noon, when we noticed a sign tha said “Big Banyan tree” and pointed to the right… We drove past that… And some five minutes later, after a tete-a-tete, we decided to U-turn and go see that tree. So we drove back, and turned into the road leading to Ramohalli, where lives that tree.

On the way, we crossed “Shubham Karoti”, a residential school for girls… The medium of conversation in that school is Sanskrit. Interesting place.

We imagined that the tree would be somewhere nearby. But that wasnt so…Some twenty minutes of driving brought us to the “Tree”.

It was a beautiful, large, Banyan tree. It sure did appear to be as large, if not larger, than the Adyar Banyan tree of Chennai. (The Adyar Banyan tree is in the campus of Theosophical Society at Adyar. A ‘notice board’ near that tree says that the tree is one of the largest in the world. It measures 238ft from north to south and 250ft from east to west. The total area exceeds 59,500 sq ft’.).

I dont know if the Ramohalli tree is just one tree (like the Adyar tree) or is more. But that Banyan cluster that one sees there, sure is huge….I read somewhere that it is spread over 4 acres…

Here are a few pictures in and around the tree. 

The picture below gives some idea of the depth. The person at the far end is hardly noticeable.

The open areas in that cluster were awash with bright sunlight…Made a nice picture of sun and shadows.

We had picked up some ‘bhutta’ (Corn) and ‘mungfali’ (peanuts) from the vendors around there. But we had to be wary of other beings who were keen to disposess us…Like this one who is poised on top of the pillar. 

                 … To be contd…

[This continues from the post ''Pankajamma' dated May 29...]

Pankajamma was telling us of some ‘happenings’ of her life.

“During one of my early visits, when I was once sitting in Bhagavan Ramana’s presence, I closed my eyes… And I had a distinct vision of a small Mayilvahana Murugan - Murugan on a peacock… From that moment I was certain of the identity of Ramana and Muruga.”

And as she said this, I remembered that she had mentioned that her daily parayana from the age of 12 consisted of chanting Aksharamanamalai and Kanda Shasti Kavacam…Ramana and Muruga…

Continuing her story, she said “My parents found a match for me, and I was married to a boy from a landed family of Tanjore.”… And with a twinkle in her eye, she added “I must say that it was their family indeed that gained far more by their association with my family… For my husband was introduced to Bhagavan only because of marrying me. He came with me many times to the presence of Bhagavan.”

And during the course of further conversation, she spoke of a few very special moments in her life…

“I was 21, my son was just six months old, when there developed some painful growth in my neck. The local doctors at Tanjore could not effect a cure for this. I was then taken to Cuddalore, where my father lived. Cuddalore had a bigger hospital, and I was examined there. They diagnosed the growth to be a tumor that had to be immediately operated and removed. However, the tumor was in such a place that the surgery was very risky. The surgeon said that there was every risk of injuring some nerve, which might affect the brain itself… But there was no option and I was admitted to the hospital for surgery. Surprisingly, I wasn’t worried. Although my son was just six months, and my life was a serious question mark, I wasn’t feeling any sense of depression arising out of attachment to my child, nor any other worry. Somehow, I was not perturbed at all. I just submitted myself to whatever was asked of me.

On the day of the surgery, I was lying down on the operating table, when the doctor came to administer Anesthesia… He asked me to count one-two-three etc to calm the mind as it slipped into unconsciousness. But instead of doing that, I started saying ‘Ramana! Ramana! Ramana!’ Quite involuntarily. It is not that I wanted to pray to him. It just happened that I spoke his name… And then I had a ’special’ experience…I was walking, my hands cupped in front of me, seeking Ramana, taking his name, walking towards him….And I slipped into unconsciousness…

The operation was completed. And as I emerged from unconsciousness, to the utter surprise of all people around me, I woke up with a feeling of great joy. This joy lasted for a long while after the surgery….

My mother asked me about it… And I told her the reason.

Sometime during the surgery, I had a vivid experience. In that experience, I was a small baby. And Bhagavan was holding me. Head to toe, I fitted within the cup of his two hands. And he was looking at me with great love…It was an exhilarating… It was that joy that I woke up with…”

… To be contd…