Staring at the silhouette of the Attic !

Dear all,

The music and dance season has begun here at chennai a.k.a madras. I have been swamped with work and I realize that all the serious work that I am doing is setting me off on a different path.

This blog, I decided must be a continuation of Blog number three. Of course I digressed a little in four and five, but only to speak of some essentials.

In Thanjavur there are two most magnificent phenomenons according to me. One is the periya koil and the other is Seekezar Adipodi Dr.T.N.Ramachandran, affectionately called as TNR sir by all. He is a polyglot, a scholar, philosopher, saiva siddanta expert, a writer, a poet, a teacher and much more.

As my car drove into the by lane off the bridge adjacent to the Periya koil, I was a bit nervous. I got down and entered the veranda. All around me were stacks and stacks of books, shelves and cupboards full of books and there in the midst of books and scholars, on a wooden swing was seated the Great TNR sir. Simple and smiling, with his vettalai potti (beetle leaf box). Sir greeted me and introduced me to a dozen men who were seated in plastic chairs around him, chattering away. On my way to his home I was told that he was teaching a class and therefore his students might possibly be there too.

Students they were. Dr.Sivaraman (faculty Sastra university), Dr.Tyagaraja Sarma (Faculty Sastra University), Dr.Subbarayalu (Faculty Alagappa University), Dr.Kudavayil Balasubrahmanyam (the renowned archaeologist), Dr. Sankaranarayanan (English luminary of Sastra), his Guru Sri K.G.Seshadri, Dr.Kausalya, Sri.B.M.Sundaram (musicologist). A visibly awed me, was also asked to sit and participate in the class that evening. I drew up a chair and sat amongst all these distinguished men of merit. The cdiscussion that day was "Tiruvizimazalai Padigam of Appar peruman". For the next one hour I had lost myself. The distinction between the teacher and taught was blurred by high exchange of inter disciplinary knowledge. I heard quoted from Shakespeare and Sekkizar, Kambar and Tolstoy, Einstein and Arivanar. All the 'students" and the teacher shared several common qualities. All of them were older (to me:-)), all of them had the undying passion and aptitude to seek, all of them revered their teacher and the subject was supreme.

I was truly in the presence of Divinity. If knowledge is God then the place where so much knowledge is imparted has to be a divine shrine isin't it?

Not a moment was wasted in any gossip or malicious talk. Every word from every person there was knowledge sharing, ordained. TNR sir's Guru Triloka Seetaraman sir's words hang at the entrance to this house, as a silent witness to such erudition. TNR sir's bakti for Bharatiyar is only too well known.

The class got over and now was the time for them to hear from me. I was asked to share with them the kind of work I wish to do. I stood transfixed. I realized at that very moment that, no matter what I achieve in life, my way of life must be like these great men and all I wanted to do was look around the room, at everyone and say "I want to become you, you,you and you O! sire!"

This august gathering in his house is called "devasabhai". Couldn't agree more. Where goodness is, there God-ness resides. And this is the place. I feebly voiced my thirst to want to know about what was danced during the times of the imperial rulers. After a few rounds of scholarly discussions on that very statement I picked up courage and spoke in "open court" thus, " I believe there is no one better than Rajaraja, Sivapada sekharan, wasn't he?". I had betrayed my callowness in the field of academia with that one statement :-) 

Tnr sir smiled at me and said in his inimitable style, "adu romba serima... aana Milton Maa muni Paradise regained la enna solraar na..."

I sat there with rapt attention trying hard to get past my awe for such scholarship and participating in the actual conversation, but that never happened.

Finally, after two and a half solid hours of ears full of worthy words, mind full of worthy thoughts and hand full of valuable books (given to me by Sir), when it was time for me to leave, as I moved towards my car, TNR sir called out to me "Paeti..."(grand daughter...) I was so over whelmed that I wanted to cry.

Later that night when I was alone in my room, I calmly recollected the evening's events. That is when I realized an amazing fact. All the great "Dr"s whom I had met that evening had not mocked me for my ignorance or my novice. But instead they had all individually offered to help me in my journey. The hall mark of true scholarship. They all had addressed me as Tnr's grand daughter and had extended any help to me, should I ask.

I walked up to the window and drew out the curtains. As I stood staring at the silhouette of the Brihadeeswara Vimanam that night, I felt His blessing upon me. My time had arrived. I was at the gateway. A lock was hanging on it, but nevertheless, I had arrived...at the gateway.

Swarnamalya Ganesh

Still staring at the silhouette of the Attic !