Nightout...of a different kind
Ok. So maybe it wasn't a nightout in the strictest sense of the word, as it should have been. Maybe i crashed(=fell asleep) at 4 am and missed the first hour(that happens most of the time anyways). But the whole thing was so wonderful that i thought it deserved a post.
Until yesterday i had put nightouts for a whole plethora of reasons - gaming, watching movies/sitcoms,mugging, trying to mug, doing assignments, playing (outdoors), reading, farting, loafing, crashing(oops! That doesn't count, does it?).....i'm sure i've missed out a couple at least. And then there was yesterday, one of the most enjoyable of them all, and probably the most meaningful and productive(yeah i'd rate it higher than those high intensity last-day mugging sessions before exams, the only reason for my passing most courses).
One of the numerous cribs about my blogging style (Oh yeah, cribs have been flowing in thick and fast since my last post, with good friend 'xxx' even telling me bluntly to give up blogging, suggesting that my last post about change is worthy only of fetching "change" if showcased out in the streets. It just speaks volumes of my dogged never-say-die spirit that i'm back on the circuit again :) ) is that i meander too much. In other words, people say that i beat around all the bushes on campus before getting to the point. Basically, it boils down to this - i'm too vague and spend too many words farting and getting nowhere (I'm at it again, ain't i? Me likey!!!). Ok that's enough. I get right down to the point, neat and crisp. This post is about Maha Shivratri at the Siva temple on campus. Nothing really exciting, of course. So don't complain at the end that i forgot to put in the climax.
When good friend petre invited me yesterday to go along with him and spend Shivratri at the temple reciting Rudram-Chamakam and the lot, my first reaction was...pack! I mean, i'd been to the place only once in my nearly three years in campus (that too due to good friend petre's persuasion). And now this chap was asking me to spend hours there chanting stuff i don't even know properly. Is it worth it, i asked myself? I mean, although i do the Sandhyavandanam(in short, Sandhi) and all, i'm not really a religious person. I do the Sandhi only because it affords a few minutes of peace and quiet and helps improve concentration. So, the question was, do i really care to do this? Then again, this was the most peaceful part of the semester. I had no excuse, therefore, to give myself to not do something which i hadn't even tried out before. In any case, it's not as if i tuck myself into bed with a teddybear at ten every night. I've been putting nightouts, for reasons listed above, ever since i've stepped into hostel life. So i decided to have a pop at it.
We reached the temple at around 8 pm, petre wearing a veshti(a.k.a dhoti) and me in normal clothing, despite his best efforts to get me into one. I don't know why, but i've never been comfy in a veshti, in spite of being forced into them by mom or grandmom at every religious function. Anyway, as i was saying, we were in the temple at 8, and nothing much was happening. Someone was discoursing about something or the other. I'm sure the lecture was gripping and full of substance, but i could comprehend little. So, after completing one Pradakshinam(i.e one round of the temple) i was at my wit's end. Good friend petre, however, came to my rescue and put fundaes. I don't understand much about these rituals, but the nub was this - the Ekadasha Rudrabhishekam, which basically means eleven abhishekams ( An abhishekam basically means giving a bath to the deity using various, well stuff. More details later) for Lord Shiva, each accompanied by a recital of the Rudram by whoever knows them, was yet to start. So we just hung around looking out for people we could recognise. Our H.O.D, Srinivasan, was there, as also was Nari, our first sem. CS110 prof. Obviously, the omnipresent Bhaand had to be there too. There were also a few other familiar faces. Unfortunately, unlike good friend BoFi, i had no luck finding more "attractive" ways to pass time( Refer to his post on a certain Kali Puja. Don't read the whole post unless you have, like, half an hour to spare. Just find the first occurence of the word 'autistic' in the post, look a couple of lines below that and you should be home).
In any case, around nine we went and sat down on the platform near the inner shrine, waiting for the Rudrabhishekam to begin, when we would have to chant our stuff. It was as more people started assembling on the platform that i started feeling a bit awkward - i was the only one not wearing a veshti and melveshti (i.e just a piece of cloth to cover your torso). You know the feeling, when you think that you've violated some rigid code and everyone is shooting long and meaningful looks at your trousers. For a moment, i felt like a Palakkad Iyer in Western Australia (ya ya i know it's a bad one but how could i resist? Make it kangaroo in Kalpathy(Iyer village in Palakkad) if it makes you happier) and reproached myself for not giving in to petre's pleas and changing to a dhoti. The simile made me feel a lot better. For now i could tell myself that i've got to get used to it and i'd better steel myself and face the music(well, chanting actually). So, once again showcasing that dogged never-say-die spirit and resillience, i stood(sat, rather) my post bravely.
At about half past nine, the first Abhishekam and recital of the Rudram got underway. Initially, for around the first two rounds, i kept bulbing hajaar(=) as i had undergone only a crash course in the Rudram on the compulsion of my grandmom during my holidays in Cochin. So i kept mispronouncing and missing out on the crests and troughs (you have to listen to the Rudram to know what i'm talking about). So once again i was the target of those long depreciating glances from those who could hear me, which were, thankfully, only my immediate neighbours, as there were some thirty-forty of us in all. So no major damage done.
After a while though, i started getting the hang of it. And then the fun began. I mean, the feeling you get when there are some forty people all reciting something that sounds as brilliant as that is just something special. You really need to do it to get any idea of what it's like. The stuff sounds so beautifully mystically melodious, and the fact that you are contributing towards it, in whatever little way, is a feeling that puts you on top of the world, albeit temporarily ('coz your throat starts announcing it's pain after a while, especially if you're not someone who takes his vocal cords for it's daily morning jog or, for that matter, even a light evening stroll). Team spirit is rich in the air, and you know everyone is infusing just that little extra enthu(siasm) into their efforts. Man, the whole binge was awesome. To be honest, i used to really loathe learning the stuff; i only did it because it was an easier alternative than arguing my grandmom out of it; plus, i had little else to do in the hols anyway. And here i was, actually really enjoying myself. I will not say that it was actully worth spending some 15-20 really boring hours learning the stuff, but it sure came an ace within it.
All the while, i had a pretty good view of the abhishekams, which included milk, honey, lemon juice, tender coconut water and sandalwood paste, to name just a few. Each round of the Rudram was concluded by one of the eleven stanzas of the Chamakam, in order, if you get what i mean. The Rudrabhishekam concluded by 12:30-1, i think, which meant it took some 15-20 minutes per abhishekam, each accompanied, i repeat, by one recital of the Rudram. Then three of us sneaked off to hog some delicious panchamritam( delicious stuff you make by mixing honey, jaggery and fruit), hidden from view in the temple office as there was not enough of it to suffice the fairly big number of devotees in the temple. Coming after that strenuous larynxial workout, it tasted like heaven. The Rudrabhishekam was followed by the usual rituals consisting of the Nivedhyam and stuff, of which i have little fundaes, and culminated at around 2:30 with the Maha Mangalarthi (=Aarthi), a rite performed in a unique and elaborate style in this temple. Then Prasadam was distributed and the evening(early morning, to be precise) terminated.
Then came the only snake in my garden of roses - i was unable to find my irreplacible miami floaters (Also known to some as the "Paati footwear", these unique slippers are the most comfy, trendy and convenient ones i've used on campus. Coming at 50 bucks a pair, they are as cheap as your hawaiis, believe it or not. Bulk(or otherwise) orders may be placed at Arravindan/captain/semi/cd 's room (112, tapti).). I hunted in vain for some 15 minutes before resigning to my fate and sadly cycling back barefoot.
So, as i said earlier, nothing sensational about this post. Just the same drab, boring stuff dished out again. To sum it up neatly, same shit, different taste. But it was an experience i so wholesomely enjoyed that i felt i must chronicle it. Imagine, being in a temple (outside Thirupathi) for close to seven hours, till three in the morning! You really must try it sometime!!
Until yesterday i had put nightouts for a whole plethora of reasons - gaming, watching movies/sitcoms,mugging, trying to mug, doing assignments, playing (outdoors), reading, farting, loafing, crashing(oops! That doesn't count, does it?).....i'm sure i've missed out a couple at least. And then there was yesterday, one of the most enjoyable of them all, and probably the most meaningful and productive(yeah i'd rate it higher than those high intensity last-day mugging sessions before exams, the only reason for my passing most courses).
One of the numerous cribs about my blogging style (Oh yeah, cribs have been flowing in thick and fast since my last post, with good friend 'xxx' even telling me bluntly to give up blogging, suggesting that my last post about change is worthy only of fetching "change" if showcased out in the streets. It just speaks volumes of my dogged never-say-die spirit that i'm back on the circuit again :) ) is that i meander too much. In other words, people say that i beat around all the bushes on campus before getting to the point. Basically, it boils down to this - i'm too vague and spend too many words farting and getting nowhere (I'm at it again, ain't i? Me likey!!!). Ok that's enough. I get right down to the point, neat and crisp. This post is about Maha Shivratri at the Siva temple on campus. Nothing really exciting, of course. So don't complain at the end that i forgot to put in the climax.
When good friend petre invited me yesterday to go along with him and spend Shivratri at the temple reciting Rudram-Chamakam and the lot, my first reaction was...pack! I mean, i'd been to the place only once in my nearly three years in campus (that too due to good friend petre's persuasion). And now this chap was asking me to spend hours there chanting stuff i don't even know properly. Is it worth it, i asked myself? I mean, although i do the Sandhyavandanam(in short, Sandhi) and all, i'm not really a religious person. I do the Sandhi only because it affords a few minutes of peace and quiet and helps improve concentration. So, the question was, do i really care to do this? Then again, this was the most peaceful part of the semester. I had no excuse, therefore, to give myself to not do something which i hadn't even tried out before. In any case, it's not as if i tuck myself into bed with a teddybear at ten every night. I've been putting nightouts, for reasons listed above, ever since i've stepped into hostel life. So i decided to have a pop at it.
We reached the temple at around 8 pm, petre wearing a veshti(a.k.a dhoti) and me in normal clothing, despite his best efforts to get me into one. I don't know why, but i've never been comfy in a veshti, in spite of being forced into them by mom or grandmom at every religious function. Anyway, as i was saying, we were in the temple at 8, and nothing much was happening. Someone was discoursing about something or the other. I'm sure the lecture was gripping and full of substance, but i could comprehend little. So, after completing one Pradakshinam(i.e one round of the temple) i was at my wit's end. Good friend petre, however, came to my rescue and put fundaes. I don't understand much about these rituals, but the nub was this - the Ekadasha Rudrabhishekam, which basically means eleven abhishekams ( An abhishekam basically means giving a bath to the deity using various, well stuff. More details later) for Lord Shiva, each accompanied by a recital of the Rudram by whoever knows them, was yet to start. So we just hung around looking out for people we could recognise. Our H.O.D, Srinivasan, was there, as also was Nari, our first sem. CS110 prof. Obviously, the omnipresent Bhaand had to be there too. There were also a few other familiar faces. Unfortunately, unlike good friend BoFi, i had no luck finding more "attractive" ways to pass time( Refer to his post on a certain Kali Puja. Don't read the whole post unless you have, like, half an hour to spare. Just find the first occurence of the word 'autistic' in the post, look a couple of lines below that and you should be home).
In any case, around nine we went and sat down on the platform near the inner shrine, waiting for the Rudrabhishekam to begin, when we would have to chant our stuff. It was as more people started assembling on the platform that i started feeling a bit awkward - i was the only one not wearing a veshti and melveshti (i.e just a piece of cloth to cover your torso). You know the feeling, when you think that you've violated some rigid code and everyone is shooting long and meaningful looks at your trousers. For a moment, i felt like a Palakkad Iyer in Western Australia (ya ya i know it's a bad one but how could i resist? Make it kangaroo in Kalpathy(Iyer village in Palakkad) if it makes you happier) and reproached myself for not giving in to petre's pleas and changing to a dhoti. The simile made me feel a lot better. For now i could tell myself that i've got to get used to it and i'd better steel myself and face the music(well, chanting actually). So, once again showcasing that dogged never-say-die spirit and resillience, i stood(sat, rather) my post bravely.
At about half past nine, the first Abhishekam and recital of the Rudram got underway. Initially, for around the first two rounds, i kept bulbing hajaar(=) as i had undergone only a crash course in the Rudram on the compulsion of my grandmom during my holidays in Cochin. So i kept mispronouncing and missing out on the crests and troughs (you have to listen to the Rudram to know what i'm talking about). So once again i was the target of those long depreciating glances from those who could hear me, which were, thankfully, only my immediate neighbours, as there were some thirty-forty of us in all. So no major damage done.
After a while though, i started getting the hang of it. And then the fun began. I mean, the feeling you get when there are some forty people all reciting something that sounds as brilliant as that is just something special. You really need to do it to get any idea of what it's like. The stuff sounds so beautifully mystically melodious, and the fact that you are contributing towards it, in whatever little way, is a feeling that puts you on top of the world, albeit temporarily ('coz your throat starts announcing it's pain after a while, especially if you're not someone who takes his vocal cords for it's daily morning jog or, for that matter, even a light evening stroll). Team spirit is rich in the air, and you know everyone is infusing just that little extra enthu(siasm) into their efforts. Man, the whole binge was awesome. To be honest, i used to really loathe learning the stuff; i only did it because it was an easier alternative than arguing my grandmom out of it; plus, i had little else to do in the hols anyway. And here i was, actually really enjoying myself. I will not say that it was actully worth spending some 15-20 really boring hours learning the stuff, but it sure came an ace within it.
All the while, i had a pretty good view of the abhishekams, which included milk, honey, lemon juice, tender coconut water and sandalwood paste, to name just a few. Each round of the Rudram was concluded by one of the eleven stanzas of the Chamakam, in order, if you get what i mean. The Rudrabhishekam concluded by 12:30-1, i think, which meant it took some 15-20 minutes per abhishekam, each accompanied, i repeat, by one recital of the Rudram. Then three of us sneaked off to hog some delicious panchamritam( delicious stuff you make by mixing honey, jaggery and fruit), hidden from view in the temple office as there was not enough of it to suffice the fairly big number of devotees in the temple. Coming after that strenuous larynxial workout, it tasted like heaven. The Rudrabhishekam was followed by the usual rituals consisting of the Nivedhyam and stuff, of which i have little fundaes, and culminated at around 2:30 with the Maha Mangalarthi (=Aarthi), a rite performed in a unique and elaborate style in this temple. Then Prasadam was distributed and the evening(early morning, to be precise) terminated.
Then came the only snake in my garden of roses - i was unable to find my irreplacible miami floaters (Also known to some as the "Paati footwear", these unique slippers are the most comfy, trendy and convenient ones i've used on campus. Coming at 50 bucks a pair, they are as cheap as your hawaiis, believe it or not. Bulk(or otherwise) orders may be placed at Arravindan/captain/semi/cd 's room (112, tapti).). I hunted in vain for some 15 minutes before resigning to my fate and sadly cycling back barefoot.
So, as i said earlier, nothing sensational about this post. Just the same drab, boring stuff dished out again. To sum it up neatly, same shit, different taste. But it was an experience i so wholesomely enjoyed that i felt i must chronicle it. Imagine, being in a temple (outside Thirupathi) for close to seven hours, till three in the morning! You really must try it sometime!!
posted by Ravi @ 8:03 AM
6 comments
