The Story Of A Rescue Operation
Let me narrate, from memory, one of the adventures of Naduvileppad Bhattathiri (sorry, the hero's name is a tongue twister - for non-Mallus!).
Koppat Aatti (another twister?!) was a woman of great beauty and an influential socialite - she was credited with 27 (!) husbands and many other 'friends', admirers, well-wishers....
Once she accidentally fell into the well in her backyard. The news spread rapidly, a large crowd collected and men began jumping into the well to save her. Naduvileppad Bhattathiri was passing by and asked what the commotion was about. An agitated man told him: "Aatti has fallen into the well!". Bhattathiri approached and looked into the well and it was full and choking with people...
When the rescuers had managed to pull Aatti out safe and sound, they heard a loud cry for help from the adjacent compound. A few ran there and saw Bhattathiri trapped in the well there and calling for help. They found a rope and managed to haul him out as well in one piece. One man asked: "Hey, I saw you among the crowd at Aatti's house. How come you happened to fall into THIS well?" Bhattathiri answered: "Yes. When I heard Aatti was in the well and saw people jumping in, I too was eager to join. But the crowd was too much; no room for me in the well. I found this well was empty so jumped in here instead!"
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Note 1: Last weekend, I happened to read a few grisly political allegories by O.V.Vijayan - 'The Wart', 'The Phoetus'... This post is a tribute to the master, against the backdrop of some very recent political 'developments'.
Note 2: Naduvileppad Bhattathiri was an (in)famous practical joker and wit of 18th century Kerala (my dating based on circumstantial evidence), immortalized in Kottarathil Sankunni's magnum opus 'Aitihyamala'.
Koppat Aatti (another twister?!) was a woman of great beauty and an influential socialite - she was credited with 27 (!) husbands and many other 'friends', admirers, well-wishers....
Once she accidentally fell into the well in her backyard. The news spread rapidly, a large crowd collected and men began jumping into the well to save her. Naduvileppad Bhattathiri was passing by and asked what the commotion was about. An agitated man told him: "Aatti has fallen into the well!". Bhattathiri approached and looked into the well and it was full and choking with people...
When the rescuers had managed to pull Aatti out safe and sound, they heard a loud cry for help from the adjacent compound. A few ran there and saw Bhattathiri trapped in the well there and calling for help. They found a rope and managed to haul him out as well in one piece. One man asked: "Hey, I saw you among the crowd at Aatti's house. How come you happened to fall into THIS well?" Bhattathiri answered: "Yes. When I heard Aatti was in the well and saw people jumping in, I too was eager to join. But the crowd was too much; no room for me in the well. I found this well was empty so jumped in here instead!"
-----
Note 1: Last weekend, I happened to read a few grisly political allegories by O.V.Vijayan - 'The Wart', 'The Phoetus'... This post is a tribute to the master, against the backdrop of some very recent political 'developments'.
Note 2: Naduvileppad Bhattathiri was an (in)famous practical joker and wit of 18th century Kerala (my dating based on circumstantial evidence), immortalized in Kottarathil Sankunni's magnum opus 'Aitihyamala'.
posted by R.Nandakumar @ 10:19 PM
2 Comments:
At 6:45 AM,
Myna said…
A WELL-timed remark!!!
At 3:04 AM,
bhattathiri said…
In the storm of life we struggle through myriads of stimuli of
pressure,
stress, and muti-problems that seek for a solution and answer. We are
so
suppressed by the routine of this every life style that most of us seem
helpless. However, if we look closely to ancient techniques we shall
discover the magnificent way to understand and realize the ones around
us
and mostly ourselves. If only we could stop for a moment and allow this
to
happen…
Let me bow to Indian Maharishi Patanjali with folded hands who helped
in
removing the impurities of the mind through his writings on Yoga,
impurities
of speech through his writings on grammar, and impurities of body
through
his writings on Ayurveda.
The American justice Dept. have recently approved the power of yoga and
meditation vide a recent judgement in the American court.†Man Who
Slapped
Wife Sentenced to Yoga, It's Anger Management, Says Judge." First there
was
house arrest. Now there's yoga. A judge ordered a man convicted of
slapping
his wife to take a yoga class as part of his one-year probation. "It's
part
of anger management," County Criminal Court at Law Judge Larry Standley
said
of the ancient Hindu philosophy of exercise and well-being. "For people
who
are into it, it really calms them down. " Standley, a former
prosecutor,
said the case of James Lee Cross was unique. Cross, a 53-year-old car
salesman from Tomball, explained that his wife was struggling with a
substance abuse problem and that he struck her on New Year's Eve during
an
argument about her drinking. "He was trying to get a hold of her
because she
has a problem," Standley said after the court hearing. "I thought this
would
help him realize that he only has control over himself." The sentence
came
as a surprise to Cross, who was told to enroll in a class and report
back to
Standley on his progress. "I'm not very familiar with it," Cross said
of
yoga. "From what I understand, it may help in a couple ways, not only
as far
as mentally settling, but maybe a little weight loss." Darla Magee, an
instructor at Yoga Body Houston in River Oaks, said she would recommend
that
Cross take a basic yoga class emphasizing breathing and including a
variety
of postures -- forward bends, back bends and twists. "Yoga can help us
to
get rid of many emotional issues we might have," she said. "It's a
spiritual
cleanse." Prosecutor Lincoln Goodwin agreed to a sentence of probation
without jail time because Cross had no significant criminal history
http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/metropolitan/2365341.
Yoga which is one of the greatest Indian contribution to the world has
got
vast potential in all fields. In Tihar jail India Yoga is experimented
among
the inmates and found successful. Their criminal mentality is changed.
This
study aimed at investigating the effect of Vipassana Meditation (VM) on
Quality of Life (QOL), Subjective Well-Being (SWB), and Criminal
Propensity
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