Nurungukal….

  The silhouette of a frail and stooping figure slowly disappearing away against the receding evening sun is emerging on the screen of my memory chip as I read about the award bestowed on Thamketuthy for her  efforts to conserve a sustainable eco system  which she had inherited from the Tharawad.  Many such patches of biodiversity were maintained by our forefathers, either on a compelling belief or based on cultural conventions. But in the last few decades, especially after the demolition of feudalistic practices in agriculture or due to the disintegration of the fabric of the joint family and fragmentation of lands, to nurture nuclear families these edifices of coexistence were obliterated from our premises. 

     If I remember properly there were five such sacred groves in a row  and one by one disappeared as a result of human encroaches. In one or two there were ancient chithroda kallu, a type of stone formation to worship serpents. Even now the twin groves are well maintained in our premises, thanks to the efforts of our sister.

      My father after his great escape from Burma, in the midst of world war second settled down in Ponani, which was the native place of my mother, owning the legacy of tolerating Khilafat movement. When father purchased this property there were two sacred groves and a  dilapidated well. In the initial days when my parents settled down here they depended on this well for water. But later they had to abandon it as one day when my parents were on a pilgrimage to Rameswaram, a serpent appeared on the rope while our servant was fetching water from this well for house hold purpose, which was forbidden as per the version of an astrologer.

 As children,the grove attracted our curiosity on many occasions in pursuit of a golden snake or rare birds. Very often a Mottled Wood Owl (kuttichoolan or kalan kozhi ) used to make its shrieking calls in the dusk, ushering us to chant Narayana,Narayana, as we believed the calls were the harbinger of death or some calamity. Even very recently I heard the calls and a similar feeling rushed into me. The groves are even now the shelter for many species of birds, reptiles, creatures etc. The variety of calls they made while roosting used to provide a musical concert. I am happy to know that even now the same ambience  of coexistence is maintained. But still the Golden serpent is eluding me. My anxiety has now increased after witnessing a classic performance ( sarpathatuam ) of Methyl Devika, the Mohiniyattam exponent, depicting the enticing movements of a serpent in tune with the old Tamil song Aadu pampe …vilayadu pampe… .Yet the enchanting sound emanating from the wooden fiddle and the mud pot with the dexterous movements of the hands of a pair of pulluvan and pullothy, vibrates in me, when I think of snakes and folk songs.

     The moving silhouette, which I mentioned in the beginning was that of Mullampulli Nambhoodiri, the then main priest of Thrikkavu Bhagavathi Temple. He was an embodiment of serenity and humility. He might have been  fairly aged. With a traditional tiny knot of hair at the top of his shaven head, he moved slowly with a hunch. Fair in colour and always with a smiling face he was the most revered person in the circle of devotees. The thrimaduram prepared  by him was a delicacy to us and I am yet to taste a better one. My mother was very particular that he himself had to perform the annual pooja in the sacred grove to appease the serpents and trees. And he obliged her, despite of his age . We used to remain in waiting impatiently till the end of the pooja to grab the karolappam and palpayasam  which obviously had unique taste. We seldom meet such noble ones, except in our dreams nowadays.

       Perhaps the acquaintance with such myths and practices might have been the reason to keep us so close to nature. Although it may be difficult to seek a scientific reasoning in such traditions, it has certainly a rapport with coexistence. If you look around there are many moods in the anvil of the nature, in which we may notice the dexterity of creation.