Yesterday I went for a walk with my daughter, Chaitanya. It has been a fortnight since the rain started in Nagercoil. When I left for Chennai on the 5th of May, it was raining. Then came the downpour. And now it goes further. An orange alert has been issued. However, in Kanyakumari district, people live in the rain like fish in the water. They only complain about the sun.
Parvathipuram, the beautiful land where I have lived for twenty years, has changed. They have transformed the area into a mixture of mud, cement, and barbed wire in preparation for the construction of a six-lane road. Each time you need to walk in a new direction, there is a barrier in the middle, which you must navigate around.
However, it appears that some areas remain untouched. Rain is a blessing! No matter how much garbage accumulates, rain fills it with greenery and flowers. Rain is called Vrishti. It means nurturer.
There is a Chola-era lake behind my house, beyond the railway line. That’s why we have groundwater. The lake became smaller over the years, and only 15 percent of the area from 1930 remains, according to government documents. Encroachments have turned most of it into patta lands. Old Lakeland is the major settlement in the area today. Rainwater covers the rest of the area. However, water is available year-round. The nearby mountains, known as Velimalai, are responsible for this.
Lotus covers the entire lake. The most common are red lotus, rose lotus, and white lotus. Very rarely, there are blue lotus. It is a business to climb on a bronze utensil in the lake, pluck the lotus flower by hand, and sell it. Lotus is the most suitable flower for Lord Vishnu. Here, Vishnu’s name is Padmanabha, the lord of lotus. Krishna prefers blue lotus, so it has a higher market value.
Because this is a rainy season, there are no flowers in the lake. leaves only. But the pearls of rain on every leaf blazed in the twilight’s dim gleaming. Like thousands of eyes. They danced together on the leaves as the wind blew.
Nalinithalakatha jalmati taralam
Tattva jevanam athisaya saphalam
Shankara’s lines! Every time I see lotus leaves, I remember Shankara.He says that this life, dancing like water droplets on lotus leaves, is a wonderful mystery. The traditional commentators refer to this line as a simile of impermanence. But to me, it seems like a line of delight and wonder.
This life shines brightly, regardless of its fleeting nature. Shankara was a philosopher and poet. A thousand-year-old sage who lived in his brain may have contemplated impermanence. That young poet, who lived in his heart, would have written that line with joy and wonder!
Jeyamohan
