Sammelan

Mayiladuthurai, Tamil Nadu

The vast vistas of green fields and puddles of water slightly begin to come to life with lights of the day break, as the cock raises the alarm for the sun rise. The stray kids in their torn shorts and some with shirts, while some without them, come on the streets and the lanes. With a stick in their hands, and a tire to roll, these kids, completely oblivious of the early morning schools and education are busy playing and making merry.

The “lady of the house” comes out, splashes water on the ground and around the verandah and then she mops it all up. She then sits down comfortably in her “madisaru”, a traditional Tamil Iyer way of wearing a saree, and starts putting the “kolam”.

Down the lane, the sounds of M. S. Subbalaskhmi’s “Suprabatham” fill the atmosphere and just add the feeling of a serene morning to the whole proceedings. These sounds emerge from the house of the most-respected Brahmin leader of the village. His Name is Seshadri Iyer. Seshadri, a man of supreme knowledge of Iyer culture and the Tamil literature, is also a poet who has thorough knowledge of Sanskrit as well. A single parent, he has two children – a boy and a girl. The girl is elder and is named Saraswathi; while the boy is younger and is named Lakshmanan.

Seshadri, though a man of supreme knowledge and awareness, is still rooted to his values and history. He is open enough to accept discussions on religious topics and preach the values of harmony and co-existence to the society around him; but at the same time closed and stubborn enough to hold his daughter from going to school. He holds Saraswathi at home and doesn’t see the need of sending her to school ever. The only teacher Saraswathi ever had was her own father. Seshadri gave her all the knowledge on Vedas, Gita, Brahmin culture, Iyer culture and the rich heritage. He also taught her Sanskrit and made her learn Tamil literature too. With no time to spend on school and academics, Saraswathi learnt the art of managing household work. She learnt cooking, sewing and everything else, that a girl child has to know in order to make a remarkable housewife. Seshadri also organized for a carnatic music teacher for Saraswathi when she insisted she wanted to learn music. She learned sitar and veena. She also learnt classical singing. It was just the four walls of her home and her father that became the world for her.

Lakshmanan, on the other hand, got the benefits of being a son. A man! At the age, of 7, even before Lakshmanan was conscious enough of his existence, and his roots, even before his little brain was potent enough to understand the meaning of anything, he was initiated into the Brahmin community. His father organized a huge pooja at the local Shiva temple and in that pooja was Lakshmanan’s “upanayanam”, a sacred thread ceremony where a boy is formally initiated into the Brahmin clan and it is announced that he is officially born. Lakshmanan was sent to a “gurukulam” where he got the gyaan on Vedas and all the other religious scriptures. He also learnt about the Vedic science and Vedic mathematics. At the age, of around 11, Seshadri deemed it fit for Lakshmanan to be sent to a convent school. Since there was no convent school in the village, Seshadri sent him to Tiruchirapalli, a city close to Mayiladuthurai.

The year is 1997

City: Mayiladuthurai

Saraswathi is now 13 years old and she lives with her father in the village. One morning, “Yenna aachu, ma? Yenge irrukke?” asks Seshadri sitting on his arm chair with a newspaper in his hand. He is waiting for his morning coffee which has been delayed by close to 3 mins. This gets him restless. He keeps fanning himself with the sheet of newspaper that he holds in his hand, even though the fan is running full-speed. ‘Yenna daan climate, oh!” Ivvulav humidity!” While Seshadri keeps complaining about the humidity, a young beautiful girl dressed in Red and White “paavadai daavani” emerges from the kitchen. She has a “davara tumbler” in her hand and she walks briskly toward her appa. He sports a smile on his face at the sight. Not too happy with the daughter’s face as he is with the sight of the filter coffee… He welcomes his daughter and takes the coffee from her hands… She is trembling at the thought of a scolding from her father knowing that she had delayed his coffee, but to her amusement, her father welcomes her and just relaxes her. He has the coffee while constantly fanning himself as Saraswathi tries to get up to go to the kitchen to cook lunch.

“Yenge ma porey?” asks the father (Where are you going, my dear?)

“Appa, samayel pannanon, illa!” replies the daughter. (I have to prepare the lunch, father!)

Ingey iru, ore oru numusham!” (Just wait here for a moment, darling!)

Saraswathi sits down near her father by his feet and she looks up at him.

The moment she looks up at his father’s face, her eyes also run over the walls and the surroundings of her living room. All that she sees are the pictures of Lord Shiva in his different avatars and moods. The walls are also adorned by the quotes from Bhagvad Gita, the Vedas and all the other religious scriptures. She is quite astonished by the entire décor of the living room and asks her father… “Appa? Idu laan yennadhu? Yen namba veedu ley verun Swami Padangal daan irukku?” The father sees the look on his daughter’s face and answers “Idu laan daan namba sanskaram, ma!”

She sees a comforting look on his face. He reaches out for her head and taps it gently. “Ivvulu velay pannday, chellon!” says Seshadri. (Don’t work so hard, my baby!) He asks her to take some time off. He says that he has arranged for the maid to come and cook from today. He asks Saraswathi to relax and concentrate on the music lessons and practice her Vedic lessons. Though, not an extremely rich man, Seshadri had amassed enough wealth to afford his son’s education in Trichy and also accord luxury to his dear daughter.

City: Trichy

Lakshmanan gets up a little late in the morning for the school contrary to the lifestyle of his when he was at home and also contrary to the lifestyle that is still followed at his home. He gets up, finishes his bath and then goes to the school. Staying in the boys’ hostel had only been advantageous for him. At least he could sleep longer and add to that the fact that his father was not there and there was no one to wake him up early. Back in the school, he enters his class, and sees boys and girls sitting together and even talking to each other freely. Girls wearing skirts and shirts and guys too. The teachers are dressed suitably too and not like priests in the temple. He immediately thinks of his sister and his father who were quite the opposite, always! Lakshmanan is now in 8th standard and has already exposed himself to English literature and poetry. After class, he spends substantial amount of time in the library alone, reading books, poems, politics, current affairs, philosophy and also about religion…

The year 2001

City: Mayiladuthurai

Saraswathi has just attained adulthood and his father organizes a huge function by calling in the local ladies who can carry this celebration out and he also conducts a pooja to celebrate the same. Outside the home, a taxi stops and emerges Lakshmanan in a jeans and a t-shirt. He sees a huge gathering of women and all the rituals going on. The sight just pushes him back a bit. He takes a little time to get used to all this… He enters home and sees his dad sitting in a corner on an arm chair with a newspaper in his hand. He goes up to his dad and bends down to touch his feet, and right then his dad shakes him off.

“Idu yennadhu? Kulikivey illiya? (What is this? Haven’t you had your bath, yet?) Asks Seshadri.

“No pa! I’ve had bath. I know you don’t like anyone coming close to you without having bath. I’m still aware of that.” Replies Lakshmanan.

“Yen? English le daan badal solluviyoh?” (Now you’ll answer in English as well?)

“Yenna da idu? Teriyada, inni ki on tangay ki poojai irrukku na?? Veshti kattindu varakkudadu?? (What the hell! Weren’t you aware of the fact that there’s a pooja for your sister today? Couldn’t you have worn a dhoti? Why a jeans?)

“Appa! I just wore this, because it’s easy to travel wearing jeans and also I am damn comfortable in this…”

He just finishes his discussion with his father and then walks up to his room and keeps his luggage. He stands on the first floor alley outside his room and looks down in the main hall where the entire function of celebrating the girl’s adulthood is taking place. He looks at all this with a certain amount of disdain. He is too shocked and surprised to see all this. A little while later, Saraswathi looks up and sees her brother standing there and smiles at him. She signals him to come down, but he refuses.

In the night, Saraswathi comes over to Lakshmanan’s room and sees him sitting by the window and sees him tense. “What happened, brother?” asks Saraswathi.

This question in English shocks Lakshmanan no end.

He turned around and looked at her sis and asked “Where did you learn to speak in English? Appa never sent you to a school… How do you know to converse in this language?”

“I never needed to go to any school, brother! Appa was always the greatest teacher I could have asked for. He taught me everything… He was a little apprehensive when I actually spoke to him openly about my desire to learn English language; but when I gave him my reason, he couldn’t say no. You see, Appa is not intolerant!” she replies.

“Yeah right! Not intolerant!!”

“Did you just see what he did to me when I entered?? Is that the way you speak to your son when he comes back home after a long time? And that too over what? Just because I wore a jeans rather than a goddamn Veshti?? How trivial is that?”

Saraswathi answers back “That’s not trivial, brother! See, all he had hoped for is to see you here and to see you being part of the culture and the pooja… And there he sees you dressed in jeans… You knew it was a traditional thing. Why couldn’t you wear a Veshti?”

“Ha! Now you go there as well! I thought you understood me… But you too! You took the side of your father as well… And why won’t you? This is where you’ve been all your life… You’ve been raised under his tutelage… His vision is what you’ll imbibe… And come on Saraswathi… what tradition are you talking about?? You think 100 dumb women gathering around to celebrate the adulthood of a girl is traditional? You think that is divine? Oh, shit! How naïve and how juvenile you’re behaving?”

“Look Lakshmanan! I think your opinions and beliefs have reached point where they’re in collision with what we feel… And I guess Appa also feels the same… And that’s exactly what he wanted you to know!

Next morning, Lakshmanan packs up his bag and leaves home early with a letter on his bed.

Saraswathi picks up the letter and reads it out to her father.

City: Trichy

Back in Trichy after a heated discussion at home, he joins his college… He joins Seetharam Ramasamy College. He takes up a small room also for rent and takes up a part time job as a waiter in Pizza Hut. He works in the evenings between 8 pm and 11 pm. Out of the nominal salary he gets; he pays his rent and also purchases a guitar. During the college, he makes friends with Subramaniam, Mark and Radha. The common thread bonding them is their love for music. While Lakshmanan learns and focuses primarily on guitar, Subramaniam learns Keyboards and Radha concentrates on being a vocalist. Mark learns violin.

Slowly, they begin to share a very intimate relationship with each other. The void in Lakshmanan’s life is filled by these people. They move in with Lakshmanan and also ease his financial burden. It is only during this time, that Lakshmanan gets exposed to Tolstoy, Karl Marx and Fyodor Dostoevsky along with other philosophers. Based on his early experience at home, he begins to write poems and begins questioning the very existence of religion. He removes his sacred thread and keeps it in the almirah.

City: Mayiladuthurai

A postman comes along and delivers a letter over at Seshadri’s place. Saraswathi runs outside expecting a letter from her brother and she is joyous to see the name of the sender. She goes to the terrace and sits there and opens the letter. Once she reads the letter, she looks at the road down with tears rolling down her eyes… She just reaches out for her “dupatta” of her paavadai and wipes her eyes off. She then goes down to her father’s room and sees him sleeping. She just places the letter on the table beside his bed and leaves the room to go the kitchen and cook the dinner.

Later in the evening, Saraswathi sees her father reading the letter and tearing it apart. He just wipes his tears off and then gets up… He calls out Saraswathi’s name and asks her for water. She gets her father a glass of water, which he raises above and drinks from. While leaving the room, she suddenly turns back to her father and goes and gives him a hug. She then looks up at her father and asks that she wants to start performing at local music celebrations. Her father sensing her loneliness, allows her to do so.

City: Trichy

The year is 2004 and Lakshmanan and his friends after having graduated from the college have still stuck together. They form a band called “Karma” and they play in night clubs. They make reasonable amount of money that keeps them going. Apart from this, Lakshmanan also takes tuitions while Radha takes cooking classes. Mark also repairs violins part time while Subramaniam gives keyboard classes.

Apart from their performances in the night clubs, they also perform very consistently in the college fests and such urbane cultural fests. Their performance earns them substantial amount of credibility amongst the college goers and day scholars.

City: Mayiladuthurai

Saraswathi starts performing and singing local temple functions and local kaccheris. With her command over the ragas and the music form, she begins winning over the hearts of all the religious pundits, the poets, the music wizards and also everyone present at such functions.

It’s not only the beauty of her divine voice that reaches her father, but also the compliments regarding her divine beauty itself that makes its way to her father’s ears. Everyone who saw Saraswathi at the musical functions came to her place and told her father how beautiful the girl had grown to be…

This fills Seshadri with immense joy and pleasure. He now understands that there’s one responsibility that’s still left for him and that is to get Saraswathi married. He starts looking for a suitable groom and also publishes the profile in many matrimonial magazines. He also publishes the ad on “Mangayar Malar”. He calls up Saraswathi to his room and speaks to her about her marriage. She looks at her father and on seeing the impending joy on his face; she says yes and then runs over to her room. After a little while she comes back to the room and says that she should inform Lakshmanan about this.

“Yen avunuku inform pannanon? Avan daan nambley vittu ittu paietaney” says Seshadri. (Why do you want to inform him? He has already left us for good. )

“Appa! Yenna aanaalon! He’s your son; my brother! Naan solli daan aaghanon! (Whatever it is! I’ve to share this news with him).

She asks for her father’s permission to go to Trichy and tell him. Seshadri allows her but with reluctance. He had anyways lost all faith in Lakshmanan. He had almost disowned him. But just to keep his daughter happy, he gave her the permission, he allowed her to go and meet her brother.

City: Trichy

The bus reaches from Mayiladuthurai and Saraswathi gets down from the bus. She had the address of her brother. She took a rickshaw and went to the place where her brother stayed. She opened the gates and took the stairs to the 2nd floor. She had not informed him of her plans to come. The door opens, and Lakshmanan is shocked to see her sister. He greets her very coldly. She extends to give him a hug, but he just bends over to pick her luggage. She holds herself back. She moves further in and opens the door of his room and sees a girl lying on the floor next to the mattress where he was lying down. She also sees a couple of other guys lying down in the same room and she sees a bottle of rum.

She just stops her brother from keeping the luggage down and snatches her bag from his hands. She just looks at her brother’s bare torso and sees him without the sacred thread. She looks him in the face, then looks around and she leaves.

A few days later, Lakshmanan gets a letter from Saraswathi.

“Lakshmanan,

I am not sure how much is this news going to matter to you; because I really don’t think this will make any difference to you… But anyways, I am going to get married soon. Appa has looked for a Brahmin boy for me from our village only. He is a scholar and is a chaste Brahmin. He is educated and Appa likes and respects him very much.

The marriage will take place in a temple and will happen in the next month. Not really sure if this is your kind of wedding, because it will be religious and quite traditional… Going by your favouritism for Western culture and language and lifestyle, I would rather you not attend this wedding.

I can afford to be without a brother in my wedding; but not without my father! Enjoy your life. Take care.

Saraswathi.”

Lakshmanan just tears this letter up and throws it outside the window. He then sits and looks at his room.

One Week Later at Mayiladuthurai:

A gathering of huge ladies and local music wizards visit Seshadri’s home on a breezy afternoon. Seshadri is just sitting in the open verandah on his arm chair with a newspaper in his hand stands up to welcome the guests and calls out Saraswathi’s name. He asks her to get some water and make some coffee.

She gets the water and serves everyone with a glass of water and then goes back to the kitchen to make everyone a coffee. The moment she comes back, everyone looks at her, blesses her and then finishes their coffee. They get up and leave. After they leave, Saraswathi takes all the glasses and washes them. She comes back and then sits by her father’s legs on the floor and asks him the reason behind everyone’s visit.

Seshadri says that there’s a huge music festival that’s going to happen in Trichy in a week from now. He says it’s not a competition but just a celebration of music. Some of the best urban and western-influenced music groups are going to be performing there. These music wizards want you to go there and perform.

She looks at her father with expectant eyes. Her father allows her to go and perform. She asks her father also to join her and insists that this way he could also meet Lakshmanan and probably talk some sense into him.

“I’m not interested in meeting a son who has the cheek to turn atheist and shows no respect towards his own culture and tradition. I don’t want to meet a boy who thinks by just reading up western philosophy and making western music, he can be progressive. I don’t want to talk to a person who feels staying connected to your own roots is regressive.” Says Seshadri.

“Then why’re you sending me there, Appa? You know that there are going to be urban and western-influenced bands that are going to be performing there… Why’re you sending me?”

“Because Kannamma! I want you to prove it to the world what Indian classical music is…”

“Appa! This is going to be the biggest opportunity of my life. I’m not going there without you. It’s only you who has taught me everything that I know. You’re my guru. You’ve got to join me.”

Same time in Trichy:

Radha and Mark break the news of the music festival to Lakshmanan. They say that their band “Karma” is already enrolled into the festival.

On the festival day:

While the audiences take their seats, in the open-air auditorium, the bad members make their way back stage. While moving around backstage, Lakshmanan and his band members stumble upon the list of performers and one name drops Lakshmanan’s jaws. He points out the name Saraswathi and makes his band members read that name. He tells them that’s his sister.

15 mins later, Saraswathi, dressed in a red and white paavadai daavani, walks into Lakshmanan’s room and shakes hand with him. She looks at him in the eye and smiles at him and then she leaves the room.

Outside, in the audience, Seshadri looks at the board and stares at the name of the performers. He then goes quietly and takes his seat.

After half-an-hour:

A band called “Fosse” comes on to the stage and they mesmerize the audience with their captivating performance. They perform for almost 30 mins and they play jazz. Their acts include tributes to Bob Fosse and Frank Sinatra. All the jazz enthusiasts enjoy and also sing along the tracks while swaying to the melodies.

This act makes way for “Safar”. This band has come all the way from Kashmir and they perform some Sufi poetry dipped in Sufi melodies. They send the audience into a soul-searching trip with their peace-driven Sufi lyrics and soulful compositions.

Few more bands and multiple music forms later, is the turn of Karma. Karma comes along and they start playing. Songs written about environment, nature, war and peace with philosophical lyrics prick the audience as the tunes which are primarily Indian rock send the audience on a severe introspection mood. Many of them close their eyes and just enjoy the mood built by the music. At this time, Seshadri, closes his eyes and sways his head to the music as well. The moment, he closes his eyes; the song about existence of religion which is being played currently sends a tear down his eyes. He opens his eyes and looks at his son who is just lost in the music. 20 mins later, the performance of Karma comes to an end. They, like every other band, receive a thunderous applause.

This makes way to the last performance of the music festival which is Saraswathi’s. She comes and takes the seat reserved for her. She takes the sitar and starts playing it. The soulful melody coupled with the beautiful divine Sanskrit and Tamil chants mesmerized the audiences. She starts singing Mahaganapathim and Thaye Yashoda and she sings other beautiful couplets over sitar. After mesmerizing the audiences for over 30 mins with her soulful sitar and chaste Tamil and Sanskrit chants, she gets up and bows down her head.

At the conclusion of the music festival, the Emcee comes on to the podium and raises a thunderous applause for all the performers. Before, she concludes, the audience goes into frenzy and asks for a jugalbandi of all the artists that performed.

After 15 mins of persuasion, all the artists together on the stage with their respective bands and troupes and they perform a jugalbandi. This jugalbandi goes for 45 mins, as the audience just sits back and is lost in the music. At the end of 45 mins, all the artists hold each others’ hands and bow down. The audience just stands tall and greets the performers with an unprecedented round of applause. Seshadri also stands tall and claps with tears in his eyes.