Snapana (Ablutions)

Snapana  (Ablutions)

There are some things -

Things, which are unique

Certain things we buy, barter, acquire

Some things, we just receive ’em

Through pure luck

They come into our homes

No, we may not have asked for them

But they arrive at our doorstep

They come into our midst

On their own, they enter our abodes

Several such things are with us

The one-of-a-kind cactus is

One of them

Till very recently

I simply considered it to be

Just a plant, rather a succulent one

But a plant is Siva too

So says: The Yajur-veda

So proclaims the white Morinda

In Srisailam

Once I was giving

A misting, to its lustrous green stem

And gentle watering to its roots

Always I try to use

Cool, clean water sans the minerals

Either directly from rainwater or

The basement dehumidifier

Its dark green succulent exterior

Would hold not even a droplet

Not even a tiny one

Everything just rolls down

Like the water we pour over a

Siva-linga

Throughout the 365 days

Through all the phases of moon

Through the twenty-four hours

Through all time

This cactus shows no external signs

Of life, it is wrapped into itself

Lost in some

Deep meditation -  like a sthanuh

Yet

It is full of life

And you can observe it

If you watch very carefully

If a stray twig hits it

Pricks it by accident – it gets bruised easily

Leaving a scar

During summer

When I leave it on the deck

I often notice -

Invariably it gets wounded  with

Wind tossed branches from the

Big maple, walnut overhanging trees

With a cut here and a nick there

It bears all such abuse with calm demeanor

Not once, never in its entire life

Did it complain of any abuse

Water or no water, light or no light

Food or no food

More than twenty years

It has stayed with us like a

Very obedient Indian daughter

When it came to us

Barely it was a two inch ball cactus

Now

A green fluted column

Of fifteen inches

Resembling the Linga of

Daksharama, near Kakinada

What I give it – is very minimal

A peach colored clay pot

And a handful of dirt

I repot with utmost care

And of course infinite love

It has no thorns, only remnants of

Long gone needle bases,

(Like long forgotten personal grudges)

I mix loose soil, perlite

Sand, and at times a bit of bone meal

At times with a pinch of lime

And then, I just leave it to

Soak in the sun, near the south facing glass door

That’s it, that’s all. Then it does not ask

For anything, neither water nor fertilizer

Like our thirsty tropical flowering hibiscus

Weeks, even months would go by

Without a drop of water, even without a glance

From its caring gardener

In early spring

I see its awakening

Waking from dormancy

I witness fresh growth on its crown

The glistening freshly formed soft

Green succulent tissue, and of course

Several flower buds too sprout

Then suddenly on cool summer nights

It gifts us delicately fragrant white

Trumpet like flowers

It is as if Siva Himself

Is in our midst

With a cool shiny crescent moon

Effusing sweet aroma all around

It came to us

From far away south America

Via Albuquerque

Through a friend

In a shriveled sunken state

They call it – Echinopsis seminudus

Unasked, it came into our home

It brought us hope, happiness

I learnt more about life

About religion and meditation

From it, than through any number of

Books and tedious discussions

It taught me patience

“Be content with whatever

you’ve, be devoted

and a miracle may happen”

Copyright by the author  2013

Banana Plant

Banana Plant

            Banana (Musa) is a classic tropical plant. Its large leaves make an emphatic pleasant statement in any room; it gives a soothing (cool green color) feeling as an element of interior decoration. The plant is also prized as an ornamental plant (with or without the fruit). Of course, it symbolizes auspiciousness and sacredness in the traditional (Sanatana) Hindu ceremonies; according to one purana story, the plant represents a lady. In cold places too, it can be successfully grown in green houses or indoors in large pots. I happened to notice lots of banana plants in the Pittsburgh (Phipps conservatory) botanical garden.

            Many vegetables in the plant kingdom tend to be acidic – their tartness covers a wide spectrum, ranging from the tart apple (normally found early in the season) to the extremely sour tamarind. There are very few vegetables that are either alkaline or neutral. Raw banana is on the alkaline side. I first came to recognize this alkaline nature of banana, during my pre-college days. The ashes of dried banana stem and leaves exhibit this property very vividly. Using turmeric as (pH) an indicator, one can see the color change due to banana ashes. Thus, (raw) banana culinary dishes are valuable in lessening the deleterious effects of acidic foods. 

            My own association with this plant goes back to my teenage years. Our mother wanted to provide us with homegrown tasty bananas. Bananas are an excellent source of energy for growing kids, function as an excellent snack, particularly after exhausting physical activity. In those days, we had a retired teacher in our street, he had more than fifty banana plants in his garden. Often he had to remove the overgrown suckers (pups) and discard them, as part of thinning. Upon mother’s request, the teacher gave us four baby banana plants: two of Chakkerkeli (చక్కరకేళి, Poovan, Mysore AAB) and two Amrutapani (అమృతపాణి, Rasthali, Silk AAB).

            We brought them home (I carried couple of stems on my shoulders) and gently planted them next to our kitchen. We could see them right through our kitchen window. I still have vivid memories of our little kitchen garden. Situated in a coastal village, we had ample access to good quality water. The canal water (off of Godavari river) met all our needs; but mother was many years ahead of the times, and she did not want to waste our precious potable water. The bananas were irrigated with our bath water and kitchen washings (grey water). Yet the plants never complained, they were full of green foliage, without any disease, and enjoyed the tropical (near vertical) bright sun rays. Now I think: If they got a bit alkalinity from our bath water, it didn’t bother them, they (the plants) are alkaline too.

            Soon, they plants grew by leaps and bounds, they just went on putting weight (with increasing girth) and big leaves. In the village, you could never offend anyone, nor deny a friendly request. Often, neighbors would drop by our house and request a few plantain leaves. We could not tell them, “no”. So, mother would go around the plants every week and deliberately tear the plantain leaves. So, that way we did not have to give away large leaves to neighbors! Bananas need their precious large leaves for their own food production (photosynthesis). Just imagine how much food the tree (though it is not a real tree) has to produce and store for yielding a big cluster of 150 fruits.

            In the village, the plants grew quite well during first year. But they did not show inflorescence for many months. Mother got a bit worried and she promptly sought our farmer’s advice. “Just apply a bit of super phosphate, madam, everything will be alright”. He cautioned us to use only moderate amounts of fertilizer and that too, far away from the root system. Luckily, then, we had a large fertilizer warehouse in our backyard, and within a matter of weeks, we had our first banana fruit. Success at last! They were the best naturally ripened bananas I have ever tasted. Come to think of it, city folks nowadays go gaga (or bananas) over organic food. We had them, decades before, in villages and small towns. Beans, snake gourd, bottle gourd, eggplant, or amaranth, you name it, we had grown (mostly without any inorganic fertilizer) organically with no pesticide then. But more than the ripened fruit, what surprised both mother and myself was this: That last, ultimate or penultimate small leaf. Then slowly, the appearance of a big compound flower with many helical tiers (hands, అత్తములు). Mother made tasty dishes with the flower and the inner white stem too. Once or twice, mother had the big fruit suspended from overhead wooden beam – as and when I got hungry, just plucked a ripe yellow banana and enjoyed the sweet taste, with its strong amyl acetate flavor. It was at least four five years before I synthesized the ester in chemistry lab.

            What a marvelous tropical plant! In exchange for a little care and a bit of grey water, this great plant gave us everything, from cool shade, tasty fruit, to unique vegetarian dishes. When I finally discarded the massive stem in village canal waters, I had to bid a sad goodbye to it. I enjoyed its smooth trunk, via a last floatation ride on the waters. Ladies still use its buoyant concave stems as tiny boats to carry their oil lamps on waterfront.

Indoors Care

            Obviously, when we grow this plant indoors in a pot, we may not always get the fruit. It may take several years for the plant to gain maturity. Here, in our local temple, I did see the potted plant bearing fruit. But the fruit was quite small – more like a part of still life in a painting (or the fake plastic fruit seen in a hobby store).

            Several years back, I bought a little banana plant in a 4” pot from a local superstore for $ 3.00. Banana likes larger pots. A spacious growing container will provide ample room for the suckers. The plant does not demand high quality soil and this fact is borne out by the experience of south Indian farmers. I use whatever soil I have on hand: a bit of top soil mixed with one part compost and one part leaf mold. You can add a bit of perlite and some sand. Good drainage helps, but the plant can tolerate a bit of overwatering.

Repotting

            In pots, banana plant tends to give suckers (పిలకలు) all around. Most banana plants do not have any seed (useful for reproduction). New plants are grown either from suckers or by tissue culture techniques. The small offshoots look very attractive, like little children, they too ask for separate pots. The first  time I tried separating a sucker – it proved total disastrous.  Either its corm got injured or it failed to grow new roots rapidly. There are two types of suckers with banana plants: Some are in close proximity to the main stem and some that are spaced away from the mother plant. It is very difficult to separate the in-grown suckers from the mother plant. To eliminate overcrowding, such closely spaced (baby) suckers are cut off with a sharp knife. [It is a good practice to periodically clean gardening tools (pruning shears, knives) with soap water and rubbing alcohol].

            It is a bit easier to handle the outlying suckers. These suckers can be gently separated and grown into mature plants. Separation is best done during repotting process (fair weather helps too. Spring, summer, or fall times are the most appropriate periods for repotting). When I removed the root-ball from the old congested pot, I could see the entangled root system. We had to patiently gently separate the roots first, then with a sharp (kitchen) knife, we carefully sliced the soil – thus three separate plants with intact root balls were formed.

            For good drainage, the pot bottom was filled with coconut shells, broken (ceramic & clay) pot pieces, pine needles, and birch twigs. After centering the plant, the sides were packed with compost soil. Though we tried our best, getting the plant straight and centered in the pot is always tricky. Right now all plants are doing extremely well, putting on new leaves, and growing in height and diameter. In my experience I have never encountered any serious pest problem with banana. Though some banana varieties are prone to disease. I am not sure about the exact banana type in my possession; looks like we got a red banana variety. Copyright 2013

(Dedicated to T.S.L. and my innocent village folks)

Lyrics of Telugu Song "niili megha maalavO"

నీలిమేఘ మాలవో, నీలాల తారవో

నీసోయగాలతో మదినీ దోచిపోదువో

నీ మోములోన జాబిలి దోబూచులాడెనే

నీ కురులు తేలి గాలిలో ఉయ్యాలలూగెనే

నిదురించు వలపు మేల్కొలిపి దాగిపోదువో

నీ కెంపు పెదవి తీయని కమనీయ కావ్యమే

నీ వలపు తనివి తీరని మధురాల రావమే

నిలిచి వదేల నాపిలుపు ఆలకించవో

రాదేల జాలి ఓ చెలీ ఈ మౌనమేలనే

రాగాల తేలిపోదమే జాగేల చాలునే

రావో యుగాల ప్రేయసీ నన్నాదరించవో

Film: Madanakamaraju Katha

Lyrics: G. K. Murty

Singer: P.B. Srinivas

niilimEgha maalavO, niilaala taaravO

niisOyagaalatO madinii dOchipOduvO

nii mOmulOna jaabili dObuuchulaaDenE

nii kurulu tEli gaalilO uyyaalalUgenE

nidurinchu valapu mElkolipi daagipOduvO

nii kempu pedavi tiiyani kamaniiya kaavyamE

nii valapu tanivi tiirani madhuraala raavamE

nilichi vadEla naapilupu aalakinchavO

raadEla jaali O chelii ii maunamElanE

raagaala tElipOdamE jaagEla chaalunE

raavO yugaala prEyasii nannaadarinchavO

       Some time back, I posted the lyrics of this hit Telugu song at my Sulekha blog. But as I check now, it is not to be found. Usually I have a copy on my computer - still, it is a bit irritating not to find your old articles. Can't help it, that is how the Internet works, you just have to live with its faults. 

       

      Coming to this marvelous song: What can I add? Beautiful melody, the tune is same as that of the Hindi hit song, "chaudavi ka chand", sung by Rafi saab. P. B. Srinivas made an excellent rendering. Two lines catch my attention. In the first stanza, "having aroused love in me, (why) you disappear (or hide)". In the second stanza, "your sweet coral-colored lip". Many romantics (lucky folks! bless their hearts)  come across such situations; but a good poet can give a precise expression with the right shade of emotion. For those who understand the lyrics, the song still brings back memories of golden Telugu cinema. 

Translation of "ne pogadakunte"

Translation of “nE pogaDakunTE “

So what?

What do You lack?

What do You miss?

If I don’t praise (Your glory)

You know my mind (Don’t You?)

Those, who dwell in Your grace

Like

The Suka, Sanaka,

Prahlada, Narada

Rudra (Siva)

And other devotees

(When) They all worship You

So what?

What do You lack?

For

Providing food and sustenance

There, are

My wife, scholars, and community

For helping with (music lessons and) singing hymns

I’ve the

Son of Wind (Hanuman)

Now

Daksha, Indra, and other celestials

Have become very dear relatives

O Lord with lotus eyes

The One extolled by Sri Tyagaraja

Being a boy

If I don’t praise (Your glory)

What do you lack?

You know my mind.

Tyagayya (at times I prefer to call him Tyagayya, cf. Annamayya) profusely acknowledges the debt to elders, teachers, contemporary society, and ancient rishis in a number of songs. In some instances he may have expressed a slight difference of opinion with cohorts (nadupai palikeru comes to mind). But wherever he expressed gratitude, his sentiments were always warm and heartfelt. I sense a feeling of authentic thankful gesture in this song and “danDamu peTTEnuraa kOdanDapaaNi cuuDaraa” (see one of my older posts at Sulekha).

[This is a translation of the Tyagayya kriti, “nE pogaDakunTE niikEmi kodavO?”. I learnt the song from a cassette (rendition) by Dr. Balamurali. I hope younger artists like Dr. Pantula Rama will one day present their own interpretation of such timeless compositions. Certainly there is a vast reservoir of musical talent hidden in today’s youngsters – one fervently hopes budding singers remain optimistic, persevere, and pursue Indian classical music either as a vocation or avocation. Money or no money, awards or no awards. Per se, art has its own rewards.]

I will post the lyrics (and perhaps commentary) in a future write-up.  Copyright © 2013

Framing Krishna

Framing Krishna

From Dharmasala, B brought us a great gift: A Batik of Radha and Krishna, elegantly seated on the bank of Yamuna, in the midst of ponna (punnaga, Indian-Laurel tree) trees, with an on-looking peacock on the side. It is a large multi-colored painting, stretching to 55 “ x 45 “. For more than two years, we just let it hang on the wall, held by thumb tacks on its corners. Though the painting is magnificent, we did it a great disservice by not providing a suitable frame.

But how to frame our loving Krishna? If Yasoda could not tie Him with a rope even after trying many times (the rope was always two inches short!), then how could we frame this large unwieldy painting? In India, of course, I could either visit a framing shop or hire a carpenter – but here in U.S., it is not that easy.  For a mere 27” x 18” painting, one shop has quoted a whopping price of $ 250. To spend hundreds of dollars just on a frame, it is not a Monet, some may say. For us, this Radha Krishna painting is more valuable, much more than a Monet. Sadly, we do not know the painter’s identity! He or she must be one of those great anonymous painters. Like the painters of Ajanta frescos. Not only the painting has multiple colors and hues, it has thin delicate golden lines and dots – decorating the borders of Radha’s dress, bangles, and the mysterious flute.

Finally I determined to do the framing, all by myself. I did not formally learn carpentry, though many years ago, I watched for hours at length, carpenters working on complex projects. They would make their own (bamboo or date palm) dowels, varnish, and hand sand the teak and rosewood surfaces. Also, once I happened to observe a team of metal workers design a large drop ceiling and install it piece by piece at a height of 15-20 feet above ground. Then too, the skilled workers made their own metal rivets, and rigged up a fast assembly process to fabricate a metal grid (skeleton). I was always impressed by their design skills, intuition, and imagination. That they were able to make their own punching tool bit (via hardened steel), punch holes, join frames with rivets – it was a true testimony to their metal shop skills; earlier they had worked on the massive Godavari bridge and other large structures.

During my pre-college days, I was lucky to witness several oil-painting, sculpture, and art exhibitions. I remember vividly a traveling exhibit of Lalita Kala Akademi. It was conducted singlehandedly by a local wife and husband team– a Paris trained artist couple, Mrs. & Mr. B. Karuna Rao. Before the (public) opening, Mr. Rao took me around all the paintings; he was checking to see the lighting, proper height of each painting, and other mechanical effects. Then while leisurely walking around the exhibits, I got to appreciate each painting, learned to decipher what the artist was trying to communicate. There, I was introduced to modern art and a little bit of cubism. Walking around the exhibits, and with the help of an accomplished artist, I learnt about color, medium, style, and content. Much later I got a chance to see the original works of Gauguin, Monet, Ravi Varma, Michelangelo, and others.

      There, in our coastal town, in one of the meetings of the local Women’s Association, Mrs. Karuna Rao made a simple plea: “Please, I have nothing against you framing and decorating your house with lots of (mass produced) posters – of mythological figures, leaders, or movie actors. But, buy at least one or two paintings, sketches, water color paintings, or any art piece made by a local artist. It need not be the most expensive art piece. That’s the only way we can sustain and encourage art in our daily life.” Many years later I came to appreciate what she meant. A piece of art, it doesn’t have to be a million dollar painting, can certainly broaden a person’s horizon; it can truly shatter the burdensome egotism and narcissistic tendencies.

Now, coming to the framing job at hand. I tried all the framing stores around here and browsed some Internet sites too. Yet, nothing satisfied me. The only solution I could think of – is to buy (wooden) molding from the Home Depot and make a custom frame myself. I considered various metal framings too. Metal framing will need welding and elaborate mechanism to attach the fabric to the edges. I selected an L ( cross section) shaped pine moulding (1-1/16” x 11/16”), made rough cuts at the store, and came home with four pieces. Next, I stained all the pieces with Minwax Cherry color (to protect from seasonal fluctuations in temperature and moisture). Ideally, I should have made a detailed drawing of the painting and frame. But I took a chance and plunged into the project just with gut feeling and intuition.

My plan was to use the vertical face for spreading the fabric (it would run parallel to the wall) and fold the borders twice, and hold the entire painting taut with the help of staples or thumb tacks. Multiple measurements are a must (the old adage: Measure twice and cut once) to avoid disasters. If the frame is a bit large, then there may not be enough fabric to secure properly with staples. If the frame is a bit small, then precious painting area may get wrapped up on the side edges or even end up behind the frame. Ideally we would like to use all (or at least most ) of the painting area for exhibiting (viewing). The artist may or may not give us enough room to work with. In extreme cases, we may have to stitch additional cloth on the four edges to give us enough leeway for framing. Luckily I did not get into major hurdles as I worked into the project.

I made 45° angle cuts (total eight cuts) with a miter saw, all by hand. But how to glue them into a perfect rectangle? A local framing shop owner came to my rescue. She had two miter vices for joining the corners at a perfect 90° angle. So, after two days (we left the glued joints for twelve hours for complete curing), a well made rectangular frame (55 “ x 44 “) emerged. The corners were held by four headless nails in addition to wood glue. Still, the frame was a bit shaky and weak. The corners were reinforced with flat L – shaped brass coated brackets. I added two slotted light weight (galvanized) steel vertical bars to the frame. With that the frame became quite rigid and strong. Two small rectangular Styrofoam (left over’s from packing boxes) pieces were attached to the steel bars; these would keep the fabric from falling into a concave shape in the middle.

     Mounting the fabric tightly on to the frame is a delicate task. First, temporary thumb tacks were used to hold the fabric on all four sides. A no. staple gun was used. Though I wanted to use brass (or other non-rusting) staples, I could not find any moderately priced staples in local stores. There are some stainless steel staples, but they are very expensive, and you a need a new staple gun too. At a space of 3-4 inches, the entire fabric was tautly held by staples. Often I had to use a hammer blow to drive down the staple fully into the wooden frame. Due the recoil (I think), the staples stood up a bit (about 1/8 “) after the first strike. I did not use any glue to hold down the fabric edges; with staples, it would be easier to dismantle the painting from the frame for a future repair or upgrade. So, finally the marvelous painting adorned a light weight, sturdy wooden frame. Then, V suggested a brilliant idea: “Why don’t you cover the sides with something, to hide the staples?” A 3M purple color electric tape did the job. It added one more layer of protection – the plastic tape blended well with the border. 

Originally I had planned for a backlight illumination for the painting. That has to wait for another day. I am still searching for a reasonably priced, cool, light weight lamp(s). Maybe, I will install a metal halide discharge miniature lamp, which I discovered in the attic collection. The total cost of framing came to about $ 30. Plus, of course, the labor of love – I enjoyed every minute of it. One can still add an outer perimeter of ornamental wooden framing (Floater Frame). But it will add extra weight, transforming it into a gaudy museum piece.  

Several individuals helped me in this project. I must acknowledge the hand of an invisible force – it guided me gently to successful completion. Copyright © 2013

(Dedicated to all the anonymous artists and sculptors, particularly of Indian subcontinent)