DID U C - SORPANADAL???

This article is dedicated to my friend “shaggy” (oops I forgot his real name… ah aravindan ) , and his family members for providing us with such hospitality during our visit to his place.

Having born and brought up in a city (good old lovely chennai) I never knew how a village was and the people in it. Oops I forgot barathi raja is films where in villages are portrayed too much. Heroines bathing in pump set tanks.. and more! I always missed out to see the fun in a village. But I did hear from my friends that villages were pretty fun especially during festivals. Having those words in my mind i gave a nod when my friends planned for a visit to the village. Pongal holidays arrived and “ C- SORPANANDAL ” here I come..
I never knew villages had initials. Did u?

This was one of the few bad things in visiting a village is that u gotto travel worse. A really tiring journey. I thought that the bus they showed in the fevicol ad was true true exaggeration. No it is not. I not only saw such a bus but also traveled in it. Phew..
Jus like when a hero gets down and smells the air and a good music in the background in a tamil movie.. I did the same. Wow true! it was so fresh. No vehicles around and hence no pollution. One more thing was I had to stay off from my mobile with a reason. Lovely!!!

Luckily my friend’s family was hailed the landlord of the village and the entire population (about around two hundred) treated the family with great respect. We were also treated with good respect. Early morning the first thing I did in the village was to take a oil bath.(village instinct ). Most houses in the village were old and made of tiles. My friends house was made of concrete jus like in a city but it had a opening in the back Called “mitham”. Scientific researches have proved that a construction like this has many good effects. Also they had a store room with men high barrels for paddy and other stuff.

Later in the evening we visited the farms and on the return we came across “minmini poochi” i.e, insects emitting light. A few of us took the vision a big surprise coz not many had been to a village and it was an impossible sight in a city. It was my first ever visit to a village. But I had seen those insects during my family tour to orrisa.

Our plan for the night was to visit a neighboring village “kottakulam” for it was “thiruvizha” there. I loved the journey and people please await another article on that. Jus eight kilometers in a tvs 50. . It was a custom there to celebrate festivals around and later midnight. true festive atmosphere awaited on us. Never imagined fancy fire works would cheer me up in that place. That was auxiliary of course they had “nattu vedi” country stuff crackers. Nasty loud my boy!! Two things struck my cells in my brain during the festival there. One was the hospitality my friend’s relations had on us. They treated themselves with contempt or less on their parts if we left their house without eating something. The second thing was really enjoyable. “Naiyandi” that is few folk dancers really made the laughter burst out of our mouths. The guys dance ( it is gotto be censored.. sometimes even obscene ) was really entertaining. The return journey was equally enjoyable.

The next day we had to rise early and leave for thiruvanamalai. Really a famous tourist cum religious spot in the state. Also one of the most crowded places during a full moon. The temple though like other temples has got good architecture, its fame is eclipsed by the mountain. It is a custom there for people to take a round the mountain. “Giri vallam” in Sanskrit. Giri for mountain and vallam for taking a round. Sickening it is to have a walk for fourteen kilometers but on the religious aspect and the praise I m to get from my mom, it was almost fun walking eleven of us. I know she is gonna say “chamathu da kanna. Romba nallathu” even before I started. On the way we came across two things. One a small temple were in u gotto take your torso via a small passage just fifteen or so centimeters. Maybe twenty not more. We found a good number of people doing that and we all did the same. The other thing was when a small boy (almost a guide) pointed out to us that the mountain was in the shape of a man sleeping and was believed to b lord shiva. Fourteen kilometer walk was really tiring. Oh me!!!

Later in the evening we made a visit to the farms. A sugarcane field was so inviting for a photo graph but also sounded dangerous for the fear of snakes and others creatures. Also we were surrounded by a number of wells. Each thirty feet deep. Our friend shaggy gave us a real delight by performing Olympic stuff. Jumping from a twelve feet wall vertically. This was one thing I wondered often was that almost all villagers knew swimming. This is not the case with city boys. In a survey from a school in a city, maybe an upper grade class. U ll not hav to be surprised to find that more than half the boys in the class do not know swimming.

The village had just three streets (u called that a village? Three streets sure??? Yup I’ m!!) and there was only one shop were u can buy normal stuff like shampoo soap and salt. Not a big surprise though the village had jus three streets I saw the govt shop in one of the them. Confused…? I meant the TASMAC. We also heard that all the children in the village did their schooling in sahayamatha school. Located twenty kilometers afar.

Have u ever played any game in moon light?? U must b crazy… we got aquinted with a few villagers soon.( Every body ll remember “hai karthi”). And the second most happiest event in my visit happened den. One o clock in the night, moon light street, six villagers by side, and the six visitors the other side, a line of flour (kolam) separating them. Yuppie man we played KABADDI (please bear with my spelling ). Really entertaining for we had a good audience to cheer and a referee with a whistle..

The next day we made our visit to the sathanur dam near by. Again in the same tvs 50 but this time I realized what made my first journey so interesting was I was traveling around midnight. Now it was hot and shiny day! As always where ever I visited or took a tour water(no pun intended!!!) made me happy. This time it was a dam. After the heavy showers the dams were full of water and we the barricades struggling to hold the water back. We shot a few photos there and made our way to the crocodile park. These were really dangerous creatures man. oh me scared the hell of out me! Big big creatures staying still as in a “golu”. We saw a few of them almost five meters (big daddy crocodile) as in the tag “crocodile” with mouth wide open!

That nite we had another hour of kabbadi and came the thiruvizha of the village. This time it was more fun coz it was happening in the same village. Around eleven they had the decorations ready and the bullock car(t) backed by a generator for the lightings started. Two things took my heart here. One was we all danced around in the front with the “thara” and “thappata” for some time. Wow that was real fun. Next thing was a lady dancing saying GOD entered her soul. “SAMI VANDIRCHU” Every year it was the same lady in whom the GOD entered. At the end of her dance, around four minutes we were all surprised to see her swallow a burning piece of camphor. And down she came to her normal senses. More fire works followed and we all retired the last time in the tour.

The next day the most enjoyable hour of my visit occurred. PUMP SET BATH. It may sound a bit normal but it was damn fun. Aside of a well the pump set forced out water wit great momentum. A real tamil movie scene stolen. Farms well pump set and a beautiful (not a gal) boy (for a change this time) took his bath to a great height of satisfaction.

With that we had to start back to our college. A melancholy lingered in our hearts. No mood to leave. Also we had such a nice company. Hospitality was so unmatchable that shaggy’s father suggested to take a friend for injection when a drop of blood oozed off his leg. Lovely food too. I guess it ll b long when i make up my second trip and say “ C-SORPANANDAL ” here I come.. but I ll bring my handy cams den.

people plz wait a couple of days for potos of my trip to c- sorpanandal..