Vasu Ramanujam's Blog

So, I have my folks who are visiting us from Hyderabad. They are here on a purpose. As a devout Iyengar, Maama, as I call him, is a prolific authority on all things Ramayana. He had told me that he wanted to do a “Sundara Kanda Parayanam” at our place and we gladly agreed. I consider myself an agnostic , however have been ‘habituated and conditioned ‘ from childhood days to enjoy the traditional festivals and poojas.

I have heard Ramayana, like any other kid of my age, from my grand parents. Circa 1980′s, television had not taken the center place as much as it has now in a middle class home. Those days ( gosh, i feel old already!), there was only Doordarshan with its own “Krushi darshan” ( or Vayalum Vaazhvum – Kadalai saagupadi saivadhu eppadi ) programs and this was clearly not on the high priority for  kids @ home. We all felt we were better off listening to our Grandmas’ – Yes, there were  minimum two or three in a joint family, so we had to call them based on their seniority – (Patti amma, Chinna Paatti, Rukkamma Paatti). So, we all used to sit on the verandah and slowly, the paatti ammas will begin narrating the accomplishments of  Rama in small, digestable and infinetely enjoyable story lines. They knew all the tricks of a good story teller, pausing at appropriate juncture just to gauge our attention span, repeating certain nice characteristics that they would want us to follow in our daily lives and had the right answers to all the irreverent questions from their young audience…

Sundarakanda Parayanam @ Vasu's place

Cut Flashback….Present time…..These days, we are experiencing horrible power cuts in Bangalore. Every night, prime time television has gone for a toss, as parts of the city is engulfed in darkness and people suddenly are finding themselves clueless…. My Maama is also part of the same junta who are addicted to mindless, numb and dumb mega serials ( his latest favorite is towards the COLORS channel – Note to advertisers –> target this age group or the kids, you are bound to see good ROI).

Sriramajayam@Vasu's place

Anyways, coming back to the present. So, no power, no TV. what to do? Well….What began as a simple question from my wife to Maama -”Why don’t you start narrating Ramayana”, has now grown into a full fledged hour long katha kalakshepa, a moment of discovery for both us and Maama. Every night, Maama engages in an hour long story telling session, in his own inimitable style ( We offered to record these conversations, but he was kinda reluctant and so we gave in). Maama, as I said earlier, has this complete conviction and unassialable faith in Lord Rama and it shows in the way he narrates the story. He also makes it easy on the listener as this is no more a Bhaashan, but something that everyone, especially, folks from this generation can relate to. So, his description of  Rama/ Lakshmana’s meeting with Sugreeva ( Kishkintha Kandam) to help them find Sita is peppered with the protocols between “heads of state and presidents”… what’s the connection you ask, well, you had to listen to the story then .

And that, is an entirely different story…. I am signing off now, as we are eager to hear Sundara Kandam today…