ஒரு கனவு

சற்று முன் ஒரு கனவு.

10 நாட்கள் விடுமுறை வருகிறது, எங்கு செல்ல என்று யோசித்து கொண்டிருக்கிறேன்.
நீண்ட கடற்கரை. ஓரமாக நடந்து கொண்டிருக்கிறேன்.
கரை முழுவதும் மக்கள் கூட்டம். சற்று உயரமான மேட்டில் நின்று பார்க்கிறேன்.
"யாழ்ப்பாணம்" என்று ஒரு குறி. "எப்படி இங்கே?" என்று யோசித்து கொண்டிருக்கிறேன்.
அப்போது ஒரு பெண். அந்த கூடத்தில் கையில் ஒரு கூடை நிறைய புறாக்கள் வைத்துக்கொண்டு வருகிறாள்.அவை விற்பதற்கு இல்லை. புறாக்கள் ஒன்றின் மீது ஒன்று மிதித்து கொண்டு இருக்கின்றன. கையில் இருக்கும் காமெராவில் பதிகிறேன். என்னை பார்த்தவுடன் கூட்டத்தில் மறைந்து விடுகிறாள்.
மெதுவாக நடக்கிறேன். ஓர் நகரம். பழைய கட்டிடங்கள். அடித்த வர்ணங்கள் மறைந்து போய், சுவரொட்டிகள் ஒட்டி, குண்டு துளைத்த செங்கல்களுடன் நிற்கும் கட்டிடங்கள்.
ஒரு பழைய வீடு. வாசலில் 'புராதன சின்னம்' என்று ஒரு குறி. உள்ளே நுழைகிறேன். மங்கிய ஓவியங்கள். ஒற்றை காலுடன் ஒருவர் 'இவை சோழ காலத்தவை' என்கிறார். நான் அவர் (இல்லாத) கால்களை பார்க்கிறேன். அவசர அவசரமாய் வெளியே வருகிறேன்.
நிறைய விளக்குகளுடன் பிரகாசமாய் ஒரு கட்டிடம். சற்று தயக்கத்துடன் வாசலில் நுழைகிறேன். ஓட்டல். வாசல் அருகே 'Weter' என்று ஒரு board. சலூன் கடைகளில் இருக்கும் பெரிய நாற்காலியில் ஆஜானுபாகுவான ஒருவர். தமிழனுக்கே உரிய உயரம். பெரிய மீசை. ஒரு லுங்கியில் மேலாடை இன்றி. சற்று தயக்கத்துடன், 'ஓர் போட்டோ எடுக்கலாமா? என்கிறேன்.
"சரி சார்"
"weter என்றால் என்ன" - நான்
"வரும் பயணிகளுக்கு அதோ அந்த ஈர துணியால் முகம் துடைப்பேன்."
"பயணிகள் வருகிறார்களா?"
"தெற்கில் இருந்து சொந்தம் தேடுபவர்கள், அரசியல்வாதிகள், இதோ நீங்கள்"
அவலத்தின் நடுவே பயணியாய் நிற்க வெட்கமாக இருக்க, அடுத்த கேள்வி.
புலிகள் பற்றி கேக்கலாமா என்று யோசிக்கிறேன். எங்கே ராணுவம்? என்று ஒரு கேள்வி வருகிறது. சுற்றி பார்க்கிறேன். கூட்டம் கூட்டமாக மக்கள்.

விழிக்கிறேன். மணி 6.05. பக்கத்தில் தூங்கும் மனைவி, பிள்ளைகளை பார்த்து சற்று தெளிவு.

தமிழகம் 'வேட்டைக்காரன்'ஐ பார்க்க தயாராகி கொண்டிருக்கிறது.

A marriage and a bottle fight

It was my sis-in-law's marriage in Madurai (Nov 19). J went early with the kids for the pre-marriage activities and I followed her on the next day. Reached Madurai on the 19th and started for the marriage hall.

Marriages in general are pretty bores, if they don't have you either as a bride or groom. So I was given the job of baby sitting my kids who were thoroughly enjoying the day. I remembered a diary entry I made about 20 years back about the amount of money we spend of marriages but then my marriage itself was no modest affair and the hypocrisy of the thought was staring in front of me before I could even pretend righteous anger. I was generally looking forward to the lunch and the rest afterwards before J told me that we are leaving for Dindigul the same afternoon. All I can say was a weak 'yes'.
One thing about the marriages I like is that J likes to deck up with her jewels and Vanathy likes to do her make-up (is it even right for a 3 year old to do make-ups?). Sibi, like me, is mostly uninterested in the proceedings and in general, hates crowds.

So we left for Dindigul the same day. The climate was fantastic with light drizzles and it was a very cloudy day. One thing I like visiting my in-laws is that no one asks you to do anything. You can watch TV all the time (of course if it is free from the PS playing cousins or the cartoon watching Vanathy) and just order what food you want. The downside was that since J was all busy, I ended up with the kids all the time. While it is fun, it is also exhausting. And there are the cousins who took care of playing together relieving me from duty at times.

On 20th, after getting up late and very full lunch, we decided to visit the rock fort in Dindigul. This is a well maintained fort on top of a modest hill in the middle of the town. This is where Rani Mangammal used to reign and there is a legend that Tipu hid here for sometime from the British. It is an impressive fort with arsenals and stables
and a temple on top of the hill. Sibi raced with his cousins to the top while we were moving towards the top slowly. The air was breezy and the walk up the hill was pleasant. And there are some breathtaking views from the top as well. After getting down, went to the Mariamman temple and came back home for the parathas.

The next day started same as the day before with no sun and drizzles. Late morning, it was decided to go to the Kutladampatti falls near Madurai. It was supposed to be a quick ride and back before lunch. It started raining when we started and so there was hope that there will be water in the falls. The roads were fantastic (now that the four laning is complete) and we quickly took the turn towards the falls just before Vadipatti. The roads from here are narrow, passing through villages and fields. There are well placed markers and it reminded me of our drive to Amrithi last year (of course, all we could find in Amrithi was just rock and no water!). The road ends near the falls and we need to go up a couple of kilo meters to reach the falls.
It was not difficult but the path was narrow and through the forests. Once near, the path becomes slippery but the view of the falls with water flowing makes everything just worth it. The kids loved it and we all went into the falls. The crowd was less, although it was a Saturday. So we had fun for some time and decided to return back.
So it was a slow trek back to the road where the vehicle is. I was telling the kids about the thorny bushes along the path, when I was pushed from behind by a guy running towards the road. I didn't fall but thought nothing of it. At the same time, we saw another guy running down and this time we moved to give way and wondering what is going on. J was walking behind me along with her sister and suddenly started saying 'ரத்தம்! ' (blood). I was turning to see where the blood is. She came towards me fast and said its on my tees. After the bath, I didn't bother to wear my tee but just put it on the shoulder. J checked my back side and decided that the blood is only on the tees and must've come from the first guy who pushed me aside. We quickly called the kids together and saw another couple of guys rushing down. One of them had a towel wrapped in his torso and you can see that there is blood everywhere on the towel and though he was speaking, he was losing strength. They passed us quickly. We just waited for everyone to arrive and then started together down. There were more people coming down now and what we heard is that there was an altercation between some of the guys in the falls and one of them just broke a bottle and thrust it into the other and fled. By the time we reached the road, the first two has fled in a bike and the injured guy was taken in a car. We quickly assembled in the van and started back (of course, we were hungry!). Just before the highway, the locals set up a road block to check the vehicles for the fled guy. They checked our vans and we were on our way back to Dindigul. J after discussing with her sister, has thrown the soiled tee into the forest.
Nothing as exciting happened the next day and since, we booked the tickets from Madurai, I left in pouring rain to Madurai with Sibi and J boarded the train at Dindigul and we came back home exhausted from the 4 days of excitement.