A ride along Cauvery - Gangai konda Cholapuram

Gangai Konda Cholapuram - the capital of the later Cholas from the times of Rajendra Chola always seems like an afterthought. There were two other places which acted as capital of their ever increasing kingdom and the need for a newer one seemed rather forced. Palaiyaarai - the oldest capital and the large metropolis of Tanjavur in the later times seemed adequate.

Added to that, the large Brahadiswara temple - an almost replica of the one built by his father in Tanjavur - make the idea looks like a kid wanting to one-up his father and try to grow out of his shadow.

Elevation

Gangai Konda Cholapuram lies in the middle of the path from Veeranam to the shores of Kollidam nearer to another great lake from the times of the Cholas - Ponneri. We decided to skip the trip to Ponneri as it lies away from the road we wanted to take.

So it was to the Brahadiswara temple in Gangai Konda Cholapuram. As always, ASI has done a mixed job of maintaining the temple. While the access and the surroundings have been cleaned up, the temple structure itself is being maintained only nominally and it is sad to see the sculptures and paintings wane away slowly. This being a functional temple adds to the complexity of the maintenance.

Gopuram

The temple itself is smaller than the one at Tanjavur but the similarity in look and build is remarkably similar. Though this temple is considered done during the peak of the Chola architecture period, Thaarasuram and Thribuvanam temples are superior - at least, that is my opinion.

That statement - does not take away any of the glory of the Chola sculptures in this temple. They are more stylish, the postures are amazingly brilliant and most have the color of the original paints on them as well - that is, wherever ASI has not tried to 'restore' the sculptures.

Shiva

The Shiva panel above is an amazing posture - by the way, in the Chola period and the Pallavas before that, had a way of depicting Shiva in a very 'cool' way. The Pitchadanar panel in the Kailasanatha temple is one example. Similarly, the above panel shows Shiva in a casual way - with an elegance unmatched by anything. It is easy to get rapturous looking at such. The original vegetable dye paint and the motifs can still be seen - and makes it easier to imagine the glorious way this panel would've looked when Rajendra came to the temple.

The amount of inscriptions in any Chola temple is high and especially in important temples such as this, the entire outer and inner stones are filled with inscriptions. So I took it to myself to teach Vanathy a little to read the inscriptions - the voice of the people from hundreds of years back - and it was incredible to see her pick it up faster.

Reading Inscriptions

One of the things I was looking forward to was to see the state of the original paints in the outer prahara of the temple. These can be located a little above the ground level sculptures just on the base in which the Gopuram raises. They cannot be touched easily and so are more protected. And I was glad that most of which - though had the wear of time, can still be seen without trouble.

The panels on the side

What makes the whole set of panels unique is the amazing style achieved in them. Like I mentioned, Shiva looks beautiful in a series of sculptures around the temple and each of these need a lot of time to study and wonder. The second stage of the gopura in the picture above has another set of panels housed cleverly inside which helped retain a lot of the original mural paintings and colors.

Shiva Pacifying Parvati

Can you see the colors of the murals?

The other interesting panel is the Adalvallan - the ubiquitous Nataraja of the Cholas. I was not sure whether I noted this panel in any of the other Chola temples I've been to but this one was very easy to identify and looked at in amazement.

Adalvallan

Like every other Chola temple, it will take a book to talk about every panel, every gana in the temple panels. I've not even started on the huge Dwarapalakas or the Yali-shaped underground pathway or the ruined mandapas around the temple or the panels above the two rows I've been writing about or those amazing bunch of parrots nesting in the gopuras - flying in formation and contrasting beautifully against the brownish stones.

Spot the Parrot

Ardhanareeswarar

Since our primary motive was to hit the road along the river and the Sun was moving over head - though the weather was amazingly beautiful - we started our journey to Trichy - planning to stop at river bunds where possible and crossing Kallanai to enter Trichy towards the end of it.

நடந்தாய் வாழி காவேரி! - வீராணம் ஏரி

சிட்டியும் தி.ஜாவும் 1960களின் இறுதியில் சில மாதங்களுக்கு காவேரியின் தீரங்களில் அலைந்து திரிந்து எழுதிய பயண கட்டுரைகளின் தொகுப்பே 'நடந்தாய் வாழி காவேரி!'. அது போன்று பல மாதங்களை செலவிட முடியாதெனினும் காவேரி கரைகளில் பயணிப்பது என்பது ஒரு மயக்கம். அது சொல்லவியலாதது.

இந்த வருடம் மழை நீர் பெருகி அணைகள் நிரம்பி , காவேரி எங்கும் நீர்மயம் என்று படித்த போது எப்படியேனும் ஒருமுறை சென்று பார்த்து விட வேண்டும் என்று முடிவு செய்தேன்.

ஆகஸ்ட் 11 காலை 5மணிக்கு கிளம்பினோம். அன்று சாயந்திரம் ஸ்ரீவில்லிபுத்தூரில் ஆண்டாளை பார்க்க வேண்டி இருந்ததால் காவேரியை பார்த்து விட்டு அங்கு செல்ல வேண்டி இருந்தது.

நெய்வேலி அருகே காலை உணவு அருந்திவிட்டு வீராணம் நோக்கி விரைந்தோம். பொன்னியின் செல்வன் ஆரம்பிக்கும் வீராணம் ஏரிக்கரையில் வந்தியத்தேவன் குதிரையில் மெதுவாக வரும் காட்சி நினைவுக்கு வந்ததில் எந்த

ஆச்சர்யமும் இல்லை. வந்தியத்தேவனின் பாதையில் ஏற்கனவே பயணித்து விட்டதால் இம்முறை காவேரியின் பாதை மட்டுமே நினைவில் இருந்தது.

வீராணம் ஏரி - கடல் போல் விரிந்து கிடந்தது. சோழ நாட்டு பொறியியல் சாதனையாக வீராணமும் அதில் இருந்து பிரிவுற்று செல்லும் பல வாய்க்கால்களும் இன்றும் சான்றாய் இருக்கின்றன.

வீராணம் நீரால் நிறைந்து பரந்து விரிந்து காட்சி அளித்தது. மறு கரை தெரியாது அலை அடித்துக் கொண்டிருந்தது  விதமான மன எழுச்சியை கொடுத்தது. உலகின் பல பெரிய நீர் நிரம்பிய ஏரிகளை கண்டிருக்கிறேன். சில முறை மிச்சிகன் ஏரியின் கரையிலோ வேறு சில இடங்களில் மட்டுமே இந்த மாதிரியான ஒரு உணர்வை பெற முடிகிறது. எனினும் இது மனிதனால் உருவாக்கப்பட்ட ஒரு நீர் மேலாண்மை ஏரி என்பது இன்னமும் மகிழ்வாய் இருந்தது.

பனை மர கொடியோடு பெரும் திரை விரித்து பழுவூர் ராணி நந்தினியிடம் ஒரு கலத்தை அங்கே உருவகிப்பதில் எந்தவித தடையும் இல்லை. அத்துணை நீரின் முன் உணரும் மன அமைதி அலாதியானது.

நீரில் சில நேரம் நின்றுவிட்டு அங்கிருந்து அடுத்த இடத்திற்கு சென்றோம் - கங்கை கொண்ட சோழபுரம்.

A ride along Cauvery - Veeranam Eri

One of the definitive travelogues of modern Tamil is 'நடந்தாய் வாழி காவேரி! (And long you flow, Cauvery!). Written by Chitti and Thi. Janakiraman in the late 1960s, when I heard about it first about 20 years back, the book has fallen into the fate which envelops all literature in Tamil. It was out of print and was not available. I've to go through a lot of search - in the by-lanes of North Madras and in Triplicane and other places - to finally get hold of a copy of the book. And of course, it was worth all the time and energy spent on finding it.

The Ride along the shore

The interest in rivers - especially Cauvery - for me, starts from my school days when we visited Kallanai and Mukkombu on a day trip. Someone who grew up looking into the ever-dry Vaigai all his life, it was eye-popping to see Cauvery flowing covering both the banks in a quite and menacing way. And having read 'Silappathikaram' - I was trying to visualize Cauvery as a women swaying across the bridge that day.

So, it was with a lot of interest that I was watching the news about this year's spate of rainfall which has actually filled all the upper riparian dams in Karnataka and in Tamilnadu. And the news just kept getting better - with the filling of Kallanai and the water flowing into the Vadavaru filling Veeranam.

The Veeranam lake

It was then I decided that - while I cannot do a months long journey of Thi.Ja and Chitti - I will at least try to drive along the swelling waters of Cauvery. 

I've done this trip a multiple times over the past 10-12 years. The lands between Veeranam and Kodikarai and between Trichy and Nagapattinam were very familiar for me. I've driven across (that story here and here), taken passenger trains to slowly watch the villages go past by, taken local buses during tense strikes and all and climbed the hills to the temples there, spent hours in the lonely temples on the banks of a very empty Cauvery, read with a passion on the history of the area multiple times and have always felt a connection to the place with Cauvery as the anchor for that affection.

The Princess and the Prince

Since I wanted to reach Srivilliputhur that evening to go to see Andal - a visit I planned for Aadi Pooram (Aug 13) but have to pre-pone it as my further travel plans did not accommodate the same - I decided to do this with an early start.

I've always seen the Veeranam lake when it was empty. So, on that Aug 11th morning, when we started, I really had no idea how big its gonna be. We started early and the kids promptly went to sleep and the drive was pretty uneventful and fast till we hit the bumps entering the Banruti/Neyveli road. The only thing I can say about the road is that it remains the same for the past 10-12 years. 

Trying to capture a Panorama

It was Aadi Ammavasai that day and as the water birds started appearing around, every temple along the way had some kind of a festival going on with people walking, riding the tempos in their finest. It was pretty exciting to watch all that. 

I was telling kids the story of Vanthiyathevan - unavoidable being so near to Veeranam lake - where the entire story of 'Ponniyin Selvan' starts on a similar Aadi perukku day with Vanthiyathevan riding his horse along the shores of the vast lake. It even crossed my mind that I am a modern-day Vanthiyathevan riding my car along the shore-road of the lake. (Yea, sure, I am that crazy).

 While I cannot say how much the kids liked the story, they really felt awe-struck looking at the massive lake. We stopped at the Lake view point - with a little Amman temple having its share of the festivities going on - and started walking along the lake. 

The modern Vanthiyathevan and his horse

The lake was massive, full of water with boats bobbing around. I've seen the Great Lakes and stood on the shores of some of the large lakes of the world - but never felt the same as it was to stand on the shores of one of the fantastic feat of engineering - man-made by an emperor from distant times - which has stood the tests of time and still can make you feel awe.

I was telling the kids the view of that other Aadi Perukku day - when the sails of the Paluvoor come along the lake - carrying the most complex heroine of Kalki, Nandhini. I was telling Vanathy - of that princess of Kodumbalur, her namesake - meeting Arulmozhi somewhere along the shores of a canal from the lake. It was exhilarating.

We got into one of the numerous 'Padithurai's along the lake and starting wetting our feet. There were very few people in the water - it was deep sharply at that point and watched the different water birds that were flying past. There were check dams opening into different canals around - though they were all closed that day - which was pretty interesting of engineering to explain to the kids.

After spending what seemed an inadequate amount to time to justify seeing that beautiful lake, we started our real journey along the Cauvery - next stop being at that erstwhile capital of the Cholas - Gangai konda Cholapuram.     

பொன்கொன்றை பூக்க வந்த பேய்மழை

பொன்கொன்றை பூக்க வந்த பேய்மழை
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

"பொழுதுகளோடு நான் புரிந்த
யுத்தங்களை எல்லாம் முடித்துவிட்டு
உன்னருகே வந்தேன்"
என்ற தேவதேவன் வார்த்தைக்கு ஏற்ப பொழுதுகளோடு யுத்தம் புரியும் வாழ்வில் காதல் பின்னுக்கு தள்ளப்பட்டு விட்டது. சமயவேல் முன்னுரையில் சொல்வது போல் காதல் கவிதைகள் எழுதுவது அருகிவிட்டது.

எனக்கும் ஒரு சிலரை தவிர தொடர்ச்சியாக காதல் கவிதைகள் (மட்டுமே) எழுதுபவர்கள் இப்போது இல்லை என்றே தோன்றுகிறது. அப்படி எழுதுபவர்களும் 'கிழக்கே சூரியன் உதித்தது - நீ வந்தாய்' என அபத்த களஞ்சியங்களாகவே இருக்கின்றனர்.

எனவே, ஸ்ரீவள்ளி முகநூலில் தொடர்ச்சியாக காதல் கவிதைகளை பதிப்பித்த போது அது ஒரு விதத்தில் மாறுதலாக இருந்தது. காதலில் இருக்கும் கணம் அபூர்வமானது. அந்த கணத்தை வார்த்தைகளில் வடிப்பது என்பது இன்னமும் அரிது. அதற்க்கு அந்த கணத்தை உணரும் மனமும் , அதை வெளியுறுத்தும் வார்த்தை பிரயோகமும் அவசியம். இவை இரண்டுமே ஸ்ரீவள்ளிக்கு வாய்த்திருக்கிறது.

"பொன்னென மலர்ந்த கொன்றை மணிஎனத்
தேம்படு காயா மலர்ந்த தோன்றியொடு
நன்னலம் எய்தினை புறவே!"
என்ற ஐங்குறுநூற்றின் வார்த்தைகளில் உருவான தலைப்பே இந்த கவிதைகளின் நவீன பழமையை வெளிக்கொணர்கிறது.

"தன் உறுதிமொழியை அவளிடம்
நெஞ்சை பிளந்து அரிந்து வைக்காமல்
மொட்டவிழ்க்கத்தான் தெரியுமா"

என்கிறது இந்த தொகுப்பின் பெயர் கொண்ட கவிதை. இந்த சொற்சிக்கனம்தான் காதலில் இருத்தல். எதையும் நிரூபிக்காமல் இருப்பது. இது காதலின் உறுதி உள்ளபொழுதே இருக்கும். இந்த தொகுப்பின் கவிதைகளும் அதன் இருப்பை கேள்வியுறுத்தாது காதலை கொண்டாடுகின்றன.

Love and Pain - Edvard Munch

இந்த கவிதைகளில் சிலவற்றை முகநூலில் வாசிக்கும் போதே அவற்றின் சங்கத்தமிழ் கவிதைகளின் தொடர்ச்சி - உவமைகள், மொழி , பகுப்புகள் - என பலவும் நினைவுறுத்திக்கொண்டே இருந்தன. அதனாலோ என்னவோ ஒவ்வொரு கவிதை வாசிக்கும் போதும் அதன் திணை என்னவாக இருக்கும் என்றும் இதன் போல் வேறு கவிதை இருக்கிறதா என்றும் தோன்றிக்கொண்டே இருந்தது.

அன்னங்களும், நாரைகளும் தூது சென்ற சங்ககாதல் இப்போது அணில்களும் , சங்கிலியில் கட்டப்பட்ட குரங்குகளிடமும் உதவி கேட்கிறது. சங்கப்பாடல்களின் சித்திரங்கள் சிதைந்து நவீனத்தின் ஆன்மாக்களற்ற உலகம் முன்வருகிறது.

"மலையில்லாத பச்சையில்லாத
நீரோட்டமில்லாத
குருகில்லாத மீனில்லாத
பாதையில்
நீ வாகனத்தை செலுத்தும்போது
என்னை நினைக்க
என்னதான் இருக்கிறது நினைக்க"

என்பதில் காதலின் வழமையான விஷயங்கள் வெற்றிடமாக்கப்பட்டு நினைக்கப்படுதல் என்பதே அருகுகிறது. நினைவை தூண்டும் எந்த காரணியும் இல்லாமல் காதல் எனபது மட்டுமேயான உண்மையின் முன் இந்த கவிதைகள் வாசிக்க படுகின்றன.

அதுவே அடுத்த முரணை முன் கொணர்கிறது. காதல் என்பதை ஒரு விதத்தில் யதார்த்தத்தின் நேரெதிராய் நம் சமுகம் நிறுத்திவிட்டது. சங்கம் காட்டும் காதல் வயப்படும் சமூகத்தின் இந்த முரணே யோசிக்கத்தக்கது. காதல் மட்டுமே யதார்த்தமான உலகில் ஏனைய நெறிகளே யதார்த்தத்தின் முரணாய் நிற்கின்றன.

காதலின் காமத்தை உணர்த்தும் வரிகளில் ஸ்ரீவள்ளியின் தீவிரம் வெளிப்படுகிறது. 2 அல்லது 3 கவிதைகள் மட்டுமே ஆனாலும் ஒரு ஆழ்ந்த அனுபவத்தை இக்கவிதைகள் கொடுக்கின்றன.
"உன் உதடுகள் என் மருதாணியில் கூட்டிய அடர் சிவப்பு"
என்று செல்லும் 'என்னோடுதான் இருக்கிறாய்' களைத்து, களித்து , திளைத்து இவ்வாறு முடிகிறது.

"காதலின் எல்லா சந்தேகங்களும்
ஓர் இரவாவது
உறங்க செல்லட்டும்."
மனமொத்த காமம் காதலின் சந்தேகங்களை தற்காலிகமாக தள்ளி வைக்கிறது.

ஸ்ரீவள்ளியின் கவிதைகள் ஒவ்வொருவரின் வாசிப்பிலும் அவரின் அனுபவங்களின் வெளியீடாக மாறுவது இயல்பே. காதல் பெரும்பாலான நேரங்களில் அன்பை இறைஞ்சுதல் என்பதாகவே இருக்கிறது. இந்த இறைஞ்சுதல் நிராகரிக்க படும்போது மனம் ஸ்ரீவள்ளியின் வரிகளில்

"பிளாஸ்டிக் உரையைக் கவ்வியபடி
சக்கரங்களிலிருந்து தப்பித் திரியும் நாயாக
உன் நினைவை பற்றி அலையும்"

ஸ்ரீவள்ளியின் கவிதைகள் காதலை கொண்டாட்டமாக அன்றி அன்பின் நிமித்தம் கொள்ளப்படும் சுய வதையாகவே பார்க்கிறது. பெரும்பாலான கவிதைகள் அன்பின் நிராகரிப்பில் ஏங்கும் மனதின் வெளிப்பாடாகவே இருக்கிறது.

இருப்பினும் காதல் வேண்டும் மனம்

"முடியாத அன்பின் நித்ய நேரத்திக்கடன்"
என இடையறாது காதல் கொள்கிறது. இதுவே இப்புத்தகம் முழுவதுமான ஸ்ரீவள்ளியின் குரல்.

The Dravidian Legacy

As the doyen of the Dravidian movement passes away into history, had an interesting conversation with my son today - trying to tell him the legacy he leaves behind and the lies he has to battle against. As always, Sibi had the correct understanding of the events of the past two days and all I have to do was to fill in the history of the movement. 

Kalaignar

The Dravidian movement - from day one - is a literacy movement in disguise as a political movement. One of the earliest memories I’ve is the small, single-room ‘padippagam’ (Reading room) at the corner of our street in Madurai, run by the local cadre. We lived in a modest, one hall/kitchen house - opposite to a bunch of huts - derisively called slum. The reading room will have a bunch of news papers and books and there will be usually someone who is reading loudly with a few more listening.

 

This is a common sight across Tamilnadu. The Dravidian movement put at its heart, education as a priority. This comes from the legacy of the Justice party of the pre-independence days, which had the education of non-Brahmins as its core ideology. The Dravidian movement inherited it and had made it a priority for the past 70+ years in a state.

 

To me, all the rest of the ideologies of the Dravidian movement takes a backseat or derive from this fight for a right to education of the oppressed classes and castes. The definition of the oppressed castes/classes have changed over the years but the fight for that right has not ceased.

 

The trident of this movement - Periyar, Anna and Kalaignar - never wavered from this fight. I call it a fight - since from the day of the formation of the two Dravidian parties - Dravidar Kazhagam (DK) and Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) - have literally have to fight it out with the powers that be every inch of the way - in the streets, in the ballots, in the legislature and in the courts. In every history of this movement, this is the only thread that gets repeated under various guises.

 

The Kulakalvi scheme - by Rajaji - which was opposed tooth and nail by all non-Brahmin parties starts off this history followed by the Anti-Hindi agitations of the 1950-60s which catapulted the party to power in 1967. The Anti-Hindi agitations are not just agitations against the hegemony of a foreign language - but also for a right to an inclusive education for everyone in the state who had Tamil as their primary language. It is also a fight for the right of the states versus an autocratic center rule. This fight continues even today.

 

Once in power, Anna - and followed by Kalaignar - took up the fight with a two-language education which eventually paid off. The drive to an education for all - which include building high-caliber institutes in the state and building medical colleges in every district, also meant that the social indicators of the state steadily climbed in the 50 years of rule to a stage where any of these numbers are on par with the developed countries.

 

The fight was not just for the education - but for a social justice in education. The reservation policy implemented from the first term of the rule and with steadily increased percentages has resulted in a amalgamation of graduates and skill pool which drives the economic growth of the state. The first time graduate scheme or the much-reviled free cycle/laptops/sandals/uniforms and the Mid-day meals scheme - meant that the government took care of not just having the kids in schools but also ensured that they don’t drop out.

 

The fight against NEET or the reservation policies or the welfare schemes - all need to be looked at from this background. The fight is not to ensure that the upper caste/ upper middle class is able to get the education it wants. It is to ensure that the students from the under-privileged sections of the society - the son or daughter of your maid or the boy from the government school in an interior village - has the same shot at the education as the rest of the people.

 

This is a fight that is not going to end anytime soon - the privileged group is not going to give up anything without a fight - and to continue this fight - to ensure that education remains affordable for everyone and everyone has a fair shot at education - the Dravidian movement has to keep the flame of this fight alive - in memory of the doyens who have fought for this for the past century or so. That is how we will have to remember Kalaignar.

The Radium Girls

The Radium Girls: The Dark Story of America's Shining Women by Kate Moore
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Actually I finished this one about a couple of days back and been thinking of where to start about it. It was an incredibly sad book - there is no happy ending. It is a more of a consolatory ending but the villainous corporations get away with murder, the people who decided on those murders make a few millions before making their way out. The girls get compensated a pittance and that, after long court battles and insults and what now and of course, there is no recourse from death for any of them. So, it is sad to read about. But what I was wondering is about what will I take away from it.

The story of Radium girls was new to me. I saw the book as the winner of 2017 Goodread's Historical biography category and added to my list. So when I finally got around to reading it, right from the get-go, it was a challenge to read it without getting angry about the seemingly injustice of all that has happened to them.

I remember the Radium dial watches while growing up. We use to taken then to dark rooms and watch it glow with a fascination. It was mesmerizing. The story of the original dial painters employed by the large corporations across USA and the effect of Radium on those employed thus forms the story of the book.

The young girls - some as young as 14 - employed by these corporations paint those dials with a camel hair brush, lipping them every time they paint with Radium. Radium, being radio active, starts lodging in their bones, jaws and causing cancer to everyone of them. They start dying young and then at some point, a group of these girls - cancer-ridden and with irreversible damages to their bodies and staring at death, take a stand in the court and start a long process of trying to get some justice for what happened to them.

The justice they get in the end, to me, is very limited and though they end up changing the law on Occupational hazards and Workman compensations, the small amount of money they get as compensation and the struggle and fight they have to put up with the corporations is excruciatingly painful to read.

However, the book is more about the grittiness of these girls in pursuing the case in the middle of their multiple doctor visits, surgeries and intolerable pain. Each of the girls - not just the ones who went to the court - supporting the cause shows a lot of courage in the midst knowing that death is staring at them in face and that they are referred in the press as 'Living dead'.

Each of these girls stories - both the ones in the New Jersey plant and the ones in the Illinois plant - is described in detail. The initial days of fun, followed by the crippling illness and the visit to the doctors, for some - the diagnosis or the suspicion - for the others, death without knowing anything about the cause of their illness - often prolonged suffering and watching their bodies wither away.

The interesting - and the most saddening - subtext of the story is the intricate love stories of these girls. Most of them get married to their sweet hearts - in the midst of their hospital visits and illness - and the men support them till the death - knowing that they cannot conceive a baby or they carry a huge risk of passing on the poisoning to their kids as well. In fact, it falls to one of these husbands - Tom Donahue - to carry on the suit to a conclusion after his wife - Katherine Donahue - passes away during the appellate process.

The book - while being inspirational for woman of all ages and countries - on how to fight injustice and get a sense of justice to be served, is also a cautious reminder on the thirst for profit by big corporations which did not bat an eyelid to murder hundreds of these girls for a few dollars of profit. And having more stringent laws and norms have just made them find innovative ways to cheat the process and nothing more.

Overall, a very thought provoking and absolutely depressing book..but an amazing story of courage..

The Quiet of the Moors

It was inevitable that anyone who starts with Jane Austen will have to go through the Bronte sisters. So, when I was done with the 7 novels of Jane Austen, I started with the Bronte sisters about 20 years back. But this is about the one sister, who wrote just one novel and a few poems for the posterity.

'Wuthering Heights' is such a strange and distant novel from the world of Jane Austen. In fact, the world of the Bronte sisters itself will feel the same. But Emily Bronte feels stranger. In fact, my introduction to Emily was through her poems - one in particular - 'Remembrance' , about the death of a lover. 

"Cold in the earth—and the deep snow piled above thee,
Far, far, removed, cold in the dreary grave!
Have I forgot, my only Love, to love thee,
Severed at last by Time's all-severing wave?"

That poem - sort of acts as the prelude to Emily Bronte's only novel - 'Wuthering Heights' about the star-crossed love story of Heathcliff and Catherine. 

I first read 'Wuthering Heights' in my school days and I read it in an abridged and a very sanitized form as just a plain love story between the lead pair. There was nothing more to it and I thought of it as just another story of star-crossed lovers. 

“I have not broken your heart - you have broken it; and in breaking it, you have broken mine.” 

So it was a rude shock to the system when I got hold of the unabridged version and read through it later. It was anything but a plain love story. Heathcliff, an orphan raised by the Cranshaw family, falls in love with the daughter of the family, Catherine. Catherine - though in love with Heathcliff - marries Edgar - citing his lack of education and low social status.

Heathcliff leaves and comes back to the moors in a few months - a rich man - and starts  taking revenge on everyone around. His madness for revenge is matched in kind by Catherine - who cannot overcome her love for Heathcliff and dies while delivering her daughter - Cathy. The story continues into the second generation with Heathcliff unable to overcome his bitterness and trying to get his revenge on Cathy (Catherine's daughter), finally reconciles with her and dies.

"Be with me always--take any form--drive me mad. Only do not leave me in this abyss, where I cannot find you! Oh, God! It is unutterable!"

Like the Moorland itself, the love of Heathcliff and Catherine invokes the violence of nature. How love can at once be tormenting to the soul and provide no solace to it. Catherine married Edgar because he is educated but cannot bear to see Heathcliff getting married to Isabella. When Edgar forbids her not to see Heathcliff again, she wastes away in illness which ends in her death during child birth.

Heathcliff visits her coffin on the night of her death and replaces Edgar's hair in her locket with his. And when eighteen years later, Edgar dies, he again digs up Catherine's grave to look upon her dead body of eighteen years and moves her grave away from Edgar and nearer to him. The macabre nature of this act can only be explained by the love he has for Catherine. And I don't think there is another such act recorded ever since in any literature.

“If all else perished, and he remained, I should still continue to be; and if all else remained, and he were annihilated, the universe would turn to a mighty stranger.” 

Throughout the novel, Heathcliff and Catherine calls out each other's names across the moors. The desolate nature of the land itself becomes a symbol of their love. At times the abusive nature of their love is shocking and most of the times, it is actually sadness that crepts over. They accuse each other of betrayal constantly and the bitterness they've for each other is overcome every time by the love they've for each other. The inexplicable nature of this act - when they want to get away from each other, they draw closer further - torments them both culminating in the burial of Heathcliff alongside Catherine.

"My love for Heathcliff resembles the eternal rocks beneath: a source of little visible delight, but necessary. Nelly, I am Heathcliff - he's always, always in my mind - not as a pleasure, any more than I am always a pleasure to myself - but as my own being; so, don't talk of our separation again - it is impracticable."

Emily Bronte's writing itself is tumultuous and the prose sounds violent without the elegance and beauty of the language as expected in a romantic novel. The novel is an emotional mess and it is difficult to get away from that feeling when you are done with it.

This week is the 200th birth anniversary of Emily Bronte..