Best Laid Plans
Ponnan lost his parents to the great disease when he was five. Fortunately for him, Manian, his older brother, took him under his wing. To be more precise, it was Manian’s wife, Gauri who did. Gauri, barely sixteen herself, cared for the five-year old as though he was her own child. She fed him, bathed him, sang him to sleep when his nightmares woke him, walked six miles each way during the hottest months to get exotic breeds of mangoes for him from santhai, the weekly farmers’ market.
Ponnan always called her by name. She transformed from an easygoing adolescent to a protective tigress when people chided Ponnan for not respectfully addressing her ‘anni’. She put the whole family on a diet when he fell sick and had to follow a bland food regimen. She glowed with pride when he returned from the temple and sang thevaram verses, imitating the priest. In due course, his nightmares disappeared.
The family owned agricultural land south of Thiruvaiyaru. As per local custom, Ponnan was expected to help Mainan in the farm. Gauri cited Ponnan's interest in music, and urged her husband to find a suitable teacher for him. Manian acceded to her wishes, and arranged for Ponnan to learn from a famous local nadawaram teacher, Aiyarappan Pillai. He would learn music full-time, instead of farming.
Aiyarappan Pillai taught him the basics, taught him the various scales, and impressed upon the need for devotion in music. Ponnan had a photographic memory for ragas and songs, but was somehow unable to make the connection between the carnatic music and its spiritual aspects.. He made progress, but remained detached from the devotion that his guru was advocating. This continued into his teens, with him staying with his teacher, and his brother continuing his farming.
Everything unravelled when the war broke. The English and the Sultan of Mysore were fighting each other, and the fight spilled into the Kaveri region. There had been a battle near Kumbakonam, in which the English were routed. The Sultan’s men chased the Englishmen all the way into Thiruvaiyaru. A few English soldiers hid in the haystack in Maniyan’s farm. When the Mysore soldiers found them, they got hold of Manian, who was working nearby, and killed him as a warning for anyone who might have dared shelter the enemy soldiers. Gauri was never seen again. Some said they saw a woman being carried off by the Mysore soldiers.
Ponnan’s world fell apart once more. Manian’s death was shocking, but Gauri’s disappearance was devastating. She was the only mother Ponnan had known and remembered. The couple left behind two children - Ramaiya, who was six and Kamakshi, who was two. Just as Gauri had assumed the role of a mother at sixteen, Ponnan had to assume the role of a father at fifteen.
With the help of Guruparan, the priest, he performed the final rites for Manian. He wanted to perform the final rites for Gauri too, but the priest forbade it. She might still be alive. Oddly, this made Ponnan sadder, as it didn’t provide him closure. It was as if he was neglecting his final duties to his adopted mother.
Ponnan went to Aiyarappan Pillai, touched his feet, and asked for permission to leave his training, so he could work on the farm and feed his family. Pillai consented with sadness. In parting, he remarked that he had great hopes for Ponnan, and had been holding out hopes that he would discover the devotional dimension of music.
To be continued.
Pic credit: Wikipedia and ChatGPT.
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