Man and the OCean + Mallu and the Arabian Sea

NanNa MaNaSu

Man and the Oceans

Without exception we all like the sea .Seeing the play of the sun , moon and wind on the water has the capacity to keep us in rapt attention for hours and hours . Listening to the waves is an excellent 'time pass' for all of us .When I went to Diu ( part of our union territory Daman and Diu ) a few days back , I went to the beach .Just out of the dry state of Gujrat , I was a bit drunk .... but nevertheless ( or was being drunk the reason for it ! ) I had a revelation of sorts .Here's my revelation ready to be shared with the world
We Love the Sea because of its limitless expanse and energy . From the beginning of life on earth ,the oceans have been playing with the wind and the land : playing with rythmic periodicity to the tune of the moon. When man sees the sea he is lost in it ......... the sheer size shows him how small he is . But its power also energises him .He wants to be like the sea : everjoyful .He knows the ocean has many a treasure within it and he searches for these treasures on the beaches . He goes into the water ,plays or just sits and listens to the waves . But is he totally carefree ? I dare say no . We know of the treasures of the sea the joy of playing with the wind to eternity but we also see it at something unattainable .Eternity is not a concept ordinary man understands and apreciates easily. Why else would we think of our shoes kept on the beach or hold it in our hands when we enjoy the salty waters !? The revelation ended and the next thing I remember is a hangover of all the vodka and tequila that took me close to eternity the night before.

Mallus and the Arabian sea .

Mallus have a traditional affiliation to the arabian sea . It is said that Lord Parushuram (the Kshatriya saint with the axe : considered to be an avatar of Lord Vishnu ) reclaimed kerala from the arabian sea .The bond with the arabian sea is still very strong . Why else would I see so many mallus in all ports lining India's coastline on the arabian sea ?And How else would you explain the Ayappa temple in this Desert of kutch? Even in the Gulf ( 'Gelf ' for the mallu tongue ) we see the ubiquitous mallu .His survival instinct is really strong and is somehow closely associated with the arabian sea .Billions of dollars are sent to india just by them from the gelf .The Sheikhs of UAE are like living Gods for them and very rightly so IMHO as they are still rule the trade over the arabian sea.Now thats something to mull over .

Somnath Temple a lesson in Resilience

Passing through dusty kachi kutchy sadaks , huge hills of sand in the little Rann of Kutch , Walls of WC's and Commodes in Morbi , and the shipbreaking yards of Alang among other places , we finally reached Veravel . This small town is Home to the famous Somnath temple .Somnath temple , i remembered from my history books was the one Plundered and destroyed by mohammed Gazni 18 times . Each time he destroyed and looted it , it was rebuilt . The current temple was made post Independence .As I saw the temple with the arabian sea at its background , queerly the feelings in me were not devotional at all . It was a feeling of strength , a feeling of Resilience . SomnathJi's Huge Linga represents the strength of the spirit of India .... refusing to die , refusing to accept defeat and continuing to thrive against all odds . The original Linga is kept underground in a temple nearby. From here we moved on to Veravel the centre of our reefer ( refridgerated container ) trade in Gujrat.I was quite surprised to see so many tamil and malyali hoardings and signs here. I was even more surprised to meet so many sophisticated new world Chinese Business man.There was something fishy .... and I soon found out that its not something but everything thats fishy in this little now fishing town. The fisher folk here had discovered that the fish that is used as manure ... yes manure .. in Gujat is a delicasy in China and other eastern countries . Soon there were chinese buyers doing quality checks and supply chain management to see that their pipeline is full of a never ending supply of Gujju fish .And soon companies like ours rushed in to cash in on the fishy dope. The fishermen do get caught when their greed leads them into Pak waters but they do have their contacts .... they r resilient too like the temple they swear by .. like the temple they built and rebuilt .. again and again ..

Blog at last !

WOw ! Atlast I have a blog of my own! Being moi usual procrastinating self i thought i'll never come up with it !
NanNa MaNaSu ... ... is not something that came up due to my inteaction with Chinese Reefer Consignees inspecting their fish in Veravel and Porbundar ( where I'm currently 'selling' Space on P & O Nedlloyd's Ships ) . Its ' My Mind' in Kannada the language of my Hometown Mysore .Tomarrow is Deepavali , the festival of lights but unlike in other diwali's , I'm not in a rockety or bomby mood . I'll tell you the reason soon ...........after all this blog claims to be my mind and has to say whats on it .... More bout ships,chinese,reefers and manasus later gotta go to Shiv now ....

NanNa MaNaSu

NanNa MaNaSu
The last few months has seen me meeting more ppl ,hearing more languages , smelling and tasting more varieties of food and experiencing more change in weather , temp etc than any other perioid in nanna life ... and I'm eager to share this with the world from where i got these experiences .I like the Punchline " When was the last time you did something for the first time " from the AD where an old old lady holding on tight to her seat in her helicopter rises from Burj Ul Arab's helipad in Dubai ..... and I believe that this 'doing things for the first time' is the secret of being a child within and at the same time mature internally . However , I also believe that to experience something different you do not always have to physically see,smell,touch,taste and hear something different .... you can feel different experiences from the same everyday Sight ,odour,feel and taste .havent you noticed how the same day seems so beautiful when something good happens to you ? Or how a bright day suddenly feels so dull when you hear something you do not like ? To me this seems to be THE tool to control our feelings , our reactions and our relations with people , places and things . And whats this this ? manasu the mind .. more journeys into my mind nanna manasu soon .... Happy Deepavali to all who will read this ... remember your liking or disliking what you say depends on your mind ... not on what I'm writing ... more Matrixy Shenoysophy coming up !