KARIKALAN AND THE TIME MACHINE

                        KARIKALAN AND THE TIME MACHINE—CHAPTER 111

“Can you give me just one reason as to why I should murrrrder my minister for foreign affairs?” the King was his satirical best.

“Not just one reason, your majesty. I can give you ten reasons. And all the reasons hinge upon his activities against the State and Your Majesty!”

The king leaned toward Sivanesan and whispered in his ear, “Of course, I believe you Mr. Sivanesan. But speak up in a loud voice your mind without minding my thundering satirical words.” Then he sat back in his seat and started to thunder, “You are a fine person, Sivanesan. You came here to our country just a week back. And you are a fine one to accuse my time-tested bosom friend, Mr. Veeravelar of treason!”

Despite the King’s reassurance, Sivanesan started to perspire profusely.

This made the king to take one of the broad fans left by his servants and actually fan Sivanesan. “Speak up or you would be killed like a dog on the street!” Once again the King leaned over and whispered in a frightened Sivanesan’s ear, “Don’t take my thundering words seriously. I have said I would induct you in my ministry. So speak up without any fear, Mr. Sivaneasan.”

KARIKALAN AND THE TIME MACHINE--CHAPTER 110

                              KARIKALAN AND THE TIME MACHINE—CHAPTER 110

“Yes,” King Karikalan said without much of an exertion, “and we’ll discuss that latter. Now, how are your wife and daughter? How do they like their life on the Linga Hill?”

At this question, Sivanesan’s face lost its colour and composure. “I want to talk to your excellency in private!”

“Is that so?” the king said, “So be it!”

At this, taking the hint, the two personnel who had been fanning the king on either side with a wide fan went out in a hurry after saluting the king.

“Yes?” the king asked even as the gates and windows to his hall were shut from the outside.

Sivanesan waited for the last window to be shut. Then said in a tone of voice that was far from being in his control: in his seated position in front of the king, Sivanesan exploded, “You have to murder your minister for the foreign affairs, your excellency!”

“Whom do you mean, Mr. Veeravelar?” the king, having lost his own composure, thundered.

“Yes, Your Majesty!” Sivanesan thundered with equal intensity!

KARIKALAN AND THE TIME MACHINE--CHAPTER 109

                        KARIKALAN AND THE TIME MACHINE—CHAPTER 109

Now Sivanesan was going to meet the king Karikalan on his having asked him to meet.

At the royal gates, there was no problem for Sivanesan. The wardens at the gates had been duly informed about Sivanesan’s coming to the palace.

The king was in his unofficial dress. Nonetheless, his royal appearance was always there as like a halo around the heads of saints. There was something about the six-plus stature of Karikalan that oozed aura and people implicitly obeyed him. The king was dressed in white silk dhoti and a long silk towel that had been thrown carelessly around his neck which covered his broad chest. Gracefully long-limbed, the king’s face radiated a royal quality. Without making a thing of it, he looked the visitor at his eyes that seemed to be penetrating Sivanesan. The nose above his big moustache had an aristocratic touch. The king had a generous mouth but his eyes were the highlights of his face. His eyes radiated charm and kingly quality.

The king was an adept at making his visitors impressed without being frightened.

Sivanesan was made to feel at home within seconds of his having ushered into the king’s exclusive hall where he ordinarily gave audience only to his ministers and visitors from abroad.

The king had a reputation in receiving regularly visitors from abroad. Even when Sivanesan was there, a Chinese traveler had been visiting the kingdom and staying at the guest house attached to the grand palace.

“Well, Mr. Sivanesan. I find you in fine mettle. How do you like your week’s stay in our country?”

It had been one week since Sivanesan had come with the small hurricane lamp and saw the king at his court.

“I am thankful beyond words, your majesty. And even I was amazed at the way your Excellency's giving me refuge within half an hour’s interview. That doesn’t mean that I don’t deserve your excellency's help. But the way your majesty decided spoke volumes for your Excellency's acumen and sharp wit and greatness in reading people’s character just by looking at their faces!”

The king laughed and the way he laughed made Sivanesan look sharply at him.

“Of course, Mr.Sivanesan, what you say is true. But I sent my men to your place at Kanchi, all the same, to verify the facts!”

“O I see, then, may I presume that your Excellency is satisfied by the feedback?”

“Immensely, Mr. Sivanesan. I am completely satisfied with your credentials. The fact that I wanted to give you a ministerial berth in my cabinet, made me wanted to be doubly sure of your credentials.”

“A ministerial berth in thy cabinet, your majesty!” Sivanesan could hardly believe his ears.

KARIKALAN AND THE TIME MACHINE--CHAPTER 108

                      KARIKALAN AND THE TIME MACHINE—CHAPTER 108

When Sivanesan came to the Chola Kingdom and sought refuge from the king, the latter asked why Sivanesan should be granted a refuge.

Then Sivanesan related to the King Karikalan about the hoary past of his family and the Tradition of worshipping the Five Flames for well over a thousand years.

Then the king had asked if he had not been coming from the North and once again Sivanesar explained how some thousand three hundred and odd years back his forefather had come to the South along with his great joint family consisting of a hundred people and settled on the outskirts of Kanchi City.

The king had been greatly impressed and asked if he had completely forgotten the Sanskrit language. Sivanesan said he and his forefathers had never forgotten their mother tongue, though now Tamil had substituted the same in as much as they had started to talk in Tamil even at their houses. That there was a mingling of blood and culture and how they had started to marry into the high-class families of the Dravidiyans and started to worship Linga of the Dravidians. That how the Rig Vedic Rudra came to be mingled with the Linga and Lord Sivaperuman was born. That how huge literature had evolved round Lord Siva and all the related matter.

The king had talked to Sivanesan in pure and chaste Sanskrit and that had really amazed Sivanesan. Both talked to each other about the Ariyans, Vedas and Vedangas, and Sivanesan said how Ramayana and Mahabharata had been accepted by the Tamil speaking community in Kanchi. And how the pundits had taken to learning Sanskrit for its great literature and culture and music. The king wanted to know more and more and at last gave him refuge in his kingdom saying, “There is a white stone hill, by name, Lingaparai. It would perfectly suit your purpose. You and your family could live there, atop the hill once occupied by the Samana Monks and latter by my Raja Guru. But it’s been several years since he attained Maha Samadhi and Lingaparai has remained unoccupied ever since. I send with you my dearest friend, Mr. Veeravelar who is our Minister of foreign affairs. All my knowledge of Sanskrit and its rich culture and literature is due to the pundits brought here from the North by Mr. Veeravelar!”

And then the king had bided Mr. Veeravelar to accompany Mr. Sivanesan and his family to the Lingaparai and see him settle there. The king had also appointed Mr. Sivanesan as the head priest of his own Linga Temple and requested him to see to all the lighting arrangements as in Kanchi Temples.

KARIKALAN AND THE TIME MACHINE--CHAPTER 107

                             KARIKALAN AND THE TIMEMACHINE—CHAPTER 107

Sivanesan continued to think back on that day when his big house had been set ablaze by the Samana Monks in the dead of the night, even as his black Arabian horse was trotting towards the Palace of the King Karikalan.

On that night, Sivanesan’s grandfather alone was alive when Sivanesan had come from the house of his wife.

Sivanesan had handled his grand father’s body very tenderly. He had brought his ear to the mouth of the old man who had been instructing Sivanesan in the final moments of his life. Even as his life was slowly ebbing away, the old man was telling him that he, Sivanesan had been the last man and heir of that joint family. Sivanesan’s father and paternal uncles and all the members of the family had succumbed to the all-devouring fire. “You must be careful, my boy”, the old man had said in his feeble voice. “You embody the hope of not only the family you know but the forefather who had established the Panjakini (The Five Flames) in our house someone thousand three hundred and odd years back. On your shoulders rests the fate of Panjakini and if you let the Panjakini to be destroyed in this fire, you would have done something most heinous. Take the small Hurrican Lamp and light the wick from the lamp of AHAVANYAM and douse it along with other four lamps and collect the lightless lamps and go somewhere. Just leave here. Don’t look for revenge. The Panjakini (the Five Flames) are most important than the worldly notion of getting back on your detractors. So go anywhere where there are no Samana Monks and establish the Five Flames and continue your life in worshipping them! I bless you and your wife and daughter. Farewell, my boy!” With those words, the grandfather of Sivanesan had died on the lap of Sivanesan.

KARIKALAN AND THE TIME MACHINE--CHAPTER 106

                                      KARIKALAN AND THE TIME MACHINE –CHAPTER 106

The Itihasas like Ramayana and Mahabharata were translated into Tamil by the Sanskrit scholars among the Tamil. They were well received by the common folks. The practice of telling the story of Lord Rama in the Linga Temples during the festival season came into vogue. The Vedas and Vedanga were also translated for the purpose of the Tamil Scholars. Within a hundred years of the first settlement of the forefathers of Sivanesan, these Arians came to be called ‘Brahmins’ as their spiritual culture was yoked to a search of knowledge about the ineffable Brahman. During that period, that is during the first hundred years of their settlement, the Brahmins too had taken much interest in the classical language, Tamil and its beauty. It had great literature also. And the Linga Form came to be associated with the Rudra of the Vedas. Thus was born the culture and cult of Lord Siva. Soon it was only a question of time for the growth of ‘Puranas around the Lord Siva. The Devi worship came to be associated later with Lord Siva and the Devi became Parvati. Already Lord Muruga was a well-known Tamil Deity. The Skandan of the Vedas came to be associated with Lord Muruga. And He became the second son of the Lord Siva and Goddess Parvati, His Spouse. The Ganapathyam lost out to the Cult of Siva and Ganapati became the first son of the Divine Couple. Thus there was much give and take between the two cultures, Tamil and Sanskrit. Much later the Sanskrit Scholar in Grammar, Panini came to be favourably worshiped by the Tamil scholars, while the Tamil Scholar in Grammar, Tholkapiyar was a celebrated one among the Sanskrit speakers. The joint family of the original forefather also had fanned out around Kanchi.

  

KARIKALAN AND THE TIME MACHINE--CHAPTER 105

                              KARIKALAN AND THE TIME MACHINE—CHAPTER 105

The man of great might and valour belonged to the family of high tradition. Panjakini or the Five Flames and its worship formed the core of the family’s tradition. Some thousand and three hundred years ago the first ancestor of the family had come from the North India where the Settlements of Ariyas had taken place. The Vedas and Vedangas had been completed. But owing to the fact of the tradition of sacrifice the priestly community started to thrive which had brought into the Hindu way of life the paralyzing superstitions. For each and everything the priestly community prescribed various sacrifices and it was not an ordinary thing to conduct sacrifices even to kings. The Priests demanded hundreds of cows and gold ornaments besides other favours from the kings. And as a result, the Hindus had become frustrated with their religion. It was at this time, the first ancestor of Sivanesan had decided to move over to the South with his great joint family consisting of more than a hundred persons including children. The first ancestor had nine brothers and sisters and their  branches had all been, in accordance with the tradition, living together in a large house in present Punjab.

The great joint family had moved to the southern tip, and settled in Kanchi. They had occupied a great stretch of lands and reclaim the same for the cultivation of rice and other South Indian crops. Kanchi was a great city even the. There was no ill-will toward the new settlers. They had rather been welcomed and assimilated with the local folks. The local folks welcomed the high culture of Sanskirit Literature and the Forefathers of Sivanesan showed real interest and respect, in and for, the well developed Dravidiyan Culture. There was blood relationship and mixing of blood between the sun-like-complexioned forefathers of Sivanesan with the dark-skinned Dravidiyan families. Sivanesan’s forefathers took to the worship of Linga in the Dravidian Temples, And at home the first forefather of Sivanesan built a hall for tending the Panchakini and thus Panjchakini Flames were established in the Hall.

KARIKALAN AND THE TIME MACHINE--CHAPTER 104

                          KARIKALAN AND THE TIME MACHINE—CHAPTER 104

When the slab stone had slid to one side to reveal beneath it a flight of stone steps, the Super Star’s namesake, Sivanesan was proceeding majestically on his black Arabian horse towards the King Karikalan’s palace. The king had sent word to him to come and meet him. Sivanesan was the only person in his family who had escaped from the arsenic acts done by the Samana Monks who had been for a long time been installed on the Linga Hill and ejected from there in favour of a great Saiva Saint and his disciples. Of course the King had been very kind and considerate to the Samana Monks and offered an alternative place for constructing their mutt along with a huge fund for construction. But the Samana Monks had been offended by the king’s word to vacate the Linga Hill in favour of a new comer and his disciples. So they had moved over to Kanchi Country and started to live in the mutt on the outskirts of Kanchi City along with other monks there. From that day, those monks had started to give offence to all the Brahmanas including the Sivanesan’s family. Most of the Brahmin families had vacated that street and gone to live in the interior of the city. But Sivanesan’s family could not just vacate the ancestral house and go elsewhere. Because they were worshipping, apart from the Linga in the Siva Temples, the Panchakini or the Five Lamps or Flames. The five flames had been established some one thousand and three hundred plus years! So they could not just vacate the place and go elsewhere like their relations.

On the night of arson, Sivanesan had been away at his wife’s house, some fifteen miles from Kanchi city. And when he had returned in the night, from a distance his horse sensed something wrong and started to gallop quickly toward the house.

Sivanesan was quick to enter the burning house and found only his revered grandfather half dead. All the other members of the family had died in the arson. And his grandfather, when realized his grandson had returned home, urged Sivanesan to take the lamps and collect a ray from them into a chimney which could withstand even a hurricane and go someplace where he could re-establish the Five Flames and live a devout life by rendering worship to the holy fire.

As the horse was galloping toward King Karikalan’s palace, Sivanesan continued to ruminate and think upon what happened since then.

KARIKALAN AND THE TIME MACHINE--CHAPTER 103

                                  KARIKALAN AND THE TIME MACHINE 103

They mounted the steps instead of jumping up onto the summit in homage to the Linga Form of Lord Siva. Once atop the summit, they lowered themselves in worshipful reverence to the Lord, Linga, and around Him they started to go in circles. They circled the Lord thrice before stopping to take stock. They looked all around them. There were tenements that had been constructed for the Samana Monks who had been inhabiting the place for long before moving over to Kanchi. They kept looking all around. They could see Sivanesar’s family having taken possession of the place. The washings had still been hanging on the clothesline. The open doorway of the kitchen could be seen with its stock of groceries and rice bags. But there was no sign of Sivanesar’s wife or the daughter. While this surprised them, the main thing that they could not see a single picture of Hindu Gods anywhere much less the Panchakini or the Five Lamps. To reiterate, there was not even a single lamp even in front of the Linga Statue.

“What shall we do?” was the question uppermost in the three monks’ mind.

But they were quite sure there must be the Five Flames somewhere there.

But howsoever diligently they would search they could not see the lamps. But they could see there were many signs of a family living there. For example the water tank… it was a tank cut into the core of the stone surface to harness the rainwater for the purpose of drinking and cooking and washing. There were two such tanks on either side of the Avidai of the Linga Statue.

All of a sudden, the Super Star gave a little cry of surprise and kept seeing at his feet. Beneath the feet had been placed the white marble stone that had been perfectly camouflaged by the stone around it.

The Super Star kept staring at the slab stone made in marble of scintillating white.

The slab stone started to move sideways!

KARIKALAN AND THE TIME MACHINE--CHAPTER 102

                           KARIKALAN AND THE TIME MACHINE—CHAPTER 102

The whole Hill was made of pure white stone like the Rockfort Temple in the present Thiruchirappalli. Around the hill stones had been cut on the face of the hill. The Super Star and his companion did not use the stone steps cut around the hill to gain the top of the hill. They simply flew to the top of the hill. On the top of the hill, there was even surface measuring roughly hundred metres in diameter. The pure white stone shone like gold in the evening sun. In the exact centre of this circle was a straight block of stone with fifteen metres in diameter. This block of stone was round in shape. It was clear that the top of the hill was made even around this block of stone which rose to a height of fifteen metres. There were separate flight of stone steps cut around the block of stone. The stone steps lead to the summit where a huge Linga like the size of the Linga in the present Big Temple of Tanjore built by Raja Raja Cholan stood to the height of ten metres. So the above said stone block and this Lingam both made the form of Lingam and Avidai.

Super Star, Manikkam and the grandfather were standing on the landing or the hundred metres of even space. The Linga was situated in the exact centre. The Super Star seemed to be afraid of what was going to happen to him. So when the two others made to mount the small steps cut around the Avidai of the Lingam, he said, “Manikkam sir, you two go upwards. I’ll just sit here and take rest!”

“O common, sir,” Manikkam said, “You can say you are tired in Chennai. Here we can never become tired. We can travel thousands of miles and without becoming tired. Only to the embodied Spirit can become tired. We have shed our bodies in Chennai and here we are pure Spirits. We will not feel hungry or thirsty or tired. You know, sir, it has been three months since my first time travel and on that occasion, I brought my grandfather to Chennai. Though it has been three months he has not eaten anything, drunk a glass of water or slept. At my flat, throughout the night the TV would be on and he will be avidly watching various programmes throughout the nights from his vantage point on the Photo Frame! Now common, sir. Let go up and see the Lingam close up. Around here there are signs of Sivanesar’s family’s use of the place. There are tenements built all around the hundred metre space. But there is not even a lamp here. Common let’s get up to the towering Linga and see if there are any lamps!”

Hearing all this, the Super Star got up and followed the two. But in his heart of hearts, there was some innate feeling that something serious was going to happen to him that would change his life forever!

KARIKALAN AND THE TIME MACHINE--CHAPTER 101

                       KARIKALAN AND THE TIME MACHINE—CHAPTER 101

Only using such mental maths, Manikkam had been telling his grandfather and the Super Star that they should hasten as the Time Machine was due to start from the Chola Country sooner than later. But they had met a bottleneck that none of them had foreseen. With the result, the trip back to Chennai was postponed. But it was all for good. It seemed they had got some more things to do in Chola Country. And it was welcome to them in a singular way.

It was for the Super Star Manikkam had originally invented the Time Machine owing to some stimulation coming from some other lifetime and the world. And it was for the Super Star that Manikkam gave himself up to the invention of the Machine. It was for the Super Star that Manikkam, after having invented the Machine, decided to have a first ride alone to have some experience which could turn into firsthand expertise. And it was Manikkam who had been telling the other two that the time for them to go to Kanchi and drop the grandfather there and pick up the spirits of the housefly and the lizard before making the final trip back to Chennai. All this was postponed now for an indefinite time.

Because something was going to happen that would have a final say in the life of the Super Star in his Chennai life.

The three monks, Manikkam, his grandfather and the Super Star, had flown to the Linga Hill and alighted at the foothill.

When they looked up at the Hill, there was surprise writ large in capital lettering on their faces!

KARIKALAN AND THE TIME MACHINE-- CHAPTER 100

                         KARIKALAN AND THE TIME MACHINE—CHAPTER 100

On being asked for details, the grandfather said, “While you were still inside the Mansion of Kabaligan two persons mounted on steeds were going along this way as they were not in a hurry they walked their horses. They were discussing something at the height of their pitch. I became invisible, once they said, ‘This Sivanesan is a lucky fellow!’ and followed them. As per their conversation, there is a cave temple called Lingparai in the surrounding and this Lingaparai or Linga Hill was once given by the king Karikalan to some Samana monks for staying and practicing their religion. And then, it was needed for the purpose of the Raja Guru of Karikalan. The Raja Guru had come to Karikalan’s court along with a horde of his desciples from the North. Since Karikalan spoke Sanskrit and worshiped Lord Siva in Linga form they became so very close to each other that the King requested the Guru to stay at the Palace. The Guru hated the luxuries of the palace and also he wanted a place for himself and his desciples if he were to stay at Chola Country of Karikalan. Then the king had no other way except to ask the Samana Monks to vacate the Lingaparai or Linga Hill. The Samana Monks were offered by the king an alternative place. But they took offence at it and vacated the Linga Hill and moved further south to Kanchi Country. This Raja Guru was in occupation of the Linga Hill for well over ten years and then he attained Maha Samadhi. Since then the Linga Hill was lying unoccupied by anyone. But now, the newcomer, Sivanesan and his family have been offered the place. That this Sivanesan was a worshipper of Panjchkini or the Five Lamps.”  The grandfather gave a pause. Then he said, “This Sivanesan looks exactly like you. And you want to worship a lighted lamp. But he actually worships five lamps. I hear it was his family tradition. According to the two soldiers, Sivanesan’s family has been worshipping these lamps for more than one thousand years! That the king was impressed so much by his tradition that he immediately assigned the Linga Hill and asked the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Veeravelar to help Sivanesan’s family to settle down at the Hill!”

There was a heavy silence you could cut with a table knife. And then both Manikkam and the Super Star started to raise a hue and cry all at once. “Grandpa,” said the Super Star, “I touch your holy feet, sir.” And he actually did that before resuming; “so the man does not merely look like me but actually is my forefather?! Well! Well! Well! I will worship you for the rest of my life, grandpa!”

Manikkam also waxed eloquent: “I thought much about it. Of course, I mind-read Mr.Sivaneasan this morning inside the temple, but there wasn’t much to read and know actually. He seemed to me a disciplined man and his mind was in a state of ecstasy inside the temple. But grandfather has done a fantastic job, indeed. So Mr. Sivanesan is your forefather, sir? And what a way to worship the Five Lamps for well over a thousand years without any interruption indeed!”

“All this is an ordinary thing for me. If you guys come to my place I could show girls and women who scintillate like lighted lamps!” boasted the grandfather. And the two youths started to fly away leaving him way behind. So he had to make haste. And once he caught up with the two youths, the three of them, they were still laughing.

Though they had come to Kabaligan’s Mansion through the sky, they had travelled in time. Which meant they arrived at the Mansion without any loss of time! So they had had no chance of looking at the Ling Hill.  Travelling by the Time Machine had its own advantages. Once they travelled from Chennai to Chola Country, they could go anywhere around the world without any time loss! They could go from the Chola Kingdom to any place belonging to the same time. And for this, they would not need the Machine nor any other device. All it would take was to think of the place to go. This is because they are pure spirits here and they could go anywhere within the timeframe just by thinking of the place and forming a wish to go there.

KARIKALAN AND THE TIME MACHINE--CHAPTER 99

                               KARIKALAN AND THE TIME MACHINE—CHAPTER 99

“Sir,” the Super Star said, “now only I come to understand that this Kumanan rascal is none other than the fellow who has kidnapped my wife and daughter. Now I can think straight. Somehow this fool has found a way to our Chennai! He is working in some clerical job at Kalpakam Atomic Power Station!”

“Sir!” exclaimed Manikkam, “Use your mind. For this guy to have come to Chennai and being born there and educated and join the Atomic Centre is a bit too far-fetched a theory to confide in anyone. For example, if you said it to my grandfather, now… where the hell has he got to?”

The Super Star made an angry gesture. “I insist on having seen Kumanan there at the Atomic Centre, sir! You are welcome to think whatever you want to, but it is a fact. This kumanan’s handlebar moustache and the headgear and the quaint Tamil and tone of voice he uses here naturally confused me, besides blinding my mind and eyes. Now I am sure, sir, this fellow is there in our Chennai! God, I only saved two girls out of his amorous clutch. For this, he has come up to Chennai and has kidnapped my family! What a way to take vengeance!”

“It is an impossible thing, sir. Come, the time’s up. We have to be at the Lingaparai or the hillock to become aboard the Time Mchine. Something urges me that we have but little time to lose.” Manikkam was emphatic.

The Super Star was led and piloted willy-nilly by Manikkam towards the exit. “See, my grandfather is already near the outside gates. Come, let’s make haste.”

When they came to be with the grandfather, he gave a peculiar look to the Super Star and said, “My boy, I seem to have chanced upon the fact that you are here on purpose!”

KARIKALAN AND THE TIME MACHINE--CHAPTER 98

                         KARIKALAN AND THE TIME MACHINE—CHAPTER 98

The Super Star raised a hand, and that moment the stick disappeared! Kabaligan was at his feet. He could not believe what had just happened. He stared up at the Super Star. Without trying to rise up, he started to entreat him, “All these years, my good sir, I had been thinking am the master of the art. I have two spirits to do my biddings. But you seem to be a past master of this art. Please teach me the art. Because I have never seen such a spectacle in which my own spirit would do thy biddings. Please, Master, do instruct me in that art. And I would do anything for you. I have vast wealth and gold coins of the king’s treasury well stashed under the subterranean cellar. I would give you, just hand them all over to you to be taught the art by which you used my spirit to beat me up. Please, sir!”

“You keep silent, for a while, man. My art could never be taught to a cannibal like you. Moreover, only persons of impeccable character could be taught such tricks. You are not even a man—a beast. How can I teach you such sidhis?”

As though the matter was over, the Super Star said to Valli and her sister, “Both of you have been freed. You can come away from the post!”

Lo and behold! Both the girls came in a rush to thank him. And Kabaligan started to cry bitterly. “I tell you, sir, I will turn a new green leaf in my life. I won’t even eat the animal flesh hereafter. I would turn completely a decent and normal guy. I would give away all the gold coins to the poor and impoverished. Please take me as your…”

The Super Star behaved as though he did not hear anything. Moreover, he raised his hand over the head of Kabaligan who had still been at his feet. That instant moment he fell deaf and dumb! He started to quake and quiver in fright. The Super Star raised his hand again. This time Kabaligan fell at his feet in a swoon.  

Valli gripped the hands of the Super Star. “O, my good sir. You are a white magician? From what you said to Kabaligan, I can understand it is a siddhi you acquired after long years of Tapas. O, my good sir, don’t leave me in the lurch!” She said in a pitiful voice.

At that moment had come running into the hall none other than Kumanan, the Devil incarnate.

“Hey, Valli! What is this, I see you completely free. And who is this mannnn…mmmhooommm…Haven’t we already met, sir?” He asked and then he answered the question himself. “O yeah. I saw you in the temple this morning. But whoever you are you have no right to set Valli and her sister free. For this, I will punish you after I have dealt with the two sisters.” He spoke with such arrogant confidence.

“You idiot! Congenital idiot!” Valli spat at him venomous words. “Look at you friend, Kabaligan, the cannibal. He has swooned at the feet of my man. Ask of his forgivance. He will forgive you. Or I will beg him to forgive you for the sake of your wife and mother. They are such sweet people. Now, fall at the feet of my man, or else is the situation!”

“What!” Kumanan, for the first time, saw his friend at the feet of the Stranger to that place.

“Now,” Valli said, “It is your turn to ask for forgivance. This minute!”

“What nonsense is all this, and who do you think I am?” Kumanan, with those angry words, Kumanan took some powdery substance from a paper sachet from under his cap and tossed the powdery substance at Valli and her sister. That instant they had started to become concrete statues. Not actually concrete, for at that time it was not available. But they had become grey statues. Kumanan turned and tossed some more at the Super Star.

Super Star simply laughed. “You can’t do that to me, you dirty rascal. I am not belonging to your time. I belong to a different time and world.!”

It was now the turn of Kumanan to get surprised and become awe-imbued. “I have heard of Siddhas come out of their body and go to any world they please. Are you one such person?” he merely mumbled. “But I have tossed some substance at you and it has fallen on my best friend, Kabaligan at your feet. He has become a grey statue too. Alas! Ok, why have you come from your world? And you are a look-alike of that Brahmin, Sivanesan, Aren’t you. Then I can see the reason. You are related. You have come to see your forefather. Sivanesan is your forefather, right!” He laughed. “If only you half know what we have in store for him!” He laughed vulgarly.

“Sir,” Manikkam spoke, “You have done enough damage by giving this bastard all those details. He is nobody’s fool. He has instantly connected you and Sivanesar.”

“To whom are you listening, Sivanesan?” asked Kumanan. Then only the Super Star understood his to what contingency his ordinary words let his forefather, Sivanesar into. So without much of an exertion, he stared at Kumanan fixedly. He started to become a grey man from foot up. Kumanan was not afraid of what was happening to him. Now his waist had been turning a grey statue!

“Such miraculous things are possible to the highly civilized human species, no? I am thankful for your confiding in me.” Now his chest area was turning into a statue. He stared fixedly at the Super Star. “See, if you come here, we could come to your place, no?”

Now his throat was turning grey. “I would like to come to your world!” he managed to mumble before his mouth turned grey.

The Super Star had become so very worried and mesmerized at the long star Kumanan kept throwing his way.

And just before his eyes turned grey Kumanan managed to wink at the Super Star.

The Super Star wanted to test the substance in the sachet. So, before Kumanan’s head had become grey he took off his headgear and took out the substance.

At the very moment, Valli’s parents and grandfather had come rushing in. Manikkam said, “Sir, toss the substance on them. They should not see their daughters having become statues. Their hearts will simply stop to beat!”

So the Super Star tossed the substance in the wind toward them. They too, that instant, became statues!

“Come on, sir. We have little time left for the Time Machine. Come, make haste!”

So the three of them started to go out of that big mansion of Kabaligan!

KARIKALAN AND THE TIME MACHINE--CHAPTER 97

                                   KARIKALAN AND THE TIME MACHINE—CHAPTER 97

“Ha! Ha! Ha!” Kabaligan laughed and started to speak in a sissy voice, “What’s this, darling. You speak of him as though he were your husband! In a short time, you and your sister will succumb to Kumanan’s sensual hunger. And then you would become the food to quench my bodily hunger. Doesn’t your man know this fact?” With that he laughed in a coarse way.

“What horrendous things you speak of you Man-eating beast!” the Super Star exploded. “Aren’t you ashamed of yourself, you filthy rascal?”

“My good, sir!” Valli exclaimed. “I am a thousand time grateful for your tongue lashing the beast. But he is also a terrible person practicing Black Magic. Please go while there’s time left.”

“O, Valli,” laughed Kabaligan, “while you speak ill of me, it stimulates my palates. Ok, now it’s time your man got a sound beating” and with that, he raised his hand and made a pattern in the air and then said, “shshshooo!” towards the Super Star. Lo and see! Out of nowhere, there appeared a tough and stalwart stick and it came dancing in the air towards the Super Star. And Valli screamed, “Run, run. Make a dash for it!”

But the Super Star simply raised his hand and the stick stood suspended in the air! And then he made another move with his hand. What a splendid sight it was for Valli! For the stick started to dance towards the Black Magic Practioner and gave him a sound beating. “AAh, oooh” the petrified Kabaligan cried in utter amazement and unspeakable pain. “What kind of a rascal are you, beating your own master!” he kept admonishing the stick. But the stick continued to give him a thorough beating! At this, the amazed Kabaligan came running toward the Super Star and fell at his feet. “Please, stop the rascal, sir. I am your slave from this moment!”

KARIKALAN AND THE TIME MACHINE--CHAPTER 96

                             KARIKALAN AND THE TIME MACHINE—CHAPTER 96

“Hello, sir?!” Valli whimpered from the post to which she was tied. I kept wondering if I couldn’t see your face before I died, sir! You have come right on time! Thank you, sir! Why are you still in a monk’s get up, my dear, sir? It is not as if you are a monk. But on whatever purpose you have come from your country to our country, it is my desire that your desire should be realized. But I have seen you for the last time. Thanks. Don’t tarry here. This is no place for folks like you. You can’t help me even if you wanted to. This is the place of a man who indulges in black magic. He will kill you the way he is going to kill me and my sister. Go! Before Kabaligan comes here, please sir, go! Go away from this place.

“O, I see. Is he a fake monk, my dear?” Kabaligan came there from one of the rooms leading into that big hall. “Thank you for the enlightenment. For, I shouldn’t care to tangle with real monks!”

Valli gave a start. “O, Yee Gods! Now my dear man has become putty in the vile hands of this magician. Save my darling man from his clutches!”

“Ha! Ha! Ha!” the black magician, Kabaligan laughed in a way that froze the flow of blood in Valli’s system. “In a short time, Valli, my darling,” Kabaligan said in a sissy tone of voice. I should like to see your man see you and your sister being raped and then cooked and eaten by me. If he objects to see the scene, he could become my evening meal and I would eat you tomorrow!”

“Hey, stop it, will you?” the Super Star thundered, “Are you a man at all. No, you are  less than a beast. Do you think you could get away from it all? Never, so long as I am alive I won’t let your paw touch my girl and her sister!”

Valli could not believe her ears. “My dear man! Thank you for you manly words. Yes, you are cent percent right, he, this Kabaligan is not a human being. He is a beast. Please make good your escape while there’s still time. That is before he invokes his Evil Spirit!”

KARIKALAN AND THE TIME MACHINE--CHAPTER 95

                          KARIKALAN AND THE TIME MACHINE—CHAPTER 95

“Thank you, amma” the Super Star said to the old woman. “You have helped the boy very much. That will help you in your last days.”

“Thank you, sir.” The old woman went away after the Super Star lifted the basket on to her head.

Leaving the boy there on the bench they went a few paces away. Then Manikkam said we can travel in time, sir. That way we can be at the ‘mansion’ of Kabaligan without any loss of time.

“Where is the Time Machine?” the Super Star asked.

“Time Machine is not necessary, sir. We have come to Karikalan’s time. Once we are here, we can go anywhere within and out of Chola Country without the Machine. All we have to do is think of the place we want to go and we would be there!”

“Then what are you waiting for? Let’s go,” the Super Star said.

“So be it!” Manikkam said. Immediately they were standing in front of the big house of Kabaligan, Kumanan’s friend.

“Where’s the Mansion?” asked the Super Star.

“That big structure is the Mansion, sir,” said Manikkam, “What did you expect? A huge concrete structure? We are at the beginning of the first century, sir. For them, this is a mansion. Though it is a structure with a thatched roof, the built-up area is more than two thousand square feet. And it is very high. So it is just that it is called a Mansion!”

Around the Mansion there was a fence. The high gates were locked. Within the fence, around the Mansion there were lots of grounds shorn of even grass and weeds.

“Let’s go inside over the gates, sir.”

They went into the Mansion, having crossed over another pair of gates to the Mansion proper.

Inside there was a huge hall and there were two posts to which the two girls had been tied.

“Anbare! (Hello, Mister)” welcomed Valli. “At last have you come to see me for the last time? We are already destined to die a violent death, sir!” she said in a pathetic tone of voice.

KARIKALAN AND THE TIME MACHINE--CHAPTER 94

                             KARIKALAN AND THE TIME MACHINE—CHAPTER 94

“What are you talking about, Manikkam, my boy!” exclaimed the Super Star. He felt like having been attacked by the thunderbolt.

“What shall I do, Swami? Both my sisters are my very life. My parents and grandfather have gone in search of them. They left me alone in the house. I could not remain there for long. Then I thought of you and the other Swami. I reckoned you might not have gone far away. But I could not find your whereabouts. Now I am very tired. I could not help my sisters. Please, Swami. Do something!”

The Super Star could not tell if it was the doing of Manikkam, the senior, or had come deep from his own self; he behaved like a real ascetic. “My son!” he addressed the small sobbing boy, “This is a small and inconsequential thing. Had you to go through so much in emotion over so little a thing like this? Jei, Bhagavati. May the peace of the Goddess come to you!” The small boy immediately stopped sobbing. There had come on him some miraculous changes. He even started to think of his bodily feelings. For he said to the Super Star, “Sir, I am very hungry. I was so much involved with the loss of my sisters that I didn’t even drink the gruel that I had to give you two and didn’t.”

With that he, having become conscious how tired he had become, sat on the red brick bench beside the Super Star.

“Where’s that butter-milk vender?” the Super Star ruminated. “She was here a minute ago.”

“Milkshake and buttermilk!” the old woman was coming their way with a basket suspended on her head. 

“Amma,” the Super Star spoke to her, “the small boy is very hungry. Have you got any gruel left?”

“O yes, enough to make a horse lose its hunger!” she asked the Super Star to help lower the big basket on her head. The Super Star helped her lower the basket on to the red brick bench.

 She served the gruel in a tumbler asking the boy if he liked the gruel raw or with the country brown sugar. The boy said he wanted lots of brown sugar should be added to the gruel. Then the old woman took from the basket another tumbler and added sugar and mixed it by pouring the gruel from one tumbler into the other. After mixing the gruel thoroughly she gave the tumbler of gruel to the boy.

While the boy was eating the gruel without any spoon greedily native to his age, the old woman started to weep, and said, “This boy reminds me of my own son! He used to eat greedily like this one. And he was a lovely boy! He would never cross the line drawn by me as a boy. But…!”

“Is he no more, Amma?” the Super Star asked.

“No he is very much alive and he is an important man in the King Karkalan’s foot army. But he has teamed up with that fellow, Kabaligan. He has become greedy and wants to influence the King’s mind so that the king would make him a minster for the propagation of Sanskrit.” 

On an instinct, the Super Star asked if Kumanan was her son’s name. The old woman was taken aback. Then she saw the boy who had started to doze off having eaten to his contentment. “He was a well-behaved boy at this boy’s age. But once he grew into a man…phew…I couldn’t control him…”  

Now the boy started to snore, the Super Star got up and make place for him. And the boy stretched out on the bench and started to snore heavily.

“I am a hermit, Amma. I can’t give you any money!”

“Neither had I expected to pay in cash, sir. Instead, please bless me so that I would die in peace!”

“May God bless you, Amma. And by the way, do you know where the Kabaligan’s place is?”

She told. And it translated into fifteen kilometers in metric measurement. She also gave the direction to the big house of Kabaligan. “It’s a mansion, swami!” she said. “It is situated on the outskirts of Uraiyoor city.”

KARIKALAN AND THE TIME MACHINE--CHAPTER 93

                          KARIKALAN AND THE TIME MACHINE—CHAPTER 93

When they were talking the Super Star said, “There comes Manikkam, the boy. I am sure he hasn’t seen us yet.”

“Sir,” Manikkam, the senior said, “from this moment you are the only person sitting here. The grandfather and I would disappear into thin air. We would be with you, sir, and you can communicate to us and even see us, but nobody else can see or hear us. And that goes for the small boy, Manikkam too. You would tackle the small boy. I think he has a crisis on hand. Let us hear what he’s got to say.”

Now the boy had neared the Super Star. When he had actually seen the Super Star, the boy had broken into a trot and soon was standing in front of the Super Star, “Swami, I have been running from pillar to the post in searching for you! At long last, I have been fortunate in finding you out!”

Manikkam, the Man, saw an old woman selling buttermilk and milk products. He wondered why the old woman seemed to matter to him. Anyhow, dismissing her out of his mind, he started to read the mind of Manikkam, the small boy, which was an open book. He could understand the boy was highly dehydrated. And he was also famished. And the other matters he read had simply thrown him off!  

“What’s the matter, Manikkam? Tell me” the Super Star asked.

“Sir,” the boy addressed the Super Star, “You should forgive me for this interference. You might not have forgotten about the matters we were discussing a little while ago at our house.” The boy spoke in a tired manner.

The boy had a look that made the Super Star regret that he did not have a son like him. “Ok, Manikkm, my boy. I haven’t forgotten anything. Tell me what the matter is” the Super Star encouraged the small boy.

And the small boy, Manikkam, started to cry bitterly. In between the sobs, he uttered, “Swami, I have a sister and a cousin, namely, Valli. Both of them have been kidnapped by Kumanan!” the boy continued to sob.

KARIKALAN AND THE TIME MACHINE--CHAPTER 92

                           KARIKALAN AND THE TIME MACHINE—CHAPTER 92

“I was in an unenviable position, sir” Manikkam said, “you had to be vetted all about the Time Machine, I had banked on your latest mental condition and that you would want a fresh ari and scene away from Chennai. But you had been tortured by the way grandfather behaved, to start with.”

“That’s the truth, Manikkam,” the Super Star agreed. “The way he had come down from the photo frame was a scarry experience for me. From that moment I wanted to get clear of your flat and go back to my empty flat!”

“You kept accusing me of being a sorcerer and a wicked man, sir!”

“Yeah, Yeah,” agreed the Super Star, “I really thought and afraid you practiced the Black Magic which gave a guy who had been mesmerized by the thought of ending my life the shock of the life! So all that had put a spanner in the wheel, yeah?”

“Yes, sir. And I left you for a time in care of my grandfather to meditate in the dark room. Once inside the dark room, I had the conviction that you had to travel in time, that otherwise, you would commit suicide. So when I emerged from the dark room, I kept encouraging you to speak about your family tradition. You remember, sir.?”

“Yes, and even though I had only made a passing reference to it you caught on to it, Manikkam.”

“Once again, the credit goes to the old man, sir. He had said lighting lamps and offering worship was your family tradition and your wife did not agree with you to the point of deserting you with your girl. And I wanted you to tell all the details if only to distract you. Moreover, I really meant to go to a particular forefather’s time when you came out in the open. But you kept cursing me instead of speaking about your family tradition. So I could not help you more than that. But when we entered the dark room, you kept speaking and asking questions and as a result, I could not meditate. But I kept telling myself that we wanted to go to the Mamallar’s time so my grandfather could be delivered and left there and we, after collecting the housefly and the lizard’s spirits could go to your forefather’s time. But the Machine had obviously an idea of its own. We came to Karikalar cholan’s time. And you picked up friendship with Valli and I found myself as the small Manikkam. It was then I decided that the Time Machine itself was invented for you, sir.”

KARIKALAN AND THE TIME MACHINE--CHAPTER 91

                              KARIKALAN AND THE TIME MACHINE—CHAPTER 91

“You had better explain everything, Manikkam.” The Super Star was more confused than angry with Manikkam.

“Sir,” Manikkam replied, “You remember the circumstances I met you on that evening before inviting you to my flat?”

“Yes, of course. You were your best in being sweet to me!”

Manikkam laughed. “How true, sir. On that day my grandfather and I had a row, sir.”

“Really, why?”

“He wanted to go back to his time and to his Mamallar’s palace in Kanchi. But I was not prepared to take him through the time as yet.”

“Well, it was your responsibility, wasn’t it?”

“Yes, sir. But traveling by time had its own problem.”

“Problem? Come on man! It was you who discovered the mantras or hymns.”

“Sir, the hymns were heard and recorded by the Vedic saints some four thousand years ago. This is a rough estimate only. Swami Vivekananda puts the time as nine thousand years back! Anyhow, I didn’t discover the hymns. Through a constant process of meditation and prayer and a good scholarship in Vedas I only selected the relevant hymns required for traveling in time. But as it has turned out the machine is its own master, sir.”

“Now what are you talking about, Manikkam?”

“Let me start from the time when we met on that evening and I asked you to be my gues for the night.”

“OK, let’s do just that!”

“You were very much confused. I even thought at one stage you were thinking of committing suicide!”

“How right you are, Manikkam sir,” said the Super Star, “It crossed my mind repeatedly. And it was quite difficult to put the thinking aside.”

“I conjectured that much, sir. For you had just that day put in your papers! Everyone there was talking about it. But no one approached you for everyone knew about the incident that your wife had gone away with your daughter in the early morning!”

“Yes, it was a personal sorrow and no one thought of interfering with it. Yes, I once again agree with you.”

“And I had a crisis of my own, sir.”

“What was that, Manikkam?”

“I had had a row in the morning with my grandfather who wanted to be immediately taken to his time. Any amount of explaining was of no avail. He insisted that I only wanted to incarcerate him inside a photo frame.”

“What was your problem, Manikkam?”

“The real problem was I deeply felt in my heart that the time for the second travel by time had not arrived as yet. And I was sincerely praying to the Vedic saints and sages to guide me. But my grandfather’s case was since I had the machine I was only to decide to travel once more. It was not so. The first travel had taught me certain things. That I couldn’t play with the machine. There must be a specific reason for the second travel. And for that I had been awfully praying to the sages with tears in my eyes. So on the day you resigned he had operated the machine by reciting the relevant mantras in the way I would. So at about eight in the morning the machine had been put on a countdown. Since the countdown had started at about eight in the morning, I had to find a reason for the travel within twelve and a half hours. Which meant I had to be present in the darkroom at about eight-thirty that evening! And I had met you around seven  in the evening, sir!”

“But how did your grandfather know how to put the machine in a countdown mode?”

“It was easy, sir. He had been reading my mind and memorized the initial hymns that would start the countdown!”

“My, goodness! So when you met me around seven in the evening you also read my mind, Manikkam?”

“No, sir. I was an ordinary man in Chennai. So I couldn’t indulge in mind-reading. But I went into the flat while you were standing and staring at the floor like a statue, and asked my grandfather to read your mind. He told me you were being mesmerized by the idea of putting an end to your life! I immediately decided to take you with me to Kanchi of Mamallar King. But the time was around seven and in an hour’s time your permission must be got and we all should be present inside the dark room half an hour before the travel and while you two concentrate, I should meditate cross eyed and cross legged on the floor!”

“O I see, that was why you were selling me the time machine, yeah?” asked the Super Star.  

KARIKALAN AND THE TIME MACHINE--CHAPTER 90

                               KARIKALAN AND THE TIME MACHINE—CHAPTER 90

“As I studied more and more the four Vedas, sir,” Manikkam explained, “the various mantras began to have an overwhelming influence on me. There are mantras to create and destruct. By chanting the suitable mantras at the time of various sacrifices one can create as well as destruct, sir. You can destruct your enemies’ crops ripe for harvesting and you can do so many things. And you can reserve seats in the Heaven after your death and enjoy for longish years all sorts of sensual pleasures. And I wanted to create something great, sir!”

“This is one thing I can’t understand, Manikkam,” the Super Star stated with feelings. “You are the last person on the earth to have wanted to enjoy something sensual…”

“Ok, sir. I would give that to you. I am the last candidate to have wanted to create something for sensual pleasures. It would seem, sir, that I was goaded against my will. Yes, certainly I wanted to create something stupendous and significant. But I had never had the Time Machine in my mind. One early morning I had a dream in which the Machine came to me!”

“The Time Machine came to you in your dream, Manikkam?”

“Well, it’s hard to believe but that’s how I tumbled over the Time Machine, sir,” ruminated Manikkam in a hushed tone of voice. “For no known reason I had this dream repeatedly for three consecutive times and then I was hooked to it. On the fourth day, I had a very well charted-out plan, sir. And all the machine needed was the selection of various mantras mainly from the Rig Veda. But other mantras from other Vedas also came to me in dreams, sir. By that time I had the best and fool-proof formula for the time machine. The idea was to recite these Mantras one by one continuously. This had taken me all of twelve and half an hours, sir. I used the weekend holidays for that. Since my wife was not with me, I could spend the time as I wished. And I recorded all these Mantras as I recited, sir.”

“So what you have in that dark room of your flat is a tape recorder containing the recitation of these Mantras?” The Super Star asked in a hushed tone of voice. “Once the recitation was over you would be transported to wherever you wanted to, hmmm?”

“Yes, sir,” Manikkam agreed. “You have put it in a rough way, sir. After recording these mantras or hymns mainly from the Rig Veda, I had to go through a cleansing process by meditating on the Vedic saints that I would never commercialize or even try to use it as I will, sir. I had to repeat it for three months, six hours every night. It was an arduous period of time, sir. And at last, I had dreams about the previous births of mine. And when all things were over and the time machine was ready, I really wanted to visit one of my forefathers in the prehistoric period of time and make his life there easy. It was the time when Man had been fast evolving from the Ape and naturally I wanted to precipitate his growth. He was some kind of a crude scientist, sir. He was much given to ruminations. He had very good imaginations and had made various implements from stones of various shapes and kinds. I wanted to help him invent the wheel and other things to make life easy for the then world. But when I went into the dark room, sir, a house fly, and a lizard had come into the dark room. I hadn’t noticed it then as I was in deep meditation.”

“One should meditate to go to a particular place in time-travel?” asked the Super Star.

“Yes, sir,” said Manikkam, “Not just concentration, we should start praying to the Vedic saints and then repeatedly think of the time zone and the place in our mind with eyes closed, seated in a lotus pose. I did all that, but the house fly and the lizard’s presence had put a spanner in the wheel and I got tossed to the King Mamallar’s time and found this grandfather dancing with various beautiful women for the entertainment of the King and the Queen!”

“So that was how you found this grandfather?”

“Yes, sir. And since then the Time Machine has taken things into its own hands. The day you came to my flat I never knew it was for you that the Time Machne was invented by me!”

“What nonsense you are talking about, Manikkam!” the Super Star exclaimed. “You say the machine was created by you for me and me alone?”

“Yes, sir. And I would explain everything, sir!”   

     

     

KARIKALAN AND THE TIME MACHINE--CHAPTER 89

KARIKALAN AND THE TIME MACHINE—CHAPTER 89

“Ok, Manikkam,” said the Supter Star, “Let’s come to the boy, Manikkam once more. What is the position of his father? You say you read his mind and…”

“I think I have already told you, sir,” Manikkam said, “If not let me tell you now. Manikkam, the boy’s father is in charge of the Royal Kitchen. So he has some influence among the ministers and persons close to them. This also rubs the wound of Kumanan with salt. He wants to establish himself as a minister in charge of the Propagation of Sanskrit. But the King Karikalan is not that much interested in it. While he is a past master of the Language and the Vedas and Vedantas, he does not want to thrust the language on his people. He wants Sanskrit to find a foothold in his country in the natural course of time. He also has to balance the interests of the Samanar monks and the monks belonging to the Buddhism.”

“Ok, let’s come to the Time Machine once again!” the Super Star brought an end to the conversation on Manikkam, the boy.

     

     

KARIKALAN AND THE TIME MACHINE--CHAPTER 88

                      KARIKALAN AND THE TIME MACHINE—CHAPTER 88

“Every nation in every age,” said the Super Star with some intuition, “seems to have some of its own problems and issues with regard to the languages. If you as the small boy Manikkam has a problem with Sanskrit, the early period of the DMK Political Party in Tamil Nadu of our time had the problem with Hindi.”

“But Manikkam, the boy’s language issue was a real one, sir,” Manikkam came up with some sort of a point of order, “but the anti-Hindi agitation was a social issue. It got politicized by the DMK party and it garnered a rich harvest, politically speaking, I mean.” He attracted the attention of the rather volatile Super Star by this, and went on, “ The Dravidar Kazhaham and the DMK political party made it a great issue and agitated on a large scale. Tamil is a classical language even during Karikalan’s time. But one language’s greatness need not necessarily proved by spreading hatred and fear and concern about other languages. But Karikalan and latter period Cholas, Pandia’s and Chera’s did much for the growth of the Language. But they did not claim any exclusivity. This is how many Sanskrit words entered Tamil and became the household words being used by the common man even during Karikalan’s time. This despite the fact that Karikalan did not try on his own to spread Sanskrit. Though he knew the language and allowed such of the Ariyas coming from the North to take shelter under his umbrage, even as he had allowed the Samana and the Buddha religionists to spread their culture in his land.”

“Sanskrit attracted Tamil scholars as no other language attracted. Because the Sanskrit language was in many ways like the ancient Tamil language as it had beautiful structure and music. Moreover, the Tamil Pandits under Karikalan’s rule loved the well-grown literature, Scriptures and Itihasas and Puranas of the Sanskrit language. Thus it got full support from the king and the scholars. During Karikalan’s period, the Saiva Religion was the religion of the King and the subjects. The linga temple at the back of the King’s palace was a famous temple in Uraioor, the then Capital of Karikalan’s land and the presiding deity was called ‘the Uraiyoor Thevar’. People daily visited the temple and offered prayer. Apart from the capital, in villages, there were Siva temples and all the temples had linga form only to propitiate the Lord Siva. But when the Aryans came to settle down in Karikalan’s land, the Rudra of the Vedas got identified with the Linga and Parameshwaran was born. Then many a Tamil song and poem were written in glorification of the Parameshwaran and He was assigned the role of the Lord of Dissolution of the universe during pralaya or the last days of the Universe. In latter period, rich literature got written in the glorification of Lord Siva and his family. The Ganapathiyam, the cult of worshipping the Lord Vinayaga, got assimilated with Sivaism and Vinayaga and the native God, Subramanian became the sons of Lord Siva. The Devi system of worship in the Dravidiyan land was not very famous. But the Devi became the Spouse of the Lord Siva. This made large-scale literature around the family of the Lord Siva in the latter period.”

When Manikkam stopped, the Super Star commented, “You seem to have a large fund of knowledge, Manikkam unknown to the scholars of our time.”

“Yes, sir. The Sanskrit got a good footing in Karikalan’s time and Karikalan himself was well-versed in the language and the rich literature of Sanskrit language. These are the facts I came to have by reading the minds of several persons like your namesake, Sivanesar and others including the ministers of Karikalan’s court. So there is no wonder that I happen to know many things about Karikalan that our present scholars in India and Chennai do not know! Unlike today, scholars at Karikalan’s court, and in the Debating Societies Sanskrit claimed a high place. There were give and take between the scholars. The Sanskrit scholars also were very much interested in the high Dravidian Culture and its rich Langage, Tamil and its structure and literature. They read avidly the ‘Tholkappiyam’ the expansive Tamil Grammar. The Grammarian, Tholkapiar was considered as great as Panini of the Sanskrit Language by the Sanskrit Scholars. All these made the way for the mingling of the blood between the Tamils and the Ariyas. And a new people evolved with fair colour with Dravidian features. Since the Ariyans worshipped the Brahman, a development from the Vedic period to the period of the Upanishad, these new people were called Brahmanas in Tamil.”

                                                                 A PUBLIC NOTICE

OWING TO UNAVOIDABLE CIRCUMSTANCES, MY NEXT POSTING WILL BE ON THE FOURTEENTH OR FIFTEENTH OF THIS MONTH. THE INCONVENIENCE TO THE READERS IS REGRETTED.

KARIKALAN AND THE TIME MACHINE--CHAPTER 87

                             KARIKALAN AND THE TIME MACHINE—CHAPTER 87

“Because of his proficiency in a language, the boy is in danger.” The Super Star could not believe in what Manikkam of Chennai said to him. “Do you know what would happen to the boy, Manikkam?”

“His parents would take him to Kanchi, sir”.

“Because of his proficiency, the boy is going out of the country, yeah?” and the Super Star thought of something else. “Even in our period, there was anti-Hindi agitation and because of a dispute relating to Hindi scores of people had to die!”

“Anti-Hindi agitation started as a social problem of a particular people, sir,” Manikkam said, “and soon it got changed into a political agitation. The agitation got politicized. Someone in Pandit Nehru’s government had started the totally unwarranted thing by sending an order that all public servants must sign in the register kept at the public offices in Hindi. Simply because one learnt to sign in Hindi the language could not have flourish in South India. But it is a fact that if that had been allowed more and more force would have been used to spread Hindi. But the boy Manikkam has to go from here to Kanchi is a true problem relating to a language, sir.” Manikkam had an air of being forthright in his viewpoint.

“How do you say that?” asked, “Can you explain it further?”

“The Chera Kings, the Chola kings and the Pandiya kings were great patrons of the Tamil Language. But they did not have a hatred of other languages that had come from North India, namely, Sanskrit. Indeed Karikalan showed a great Interest in the new language. Before that, he had known about the greatness of the Mandarin, Greek, Latin languages. He had commercial contact with all of them. He sent his men to these countries and to Grees also. He welcomed scholars from these countries too. He loved in getting to be informed about the great cultures of these countries. And this was how King Karikalan showed much interest in Sanskrit. There is a Sanscrit Scholar in his Court, apart from the Pandit at the Siva Temple. Kabaligan naturally wanted to propitiate the Devil by sacrificing a boy or girl knowing Sanscrit and get Kumanan a ministerial berth in the ministry of the King Karikalan.”

“So Kumanan is a Sanscrit Scholar?”

“No, but he has a good grounding in the language. And all he wants is a berth in the King’s ministry.”

“What kind of job he expects, Manikkam?”

“Something like a minister for the propagation of Sanskrit!”

“And the king is so much interested in the new language?”

“It’s not a new language to him. He knows the language well enough. He is very much interested in Sanskrit Literature. We will get to know it personally when we see him in person!”

“And Kumanan is angling for the job in his ministry?”

“Yes, sir. But the King is not that much interested that his subjects should learn the language. And that’s why Kumanan is interested in Kabaligan’s sacrifice to influence the mind of the King.”

“I have a basic question, Manikkam.”

“Yes, sir?”

“How do you know all these things personally?”

“I read the mind of the father of the boy, Manikkam, sir. He is in charge of the Royal Kitchen. He gets know juicy tidbits like this.”

KARIKALAN AND THE TIME MACHINE--CHAPTER 86

                              KARIKALAN AND THE TIME MACHINE—CHAPTER 86

“Ok, Manikkam,” said the Super Star, “the small boy himself told me this. What’s so special about it?”

“You do know only what he said, sir.” Manikkam’s face was wreathed in a bitter smile. “He himself knows not what is in store for him!”

“That’s a most unkind word to say about the boy,” the Super Star was much worried by Manikkam’s words. “You say something is gonna happen to him?”

“Yes, sir, at least there’s a possibility. Not immediately, sir. But in future.”

“Present or past, what do you mean? We are living in the past, ourselves!”

“All the problems started when his Pandit asked him to bring his father, sir,” said Manikkam. 

“How now, tell me everything, Manikkam. If it is possible I am going to help him! He is such a nice boy.”

“Nobody could help him, sir. But his parents will have to go to someplace other than here. That’s for sure!”

“How do you say it all started with his Pandit’s asking his father to see him, Manikkam?”

“As you should know, sir, Kabaligan has for long been searching for a suitable sacrificial object. He or she should be prepubescent and a good scholar in the Sanskrit language!”

“O, my God! And how do you join up the two, Manikkam?”

“The boy’s Pandit got him bring his father, sir. When Manikkam, the boy’s father went to see the Pandit, the latter told the father that Manikkam the boy was a natural for the language. And the pandit asked for his permission to teach him, the boy, exclusively on Sanskrit literature, like the Four Vedas and the Upanishads and Bhagavad Gita and the Brahma Sutra. This, apart from the erudition in Sanskrit Puranas and Itihasas! The pandit was prepared to teach him the whole Sanskrit Literature so that the small boy could take his place when he is old enough! Naturally, the happy father of Manikkam, the small boy, gave the green signal. And even now the boy is given studies in pure Sanskrit Literature only!”

“But this is just some 50 years after the death of Jesus Christ, Manikkam,” the Super Star went on, “and already the Four Vedas and Vedandas were known here in Karikalan’s time?”

“You don’t know about Karikalan, sir. But we will get to know he himself is a scholar. When the time is correct we will see him teach Sanskrit Literature to his own son. But you’ll have to wait for some more time!”

“Gosh, Manikkam! Nobody has written about Karikalan being a scholar in the Sanskrit language!”

“You would come to know so much about him, sir that History of his age does not know!”

“But Karikalan had a son?”

“Yes, of course, sir!”

“Then why did his grandson was crowned a king after Karikalan!”

“That’s putting the cart in front of the horse, sir” Manikkam smiled. “You will have to wait for some more time!”

“And tell me about you, Manikkam. You are the boy here, aren’t you?”

“Yes, sir. And because of the Pandit’s ardour for Manikkam, the small boy, some boys spoke about it at home and the word got around. And Kabaligan got to hear about it. And he has designs on young Manikkam, sir!”

“But that rascal, Kabaligan could have the Pandit for his sacrifice…”

“He is no prepubescent boy, sir!” Manikkam laughed despite the knowledge of the sword hanging over him as the small boy here in Chola’s Country.

KARIKALAN AND THE TIME MACHINE --CHAPTER 85

                             KARIKALAN AND THE TIME MACHINE—CHAPTER 85

The Super Star waited for some time and expected Manikkam to speak. But while he seemed to be in no mood to speak, the Super Star said generally, “Why, sir” he took a long indrawn breath, “Why did it happen to you.  I mean…sorry, I have  no solution for your prob…”

“That’s quite all right, sir.” Manikkam did not lose his composure.

“No…sir…what I want to say is…why are you not like others, sir. Ha! Ha! Ha!” the Super Star laughed self-consciously. “What I wanted to say was something different!”

“You saw me, sir,” Manikkam asked, “in that house me as a small boy?”

The Super Star gave a start. “Why, what’s wrong with the small chap, your namesake? If you look at him you’d get an idea how nice it would be that if we had such a son. Apart from that…?”

 “There’s something wrong with the boy, sir,” Manikkam said. “You can’t tell it just by looking at him, sir. He’s quite a genius in his own right in Sanskrit. But his written Tamil is awful. The Pandit who is conducting class believes he is born for Sanskrit. Sanskrit comes as easily and normally as swimming to a fishling. That boy is me, you understand, sir.”

“You mean you are born here as Manikkam, the boy some two thousand years ago, Manikkam?”

“Yes, sir. And even two thousand years ago I had had a passion for Sanscrit. Then how could it be said I might have a bit different for the sake of my wife, sir?”

“Manikkam, you have a point,” agreed the Super Star. “But how would you explain away your grandfather. He is no scholar. He is after women even at this ripe old age!”

“I have no categorical answer to that, sir,” said Manikkam with a rueful smile. “He is an aberration. I think the small boy had some latent desire to chase women when he grew older, but his Sanscrit status might not have allowed that. So the desire must have been lain in his subconscious and came to the fore when he was reborn in Mamallar’s Kanchi. And leaving back every other thing my grandfather has taken to women as his mission!”

“Are you sure, Manikkam that after your grandfather you were reborn in Chennai of our time? I mean, in between your grandfather and You, there might have been any number of Manikkams!”

“No, sir. This small boy Manikkam lived a life of a great Sanskrit Pandit and then was born in Mamallan’s Kanchi. That is my grandfather sitting here. And after my grandfather I was born in Chennai as Manikkam, your brother-in-law! If there was any other Manikkams the Time Machine might have gone there especially as it has taken things into its able hands. What should have happened is my grandfather must have lived the life of this small chap Manikkam yearned in his elderly life. And after my grandfather was dead, his Atman or Soul must have been in Heaven enjoying the life there and must have returned back as me in Chennai!”

“But in between so many centuries have passed, Manikkam!”

“Yes, sir. In Bhagavad Gita Sri Krishna says that the soul goes with the mind and other sheaths sans the human body to the world above and live there for a long time before returning back to earth’s plane. And since I have exhausted my carnal desires, the power of this small boy Manikkam alone works out the karma in me. That’s why I find it easy to learn Sanskrit and apply my mind to the Vedas.”

The Super Star thought about what the small boy said a while ago… “Yes, Manikkam, sir. The small Manikkam told me about his proficiency a while back at his home!”

KARIKALAN AND THE TIME MACHINE, CHAPTER 84

                               KARIKALAN AND THE TIME MACHINE –CHAPTER 84

“Manikkam, you speak so much,” the Super Star said, “From what you say it is understandable that even now you are feeling so much for her. I can also understand that even when your wife’s problems last it was not as if you were completely oblivious of the same. Why didn’t you go the half the way in compromising your maniacal interest in the Vedas and take her to the cinema and parties? In all the parties given by us, the last man and his family stood invited. And you knew the fact. If you asked me, I’d say you were more than a bit selfish. But you seem to be ready to take her back with your child. Why didn’t you try?”

“Because I knew the same thing would be repeated, sir. That’s why I said it would be a blessing if both the spouses had similar interest. Supposing she was a bit more religious than the normal housewives, we could have hit it off nicely.  We were poles apart in our interest, sir.”  

“But the question is if you tried to make amends by going to her mother’s and ask her to come to live with you.” The Super Star insisted.

“I did just that, sir!”

“You don’t say?”

“Yes, I say sir! And she too came with me. But all the parties I attended with her turned disastrous for her!”

“How come, Manikkam?”

“I am not a great conversationalist in the technical sense of the term, sir. Those matters I am interested in I could speak for hours. But on matters, I am not interested in I could only be civil to other people who spoke non-stop about the next raise, the latest movie and things that couldn’t interest me at all. So after coming back home, every time, I mean, sir, my wife would become a Goddess of Destruction and by showing her volatile emotions. “Why couldn’t you talk sweetly about small and interesting things? The other folks could hardly be civil to you. You tested their patience. The conversation does not mean keep saying ‘Yes, yes and yes.’ There are somethings as reciprocation. You never contribute to the conversation, there. This is how you would behave, what’s the point of going to and attending the parties?” And even now, sir, I wouldn’t blame her. We are just having diametrically different interests.”

“So?”

“So, at last, we decided it would be good for her and the daughter to stay at her mother’s. And…” Manikkam fell silent.

“Gosh!” the Super Star internally exploded, “Why did we butt into the personal life of a good and superb guy like Manikkam, the inventor of the Time Machine?”

KARIKALAN AND THE TIME MACHINE --CHAPTER 83

                                    KARIKALAN AND THE TIME MACHINE 83

The Super Star thought, “Ok, our boy is coming slowly to the Time Machine. Good! Ok, if your wife did not have it in her that would make her understand your greatness, leave it, man. It’s not your mistake. ”

“She could not go to a cinema. And Chennai was new to her. So she could not pluck the courage to go to a cinema with our child. She could not attend a party. In our community, someone would be giving a party often, as you know, sir. But she could not go to any of them. Because I could not go with her. She knew how fanatically I applied myself to the study of the Vedas. She wouldn’t insist on my accompanying her. And when I asked why she shouldn’t go on her own with the daughter, she would say, “others ask why you never give a party. And moreover, they ask about you and ask, ‘Why is your husband an introvert? He doesn’t move with us freely!’ and at such times she would naturally have to cut a sorry figure.”

There was silence for some time. “God!” the Super Star thought, “People like Manikkam should never marry in life! And if at all they married, it should be with a girl who could understand his genius better.”

“For me, there was a tension-filled search. And she hated it. She would scold me often. ‘You around your small world’, she would advise me, sir. ‘See if there is one person like you. Why are you this way?  And why did you marry me? You must have known about you. Why did you marry me? To kill me by not giving your society like this?’ she would ask me, teary-eyed. But however I tried, sir, I couldn’t change myself. Every day I existed only for the study of the Vedas. Slowly and inexorably the Vedic saints and sages started to have an overmastering pull on my psyche. It was as if I could not live away from my books. Though my educational qualifications were enough to become a clerk or something like that, I deliberately opted for the watchman’s post, sir. Because I could write down some hymns and go through them while I was sitting in my chair and ruminate over the hymns!”