അമ്മാമ പ്ലാവ് - Uncle jack fruit tree

On the right is a jack fruit tree. I feel very nostalgic when I see it. We call it AmmaamaPlaav (Uncle jackfruit tree). Earlier many houses in Kerala had Muthassiplaav or Muthassimaav (granny jack_fruit tree or granny mango tree) . That was a time when houses were in large compounds. Now the situation is changed. Land got fragmented and nobody is having huge trees on a small plot of land.

This tree was planted by my grand ( I would prefer to say great) uncle Late Ammassam Veettil Konthunni Nair, whom we used to call Ammaama. The tree got the name because of this.

It has been there for more than 50 years now. I have been seeing it for the past 45 years!. Just like me it has started getting age related problems. Some of its branches got broken in storm & rain during last few years.

You can say that it grew with me. I must say on its own. Nobody looked after it. It is situated just behind our ancestral house called Pathaayappura. Its fruit is not that good compared to other jackfruits. But it has some special place in our minds. It has been there on the way to our temple / tank. So it can not be missed. I remember when it was a very young tree. I also remember the first fruit on it. Above all I remember that underneath the tree an urn containing Ammaama’s ashes were buried.

Now the house and the compound all are abandoned .Nobody stays in Pathaayappura. We all grew up and moved to distant places. Poor Ammaamaplaav it could not move out.

By the way the photograph is Ali-Babbed from my nephew Srijith unni. :)

Read his blog: (He is a prolific blogger !)
http://srijithunni.blogspot.com

ഗാന്ധിജി ഒരു ഓര്മ

ഇരക്കുള്ളതൊക്കെ ഇവിടുണ്ടെന്നാകിലും
ദുരയക്കുള്ളതീ ഭൂമിയിലില്ല കൂട്ടരെ
കൊടുങ്കാറ്റ് പോലോരാളീ വഴി ചൊല്ലിപ്പോയ്
കൊടുത്താര് ചെവി യാ മഹാനുഭാവനായ്?

Decreasing number of Crows in Kerala.

കൂരിരുട്ടിന്റെ കിടാത്തി നിനക്കെന്തു പറ്റി ?


I am deeply worried about this. Whats happening to our crows?
Last time I visited my native place in Kerala I looked for crows. There were none.
Couple of years back I had enquired with my Aunt and she had told me that the number is depleting alarmingly. No one seems to notice it.

Number of houses have increased. This is causing tremendous pressure on land. The big trees are cut. Other than coconut trees there are very few trees now.
They are smaller in nature and can not be used to build nest. Our poor village crows are not used to build nest on buildings yet.

Where did they go? We urgently need research on this.

I remember some poems recited in childhood :

Kooriruttinte Kidaathiyennaal
Sooryaprakashathinutta thozhi
Cheethakal Kothivalikkukilu-
mettavum vrithi vedippezhunnol

(Daughter of pitchy darkness
but a friend of sunny brightness
She pecks on garbage smelly,
Yet she is spick, span and shiny! )
(own traslation :))

Another one from Sippi Pallippuram ( who wrote several poems for children):

Karutha kottum Kaalurayum
Kakke neeyoru vakkeelo
Pakshi kkotathi vakkeelo ?

(Long black gown
and long black coat
Are you a lawyer
in the winged folks court ? )

Salted Mango Pickle !

The story of pickle and Kothazham is very interesting. The main temple in Kothazham is that of Lord Shiva, the destroyer in Hindu pantheon. The imposing temple atop a small hillock, with 39 steps has a sprawling complex with a huge pond mainly for devotees to take a dip before entering the temple precincts and the priests to bathe before beginning the pujas.

In olden days when the village had a large number of jackfruit and mango trees, people used to preserve it for non-seasonal use. And for making pickle, they used to dump the mangos into the pond, which had salty water those days. (There is some incongruity in the belief of salt water in the pond at a place on the Eastern Ghats. This story could have taken place, if at all it did, at some place near the seashore. But by fate accompli befell on Kothazham).


Now after a couple of months or so when the pickle was ready, the villagers gathered around the pond to collect every person's share. First one villager tied a big Chinese earthen pot used to preserve pickles onto his neck and jumped into the pond. As he did not come up as expected after some time, other got panicky, not for the safety of the first jumper, but the very thought that he might be collecting the whole pickle. So they all followed suit, one by one and jumped into the pond with the big earthen pot tied onto their neck.

And in no time, a large number of able-bodied men in Kothazham went down the pond, never to return with the pickle they were supposed to fetch!

(courtsey - N.B.Nair - ANI Delhi )

Ceiling Inside Taj

We have seen many pictures of Taj Mahal.
But have you seen anything like this?
This is the ceiling view of Taj.
Is n't it beautiful?
Taj is beautiful from inside as well. ;)

ZAZEN - Sitting practise - Zen -> Dhyaan

Zen Buddhist Texts talks about the Sitting - Not the simply sitting but Zen meditative sitting.

Home Sitting -zazen- with our eyes focused on the hard wood floor, the polish reflects the falling snow outside the window. We watch our breath passing through our body. We are aware of the present moment. Sit on the forward third of a chair or cushion. Arrange your legs in a position you can maintain comfortably. In the half-lotus position, place your left leg on your right thigh (or vice versa). In the full-lotus position , put your feet on opposite thighs. In the Burmese position, tuck both your feet together near your crotch. You may also sit simply with your legs tucked in close to your body, but be sure that your weight is distributed evenly on three points: Both of your knees on the ground and your buttocks on the round cushion. On a chair, keep your knees apart about the width of your shoulders, feet firmly planted on the floor. Sit straight up but not rigid. Straighten and extend your spine, keeping it naturally upright, centering your balance in the lower abdomen. Chest back, stomach in. Imagine a straight vertical line through your nose to your navel Sway your body gently from left to right, until you naturally come to a point of stillness on your cushion. Tighten your "hara" the area about 2 inches below your navel. Look to the floor about 3 to 4 feet in front of your body,eyes neither fully opened nor closed. If the eyes are closed, you might start to daydream or visualize things. Place your hands on your lap with the one palm up and your other hand (palm up) resting on your lower hand, thumb-tips lightly touching, forming a horizontal oval. This is the mudra of zazen, in which all things are unified. Place the sides of the little fingers against your abdomen, a few inches below the navel, harmonizing your center of gravity with the mudra. Place your concentration there, or if you grow drowsy, concentrate your attention on your forehead between your eyes. Take three breaths, inhaling with the stomach going out instead of just expanding the chest, then exhale fully. Let your breath settle into its natural rhythm. With proper physical posture, your breathing will flow naturally into your lower abdomen. Sit still and begin to count your breathing, 1 on the inhale, 2 on the exhale, etc up to 10, then start over. Getting to 10 is not the point, if you can't keep track up to 10 (many beginners can't -- it's surprisingly difficult) count as high as you can, even if it is only 3 or 4, and start over. If you lose count or get to 10, start over. Keep counting. Be attentive to everything: your count, your breathing, the sounds and smells and feelings around you. At the end of your sitting period, gently sway your body from right to left. Stretch out your legs; be sure they have feeling before standing. Practice every day for at least ten to fifteen minutes (preferably 25).

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Courtsey Portland Zen community

Aztec Wheel

I love this Pic. Hope my readers also will love it. Intrinsic design and clarity of photograph is amazing. It is an Aztec calendar wheel which looks like a Konark Dharma wheel on the right side.

Amazing similarities exists between Asian Indians and Amer-indians!

Aztec indians & Inca Indians were sunworshippers and amazingly Konark ruins are of Sun temple.