The Boy Who Asked Why | A Ponmanipudi Story

The Boy Who Asked Why

"If you wanted to find Narayana Shastrigal in Ponmanipudi, you never needed to ask. Before sunrise, everyone knew exactly where he would be."

Long before the sun dawned on  Ponmanipudi...Srirangam Narayana Shastrigal was already awake....and active...

He always woke before the birds, not because he had to.....but because...he had forgotten how not to...

The first sound every morning...of course, after morning ablutions, was brass....a polished brass jug, filled the clear water, the previous night....

Shastrigal took one long drink from the jug, eyes closed, as though greeting an old friend.

Then came the long walk. Not just exercise, but conversations...with life...

Shastrigal stopped beside the mango tree.

"Too many flowers."

He smiled.

"You'll tire yourself."

He touched the jasmine creeper.

"No hurry."

A butterfly landed on his shoulder.

He bowed slightly.

"Good morning."

Near the pond...Swara and Prana, the two turtles stared without expression...

"So."

he said.

"You've solved the world yet?"

Neither replied.

Shastrigal seemed pleased....ah! what glory in nature each day....

By then...four shadows had joined him...Sita, Arjuna, April, Mylo...in a slow, active walk...

A little distance behind...the calf, Cauvery hurried awkwardly to catch up...

"Mylo..."

said Shastrigal..

"Don't pretend you're leading us."

"You only discovered this path yesterday."

Mylo wagged his crooked tail furiously, unashamed.

They reached the Satya Mandapa just as dawn stretched across Brindlemalai....

A large brass tumbler of dark Kumbakonam filter coffee waited. Strong enough...people claimed...to wake even the sleeping gods.

The dogs found their usual places in the Mandapa..

Arjuna lay directly before Shastrigal.

Sita curled near the eastern pillar, content to laze.

April chose the coolest stone.

Mylo wandered three circles...changed his mind twice...and finally collapsed exactly where everyone would trip over him...

"Strategic, clever lad."

Shastrigal nodded..

The first chant rose softly. Then another, as the air warmed up and the old Mandapa slowly filled with ancient sounds...

Words that had crossed centuries...without ever becoming old. Meaning of life....to one who is blessed....to understand.....

Halfway through the second hymn...Arjuna yawned.

"I saw that."

said Shastrigal.

Arjuna opened one eye.

Closed it again.

"Sleeping during the Rigveda chants?"

One lazy thump of the tail.

Nothing more.....nothing required...

Mylo looked extremely attentive....mostly because he hoped breakfast would follow...ah! crisp vada maybe!

Just then...small footsteps.

"Tatha..."

Chami tumbled in, hair untidy,  violin case hanging crookedly, one slipper, other foot bare.

Nobody asked. Everybody watched...

Chami touched Tatha's feet and sat beside Shastrigal, sniffling..

listened for exactly... twenty-three seconds...

"Tatha..."

"Hmm?"

"Why do you read every day?"

Shastrigal continued chanting....finished the verse and slowly closed the book. And slowly  gazed at the sunrise....

"I don't know."

Chami blinked.

"You don't know?"

"I forgot."

"You forgot why?"

"No."

Shastrigal smiled.

"I forgot when it stopped feeling like work."

Silence.....total....the dogs gazed....

Chami frowned.

"Ayoo! but..."

"You're eighty-eight."

"So?"

"What are you trying to become?"

Shastrigal looked genuinely surprised.

"Become?"

"Yes."

Shastrigal laughed.

"My dear Chami..."

"I've spent eighty-eight years..."

"...trying to become slightly less foolish than yesterday."

Chami considered this carefully, not understanding fully.....

"So...tatha..."

"You've finished learning?"

At that exact moment...Mylo found a dry leaf falling into Mandapa.... He barked at it, jumped backwards and then barked again...

Everyone watched. Even the leaf seemed confused....

Shastrigal pointed.

"There."

"What?"

"Mylo."

"What about him?"

"He barked."

"Yes."

"He learnt."

"What?"

"That the leaf wasn't dangerous."

Mylo cautiously sniffed the fallen leaf...

Then proudly carried it away....victorious....yeah!

Shastrigal smiled.

"He'll probably bark at another leaf tomorrow."

Chami laughed.

"So Mylo silly."

"So am I."

said Shastrigal.

"You?"

"I still become impatient."

"I still forget names."

"I still think I know more than I do."

Tatha took another sip of coffee.

"So every morning..."

"I remind myself again."

"With the Vedas?"

"Sometimes."

"Sometimes with silence."

"Sometimes with dogs."

"And sometimes..."

he looked at Chami.....

"...with difficult grandchildren."

"Ayoo! Tatha!"

They both laughed.

Chami opened his violin case, and played three notes....

The third squeaked so badly...even April lifted her head as if knowing, nothing will come out of it.....

"Ayyo."

Chami groaned.

"Elleee Chami, Go, Again."

said Shastrigal.

"I'll make the same mistake."

"I hope so."

"Why?"

"Otherwise..."

Shastrigal smiled quietly....

"...how will tomorrow recognise you?"

No sermon followed.....no explanation or advice...all was quiet....

The violin began again.

This time...the third note lasted a little longer, sounded more musical....Arjuna cocked an eye in appreciation..

Years later...whenever I entered the Satya Mandapa before sunrise...I always smiled at the same thought....

The Vedas had not made Narayana Shastrigal extraordinary. Neither had meditation. Nor discipline......eh...

What made him remarkable...was that at eighty-eight...he still behaved like a man who believed...tomorrow had something left to teach him...

Outside...Mylo barked triumphantly...at another leaf.

Apparently...both of them...were still learning🌿.

Welcome to Ponmanipudi... where nothing is as it seems.

Author's Note

With gratitude to my Appa, whose quiet way of encouraging curiosity inspired this story.

Some memories never leave us. They simply become stories.

Sriranga V.N.