Lakshmi

Chapter 3 The Indicator Bird

The kitten, hiding inside behind  the thick leaves of the acacia tree, never  purred nor meowed. It slightly grinned like a Cheshire Cat, lifting up its whiskers a little. 

The kitten was a music lover,  and a versatile dancer more profoundly trained than the future to be born  Columbian Shakira Shakira or Jennifer Lopez. It had the capacity to defeat the future Michael Jackson.

 It visualized the yet to be composed,  the bests of musics,  from Mozart to Beethoven, from the Butterfly music of Chinese to Elvis Presley. It was updating itself with current Karnatic music from  South India to the emerging Brazilian Samba. 

It was not from the human  earth, but from the Dwarf galaxy of the Kitten world. It knew the future of the earth world. 

It was honestly looking forward to the end days of the universe, when the chief of the Dwarf Galaxy would  guide and install a better  Governance on the the whole universe,  with the Dwarf Galaxy kittens serving as invisible angels to every human child then born. 

Most important above all the revelations was the kittens  would never die, but remain ever as  immortal. Designed to be immortal;  every beings in Dwarf Galaxy were immortal. Kitten appreciated that status. That immortality was  assigned only to few Galaxies very surprisingly.

The kitten while doing its Doctoral  study, it reviewed human history, from the history of ancient Egypt to the current history as of now. It learnt  thousands of languages and scripts from the cosmos. It studied that Stars and Galaxies were signaling, and communicating with the  creatures of the Earth of  the Milky Way for a better world. 

Because the CEO of the Universe had laid the responsibility of monitoring the human earth to the Dwarf Galaxy. Kitten, as per the Dwarf News Paper, and  as per the Dwarf Television  Channel, however, got disappointed because humans were not listening to the voices of the Dwarf Galaxy, and  of the other stars. The disobedience of human was preventing the unique order of the Universe.

Humans, it felt, were creatures, adamant and egoistic, ever had the rebellious nature of not listening even to the sun and moon. The sun and the moon were created by the CEO of the universe to support each other and therefore they  were working in close coordination with each other, one ruling the day, and the other ruling by night in close cooperation with stars and nebulae. 

But humans had preferred a destructive approach against the surrounding Galaxies, and were in lusts  after money, gold, and silver than on the desired honesty that demanded  preservation of earth and its noble creatures. Kitten felt that lust must be dangerous. 

The kitten descended to human earth on the command being given  by the Dwarf elders; likewise the other kittens had  reached human earth to making or transforming the  order in Universe from evil to good. The kitten, it recalled,  had  been recruited by the elders of the Dwarf Galaxy for this good objective of transforming Madurai area, in South India, especially to the Thirumayam fort. It studied the grandfather of Karuppiah, and then decided to be the guardian of  Karuppiah. Its inbuilt  electro signals indicated  that an unique girl from Thirumayam, who was worthy of thousands of other girls  had started to love Karuppiah, so it felt.

As one among the celestial citizens,  of the Dwarf Galaxy, in a wide area of three hundred sextillion stars of this great universe, the kitten knew from which planet of the Dwarf Galaxy,  it had come from. It had a profound knowledge of geography, metaphysics, mathematics, and biology, besides history, and all life sciences that were meant for the universe. 

It had completed its Doctoral studies from the   School of Research and  library of Dwarf Galaxy. It's research  thesis was on ' The Cats of the ancient Egyptians". It could do the doctoral studies in three Dwarf years. Dr. Kitten.

It was encouraged  by her librarian, who said that her  forefathers were in Ancient Egypt, guiding the  Egyptians for better life, protecting them, specifically the Pharoas from the  venomous snakes and scorpions. It knew that the delta of the river Nile was designed  in the form of the hood of the  big  Cobra snake,and its body was winding down towards south  as far as to the future Aswan Dam, which was going to be built in. It had visited, for its research, the cities of Thebes and Memphis and the beautiful temple Luxor.It also knew the Temple of Hatshepsut the foster mother of Musa, the prophet. Librarian also had informed the kitten that Dwarf Galaxy was assigned to watch the human earth, since the formation of the human earth.

 The kitten  prided in the history of her great grandparents, who lived in Ancient Egypt, and who were worshipped as deities of power, of wealth and healing, and as a symbol of Ra the supreme god. It also knew that the book of the dead had been placed at  the necropolis, or at  the city of the dead, having  buried in one of the pyramids. It was aware that several cats had been given royal funerals, along with dead Pharaohs, and had been mummified with great reverence; but all these cats had only died mystically, but by fact they all had  migrated into the present town Y2Y2 at one of the planet in the Dwarf Galaxy.

It recalled the day that the Chief Executive Officer of the Universe summoned the elders of A2Z2 planet, of the Dwarf Galaxy, and held a brief meeting, requesting the elders of A2Z2 have a review of the Human Earth.

Elders of the A2Z2 planet, accordingly, met. There were twenty eight  elders altogether. Each elder was reflecting upon the life in the human earth. The bearded one, aged more than the others, who was  in charge of Asian countries, along with five  other elders in his team, spoke first. It recalled the positive works of millions of kittens in Asia to setting Asia right according to the standard of the CEO of the universe. It said that India had been with eleven  thousands of kittens from the Dwarf Kitten Army. 

The kitten knew  that the kitten army had mixed up with the kittens of the human earth. Only the kitten army individuals knew who were from Dwarf Galaxy and who were not from. Kitten army had been given a strict order as to not growing up as a cat of the human earth, but be remain ever as a  dwarf kitten on this human earth, until their mission on human earth was completed.

Recalling the decisions of its elders of A2Z2, it remembered how it was assigned to Madurai Nayak kings area, and how it  took an interesting travel from Madurai to Thirumayam fort, by hopping and jumping over the  top hills of the Elephant rock, the Pari hills, crossing over the Thulaiyanoor hills, meeting other kittens, also the earth cats. It thus arrived the Thirumayam fort. It also remembered its marathon running, following the horsemen from the fort to this hamlet of people, which the elite society considered poor and uncivilized.

It felt funny at the attitudes and actions of the elite society of the  Madurai Nayak kingdom, to considering the Lakshmipuram hamlet communities, and other similar communities,  who labour and toil on the land and producing grains for food, as uncivilized. 

If uncivilized could  produce food, it thought that naturally the food grain had ought to be polluted. It laughed at the irony that elite Society considered food as divine, while those producing food as uncivilized. It smiled at the foolishness of society and felt the evil minded priestly class in the Madurai kingdom  who guided  the society were also fools, as the most self centered fools. 

It wanted to go back to Madurai some times when it was free, taking a break from the  recording  events at Thirumayam fort, and to  prioritizingly read and re read  the Nayak kings' true  and original history records, which were written by a group of Dwarf Galaxy kitten army, and hidden and preserved,  in a big library of documents, beneath the foundation stones of the Sancto sanctorium of  the statue of the Madurai Meenakshi goddess.

 It knew that no one at that temple knew of that library excepting the rats roaming around the temple. It also knew that tonnes of gold had been buried in that library, as emergency aid by the late  king Thirumalai Nayak, at a time of war, or a heavy drought. It was aware of the sacred passage that was leading into that library, as per the instructions of the Madurai living Dwarf Galaxy kittens.

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The kittens' roaming thoughts now came into an abrupt halt. It once again heard the drum beat. Twisting first  its head all around, the kitten now watched all the events. First it saw the departure of the horsemen, then saw the body of the grandfather being  lifted up and carried towards the hamlet. It heard the sad cries of Karuppiah following those who carried the  body of his grandfather. The women and children started to wail.

It listened to  the painful  howling of dogs in the hamlet, including the cry of dog tiger. It  heard the beating of drums from the hamlet that announced the departure of a soul into eternity with Ayyanar. It was in pain when it heard the pathetic cries of the women and children in the hamlet. It pitied Karuppiah. It decided to do good things to Karuppiah, the hero with bravery and intellect. It had been assigned with that responsibility. While it took that decision, its heart vibrated with positive thuds.

It knew it can take another form of life, as a different avatar, as it had the capacity of becoming either a dog, or a bird, or with any other form as per its wish. It now became an indicator bird. Since indicator birds were  coloured as brown earth, it could easily hide itself from the prying eyes of other birds.

 It then comfortably perched itself on another hay barn to watch over the processes of funeral and burial of the grandfather of Karuppiah. It purposefully never chirped. It was afraid at the  attention from other indicator birds; it saw such and other birds  now were sitting on a tall tree way afar from the hay barns.

The burial took an urgency. The older men dug up a large wash  pit near the house. They fenced the pit with old sarees belonging to the mother of Karuppiah. They then carried the body of grandfather closer to the pit, inside the fence so children and women could not see the dead body being washed. The working men poured seven mud pots of water on the naked body and washed the body with oil and turmeric paste. 

They then wrapped up the body with a new dhoti. They carried  the body back to the entrance of the house of Karuppiah and laid it on the prepared leaf pyre. It was customary to prepare a pyre  with leaves of the coconut trees, with attached bamboos to lift and carry the dead. The pyre required four strong persons to carry it upto the graveyard.

Both breast beating with heavy wailing from the women and from the children  now resumed bigger and louder. The old women lamented and  sang praises on  the bravery and knowledge of the deceased man. 

The grandfather was admired as an intellectual. Because of his hard work, they had  the land on which they worked as farmers. Drum beaters now were back with their beatings. Another four men were already at the graveyard, preparing an eight feet by four feet dug pit for the grandfather for  his final abode. 

The children brought wild flowers and offered them at the feets and on the chest of the deceased grandfather, now lying on the leaf pyre, and knelt down before the body playing their tribute.

Karuppiah saw the face of his grandfather in tears. He recalled the vast knowledge of his grandfather. In appearance the grandfather was a short man, but had  heavy knowledge of readings of old Tamil literatures. He learned them from the  Buddhist monks from the Thulaiyanoor hills. Karuppiah thought, "He had to explore the records the grandfather  had stored for him at the horse stable, and he wished  to make a visit to the Thulaiyanoor hill to meet the monks, on the way to Thirumayam fort".

There was a disturbance at the breast beating. A voice cried. ' Give way to our local priest'. Karuppiah now  saw the  priest of the Ayyanar deity, with his bald head  entering  the hamlet with a bunch of neem leaves dipped in turmeric water. The crowd surrounded around the body gave way to the priest to come near the body.

The priest loudly prayed to the deity Ayyanar and to the female goddess Lakshmi, who was residing at the 'grove of the  bunyan trees',  located at a long distance from the hamlet, in the midst of the farmers' ragi field. 

The priest then sprinkled the turmeric water on the body,  a semblance to the committal of the body to the earth, a spiritual  inscription on the body of the deceased. Turmeric was known as the healing medicine, from the childhood until  the grave. Lakshmipuram hamlet never believed in after life. There was no after life, as per the vulnerable communities.

While the body was prepared for the final yatra  towards the graveyard, a group of elderly women were cooking and making ready " the  ragi porridge"  for the use of the entire hamlet. They wanted the  priority of serving first to the kids and infants, and other vulnerable, after the graveyard event. 

They were making pots of turmeric water ready to be used by children and adults, for ritual wash of hands and legs. They waited for the return of the community  from the graveyard, after the community had finished the community bathing  in the larger agriculture tank. Elderly women were also organizing banana leaf made " Thonnai cone  cups" in abundance  to hold the  ragi porridge.

The sun had now  moved seventy degrees up from the horizon. Hamlet community began to feel the growing heat from the sun, but yet they were happy a cool breeze was giving them comfort from the early dawn.

Graveyard was  at a walkable distance from the hamlet, and that made the small children also walk up to the graveyard site to watch at the final rites of the grandfather. Children saw the body of the grandfather arrive at the area where his pit was ready. 

They saw the entire men and women surrounding the dugpit meant for the body. The community ensured absolute silence, while the body was lowered into its assigned pit. The priest then sprinkled turmeric water on the body laid down, as well on all onlookers. 

The children giggled when the cool turmeric water touched them and they felt goosebumps on their skin. Karuppiah felt the hands of Saroja, his loving sister and Deivanai, the mother touching his shoulder in a grip of chillness. He patted the hands of his mother and his sister in utmost love. His patting assured them no tears. 

Tiger the dog and the other dogs were watching the event from afar. They stopped their howling. But they were waiting for the crowd back into hamlet. They knew they would have a taste of the ragi porridge with hens and birds immediately, once the serving of food had begun.

Kitten, now in the disguise of an indicator bird was witnessing all events, burial, cooking, and the gathering of animals including the Tiger the dog. It yawned a bit. And flew to the acacia tree. At the tree, amidst the leaves, it transformed into kitten. It hid itself. It waited for the appearance of Karuppiah, once again near the statue of Ayyanar.

Once the ragi porridge was shared among the hamlet community, children, women and adults went back to their huts for rest. Karuppiah leaned himself on the door post of his hut for half an hour,  and his mother Deivanai and Saroja his sister did spread a saree as a mat and began to sleep, with sobbings.

 Karuppiah's eyes never felt sleep. He got up, and walked towards the Ayyanar statue. A towel on  his waist, his strolling was weak and slow. He had no idea of the kitten, which was keenly watching his movements up from the acacia tree.

 There was yet another person observed his movement towards the Ayyanar statue, from a window of a distant hut.  It was Karuppiah's father's sister's daughter by name Sarasu; a pretty one, by relationship had to be  betrothed to Karuppiah in two more years. She was an young girl in her seventeenth  year of age. Her complexion was blackish brown. She was  five foot three inches in height. She had good features, because of her consistent hard labour on the hot sun at the fields, like the Solomon's Shunamite girl. Her name was Sarasu.

The kitten, in a slow motion, climbed down from the acacia tree and walked towards the Ayyanar statue. Once reaching the statue, it hid behind the legs of one of the mud horse. From there it saw the young girl in brownish skin observing Karuppiah, and also watched  Karuppiah nearing the Ayyanar statue. It knew it can't be seen by none.