From: jose@csd.uwo.ca (Jose Thekkumthala)
Subject: MY ENCOUNTER WITH MAHABALI -- PART II
Organization: Department of Computer Science, University of Western Ontario, London
Distribution: alt.culture.kerala
Date: Sat, 5 Sep 1992 17:27:17 GMT

===============================================
=									 =	  
=    	MY ENCOUNTER WITH MAHABALI	   	 =
=					                     =      
=		------ PART II ------			 =	  
===============================================

	--------------------------------------------------------
	+	Contents of Part I                                 +  														+											 +	
	+	------------------							 +
	+ The author met MahaBali, the legendary king of Kerala +
	+ on an Onam day in Pooraparambu in the historic town   +
	+ of Trichur in the central Kerala. The king was on his +
	+ routine annual visit of his long-lost kingdom. The    +
	+ author blamed the king for being trapped in a         +
	+ mischievous plot schemed by MahaVishnu, thereby       +
	+ losing the kingdom forever and being thrown into the  +
	+ underworld. The author is asking the great king why   +
	+ he decided to abandon his dear Malanad in favour of   +
	+ the promise he made to Mahavishnu who came disguised  +
	+ as a dwarf. His Excellency replies as follows.        +
	+                                                       +
	--------------------------------------------------------

	MB: I have not abandoned you. That is why I am coming here
	    every year, to be with you and see how you are all doing.
	    Let me tell you, what I see do not please me at all. The
	    more I come, the less likeable things become. It is not 
	    easy for me to keep on coming like this in my advanced 
	    age. I am centuries old. Still, I keep visiting my darling
	    Malanad hoping against hope that things will improve.
	    But I will keep on visiting this beautiful land come 
	    what may. I will not rest until things are retrieved to 
	    how they were under my reign.
	    
A butterfly came fluttering its wings and settled down on the 
chrysanthemum nearby. Butterflies are part and parcel of the 
Onam day, symbolizing the liveliness and the rejoice accompanying 
this great day.

In came a song breaking the silence around us. It came from afar
sailing smoothly through the tranquil air that enveloped us on this 
peaceful and festive day. It ran like this:

	"Mamalakalkkappurathu marathakapattuduthu
	 Malayalamennoru Nadundu
	 Kochu Malayalamennoru Nadundu
	 Kayalum thirakalum nurakalum pathakalum
	 ........"
	 
It was obviously a glorious song praising the virtues of Malanad.
No other song would have been more appropriate on this auspicious day.
The Great King looked pleased and proud to hear the song. 

The birds in the park repeated the song. They were merrily 
flying around the Banyan tree that was standing proudly 
in the park with a commanding presence. The legendary tree seemed 
to be wispering to the birds to quiet down so as not to 
interrupt our conversation. Here was a great 
tree having witnessed hundreds of the Onam days. The great banyan 
was paying close attention to our discussion.

The clouds in the sky flying around like cotton wool gathered 
around the park. They could not help coming closer to watch the
Emperor and listen to his message. The sun was shedding a bright
smile from amidst the faraway sky. Mother Nature had stopped the
business of the day to witness and parttake this supernatural visit.

The Great King was appalled to see the pitiable state of affairs
in his kingdom. He could not understand the misery and unhappiness
that were rampant. 

He did not understand nor did he care for so many modern
things like the currency-based economics. He could not 
understand how prosperity could be measured in terms of 
the bank balance. I had to educate His Excellency on various 
things like banking, inflation, recession, currency, Dow Jones 
Industrial Average, New York Stock Exchange, Trade Deficit, 
US National debt, Cochin Stock Exchange, etc. 

He was indignant when he heard about Keralites fleeing Kerala to 
Middle East in search of prosperity. He was saddened to hear 
about the educated Keralites abandoning Kerala and going abroad 
for higher education. He continued:

	MB: It breaks my heart to see my subjects abandoning the
	    kingdom in search of gold. My kingdom is a blessed
	    promised land, abundantly furnished by Mother Nature
	    and yet see what you are doing! Kerala has fertile soil,
	    large number of natural resources, an extremely
	    favorable climate for agriculture, a fabulous 
	    fishing industry, a competitive forestry industry and 
	    a number of other covetable factors like rubber,
	    coconut, spices etc., that make a strong economy.
	    There is gold right in front of your eyes and yet 
	    you are deserting this place. Theatrical arts,
	    music, literature and a distinct culture alone are
	    enough to attract anybody to this place. What happened
	    to my kingdom? What did you do?
	    
"I did not do anything", I wanted to say, but could not, because
deep in my heart I knew that I have to take some blame myself.

He was disheartened. He looked sad. He sat there like a statue,
staring at the vast nothingness of the infinity, completely
mortified, pale and withdrawn. His eyes were set at a far, faraway
place. He wiped his tears. Birds nearby were overwhelmed. They
came flapping their wings and consoling His Excellency. Their
innocence and soothing music alleviated his pain. He resumed:

	MB: Who is the current king of Kerala?
	 I: Huh? Current king?
	MB: Yes, current king. Who is the king ruling over Kerala
	    today?
	 I: Your Majesty, there is no King presently. Those days
	    are long gone. I am sorry to say this, but you are 
	    talking like a modern day Rip-Van-Winkle. Hope you were
	    not in a deep slumber in the underworld all these 
	    centuries. We have a Parliamentary democracy in Kerala
	    right now. This is whereby people are ruling over people.
	    We have representatives in the Legislative assembly,
	    who are elected by vote. The chief of the state is the
	    Governor and the ruler of the majority party is the
	    Chief Minister. 
	MB: A minister ruling over my kingdom? No wonder things 
	    are bad. The minister comes under the king and he is
	    supposed to be subservient to the king and not supposed
	    to rule. I never let my minister rule over my kingdom.
	    What you need is a king just like in the olden days.
	    
I had to enlighten the Great One of the history of Kerala, history
of India, the British rule, principles of the Parliamentary
Democracy and so on. I had to explain to him that even though
the olden days had ministers to be subservient to the king, 
present-day minister is a full-fledged ruler of the state. I had
to explain that Kerala is no more a self-contained independent 
kingdom, but a unit of a larger entity called India.

	MB: India? You even let my kingdom be taken over and ruled by 
	    an outsider? This is a land insulated by the natural
	    landmarks from the outside world. How could anybody
	    take over Kerala? How?
	    
I had to explain that Kerala is not really ruled over by an outsider.
I had to explain how Kerala has got representatives in the
National Parliament and how the democracy is in action in this
scenario of the state-nation relationship. I continued:

	 I: Oh, my dear King, the system we have looks perfect and
	    ideal. India is lauded by the entire world as the biggest
	    living democracy and yet, things are much worse than what
	    they appear to be. We really wish we could go back to the
	    olden days. We wish your kingdom came back. we wish we had
	    Onam every day of the year. Could we please go back to 
	    the olden days? Could you please come back and reestablish
	    your kingdom? Couldn't you talk to MahaVishnu and ask 
	    him to retrace those three fatal steps? Please do come
	    back, please!! We miss you dearly.
	    
I was begging. I was shamelessly, vehemently and desperately
begging like there was no tomorrow. I was weeping like a child.

I was dreaming against dream that my wish would come true. I was
hoping that Utopia would be resurrected. I was hoping that 
time would fly backwards to unearth the golden days of the 
MahaBali rule. 

There was intense silence. Not a single sound emanated from
any corner of the park. Even the daffodiles stopped "fluttering
and dancing in the breeze". 

It was nightfall now and jasmine started spreading its sweet 
otherworldly fragrance in the air. The coconut palm tree, 
the state tree of Kerala, swayed and danced in the wind. 
The tree repeated the melodious song that came flowing from 
the yonder.

The golden rays of the setting sun illuminated the park with
a heavenly brilliance. The king replied: 

	MB: I wish I could do that. Nothing would please me more.
	    But I cannot. What is done is done. I am doomed to
	    spend an eternity in the Underworld. The paradise that
	    I established in the Malanad brought about my own
	    downfall. Even the God himself became jealous of
	    the happiness and the prosperity that prevailed 
	    at that time. He will never let me come back. But I
	    promise that I will never stop paying this annual visit.
	    This holy pilgrimage is the focus of my dreams.
	    My heart still lives here, in this lovely land.
	    I will always think about Kerala, I will always 
	    worry about Kerala and I will always dream about
	    Kerala.

I was standing there with a heavy heart. Mother nature was 
immensely moved by this display of deep affection for Kerala.
She started weeping; the thunder and the lightning and the 
accompanying rain were symbolic of her deeply felt sadness.
    
    "It is time to go, Mr. Bali", shouted a voice from behind.
        
We turned around and there was standing, behind us, you
guessed it, MahaVishnu himself, with a mischievous smile.
He descended from the Heaven amidst the thunder and the 
lightning that filled the turbulent skies. He addressed
MahaBali:

	MahaVishnu: The day is wearing thin and it is time you
		    got back to the Underworld. I gave you 
		    visitation rights only for a day, remember?
		    Don't overstay or else! The Underworld is 
		    eagerly awaiting your arrival. The place is not
		    the same without you, you know.
		 	  
This sarcastic comment was the last straw that I could take.
Already I was boiling with rage over the misdeeds perpetrated
by this anarchist and here he was, cool and composed and
trying to throw his weight around. What a nerve! How dare
he come to Trichur, the cultural capital of Kerala, on 
no less a day than Onam and insult His Exalted Excellency, 
MahaBali! My blood was at the boiling point. I wanted to get even.
I even wanted to correct history. Here was my golden chance!

I turned around and grabbed the creep by neck. I started
systematically strangling the Godly neck. I enjoyed and
relished every second of it. He was making my day. In fact,
he was making my Onam day!

I blared:
	
	I: Apologize to our Great King, right here and right now!
	   If not, I will make a soup out of you and serve
	   during the Onam dinner! Here is your chance to
	   correct your misdeeds. Here is your chance to 
	   retrace those three treacherous steps and give back 
	   our king his Kingdom. Do it!

He was gasping for breath. He was very angry. He least 
expected that some mundane hands will some day try to grab
his neck. He shouted, or rather he wispered, because
he could not raise his voice:

	MahaVishnu: Let go of my neck, you little frog! If
		       not, I will send you along with your
		       King to eternal damnation.

Now, I did not doubt for a moment his determination to send me
to damnation. I did not doubt his ability to do so either.
After all, here is the expert who sends people to whatever world
he deems appropriate.

But 'frog' is a word that I least wanted to be addressed by.
That got me even more infuriated. Even P.G.Wodehouse would not
have called me by that name. I tightened my grip. I was
not going to stop come what may.

"Let him go". I looked around. The owner of the voice was 
MahaBali himself. The Great Philanthropist was trying 
to make the world a better place by eliminating violence. 

I loosened the grip very reluctantly and let him free.

MahaVishnu addressed the King again:

	MahaVishnu: Let us get going. I will let you come back 
		       next year as promised. Now, if you do
		       not get moving, I'll have to send you
		       to the Fourth World. Who knows, one day
		       I might even make you the king of the
		       Underworld!

The sarcastic bugger! If he is the one ruling over the Heaven, I
would not want to be part of it. 

God escorted Mahabali out of the Pooraparambu and out of this world.
They left silently. the great King was looking enigmatic in spite of
the insult showered upon him. He waved his hands and slowly 
disappeared after showering his blessings upon Malanad.

The park was deserted by this time. I started my trip back
home. I felt very lonely. But deep in my heart, I knew that
I will have a future rendezvous with this great personality.
I knew that I will be able to meet this King every Onam day. 
That thought made me happy. 

I left Pooraparambu with this happy thought. 

By this time it stopped raining. The moon was already out. 
Mother Nature already sprinkled the sky with a sea of stars. 
They were wispering to each other and together they started 
singing the Onam songs with a heavenly voice. In the profound 
silence of the infinite sky, they started weaving dreams 
that Onam is made of. They smiled upon Malanad and extended a
soothing presence.    
 	
			... THE END ...

 	
==================================================================
	 jose               email: jose@csd.uwo.ca
	 				Dept. of Computer Science
	 				Univ. of Western Ontario
	 				CANADA
==================================================================

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