From: jose@csd.uwo.ca (Jose Thekkumthala)
Subject: MY ENCOUNTER WITH MAHABALI -- PART I
Organization: Department of Computer Science, University of Western Ontario, London
Distribution: alt.culture.kerala
Date: Thu, 3 Sep 1992 15:24:41 GMT

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=    	MY ENCOUNTER WITH MAHABALI	   		   =
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=		------ PART I ------				   =
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I was wandering aimlessly like a cloud on the Onam Day, 
blissfully unaware of the problems of the world when 
I set my eyes suddenly on you know who, none other than 
His Highness Mahabali who was on his routine annual 
visit of his dear Malanad. 

As all of us know, the proud king met with his disaster on an
encounter with MahaVishnu long long time ago. Prosperity was
flourishing in Kerala under his rule and there was no
sorrow. This invited divine intervention to Malanad.
No lesser a personality than MahaVishnu became
jealous of the happiness of His kingdom.
As ill-luck would have it, MahaVishnu came disguised as a 
dwarf and dethroned the Great King.

I was taken aback by surprise to see His Eminence. Here was 
the beloved King of Kerala, the idol of tens of thousands of
generations, the unforgettable and legendary King of Kings
standing in person right in front of my very own eyes!

I could not believe my eyes. Am I dreaming? Could this be true?
By what streak of golden luck is it that I am chosen to see
this immortal King? What path of destiny showed itself to me 
to parttake this historic meeting? Does he have a message to 
give to me? Thoughts started rushing into my mind. 

I was overwhelmed. Time was standing still and I was petrified
into a lifeless entity. This was a dream of dreams come true for
any Keralite, that is, to see the most renowned King of Kerala
after centuries of his golden reign, and yet, here I was, nervous
and trembling like a mouse in front of a cat! Here I was,
standing helplessly, lost for words.

He must have recognized my dilemma. He shed a broad smile to
make me feel at ease. He looked glorious and elegant just like
how he was as the emperor centuries ago. He looked just 
like how he was when was sent to the underworld in disgrace 
by MahaVishnu. He has not aged a bit!

I quickly composed myself. I was eager to ask him questions
and a lot of them at that. I was curious to know what went 
through his mind when he was wiped out of the face of the earth.
I was curious to know how he was coping with his life in the
underworld. I was curious to know if he would be allowed to
come back to earth to resume his golden era. I was curious 
to know what he thinks of the present day Kerala. I was curious
to know hundreds of other things. I was exploding with curiosity.

By this time, he was moving in my direction getting closer and 
closer. This was a hot day in the Trichur Pooraparambu and I 
quickly ran to the nearby sidewalk merchant and got some 
coconut drink. I was prepared, in my own humble way, to welcome
the long-lost emperor. I offered him the drink when he finally
reached me. He accepted my humble offering with thanks. He drank
it with relish because he was quite thirsty and tired
after a long walk from the underworld.

I invited him to the nearby park around the famous temple in the
Pooraparambu located in the historic town of Trichur. Once settled 
down on the parkbench, both of us were
ready to talk. I frankly did not know how to or where to start.

"It is a nice day", I blurted out.

MahaBali: There were better days, my son.
   	  I: I beg your pardon?
   	 MB: I am referring to the days when I was ruling over this 
   	     beautiful land. There was no hunger, no thirst, no greed,
   	     no corruption, no dishonesty, no politics, no 
   	     mass-migration to Gulf in search of prosperity. There was
   	     peace, happiness, contentment and goodwill. Now look
   	     what has happened. I hardly recognize this place.
   	   
He looked sad. There was disappointment written on his face.
There was a moment of silence and then he continued:

	MB: What happened to the smile?
	 I: Smile? What smile, your Majesty?
	MB: The smile that was aplenty on the faces of people during
	    my reign. That is the smile I am referring to. What happened
	    to that? During my walk today from the underworld to here
	    I saw millions of Keralites, embodiment of misery. There was
	    not a single smiling face I saw. They have forgotten how 
	    to smile. 
	    
A cool breeze that was caressing the flowers in the park passed by
us, as if to alleviate the pain the Great Soul was experiencing.
I was little disheartened that the conversation so far was making 
His Highness sad. I wanted to cheer him up as much as I possibly
could. 

	I: But they are happy to-day! They are happy to see you and 
	   welcome you! We all have been waiting for one year to 
	   see you! We live every year just for this day! To see
	   you, to be with you and to commemorate your Golden era!
	   Today is Onam and we could not be happier! Today is the 
	   day we say goodbye to misery and sadness. Today is the 
	   day we live like the subjects of your great kingdom. We 
	   are not as fortunate as them to have been ruled by you, 
	   but at least we try to create heaven on earth on this 
	   day just like in the olden days. Please, please do not 
	   be sad! It will break our heart!
	   
My utterance was spontaneous. I uttered these in spite of myself. 
There was pleading in my voice. The Great One was listening 
intensely. He looked like he was pleased. There was a very faint
trace of smile on his infinitely sad face. I composed myself and
continued.

	I: Your proud kingdom of Kerala has undergone infinite
	   transformation after you left. We were like a herd of sheep
	   who lost their shepherd. Who in his right mind would 
	   have thought that your generosity would lead to a disaster
	   like losing your kingdom to MahaVishnu? We wish you were
	   not fooled like that. We wish you never granted his wish
	   for three feet of land. Look what you did to yourself
	   and to ourselves! You lost a kingdom and we lost the most
	   eminent of the emperors. Why did you do that? Why? Why?
	   
I was vehement. I was furious. I was furious for the fact that 
he let himself be fooled by a clever smart-ass like MahaVishnu 
and I was furious that Kerala lost a magnanimous emperor forever.
I wanted an answer immediately. 

	MB: It was not in my nature to turn down plea from any poor
	    soul. I never refused cry for help. I could not do that.
	    That is how I am. That is how I built a paradise on 
	    this earth. Misery did not have a place in my kingdom.
	    If a single person in my kingdom was unhappy, I would
	    forget about the rest of the kingdom and go after that
	    poor person and try to alleviate his pain. 
	    
Then he started narrating the intriguing episode where MahaVishnu
took the form of a dwarf(Vamanan) and asked for his help. MahaVishnu
knew that generosity was MahaBali's weakness and he played upon this 
weakness to seek his destruction. His philanthropy led
to his own downfall and dethronement in a humiliating fashion. 
He was even excommunicated from this earth. I was all ears
to listen to this event from the Master himself. I listened
with utmost attention.

	MB: One fine afternoon, after I got the news that everything 
	    was fine in my kingdom, I was quite pleased and I was 
	    relaxing in the palace garden when this poor wretched dwarf
	    dragged himself to my presence and asked for my help. 
	    Said that he did not have a place to sleep and he wanted 
	    a small piece of land like three feet. Said he
	    wanted to set up a small abode and settle down. That way,
	    he could stop wandering. He was getting too old for that
	    sort of thing.
	    
	 " You did not have to grant that wish", I intercepted. I 
	   continued: "Lots of people in this world do not have a place 
	   to sleep. Look at the homeless thousands in the NewYork city.
	   Look at the homeless ones in Calcutta. Look at the homeless
	   ones in Bombay. Look at the homeless ones in Los Ang..."
	   
	   "shut up", said his Eminence.
	   
I shut up. His Eminence was getting irritated by my interruption.
And he continued.
	  
	MB: The poor soul looked very tired and about to collapse. There
	    was pleading written on his face. My heart was melting with
	    sympathy. I granted his wish right away. No sooner did I grant
	    the wish than he transformed into this gigantic form. He took
	    Earth with the first step, Heaven with the second step and
	    said he has no place for taking with his third step. Now, I
	    am the king whose promise is a promise. I cannot go back on my
	    words, come what may.
	    
	 I: You could have stopped the S.O.B. right then. You could have
	    put a stop to the treachery. You could have declared your
	    promise null and void because of the treachery involved.
	    Any lawyer would have argued your case and got a jury
	    verdict in your favour. Indian Penal Code would....
	    
I had to abruptly stop. It was that stern look that emanated from him
and rested upon my poor soul that made me do so.

	MB: Now, the only recourse that was left for me was to offer my 
	    head...
	    
	 I: Your kingly head.
	 
	MB: ...to account for the third step that I promised. I kneeled
	    in front of him and asked him and offered my head. He silently
	    stepped on my head and sent me to the Third World, I mean
	    Pathalam or the Underworld, sometimes also called 
	    MahaBaliworld.
	    
I was agonized with rage. I could not contain. Being a Keralite, his
humiliation was mine also. And here he was standing there as if 
everything was fine! He was even trying to be humorous by calling
the Underworld as the Third World. I was outraged. I mean, I was
OUTRAGED! I was not going to be intimidated by his
stern looks any more. I was going to speak my mind. And speaking
my mind is what I did.

	I: Your Excellency, you are the greatest king that ever walked 
	   on the face of the earth. With all the respect we have towards 
	   you, let me tell you this: You were carried away by your 
	   goodwill on that doomsday. Don't you see, it was a gross 
	   miscarriage of justice that was perpetrated. When the 
	   Vamanan transformed into the real form of MahaVishnu, you 
	   should have suspected foul play. You know the story of 
	   Lord Krishna, the incarnation of MahaVishnu. He was a 
	   very clever God and even though he had promised Duryodhanan
	   that he would not take sides in the MahaBharatha war,
	   he indirectly helped the Pandavas by driving the chariot
	   underground to prevent the deadly arrow that came towards
	   the head of Arjuna. This cunningness should have given
	   you a clue as to how MahaVishnu would have treated you.
	   Why did you go overboard? Why did you sacrifice a lovely
	   kingdom? Why did not you think about us? Why did you
	   abandon us? why?
	   
There were tears in my eyes, that slowly trickled down my face. 
It was not so much because I was sad as I was angry that my eyes
welled up. 

A flock of birds gathered around the tree to listen to our interesting
discourse. They had stopped singing and were listening intently.
The tree branches were dancing in the breeze to celebrate the
arrival of the Great One to the Promised Land. The leaves that landed
in the pond nearby created ripples one after another. His Highness
was probably moved by my earnest argument and pleading. He sent
a benevolent look to the nature around him.

In a remote corner of the park, a crow joined the crowd of the birds 
reciting the Onam songs. Crow is a good friend of mine and he 
was trying his miserable best to sing along with the birds with 
his hopelessly pitiable coarse voice. God bless him.

His eminence replied as follows:

 			... TO BE CONTINUED ...

 	
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	 jose               email: jose@csd.uwo.ca
	 				Dept. of Computer Science
	 				Univ. of Western Ontario
	 				CANADA
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Newsgroups: alt.culture.kerala