From: jose@csd.uwo.ca (Jose Thekkumthala)
Subject: ----- A Tribute to Kerala's ONAM Festival -----
Organization: Department of Computer Science, University of Western Ontario, London
Distribution: soc.culture.indian
Date: Mon, 7 Sep 1992 16:22:20 GMT

      
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   +                                           +
   +   A TRIBUTE TO KERALA'S ONAM FESTIVAL     +
   +                                           +
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Kerala's harvest festival, Onam, is celebrated on September 9th.
This festival commemorates the golden era of prosperity that
flourished in Kerala under the rule of the legendary and
enigmatic king, MahaBali. As the story goes, the prosperity 
that flourished under his reign invited the divine intervention,
because the Gods became jealous. No lesser a person than
MahaVishnu himself became earthbound, impersonated as a wretched 
dwarf(vamanan), and asked for a small piece of land, a piece
so small that it will be covered by his three steps. The generous
king was more than obliging to grant that wish. As soon as the 
wish was granted, as the story goes, the dwarf transformed himself 
into a gigantic person. He took the Earth with the first step and 
took the Heaven with the second step. There was no room for the 
third step! So, the great king offered his own kingly head in 
place of the rest of the land promised to MahaVishnu, because a 
promise is a promise is a promise is a ... This was a golden 
opportunity for MahaVishnu to get rid of the king from the face
of the earth and getting rid of the king from the face of the 
earth is exactly what he did. He stepped on the kingly head
offered to him and sent him to the Underworld(Paathaalam).
However, in return for his generosity, MahaVishnu
offered the king visitation rights. This meant that MahaBali 
could visit Kerala once a year, on the Onam day. So MahaBali
comes to Kerala on the Onam day to visit his dear, long-lost
kingdom. That is why, if you come to Kerala on the Onam day,
you can see the great king back in his old kingdom, making 
sure that his subjects are still happy and prosperity 
flourishes. You can see His Excellency with all his past glory,
but with an infinitely sad and forlorn look for having
lost his dear Kerala. You can see him even today and you can see
him every Onam day to the end of the Time.

   ----------------------------------------------------------------
      To my very good Indian friends who are flame-addicts: All 
      the flames will be collected and given to MahaBali on his 
      way back to the Underworld at the end of the Onam day.
      He will trash them in the perennial darkness of the 
      underworld to be forgotten by the posterity and to rot 
      in the infinite waste-basket of the cosmos. They will
      not even be recycled....
   ----------------------------------------------------------------
  
  
  		 ==============================
  		 =                            =
   		 =     A TRIBUTE TO KERALA    =
   		 =       ON THE ONAM DAY      =
   		 =                            =
   		 ==============================
   		
The following is meant to be a tribute to Kerala, the land that Gods
and Goddesses would love to inherit.
 
The pristine beauty of Kerala adorned by ocean on one side and mountain 
range on the other makes it a paradise in India.
	
This is the land where dreams merge into reality and become one 
homogeneous entity.
	
This land's unparallel beauty is what dreams are made of.
	
This dream world is where Heaven's angels come to weave dreams in
the soft and cool moonlit nights.
	
It is a privilege to be in Kerala, to inherit one of the most 
beautiful pieces of the Mother Earth, to blend into the heavenly beauty 
that the sunset over the Arabian sea provides every evening,
to be part of the coastal Kerala carpeted with coconut palm trees and to 
enjoy the evelasting summer. 
	
When the creator ParasuRaman threw his axe over the Arabian sea, 
little did he know that he was going to give rise to a gem of beauty, a
beauty that Gods and Asuras would probably fight over to inherit, a 
beauty that would outlive the flow of history, a beauty that makes Kerala 
stand tall in India. 
	
The Western Ghats that stands as a faithful sentinel from the time immemorial 
is the benefactor of Kerala, its patron saint, jealously guarding its 
immaculate beauty from the outside world and sustaining its identity. 
	
It is as if the eastern mountain range, disappearing into the cloud-ridden 
infinite sky, is  conspiring with the stars to preserve and perpetuate 
the celestial beauty of Kerala. 
	
The Arabian sea has been a playmate of the Kerala coast from the beginning 
of the time and their love affair is as old as history, renewed day by day. 
The multitude of the rivers that bathe the rich soil of Kerala are just 
messengers sent from the Heaven. 
	
This is the land you can spend an eternity without getting bored.
	
MahaBali even today cannot resist the temptation to emerge from the underworld 
once every year and visit this piece of beauty on the Onam day.
	
It requires a supernatural poetic genius like that of Kalidasa to comprehend
the breath-taking beauty of Kerala and immortalize that in the golden
archives of poetry. Kalidasa was intrigued and mesmerized by the awe-inspiring
beauty of the Himalayas which made him write:
			"Asthyustharasyam Disi Devathathma
			 Himalayo Nama Nagathiraja" etc.
I wonder what he would have written if he saw the mountain range spanning the 
eastern Kerala. MahaKavi Vallathol comes close to doing some justice in 
capturing the beauty of Kerala in his poetic gems.
	
It requires a novelist's genius like that of Thomas Hardy who immortalized 
the Essex county in his novels to write stories about Kerala, stories
narrated daily by the Arabian sea and echoed off the Western Ghats, 
stories that fill the Kerala skies, stories that can be told to
the end of the eternity without ever getting you bored.
	
Kerala is a joy for ever, because it is a thing of beauty, as per Shelly,
the great poet.
	
This land is whereto Gandharvans come for vacation whenever they are fed 
up with the Paradise.


	      ==============================
  		 =                            =
   		 =     A TRIBUTE TO ONAM      =
   		 =                            =
   		 ==============================

	
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 Kerala. 

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 Kerala.
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. 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 
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 clever 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 him 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:

	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
	    Kerala 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 was obviously a glorious song praising the virtues of Kerala.
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 Kerala 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 Trichur, out of Kerala, out of this 
world and into the eternal darkness of the underworld.
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 Kerala.
He promised that he will come back next year.

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 the park 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 Kerala 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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