Women of Chozha land

Women of Chozha land!

A lot of anecdotes and nuggets have come out on Chozhas, but, the life of women of their period is yet to be brought to light. 

Some interesting information which I gathered from the texts of some epigraphists like ‘Kudavayil Balasubramaniam’, the novels ‘Ponniyin selvan of Kalki’, ‘Udaiyar of Balakumaran’ enlightened and equipped me to focus on the unnoticed zones of the ancient south Indian ( Tamizhian) women. I’m here to bear the beacon for you to sight their status. 

Women of Chozha clan, whether born in the clan or married to a men of the clan were given a share in the property. “Hindu succession act enforced about a millennium ago?” Wonderful! Isn’t it?

It was with this share many queens and princesses of the clan renovated many temples. ‘Thiruvaiyaru Ayyarappar temple’ was built into a granite structure by ‘Loka Maha Devi’ the crown queen of Raja rajan, the renovation of ‘Thiruvakkarai Chandramoulisvarar temple’ and the installation of Vakrakaliyamman in it was deed of Chembiyan Ma Devi , the spouse of Kandar adithya Chozhan.

Kundavai, an able states woman, the elder sister and mentor of Raja rajan, a major contributor and a cause for the glory and rise of Chozhas was unique in donating as well. Her philanthropy was for the establishment and maintenance of medical and health centres ( aadura salai).  

Another notable stateswoman was Panchavan Ma Devi, the fourth wife of Raja rajan . Raja rajan’s marriage with her was the only one believed to have bloomed out of his admiration. (The rest of the marriages of Raja rajan were said to be more of arrangements in view of political reasons/welfare). She was a versatile personality who was well versed in fine arts, horse riding, archery and politics, espionage, investigation, philosophy and spirituality. Raja rajan’s admiration for her is said to have burgeoned on the day he saw her enacting the hagiography of Sundramurthi nayanar.  No wonder of Arulmozhi varman turned Raja rajan marrying this courtesan. Though of course, much later in his life, we’ve also heard him of daring to the extent of staging the natyam/performance of his daughter right in front of the crowd at the event of the consecration of the Big Temple. Panchavan Ma Devi is construed to be the alter ego, perhaps the better-half of Raja raja personally, socially and politically.  She was a stepmother and mentor of Rajendra. It was she, for whom Rajendra built a memorial (pallipadai kovil) in Pattisvaram.     

Chozha aeon and women employment:

There are many traces citing the women vendors of Chozha era; as if nonchalantly and safely travelling from place to place with their goods.

‘ Adhikarichhi’ is a jargon found while researching on Chozha epoch. This is the feminine gender of the word ‘Adhikari’, meaning officer in Tamizh. It’s astonishing to know that women officers were deputed/deployed in security forces, administration, crime investigation, espionage/spying during Chozha rule, in fact in yester-millennium.  

It’s really a matter of pride to know that women were self sufficient and individualistic in spite of the prevalent poly-gyny during the age of Chozhas.

Bye for now,

See you soon with much more ideas,

Nisha Ganapathysundararaman

  

Calibre Vs Confidence!

Does an effective calibre alone eventuate in success?

Let me recapitulate a story narrated by Swami Vivekananda.

A handsome stag and his baby stag were grazing in a meadow. The baby was irresistibly amazed by the macho physique, the elegant horns and the majestic deportment of his dad. He incessantly kept exalting the looks of his dad. The glorified dad ecstatically boasted about his strong and sharp horns that could gore any beast and assured his baby boy that he would definitely grow in to a stag as strong as himself. Suddenly they heard an intimidating howl of a hound. No sooner they heard the noise; the stag sprinted breathlessly dragging his son along in search of a hideaway. Then they safely found a retreat.  The gasping dad caringly ensured that his son was alright. The son with utter shock enquired whether he would have to run in the future too despite getting a strong pair of horns as his dad did. The dad was taken aback!

How many of us conduct ourselves like this dad stag?

Can our calibre enable us to attain success without casting off the fear?

The fearlessness and perseverance of Goddess Parvathi whether equipped or not brought the potentials of all the Gods and Goddesses to her disposal .Her grit empowered her to emerge as the omnipotent Goddess Durga with 18 hands denoting her versatile abilities. Her undaunted spirit and the noble intentions of rescuing the helpless, the innocent eventuated in her romping. She trounced and annihilated the invincible evil, the Mahishasura! It’s the intentions, the attitude and the confidence that matters.

 "Success comes to those who dare and act and seldom goes to the timid". This is a golden saying of my grandfather etched in my mind which emboldens me forever.

Shed your fear, differentiate timidity from caution,  a perspicuous path of success will penetrate your eyes!

Nisha Ganapathysundararaman 

Education!

“Education is the manifestation of the abilities in oneself; a person who can make a living successfully by  improvising just five things he had learnt , is more educated than a person who’d memorized all the books of a library!” , said Swami Vivekanada.

Education is not what you learn, where you learn or whom from you learn, but it  is how you learn and how you make use of it.  There are two aspects in education.  One comprises of principles, values and ethics. The other includes all the other studies, languages, data and information like current affairs, history, chronicles, records of  events, facts, phenomenon and concepts like Maths, Science, Geography, standards,statute, procedures and rules like that of Commerce, Finance, Accounting and Law and applications and implementations like Techniques, Skills,  Technology and Engineering. Whatever field one chooses in the latter aspect of education for the sake of a career, he or she must not get away with the former.  Perhaps, it is the actual enlightenment and the second aspect merely qualifies one for an occupation.

When you learn principles, ethics and values, you are to imbibe it whole heartedly and realize the relevance of them .One needs to observe them truthfully and diligently, the way it is relevant to the present society. He or she should gain the prudence, in fact the wisdom of enforcing them in the society.  One needs to be sincere in following the principles and values as they are the contributors, rather the cause of the win - win web of prosperity. Whether it is commerce, administration, judiciary, governance, education, health care or any other aspect of social forums and our personal forum as well, it is the integrity which holds the entire network of the society. If a sector is not bothered about the prosperity of the other, it cannot prosper as each sector is dependent on some other sectors as vendors and clients.  Prosperity of sectors will not last when the other sectors are dying. The prosperous sectors may thrive for some time, but at one point, when the other sectors are dead, there won’t be any body either to supply or buy from the thriving one. Hence, in spite of the prosperity the thriving sector has to end.  Sensible individuals will never let the suffering sectors die. Instead, they will help them to recover, encourage their elevation and let them grow along. This thesis is true with individuals too. All entities on the globe are interdependent, either directly or indirectly. All strive to thrive on the same terrain. All ecosystems are based on a chain of various entities existing in them.

 Ethics and principles observed by individuals are necessary not only for a harmonious world but also for a progressive society with promising upcoming.  If we aspire for a trendsetting, growth intending, ever advancing hi-tech society, we need to impart value based education inculcating ethics, principles, integrity and trust.  When an individual is agile and cautious all the time of the risks, dangers, casualties, treacheries around him, how is he to concentrate and bring out productivity? After all, as per the anthropology and evolution of humans, the brains of humans underwent a series of development only after they started living in safe shelters /homes. It’s the deep, undisturbed sleep of the secured mankind which enabled the brain development. Only the carefree minds like that of Srinivasa Ramanujam’s which completely submitted itself to Goddess Namagiri can know infinity!  When numerous such carefree minds sprout out and mushroom in a society, won’t it be a land of scientists, technocrats, inventors, innovators? Won’t such a society turn into a land of perpetual progression in all fields?

 Principles, ethics, values, integrity in total a value based living is the only means for a progressive and prosperous society. As long the individuals and sectors are ethical and principled, the society/world is safe and can be ever prosperous and progressive. The individuals and sectors who compromise  with the ethics, principles, values,  integrity and other essential, Godly traits for meagre gains  or for evading the present inconveniences or for selfishly insulating themselves from a social calamity ,or for any other reason,are the magnanimous hosts of the catastrophe meant to vanquish their own progenies.  Their descendants will be the sole sufferers of the chaos in the interconnected web of professions, businesses and wherewithal of individuals. Value based education is the only means of preventing the interdependent webs of all the ecosystems (environment, commerce, technology, science,finance,education, health care, trade, governance, judiciary, etc..........) from collapsing.

When the learning is of knowledge, facts, information, phenomenon and concepts, it has to be explored and implored thoroughly. Its applications are to be pondered about exhaustively. One needs to find the answers for what? how?, when?, where?, why?, who? while learning them.

 With the knowledge of the concepts and critical analyses on them, applications can be developed. Passionate and thoughtful practice with continual, statistical assessments of the applications, effective skills can be developed. Skills evolve into techniques and technologies.

 Even subjects like History and literature need to be critically thought about and analyzed. It’s not enough to know when the world war happened, but also necessary to analyze why it happened. Don’t we have to prevent it from happening anymore? It’s not enough to know where the first civilization began, but also necessary to know why it began there!

Wishes,

Bye for now.

Nisha Ganapathysundararaman

Woman!

Dear all! This is a creation born out of a mind of absolute equanimity. This is a cogent recording of sequential questions which erupted in me as a consequence of my observations of the happenings around me since my childhood. This is intended to invoke critical thinking. This is not to be misconstrued as a commencement of a fusillade.  Now, shall we plunge into a deep pool of lucid mind? I’m sure it’s amazing and amusing too! Come on! Let’s dive. We sink deeper and deeper... Do you find somebody there? Who’s that? A Woman! 

 Woman...?  Who’s she? Whether a resource, rather an owned property of a man? Or his absolute strength? A behind the screen performer responsible /creditable for his success? Is she the one who’s enslaved by male fraternity?  Is she the most protected, treasured wealth of a man, his Gruha Lakshmi? Is she a wise adviser (mantri), an able assistant who humbly underplays and yet prevents him from going wrong with mendicant prayers? Is she the one who averts the mayhems which could ruin him in no time but capitulate to him as her sole saviour?  Is she the (ardhangini) one who ably aides him physically, financially, mentally and psychologically besides submitting all the credits of his prosperity and success to him? Is SHE the one extolled as the wealth of Vishnu,  the knowledge of Brahma and the sole strength of  Paramesvara? Is SHE the Parabrahmasvarupini, the explicit form of the Brahmam the almighty? Is SHE the all powerful Parashakthi who’s vested with  the samarasyam, equality with the Parabrahmam, the Paramesvara? 

The ever known powerful women whether mythological or the ones known to have lived with flesh and blood were projected to the fore front due to the non availability of male alternatives and were normally the sole woman heads of male societies; and were mostly succeeded by men. Otherwise, even the most competent women of both mythology and the common world were and are still beheld as contributors, supporters, mentors or aides to the male fraternity.  Career women of the yesteryears including my mother, mother-in-law and aunts were and are lauded as financial contributors, dedicated supporters or/and the substratum of their entire families that too mostly of their in-laws. However, neither have I queried how they felt about themselves whether happy or regretful nor I’ve asked how they intended to position themselves. The Supreme Goddess herself is construed to be the equivalent of the Parabrahmam , the Almighty! Then..., is SHE not the almighty herself? Is SHE only the evident, visible entity representing or denoting the almighty? Is SHE HIS second self or HIS proxy?

Who is a woman by herself? What is her inherent identity?  Is she created with her virtues to aid the male fraternity? Does she evolve with all her abilities only to compromise and consolidate her family life despite being a bread winner? Is her career ever been construed as her identity? Or, is it a mere means to pool in money for her family? Is she ever encouraged to have an identity of herself or should she mask herself with the surname of her husband even if she’s self dependent? Though equality is a constitutional right, is she given a portfolio in her family and society by the virtue of a family? A woman transforms from Miss to Mrs with the onset of her marriage, but Mr is the address acquired by a man as he grows up and lasts with him up till his end.  However qualified, efficient and proficient she may be,  whatever status she had attained in her career,  can a common woman  evade  shifting to her husband’s place after her wedding?  In case of pursuing a career then, if her job is not transferrable, doesn’t she have to look for new placement or even to restart her career? Had she been an achiever in her pre-marriage career, doesn’t she have to abjure the recognition she ­earned? Doesn’t she have to redo and replay a lot to regain her professional identity and reputation besides running her domestic show?  Home making is a collective responsibility of the man and the woman of the family, but we strange creatures tactfully put the onus on the female by hailing her as a home maker! Won’t it be sensible to begin a romantic married life in the place where the professionally better placed, better settled of the couple resides?

Both boys and girls are trained up with equal efforts, then why make the women play second fiddle? It’s distressing and rather frustrating to see pictures in many of the school brochures portraying  a boy seated in front of the computer monitor and a girl of same calibre standing beside him more like his personal assistant!  

Two incidents which evoked a lot of questions right from the alpha level of my mind:

1.       My granny as the ardhangini, the better half of her husband, involved herself in the gala celebration of the birth centenary of her in-laws just 3 days after the demise of her beloved sister.

2.       My aunt didn’t participate in the betrothal function of her doting niece as her husband‘s sister lost her spouse.

I am still perplexed! How these two loving, doting females conducted themselves so? Whether they whole heartedly abided the social norms as the unpronounced dictum of God sans regret or were left out with no other choice? Never had I spoken out about this to those dear ones. These recordings had deeply settled at the bottom of my heart. Genuinely I’m unaware of actually what they feel about it! What do you readers feel about this? Are men and women equal? 

Aren’t there definitions and specifications framed by the society for the looks, behaviour, traits and responsibilities which a woman is supposed to possess to qualify her as a woman? Aren’t even the powerful women obsessed to fit into the definitions and grammar set for them by the male dominated society? Since the historic ages till this modern age, could even empowered women do away with the obsession of getting a pass/ top mark in looks, deeds, behaviour and various other clauses in the assessment report which the society issues them?  Whether a decent or an appealingly sensuous outfit, aren’t the women of various categories and generations fastidiously conscious of the specifications set for their attire? Doesn’t the slender, petite physique of Goddess Meenakshi who conquered all the worlds wonder us?  Right from the olden period, up till the current day, what is the basis on which a costume is prescribed to a woman? Whether it is the physical appeal it causes or the convenience of the person wearing it?  Art creations whether literature of historic era or modern silver screen  or even operas, don’t they  depict timidity, delicacy, embarrassment, fragility, helplessness, ignorance, dependence, inhibitions as the traits enhancing the appeal of women? Don’t these evince that the creators of these art forms seem to have underestimated the potential of women? Or, do these traits embellish the femininity? Aren’t these depictions setting wrong examples to female fraternity? 

It’s high time the female fraternity ponder brood over and realize their exact plight.  It’s true that a woman loves to be a daughter, sister, better-half, mother, daughter in-law, sister in-law as it’s a blessing to enjoy these roles. Beyond these, doesn’t a woman need an identity of herself? Think!!

Is it an identity or a portfolio or a mere avocation or simply a means to generate income a woman needs? It’s up to the woman to decide, but, certainly after a thorough critical analysis about herself and the scenario around her. Shouldn’t she do an exhaustive study of herself, her situations and all the options available? Shouldn’t she search for options? Shouldn’t she be completely aware of what she decides? Shouldn’t she accurately know what she’s doing? Let a woman be whatever, a career woman, a breadwinner or a home maker, shouldn’t it be after a thorough self and situational analysis?  Should she take decisions with absolute awareness or should she take it as she knows no other option?   Think!!!! 

WOMAN! After all it’s you to decide. There are people to back you.

 This is not the voice of an aggrieved soul, but diction of a clarified mind. It’s rather an outcome of observations and empathy.  Know thyself! Doesn’t matter whoever you are. Readers! Hope you are back to your place. 

Bye for now, see you soon with much more elicited, provocative thoughts!

Nisha Ganapathy Sundara Raman