The Malabar grey hornbill

The earlier blog had grey hornbill that are found in plains across the continent. Malabar grey hornbill as the name suggests are endemic to Western Ghats. They probably the only kind of hornbill that lack casque, commonly found in dense forest and surroundings these are not considered threatened specie unlike many other hornbills. This photo was taken at boothathanketu (created by ghosts is the literal meaning!!). Other habits are similar to grey hornbill.

Poems as daily prayer, how charming: this blogger till he was 17 or 18 years old everyday use to participate in evening prayer (lasting about 40odd minutes). I realize recently that these prayers consisted of poems mainly by Poonthanam. Poonthanam lived during the medieval period and had not much knowledge of Sanskrit so he used Malayalam this therefore became very popular among common people. He was one of the greatest exponents of bhakti movement in the region that is now kerala. Few of my favorite lines are

Kandu kandangirikkum janangale,
Kandilennu varuthunnathum Bhavan
Randu nalu dinam kodangoruthane,
Thandilethi naduthannathum bhavan
Malika mugalileriya mannante,
Tholil marappu kethunnathum Bhavan

The rough translation here is

The people who is seen by all of us now.
You are the one who makes them
Not to be seen in this world.
In a matter of day or two
You are He, who makes them ride on the royal chair.
On the shoulder of the king who climbs to the top of palace.
You are He, who places the tattered heap.

I must have listened to these more than a million times!!. But my favorite prayer happens to be a small one, a poem written by one of the greatest Malayalam poet Kumaran Asan titled chandameriye poovilum…it is an amazing piece that I have sung so many times that it is part of me.

Chandameriye poovilum shablabamam shalabathilum
chandkam karathaari enuru chitrachaduri katiyum
andhacharu kadakashmalakal arkarashmiyl neetiyum
Chindayam mani mandirathil vilangu eshwarne vazhthuvin
Vazhthuvin vazhthuvin
Enum eshwarne vazhthuvin
Vazhthuvin vazhthuvin
(Basically means salutation to god that is in flowers, butterflies….). Kumaran asan drowned in a boat tragedy at a relatively young age. This I wrote…

When the boat got startled by a mischievous wave, mother clutch my hand tighter till it start to pain and I try wriggling out of the grip. Sky and lots of coconut trees in it would bob a bit, scared I would close my eyes tight. When the world had settled she pointed to somewhere in the river and say “look child you see there, yes there that is where the poet drowned”. Then she wouldn’t speak. On that bright afternoon looking at the shimmering blue water, I thought about the poet. Did he search for the words when he drowned?. Did he try to rhyme them? Or was it that he just wanted to take a breath of air, gasped and died?. Mother would say “ofcourse he searched for the words. There wouldn’t be world without words even silence is because of words. Poet chose silence”.