Cornerstone

On reading a news item in the papers, I went back in time to my days in Women’s Christian College, Chennai. It is not that I don’t think of my college otherwise for I am a member of the Alumnae committee and hence am in college ever y month for the meetings. What made me think of college now was the news that young Karun Chandok would be joining one of the F1 teams and would take part in the Formula One racing this year. The very fact that it is Karun Chandok, should have in itself brought about memories of college for his mother Chitra Chandok nee Thiagarajan is my class mate and some one I have known for the last so many years. But what really made me think of college was the way in which I connected the F1 racing to the bygone Sholavaram car races and the enthusiasm and impact the same aroused among the college students.
We grew up at a time when entertainment was bare minimum and opportunities to go out and have some wholesome fun were even more negligible. Apart from Mahabalipuram which was a day trip, there was nowhere nearby to go and thus the Sholavaram races presented the ideal situation for an outing. It goes without saying that many romances blossomed in this venue for the race drivers were a revered lot and the girls would be excited with just a sideways glance from them. I think to the college girls of that era, these drivers ranked high above any South Indian movie star what with the tinsel town being ruled by veterans like MGR and Shivaji.
Thus the two consecutive Mondays in February the buzz in college would be the races and as to whom among the glitterati were present. As such the talk of the races and attending the same were subjects that were taboo in college. It was an event which was off limit for the boarders but however most of them found ways to get out of the college premises. It is said that some of the college staff would attend the races just in order to make note of those boarders who had made their presence. Although nothing really serious came out of being seen, a showdown at the Principal’s office was certain. I have never had the opportunity to go for these races since I did not have any brothers nor was I acquainted with any boys. It required a lot of guts to be seen in the company of boys and at that point of time frankly I lacked that courage.
Sholavaram ruled the roost in the 60’s and 70’s. The participation both in the two and four wheeler categories were immense what with participants coming from all parts of the country and abroad including Sri Lanka and far off England. It was later on in the eighties that Sholavaram was deemed unfit and a new race track was made at Irungattukottai. The shift to the new venue coincided with my departure from India and thus I lost touch with the happenings there. However I am told that the charm which the condemned World War II air field of Sholavaram presented was not to be found in the more aristocratic new venue. You may wonder as to why I have brought in Sholavaram when the news item pertained to Karun Chandok. My reasoning goes on these lines - the three top motor car race drivers that India has so far produced are all off springs of the Sholavaram track.
Narain Karthikeyan is a name to reckon with when it comes to Formula Racing in India. He was the first person from the Indian sub continent to be selected by a Formula 1 team when in 2005 he was part of the Jordan team. Narain Karthikeyan had as his role model his father, a wonderful rally driver and winner of many awards in the seventies at Sholavaram. There is no enthusiast in this sporting field, who has not heard of his uncle Karivardhan whose passion it was to promote Car Racing in India. His premature death was a great loss to the sport. The next racing hero is Karun Chandok who it is said took to the sport like fish to water. How can it be otherwise for both his father and grandfather were veterans of the sport and have played an enormous role in the development of the same in India. It is said that his grandfather was one of the architects of the Sholavaram track. The third in the trinity is young Armaan Ebrahim who is yet to join the F1 league, but I am sure at the rate at which he is achieving, that day will not be far. It is a well known fact that his father was a very popular race driver at Sholavaram, having won many awards and that his father along with his grandfather has played a pivotal role in popularizing the sport in Tamilnadu/India.
Sholavaram is indeed the “Mullasthanam” (cornerstone) for Motor Sports in India and if and when India is ready to host the Formula 1 races, the only venue that can come to my mind is, well you have guessed it right!! This morning the papers say that the czar of F1 sporting namely Bernie Ecclestone has agreed to include India in the racing circuit as early as 2011. The venue is anybody’s guess, however I do sincerely hope that Ecclestone would have heard of Sholavaram and would deem it the right place. With big names like Vijay Mallya owning a F1 team and being in the fray, the stakes are high and thus I wonder what the chances for the World War II airfield would be. Mallya may be the proud owner of a team; however he too has had his initial glories in the rugged circuit of Sholavaram. Wonder if that would in any way tilt the balance. I know the final decision would depend on the economics, for Motor Sports is no different from other sports where the base line is business and the money it can bring in.
Where to hold the F1 may be something on which I cannot have a say, however there is this little something about the Racing Trio which cannot be prised from me. Karun’s mother is my classmate and as for Narain and Ermaan’s aunts, they are my good friends. This sets me wondering if the next prodigy in this sport will also be someone known to me and as to whether he/she will have a lineage to the good old cornerstone - Sholavaram.
P.S. Having called this article Cornerstone, I thought it a coincidence that the sport is controlled by EccleSTONE and that the Circuit in England is called SilverSTONE.

In Search of the Gangaa

“Hontton pe sachchaee rahatee hain, Jahan dil mein safaee rahatee hain,
Hum us desh ke waasee hain, jis desh mein GANGAA bahatee hain”
These lyrics by the Hindi poet Shailendra Chauhan, set to tune by none other than the musical genius duo of Shankar-Jaikishan was immortalized by the voice of Mukesh in the movie Jis Desh mein Gangaa Bahatee Hain. Roughly translated these lines would mean, “Where only truth prevails on the lips and where the heart is pure, we belong to that land and that is the land where the GANGA flows.” The song was a hit as it was meant to be what with Raj Kapoor and Padmini picturising the same. However for a young girl of four/five, this initial stanza of the song apart from the rhythmic tone did not have any impact but she did learn that there is a river Gangaa which flows through India. So even before the girl went to school and learnt her basic lessons, she had got to know an important aspect of the Geography of her land. As the years went by and when she knew a smattering of Hindi, she understood the meaning of the stanza and realized that GANGAA was synonymous with India. Later her knowledge increased and she began to understand what made the GANGA so important to India and its people. She came to know that the river is a boon to the country and that the alluvial soil deposited by the Gangaa and her tributaries contributed to making the Gangetic plain fertile and an agricultural belt. She also learnt that the Gangaa provides the main source of water to a sizable portion of the population and is also instrumental in providing electricity to vast areas. She is indeed a savior to the multitudes of humanity who lived along her banks. The girl learnt that as the Gangaa meandered and flowed into the Bay of Bengal, she along with her tributary the Brahmaputra formed one of the largest estuaries in the world and that she supported the mangroves of the Sunderbans which is the world’s biggest ecosystem and also the home to the Royal Bengal Tiger.
As the years went by and in keeping with her quest for knowledge and things spiritual, the girl who by then had become a woman, came to know of the important pilgrimage centres situated on the banks of the Gangaa, namely Haridwar, Allahabad, Varanasi and Gaya. She also learnt that Gangaa herself is considered a Goddess and that taking a dip in her waters is believed to cleanse the soul. Thus it was formed in her mind that to see and worship the Gangaa would indeed be equivalent to or more than a pilgrimage to the holiest of shrines in India. The first time she chanced on the Gangaa was in Kolkatta where she is in a meeker form and is known as the Hooghly. The trip was not conducive for a close interaction and thus it remained a sight like many others during that stay. The next interaction for the lady was when she went to Varanasi and Allahabad. Now a trip to Varanasi is a double whammy for a Hindu, for not only is the Gangaa omnipresent, but the city is also home to the holiest of Hindu shrines namely that of Kasi Viswanath. A trip to this oldest living city in the world is thus a dream come true for any Hindu. Anxious to see both the temple and the Gangaa at close quarters, the lady reached the banks of the Gangaa on the 31st of January 2010 at around 4 in the evening. The sight of the Gangaa that met her eye was not what she had imagined. She had hoped to see the majestic Gangaa in full flow but was truly disappointed to see a very run down version, what with half the river bed dry and home to cacti like bushes. The stories about the deterioration of the Gangaa that the lady had read and seen in various news media came flashing to her and like the thousands of her country men; she too felt a deep heaviness in her heart. The sad fate of the river was indeed hard to overlook.
In that somber mood, she climbed into the boat and began the much awaited ride. The guide like all guides the world over went on in full flow, at a speed much faster than that of the river. He was keen to exhibit his knowledge and the group on the boat was so naïve that they heard him out in awe. The boat passed by Ghats belonging to or built by rulers from various parts of the country and before long came to the famous Harischandra Ghat. The murmur in the boat came to a standstill for here was one of the two burning Ghats and sure enough there were a couple of bodies being cremated. It is rare for a Hindu woman to witness a pyre and here she was all of a sudden witnessing more than one. As it is considered sacred to have oneself cremated on the Ghats of the GANGAA and the ashes immersed in the river, many people go to Varanasi towards the end of their lives just so that they are cremated there. The stark reality that the scene brought about made the mood totally pensive, and reconfirmed the well known truth of how close life and death are. They are indeed two sides of the same coin. Gangaa was ready to accept the human ashes with dignified poignancy just as she was ready to accept the Arati.
Talking of the Arati to the Gangaa, well, it is one of the most beautiful sights in the world. This is done at dusk and lasts for about forty five minutes. The devotion with which it is performed is beyond comparison and the impression it leaves in one is mind boggling. The lady felt that she won’t be wrong if she stated that witnessing the Arati left a far more lasting impression than the Darshan of the Jyotirlingam of Kasi Viswanath. There is no doubt that a visit to the temple of Kasi Viswanath is in itself a wonderful experience and no words can describe the effect it has on one’s inner self. The fact that the Lingam can be touched and that the devotee could perform the Abhishekams made it extra special. With these once in a lifetime experiences and vivid images that she had gathered in Varanasi, the lady left for Allahabad.
Gangaa at Allahabad is joined by Yamuna and the mythical Saraswathi. The Triveni Sangam is another revered spot for any Hindu and the fact that one could be there is in itself considered sacred. The two visible “mahanadis” seemed to be a shadow of their earlier selves. The lady was truly crestfallen. How could the one billion people allow something that is symbolic of their country to reach such a dismal state? This question kept haunting her and she wondered as to how she could turn the table. Knowing that her generation would have to live with a Gangaa that is totally polluted (atleast in the plains), she decided that she would traverse upstream in the hope of seeing the river in its magnificence.
It won’t be long before she makes a trip to Haridwar and Gangotri in that order for her approach to the Gangaa so far has been in the reverse. Will it be wrong for her to wish that at Gangotri she will come across people with “Hontton pe sachchaee rahatee hain, Jahan dil mein safaee rahatee hain”.