Bringing a long-standing project to life
It is a memory I can take to my deathbed.
1999. Nanganallur, Chennai.
It’s a vast 6000 sq.ft house built right at the corner of 19th street. A narrow drain runs along the four corners of the house, giving us, especially during the rainy season, ample opportunities to make paper boats and set afloat.
Upon entering the small gate of the house, you will find a wide porch, what we call a thinnai in Tamil. As you stand at the porch, you can’t miss a clear view of the Tulsi plant in the backyard, planted divinely inside a cement pot painted white and saffron red.
In the first room, whether you walk in during the morning, afternoon or late evening, you’ll find my grandfather, thatha, reclined against an easy chair, nose buried in a magazine or newspaper. That room is his treasure trove. Well, not just his, but every householder’s treasure trove. If you manage to open the drawers without a protest from him, you’ll find new pencils, pens, erasers, sharpeners and blank sheets of paper. Treats indeed. Of course, unless you show that your pencil can no longer hold even within the hollow of an unused pen, you don’t dare lay your hands on a new pencil.
By the time you walkin past the hall and the swamy room, your nose is sure to capture the aroma of freshly brewed filter coffee, or sambar, rasam and kaai (vegetable). There, inside the quaint little kitchen which smells of kerosene when the food factory is shut, you will find Kamalamma and my favorite storyteller, Iyer mama relentlessly cooking day and night for anywhere between four to ten people.
Iyer mama. It is he who I associate this memory to the most. It is he who holds a special place in his house, in my heart.
He, who every evening, without fail, cuts pomegranate and keeps it in the refrigerator, for me to munch on when I come back from school. The perfect quantity, the ideal chillness, plenty of love served every single day. It is he who waits with a piece of jaggery in hand, as I swallow mouthfuls of groundnuts and fight off the urge to drink water lest I develop a stomach ache, by suckling on the jaggery piece. It is he who finds his peace in a small thatched hut built on the terrace of the house, which houses all kinds of tools, broken watches, clocks and electronics one can think of. The hut which is a source of sheer excitement and curiosity for every kid who lives in the house. It is he, who puts me to bed with wonderful stories that take me back in time, to our epics, to his journeys, to the land of imagination.
It is he who first sparked the joy of listening to stories and storytelling. As if in continuance of the tradition, the ritual of bedtime stories was taken up by my maternal aunt, who, even today, keeps it alive. Whether on a regular day or a bad day, I find utmost comfort in lying on her lap and listening to her stories from Panchatantra, Chanakya and more. Her stories and the stories of Iyer mama are antidotes to anger, stress or anything that takes the joy out of life.
It is to them, to Amma and Appa, and to the path that life has taken me into, that I dedicate this passion I developed towards not just storytelling, but telling stories about our rich culture and traditions.
It is to them that I dedicate this journey I have taken into Gurukula today.
Gurukula is the brainchild of my brother, Sriram, who has had as many or many more rich experiences growing up amidst the love of his mother, his grandparents, and his family. It is that rootedness in our culture and value systems that one day, led him to sit in a temple and read the original texts of Mahabharata (in Sanskrit). He started this as a way of giving back the society, what he learnt and experienced as a child growing up in India.
What began as translating Mahabharata and narrating the stories in simple English to children and adults, grew to include translations of Ramayana, Panchatantra, Bhagavat Gita and even the Vedas.
Aren’t they mere stories? You might wonder. But, the beauty of each of these texts is that each story, incident and character holds relevance to the society even today. Mind you, what has transpired today on the Gurukula app he built, is six years of his relentless passion, hard work and love to leave something for our generation, for the next generation.
For me, the story is quite similar. For the past few years, I’ve had this urge to dig deeper into the culture, traditions and practices that exist in India today. Ones that have turned into glaring social issues, from spirituality to gender equality. I’ve often found myself asking; why? Why should I pray to God? Why should I celebrate a festival just because I am told to do so? Why should I study ancient scriptures? Why does it seem as though some of our practices and value systems seem so biased or unfair? Were they really meant to suppress, oppress and glorify different people and society so distinctly? Where is the harmony in conflicting ideals?
These questions led me on a search to find answers that I believed and still believe lay in our history. It is this urge which led me to join my brother in building Gurukula.
My quest began with the desire to learn about Adi Shankaracharya, the renowned saint who, in his 32 years of living, learnt and spread the Advaita philosophy across India. Reading about his life history and taking a deep dive into spirituality through his compositions not only gave me an insight into how he achieved his purpose, but also led me to question and understand spirituality, karma and the impermanence of life in a more meaningful way.
It changed and continues to change both of us in ways we never imagined it would. It has become a source of wisdom, strength, clarity and much more.
I write this piece today because Sriram and I launched the Adi Shankaracharya shloka and life history series on Gurukula just hours ago. And, we believe anyone who reads and listens to these stories and shlokas will find the knowledge to be as rich and enlightening as we did.
For now what you can find on Gurukula are translated (to English) stories from Mahabharata, Ramayana, Panchatantra, Bhagavad Gita, Subhashitams (short verses brimming with wisdom) and Adi Shankaracharya life history and shlokas. What we do intend to create in the future are stories of Tenali Raman, a deep dive into the festivals of India, temple history and architecture, freedom fighters of India and much more.
Oh and the best part? We soon plan to release the app in multiple languages like Tamil, Sanskrit, Telugu and Hindi.
If you want to check our app, visit https://gurukula.com/. We’d love to hear from you on what you think!
