The Siesta

Once, in a pleasant day of August, the rays of the sun shone benevolently in the Bangalore afternoon. The newly laid tar roads glinted in the sunlight. It was a strange contrast, to find the same road that was once covered in dust and pock marked with potholes last year. Well, some progress for the festival. I thought to myself.

The trees however are a rare sight in Bangalore nowadays. If they are there in your area kindly consider them as a blessing. They added a dash of green to the grey road and the pale yellow sun rays that beautiful afternoon.

The best part was the pleasant breeze, blowing gently and scattering dry leaves on the road. As I stood by the window, alone in my 1BHK rented home, I thought it better to walk for a while outside the house and revel in the fresh breeze. (By the way you ought not to miss those small moments. To me they are the most important ones)

I came out of my house and I saw my neighbour. He was a cheerful gentleman in his late 50s, wearing a white vest and a blue lungi adorning his rotund belly, and standing near the gate of his house stroking his stomach contentedly.

I struck a conversation with him, “Hi Uncle, what plans for the festival today?”

“Hey nothing much dude, you’ve to tell me yaar.” That’s how the jolly man called me all the time-‘Dude’.

As we continued on with our chatter, he told me about a business trip to some place in TamilNadu a few months ago. There was a rickety old lodge where he stayed near a textile company, for whom he worked in its Bangalore office, whose hotel didn’t have the kind of spicy food suiting his palate.

On his return to Bangalore today, he told me, “The first thing in mind as I travelled to home from the railway station, was to see my wife, refresh myself, and make a stratagem to ravenously attack all her homemade dishes one by one.”

Aunty was a sweet person.  He told me that on his arrival to Bangalore for the festival, she had prepared all her husband’s favourite spicy dishes. Indeed, love between them never faded, not even a bit, in their thirty odd years of matrimonial bliss.

Lucky you! I winked at him.

He nodded to me indicating he had to go inside. After a heavy lunch on a festival day, unmindful of my presence, he sonorously belched and walked back to his house, for a nice siesta.

Another uneventful and quiet holiday, I sighed to myself and retired for a nap.

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Advent of the Dutch, circa 1608-Pazhaverkadu (Pulicat), Tamil Nadu:

 

In the dark night, the cannons boomed and the mighty banyan trees, far away from the sea shore swayed invariably. Unable to bear the incessant firing, the banyan trees crashed to the ground.

The Dutch rallied their forces on the Coromandel Coast. They were intent on capturing the textile mills along the coast and their first historic battle would be the siege on port city of Anandarayan Pattinam, named after the then governor Anandaraya, who governed the Pattinam or city during the times of Vijayanagara Empire.

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Pazhaverkadu (now Pulicat), was renowned for other industries such as cutting and polishing of precious stones and diamonds, which was why the Dutch, awed by Vijayanagara’s expansive wealth across the kingdom, made hasty preparations for their first military expedition to Tamil Nadu.

Kumaran, an aged rebel in Pulicat, was unhappy about the latest news he got from his spies about the Vijayanagara ruler planning to settle for mutual talks with the Dutch without any bloodshed. However, an official notice wasn’t issued publicly. Talks were still in progress, on how to take a call, amongst the royal kinsmen and ministers. This gave the rebels some time to make preparations against the Dutch till the Vijayanagara government issued a ‘formal statement’. In other words, as the rebels perceived it, to make a submissive truce with the Dutch forces.

Kumaran was the most sought after rebel in the Vijayanagara government. He was a patriot of the Vijayanagara and a staunch follower of Krishnadeva Raya. He disliked the current bureaucratic administration under its present ruler.

As a young man, Kumaran had started rebel activities for the upliftment of poor in and around Pazhaverkadu, to win their support. The rebel’s first mission was initiated by his great grandfather to fight against the Portuguese when they ventured into the coastal regions of Kerala and Tamil Nadu. But Kumaran’s great grandfather failed in his mission and was killed by the Portuguese in the rebellion led by him.

Ages passed and Kumaran made aggressive strategies of spreading awareness about alien rulers invading India. News of many such uprisings in and around the Empire, by his secret rebel organizations, spread beyond the Coromandel Coast till it reached the ears of ship builders in the Gulf of Khambat (also called Gulf of Cambay) in Gujarat. These shipbuilders were eager to fight for the cause, ready to provide him ships at his disposal and carry armaments for the rebel army.

***

Squally showers of rain arrived with the bluish-grey night. It was about time when the Dutch had forayed into the Indian Ocean. They made their advances to the Coromandel Coast, for over two days, ‘planning to threaten the ‘innocent Indies’’ as they called and ‘scare the hell out of them.’     The captain of the Dutch mother ship held a letter. He called for one of his aides to take the letter and a map that explained the route to the palace of the Vijayanagara King. “Let’s see if they agree for a peaceful settlement. If not, let’s keep our artillery ready. Let’s show what’s in store for the Indies today.” said the Dutch captain with a smug grin.

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On the fateful day, the rebels were poised for an imminent attack from the Dutch. Close to twenty rebel ships, built by the ship builders who worked day and night over a span of five to six years, had departed secretly a few days earlier than the Dutch ships. From the Gulf of Khambat in the Arabian Sea they reached Pulicat’s port in dead of the night.

The Dutch had finally arrived on the shores of Coromandel Coast. They had dispatched one of their able men to submit the letter that was addressed to the Vijayanagara King who was to work on the situation amicably with the Dutch. But the rebels, who were hiding along the shores of Coromandel Coast, got a whiff of this piece of information and they stealthily captured the Dutch messenger.

Meanwhile, the Captain of the mother ship became anxious. It was almost an hour. Thus, uncertain about the messenger’s return, the Dutch naval commander decided, at the behest of the mother ship’s Captain, to fire cannon shots as a warning and strike panic amongst the civilians.

The cannon fired sky high and the frightened Vijayanagara citizens ran amok. The melee in the situation infuriated Kumaran and the rebels who concealed themselves and their ships amongst the forest thickets. A speedy arrow whizzed in the air and the next moment one of the Dutch soldiers at the stern, screamed and fell into the water.

A signal was given to attack. The rebels blew on conch shells to alert their men for war. Thus the clash of rebels against the Dutch took place in the battle of Pulicat. As both groups approached each other, the rebels startled the Dutch by attacking them with their illegally imported muskets.

The rebels waged a bloody battle with the Dutch. Some of the rebels displayed their traditional fighting skills with the stick that swivelled in their hands and knocked off many Dutch soldiers rendering them unconscious. The Dutch soldiers dreaded the skirmishes with the rebels and for their skilful usage of modern artillery with traditional warfare.

The Dutch captain’s consternation for the rebels grew: The Indies are dangerous people. We’ve underestimated them. Do I continue in this war or prepare for a retreat?

In the entire gory scuffle a chance fire from one the Dutch cannons and the main rebel ship, the only ship that hoisted the rebel’s flag, was severely hit on its hull. Hope was restored amongst the Dutch soldiers. The Dutch Captain, eager to capture Kumaran, smirked triumphantly.

In a jubilant mood, he ordered his crew to steer the mother ship towards the sunken rebel ship. As the Captain speedily approached the rebel ship, he was taken in for a surprise. A few distance away, the sinking ramparts of the main ship revealed another ship present behind it which adorned the same rebel flag, and was fully armed with cannons and hundreds of rebel men, young and old, with muskets and other weapons. From his vantage point, the alarmed Dutch captain realized it was a decoy and spotted Kumaran in the lower deck of the rebel ship.

“Comrades open fire, now! It’s now that we have an opportune moment to strike fear into that white captain. He has foolishly left his forces to attack us. Let him be warned never to dare set foot on our land with hatred and jealousy in his heart.” Kumaran’s rousing words prompted his men to attack with renewed vigour. Thus muskets were fired and the battle ensued loss of lives on both sides.

The turbulent waters of the sea butted the masts of both the ships. Some of the war veterans amongst the rebels, in their fervour, clung to the mast and jumped onboard the Dutch mother ship. The younger rebel militia, comprising of people from all walks of life, fired arrows and aimed their lances at the Dutch soldiers.

The Dutch army by now had realized their level of unpreparedness for the war and their presumptuousness that the Vijayanagara people could be easily subdued. But it was too late and they were completely routed. The veteran rebels made a final charge into the lower decks of the Dutch ship that housed powerful cannons, and ceased the Dutch soldiers’ firing with a few clashes of swords and firing of muskets.

When the Dutch soldiers witnessed their Captain of the mother ship being captured by the rebels, the surviving vestige of their naval command retreated in fear.

There was merriment in the victor’s camp. The rebels revelled in the joy of defeating their enemies. However, in accordance to justice and as per Kumaran’s order, the remaining Dutch soldiers and their Captain were to be presented, the next day, before the court of the Vijayanagara king for trial. The citizens, proud of the valorous rebels, erupted in chorus. Shouts of: Jaya Vijayanagara, Jaya Vijayanagara… echoed everywhere and then there were muffled voices that strangely sounded: Jai Vinayaka, Jai Vinayaka… 

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As I woke up bleary eyed from my dream, I ran towards the window to see a bustling religious procession. People shouted Jai Vinayaka, Jai Vinayaka, Ganapathi bappa moriya in chorus. Ardent followers clapped ecstatically muttering hymns in praise of the Hindu God and some of them sprinkled copious amount of flowers on the huge Elephant God seated in the back of a truck. Of course, it was the birthday of Hindu God Ganesha. The devotees clung onto the sides of the truck that ambled carefully amidst the procession. Devotees in the surrounding vicinity distributed prasad or religious offerings of food to the onlookers who gaped in wonder seeing the huge idol of the Elephant God.

I turned around to see an open history book, lying beside the pillow of my bed, whose pages described Indian history of freedom struggle that spanned for over 200-300 years. On this festive occasion, I whispered a silent prayer, wishing for betterment of those bereaved families, whose children put their lives on the line to save the country from tyranny and oppression, from then till now.

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