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Friday, August 31, 2012

ఒక బెంగుళూరు తెలుగు కథ


పగలూ ... రాత్రీ ...
ఐదారేళ్ళ క్రితం అనుకుంటా ... కోరమంగళా క్లబ్బు పార్కింగ్ లాట్లో జాగాలేదు. ‘రోజూ ఇదే తొందర’ అని వాచ్మన్ మీద విసుక్కుంటూ ఎలాగోలా మారుతీ కారుని రెండు పెద్ద బండ్లమధ్య ఇరికించి హడావిడిగా బార్ కౌంటర్ వైపు నడిచాను. ఆల్రెడీ ఎయిట్ ‘తర్స్టీ’ ... సాయంకాలం దాహం తీర్చుకునే టైమ్. రెడ్డిగారు మామూలుగానే కార్నర్లో ఉన్న బార్ స్టూల్ పైన చేతిలోని మెక్డోవెల్ బ్రాందీ గ్లాసువంక దీర్ఘంగా చూస్తూ కూర్చొని ఉన్నాడు. ఆతడిని పలకరించడం సుద్ద వేస్టు. రాత్రి పదింటికి మూడవ పెగ్గు పడ్డాకే అతడి నోరు పెగుల్తుంది. ఇద్దరమూ ఆ కౌంటర్ వద్ద రెగ్యులర్ కస్టమర్లమే. అక్కడ ఎంతోమంది కూర్చోరు. లాన్ టేబుల్సూ, ఏసీ బారూ మాత్రం బిజీగా ఉంటాయి. రోజూ ఒకేచోట కూర్చుంటున్నా మేమిద్దరం ఒకళ్ళతో ఒకళ్ళం మాట్లాడుకున్నది చాలా అరుదు. కానీ ఆరోజు నేను లేటుగా రావడం, రెడ్డిగారి రెండో పెగ్గు కాస్త త్వరగా పూర్తిచేయడంతో బాతాఖానీలో పడక తప్పలేదు.
"ఏమప్పా రోజూ ఈడనే సూస్తూ ఉండానూ ... ఏడా కల్సా?" అంటూ రెడ్డిగారే సంభాషణ మొదలెట్టాడు.
"ఇక్కడే సార్, ఆర్కియాలజీ సర్వేలో సూపర్నెంట్" జవాబిచ్చాను.
"అయ్యో అట్లాంగా? అంటే హిస్టరీ ఎమ్యే అసంటిదేదో సేసి ఉండుణ్టావ్", అని చప్పరించాడు. "ఈ కాలంలో మంచిగా ఏ డాక్టరో, ఇంజనీరో చదువకుంటే ఏదీ లాభం ఉండేదిలే".
నాకు కాస్త చిరాకేసినా, ఏదో పెద్దముండాకొడుకులే అని నిదానించుకుని, "ఎమ్యే మాత్రమే కాదులేండి సార్, ఆర్కియాలజీలో పీహెచ్డీ కూడా చేసాను ... ఏదో కాస్త పరవాలేదు లేండి", అని నన్ను నేనే సమాధానపెట్టుకుంటూ జవాబిచ్చాను. 
"ఐనా వేస్ట్. చూడ్డానికి తెలివుండా లైఫంతా వేస్ట్ సేసుణ్డావ్ గాదప్పా?" అంటూ చేతిలోని గ్లాసుని కౌంటరుమీద మోదడంతో ‘అది అతడి మూడో పెగ్గు మాత్రమే కాదేమో’ అన్న అనుమానం వచ్చింది. "మా సిన్నోడు సూడు ... ఆర్యీసీ సూరత్కల్లులో మెరిట్ సీటు వచ్చుండాది. ఇందాన్కనే ఫోన్ సేసిణ్డాడు", గ్లాసు ఎత్తి దానిలోని బ్రాందీని ఒక్క గుక్కలో గొంతులో పోసుకుని, బార్మన్తో "షెట్టరే... వన్ మోర్ రిపీట్" అని నావంక చూస్తూ, "నీదేమప్పా డ్రింకు? టుడే ఆల్ సెలెబ్రేషన్స్, వన్ మోర్?"
"థాంక్యూ సార్, కంగ్రాట్స్" అంటూ షెట్టీ అందించిన రాయల్ ఛాలెంజ్ అందుకున్నాను, ఫ్రీ డ్రింకు ఎందుకు కాదనాలి? "సో ... మీరేమి చేస్తారు సార్?" ఏదో ఫార్మాలిటీగా అడిగాను. దానితో మొదలయింది, గంటన్నరసేపు ఏకధాటిగా అతడి జీవితచరిత్ర అంతా ... బెంగుళూరు ప్రక్కనే ఆనెకల్లులో పుట్టి, మైసూరులో పాలిటెక్నిక్ చేసి, ఎనభైలో మైకో కంపెనీలో ఫోర్మన్గా ఉద్యోగంలో చేరి, అప్పటికి ఇంకో ఐదేళ్ళలో రిటైరవుతాడనగా డిప్యూటీ మ్యానేజర్ అయ్యాడు. ముగ్గురు పిల్లలు. పెద్దది ఆడపిల్ల, ఎమ్బీబీయెస్ మూడో సంవత్సరం. రెండవవాడు సరే ఇంజనీరింగులో సీటు వచ్చింది. ఇక మూడవవాడి గురించే అతడి బెంగ.
"ఏడ బుట్టిణ్డో ... అంతా మా ఆడోళ్ళ పోలిక. సిన్నప్పడ్నించీ సైన్సు మీన ద్యాస ఉండ్లా. పీయూసీ సేస్తుణ్డాడు. కాలేజీకి పోయేద్లే, పగలూ ... రాత్రీ ... ఏవత్తు సూసిన్డా ఆ స్నూకర్ పార్లర్లోనో ఇల్లణ్టే ఇంటర్నెట్ కాఫేలోనో... ఏంసేసేటికీ అంతుబట్టట్లే..." అంటూ చాలాసేపు వాపోయిన మాట మాత్రం ఇంకా గుర్తుంది.
ఆ తరువాత క్లబ్బులో చాలాసార్లు కనిపించినా, అతడి ధ్యాసలో అతడు, నా పనిలో నేనూ, పెద్దగా మాట్లాడుకున్నది లేదు.
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కానీ... ఇవాళ ఏమయ్యిందో నన్ను చూడగానే ఉత్సాహంగా ఎదురొచ్చాడు. "ఏమప్పా? చాలా రోజులైనాది నీతో మాటాడి. ఏను బేకు? స్కాచ్?" అంటూ భుజంమీద చెయ్యివేసి బార్ వైపు కదిలాడు. "షెట్టరే ... ఎరడు టీచర్స్" అంటూ బార్ స్టూల్ మీద బైఠాయించాడు.
"ఏంసార్, చాలా ఉత్సాహంగా ఉన్నారు? ఏమిటి విశేషం?"
"ఏముత్సాహంలేయప్పా... రిటైరయుండ్లా. ఇదే ఓన్లీ టైంపాసూ"
"ఓహో? ఎన్నాళ్ళయింది? మీ చిల్డ్రన్ ఇప్పుడు ఏంచేస్తున్నారో?"
"వోకె... ఇప్పుడే సిన్నోడు నన్నీడ దిగబెట్టి పోయిణ్డాడు. నైట్ డ్యూటీస్ ... ఉదయాన్నే వస్తాడు. పగలెల్లా ఇంటికాడే ఉండినా, ఏందో పనులు, ఫోన్లు. నమ్మల్కి ఏనూ కల్సాయే ఇల్ల. ఈడ్నించి పోయేటికి కూడా పర్మనెంటు ఆటో అరేంజి మాడిన్డాడు ... నో డ్రింక్ అండ్ డ్రైవు ... ఎల్లా వాణి రూల్సు ప్రకారమే పోవాలె ... హెహెహె"
"మరి మీ డాటర్ ... ?"
"ఆహ్ ... ఆయమ్మా? పెళ్ళిసేసి పంపించిణ్డాం. ఈడనే, హోసూర్ ప్రక్కల్నే ఆళ్ళ అత్తోరూరు. అల్లుడాడ్నే ప్రాక్టీసు సేస్తుండు. ఏం ప్రాక్టీస్లేయప్పా ... ఆయమ్మ పీజీకి అయిణ్డ కర్చు తీరేటికి పాతికేళ్ళు పట్టుడ్ది. నా గ్రాట్యుటీలో సగం దానికే బట్టిణ్డె. సిన్నోడు నాకాడ్ణే ఉండె ... అదికే స్వల్ప రిలీఫు..."
"సూరత్కల్లులో కదా ఇంజనీరింగ్ చేసాడు? ఇప్పుడే కంపనీలో ఉన్నాడు?"
"అదా...? ఆడు గాదప్పా ... ఆడు పెద్దోడు. పోయినేడే ఎంటెక్ అయ్యిణ్డె. నాయప్ప కూతుర్కే ఇచ్చి జేసుండాం. మద్రాసులో ఏదో కంపనీలో సేస్తుండు. ఆడి జీతం ఆడ్నే సరిపడ్లా. సిన్నోడు నాకాడ్ణ ఉండాడు గన్క సరిపోయె ..."
"అంటే ... మీ చిన్నకొడుకా? ఏమీ చదవకుండా స్నూకరూ, ఇంటర్నెట్టని తిరిగే వాడన్నట్లు గుర్తు? ఏం చదివాడేంటి?"
"వాణికి ఈ సదువులెందుకప్పా? ఆడిది నా పోలికె. ఆడే నూరుమందికి నేర్పుతుండాడు. కాగ్నిజెంట్ కంపనీలో అమెరికన్ లాంగ్వేజ్ ట్రైనర్. రెండు లక్షలు జీతం. ఇణ్టి ఖర్చంతా ఆడే సూసుకుంటాణ్డు. ఆమైలే నాకు నెలకి క్లబ్బు ఖర్చులకి ఇరవైవేలు ఇస్తాండు. అన్దుకేగదా స్కాచి తాగుతుండా ... హెహెహె... వన్ మోర్?"
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Wednesday, August 29, 2012

Rewinding the Traditional Clock – Part II


Rewinding the Traditional Clock – Part II
Geography of Jambudwipa Series

The Puranic king lists are by no means infallible. Even if we take the eighteen majors, there are enough inconsistencies to discard their evidence as flawed. However, Pargitar analyzed their contents thoroughly and pushed the dependability of king-lists to a date as early as 2200 BCE. Archeology places 2200 BCE at the zenith of Harappan civilization. If the Puranic content holds good up to that point, knowing that there existed a continuity of civilized life from the beginning of 4th century BCE in the core area of Indus-Ghaggar region, it is not unreasonable to assume 3100 BCE as the beginning of kingship in the region.


As stated earlier, before I attempt to understand the political geography of the region, I would like to continue with the process of identifying the markers on the chronological thread…

Circa 4500 BCE

Atlanticum:

Paleo-climatologists claim that in the mid fifth millennium BCE, a sudden cold and arid period came about and had lasted for a few centuries. Its effect was felt in the entire Near East, where isolated Neolithic human communities thrived. But, by around 4400 BCE, the flood plains of major rivers became the foci of nascent urban civilizations – the Nile, Euphrates & Indus. 

To understand this we need to take off our Indiana Jones’ sun hats and put the thinking caps of anthropologists. 

Let us look at the nascent subsistence processes – I mean – the basic sources of food for the communities that had learned to manipulate the environment. 

Cultivator – Upper Terraces
Herdsman – Plains
Fisherman – Rivers, Islands and Coast

Primitive cultivation occurred on high terraces fed by runoffs and mountain springs. While the herdsman roamed free in the plains and of course the fisherman lived near the rivers. Incidentally, Gāyatri hymn clearly differentiates three geographical loci – Bhur, Bhuvar, Svar

During the dry, cold and arid phase, which the climatologists call ‘Atlanticum’, the water table dropped and the mountain springs dried up. Probably, it had driven some of them closer to the perennial water sources. Exchange of ideas and material might have caused the rise of settled complex societies in river valleys. Plough, pack animals, manure, dykes and canals, boat, wheel … we can list many such innovations which appeared, in this area, around this period. 

As a logical extension organized socio-political processes, as we understand today, also must have had their beginning in these times. Other important contributor to the awareness of geography to grow was the process of surplus redistribution. Rivers and pack animals reduced distances expanding the habitat; and providing names and identities to the surrounding landscape is but natural. Probably it was the first time the conceptualization of Jambudwipa had occurred. 

Assuming that we are on the right track, we need to get the picture of the principal people/peoples who inhabited these river valleys; and try to identify that part of the traditional lore that matches those peoples. Any references to the others who lived beyond the pale of this core community may give us clues to the communities that preexisted. 

Was this process as smooth as I have shown? 

What were the adversities? 

ṚgVeda doesn’t initially label Asuras as some demonic foreigners but treats them as real native lords. And, the descriptions of Vritra, Hiranya Kasyapa, Bali, Taraka and his sons; and Sambara show them as kings of the cities which existed near major rivers. The people we are concerned with are those who had overcome these antithetical forces when they settled in the land of three principal rivers – Sindhu, Saraswati and Sarayu. 

Let me build a scenario – fraught with the danger of rubbing two juxtaposed ideologies on the wrong sides. In a way what I attempt is a middle ground that they do not want to approach. It is a risk, I am willing to take as I have no professional/academic boss to tell me … “You either fall in line or perish”. 

Let us assume that the availability of cattle and manure helped the cultivator to graduate from hoe based shift agriculture to settled farming in the flood plains. As a natural corollary he became the master of the surplus. He called himself the plough-wielder – after the local root for plough ‘Ar’. There are many cognates to this word in ‘agrARIAN’ terms – Area, Arable etc. The Dravidian ‘Ar’ (ploughshare), Araka (plough), Arisé (Rice). 

What is the earliest word in the world lexicon that implied ‘nobility’? Ārya!

He became the master of the … 

    Manor – Griha – Grihapati – Gahapati
    Land – Viś – Viś-pati – Vaiśya

While the land was communally held and immovable, cattle became an easily exchangeable commodity, or even a token of value. 

Social stratification is an essential ingredient for political power or to the rise of nobility. And, this nobleman had conceded equal status only to those who gave him protection – from the natural elements and the greedy neighbor – priest and warrior. New entrants were freely recruited into this community, and their skills determined their status. Those with the lowest bargaining power became the servants. 

A familiar scenario...

Its remnants survived into pre-Buddhist era in the tribal republics muddling the timelines. But, if we agree that a complex statecraft had existed during the Harappan context, the above scenario might have preceded it. Therefore, I propose to look for geographical clues associated with that social milieu – Agrarian ṚgVedic – for the period preceding the emergence of kingship and a unified urban civilization. 

Circa 6500 BCE


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There are multiple foci for the early Neolithic cultures that emerged in this region. Mehrgarh probably is the earliest as far as the archaeological evidence goes. If you look at the map of early farming cultures, most of them are concentrated in the hilly regions of Quetta Valley and the hills off Makran coast in Baluchistan. Few exceptions are Amri on lower Indus and Rehman Dheri on upper Indus. The early farming communities are generally to the west of the core civilization area. 

These were the people who carried the technology – that of domestication of plant and animal – and probably the language or languages that shaped the latter language families. Prof. Colin Renfrew asserts that Indo-European languages emerged in Levant and spread to the sub-continent along with the spread of Neolithic technology. It is a fair assumption, but – with due respect – if the Neolithic levels of Mehrgarh predate the sites like Catal Huyuk, Naveli Cori and Jericho; the opposite direction is equally possible. 

Assuming that the Neolithic peoples had arrived at the Meru from the west, Anabasis’ assertion that Dionysius arrived in 6363 BCE was probably based on the native memories of that event. 

In my earlier post, I have speculated on the location of Mt. Meru in the Hindukush range based on some mythical beliefs retained in the tradition and equated Vasus with early farming people. (Probably the reason for it to became fashionable by the Mahabharata times for the two leading lineages – Bharatas through Bhishma, and Yadavas – to claim their descent from these mythical Vasus.) See… Finding Mount Meru

There are other super-human beings that existed at the periphery of human habitat. Other than the two principal players, Devas and Asuras, there is a multitude of mythical beings – Yakshas, Gandharvas, Nagas etc. whose cultural attributes place them in upper Paleolithic milieu. Though the canvas of geographical references is wide and amorphous, there may be some specific clues for us to speculate upon.

The task, I must take up in my next post …

Monday, August 20, 2012

Rewinding the Traditional Clock – Part I

Rewinding the Traditional Clock – Part I
Geography of Jambudwipa Series

Change is constant.
As we know it, the political map of the world has never remained the same even for a year. Any speculation based on the assumption that it had remained unchanging for a span of a few thousand years – during the subcontinent’s prehistoric civilization – will of course be hollow. Here, I want to acknowledge my newly found friend, Harish Gala for providing the necessary trigger when he commented on my earlier post, ‘Finding Mount Méru’. Check link: http://saipapineni.blogspot.in/2012/08/finding-mount-meru.html
Before we begin exploring the various clues that exist in the traditional lore, I will secure myself in some reasonably undisputable pointers. Archaeology provides a sequence, which we shall examine first. Instead of speculating on ‘who’s first’, I am giving a broad timetable of events below.

DATE
EVENT
PLACES
9000 BP
Holocene

8000 BP
Appearance of Neolithic Cultures
Mehrgarh, Catal Huyuk, Jericho etc.
6500 BP
Chalcolithic Urban Centers
Indus Valley, Euphrates, Nile basin etc
5100 BP
Bronze Age
Indian Subcontinent, Mesopotamia, Egypt
2500 BP
Classical Age
India, Persia, Greece

The historic period in the neighboring Mesopotamia and Egypt begins with the Bronze Age Civilizations there. Thanks to the libraries of Assurbanipal and the clay tablets of Egypt, these civilizations have an acceptable chronological framework. But, the subcontinent has no such luck. Here, the records available are oral, susceptible to revision by their custodians. Therefore, any attempt at reconstructing the past based on these oral traditions will always be mired in controversy. A predicament we cannot escape, but nevertheless we shall continue to endeavor and try not to be driven by ideological and political agenda, but stick to reasonable reason and be open to similar views from others. Unfortunately, the temper and tenor of our scientists betray otherwise, causing nonpartisan observers to look at even the most objective attempts with suspicion.
Let me be forthright with my stance. I am not a professional historian and this is not an academic paper. My attempt here is purely speculative and has no scientific pretentions. All that I hope is that some true historian may find inspiration from this and postulates a logical hypothesis. Now that I am through with my disclaimer, let me plough along…
The Indian tradition has contents which may be slotted into three broad overlapping compartments:
1.      Contemporary Experiences
2.      Memories of Events from the Past
3.      Myths of Supernatural and Extra-human Nature
The final renditions of the texts that we have today, belong to a period significantly recent compared to the civilization, whose geography we set out to explore. And, to differentiate and segregate, the myth from the past from the contemporary, from the muddled narratives is certain to suffer from human judgmental bias. It’s easy for any ‘scientist’ with known ideological or political leanings to pick only those parts which are convenient to his argument and build his theory. We cannot blame them because the source itself is imperfect and we have very little irrevocable material evidence to fall back on. In a way, I attempt to do the same and therefore refrain from calling this a hypothesis, but just a speculation.
Firstly, I want to identify a few time markers from archaeological and external sources to build the matrices around them.
1.      1500 BCE – Dates of Dwaraka
2.      2000 BCE – Regionalization of IVC
3.      2500 BCE – Mature IVC - Meluhha appears in Akkadian context
4.      3100 BCE – Gilgamesh and Evidence of flood at Suruppak.
5.      4500 BCE – Climatic phase ‘Atlanticum’ - Nascent urban sites in river valleys
6.      6363 BCE – Date given by Arrian for the arrival of Dionysius in India.
Now, let me match the traditional Puranic data with the above dates.
Circa 1500 BCE
The Bengal King List mentions a gap of 1040 years between the First Recitation of Purānas and the Coronation of the first king of Nanda dynasty, Mahāpadma. During the intervening period, 22 Brāhatrātra, 5 Prādyota, 8 Saisunāga kings ruled in succession. There were 9 Nandas who ruled after Mahāpadma. If we give each Nanda king a reign of 20 years which approximates with the length of reigns of various historic dynasties, we may reasonably assume that Nandas ruled for 180 years. Therefore, a total of 46 kings ruled between the reign of Janamejaya and Chandragupta Maurya, who succeeded the last Nanda king, with an average length of 28 years each – a length particularly long compared to historic averages but well within reasonable limits. 

We are fairly sure of the date of Maurya ascension – 321 BCE. Therefore, the traditional date of the first recital falls on (320 BCE + 1040 + 180) 1540 BCE which approximates with mid second millennium BCE.
This date happily corresponds with the radiocarbon dates of Dwaraka, disappearance of Late Harappan culture in Gujarat and Doab and subsequent ruralization and isolation of urban centers in the subcontinent.
The tradition credits Veda Vyāsa and his disciples, the contemporaries of Mahabharata war with the final composition of Purānas and the compilation of ancient knowledge, in the form of four separate Vedas and its annexures. No wonder the philologists’ dates of ṚgVeda also fall thereabouts. However, the memories and myths contained in these compilations might have belonged to earlier contexts.
Assuming that circa 1500 belonged to the Mahabharata period we may attempt deciphering the geography of the period based on the epic. However, the epic, as we inherited, is encyclopediaic in nature. The specific references to the geography suffer from being extrapolations of later times. A more conservative approach based on the principal characters of the story, supported by archaeological knowledge may give us an idea. I would like to leave it for my next post and confine myself here to the task of building the chronological framework for that purpose.
Circa 2000 BCE
Before we venture into the maze of Solar and Lunar king-lists, I would like to establish two basic assumptions. See table.
1.      Brihatbala a solar king and a direct descendent of Rama, the protagonist of the epic, Ramayana, is supposedly a contemporary of the heroes of Mahabharata war. Therefore, I assume that he lived in circa 1500.
2.      Secondly, I assume that – the basic tenets of Yuga chronology – Ramayana and Mahabharata occurred towards the end of Treta and Dwapara segments respectively. And, utilize the lists of solar kings for the period earlier to Mahabharata instead of the  lunar kings.   
From Brihatbala to Rama, there are 30 solar kings on the list. If we give an average reign of 18 years to each of them, taking into account a conservative life expectancy rate, an interregnum of 540 years, places the period of Ramayana at the end of the third millennium BCE.
Here, we must look at two seminal themes in our tradition. One, Ramarajya is remembered as the most glorious phase of our past and the empire reached the maximum extent during Rama’s reign. Second, the entire period is known for continuous conflict with Asuras, whose presence ended with the reign of Rama.
It doesn’t take too long to club Treta-Yuga with the Mature Harappan archaeological phase and presume that Rama’s reign occurred at its end. Tradition also states that the sons of Rama and Bharata established new territories and cities far away from the core areas of the earlier empire, like Takshasila, Puskalavati, Kusalavati, Lavapuri etc.
Therefore, when I finally try to speculate on the extent of Jambudwipa; and the nature and names of regions and towns within the Mature Harappan phase, due cognizance of this fact will be taken.
Circa 3100 BCE
In the beginning, there was this flood. Legend has it that the first man, a king called Manu established order in a land inundated by chaos, whose descendents ruled Jambudwipa. Ikshvaku line of kings claimed descent from him and 60 generations came to pass before Rama was born. A period of 1100 years places Manu in 3100 BCE. See table. 

Interestingly, 3102 BCE is the traditional date for the beginning of this era, given by Aryabhata. Further, it coincides with the archaeological and Akkadian dates of Suruppak flood.
Sagara 24th king in this lineage is known to have conquered the entire land all the way to the sea. His date falls somewhere in the middle of the third millennium, 2532 BCE, and explains the beginning of the Mature Harappan archaeological context. The hydrologists’ estimate based on satellite imagery and the data from groundwater mapping suggests 2400BCE as the beginning of a riparian crisis – drying up of the Saraswati. Bhagirath, great grandson of Sagara is famous for bringing the celestial river to the earth. Is it a dramatized version of a folk memory of the humungous effort to dig a channel to divert the waters of Sutlej to the old bed, reviving the parched settlements?
Further, we may assume that the people of Ayodhya coexisted or in conflict with another equally strong people called Asuras with their own strongholds. If our task is to understand the geography of the region, we may need to explore the territories of both the Ikshwakus and their bête noir, the so called Rakshasas or Asuras.
Finally … Before I attempt that …
I would like to explore the pre Harappan timelines (of 4500 & 6500 BCE) and try and associate them with what our tradition has to offer. Of course, as we go deeper into the past, memories turn into myths and we are constrained to find clues in irrational beliefs and legends. Nevertheless, I shall endeavor in my next post: Rewinding the Traditional Clock – Part II.