Shrinking the world into one nation and considering all citizens as kith and kin is certainly an unbelievable noble thought. First, there was the joy of receiving a surprise, next the joy of receiving one of my favorite delicacies, next was the incomparable elation of revisiting the past – the recent touristic and the distant historic past. When ‘I’, my Indonesian friend sent me a few traditional sweets of the country, I was delighted. “i am reminded of the dream of the indian poet kaniyan poongundranar who articulated 3,000 years back in tamil classic Purananuru , he says “yaadhum oore yaavarum kelir” which means, “i am a world citizen, every citizen is my own kith and kin” he said 3,000 years back” APJ Abdul Kalam while rendering his speech on the occasion of the golden jubilee year of the European Union in April 2007 spoke about Kaniyan Poongundranar and his ‘world is one’ concept. The historical sites are not mere tourist attractions to me – but they are evidences of a long lost civilizational connect – often researched by scholars. The cultural and historical impact that the temples have left behind in my mind is huge. This thought of oneness is what I felt, when I visited the medieval temples of south-east asia.
Yaadhum oore yaavarum kelir – the first line of the poem means – ‘To us all towns are our own, everyone our kin’ – the thought of world is one, written two millennia ago is a startling evidence of the well established Tamil civilization.
(Adapted from translation by G.U.Pope, 1906) We marvel not at the greatness of the great Thus have we seen in visions of the wise! Tho’ storms with lightning’s flash from darkened skies.ĭescend, the raft goes on as fates ordain. That o’er huge boulders roaring seeks the plain This much-praised life of ours a fragile raftīorne down the waters of some mountain stream When grieved, we patient suffer for, we deem
When joyous life seems like a luscious draught. Life’s good comes not from others’ gifts, nor ill,ĭeath’s no new thing, nor do our bosoms thrill To us all towns are our own, everyone our kin, ‘I’ addressed me as ‘sister’ – I am reminded of the Tamil verse written in Purananooru – one of the many collections of poetries in the Sangam age (3rd BCE to 3rd ACE),, by the Tamil Poet ‘kaniyan poongundranar’: This surprise was a delicious package, sent by my Indonesian friend ‘I’.Īs a person who respects traditional cuisine and culture, I am amazed by the ‘cuisinical’ links that my state Tamilnadu shares with south-east Asia – especially with the countries I have visited till date- Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia. Almost 4 years ago, we left Cambodia and 5 years ago, we made our memorable trip to Bali, Yogyakarta and Jakarta – the mesmerising cities of Indonesia. Couple of weeks ago, I had a surprise waiting for me.
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