Chapter 5
Monkey man … Monkey man
Among the hills some hills are rich in minerals, Pon Uthiyur hill is well known for its medicinal plants all over the world. Pon Uthiyur was the abode of Kongana Siddhar who used to experiment with making gold using the techniques of ‘Rasavadam’, it is said that he made ‘Pon’(Gold)by blowing wind (Uthi)through tubes made of clay hence the name of the place become Pon Uthiyur. There are four Vedas. Those four Vedas are standing tall as four hills here. The vibrations and experience that a person gain here will be equal to the vibrations that one will gain after learning the four Vedas. Even a person who do not know anything about Vedas, if he stays in the Pon Uthiyur hills and meditate, he will become a scholar who has learnt all the Vedas with its inner meaning.
To add to this … The breath exhaled by hundreds of Siddhas are mixed in the air here. When we breathe this air unknowingly we are getting connected to the souls of these Siddhas through the air because of this many changes happen in our body and mind.
When Raju reached the foot of the hill it was quite dark. As he was getting down from the bus, he remembered what the conductor said, “Bro,Sleep somewhere here tonight and start climbing the hill in the morning otherwise you will get stuck somewhere in the forest, there are many wild animals here and it is not safe to go now..”
Raju just remembered he do not have any spare cloths as he has started his journey from the home in a hurry.
‘Wooo…wooo’ the scary sound of the wind blowing through the forest sowed the seeds of fear in his mind.
He could not find any sign of inhabitation there.
There was a streak of light coming out from the brick walls of the Idumban temple. Raju understood that the light is coming out in between the bricks where the plastering has loosened. It was glowing as if it will go off any time due to the force of the wind. Raju slowly walked towards the temple and stood there silently.
He heard the barking sound of a dog behind him. He turned back and looked. A black dog with glittering eyes in the darkness which was black as the black. It was a street dog. He also heard someone coughing at a distance. Following that he saw someone lighting his tobacco.
Slowly he went near him.
It was clear he is a beggar. He wore a torn and dirty dhoti and nothing else on his bear body. A cloth bag was near him. An old aluminum plate was lying nearby. He looked at Raju and asked,
“Who is that…?”
“I have come to this hill in search of a Siddha. Is there any place to stay here nearby?”
“Bro,this is not Ooty or Kodaikanal…! Only people who got fed up of living the normal life will come and live here.. then how can you get a place to stay here!”
“I understand… but somehow I have to spend my night here.”
“You can go and sleep on that rock there.Bairav is here with us. He will take care of us.”
“Bairav… Who is that?”
“It is this dog. He is Bairav. He is our protector.”
Raju could not simply control his laugh. The cold wind made him cough for a while. He did not want to stand there any longer. He slowly walked away from there.
In that thick darkness, he could not find any way to reach the uphill.
He realized how foolish he was to think that Pon Uthiyur is something like Tirupathi or Palani where the crowd will be flocking all the time.
At the same time, Raju saw some people faraway coming towards him with a long stick and a flambeau torch in there hands.
Thank god!
When they came near, he saw a gunny bag on their shoulder. All of them were wearing a turban and were very strong with a good physique.
They looked at Raju with enquiring eyes!
Raju asked them, “Which way should I take to go uphill?.”
“Uphill means…?.”
“I want to go to the temple there.”
“You have to walk more than fifteen kilometers from here…. Are you coming here for the first time?”
“Yes,Bro… I came in search of a Siddha.”
“Ha, Ha…in search of a Siddha?”
Raju was really shocked to hear this from them.
“Why are you laughing?”
“What to say… so many people are coming here to meet Siddhas and to get medicines from them.”
“Medicines?”
“This whole hill is full of medicinal plants, right?”
“I want to meet a Siddha whom I already know and who used to visit our house…”
“Okay, then come with us. We belong to the local tribal community here. Our village is on the way to uphill only. What we grow there, we take it to the market in the town and sell it. Now we are returning from the town only. “One of them said.
Raju started his journey uphill talking with them. He saw a black dog following them.
In the dark night he could see only the glittering eyes of that dog. He continued his journey with the tribal people. For a second, he thought whether he had made a mistake of coming alone to that hill especially during the particular time of the night!
The tribal people started singing there tribal songs to ward off their tiredness. Raju was about to laugh hearing those funny songs but he controlled himself.
“Oh, monkey man…monkey man”
“Let my sister sleep… sleep…” was another sang.
“Hey…"
“I am your uncle…”
Another one continued.
“Climb the hill… climb the hill…” another song. Raju had mixed feelings about the songs which they sang ,sometimes he felt that they are all well connected and meaningful and sometimes not.
All of a sudden they stopped walking and stared at the darkness before them. In the light of the flambeau torch in their hands they could vaguely identify the figure of a big elephant with its baby. They stopped their journey only because of it. Their song also came to an abrupt end. The elephants were not so visible in that moonlit night but they were able to identify it clearly. It trumpeted once and the sound was slowly fading out. Following this the dog started to howl without any reason.
When the elephants heard the dog’s howl, it was as if they were both conversing with each other in a language only known to them. The elephants turned back and started walking away from there. The dog climbed upon a rock and stood there with its head up in the air and now it is visible to everyone there.
Immediately they said, “It is Bhairav… Bhairava…” they offered their respects. Raju started wondering thinking about what next?. Again, they started walking enthusiastically. The path was full of rocks and the walking was very tough. Boulders and stones… in between them were thorn bushes. Loose mud!Inspite of all these a sort of chillness always covered them . It was that chillness on their way which kept them walking without sweating heavily.
A man of their community who was standing there looked at Raju and asked, “who is that? Looking new?”
“I am coming from Kollam… I am going to the Uttanda Velayudha Swamy temple in this hill”
“You have come alone…?”
“Yes… why any problems?”
“You are very brave, no one will climb this hill except us during this time of the night!”
“I thought there will be good path leading to uphill … there will be a bus, car or some other transportation facilities, after coming here only I came to know that we have to go by walk.”
“You are right, many people come here totally unaware of all these facts like you. You are better ,at least – you said you have come to visit the temple… some people they pester us like anything by asking ‘are there any Siddhas here … can we meet them’ this is the only thing they want to ask…”
When one among the group said this, Raju thought if he is going to say that he also has come in search of a Siddha, they might think bad about him. He decided to act smart and asked, “Why… aren’t there any such people here in this hill?”
“There are some who take drugs!” one of them said without a second thought..
“Do you mean that there are no Siddhas here?”
“Before 30 to 60 years, this whole hill was so greenish. Now there is not even one to ten per cent is like that … they have cut all the trees to say more than ninety per cent and made the whole forest dry as a piece of log.
Along with that, all the people who come here… they don’t go back simply like that. They keep breaking the branches thinking that they are medicinal plants, in the name of hunting rabbit and small animals they have destroyed the whole forest… so we were forced to move out and finally found a place uphill.”
“Do you mean that there are no Siddhas here now?”
“Bro,only human beings are here.If someone tells you that he is a Siddha do not trust him. They might give you something in the name of medicine. If you eat that, you will become unconscious for minimum three hours. Once you woke up you will find that all your belongings including your cloths has vanished.”
Raju was shocked to hear that.
“Bro,If you don’t mind could you please tell me what brought you to this hill at this time of the night, any problems?.”
“Hey,no problems, I came just like that…”
“This same Muruga is there in your place also…”
“I cannot understand you.”
“I just wanted to say that the god is same in all the places with the same power then why you are running here and there in search of him?”
“I didn’t come here just to pray… there was a Siddha in our street. He used to come here very often. I came here only in search of him.”
“What is so special about him?”
“I want to meet him and it is very urgent….”
“As far as I know there may be four or five of them uphill. No one can bear the chill climate there. You may not feel it now as you are walking continuously. If you sit here for ten minutes then you will realize how cold it is…”
“Please tell me the truth are there any Siddhas here? Do they know about any rare medicinal plants which can cure any diseases, are there any such medicinal plants here in this hill…?”
“Yes, they were here. As far as we know now there are only five or six rare medicinal herbs here. Some Siddhas know about them but they keep it very secret and will not disclose it to anyone.”
Raju understood that he has walked many kilometers by now. But the information he got was quite disheartening to him. The level of confidence that he had when he left from home was not there now. Rajitha’s face was appearing now and then in front of his eyes. He even imagined that she is coming running towards him and hugging him. Tears filled his eyes! When the mind is tired, it is quite natural that the body also feels the same.
He sat on one side of the path. His shirt was wet with sweat!
“Bro… don’t sit… pull yourself up and come along with us. On the way, we will find Mooku Podi Siddha’s hut. You can stay there take rest and continue your journey uphill.” a man walking in the front of them advised. Raju did not want to ignore his advice and started following them faster.
“How far we should go from here to reach the temple?”
“Still seven to eight kilometers Bro…”
That answer took away the balance of energy what is left within Raju!
