WHO IS THE MAN IN RED?

WHY IS HE ACTING AS A SPOKESPERSON FOR OTHERS?

Here is another very simple Legend of Ponnivala video clip. Again I have inserted it into my blog for teachers to use. The scene does not need much comment. As the story unfolds, the Chola king’s attendant goes to find Kolatta. He then brings him into the king’s reception hall where his eight brothers are waiting. The Chola asks Kolatta to confirm that these men who are there to see him are indeed his own birth-brothers. It is significant, perhaps, that Kolatta is the key person here, and the one most trusted by the king. After all he has already proven himself to be a good worker. So it is Kolatta who is asked to confirm the identity of these visitors. Once that is done the king immediately offers them all work. Furthermore, the rate of pay he names is exactly the same as that their elder sibling has been earning; twenty measure of grain a month. It is taken for granted, it would seem, that the nine brothers are all equivalent where setting a labour rate is the issue.

This particular scene also throws a some extra light on the question asked in my blog post #1.8. That was: Is it fair to pay just 25% more when additional labour by a wife is added to the mix? In that scene it would seem that the presence of Kolatta’s wife was the reason the king agreed to raise Kolatta’s monthly payment from sixteen measures of grain to twenty. But this time, when speaking to his band of brothers, the king does not ask about wives. Nor do the brothers mention this matter. This time it is quite clear that the Chola is hiring (and agreeing to pay) for labour solely on a per-person basis. He is not suggesting (nor is he being asked) to make an adjustment to the wage being offered based on the presence of a wife. Was Kolatta simply a “good bargain-maker” or is a women’s work input on behalf of her husband really recognized, in this story, as a legitimate reason to pay more? And where are the other eight wives that we know were around somewhere (from blog post 1.4). Did they not come to visit the king along with their husbands? The animated video clip shows the men alone on their way to see the king (blog.1.7) suggesting that their women stayed behind. But we never learn why this is the case. Also note that a subtle differentiation has been made between Kolatta and all his younger brothers. The eldest brother is assigned (assumed to be) the leader vis-a-vis his entire group of siblings. Respect-wise the eldest stands out, yet wage-wise the nine men are treated identically. The same tradition of respect-for-age is still prevalent in the region today.

Signing off for now,

“Blogger” Brenda Beck

The Sophia Hilton Foundation of Canada

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To find out more about The Legend of Ponnivala -- the legend, the series, the books, and the fascinating history behind the project, visit www.ponnivala.com.

WHAT ARE THESE EIGHT MEN ASKING OF THE CHOLA KING?

This is a simple question based on one scene in the Legend of Ponnivala animated story. Again for this blog post, I have chosen something simple. Here too, my comments should be well-suited to classroom teaching for the early grades. My query has a simple answer. These men are asking the king if he has had a visit from their elder brother, Kolatta, or if he has perhaps heard of his whereabouts. Kolatta’s eight younger brothers explain that they have been waiting for word from Kolatta for a long time. They had stayed home in Velivala hoping to hear back from this eldest brother, their advance envoy. He was their “test” case. The eight men wanted to know how he had fared. Had he asked the Chola king for a job? Had he been given work?

As Kolatta’s eight younger brothers these men had an (unspoken) right to share in his luck. Had he indeed enjoyed some good fortune here, under the great king’s supervision? Because no message had come back to these brothers from their eldest, Kolatta in weeks, their situation had grown dire. These men had now become very hungry. But the lack of news from Kolatta, was actually no surprise. It was not that they thought Kolatta had been rude or thoughtless. Communication was all done by foot travel (or ox-cart ) in those days. Perhaps Kolatta had been very busy with his new job and had no opportunity to make the long trip back to Vellivala? Nonetheless, all eight men were worried. After all, their brother’s first goal had most certainly been to impress the Chola king with his skills. He needed to convince him that he had extensive farming experience and would make a good labourer in the Chola’s fields.

So the remaining eight brothers, knowing that their eldest sibling had gone to see the king, decided to set out in search of him. When the group arrived at the king’s court they readily explained who they were looking for. It was their own eldest brother Kolatta they were trying to find. These men also told the king that they were hungry. A great drought that had settled on their Vellivala farmlands. The king’s response was both understanding and kind. He remembered Kolatta well and he knew exactly what to do. He told them that Kolatta was respected and had quickly become one of his highly skilled and very loyal workers. The Chola quickly asked a servant to call the man the visitors sought. He would be in the monarch’s own fields. Of course, the servant knew just where to go to find him.

In contrast to the moment when Kolatta arrived, furthermore, we now we see that the king is alone while greeting his eight new guests. This is not such a vital moment and the story teller reflects this in his description of the audience the lesser eight men receive. The kings of the two other famous areas of the south at the time (Pandya nadu and Chera nadu) need not be consulted on this. Note too, just as before, a continued vivid contrast is made between the furnishings in this king’s royal palace and the humble hut where the eight brothers have come from. The vast social status and power differential between the ruler and his unexpected guests is so obvious as to hardly need more comment. It can easily be compared (by a classroom teacher) to the extreme contrast between the rich and the poor in many parts of India today!

Signing off for now,

“Blogger” Brenda Beck

The Sophia Hilton Foundation of Canada

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Have you experienced The Legend of Ponnivala on TV or in print? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!

To find out more about The Legend of Ponnivala -- the legend, the series, the books, and the fascinating history behind the project, visit www.ponnivala.com.

WHY IS THIS LANDSCAPE SO LUSH AND GREEN?

This Legend of Ponnivala video clip is representative of the song refrains the bards used to lend extra emotional feeling to the story. You can hear the words of the original song (and tune) in the background. An English translation has been superimposed to aid a non-Tamil speaker in understanding what is being said. It could be called a ”praise song” in that the song honours the Chola king and the lush landscape his well-tended fields represent. But there is a deeper message as well. The authority of the king is respected and his rule is considered just. Traditionally, in this area, the just reign of a monarch is reflected in the prosperity and lush growth of all that grows around him. It is as if the landscape itself is a mirror that reflects the happiness and contentment of its many subjects. It also acts as a metaphor that implies the king has honoured the gods (and especially the local goddess) from whom all prosperity flows. Finally, as we shall see in my next blog, the loyalty and contentment of the king’s key workers is another reason for the crops to be bountiful, and the fields to be full of moist beauty.

A healthy young crop of rice shoots is considered particularly indicative, in the Ponnivala story, of its local residents’ state of joyfulness. Rice-growing wetlands are therefore the especially highly valued. Paddy, as this crop is called before its harvest, is the most honoured staple of all. Significantly, paddy is not native to the Kongu area. There is a subtle but implied contrast to be understood here, between upland farming, where water is sparse and rice-growing areas downstream in the river Kaveri’s delta area. This fact is important to the story because The Legend of Ponnivala attempts to assert the independence of an upland region. The poets try hard to promote the equal beauty of their own landscape. But, truthfully speaking, this Kongu area is naturally less lush than the lands downstream. Rice is not easily grown here, even with modern pump-style irrigation in place. Interestingly, this truth is never acknowledged by the proud singers of this unique Ponnivala epic story!

Signing off for now,

“Blogger” Brenda Beck

The Sophia Hilton Foundation of Canada

Read Part 10 ==>

<== Read Part 8

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To find out more about The Legend of Ponnivala -- the legend, the series, the books, and the fascinating history behind the project, visit www.ponnivala.com.

IS THIS PROMISE OF AN EXTRA PAYMENT FOR THE WIFE’S LABOUR FAIR?

This is the first time in this long Legend of Ponnivala story where a question of social justice, a matter with extensive modern implications, appears. When Kolatta offers his wife’s labour, alongside his own, the king responds by raising the total payment he promises in return. He offers only 16 measures of grain a month for Kolatta’s labour, but 20 if his wife joins him. This is just a 25% increase! Is that fair recognition of what his wife can/will contribute by adding her labour? Let us leave this question aside for a moment and first examine some other aspects of the interaction between this (unnamed) Chola ruler and his newly arrived visitor.

It will be noticed right away that there are three men sitting on the raised platform at the front of the king’s reception hall. These are representatives of three great lines of kings in South Indian history, the Chola, Chera and Pandya family groupings. In this story the three are shown to collaborate closely, though with the Chola given the central position. The other two rulers are visiting him and the three have been discussing various political decisions together. The Chola (always un-named) takes the lead and asks Kolatta who he is. Kolatta politely answers that he is a farmer from the land known as Vellivala and then introduces his wife Ariyanacci.

What is Vellivala and is it the same as Ponnivala? No, these places are subtly different! Vellivala is the area where the nine brothers were “created” and set down in a forest to begin farming, notably by the great goddess Parvati herself. It is the “Eden” in this legend and its location is not clearly given (or known from other sources). Kolatta exits this seemingly idyllic place due to drought and famine. Was that famine “due” to his trying to start agriculture there? We do not know. However, we do know that Kolatta never returns to Vellivala and it is never mentioned again. Instead (as we will see) this “first farmer” will later be sent to Ponnivala (which is not too far from Velliavala) to set up farming there instead. The difference is that he is now entering that second area backed by a Chola king, rather than backed by a goddess. I will say more about this later, in my next blog post.

Significantly, in this current video clip, the king comments to Kolatta: “I did not know that there were farmers in Vellivala!” His observation reinforces a more general impression clearly created by the story tellers: Vellivala is a place inhabited exclusively by non-farmers. The Chola does not seem surprised, however, to learn that there are people residing in Vellivala. He just didn’t know that there were famers there. The king might reasonably have pursued this and asked: “How did you and your family learn farming in Vellivala?” But the king doesn’t follow this line of reasoning. In sum, Kolatta is never “put on the spot” regarding the details of his ancestry.

It is also important to note that the king seated to the Chola’s right now adds a sympathetic follow-up comment. “Yes, I have heard,” he says, “that there has been a drought there. It is a terrible thing.” But then the Chola gets back to business by asking more directly: “Are you looking for some sort of gift?” The tone he uses is accusatory and the implication is that many impoverished people come to see him looking for a handout. Nonetheless, his question provides a convenient foil, allowing Kolatta to clarify that he has not come asking for gifts but, rather, that he is a farmer looking for work. Kolatta maintains his self respect with this reply and manages to impresses the Chola monarch at the same time. “Ah,” the king replies, “We have work for you.”

Now the Chola states his terms. He can pay Kolatta 16 measures of grain a month. Kolatta counters, using a bargaining tactic. “We cannot live on 16 measures of grain a month. My wife can work in the fields as well. Can you give us twenty?” The king agrees readily and sends the couple off to start their work right away. Now the question this blog post is supposed to address: Was the Chola king’s offer to Kolatta fair? I would welcome input from readers on this point. I, myself, do not think we have enough information to answer authoritatively. We do not know how much extra labour the wife will contribute. Will it be full time? We also must acknowledge that there is a general tradition in this area of paying women only about half as much for their physical labour as men, even today. Probably that custom has along past. Is it fair? Are women just as strong? Can they do as much? Are the jobs they do identical with those men do? Men usually plough while women plant. Which requires more skill?. Which requires more physical stamina and strength? These are ago-old issues and there is much to debate here. I leave it to my readers to contribute their own thoughts to the blog. This is also a good question to pose to students in a student classroom... or to members of a debating club.

Signing off for now,

“Blogger” Brenda Beck

The Sophia Hilton Foundation of Canada

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To find out more about The Legend of Ponnivala -- the legend, the series, the books, and the fascinating history behind the project, visit www.ponnivala.com.

HOW TO SURVIVE A TERRIBLE DROUGHT?

This Legend of Ponnivala video clip describes an age-old dilemma: what to do when an ecological catastrophe such as severe drought settles on the land? This is a common problem that has plagued people and civilizations around the world as far back as collective memories can reach. Of course archaeological research shows that this problem is far older still, and has occurred many, many times. Sometimes the lack of rain is relatively localized. But in past eras where the long distance transportation of food was minimal due to poor roads or trails and limited carrying capacity, even a localized dry spell lasting several years could create real hardship. This is the tragic situation that befell the farmer-hero Kollatta and his wife Ariyanacci in the Ponnivala story. In such situations people depended on rumour. Where had the rains been better? Where could they go to survive and to avoid a localized, life-threatening famine?

Significantly, the wife in this story worries about the lack of food stores first. But her husband is the one better connected to local news about what is happening elsewhere, the news of events filtering in from beyond the local neighbourhood. This is a typical gender difference common to many traditional cultures. Kolatta is the one who has heard that a great Chola king, a powerful ruler whose domain lies downstream from the heroes’ area, has enjoyed good rains. Notice, however, that it is his wife who makes the key suggestion: “Let’s go and see the great Chola king. Maybe he can help!” With those words she initiates the move. A migration to a better area will be necessary for survival. What else can be done? Sometimes pulling up stakes and moving onward in search of better conditions is the only choice. Kolatta expresses their joint aspirations well: “Let us go and hope that we can make a better life there.”

It is significant that the eldest brother, Kolatta, is the only one mentioned inthisscene. He will “lead” the family and be the one to make the migration decision. He will go first (as we see later) and then, if all goes well, his younger siblings will follow suit. It is also worth noting that Ariyanacci, the wife, talks about the “great” king and expresses her hope that he can help. Of course people expected the powerful and mighty to help those in trouble due to no fault of their own. That was the moral duty of a leader, a king. We will see, in the next blog, how this great ruler responds to the couple’s arrival. Finally, notice some of the symbolic details like the empty bird nest and the cracked walls of Kolatta’s house. Clearly they have not had the energy (or time?) in this period of great stress, to make repairs. Their walk towards the great Chola kingdom shows a landscape in transition, some drought features linger (on the left), but there is also significantly more green vegetation (to the right) in the area they are walking towards. The final image provides an exterior view of the Chola’s very grand palace, a “home” that stands in marked contrast to the humble thatched dwelling the couple have come from. Obviously this ruler is prosperous. But will he offer this desperate pair help?

Signing off for now,

“Blogger” Brenda Beck

The Sophia Hilton Foundation of Canada

Read Part 8 ==>

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To find out more about The Legend of Ponnivala -- the legend, the series, the books, and the fascinating history behind the project, visit www.ponnivala.com.

HOW DOES A TRADITIONAL WELL-AND-BULLOCK IRRIGATION SYSTEM WORK?

This Legend of Ponnivala video clip is presented primarily to show and discuss a very unique traditional irrigation system used (as far as I know) only in the Kongu area of Tamilnadu, India.

But first I want to say a few words about the perennial challenge of providing water to crops in this basically very dry, upland region of Tamilnadu. In early times the people living in the Kongu area were able to manage their crop regimes by depending only on very intermittent rains. They were successful in this for multiple reasons. For one, their agricultural activities were only part time and were liekly carried out with just a hoe and a planting stick. Few large areas had yet been cleared of trees and that newly exposed earth further broken up using a plough. Both activities, of course, cause the soil to dry out under India’s generally hot sun. Also, the crops were different in earlier times. Most people grew mainly millets plus (sometimes) a hardy type of maize. Both types of crops were highly drought-resistant. Hence, in the early days, the lands of the Kongu area retained much more moisture than they do today. Furthermore, plants cultivated by human residents needed only an occasional rain. As farmers grew more ambitious, however, they also needed more water. As a result, the Kongu area developed a very clever system of irrigation. It rested on a substantial underground water table that used to be very reliable. Now, by contrast, the area has became blanketed by electric motors and “tube wells.” These have now lowered the water table below what traditional stone-well diggers can reach. So this traditional irrigation system has now been almost totally abandoned, though the old well-pits are still visible in some fields.

Now consider the video clip itself. Note that to share this in an understandable way I have had to slow the animation down (and loop its minimal sounds). The result is not perfect but it will give readers the basic idea of how this system used to work. You may want to watch the clip several times. The basic idea, as far as I know, is very old and also quite ingenious. Note that a pair of bullocks is hitched so that they can walk down an inclined slope as they pull a heavy metal bucket full of water up and out of a deep well. Their master sits on the ropes they pull on the ride down only, adding to their tension. This helps the bullock team as well as encourages them to work. As the bullocks walk forward a large metal bucket rises from the depths. While still deep in the well tipped by a special added rope so as to allow it to fill properly while lying on its side on the water’s surface. Immediately after filling, a long leather tube attached to the bottom of the bucket is folded over (using a secondary rope) so as to prevent the newly-captured water from spilling out as the bucket rises.

When that large metal container reaches its high point (thanks to an arched set of rollers built high above the well) the bullock driver pulls on the end of that same tube-rope, now straightening it. As a result, the lifted water now starts to flow out from that metal container. It flows through the attached leather “pipe,” and then into a short, straight irrigation channel. There it is directed, by a set of channel-feeding gates to the specific nearby field that needs watering at that moment. Then the cycle repeats. But first (not shown) the farmer has to make his bullocks walk up that inclined ramp... backwards! This is not an easy challenge for the bullocks nor the driver (who must dismount and walk up the ramp himself). But the bullocks understand and the man-animal team are skillful in doing this together.

This very clever system was the means by which these upland Kongu farmers kept their crops moist between rains in areas that were not close enough to the Kaveri river for farmers to utilize its once-abundant waters directly. I see this mechanism as having been a “transitional” solution, one used by farmers who wanted to move to plough-based tillage but were not rich enough to build large storage tanks and fancy sluice-gated systems. This water-lift device is used by the farmers of Ponnivala in the first generation of this story, but not later. It was their solution to irrigation before they had accumulated enough wealth to build a large irrigation tank... something featured later in the legend.

The later part of this same video clip makes it clear that the area in question was experiencing severe droughts around the same time that newly arrived farmer-settlers were beginning to try out their new plough-based system of tillage. Whether the drought mentioned in the story was due to their revolutionary ways, and to the cutting of trees that accompanied this new approach to agriculture, is not made clear. It could also have been a natural event, part of a drought cycle that had most certainly hit the area before. Whatever the cause, this extreme dry spell is central to the story. My next blog will discuss what happened as a result of that terrible lack of rain.

Signing off for now,

“Blogger” Brenda Beck

The Sophia Hilton Foundation of Canada

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Have you experienced The Legend of Ponnivala on TV or in print? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!

To find out more about The Legend of Ponnivala -- the legend, the series, the books, and the fascinating history behind the project, visit www.ponnivala.com.

HOW SIMPLE CAN A WEDDING GET?

This Legend of Ponnivala video clip covers some details already discussed in my previous blog post, notably the farmers’ ready acceptance of the mandate their creatrix, Parvati, gave them. She orders that they make sure the land “prospers.” They agree to this request. We also learn from the lead farmer (in red pants) that he knows he is the eldest of the group of nine. He will subsequently address all the other eight as “my brothers.” Furthermore, the goddess orders these men to take their wives from Vallavandi, an area not far away that is already being farmed. 

Establishing strong families is the key theme here. The goddess wants to assure this and so weddings are in order. Nonetheless, the bride-groom ceremony itself is kept to a bare minimum. The description provided is extremely simple. The ritual consists solely of an exchange of flower garlands and nothing else. These are early times and (by implication) this region does not yet know of Brahman ritual providers and long, formal wedding rites. That will come later. Such “life cycle” rituals will only gain detail and centrality, gradually. Indeed, these social rituals will not receive a lot of emphasis until the story reaches the third generation. There we will see for the first time the joint weddings of twin grandsons. At that point their matrimonial rites will require a Brahman present. And as well, by this time, key nuptial events also be become tense occasions fraught with complex undertones. Right now, however, the hero’s wedding is just a simple, loving and easily executed mutual exchange of flowers.

It is interesting to note, as well, that we see here that a woman is the first to place a garland around the neck of her husband-to-be. He then responds by garlanding her! This order of events implies a time when women were allowed more initiative. Perhaps they were even the primary actors in finding or selecting their mates, at least as the bard describes an “early” wedding event. There are no dowry issues here and absolutely no family “politics” are involved. Still, we do see that a key primogeniture rule is already in place. The eldest son is the sibling who marries first! He will also frequently speak for his eight younger brothers while they remain silent, We will see that in various clips still to come.

Signing off for now,

“Blogger” Brenda Beck

The Sophia Hilton Foundation of Canada

Read Part 6 ==>

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Have you experienced The Legend of Ponnivala on TV or in print? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!

To find out more about The Legend of Ponnivala -- the legend, the series, the books, and the fascinating history behind the project, visit www.ponnivala.com.