- -Brian Mendonça
Behold
the time of clouds, surcharged with rain
Like
to a furious elephant they rise;
Or
mighty monarch hurrying to war;
In
place of standards, see the lightning’s flash,
And
rolling thunder answers to the drum.
-Kalidasa
Ritusamharam*
The
terrifying spectacle of rains unabated amply vindicates Kalidasa’s vivid
imagery. The Ritusamharam. i.e. cycle
of seasons describes six Indian seasons. These are grishma (Summer), varsha (Monsoon),
sarat (autumn), hemant (early Winter), sisira
(Winter) and vasanta (Spring).
The treatise which was probably written in the 4th-5th
century CE rings true even today, as nature is a perennial source of inspiration.
Kalidasa
was one of the nine gems at the court of King Vikramaditya (CE 380-413) in the
Gupta capital at Ujjain in Madhya Pradesh. He is believed to have been born on 22 June. The day is known as Aashadh shudha Pratipada -- Kalidasa day.
Kalidasa's Meghadūta or Cloud-messenger is an invocation to the clouds to
carry his message to his beloved. Clouds and the elements are personified and
given human agency in the works of Kalidasa.
Kalidasa’s
glory is underscored by a restaurant in Vasco by the name of Meghdoot. It is a veg. restaurant on
Swatantra Path – a stone’s throw away from the railway station. In fact it has
of late been our port of call for all travellers alighting – to spare us the
bother of fixing an early breakfast when the Goa Express traipses in at 7 a.m. or so.
During
the vacation I used to go for the 7.30 a.m. Mass at St. Andrew’s church, Vasco.
Then I used to head to Meghdoot for
my customary puri-bhaji and newspaper from Vishwa Surya –the newspaper
shop nearby. In the absence of the old favourite Vrindavan restaurant opposite, one has to migrate to new
watering-holes.
The
last occasion I went before the 7.30
a.m. Mass. Mr. Shetye, at the counter said that they opened at 6.30 a.m. and
were in the business for the last twenty years. Having just emerged from night
into day, soothing strains of the Gayatri
mantra played in the background:
tatsaviturvareṇyaṃ
bhargo devasyadhīmahi
dhiyo yo naḥ pracodayāt
– Rigveda
3.62.10
The chant usually sung at dawn and dusk has been set to music by Remo Fernandes.
When I
visited Ujjain, I composed this poem:
Avantika
Kalidasa
meets Camoes
‘Neath the
bust of Tagore
As
Krishna, Sudama and Balarama
Spend
their childhood at Sandipan’s
Kal
Bhairava guzzles urak
As a
sleeping cobra preens for alms.
Nand Lal
sits near his home on a rekdi.
As
Vikramaditya basks in his 32 avatars
Badrinath,
Dwarka, Kashi, Kalinga
The blue
god is smeared with ashes of the dead.
At the
Khilji court only the water dances
Astronomical
ephemera as buffalows graze.
Bhartihari
gazes ‘twixt the orange trident
As a
sun-tanned sadhu
Blocks a
passage way with a stick
‘One rupee
per person for electrical maintenance’
The gnomon
erect, clouded by time
The Shipra
snakes by Mangal Mandir
As urchins
dive from the gav kund.
(Ujjain, 2003)
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*From footnotes in Megha Dūta or Cloud Messenger by
Kalidasa translated from the Sanskrit into English prose by Colonel H.A. Ouvry. London: Williams
and Northgate, 1868.
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