Monday, January 23, 2012

DanushKodi – Standing Symbol of Theistic wonder

Yes!!! A place that presents nature’s marvel in just 19 kilometers of length... Located at the easternmost tip of TamilNadu. DanushKodi is an isolated patch of land that contains sand dunes and coral rocks. Epically, this is where Lord Rama is said to have won a challenge of breaking a bow that makes it more synonymous to calling this spot DanushKodi; Danush - bow and Kodi – the end. 

The stretch of land commencing right from Pamban until Talaimannar of Sri Lanka is exceptionally rich in aquatic sediments. You can literally find dunes and islets whilst travelling from Pamban to Rameswaram in train on a bridge that stands high over the mighty Bay of Bengal. Rameswaram holds proud credit to have been located at the holy confluence of two massive water bodies, the Bay of Bengal & the Indian Ocean, in which taking bath completes the Pilgrimage to Kasi. Shallow waters on two sides at the end of Rameswaram Island unfold a stunningly delightful track of sand in the middle taking a way straight to the ever intimidating GHOST TOWN of TamilNadu, DanushKodi. A simple village that has no more than a few fishermen groups with families gravely staying in feeble huts. With no promising acknowledgement to living, this scary coastal village is prone to cyclones and tidal waves. You can get there by jeeps, autos or by foot thru the sand dunes. One of the most breathtaking sites that a nature lover can see is the gushing waters of Indian Ocean eagerly surging towards calm and shallow Bay of Bengal. 

DanushKodi, dating back to the early 1960s had a town kind of ambience comprising of ferry port offices, hotels, a school, railway station and a hospital. We could also see maps showing numerous ferry routes from DanushKodi to Talaimannar and an exclusive railway line from DanushKodi to Talaimannar which went a disastrous prey to the cyclone that swept over DanushKodi bringing it to mere remains. The tidal waves were estimated to be 10 kilometers high and ravaged the stretch of Pamban-Rameswaram – DanushKodi. Clearly, it was DanushKodi that was subject to a complete sweep by the devastating cyclone. Tourists usually spot remnants of fishing boats and railway stations soon after they enter the dangerous DanushKodi. 

A whole set of passengers in Train at the very night of Storm drowned in the mighty Indian Ocean showing absolutely no hint of their remains. The chain of rocks that begin from DanushKodi’s end map to the classic Ramayana, which is also, called RamaSetu or the Adam’s Bridge. This served as an overpass of land to Sri Lanka, which is scientifically believed to be destroyed by a cyclone in the 1400s. From classics, we get to understand that the bridge of sand was built by Vanaras or apes with rocks to form a passage to Sri Lanka such that Lord Rama would easily rescue Goddess Sita from the clutches of cruel Ravana

Nevertheless, the bridge is certainly a marvel of time; be it a theistic product or nature’s creation… Every day, there are more than a 100 tourists moving to DanushKodi to delightfully enjoy what has been gifted… 

Happy tripping!!!

 Coast of Danushkodi 





 Villagers at Danushkodi 

Land's end or Start of Adam's Bridge 

Ravaged train in the Cyclone of 1964 at Danushkodi

Remnants of a Ferry Port

Jeeps to Danushkodi 

Ferry Port at Rameswaram 

Rail Route From Pamban to Rameswaram 


Sunday, January 8, 2012

Characteristics of Metaphysical Poetry

Without a doubt, metaphysical poetry is one of the most interesting branches that involve fierce stuffing of thoughts not giving the reader a moment to pause and think about. Considering the thickness of content, the verses present enough space for satires, romance and pastorals. The essence of the metaphysical wit tends to be philosophical, theological and treats life as a stage for drama. 

Characteristics of Metaphysical Poetry
Concentration
A metaphysical poem is essentially a verse of shorter length and adopts a form consisting of a line of eight syllables. The stanzas never bring a feather touch to the reader, thereby making the whole reading process intense and demanding. Unlike Spenser and poets of simple authoring, Metaphysical writing connects every aspect of life philosophically and reflects a sense of logic in tight compression. Until now, such poems cannot be understood with ease. 

Metaphysical conceit
Conceit in Metaphysical poetry is largely used to make a comparison of cleverness and justice. This element of conceit floods Elizabethan poetry. Unlike the latter, Metaphysical verses use clever comparisons to justify a fact and never is Conceit made predominant. Conceit is used to convince, argue and reflect a statement which finally reveals a fondness in hatred, i.e. Positivity in negativity. We can also consider this a paradox or an extended epigram that finally brings a definite statement of conclusion such that no one denies. 

Learnedness
Most of the metaphysical poems are loaded with scholastic entities making it a little difficult to journey a smoother reading. As always, the verses are stuffed with witty, novel and aspiring and in a notion of presenting advanced educative and technical aspects prudently. This learnedness never was a drawback as these poets ransacked everything they wanted to write about. Anything they wrote was an absolute, brand new form of what had been seen in various works of previous eras. 

Cynicism
The aspect of cynicism always surged through Elizabethan poetry. The angle of viewing cynicism in such poems usually made the heroine the pinnacle of perfection and uniqueness; making herself the master of the hero. All the metaphysical poets were against this fact and transformed love to an equally sweet two way romance yet less physical by theme.

Mechanism of Sensibility
The charge of sensibility is indeed a positive feature. Frequently, we see petrarchan poets incorporating a fair amount of irregular, disconnected events in the poems. Cutting entirely down on this feature, metaphysical poets harmonized thoughts, reasoning, feeling and images. Being successful at merging diverse fields, unlike elements and finally juxtaposing them is an excellent advantage. 

To estimate the level of obscurity in the metaphysical poetry is not so easy. But with a statement that explains it all, the level could just fall flat. Everyone agrees that the verses are closely packed with meaning making it a challenging job to fathom. However, most readers value this as a masterpiece and wonder at it while they understand. The clever placement of unlike imagery, thought and emotions, contrasting pair of statements and thereby unifying altogether makes it a WOW factor. 

The abrupt openings of the metaphysical poems are certainly an attraction which contrasts it from the usual start of the petrarchan and Elizabethan plays. Such starts create an interest and await the reader for a beautiful touch of the theme.

Metrical Harshness is one of the most celebrated features of these poems with always a conversational verse forming a part of the piece. This part is however stuffed and does not tend to any smooth, musical or rhythmic flow. The diction and metrical effect reveals forever a subtle yet surprising feeling of thoughts and emotions.

With no specific negative points except for the concentration of thought, metaphysical poetry has proved to be an all rounder still challenging every reader at first sight.