N for Noises in the Head
Sundaram was really worried. He had received a phone call from Kannan’s school. Kannan had been found loitering in the assembly hall muttering to himself. He had not returned to class after the lunch-break and one of the prefects had spotted him in the assembly hall near the statue of Goddess Saraswathi. Sundaram quickly cited a family emergency and took a taxi to reach the school. He was shocked to see Kannan. This was not the normal Kannan. He was blabbering gibberish and not responding to any queries posed by the teachers. He apologised profusely to the teachers and school principal, got Kannan’s school bag, and took him back home.
At home, Saradha was shocked to see her son muttering and spouting gibberish. He was lost in another world completely. Urgent phone-calls were made. Raman discussed the situation with Sundaram and the brothers were equally worried and there seemed no specific reason for this erratic behaviour. After Chitra’s marriage, Kannan had slowly gone into a shell, not speaking much, not even going out to play in the evenings. The horoscope that had been cast after he had been born had predicted three critical phases in little Kannan’s life. This would be the toughest one and the stars had not lied.
Sundaram called up the school and informed that Kannan would be on an extended sick leave for at least a month. A psychiatrist’s contact was received from a family-friend and Kannan and Sundaram went to meet him. This would be one of the strangest phases of his life. No one in the locality would know what was happening. Kannan was sheltered in a bed-room in the house and allowed to play with his toys. He would eat at odd times and would have to be coaxed to take the medicines prescribed by the psychiatrist. At times, Saradha would sit and cry in the pooja-room cursing her fate. Kannan eventually stopped going to school as the psychiatrist and counsellor tried different techniques to find a solution. Kannan was able to hear strange noises in his head. He was able to hear his thatha and paati speaking and calling him. At times he would mutter strange words in Sanskrit and go into a trance. This was when Sundaram and Saradha got really scared.
A trunk call was booked to Chennai and one of the elders in the family Sheshadri Shastrigal – a priest, astrologer, and professor of the Vedas was consulted. He was firm in his reply; it is the spirit of the elders, the stars have not gone wrong, it will be a critical phase, prepare for a homam; I will come down personally and conduct it. Then he has to be taken to Chottannikkara Bhagavathi Temple and stay there for three days and nights and participate in the temple rituals.
On the date selected by the Sheshadri Shastrigal the homam was conducted and it culminated with holy-consecrated water being poured on Kannan’s head. Kannan continued to be as he was and based on the strong medications being given to him would mostly be in a state of stupor. In addition to this he had put on a lot of weight as he hardly had any form of physical exercise. The psychiatrist finally spoke to Sundaram and said – “Dada, let us try electric shocks; mild ones to start with; this is one of my most challenging cases; we have tried everything possible so far. Let us give this one try; I promise you he will be fine.”
By this time both Saradha and Sundaram were emotionally too drained to refuse or argue with Dr. Pal. Eventually on a Sunday afternoon, Kannan was taken to the nursing home where the doctor consulted. Sundaram was asked to stay in another room. He could witness the treatment via the transparent glass wall. Dr. Pal gently asked Kannan to lie down on the bed. A device was placed on his head. His hands and legs were taped to avoid injury and a cotton pad was placed in his mouth. At his signal, the junior doctor started the treatment. Gentle pulses were passed. Sundaram on the other side of the wall was sweating with uneasiness. The treatment was stopped after two rounds of shocks. A sedative had been injected that made Kannan go to sleep. It was around 6 PM when he woke up. Sundaram was sitting next to him on a chair. Kannan looked at him and said “Mama. where am I?” Sundaram heaved a sigh of relief. This was the first time in a long long time that Kannan had spoken a coherent sentence.
Whether it was the shock-treatment or the homam, or the medicines and counselling, or the prayers of Saradha; no one would know the exact reason; but Kannan seemed to be normal now. As per Sheshadri’s instructions; he was taken to Chottanikkara by Raman and they stayed there and completed the prescribed rituals. When they returned to Calcutta, he was fully healed and completely normal. Everyone was happy and life seemed to return to normal. Almost two years had been lost from Kannan’s academic life. Two dark years of pain, darkness, and madness.
N for Nolen Gur Barfi
Nolen Gur is the jaggery made from the sap extracted from the date palm tree. It is quite popular in West Bengal and Orissa and available only during specific months of the year. The sondesh made from nolen gur is a delicacy in its own right and sells like hot cakes when it is in season. Today we will see a simple recipe to make nolen gur barfi.
Ingredients:
500 grams of nolen gur
500 grams of besan / gram flour
100 grams of rice flour
250 ml of ghee
A bit of cardamom
Raisins (Optional)
Process:
Melt the nolen gur in boiling water. Keep stirring it till you get a consistent golden syrup. Keep this aside.
In another pan, dry roast the besan and rice flour.
Add the ghee to the flour mixture and keep stirring it ensuring that there are no lumps. To this mixture add the golden syrup and cardamom and keep stirring the mixture. At this stage if you wish you can add raisins or nuts of your choice. This is completely optional. Personally, I prefer to savour the taste of the nolen gur and do not add raisins or nuts.
Take a tray that has been greased with ghee. Now pour the warm mixture of the flour and jaggery syrup on the tray. Layer it fine and allow the mixture to cool completely. Cut into shapes of a barfi and serve.
Teerthadanam 