Durga | ✓

19. Silambam

Together they translated the word- Silambam. Durga was excited.

" What do you think the word Silambam could mean?"

" I am sure Sage Agastya must have explained."

" I am sure he must have."

Rudra turned the page. It had three words written on it. " If the whole book has three lines, then it would be easy for us." joked Rudra. Durga didn't smile. Instead she raised her left eyebrow. Rudra gulped and got back to the page.

Silambam
Silambattam
Chilambam

" Are you sure that these words are correctly translated?" asked Rudra.

" Yes of course. They are. I wonder what do they mean."

There was dead silence for few minutes. Rudra spoke, breaking the silence. " I think these words mean the same."

Durga gave him what-are-you-saying look. Rudra explained, "I think Silambam has two different names. Like Mysuru and Mysore."

" Oh! Now I got it."

Rudra turned the page. " This looks so odd."

Durga nodded. The page had two lines.

Rudra thought, If this book has very less content to be translated then why on earth did Rishab handed it to us? Actually, I should be taking revenge. After all the did. Yet I didn't. I forgave him. But this time if he is planning anything to trap me or my company, I will take my revenge. For sure.

" Sir, look. This page was explaining the meaning of Silambam."

Silambam
Silam - hill
Perambu - bamboo

" Huh? Hill? Bamboo?" asked Rudra.

Durga sighed and turned the next page.

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Ramaiah asked the time to Durga. Durga replied, " It's 3:40 p.m. by my watch."

Rudra was dictating the last para of their translation regarding Silambam. They had worked continously for two days to prepare the final draft.

Ramaiah was the most happiest person on the earth. His marriage was fixed. Currently, he was the unhappiest one. After all he had nearly spilled the tea on the ancient manuscript and Akshad's book. Rudra had removed him from the project.

Ramaiah wanted the answer. He wasn't satisfied with Rudra's answer. He was disturbing Rudra since morning. Rudra did wonderful job of controlling his anger. Durga tried explaining him the reason but in vain. He rose to speak with Rudra. Personally. Durga palm faced. Why do Ramaiah and Sir fight like children, I don't understand.

She opened the door to see Rudra and Ramaiah fighting. Verbally, of course. She slipped quietly and took the copy of the draft. Shekar had finished typing it then. She slowly walked to Rudra's room, without disturbing the angry birds. She decided to read the draft before handing it to him.

Silambam-
An Ancient Martial Art

Silambam is a martial art of South India. This art was originally discovered by Sage Agastya. Silambam is derived from two Tamil words Silam and Perambu meaning hill and bamboo respectively. The word Silambambu refers to the particular type of bamboo found in Kurinji hills in present day Kerala. One can make a fair guess that the word Silambam was named after the primary weapon bamboo staff.

The weapon bamboo staff is preferably made up of bamboo but it is also made from teak. The staff is immersed in water and strengthened by beating it on a surface of still or running water. There are other weapons used in Silambam. Maru, thrusting weapon made of deer horns; Aruval, sickle; Savaku, whip; Vaal, sword; katti, knife and surul pattai, long flexible swords.

The branch of Silambam called Kai Silambam deals with unarmed set of Silambam. It is also referred to its component kuttu varisai. This basically teaches alertness and how to quickly react in any situation. Like in many Asian martial arts, patterns in Kai Silambam make use of animal based sets including the tiger, snake, elephant, eagle and monkey forms.

At the initial stage of Silambam, the disciples have to fight against the condition of their body. This includes improving flexibility, hand-eye coordination, agility, cardiovascular stamina, balance and strength.

Beginners are first taught Kaaladi or footwork which they must master before learning spinning techniques and patterns with their stick. In Silambam, Kaaladi is the key to deriving power for attacks.

In the main stance, the staff is held at one end, right hand close to the back, left hand about 40 centimetres (16 inches) away. This position allows a wide array of stick and body movements, including complex attacks and blocks. When the student reaches the final stage, the staff gets sharpened at one end. In real combat the tips may be poisoned. The ultimate goal of the training is to defend against multiple armed opponents.

In battle, a fighter holds the stick in front of their body stretching the arms three quarters full. From there, they can initiate all attacks with only a movement of the wrist. In fact, most silambam moves are derived from wrist movement, making it a key component of the art. The blow gets speed from the wrist and power from the body through kaaladi.

An expert of silambam will be familiar with varma adi or marma adi(pressure points) and know where to strike anywhere in the body to produce fatal or crippling effects by the least use of power.

Durga paused for a moment. She muttered under her breath. " I didn't translate this part. Maybe Rudra Sir would have done it. I wish I knew varma adi. Things would have been very different. I would have hit Indrajeet when he was going to add saccharine. He would have collapsed. Appa would have alive. Ah! Indrajeet! You are making me evil."

She decided to continue reading.

In one-on-one combat an expert would slide the stick to opponents wrist many times during combat. The opponent may not notice this in the heat of battle until they feel a sudden pain in the wrist and throw the stick automatically without knowing what hit them. When two experts match against each other one may challenge the other that he will hit his big toe. Hitting the big toe can produce crippling effects on the fighter, making them abandon the fight. This is called solli adithal which means "challenging and successfully hitting".

" Huh? Such an abrupt ending? I must talk to Rudra Sir."

Durga went to Rudra, who had settled matters with Ramaiah. " Sir, the draft has an abrupt ending."

Rudra sighed. " I know Durga. Last few pages of the book were damaged. I have informed Rishab regarding this. He said it's fine. I have to send the draft to him."

Taking the draft from Durga, Rudra went out. Durga was now little relaxed. Finally this draft is over. Now I will enjoy my Sunday.

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Teak : Indian water chestnut wood

Silambam : A weapon-based Indian martial artfrom Tamil Nadu, but also traditionally practised by the Tamil community of Sri Lanka andMalaysia. It is closely related to Keralan kalaripayat and Sri Lankanangampora.

Thank you for reading.