It appears as if 70-year-old Meena Hariharan has gathered all her happy memories into her book, that she simply calls, “Deities, Mahatmas, Hymns, Golden Words, Rangolis and Rama Namas.”
Remember the old notebooks and diaries of your grandmother filled with the names of favourite deities written again and again in microscopic handwriting? Meena Hariharan has given a slight twist to that. She uses the name of her favourite god to give another dimension to the traditional kolam. “I use Rama naama instead of the usual dot to make my kolam,” she explains. And, all the kolams she has been doing since she was a child now find expression in the book.
The book also has all the slokas you learnt as a kid such as the Aditya Hridayam, Soundarya Lahiri , Hanuman Chalisa , Gayatri Mantram and so on. She has dedicated her book to her gurus and it also carries the words of spiritual leaders such as Sri Aurobindo, Ramana Maharishi, Raghavendra Swami, Adi Sanakara and Meera Bai.
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There are inspiring extracts from the works of Mahatma Gandhi, Rabindranath Tagore, Vivekananda, etc. One of the songs in the book is from Avaiyyar’s Vinayakar Agaval. On the opposite page is a picture of K.B Sundarambal who immortalised the poet saint in the film of the same name! A Bharatiar song, lines from Tirukkural, and even a song composed by Vani Jairam grace the book.
Treasured memories, contributions and compositions from friends, excerpts from favourite publications, household prayers, hand drawn kolams, and an entirely hand written text make it a wonderful scrap book. Interesting material regarding culture and heritage for the younger generation.
The book is priced at Rs. 250. It is available with P. Hariharan, B-283, Brindavan Palm Grove, Kempanur Road, Thondamuthur Post, Coimbatore 09. For more details call 9600847629.
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