Secret Of The Blue Jays

By Manoj Ajith Panicker

Thousands of years ago, in a world torn by war and siege, there was a kingdom protected by vast stretches of the tallest mountains in the world to the north and the harshest seas surrounding all other directions. This was named Avantisuru, a kingdom of a hundred kings.

Ruled by the Nalin dynasty for centuries, the land had never seen sieges and threats from the outside world. Harshaputna was a group of different provinces, each ruled by an individual house unified under the condition that when forces tackle the landscape protecting them, all houses will be unified to hold ground. The Nalin dynasty always believed in the power that a diverse group would wield and all the other houses respected them for that. The idea of a hundred kingdoms living harmoniously under one umbrella. The only concern for this pact was the internal conflicts that went in between the houses and even within each house. Each piece of land seeing its own shares of tug of war with adjacent houses and each fort holding secrets of the betrayals and back stabbings within their walls.

As time went by, there came reports of attempts to tackle the fierce northern mountains by the Peacock warriors of the western desert. The Queen started to realize that this pact could just be idealistic as there was no sense of unity amongst any of the nobilities. ‘There has to be a way to unify these kingdoms’, thought the Queen, ‘Otherwise, we don’t stand a chance against the enemy forces.’

This is when she remembered the land of the Palapittas, a province far off in the southeast atop a land so vast and high on a plateau as if the entire region was looking down on them. Ruled by the worshippers of the Blue Jays, their people have never in history delivered a first strike nor have they ever been defeated in a battle. Most importantly, the Palapittas have never had a history of family feuds amongst the noble family, betrayals or any of kind of domestic crimes for that matter. They have maintained a quite way of life throughout history, a fact that has envied the rest of the empire.

The Nalin dynasty had long ago decided to keep peace with the Palapittas and let them hold sacred whatever that is in their land. But now with reports of an imminent threat, the Queen sees no other option than to send in a team to study and document the Palapittas. After a three week wait, the team returns with information that would seem to forever change the course of this never - ending history of internal power struggles.

Durasa Cherair, the head of the team said that on their week-long study, they noticed a really peculiar tree that stands right next to the central park of the town. Spread wide and tall with golden colored flowers and as old as the mountains we see in the distance, the tree is revered as a magical element in the land. Every eight hours, the flowers glow for a short period, flock of blue jays gather around the tree and people gather around and pray around the tree. The team found that from rumors in nearby satellite towns that the land was just like any other province, with its own tales and myths surrounding betrayals and sins. But about 5000 years ago, an unknown divine figure, who the people call ‘Parvata kumarudu’ or Son of the Mountain, planted a seed on what was then a point of animal sacrifice. Within a decade, the tree grew rapidly and started glowing with flowers. The city has never since heard of any domestic disturbance within the city. The neighboring towns suggest that the magic in the tree is the reason for this. This story is inscribed in temples of the Palapittas as well.

Durasa’s team suggests a study on the tree to see if there is a scientific reasoning for this or whether all of this is just rural folklore. For this the Queen sends in a messenger notifying the nobility of Palapittas of the team’s intent, issuing the study as important for the unified front when the outer world threat arrives. Unaware of future consequences, the nobility agrees under the agreement of the pact and team arrives in a week to the site.

Upon arrival, the team suggests stripping off a bundle of flowers, for its glow might have an explanation. The leader of the Palapittas asked whether it’s necessary, to which Durasa replied ‘Don’t worry. Life always finds a way to sustain and so will this tree.’ From one bundle to other, as samples are tested on one after another, the entire tree is eventually stripped of the flowers. Yet the tree still glows, this time from its leaves. Durasa suggests taking the leaves for study, to which the leader asks the same question and Durasa gives the same answer. ‘Don’t worry. Life always finds a way to sustain and so will this tree’. From one branch to another, the tree is eventually stripped off leaves and yet still no answer. But the tree still continues to glow, this time from its gigantic trunk. Durasa suggests cutting down the trunk to study from the thousands of veins and circles that run within the mystic being. T

The leader raises concern as the tree has been sacred to the people for centuries and that the Palapittas can’t be expected to stand by and watch to such massacre. Durasa reminds the noble family of the pact and dire situation the province would face from the rest of the kingdom. From the precision archers of the north plainlands to the master of fire powder in the land of the rivers to the west, the noble house realized the weight of this threat and decided to stand by and watch as their sacred down was cut down with a dozen axes to its trunk. Thousands of years of history right in those veins and the team still couldn’t find any answer.

The time arrived when the city would usually have one singular light to guide them wherever in the city, yet this time the city is lit from the ground. The people saw the roots of the tree extend to the entire town center, glowing beneath the ground in a throbbing rhythmic manner, like a cry for help itself as the sky is filled with lost flocks of screaming blue jays. The noble house falls down to their knees and implores the team to stop this and promises to be the first in line to face whatever outer force comes through the northern mountains. But duty comes first and Durasa must continue. He looks to the leader and says ‘You already know what I am going to say’ and gives order to his team to break apart the connection of the root to the ground to study, an easier alternative to picking out the entire root system.

Six hours passed, one thing changed and one remained unchanged. The team couldn’t find any answer, but more importantly, there was no more glow. Durasa screams in frustration to give them a sign that some part of it is still in there and starts digging with his hands in a frenzy mode. The leader of the Palapittas lays his hand on Durasa’s shoulder and tells him the tree is one it’s journey to another life. It has finally found peace after days of constant noise and pain. Durasa lays on the ground with his head down, while the noble house walks away with their head down amongst thousands of people standing beside lines of soldiers, shouting and asking about the future of Palapittas. The noble house fades in the crowd of their people and so does the noise as if the whole place had reached the end of its wheels of time. Just hundreds of lost blue jays flying in the sky, lost in its direction and lost off its purpose.

A disappointed Durasa delivers news to the Queen, who upon hearing the failed attempt walks slowly towards a balcony. She gazes upon the stretch of mountains from whereon a path is being laid for an imminent and unpredictable future. But little did she know that the threads of time twirl and disconnect in their own strange ways.

That before the mountains, it was the seashore that brought in the first outsiders after five years. Deep from the mists in the western seas arrived a large being, seemingly with wing like mechanism to utilize winds yet floats on water and from within, emerged entire platoons of hostiles, with armors and weapons like never seen before. Word reached quickly to the capital and the entire western provinces prepared themselves for what’s to come. The strangest fact of this whole situation wasn’t the fact that the enemies first acted to be non - threatening to the kingdom. It wasn’t that they tried to negotiate with the Nalin dynasty for a trade route for their materials involving removal of vast portions of the sacred northern mountains in exchange for peace. It wasn’t even the fact that after 21 sunrises and sunsets, Avantisuru won the war. But it was the reality where the Palapittas, who were firm and unbeatable for centuries, where the first to fall as first in line at the battlefront. The city, which was once revered for the yet unexplainable level of unity and prosperity and filled with life and joy, now was reduced to a thousand broken bones, hundreds of acres of ruins, 12000 years of lost history and one endless stretch of silence shrouding the entire plateau.

All the noble houses arrived at the city of ruins, as the Queen’s carriage rolls through a path of ashes, remembering the noise of a festivals and the laughter of children as she watches people laid in pits stretching as far as the eye can see. As the now homeless families continue walking path to the city center, she sees someone sitting at the spot where the mysterious tree once stood. As they get closer, they notice him draw something on the ground. A large depiction of a blue jay, with precise geometric shapes and the utmost mesmerizing use of colors. There were only a few in the kingdom with such tranquilizing eye for colors, fewer who uses precise geometric patterns and just one who had both traits.

From the edge of the beak of the blue jay drawing stood the renowned painter, Raga Narayan, a person who travelled to faraway lands and brought back depictions of their lands and cultures. Raga kneels before the noble families and expresses his sadness on the tragedy of the blue jays. He gets up and says that if had he come sooner, maybe all this wouldn’t had happened. Bewildered, the queen asks why does he think so, to which Raga says ‘Because I might have the answer to what you were looking for’

At the house of the nobles in the capitol palace of Avantisuru, the heads of all the noble houses gathered around in the chamber of ministers and sit in a circle facing Raga in the middle. Raga says ‘My lords, I have ventured across various lands of beauty and advancements, captured some amazing sceneries and brought to our people. From the volcanic backdrop of the islands in the land of unmatchable architecture to the monuments in the deserts of the first gods to the kingdom tumbling with insanity from the water they drink. Yet I always had a special interest for a particular place, right here in Avantisuru, where the ruins of a once majestic tree stood. I know that almost everyone in this kingdom believe that the tree holds some magic for the Palapittas were unbreakable when it stood strong and reduced to ruins once it was decimated. But I come here with a disappointing conclusion to everyone, that I do not believe the tree held any magic. It was just a tree that would have lived for another few centuries, served as a directional landmark for the migrating blue jays and for some reason, displayed a glow periodically, planted by some random person whose name we will never know.’

Gasping with shock, the queen asks what conclusion is he getting to. Raga continues ‘My queen it certainly had a significant effect on its people, just not the magical way everyone hoped it to be. You see, the spot where the tree stands is always my favorite scenario for paiinting. But not because of the glow or the flock of blue jays, but because of the people and what it meant to them in their daily lives. Over the course of time, the unusual behavior of tree became a prominent landmark in the city. What was once a sacrificial spot with nothing but plain land turned into a prominent spot for homes and markets. But most importantly, every eight hours that it glows, people would come to worship it as even they believed it held a magical power because of its uniqueness, just like how we look in awe at the shining lights of the night and the guiding sun of the day. At these three times of a day, people would gather around for longer than an hour, sharing stories of their lives, their sorrows and their achievements. It became such a vital social landmark that almost every time people wanted to get together, they always met here. Whether it be for private reasons, friends meeting a long time, confessing to a loved one or even larger events like marriages or auctions. Eventually over time, it became the only reason why people would communicate with each other daily. This constant communication is to me the sole reason why there weren’t any issues of trusts or betrayals anywhere in the city. Everyone was almost like the closest neighbor to one another in the city, as there were no issues of distrust or disconnection. The secret to this wasn’t magic my queen, but it was this tradition the people themselves sub – consciously created.’

‘From what I learned from people living in satellite towns, when the tree vanished, my lord, it wasn’t just the end of a mysterious phenomenon, but also the beginning of the end for that entire society. Without that tree, there was no other reason as to why people would see each other on a daily basis. All the conversations about last day turned into what happened last week and within a year, people would only see even their close ones once a month. With even public events taking places at separate venues, the people slowly started drifting apart from one another and before you know it, lead to trust and boundary issues among even close families. Sense of one’s own belongings and selfishness started to creep in and within weeks, the place was seeing a rise in family feuds, even in the noble house. What was once a tree with a thousand leaves ultimately connected by one body eventually had finally reached its autumn. My lords, we can look for all the solutions among things we can’t comprehend like the stars, the stars that don’t shine or even the moon. The tree was no exception. It was the sudden distance that happened in between the people, scientific greed and our lack of understanding that notion that ultimately led to their demise.’ The entire chamber remains silent for minutes until the queen stands up and walks out. She holds her head down as she storms out of the chamber.

It had been three days since the queen shut herself inside her private chamber. People were worried since she has been inside there without any food or water. Finally, when the guards heard footsteps approaching the door and the sound of unlocking, all the noble house members and servants gathered near the slightly opened door. The queen asked to collect the seven ministers and Raga in the balcony nearby. As instructed, the ministers and Raga arrived at the balcony who saw the queen exit her room after four days. She gazed towards the mountains in the distance and then looked at a bracelet in her hands. ‘I think I was thirteen when he gave this to me.’ the queen said, ‘It was so long ago so that the memory is kind of foggy. But I remember us sitting near the center of the garden. It was laced with water channels everywhere and could see flower petals along the water. He just kept on talking about these stories about flowers and animals whose presence would bring peace to those around. Even as a kid I dismissed them as myths but I just loved that he was into these myths about idealistic worlds. I guess I take my idealistic mindset from him. I just believed in an ideal world like him all my life and after what we did to the Palapittas, that dream is just floating further and further away. I just can’t stop picturing him looking down from the skies disappointed, joined by the thousand families of the Palapittas.’

She turns to the minister and asks ‘I want our people and all our future generations to remember the Palapittas and remember what we had stripped away from them. 20 nights from now, I want our kingdom to mourn them by having all the noble houses place a hundred diyas next to their oldest tree. Let them light up the sky as bright as the majestic tree of the plateau once used to. I wish for this event to take place every year in the same night in every province for our future generations to continue it as a tradition. Is this possible?’.

The ministers agree and are sent on their way. She looks at Raga and asks him ‘You have been renowned for your eye for color and imagination. I want this tradition to continue but I want to let those who reached above to know that their lives will not go in vain. That we remember and we will learn. Any solution that comes to your mind?’

Raga replies ‘Well, before I arrived here, I came upon a kingdom where people worshipped bears, black and white in fur. There was a huge celebration going on at the time where people came to streets celebrating with large costumes of goldy figures like a giant snake figure that would breathe fire onto its enemies. At one point in night, everyone sat down in group on open fields and looked at the sky. After a while, something shot upto the skies and exploded into ring of colors, which lit up not just the sky but also the people and the landscapes with it. I knew at that moment that this phenomenon would be hard to describe so made a sketch right then and further added in details and colors the next morning. Maybe those above would be able to see these color bursters.’ Raga pulls from his satchel a drawing, which depicted the beautiful phenomenon along with the large stretches of what appeared to be paddy fields.’ The queen asked if they could acquire these things and bring them in time for the next year’s event, to which he replied ‘Give me an escort of 8 people and I will see if I can negotiate with them.’ Two days later, with the queen’s blessings, Raga and his escort left for the harsh road ahead in the northern mountains. They indeed returned after three months with three carts full of the color bursters and Raga had explained the working of these to some people.

The next year, people gathered in capitols of all the kingdoms, who simultaneously fired the lights into the sky. The queen finally had her sleep in peace knowing her late husband and all those above would be smiling in forgiveness. After five years, bursting these crackers in the sky became a part of the yearly event. And in a span of 50 years, the night became a significant part of the kingdom’s tradition, just as the queen wished. What’s interesting is the fact that the kingdom of Avantisuru did indeed face another outsider threat from the people of the land of the joining continents, who made a cutting trail through the northern mountains 100 years after the first event.

In the coming centuries, the kingdom would face more threats like the white people threatening to destroy for spices in the south to those who promised better trade opportunities and tried to have the provinces wage war against each other. From the war of the seashores to the war to end all wars, Avantisuru stood the test of time. As it turns out, the festival in time became the glowing tree for the entire kingdom. The event made sure that no matter how distant people were, they would light diyas and celebrate alongside every other person from the kingdom no matter what side of the planet they were on. This in turn had the same effect the tree held in the daily lives of the people of Palapittas and people knew what was happening with one another on an intimate level. No more trust issues, no border tensions, no more betrayals. An act of remorse from the queen in turn became the solution for the ideal world the queen had searched for her whole life.

Within a span of 3000 years, little details kept on adding onto the tradition. The only one night event turned into a whole day, with countless smaller variations of the crackers coming each century, so that people can even celebrate the event with their families in their homes. Even certain sweets were designed just for this event, which after centuries would even become part of any happy occasion. As time went by, different reasons and stories sprouted in different provinces to explain the significance of this event, some even being part of myths. And in time no one would know the story of the Palapittas. But that didn’t matter anymore, as long as the festival of lights held a special place in everyone’s social life. The day would eventually be called Diwali, the day when Avantisuru unlocked the secret of the blue jays.

By Manoj Ajith Panicker