Romancing Kongu Nadu g.mohanprabakar
Toronto-born Brenda Beck produces an animation series on the history of the Kongu region.

Photo: K. Ananthan 
 
Ancient tales: Brenda Beck.
Clad in a purple sari with a thin zari border, 67-year-old Brenda Beck could pass off for an Iyer mami returning from a relative’s wedding (she’s not going to be happy with this reference because she prefers to be calle d Kongu-ammal). Smiling, she tells you how her love affair with the Kongu region began.
For her doctoral thesis in Oxford University, she wanted to focus on the social organisation and cultural traditions of a place in South India. Her senior Louis Dumont, who had researched on the Kallars near Madurai, suggested that Brenda visit the Kongu region, for “not many have studied it from a sociological perspective”.
First visit
That brought the Toronto-born Beck to Coimbatore in 1965. She stayed there two months, learning Tamil. After this, with the help of a doctor, Brenda, then 25, rented a house at Olapalayam village in Kangeyam. “It was closer to the main road, and I also had a good companion in domestic help Paapammal.”
However, the village had no electricity, and this bothered Brenda, who loved to read before hitting the sack. “Strangely, the nights turned out to be most interesting. Expert storytellers gathered at night, and reeled off one story after another. Their favourite was the annanmaar kadhaigal, best narrated by a villager Ramasamy.”
Brenda started recording them. Batteries emptied and tapes filled, and the moon waxed and waned. After 38 hours over 18 nights, she knew the entire story.
So, what are these annanmaar kadhaigal (stories of the elder brothers)? “Basically, the stories are a condensation of 500 years of Kongu history. They span three generations: the first were the farmers who settled down in the region; the second, where they become rulers of a small kingdom, and their connection with the Chola kings becomes strong; and the third, where two sons (part of a triplet set) become warriors to guard the kingdom. The stories revolve around these brothers — Ponnar and Shankar, and are set on the banks of the Cauvery. Sometimes, the brothers are also referred to as Periyannan and Chinnannan. Though their sister Tangal is not discussed at length, she too has a vital role in the stories.”
Regional history
Brenda says that the stories are rich in information that may not be available from even sources such as inscriptions. “These stories provide an important piece of regional history, as people understand it.”
As the stay happened much before the e-mail and mobile phone revolution, the villagers were in touch with her through letters and telegrams. She still visits the village, and remembers that people used plantain leaves instead of plates. Goats and cows had a field day and the place was garbage-free!
Brenda (who says the Tamil version of her name is Brinda), retired after teaching at University of British Columbia, University of Toronto and Trent University. She started a video production company in 1986, when she “felt the need to tell stories”. Two years ago, she decided to tellannnanmaar kadhaigal, and to make it an animation series because it was too long and historical to be a documentary.
The project
The animation head for the project is Ravichandran, from Vellakoil, who gre up listening to some of these stories from his parents. And as Brenda calls him the “cultural judge” of the animation series! A 26-episode series of “The Legend of Ponnivala Nadu” will be telecast, once the work is over. There will also be a 26-volume book of the same name. You can check out the details online at www.legendofponnivala.com. What’s more, you can play a game of thaayam too!
Oh, by the way, Brenda’s favourite word in Tamil is poytu vangal (roughly translates as ‘go and return’!) “People speak not about leaving, but about wishing that you would come back. That is, indeed, the way that I feel about Kongu Nadu. I always dream about going back to see these wonderful people, again and again, and again...”

நன்றி : The Hindu