Thaipusm

The desire to repent is an admirable quality in any people, but the method used is sometimes discouraging or difficult for those repentant souls who embark there-on. Take for example the Indian Thaipusam Festival: a day of public celebration and merry-making because a comparatively small percentage of their number have chosen to endure the physical pains of repentant torture for earthly sin, while in this life. This great festival took place on the 27th day of January, 1994, the year we were in Penang, Malaysia. Much preparation takes place prior to this glorious event. Many truckloads of coconuts must be picked from the tops of tall 60 to 70 foot trees. Agile, slender men climb the pole-like trunks, monkey fashion, with a machete on his belt with which to cut the nuts free. The coconuts are then lowered in a rope basket to another dark skinned man on the ground. Huge piles of these nuts are accumulated and a day or so before the great day, the thick outer husks are removed and the nut, now being about 3 or 4 inches in diameter, is loaded into trucks which are located in strategic places along the route of travail, that in Penang is a long winding section of the city road system. This ceremony is also taking place in other locations throughout the world where there is a sufficient Hindu Indian population concentrated.

Large trees, 150 years old or more line the roadway on each side. The eve of the festivities people thronged around the truck loads of coconuts and buy them for 1 ringget each. Now all these accumulated nuts had been set-apart as "Good Fortune Wishing Nuts." You handed over your brass ringget coin, which was duly deposited in the collection bucket. A Malaysian ringget was their version of a dollar and equal in value to about 60 cents in U.S. currency (slugs), but you soon forget the exchange rate and think of it as $1. If you got there early enough, a feller could purchase quite a number of wishes, but as the crowd pressed in it became more difficult to obtain one. We, being strangers to the country, arrived too late and were not able to purchase any "wishing nuts" as they had all been sold out. It would have been a good bargain, too, only costing one ringget each. Suppose you wished for a million ringgets and you got your wish, what a mark-up on your investment! If you wished that some special gal would be more friendly I guess that could be counted as a gain on your investment, too. But if it didn't pan out a feller didn't loose much and couldn't complain about that. A guy's got to take a chance once in awhile if you're going to make any headway in the world. It was said that 2 million coconuts were busted in Penang in the year of 1994, a tidy little sum for the nut merchants. You can plainly see that there's more ways than one for an enterprising feller to turn a buck (ringget) if he uses the of noggin.

Anybody knows that if you're going to have true repentance it's got to hurt, else how would the effects of sin be impressed on the human mind. These Indian people have got that one down to a science. There's Specialists that study the cause and effect of pain and agony which bring about true remorse. Their entire lives are dedicated to this science. They set up shops where, through out the year, they manufacture colorful, interesting, hurty devices that are boxed up in preparation for that great day and this provides employment for these skilled craftsmen. Early on the morning of January 27th all the repentant sinners assemble and que up to be decked out with said torture-devices. There's quite a number of torture specialists on hand to properly apply the hurtys in an artistic fashion. This must be done not only to cause exquisite pain for the sinners but to create a pleasing exposition of art before the spectators. After all, if you have spent years of your life in a field of artistic torture you want people to recognize and appreciate your talents. Then too, they've got to get the show on the road.

The crowds are hungry for entertainment. As each Repenter comes off the assembly line, they begin their lengthy trek along the road of painful travail. Each sinner is supported by an entourage of relatives and friends. Every 50 to 100 yards along the wayside has been constructed a bowery of palm tree fronds on the front of which is the picture of some celebrated repentant soul. The forward attendant splashes some coconut juice on the black asphalt and the entire group does a lively two-step to the accompaniment of a drummer band stationed at each bowery.

This first Repenter is decked out in high style: on his shoulders rests a colorful float affair that would compete well with the winners of the Rose Bowl Parade or even the Dixie Round-up Rodeo parade in St. George. It's lashed on to tie-down rings hooked under the hide at belly button level. I can imagine what Ol' Flossy or Rosy, my pack mules would do if I tried that trick on them. This float is designed in a conical shape about 4 or 5 feet high, only I can't say exactly because they measure everything in centipedes that just don't even out. 'Course that's not unusual they do most ever'thing back'ards and up-side-down from that in United States. The sun even comes up in the northwest and haven't figured out where it goes down on account of the clouds. Hain't seen any stars down here, must be cause they're all out there on the topside of the world.

Well, as I was saying about this sinner, on his back in the shoulder blade area is the cutest design of purty little spears all painted and stuck in his hide sort of like the tail feathers of tom-turkey in strut. As he moves along they woggle sufcient to where I'm sure they help in the process of repentance. Below that and on down to his buttocks hang gaily painted weights of various designs which really impress the looker-oners with the artistic talent of those Specialists. They's all put in place at strategic points with sharp fish-hook type barbs jabbed into the hide so they won't bounce out. The chest and belly is likewise decorated. He must be carrying 50 to 75 pounds of pretty lead gadgets all hanging from his hide. Then to top it all off is a long slender spear about 6 or 7 feet (centipedes) stuck through his cheeks and mouth crossways just up front from his tonsils. I guess they put that there so ifn he stampedes when they turn him loose that he'll get caught in the underbrush and they can catch him. I noticed that as he walks along he has his hands out along the spear shaft on each side trying to stabilize it so there's not so much waggling up and down.

When everybody is a dancing round and around doing the old two-step in front of the bowery, sometimes them sinners get a bit dizzy and tips that high float off to the side, putting a big strain on them tie down lines, but none ever busted and they're able to right themselves. As the drums beat out their lively rhythm the support boys enjoyed themselves doing that fancy two step sloshing around in fresh coconut juice, they're grinning from ear to ear carefree as a Malaysian crow, but them poor tortured repenters wasn't doing any grinning at all, No Sir! none at all. That bridle-bit spear prevented any such frivolity. Then they staggered down to the next bowery where the process was repeated. Only about 101 more bowery engagements to the end of the road.

Many on-lookers line the roadway, some trailing along with or behind a favorite sinner. The majority of which are Indian women all decked out in swanky, slinky gowns of bright attractive colors, gold earrings and nose pieces, gold necklaces and bracelets adorned these dusky beauties with skin shades ranging from midnight-black to evening-brown. Sometimes there'd be a quick glimpse of a dainty foot encased in Cinderella slippers and shapely ankles encircled by a tiny golden chain. The hair is long, black and wavy with a fine texture and flashing white teeth. The eyes are friendly and expressive with long black lashes. These Indian people recognize and correctly so, that the only real sinners are the male gender, therefore only the men can, or need to, participate in the repentance process. The women are the ones that are sinned against and the males should suffer the effects of their sins, consequently the festival of Thaipusam is a day of rejoicing and enjoyment for the women. They lounge in the shade of the big trees sipping cool mango, lychee, and milo juice drinks from little liquid proof boxes and plastic bags, sucking on long straws. There's other food refreshment provided by the busy hawker venders working along the way. This is a big day for them. All the cartons, boxes and plastic bags are dropped onto the grass which adds a gala appearance to the esthetic beauty of the landscape.

I'm busy taking pictures of all that's going on, interrupted by Judy, thinking I'll get lost or run over in that seething throng of women. The sinners keep coming by, each with his support troupe. Some are hitched up sort of like a horse to a cart, only it's just a bunch of lines hooked into his back hide and the "sinner-skinner" who's handling the lines is pulling back while "Ol' Sinner" leans forward and tugs away till the hide on his back is pulled out creating 2 or 3 inch pinnacles. He also carries those colored hide weights with the spear through his mouth. There's always the worry that some dumb dude will run into the end of it creating some undeserved agony, but the show goes on hour after hour. It's said that at the end of the road a bunch of shave-head monks (retired sinners) has got a big long hot bed of coals prepared for these sinners to walk through which burns their feet and keeps their attention while the monks yank out the hooks and spears. But I never got that far down the trail.

After they turn them loose they can run down through the jungle to the creek and cool down the burning then think about the repentance process. Those that survive get wild and suspicious as a shot up coyote and eventually join the ranks of the shave-head monks. They'll live in the monastery during the rainy season and out under the coconut and banana trees the rest of the time. There, they'll have time to meditate life and sin and the cause and effects of such. Nobody, Not Nobody! is going to make a repeat performance of that day. They've done been retrieved from the Devil.