Tea and the horses

 Tea on the horse! Yea horses.. something interesting. Their gaits, snorts, whinny or neighs.. An old book on horses was brought out by Saraswathi Mahal Library, Thanjavur. One Asvasastram by Nakula. Nakula of Mahabharata? May be. So says the old book. It seems to derive lots of information from earlier authors like Salihotra, Garga, Susruta. There is a Tamil translation by Sri Subramanya Sastrigal. With a lot of illustrations in colour about the gaits and features, instruments and accessories all make the book a good reference. Horses do have smells and the smells do have their own meanings perhaps. And of course predictions combined with what happens to horses or how the horses behave or what sounds they make all make the book interesting. And to cap the whole story, there is an addenda from Salihotra Vaisampayaneeyam or Sarasindhu as it is called, about the psychology of horses. Horses do laugh sometimes it seems!. That too when a 'bravado' or a snob tries to get on the horse with over-confidence and falls down. Being neither a horse nor a bravado how am I to verify? No need. I have had many such moments with my mind-horse. Effect is the same even though the neigh is too naive.

Another interesting detail, when a horse not of equal calibre is made to run along with a hero-horse, the horse is irritated and tries to kick back sand-splashes. My mental horse is not of hero type and being only a plebian, it is compassionate towards all. And there are, the book says, nine types of horses - mattham, avi, kaasyam, asmageyam, maalikam, swetavaahanam, mesakam, swetagirijam, vaidarbam. All these nine are collectively called 'kodakam'. Modern books on equine themes, I must study and verify with the old.

Do the horses like tea? My belief is they should.

Srirangam Mohanarangan

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