Eulogy for a Great Storyteller
This is one of the many titles that I would like to remember Thyagu thatha by. I was a late entrant into his stock of stories. My brothers were more fortunate to get a good measure of his imagination. My introduction to Mahabharata was not through Rajaji or Vyasa. It was through Thyagu thatha and straight away from where the Pandavas were living in the forest. I initially thought that his stories were like the megaserials of today running for a good many years. I was actually feeling bad that I did not have a chance to listen to Mahabharata from beginning. I would pester thatha to start from the beginning. He would just say, "chi chi! ingerdhu kelu" (listen from this point). "SHAKUNI'S NEXT PLAN". As far as I can remember there was never a "SHAKUNI'S FIRST PLAN". When the pandavas were living in the forest, Shakuni devises a variety of plans to destroy them while in the forest. He would change the tone of the story to suit the audience. With eyes l...