Kanchi Sage/ Maha Periyaval /Miracle

Kanchi Sankaracharya,who has been affectionately called by all as 'Maha Periyaval ' of Kancheepuram Sankara Mutt, attained Maha Samadhi, and when he was in physical form on this earth, many miracles happened to thousands and thousands of his devotees and visitors and one such incident [miracle] is explained here below by a writer Saarukesi in 'Sakthi Vikatan' dt 22/10/10, a Tamil Magazine of Ananda vikadan Group of publications.

One Sivan , a resident of Thirunelveli, one of the towns of Tamil Nadu State of India,used to visit Kancheepuram regularly to have a Darshan of Kanchi Sankaraacharyaa, when he did so, he neither went near him or tried to talk to him; he would simply sit before him , sometimes days together and he felt happiness by seeing him. This Sivan was a puritan both physically and in his eating habits and always wearing the Saivite symbol of 'Vibhoothi' [holy ash] on his forehead, and anyone seeing him could perceive , he was a man of complete devotion by his looks and deeds.
Once after the Darshan , he neared the 'Maha Swami' as usual to take leave of him and which usually given by him by waving his hand showing blessing to Sivam.But on that particular day , Swami opened his sacred mouth and said
 ' started for journey? At least take a soda [aerated bottled water , popularly known as ' Goli Soda' ].On the way you can...'
Sivam started for his home town, came to Chengalpet and started for Thirunelveli. In the same bus, four boys were travelling making noise , troubling co-passengers.Sivam kept quiet and continued his journey.When the bus nearing Madurai on the way to Thirunelveli, stopped in a small village, where Sivam sitting in the bus , watched a small shop, keeping soda bottles arranged neatly in a row , and he remembered what Periaval said and besides he also felt like taking water, so got down and went to the shop to drink one Goli Soda.
On his coming back to the bus , to his seat, he was shocked to find his bag , which he usually carried and contained his meager belongings and money , missing. But the four boys shouted at him with out respect and said
 ' we have put your bag in one of the seats behind , go there, we want to travel sitting in that seat'

Sivam meekly went to the seat where his bag was kept and traveled. Immediately after exactly an hour the bus he was travelling met with an accident, and the two boys who were travelling in his previous seat died on the spot.
Sivam got shocked and dazed, started thinking , why Periyaval asked him to take Goli soda, which was unusual, why the bus stopped there , and why he saw the shop and the goli soda, and why he felt like drinking a soda.......... and all.
When the gentleman who narrated this incident to the original writer, met Mahaperiyaval and told him as to how Sivam escaped from the accident.Mahaperiyaval said
 ' Oh Sivam thought I saved him, the great Lord saved him'

Such is the divine humility of Great Mahaperiyaval.

My thanks to the writer of the original article Sri.Saarukesi,and 'Sakthi Vikatan,Tamil Magazine dt 22/10/10

Beware of Dogs

Yesterday was the Birthday of my nephew and so we had programs of visiting Temples,Orphanage and to see the work progress in the construction site and the place we reside right now is one of the big cities of Tamil Nadu, rather the Industrial city of Tamil Nadu where lot of employment opportunities for both skilled , unskilled and semiskilled personnel.
Morning after visiting the orphanages and a few temples we went to see the progress of work in the construction site of the house right now under construction.
After seeing the work progress, since the car was taken reverse from the street we were seeing the nearby houses and and one board was unique in the sense that board contains instructions in English and Malayalam as follows:
Beware of Dogs,
പട്ടിയുണ്ട്സൂഷിക്കുക


Normally in Tamil Nadu you see such boards in English and Tamil only and my sister asked me as to why this house owner , may be a Malayalee, thousands and thousands of Malayalee families live here in this town since it offers jobs unlike Kerala where only thriving industry is Politics, keeping the board in malayalam instead of in Tamil since many a man or woman cross the road or passing by the house would either be in general a Tamil .


I said 'May be this Malayalee owner has some anger towards Kerala and he shows like this'


'Why? ' my sister asked.


' He feels that his state despite being a highly literate state, not providing opportunities and people suffer. This stupid Govt does make a record of those who read and write Malayalam as the literate, not knowing any other language.So his way of showing an attack on Govt of Kerala through the board'


My sister laughed it away and became normal pitying the fellow malayalees who have to go other states to earn a living despite being a highly literate state.


Somehow a board brought the feeling of Malayalees in general about the backwardness of industrialization of the state and the corrupt politicians who cheat the malayalees.I empathize with Malayalee boys and men and ladies too who go around the world to make money at the cost of the separation of their families and sometimes at the cost of their own lives.Fully qualified professionals going abroad and other places of India is different from eking out a living for the almost nil opportunities in kerala.




Here I am with my nephew on his Birthday.

My morning walk

After getting up from bed at 4.45 AM I brushed my teeth, washed my face, looked at the mirror my face with unshaved chin of salt and pepper, mostly pepper,started saying my morning 'mantras' while dressing up, and preferred full sleeve shirt as the climate outside was very cold with mist and while walking you could feel as if you are in your flight through clouds, the light has not come out and it was dark.

The route usually I walk is partly the main road leading to the hill station Ooty , private cars started plying taking the officials and tourists to Ooty, and city buses and out station buses already started going. Birds started flying outside their nests making all kinds of sounds, like crowing,chirping,cooing,babbling, all kinds of sound........
Men already started out either for work or walking or on various errands spouting ' ooh..... aaahhhhhhhhhh' as cold was bit hight to tolerate. Tea shops one by one opening, here in my city tea shops are not like traditional boilers kept out and glasses arranged in a row on a metal or aluminium table, but brightly lighted and show casing bakery items and other eatables and could see a few people sipping their first tea or coffee of the day.
Then I tool a left turn which takes you to a calm residential area , mostly upper middle class or rich class locality with two or three cars parked inside the compound of the houses and dogs as usual awake barking at the walkers in different sounds since many a time all the houses keep the foreign breed .
Boys ranging from 15 yrs to 30 yrs walking towards the railway lines running parallel to the right side of the road I walk, though a bit far away, with bottles of water in hand, ... well going for defecating by the side of railway track; these boys are from the nearby ground where the rigs used for bore well are parked by night and the workers sleep either under the vehicles or at the roof of the lorries despite the cold------- hello! economist Prime Minister , watch this emerging India .
My mind left the 'mantra ' I had been repeating and jumped like a monkey on the article written by Mr.Sainath in The Hindu on the magnitude of the corruption in CW games and the tamasha of the highest magnitude and its ramifications.Today 'The Hindu' published two letters as a response to the article , showing the animosity to the article as if that article was born out of negativism; corruption is everywhere and this happens when this kind of macro projects done justifying the corruption .Remember the people going to railway tracks and millions do it in this great country when Ram prefers publishing these letters as a retribution for the article published and written by Mr.Sainath. Mr.Ram , for him no problem, his fore fathers by writing in the true spirit of democracy wrote and constructed his toilets at so many places in his house........ sorry his bungalow.
Mr.Ram is a business man of highest order, although who claims to be a journalist and editor, who knows how to toe the line of the Govt both at the center and State , so that to get ads for his paper and as a public opinion immediately after publishing an article which is neutral in approach by any writer, he would publish letters of long sentences against it and a few letters showing support to the article so that creating an illusion what stands for in the world of journalism is neutrality in reporting.His 'lakshman rekha' is 'Ram's rekha' of how to survive and make friends with the world that is ruling always.
Now the standard of this paper and its writings, for example they have a Readers' Editor who writes things like lawyers write in a drab and insipid way , so that anyone can confidently announce a prize for one who reads what he writes till the end. Only consolation is Mr.Paul Krugman , again this is represented in this paper , he is not writing for this paper, an arrangement with the original publisher.Better these correspondents could attend a workshop of Mr.Paul Krugman , if at all he is interested to teach these people as to how to write.
I have been reading this paper from the days of Mr.G.K.Reddy, Narain etc., how shallow this paper came down now, making only drab , insipid, tasteless,bland, flavorless writings.
Now we read 'The Hindu' inevitably like we got used to drinking tea , which once we drank with sugar, now owing to diabetics drink without sugar; not needed to drink the tea but habits die hard. Alternate drinks all slowly coming into every town like The Times of India etc.,
When I walked an hour I reached a usual tea shop and ordered for two salt biscuits and a tea without sugar like I read the tasteless paper.

Writer Sundara Ramasamy and his poem

Sundara ramasamy , a famous tamil writer who is no more, wrote this poem , which is translated here into English to make it known to the non tamil speaking community.

Alone

Have seen wings of a bird

flying with out the bird.

The bird which follows the wings

joined the wings in the nuances 

of the music.

When wings came to know by flying
and flying alone,
how to fly alone without bird,

And the bird without wings,

In me that mystique 

spreads,

A flower blooms in my mind.