VISITING THE GANDHI BHOOMI

VISITING THE GANDHI BHOOMI

It has been my long-cherished desire to visit the home state of the Mahatma and the the celebrated 'Modi Land' of India. The wish came true finally on the 11th March 2012 when I took up the 'Panchdwaraka Yathra' through Sree Travels.

The eight-odd day trip to Gujarat and Rajasthan by flight from Chennai to Ahmedabad and back, train journey from Ahmedabad to Udaipur and back and bus journey to the other places of the tour, cost around Rs.18,000/- per person.

The majority of the pilgrims travelled to Ahmedabad by Navjeevan Express from Chennai and about a dozen of us were to join them by flight at Ahmedabad.The train party had left Chennai on the mornong of 10th March 2012.We left Chennai at about 12 noon by Spice jet flight and landed at Ahmedabad Sardar Patel Airport at 2pm. We were accommodated at Hotel Serena,Lal Darwaza,Ahmedabad. Sumptuous Gujarati vegetarian food was available nearby. Since the train party was expected to arrive only by evening and our trip to Dwaraka was to start only the next morning,we, six of the flight passengers, decided to engage a taxi for local sight-seeing to places not covered by Sree Travels.

A striking feature of Ahmedabad ( the Gujaratis call it 'AMDAVAD') is the cleanliness of the streets and the jam-free, smooth flowing traffic there. Gujarat is easily the envy of every visitor from Tamilnadu as it is a 'power-surplus' state. It, in fact, lends power to our power-hungry state!We visited the Vaishno Devi Mandir on the outskirts of the city first. It is built as a replica of the Vaishno Devi Mandir at Jammu with all its crawling-tunnels and the other celebrated paraphernalia.The only disturbing feature during all our temple-visits was the harrowing security-checks and frisking and the banning of leather goods,mobiles,camera etc. All this is understandable after the carnage staged by Pakistani terrorists at Akshardam,Ahmedabad a decade back. Once bitten makes us 'for-ever' shy! The next visit was to the famous ISCON temple and the Jagannath mandir, both of which were thronging with pious devotees chanting bhajans and keertans.

Our next visit was to the famous "Kankaria Lake",that acknowledges the sun set there.This polygonal lake,built by Sultan Qutub-ud-din in 1451, has an island garden called 'Nagina Wadi'. It is believed to be the favourite spot of Emperor Jehangir and Queen Noor Jehan. Since it was a Sunday evening,the place was bustling with men,women and children in all hues and speaking a variety of languages. Believe me, for all this crowd,there was not not even an iota of garbage anywhere! Clealiness is an in-thing for the Gujaratis! I couldn't help recalling the mountains of garbage left after the "Kaanum Pongal ' Day festival in Chennai and elsewhere in Tamilnadu.

Early next morning, we began our long journey by Bus to Dwaraka, about 435 kms away, towards the Western tip of the country. We passed through the cities of Rajkot and Jamnagar before reaching Gomti Dwaraka in the evening. We checked into Hotel Meera there,had a good darshan of Lord Dwarakadeesh with the help of a local guide. Legend has it that after the killing of Kamsa,his father-in-law waged continuous war against Mathura to avenge his son-in-law's death,though he could not defeat Mathura. Lord Krishna wanted to free the people of Mathura and the nandhas from such cruel wars and so he decided to shift his capital from Mathura. He chose the Western tip of the country and founded the city of Dwaraka with the help of Vishwa karma and settled down there. Krishna hated wars and tried his best to avoid them and prevent loss of lives. "Rann" in Hindi/Gujarati refers to the battle field and "chod" refers to "renouncing" and so the people here refer to Lord Krishna as "RANN CHOD ROYJI". We had a holy dip at the Gomti Sangam near the temple and had a second darshan of the Lord next day.

The visit on the next day was to the 'Rukmani temple' on the west towards the port town of OKHA in Jamnagar district,Gujarat. From there we proceeded towards "Bhet Dwaraka",in the Arabian Sea, by boat to an island ('bhet') called Bhet Dwaraka,believed to be the residence of Lord krishna. It is also believed that Lord Krishna and his class mate Sudama met in this palace('bhet' also means 'meet').On our return journey we visited Gopi Talav and worshipped the famous Jyotir lingam at Nageshwar.We continued our journey towards south east and visited the birth place of Mahatma Gandhi at Porbandhar.There is a museum functioning at the ancestral home of the Bapu. Near by is the place called Sudama Dwaraka,where Krishna's friend lived. It is also referred to as "Sudama Dwaraka". We visited the "Mool Dwaraka", the place visited first by Krishna before establishing the city of Dwaraka. After travelling for about 225 kms from Dwaraka,we reached the city of Veraval, near the famous Gir forest of Gujarat and checked into Hotel Satkar for night stay.

The first visit on the next day was to "Bhal ka teerth",a place where Krishna was last seen. It is believed that here, Krishna was shot on his toe by a hunter by mistake(as per a curse he brought on himself during Ramavatar when he shot Vaali). That brought an end to Krishnavatar and he proceeded to Vaikunta from here.There is beautiful temple here depicting this legend. Our next target was towards the historical city of the Somnath. There is a place where the three rivers Hiranya, Kapila and Saraswathi meet and it is called Triveni Sangam near Somnath.A number of Shiva temples are situated near the Triveni Sangam.

The most interesting visit of the day was to the historical Somnath Temple near the sangam. This is one of the twelve 'jyotirlingams' in India. The temple offers a spectacular view of the Arabian sea adjoinig the temple and its excellent marble architecure, Gold-plated entrances and arches with intrinsic carvings inside the temple are a feast to the eyes. No wonder the notorious conquerer Mohmud Gazni plundered the temple so many times and desecrated the idols besides killing thousands of 'infedels' in the process. Thousands of Hindus defending the temple were captured and sold as slaves in Afganistan and elsewhere. It is said that fragments of the broken Jyotirlingam were used as stepping stones in the mosques there.The entire temple at Somanath was razed by Mohmud Gazni and later by Mohmud Ghauri and a mosque was built in that place. The present temple was rebuilt in a nearby place later. We do not understand why such mindless atrocities on the defenceless people in the name of religion, are eulogised by the people of Pakistan. Pakistan,as we know,have named one of their latest missiles after the infamous "Ghauri"!

Then began our long journey by road back to Ahmedabad,nearly 400 kms away, halting here and there for lunch,snacks etc. We reached Ahmedabad railway station in time to catch the Udaipur Express at 11 pm for a comfortable journey by the metre-gauge train through the Aravalli range the to Udaipur city. Nights in this part of the country were very chilly even during the month of March. On reaching Udaipur city we checked into hotel Tulsi Palace.

"Fateh Sagar". This was the first place we visited the next day at Udaipur.This artificial lake considered as the 'pride of Udaipur' was built in 1678 by Maharana of Udaipur. A boat-ride in the lake was worth its weight in gold! After the women pilgrims in our group enjoyed shopping in the saree cum jewellery museum nearby,we visited the famous "City Palace" at Udaipur.

The city palace,located in the East bank of Lake Pichola,was built by Maharana Udaisingh in 1559 as the capital of the Sisodia Rajput clan.Situated on a hillock,it is an epitome of the fusion of Rajasthani and Moghul architectural styles. It is mainly a granite and marble structure but the interiors are full of delicate mirror works,marble carvings,murals,wall-paintings,silver works and coloured glass works. It presents a panoramic view of the city and the lake nearby. This palace shot into international fame after the James Bond movie "Octopussy' which was shot here.Now Udaipur has come to be known as "The Venice of the East".

Early next morning saw us proceeding towards "Sreenath Dwaraka". On the way we visitd the historical,1300 year-old Eklingi temple dedicated to Lord Shiva. Located in a place called 'Kailashpuri' 22kms north of Udaipur in Rajasthan,it was built in 734 A.D by Mewar rulers. Under the pyramidal roof one can find three forms of the Nandhi,made of Silver,Brass and black marble. The shivalinga itself is a four-faced idol of Eklingi. The East-facing side is believed to be Surya,the West-facing is Brahma,the north-facing is Vishnu and south-facing is believed to be the Rudra.

Our next destination,the famous Nathdwara was about 48 kms north of Udaipur. The temple of Shrinathji, believed to be built in the 17th century, is also called "Shrinathji Ki Haveli" as it houses a store room for milk,a room for betel, for sugar and sweetmeats, flowers, jewellery, a charriot,a functional kitchen,treasury, a stable a drawing room and a gold and silver grinding wheel. When the idol of Shrinathji was being brought from the north to escape from the atrocities of Aurangazeb ,it is believed that the charriot got stuck in this place and the lord established the temple here by himself. We could see the devotees offering milk and vegetables to the lord in plenty. In fact we found a vegetable market functioning inside the temple for this very purpose! Our next visit was to the famous Kangroli temple nearby. This temple,believed to be built in 1676 A.D,is also dedicated to Lord Dwarakadeesh and the idol is believed to have been brought from Mathura. Concluding our fifth day's programme at Udaipur, we proceeded straight to Udaipur railway station to catch our train back to Ahmedabad at 7-30 pm.

Dakor Dwaraka was the next item on our agenda for Saturday(17th March 2012). This temple is situated at about 43 kms north-east of Ahmedabad near the bank of Gomti river. The temple is dedicated to Lord Krishna known as "Ranchhodraiji"( meaning 'one who left the battle field'). It is believed to have been built during 1772 A.D. The idol of Ranchhodraiji is adorned with gold and silver ornaments, precious jewels and expensive clothes and is mounted on an exclusively carved throne. The worship at Dakor Dwaraka was indeed a fitting finale to our Panchadwaraka Yathra though a few more items of visit still remained.

In the afternoon we visited the famous Akshardham temple at Ahmedabad,going through all its security drills. This temple built by the Gandhinagar Akshardham Sanstha in 1992, combines devotion,art,architecture,education,exhibition and research all under one roof. It gained international attention after the terrorist attack in September 2002 when two heavily armed terrorists created havoc there killing 29 devotees and three police commandos besides injuring about 80 persons. The rest of the day was left free for the much-awaited shopping spree and the pilgrims ensured that they wouldn't carry back all the cash they brought with them for the trip!

The bulk of the pilgrims returned to Chennai by the next morning's Navjeevan Express. That again gave some of us adequate time to plan yet another private local trip to other places in Ahmedabad(our Chennai flight was only at 3 pm that day). We enjoyed visiting a Jain Temple, the step-well at Adalaj, the Sabarmati Ashram, the Trimandir, Sardar Vallabhai Patel memorial and the Bhimnath Mahadev -Gayathri Shaktipeeth at Ahmedabad. The Spicejet flight at 3-10 pm brought us safely back to Chennai at 5-30 pm, a day ahead of the other members of the pilgrimage!

The visit to the 'Gandhi Bhoomi' was thus a rewarding experience to be cherished for a long long time!

"Accessing the inaccessible"

'Thirumangai Alwar',the last of the twelve Vaishnavaite saint poets, has sung in praise of a number of Vishnu shrines in India and in Nepal.Of all the Vishnu temples

he visited,he refers to a particular "divya desam" or shrine as "sendru kandarku ariya koil singavel kundramey"(the most inaccessible among the divya desams is the Ahobila Kshetram). By some good fortune,I had the opportunity to visit this inaccessible shrine and worship Sh Ahobila Narasimhar in his nine different forms popularly known as 'nava narasimhars'.

Ahobila kshetram is referred to as "thiruchingavel kundram" by Thirumangai Alwar. It is situated at about 110 kms away from Cudappa railway station in the Chennai-Mumbai train route in Andhra Pradesh.We,a party of about 32 pilgrims and 7 kitchen staff besides the tour organiser,started from Triplicane on the 23rd January at about 5pm by a tourist bus.After a brief halt at Kakalur Anjaneya swamy temple near Thiruvallur for worship and dinner,we continued our journey through the night passing through Renigunta and other places in AP.We reached Ahobilam (Lower Ahobilam) at 5.30 am and put up at the Ahobilam Mutt guest house.The first visit in the morning was to the Lakshmi Narasimhar temple near the Ahobila Mutt.This is very beautiful with the stone art strucures of the local tradition.This shrine though not a divye desam,is bound to inspire every pilgrim with its tranquility and artistic beauty. After breakfast,we drove by bus into the Reserve Forest area where most of the nine shrines are situated.Our first halt was the the KARANCHA NARASIMHAR,which is about 12 kms from Ahobila Mutt.Karancha refers to a particular tree(Punga maram) under which Lord Narasimha gave Darshan to Hanuman at this point of the hill.We continued our drive for another 2kms to reach the foot of the hill beyond which one has to trek or engage a 'doli' to reach the other shrines in the hill.We visited the first abode in the hill namely the AHOBILA NARASIMHAR SHRINE which is the actual divya desam sung by Thirumangai Alwar and worshipped Lord Prahlatha Varadhar and Lakshmi Narasimhan. The actual trek starts now through steps in some places and through pebbles and stones in other places.VARAHA NARASIMHAR shrine engraved in a huge rock was the next halt on the hill where we worshipped the Lord in the form of a pig to save his bhaktas from evil forces.On the way to Varaha Narasimha swamy sannathy,we come across picturesque mountain sceneries including a breath-taking view of the "Bhavanasini waterfalls".From here the trek becomes treacherous and unkind to the pilgrims who have to exercise utmost care to balance themselves with the stick provided for the purpose while negotiating through boulders,pebbles,streams and steep and narrow steps.

JWALA NARASIMHAR shrine is situated at about 5 kms from Varaha Narasimhar sannathy,on a steep rock with very narrow steps which at one stage you negotiate only by holding on to the chains fixed on the rock surface.This shrine presents Lord Narasimha in his fiercest and most furious form with the flame (jwala) of his fury being directed aginst Hiranya Kashyap,the tormentor of His disciple Prahladha.We saw the Lord in the squatting yoga pose with his finger nails piercing open the guts of Hiranya.One can see the fire in the Lord's furious face.On an adjacent pedestal we could see the Lord chasing a frightened and fleeing Hiranya.Thirumangai Alwar says that Brahma and Maheswara found that the whole horizon was turned fiery red with the fury of the Lord during the annihilation of Hiranya .(Theytha theeyal vin sivakkum singavel kundramay!)

After worshipping Jwala narasimhar we continued with the trek through the tortuous terrain to climb another 2 kms into the forest and rocks to reach the MALOLA NARASIMHAR shrine where we performed 'thirumanjanam'and 'thiruvaradhanam' to the Lord.We came to know that the 'uthsava moorthi' of Malola narasimhar is with the Ahobila Mutt Jeer Azhagiyasinger for his daily thiruvaradhanam as per the Lord's desire.It was heartening to note that even at such an inaccessible place like the Malola narasimhar sannadhi, the Ahobila Mutt has made arrangements for drinking water and toilet facilities.Though Jwala and Malola are toughest to reach among other shrines,we heard of a certain "Ugrasthambam"on top of a very steep rock where a pillar from which the Lord emerged is still there.But reaching this spot was just unthinkable because of the inaccessible terrain! It is therefore no wonder that Thirumangai Alwar refers to Ahobilam as " accessible to no one other than Gods"( Dheiyvamallal sellavonnatha singavel kundramey.) !

We proceeded then to the next shrine namely CHATRAVADA NARASIMHAR which is at about 20 kms back into lower Ahobilam outside the Reserve Forest Area. And from here we continued our drive to YOGANANDA NARASIMHAR shrine which is nearby on the way back to Lower Ahobilam. There are two shrines here namely the "Bala yogananda Narasimhar" and the "Yogananda Narasimhar" sannathies. After completing our worship at the seventh shrine for the day,we returned to the guest house for a well-deserved rest and recuperation.

On the next day our first destination was the PAVANA NARASIMHAR shrine which is situated deep inside the Reserve Forest Area accessible only by jeep through a back-breaking, rough ride through the virgin jungle.The legend has it that Mahalakshmi thayar took birth in this hill as a huntress by name "Chenchu Lakshmi" and the Lord took the form of a hunter to marry Chenchu lakshmi. At this shrine the Lord poses as a hunter with the bow and arrows and other paraphernalia.Even today,the uthsavam in this shrine is performed as per the hunter-family traditions with animal sacrifice etc. Returning from Pavana Narasimhar shrine,we drove again through a similar jungle terrain to climb about 130 steps to reach BHARGAVA NARASIMHAR shrine on top of a small hillock inside the reserve forest. This shrine is dedicated to the sun-god.In fact all the nine Narasimhas correspond to the nine planets of the solar system,it is believed.Thus ended our quest to worship the nine narasimhas of the Ahobila Kshetram,aptly described as 'inaccessible' (Sendru kandarkariya koil singavel kundramey) by Thirumangai Alwar.

To cap all our efforts,the next day we had the good fortune of worshipping the uthsava moorthies of Narasimhas during their visit to a nearby village on a uthsavam,thus concuding our mission. We then had a long drive to Manthralayam on the banks of River Thunga Bhadra, visiting 'Mahanandi temple' on the way.The next day was 'thursday', very auspicious day to 'Raghavendra Swamy'. We had a holy bath in the river Thunga Bhadra and worshipped Lord Raghavendra Swamy.River Thunga Bhadra was almost dry with only some pockets of water found here and there that too not what you can call 'clean' but that doesn't matter before one's faith.Our worsip at Manthralayam was indeed a fitting finale to our 3-day pilgrimage and our endeavour to "access the inaccessible".

"Shrimathe Ramanujaya Namaha."C:\Users\thambu\Pictures\Ahobilam Yathra Jan 2012\DSC06328.JPG

STRIVING FOR SALVATION !

" Though made weak by time and fate,

We are strong in will,

To strive,to seek,to find and not to yield."

A.L.Tennyson

Ulysses,the great adventurer,continued with his adventurous attitude even when he and his comrades were past their youthful age. His vigour may be a thing of the past but his will remained the same and where there is a will there must a way.

The aged are often believed to be getting their 'priorities'wrong but they are actually more focussed about their priorities than their gen-next counterparts! It has been the dream of every vaishnavite past sixty to have a glimpse of each of the 108 'divyadesams' (vishnu shrines glorified by the alwars in their pasurams).The highest of these shrines perhaps is the "muktinath temple" situated at a height of 3800 meters at Muktinath-Chumig Gyatsa on the Annapurna - Daulagiri circuit in the Himalayas of Nepal. A trip to this shrine is fraught with the risk of severe high-altitude sickness and the other related symptoms. But the devout does not get deterred by these risks just as a mountaineer gets motivated by the risks of his endeavour. We therefore enrolled with the SREE TRAVELS CHENNAI for the six-day- Muktinath yathra- by flight.About 20 of us who travelled up to Kathmandu by flight, were to be clubbed with others travelling by train/road there, as per the programme.

We(me,my wife,my brother and his wife) took the 7-15 AM Indigo flight No.6E 276 to kathmandu from Chennai on 02 October 2011Sunday and reached Indira Gandhi International airport NewDelhi at 10 AM without any incident. For travelling to Nepal,a SAARC country in the neighbourhood,one has to follow all immigration formalities except that one can use his original Voter ID card as a valid document in place of the passport and visa. After going through all the security exercises and document-verification formalities at the airport, we managed to down some vegetarian delicacies at the 'Idly.com' outlet in the food court there spending a fortune! The three- hour gap was just enough for completing the formalities during the transit and to board the Spicejet flight No. SG045 to Kathmandu at 13.45 hrs.

After a flight of about two hours, we landed at the Tribhuvan International Airport at Kathmandu in the pouring rain at about 4pm. We had to wait for another one hour for two more members of our party arriving by Nepal Airlines from Bangalore. We were taken to a Jain Guest house at Kathmandu by our host Sh. Munna Agarwal. We took much-needed rest after a hearty veg meal offered at the Guest house. As we had to give way to some other tourists who had also booked the same accommodation, we had to pack our bag and baggage the next morning and proceed with our local sight-seeing trip in a vehicle provided by our host. We had a good dharshan each of PASHUPATHINATH TEMPLE, KATHMANDU and JALNARAYAN TEMPLE with the rain threatening to disrupt our programme every now and then.Our host Munna owns a "Rudraksh Bhandar" near the Pashupathinath Mandir and the women members of our group promptly attempted to empty the wallets of their husbands in their attempt to procure pearls,rudraksh,idols,Saligramams,other nick-nacks and what-not! We were housed in the "Kathmandu Hotel Planet" for the night with rooms allotted from second to fourth floor there. (no lifts in the 'planet!) As there was no official programmes fixed for the evening, some of our members visited a nearby Buddhist shrine on their own.Our programme was aleady running late by a day at that point.

The next day we had to help ourselves with some sort of a break fast and lunch(nothing special to mention about the quality except that they had been prepared by our own cooks!) Bad food cooked by our own cooks should any way taste better than the good food prepared by 'others'!We had to rush to the Kathmandu domestic air port to catch a small 30 seater aircraft of YETI AIRLINES to Pokhara, an intermediary place at a height of 1500 meters above mean sea level.Here, We were joined by more people who had arrived by train up to Gorakhpur and then crossed over to Nepal at Sonali and travelled by road up to Pokhara.The weather at Pokhara was just pleasant with breath-taking views all around of the majestic Annapurna and Daulagiri range. The woolens and thick jackets were not out yet. We met the tour organiser sh.Ilanthirayan of Sree travels here at last! We had to complete many more formalities here like paying airport taxes, paying for Nepal Tourist permit with our details entered and our photographs affixed in the papers. An exhaustive local tour was promised at Pokhara after our return from Muktinath.(It was a promise which was conveniently forgotten later!) We were instructed to be ready to proceed to Jamsom the next day at 6-30 AM. We could get some first hand details and tips from some of the pilgrims who had visited Muktinath the previous day and staying in the same hotel. All were eagerly looking forward to the D-day to visit Muktinath.

The Tara air flight from Pokhara to Jomsom was even smaller than that of the Yeti Airlines flight. It had just two rows of 9 seats each with just enough space for two pilots and a flight stewardess. The flight took just 17 minutes but it offered breath-taking view of the mountain range and the majestic Gandaki river winding through it.The only other means of transport to Jamsom from Pokhara is the Jeep but it takes 24 hours as against the 17 minutes by air.The tour organisers ensured that we got into our sweaters ,jackets,monkey-caps and socks and gloves before we got into the flight to Jamsom. Thank God! What a cold and shivering draught welcomed us there! The tour bulletin says that the wind at Jamsom makes even stones to fly! No exaggeration indeed.

The Pokhara Airport is at an altitude of 2800 meters and is frequented by trekkers and hikers from all over the world besides the pilgrims to Muktinath shrine.You do not get good star hotels here unlike Kathmandu. They are just humble lodging houses without attached bath facilities. They however supply woollen blankets, rajais etc. From Jamsom airport, one has to climb up to 3800 meters to reach Muktinath-Chumig Gyatsa and to overcome high-altitude sickness symptoms like head ache, nausea,dehydration etc.

The small parties reaching Jamsom airport had to wait for the others to join them before proceeding further.It was 5th October 2011 Wednesday, the D-day for our tryst with Lord Muktinath.We sarted by bus to cover the 2km distance till the bank of river Gandaki. we crossed the river through a narrow wooden bridge and trekked for about a kilometer to the Jeep stand situated at a point on the other side of the river.We were accommodated in three jeeps (about 13 in each jeep) from here for our rough ride through the hill and river. It was an arduous odyssey with the rattling jeeps winding through narrow mountain trails(no roads mind you!) full of pebbles and round ,naturally-polished stones called shaligramams and at times passing by dangerous precipices that one dreads look below.These jeeps are driven by expert Nepali drivers who do not seem to be perturbed by the adversities all around. In fact ,to many of my co-passengers, these drivers looked like the incarnations of Lord Muktinath!

Legend has it that Lord Vishnu kept his promise to Tulsi by taking the form of small polished stones called Saligramams in the river Gandaki and offered her salvation when she took the form of the divine river Gandaki.The locals sell these polished stones taken from the river(containing many shapes and designs by nature) to the pilgrims who take them home and do daily pooja to them as the incarnation of Sriman narayana.It said that Thirumangai Alwar and later Sri Ramanujacharya visited the shrine on foot.When we struggle so much even with all modern technologies like the air travel,how these saints managed to reach such an inaccessible place, is no small wonder.

On reaching the jeep stand after a back-breaking 2-hour drive, we had to still trek for about 10 minutes to a particular point in the hill. From here we had to ride pillion in motor cycles driven by local Nepali youth for abut half an hour.A trip up to the temple and back costs 300 rupees. All one has to do is to sit cross-legged in the pillion, hug the brave rider and close his/her eyes for fear of fainting at the twists and turns in the steep hill through which the rider negotiates to reach the foot of the temple.These riders are again local youth who have very good control of the vehicle and are very encouraging and supportive to the pilgrims in alleviating their fear.Women members of our group had already come dressed suitably for this part of the journey and so they faced it sportively.

Now we entered the campus of the Muktinath shrine and slowly climbed the 40 odd steps leading to the main temple, feeling mild giddiness and nausea all the while.As we entered the outer parikrama,We were welcomed by water from some unknown source pouring through 106 outlets lined all along the four walls of the outer parikrama. There are two ponds on either side of the entrance.Devotees who take holy bath on all these 'theerthas' signifying the 108 divyadesams ,do not mind the near zero temperature of the water. The main temple is a very small structure with Nepali architecture and the main shrine of Muktinath(Saligrama murthy) is adjoined by his consorts Sridevi and Bhoodevi.The idols are just three-foot high and are mounted on a stone pedestal. You do not find costly ornaments etc on the idols as we see normally in South India. There is a lady priestess who does the pooja in the Nepali style. But we are allowed to touch the idols and offer our prasadams(nuts&spices) in our own way. There is no written proof anywhere in the temple that it is one of the 108 divya desams and is commemorated by Thirumangai Alwar.But we find the majestic idol of Sri Ramanujacharya in the inner parikrama.We met the main priest(whom we had seen in the You tube videos when we typed 'Muktinath darshan') near the entrance who explained the significance of the the temple and performed the 'sankalpam'. We lighted oil lamps in the parikrama and chanted Thirumangai Alwar's 'Periya Thirumozhi ' the ten verses starting with "kalaiyum kariyum parimavum" and the two verses of Peryalwar's "palai karandu". We did feel an exalted saturation permeating through us during the entire one hour we spent in the temple. May be, this is a prelude to our becoming eligible for our 'striving for salvation'.I could not help but to remember the words of Rabindranath Tagore at that point of time:

This is my prayer to thee,my lord.

Strike, strike at the root of the penury in my heart.

Give me the strength lightly to bear my joys and sorrows.

Give me the strength to make my love fruitful in service.

Give me the strength never to disown the poor

Or bend my knees before insolent might.

Give me the strength to raise my mind

High above daily trifles.

And give me the strength to surrender my strength

To thy will with love.

The trek back was equally arduous and frightening. Already one of our pilgrims was suffering an attack of high-altitude sickness vomiting bitterly and suffering head and body pain and had to be rushed to the local doctor.The motor cycle riders dropped us at Jeep stand in the return journey thus saving us some walking in the hilly terrain! The next two-hour jeep drive and walking brought us back to the hotel,battered and bruised but satiated and salvaged!A night's rest in the warmth of the cottage worked wonders for the cold-battered pilgrims.

Next morning came the news that our sight-seeing programme at Pokhara was to be cancelled due some over booking in the flight during festival season(Vijaya Dashmi is Nepal's national festival) and that we had to rush straight to Kathmandu by a connecting flight immediately. Tempers rose and we witnessed heated arguments regarding this let-down by the organisers. Some suggested that we should make our own sight-seeing programme at Pokhara and then go to Katmandu by bus at night.Since it was very risky to travel by night in the dangerous Himalayan slopes, the idea was abandoned. Our tickets to Delhi and to Chennai had already been booked on 07 October and any such journey would have jeopardised that proramme.

As an alternative,we arranged a paid sight-seeing trip at Kathmandu visiting "Dakshin Kali Mandir" and 'Pattan Bazar' and a second visit Agarwal Rudraksh Bandaar to conclude our 5-day tour.

The return journey by Spicejet flight from Kathmandu and by Indigo flight (via Mumbai) from Delhi were indeed comfortable and we reached Chennai at 9-40 pm on 07 October 2011(Friday) safe and sound and in one piece!

Though we came across some minor problems and disappointments,overall it was a worthy trip that enabled us seek the blessings of Lord Muktinath for us and for our near and dear ones.

Sarve janah sukhino bhavanthu.

LOOKING BACK .....

LOOKING BACK .....

(R.S.Ramanujam, Retd. Principal, KV-1, Calicut)

"Dost thou art, and to dust returnest " is a biblical adage. Life begins in dust and ends up in dust, in a philosophical sense. In a practical sense too, in this life between the dust of creation and the dust of extinction, every experience in one's profession leaves an ever-lasting imprint on his personality. It is therefore but natural that after a long and eventful journey stretching for over thirty six years in the Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan, I am filled with nostalgic reminiscences, leaving a predominant feeling of satisfaction and an expression of gratitude to the Maker for all his mercy and benevolence.

The time was 10 AM, the day 31st July, 1971. It was class II-A , a room in the old Air Force barracks of Kv, AFS, Avadi. The English lesson "Where are my glasses" was being dramatized by the children under the guidance of their English teacher. Seated in the last bench alongside the principal and enjoying the proceedings was a young bachelor boy who had just embarked upon a long journey having just joined duty as primary teacher in that school a little earlier that day. While he could wonder at the amazing chemistry between those little children and their English teacher, little was he aware of the challenges that lay ahead of him. As a shy and diffident lad, he had to grapple with the discomfort of being the only male member among the twenty five odd primary teachers! Added to this was the problem of communicating with his class-I students, most of whom belonged to north India, the teacher's own Hindi being very erratic! Yet, challenges are part of a teacher's career and every teacher has to face them with concern and commitment. Life went on, and, during the six years the followed, teaching those tiny-tots was a very rewarding learning experience for the novice. After all "we learn better as teachers and teach better as learners."

The second phase of my journey unfolded at Kendriya Vidyalaya, MEG & Centre, Bangalore to which I was posted in August, 1976 on promotion as TGT (Sc.). The garden city at least then, was a heaven with its pleasant weather and its characteristic greenery. The change of teaching subjects or the age group of the children mattered very little because the basic bond of love between the teacher and the taught formed the strong edifice for effortless learning. The presence of a veteran academician and a great human being as the principal of that school was a real blessing to the emerging teacher, who imbibed some of the noble qualities of that veteran principal .By this time, the elusive command over Hindi -having passed all the mandatory Hindi examinations - could also be achieved.

After about three years at KV MEG, Bangalore and a ten-day sojourn at KV IIT Chennai, I was posted at KV CLRI Chennai on 19th September 1980. This was to be my most-cherished learning work shop for the next six years. I should admit that I had the good fortune of having served under some of the best principals of KVS and KV CLRI was no exception. A batch of very affectionate, knowledgeable and well-disciplined students and a cordial and tension-free academic atmosphere prevailing in the school contributed a lot to my acquiring many of the subtle nuances of the teaching-learning process as well executing administrative responsibilities .Another reason for this school to occupy a special place in my mind is that it was only during my stay here that I qualified for my M.A(English) degree - a complete switch over from my basic degree in Chemistry --and my M.Ed degree.

As luck would have it, I was posted back to KV MEG on promotion as PGT (English) in 1986. During my second innings there lasting for the next eight years, the department provided a variety of learning opportunities like being a resource person(KVS, CBSE, British Council), a field researcher (CBSE, British council), Evaluator and Head Examiner of CBSE, in addition to being the CCA Coordinator, admission-in-charge, Book-stores. Income Tax, furniture, Vidyalaya Patrika, field trips, Sahodaya coordinator, and a part of a voluntary literary group called "Anthar Bharathi".

The next phase of the greying preceptor's journey unfolded at KV IIT -again a second innings- in 1994. The school was at its peak then and every day in the school was a unique learning experience, not withstanding the arduous daily journey of about 110 kms to the school and back. Increasing responsibilities and commitments towards the family necessitated yet another request transfer to KV-II Tambaram, Chennai in 1998. The four years that followed added a new wealth of experience including that of 'officiating principal' which ultimately provided the necessary impetus to apply for the post of principal and by the grace of the almighty I could succeed in my very first attempt, in clearing the tests and interview. I was posted to KV, New Bongaigaon, Assam in July 2002 as Principal.

Napoleon had once asked his general as to how many soldiers were there in his army. ‘One lakh’ was the general’s reply to which the emperor queried if it included the emperor or not. The general replied that the strength then was one lakh one. Again Napoleon corrected him saying that the strength then should be ‘two lakhs’ – the emperor himself was equivalent to one lakh soldiers. This anecdote should not be misconstrued as to reveal the hollow pride of the emperor. It actually shows his high level of self-confidence . Any head of office who has confidence in his ability to lead and who has care and concern for his subordinates is bound to succeed as a ‘task master’ acceptable to all. The change of role from a teacher to an Educational administrator was a smooth affair. Except for a few geographical and communo-political factors, there was not much of a difference between the teachers of the North-Eastern states and those elsewhere in the country. So, with a little extra guidance and encouragement, these hard-working teachers were able to walk that extra mile, winning special appreciation from KVS for producing 100% pass percentage for the first time ever in the history of that school. My stay at New Bongaigaon is made memorable for yet another reason. It was during my service as principal at KV New Bongaigaon that I was honoured with the National Award for teachers by Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam, the then President of India in a glittering ceremony held at Vigyan Bhavan, New Delhi on 5^th September 2003. The next day all the six national awardees of KVS were honoured by the Commissioner of KVS with special mementos for ‘the service rendered to the community as a teacher of outstanding merit.’ On the completion of the four-year tenure in North-East Region, many of my fellow principals were posted to their home towns as per the service provisions—but I was sent elsewhere.

“Thy will, be done” says the Bible. God’s will was perhaps that I should not retire from service before spending some time in “God’s own country”- Kerala ! I was posted to KV-1, Kozhikkode, Kerala in July 2006.The last eighteen months of my service at KV-1, Kozkikkode was rather the fitting finale for this odyssey. New challenges in the form of long working hours, a huge school of about 2500 students, the double-shift system and the sheer quantum of work in such a set-up, the ‘great expectations’ of the department and the community as well as the constraints and restraints posed by additional responsibilities imposed – all this could be successfully negotiated with the help of the confidence provided by the administration and the love and affection of about 2500 students and about 150 members of staff that culminated in the school scaling greater heights of excellence and carve a niche for itself.

It is rightly said “ All is well that ends well.” The illustrious career that started in Avadi on the 31^st July 1971 drew to a close on 31st January 2008 at Kozhikkode. Looking back at the path traversed this for, is a cherishing and scintillating experience - especially on being asked to do so by the main stakeholders –the alumni of KV CLRI. I am fully aware that all the stake holders – the students, the fellow teachers and the KVS administration – owe a lion’s share in the achievements of any teacher in general and this teacher in particular. GOOD BYE!

Trading on Tigers,the TN Style!

It is all happening now,folks!the hunter being hunted;the tiger has no place to hide,leave alone crouch,in its own territory in the Emerald Isle!Expected to provide "balm" to the deprived Tamils in their own land,the LTTE could provide nothing but the "bomb".The decade-old bloody war is nearing its logical conclusion---viz..the extinction of the Tiger community.All the right-thinking, apolitical Tamils,can now heave a sigh of relief,notwithstanding the problems faced by the common man in the embattled Tiger territory.

But what this blog aims to deal with, is not the plight of the toiling Tamils there or how the fleeing Tigers use these innocent civilians as shields,but of the way TN politicos are trading in the name of Tigers reiterating once again their brazen,farcical desire to fish in troubled waters taking the TN voters for granted.

We all believe that paper tigers don't roar.But in the rational TN polity,walking around in Tiger skin is still a popular pastime. These paper tigers cry aloud their shrill rhetoric that the Srilankan army should withdraw from the hunt--so that the Liberation Tigers are not just liberated but can live and kill happily thereafter.But thankfully,Srilanka is not India nor is Rajapakse a Manmohan Singh.The Island nation knows that tame India is not worthy of emulation when it comes to fighting terror and so it sees this as a fight to the finish stopping at nothing short of the annihilation of the Tiger population.It did not therefore,like India,"try to bring international pressure to make the LTTE mend its ways".

But let us look at what happens in the rationalist-ruled Tamilnadu.Everybody at the healm of affairs knows that India has no legal or moral authority to to ask Srilanka to stop its war on terror and thereby submit itself to the Tiger's gluttonous hunger for blood.Yet these politicos(described rightly as 'jokers' by the Srilankan army chief) boisterously cry from roof tops that the'genocide' should be stopped forthwith.

We Tamils boast of our priceless heritage saying that 'we were born much before the mud and stone were born!' . we are a peculiar race in more than one ways.We, according to these politicos should have more concern for the Srilankan Tamils than our compatriots say in Punjab or the North East or elsewhere.They very often conveniently suppress the difference between the Srilankan Tamil and the LTTE's bloody agenda.The LTTE has been mercilessly killing any other Tamil leader whom it sees as a threat to its authority and is forcing innocent, brain-washed youth to the war front.It never hesitates to use these very Tamils as shieldagainst the Srilankan army.Such an organisation deserves no human support leave alone the Tamils' support.

But that does not stop the 'thamasha'going on in the name of Srilankan Tamils issue.The man at the healm of the 'rationalist' govt. has perfected the art of bending the issue like Beckam.Double tongue is a favourite game here.These people can roar in support of LTTE here and toe the official line of non interference when reminded of article 356,after all they have the dubious distinction of having dumped their main ideal in the face of constitutional threat.

So,what all can these clowns do?Pass resolution after resolution in the assembly condemning the 'atrocities',incite students to boycott classes on the issue(which no studentwill refuse),give 'endless ultimatums' to the Centre,pen endless poetry shedding bloody tears for their brothers in the Island.One more thing and the most tragic of all this--ask all the MPs(including the 'family'MP) to promptly ' submit' their resignation letters to the CM only to be returned to them later!

Another leader,a 'champion of the cause of Dalits' would go on an indefenite fast in between meals and insruct his cadre to 'take care of govt.buses'!The physician-father of the cabinet minister vows to bring TN to a grinding halt if the 'genocide' does not stop.But as a journalist put it,it is good news as TN is in reverse gear and halting is better than the slide.How a 'frozen TN'will freeze the 'atrocity' in Srilanka is as baffling as the Dr's prescription!Though the 'amma' has been consistent in 'tiger-bashing' from the very beginning,the crouching tiger in her own backyard does not hide his love or lust for tigers,promising a grand agitation during the 2nd week of Feb,perhaps after the SL army sounds its victory bugle.The 'captain' and the 'supreme star' well, do not have time for all these,being busy running around trees with heroines half their age!

Amids all these comic scenes of the tragedy,good old Pranabda has atlast got his ticket to Srilanka confirmed and having no other option with both his central and state mentors in hospital,has to re-enact the farce of 'requesting' Rajapakse to protect the life and property of Tamils in the warring nation.

And the 'theatre of the absurd' continues to stage its plays in the TN arena!If not the common man,atleast the politicos should'live happily ever after'.

Indian Secularism---an Enigma!

The Human Resource Development Ministry under the most honourable Shri Arjun Singh has recently added another sparkling feather to its "secular" cap.It may be true that the thousands of reforms to improve the Education System suggested by Educationists are gathering dust in the files of the HRD Ministry but the HRDM has accomplished most urgent reform(the reform of all the reforms,so to say).The emblem of the Kendriya vidyalaya Sangathan under the Ministry of HRD,designed nearly 43 years ago during Congress regime,contained a large lotus,the rising sun and a Sanskrit slogan in it.While successive Govts at the Centre understood the meaning and significance of the contents of the emblem and the appropriateness of the slogan and continued with it,ArjunSingh perhaps saw an opportunity to please his Itallian Mademoiselle.Thanks to his enthusiastic intervention,the "lotus"has now been taken away from the emblem and is replaced by somethingelse.What a victory,Mr.Arjun!You have really vanquished the mighty Kauravas with an all powerful arrow(Brahmasthra?) from your Gandeepam!By removing the lotus you have annihilated the "communal"forces from the land of the "secularists".


"Secularism"--no word in the English lexicon has perplexed the lexicographers worldwide so much as this magic word!In a very broad sense we may say that "secularism is what the secularists do!"Long ago, some economist defined 'money' as 'money is what money does!'Secularism is the antonym of communalism.All believers of Islam are secular and all "kaufers"(read all others) are communal.If an elected govt. dumps its minister and reverses the Supreme Court judgement in the Shah Bano case, it is just acting in a secular way.When V.P.Singh wooed Shahi Imam of Delhi,When the Kerala Assembly passes a resolution seeking Madhani's(accused in the Coimbattur blast case) release,Mr.Lalu Prasad Yadav hailing the (temporary)lifting of the ban on SIMI by a designated court,the Congress,the SP and the BSP pledging support for Abu Bashar of Azamghar,the bid to modernise 'madrassas' by supplying computers to make their inmates 'computer-savvy', et-al are only secular actions under the Indian semantic rules.But ofcourse VHP,BJP,Bajrang Dal etc are communal organisations and even "Bharat mata ki jai" is considered a communal slogan in that jargon.

In a secular country hundreds of crores being spent as subsidy for Haj Pilgrims,is perfectly understandable.The 14-page e-mail sent before the Delhi blasts may start with a quotation from Holy Quoron and the "merchants of death" may describe the massacre of innocent people as "holy war"---all these are permissible in secularism.Even the the remark of a congress big -weight comparing the Hindu-Christian clashes in Orissa and Karnataka to the serial bomb blasts, isperfectly understandable.

At the same time one should not think of the following as acts of even the semblence of terrorism:
1.Congress consents to Partition of the country
2.Congress govt. reverses the SupremeCourt judgement on Shah Bano case.
3.Demolition of temples and the forced eviction of Hindu pandits from the land of their own.
4.Revocation of land allotted to Amarnath Shrine Board with an eye on the vote bank.
5.the move to demolish RamSethu with the support of the "self-respect"group.
6.Permitting forced religious conversions through fraud and bribes.
7.Permitting the vulgar display of Hindu Gods and Bharat mata by M.F.Hussain in the name of "freedom of expression"(condemning vociferously the publication of a cartoon of the Prophet by a foreign magazine,is a different thing).
8.Our cheap politicians indirectly justifying terrorist activities as natural manifestation of a wronged group.Infact,if terrorist activities are the outcome of the "Hindu oppression"(even for argument sake) ,then why are the terrorists active in Pakistan which is not a Hindu country and so there can be no "Hindu oppression"?

If anybody is still thinking of the provisions in the Indian Constitution that 'secularism' means giving equal importance to all religions,he is at his own risk!May be to the powers that be,"all religions are equal,but the minority religions are 'more equal' than the majority religion and that "pampering the minority and hampering the majority" is the most acceptable meaning of 'secularism'.Who can say that secularism is an "enigma" anymore?

TRAVEL TRAVAILS!

This Probably happened during the 80's--may be sometime in 1983.I was a TGT in KV CLRI Chennai then and was in cloud nine that year when I became entitled to FIRST CLASS journey,having reached the required basic pay to avail that facility(a great privilege at that time).It may look so silly to people today who may wonder what is so great about it.But only those who have ever longed for it,will understand. During the month of March,I got selected to attend a orientation course at KV Southern Command Pune in June that year.Normally no teacher likes to attend such programmes that eat into their vacation,but not me!I saw this as a God-sent opportunity to realise my dream of travelling by FIRST CLASS all the way from Chennai to PUNE! So, wasting no time in waiting for the school to give the required travelling advance, I rushed to the Central Station with my own money to book my ticket to Pune by FIRST CLASS.



After waiting for over two hours in the queue(there was no i-ticket or e-ticket facility those days),When my turn came I handed the amount to the person in the counter with trembling hands(excitement) .But when I got the ticket in my hands ,all my excitement evaporated in no time,as I found that I got only Waiting List No.1 ,though I had booked a full two months in advance!Hiding my disappointment I queried the reservation clerk as to what was my chance of getting my reservation confirmed,he laughed boisterously and said that there was a full 2 months and my waiting was only no. 1 and I shouldn't have any such improbable doubts.Unwillingly and without being fully convincinced I left the counter.



For the next three weeks It became my regular routine to visit the ticket counter every Monday to enquire if there was any improvement in the position,but call it my luck(or lack of it)that the position remained painfully the same!I also came to know that many of my friends of the other local KVs who had also to attend the same course at Pune had booked confirmed tickets by 2nd class(I wonder till today why none of them suggested to me to do the same ). But like a true optimist.I was waitng for a miracle to happen!



Just one day before the scheduled departure of the train--I remember It was Dadar Express--I made my routine enquiry and was as usual promptly pooh-poohed of my fears by counter clerk.



On the scheduled day of departure I was at the platform well in advance with my bag and baggage hoping for the miracle to happen but the position was stuck at number one!The trin was quite late to be shunted into the platform and there was harly 10 minutes for the departure when ,gathering all my politeness I approached the TTE of the first class compartment and informed in chaste English(hoping that it would help my cause) that mine was waiting listNo.One - and whether I could board the compartment."Poyya, unakku verey velai ille?",was the reply in pure unchaste Tamil!When the train started moving, I saw many people with waiting list number 153 or 205 etc(in 2nd class) were boarding the compartment without asking the TTE.All I could do was to stand petrified in the platform watching the train depart,with my other friends whe had booked by 2nd class, waving bye-bye to me unmindful of my plight.Truly, the world was a cruel place to kill the simple dream of a law-abiding citizen to enjoy a legitimate tavel by the entitled class.



I was truly not trained much in Crisis-management at that time!(Now I've become adept in Crisis management,having worked as KV Principal for over 6 years).So I stood rooted to my place ,with a lot of"asadu" flowing down my face!On recovering my coposure partially ,I looked around aimlessly.That was when I found another person next to me looking as crisis-ridden as me.On enquiry I learnt that he was Mr.NageswaraRao(I'm glad I can get his name right), another teacher from KVKalpakkam proceedinding to the same school in Pune to attend the same orientation course as mine!I thanked God for the small mercy that now I'm not alone in this crisis.Ironically the position of Mr.NageswaraRao was Waiting ListNo.2 !and he was detrained by the same TTE for not having a confirmed reservation in 1st class.



The rest of the story may not be very interesting,though I cannot leave it unfinished.Mr.Rao being an Andhra guy from Renigunta through which the next train(Bombay Janatha Express)would pass.So after cancelling our First class tickets and buying waiting list(2nd class)tickets -some123,124 etc,we trvelled by unreserved class till Renigunta by Janata Express,he bribed the "mana Vadu"TTE at Renigunta where so many lemon-merchants follow this technique and then we shifted to a sleeper compartment and some how reached Pune a full 24 hours after the programme started!



The obvious moral of the story is:Don't ever trust the bloody counter clerk or his speculations!Always trvel by confirmed accommodation--1st class,sleeper or AC .If by chance Mr.Rao happens to go through this he is welcome to contact me!