Matthur

Every temple in India has a tale behind it. Mathur situated 10 kilometers on the left of the Thiruthani-Thirupathi road is no exception. When work was underway for laying the railway line, the diggers discovered a beautiful statue of Devi Mahishasuramardhini under the ground. The eight-foot high idol depicted the multi-armed manifestation of Durga on a lion piercing the asura with her three pointed spear. The Asura is ignorance; Devi is Light. They have built a nice little temple near the railway track. The place is a divine location with open fields, a small tank with water and in the distance the mountains running in a continuous range.

The Neem Tree (Azadirachta Indica) situated right in front of the sanctum sanctorum, which is intertwined with a Peepul Tree or Arasa Maram (Ficus Religiosa) is the Sthala Vrksham. The Neem tree is the symbol of Shakthi or Energy and the Peepul tree is the male. Thus when these two trees grow intertwined in a place they symbolize the natural meging of energy into matter to create life force. While Neem and Peepul trees are worshipped on teir own, the reverence shown to these twinned trees is even greater. Further, the local lore has it that the Devi out of her infinite compassion takes on herself all our sorrows and bitterness. Symbolizing this transference of bitterness, the leaves of the neem tree in front of the sanctum sanctorum at this temple are devoid of their usual sharp bitterness. The leaves of this tree are offered as prasadh to devotees at the temple.

A rare view of the Sholinghur Temple

25.12.2010

I made my annual pilgrimage to Sholinghur today. As we had spent the night in Sriperumbudur, we took the Kaveripakkam route. We took the right at Kaveripakkam on the Chennai-Bangalore highway after the Kancheepuram cutting. We passed through Banavaram which the railhead for Sholinghur and made our way to Sholinghur. On the way we could glimpse the holy hills on our left from quite far away. The Kaveripakkam road runs radially and meets the Arokonam connecting road very near shoilnghur. So we got a rare glimpse of both the hills in a line. So, here is a shot of Chinna Malai with the shrine of Yoga Anjaneyar on top and behind it at a dizzying height is the Yoga Narasimhar Temple atop the Periya Malai, where Lord Narasimha and Amirthavalli Thayar reside. You can see the Gold Leaf Plated Vimanam of the Lord shining brightly in the morning sun.

Karl Kubel Institute, Anaikatti, Coimbatore

21.12.2010

I am here with my good friend and trainer Roopkumar to conduct a two-day Outbound Training Programme for the senior executives of Texmo Industries.

I have heard a lot about Karl Kubel from Coimbatore Trainers and corporate executives. But I could never visit. Nestled at the foot of the Anaikatti range of hills, the Institute is picturesque with green lawns and spreading conifers. It is run by an NGO founded by Karl Kubel a German philanthrophist. It has locational advantages for conducting Outbound training. More than 100 people can be accommodated in the various training blocks scatteres over the sprawling grounds. Each block has its own rooms for lodging and Training halls. The Dining area is common and centrally located. The food was healthy and hot and had a Kerala flavor. In winter when the air is vchilly, it is almost like a hill resort.

Behind the Institute from south to north the western ghats rear up majestically. The road passing by the Institute goes further up to Anaikatti and thereafter to Mukkali, Mannarkad, and Silent Valley in Kerala.

There is absolutely no external disturbance due to the remote location. The fact that the cell phone connection is fragile means we don’t have to bother about participants going out for taking calls.

My ears, so used to the continuous buzz and background muzak of city life were pleasantly relieved by the total silence prevailing in the institute. This absolute “Nisabdha” or “absence of noise” served to accentuate sounds and make them louder than usual. The chirping of birds in the morning and the sound of a twig cracking as someone steps on it were clearly audible.

There is a very tenuous moble connection outside the main gate of the Institute. I went thither after the morning tea break to call up my office. I squatted on a conveniently placed concrete seat (possibly made for this purpose?) and spoke to Chennai. As I sat there after the call, I could see spread out before me the magnificent view of the range of mountains, shrouded in greenery with a bald peak here and there rearing up above the emerald slopes. In the near distance the yellow and white moths flew from flower to flower and fluttered through the low-hanging branches of the trees lining the opposite side of the curving ghat road. I simply sat there “enjoying-the-moment.” Even the regret that I did not have my camera handy was silenced in the realization that enjoying-the-moment now was more important than attempting to capture 2D images.

Shah Commision Report- Lost, and Regained

Whenever I speak about the Shah Commission report I am faced with a stone wall of apathy. Nobody is aware or interested. Whenever we speak of the emergency, people immediately say, ‘Ha..yes…It was Indra Gandhi wasn’t it?’ and then go on to state, if they are above fifty that all said and done trains were on time during emergency. How cheaply we are willing to sell our birthright.

Is it not better to be freeman in prison than a man without conviction or freedom to express it in a country where trains are on time but there is only one political opinion allowed.

Mr. Era Chezhian ex-MP has taken out and dusted his copy of the Shah Commission report and has published it. The report sets out in matter-of-fact terms the atrocities committed during the Emergency.

The book (a hard bound demi size tome released at a special discounted price of Rs. 700/-) was released by Shri L K Advani at Chennai on 19^th December. I had gone to the P S Senior Secondary School where this happened to attend the Tamilnadu Investor Association Meeting. Finding this event going on, I decided to enter and listen. I felt that a copy of the book would be a good addition to my library so I acquired it.

Thuravoor Narasimhaswamy Temple

09.12.2010

There are numerous temples for Krishna and Bhagavathy Matha in Kerala. Temples for Shiva or Mahadevan as he is known here also abound. But a temple for Narasimhamurthy (The man-lion deity)? My curiousity being aroused by Mr. Unnithan I decided to visit the Narasimhaswamy temple at Thuravoor on the way back from Kayamkulam to Kochi Airport.

The temple is quite visible from the main Highway. There is a huge temple tank and behind it the Temple in typical Kerala style. Adjacent to the main shrine there is anot

her for Sree Krishnan. This shrine is a cylindrical or rounded structure with a conical shikhara. There are a few interesting murals (wall paintings) of Narasimhavatar. One depicts the lion face with the body elided. The rakshasa king Hiranyakashibu is on the lap of the deity and

two of the eight hands of the Lord are tearing out his entrails. The lowest pair of arms hold the body firm. The third pair is depicted as taking the entrails to the gaping leonine maw with sharp pointed teeth. The upper most pair of arms is raised aloft holding the symbols of Vishnu, the Disc and the Conch. A truly gory depiction bringing out the Ughram or ferocity of this anthropomorphic incarnation. And below this bloody spectacle stands Baktha Prahalad hands clasped in devotion and eyes closed in the ecstasy of Love for the Lord.

Thuravoor is a main area of the Gowda Saraswath Brahmins. The temple was built by one Ravi Naik a devotee of Lord Narasimha who was told by the Lord himself to install an idol at the location of the present temple. The Lord also sent two divine sculptors to carve the idol. The sculptors worked in secrecy and instructed Ravi Naik not to peep. The overenthusiastic devotee hearing no noise from inside, could not resist himself and peeped in at the last moment. The sculptors were gone but the idol of Lord Narasimha was there almost complete and wondrously beautiful, except for the tip of the finger of one foot. The temple is now under the control of the Ko0chi Dewaswom Board. The original Narasimhar idol was moved for safety to the Anantha Narayanapuram Temple in Alapuzha.

Ochara Parabrahma Temple

The last time I was in Alapuzha was during my annual Sabharimala trip when we passed through the town to visit Ambalapuzha, Mannarshala and Haripad. Before that, quite a long time ago I had taken a pleasure trip on a Kettuvellom or house boat from Quilon to Alleppey. En route on the backwaters we visited Vallikaavu. We heard about the Parabrahma shethram in Ochara, but due to other preoccupations, couldn’t make it.

This time, I was able to do it. The temple has a gopuram with a Rishabam on it. The shrine is an open air shrine. The long walk from the main entrance leads to a huge spreading peepul tree that is the embodiment of the all-pervading single-self- which- is- in- all; the Parabrahma. Parabrahma is not to be confused with Brahmaji the creator who is but one manifested form of this total being. In Sanskrit Param means beyond or ultimate. The Parabrahma is the one-in-all-all-in-one essence of the manifested and unmanifested being which goes beyond shapes and forms. This is the Virinchi-Narayana-Sankaratman referred to in the vedic chant. As this concept can never be depicted in any form, the formless whole is worshipped without a temple or shrine. The tree symbolizes it with its spreading branches that seem to extend everywhere. Behind this shrine is another and a third dedicated to the naga deities. This place like Mannarshala is a surviving cult of pantheistic worship where nature is worshipped as the manifested form of the unmanifested un-knowable whole. In keeping with the holistic tradition, there are no Brahmin Pujaris. The acolytes are all non-brahmins who are traditionally responsible for the upkeep of the shrine.

The words of the song, “Yenna thavam saidhanaai, Thaye yashodha, yengum nirai Parabhrahmam unnai, “Amma”, endru azhaika, yenna thavam saidhanai?” (Oh Mother Yashodha, What penance did you that you had the privilege of being chosen by the all pervasive Lord to call, “Mother!.”) rang in my ears as I perambulated the trees and paid obeisance to the Lord of the World who is everywhere and Nowhere i.e. Now Here!

For a moment I glimpsed the totality of the whole and therein saw myself seeing the whole…! Like the Divine mother, and Arjun later in the Mahabharath war, I reeled and failed to grasp it!

Ochara temple is the only temple for Parabrahma in the country.

NTPC Kayamkulam- Workshop on Communication Skills

07.12.2010

I am now at NTPC Kayamkulam Project to conduct a workshop on “Communication Skills” for their Executives. The guest house is a massive building with green lawns and pleasant landscaping.

Kerala is in a different time zone. Time simply slows down here! Believe me. We can squeeze out every morsel of existential bliss in this indefatigable state where the people have merged their life with nature through wisdom and contentment.

The entire Kayamkulam Project is next to the backwaters. Because it is a Naptha plant with a Combined Gas cycle and Steam Cycle, it produces less heat emission. So the place doesn’t have the desolated look of the environs of a coal burning power project. But this is a small plant producing just 350 MW of power out of the total 30000 MW produced by NTPC in all. So, the natural ecosystems are not disturbed at all. The Kayamkulam Kayal or Lagoon is just adjacent to the plant with the Arabian Sea beyond in the West. The road to the plant winds by the side of the Lagoon. Every where we can see a variety of water fowl sitting on the green bushes and shrubs and the submerged trees. It’s a veritable Bird Sanctuary! There were Cormorants, storks, heron and other fish eaters. They circle the water and suddenly swoop down greacefully to catch their prey. The way they land on the ground with their wings spread out and forward to control their descent is ever interesting sight.

Autocratic Leaders?

I spoke on Inspirational Leadership at the General Management and Communicartion Skills Programme at thew SIRC of the ICAI. I gave the participants a case study to discuss and present. While presenting their views, they used the phrases Autocratic Leader and Participatory Leader.

Now, the word Autocratic Leader is essentially an Oxymoron combining as it were two essentially incompatible concepts. Leaders are people who inspire trust, affection, adoration and admiratrion. These emotions can never be kindled by an autocrat, who prefers to command rather than convince the team. Autocratic Management styles can be seen as acceptable only in the services where discipline is the difference between life and death. Some managers who rely on authority derived from designation and positional power use the autocratic style. They can never be called Leader and are invariably hated by their teams if not openly, at the very least behind their backs.

Another “autocratic” style is that of the dictator. This style may initially command a slavish following due to cultism or extreme and illogacal adherence by the group to a dogma. Such despots like Adolf Hitler and Idi Amin invariably end up in ignominy and public contempt. So mucgh for “Autocratic” Leaders!

The term participatory leader is a tautology or useless repetition. A leader is always participatory. Truly Inspirational Leaders are always democratic; every voice is heard and addressed; decisions are based on consensus and agreement rather than by enforcement of the will.

To insist that a Leader should be participatory is like stipulating that a fish should live in water! There is no other way! Inspirational Leaders use the Purpose Empowerment Praise Model and

a) Share the same Picture to ensure that every member of the team is crystal clear on what they are supposed to do;

b) Empower their teams through Meaningful Delegation of authority;

c) Go bryond monetary rewards by praising the team constantly and unstintingly.

Inspirational Leaders Inspire by Example. They command respect and adoration by playing their roles effectively rather than by throwing their designation at the other person.

Team Building Workshop-Premier Mills Group Coimbatore

I reached Coimbatore late in the evening. The next day, I conducted a workshop on Team Building for the employees of units belonging to Premier Mills Group in Coimbatore. Here is the feedback received from Mr. B Shanmugam Senior Manager – Personnel & Administration of the units:

Staff members from our 3 units have participated and the total strength was 30.Program started at 9.30 sharply and faculty Mr.Srikanth from Management Study Centre has conducted the program in a very lively manner.All members participated actively and the session was interesting and informative.Importance of team work was highlighted by using tools of team play, group discussion etc., Requirement of leadership quality at all levels, interpersonal relationship was also stressed.The participants were divided into groups and given exercise to complete the task as a team.Feedback received from all the participants is very good and all have come forward to apply the concept learnt in their day to day industrial life.The program gave overwhelming response from all the participants and we thank you very much for giving such a valuable training program to our staff members.