New Age Swami says Corruption is OK

On 21^st April Swami Bhodananda addressed the members of the Madras Management Association at Hotel Deccan Plaza. The swami spoke quite well with a lot of polish and sophistication. He justified the need for modernization and decried any call to go back to contentment amidst dirt, squalor and disease.

He proceeded to suggest that Indians should strike a middle path between the “blind worship of Mammon in a hedonistic search for pleasure” and “total apathy under the pretext of renunciation and sacrifice.”

Somewhere deep down the swami came across as a guy who has hit on a formula to hold educated moneyed audiences by mouthing platitudes plausibly and spouting Sanskrit when confused. He quotes well from the Gita and the Upanisads. But he appears to be no more than a well-oiled pulpit orator from amongst the new breed of career swamijis. This is not meant to be derogatory at all, especially in a country that takes pride in respecting sadhus. As far back in Indian history as during the mauryan era, there were a class of itinerant mendicants who relied on society to feed, clothe and shelter them. This is part of the Hindu culture. It is only when these renounced souls expect to be driven around in luxury cars and treated like celebrities that their credibility is questioned. There will be a class of Sadhus so long as there are people eager to fall at their feet.

One thing I missed with Sw. Bhodananda was the systematic pattern of delivery and reverence to Guru Parampara that is a hallmark of established organization like the Rama Krishna Mission or the Chinmaya Mission or Sw. Dayananda Saraswathi’s Mission. In fact I was a bit surprised when the Swami began his “discourse” directly without a brief Salutation to God and his Guru! OK! He is a new age swami who embraces change for it’s own sake!

Like a seasoned stand up comedian he threw in a few well-delivered jokes. I liked these:

· The Swamiji goes to a hotel and orders food. After the meal the swamiji is charged $18. He pays with a $20 bill. The hotel owner who had been part of the audience at the discourse of the swami did not give back the change. The Swmiji asks him why. The guy says, “Swamiji, it was you who said Change should come from within. So search within”. (A bit corny, nio doubt but it has a flavor of Zen in it.)

· A visitor meets two men in a Lunatic asylum. He asks the first the reason for his being there. The man says, “I am here because I loved a woman and I couldn’t marry her.” The second man in reply to a similar enquiry says, “I am here because I married her!”

The swamiji went a bit too far in his attempts to appease the predominantly busuness audience when he openly declared that we should a cast a blind eye on rampant corruption because “that is the way it is with the world”. He said corruption is inevitable in a country that is moving from Developing to middle income status. I question the logic of Swami Bhodananda’s view because development and corruption have no correlation whatsoever. There are numerous countries in the EU which have developed economically without encouraging corruption. On the other hand countries where the corruption quotient is high tend to be poor and under developed. He went on to “justify” corruption by naming other countries like Israel which are even worse in corruption. It is apparent that Israel cannot be on the swamiji’s itinerary during his next world tour! Unless of course he has been permitted by the US to make these comments!

An argument is support of accepting corruption as a way of life doesn’t sit well on a monk who shold either be above these mundane matters or willing to condemn every type of unrighteous behavior that demeans the individual and society.

Listening in Silence

LISTEN and SILENT are two words with the same alphabets and are very closely associated. To LISTEN you have to be SILENT!

Kanipakkam

During a recent visit to Chittoor in April, I visited the Ganesh Temple at Kanipakkam. This is a famous temple situated about twelve kilometers from Chittoor. It can be accesed from the Bangalore Bye Pass road as well as from the city. As we travel towards Chittoor on the Bangalore road, just before entering Chittor the road forks. The right hand of the fork leads into Chittoor town; the left goes onward to Bangalore. Journeying down this road for about three kilometers we reach the right turn for the Thirrupathi bye-pass. The sign post for Kanipakkam is clearly displayed and after a drive of about twelve kilometers we reach Kanipakkam which is on the left hand side of the road.

The temple has been beautifully renovated and the temple gopuram is elegant and imposing from the distance. Apparently, the temple attracts huge crowds as there are provisinons for handling long winding queues. Luckily, we had no problems as the day we visited was the date of the Final World Cup Cricket Match!

Opposite the main entrance which is reached by a covered pathway from both North and South is the temple tank. We washed our feet therein and thus purified entered the temple. The temple as such is slightly below ground level possibly because the original sanctum was once a pool of blood. The sanctumis a small shrine and the murthy is swayambhoo; a rock formation resembling the elephant headed God with a huge golden crown atop the “head” of the image.

On the way back after Darshan one of the priests who was distributing the holy water was kind enough to relate the sthala puranam or “story of the place”.

The Kanipakkam Sthala Puranam

The land where the temple is now situated had originally been donated to group of handicapped people by the local king. They were suffering from a diverse set of disabilities such as blindness, hearing impairment and so on. One day as they were digging a well for water, the trowel hit a rock. Blood spurted out from the place where the metal had made a gash in the rock and splattered on the handicapped people. Lo and behold they were made whole and regained their faculties. The blood gushing forth from the “wound” spread out and intermingled with the coconut water from the coconuts that devotees broke near the shrine. This liquid got collected in shallow pool which had an area of about a Kani (one and half acres) of land! Thus was derived the name Kani Paarkam or water occupying one kani of land. Eventually the diety was identified as Ganesh from the distinct ewlephat head and trunk. The miraculous property of this “water” flowing from the idol spread far and wide and people with incurable maladies flocked t o Kanipakkam for relief from their sufferings and a cure ofor their unfortunate condition. The water flowed freely and entered the nearby Bahula rive which was earlier flowing qqquite near the temple precincts. It has currently receded further.

How the river got its name is another miraculous story. Two brothers had wandered into a chieftain’s mango grove. Being extremely hungry, the younger of the two ate a mango. The owner who was the local chieftain ordained that the handsand legs of the “thief” be severed from his body! Thus cruelly mutilated for a minor offence, the younger brother was taken by the elder to Kanipakkam where they placed their complaint at the santum of Lord Ganesha. When the water of the river touched thw body the younger brother regained his limbs . In Sanskrit, Baahuy means hands or limbs and as it had made the limbs grow again this cleansing and curing river was henceforth called “Bahula”.

This story also gives credibility to a prevailing belief that people who are unjustly punished or accused can pray to the deity and obtain relief. Similarly a confession made openly and sincerely at Kanipakkam absolves the commiter of the offence from the sin or Papa. Under the Evidence Act a confession made before a maguistrate alone can be enforcedas evidence in a court of law. But British judges and subsequently Indian courts have consistently allowed and admitted as evidence the statement of a person who had heard the accused make an open confession at Kanipakkam! Nowadays the statement is taken as a relevant fact or corroborative evidence.

There is a temple to Hanuman nearby on a small hillock called Ardhakonda (Or part of a mountain). Thisd is in allusion to the popular belief that this hillock is a piece of the famous Sanjeevani Hill that fell down in this area while Hanuman was porting it to the battle field in Lanka. Due to paucity of time we could not make it there.

The temple is open almost throughout the day. The sanctum is open till 4:00 PM when it is closed for an hour to perform Abishekam. Avoid Sundays as it can be quite crowded on that day.

The Badugas—Simplicity and Happiness

During my trip to Coonoor in January this year, I had the opportunity of visiting a community of Badugas and interacting with them. The Badugas are Veera Shaiva Lingayats who fled Karnataka to escape the persecutions of Tipu Sultan, the then muslim ruler of Mysore.

Here are some tid bits about the Badugas:

• There are both Vegetarians and non-vegetarians among them. The Veera Shaiva Lingayats are pure vegetarian. An essentially agrarian community, they are fiercely loyal to their identity as Badugas. The youngsters and elders form a seamless chain through which traditions, customs and usages have been passed down since time immemorial.
• They are a simple contented people. They are patriarchical and large families live together in peace and harmony with common kitchens and common lands. They strictly prohibit marriages within the same Hatti or village. So a man from one hatti, say kallatti, has to search in another hatti for a bride. This prevents consanguinity and promotes biological diversity while at the same time preserving the close-knit nature of this community.
• There is no concept of dowry or exorbitant demands from the brides family. In fact the entire marriage cost is borne by the groom!
• Five or seven elders of the groom’s village go one day before the marriage to to the bride’s village with a symbolic Ana Kaasu or small gold coins as gifts. They are treated with respect when they reach the bride’s place where they seek the consent of the bride’s family to take the bride to their village for the marriage function. They visit every house in the Hatti and take consent! The bride too has to visit every relative, fall at their feet and take blessings. The bridal party then proceeds to the groom’s village where the nuptials take place.
• The Badugas are world famous for their hospitality. In fact UNESCO has recognized them as the most hospitable community in the world! We experienced this first hand in the Hatti where, at every house we were “forced” by the host to eat or drink something. A baduga delicacy is Thupputhittu (it literally means dipped-in-ghee) a sweetmeat made of flour. It tastes best when dipped in hot tea!
• The hatti is situated right in the middle of a valley surrounded by the Nilagiri hills. Thew Hatti consists of arrays of houses built one above the other with each house having a huge courtyard in front where the Badugas can meet together and have fun. The houses are essentially small because they have to retain the warmth. Each unit has a small hall, an inner room with a wooden platform for receivng and seating close guests, a small alcove for pooja and a kitchen. The Bedrooms are on the first floor and are accessed by a wooden step ladded. The comfortable beds are laid on the wooden flooring to increase the warmth. Each house faces east and has a window in the first floor giving a magnificent view of the surrounding hill side. So every one wakes up in the morning every day to a panoramic view of sunrise on the mountains! What can money provide except a false sense of security. The lifestyle of the Badugas epitomizes the value of simplicity and the benefits of aligning our life with nature.
• The badugas being Lingayats, carry a saligramamon their person in small siver casket. They carry this wiuth them permanently. The men wear the casket knotted to their sacred thread which is worn like cross belt across the body from left to right. The women wear the casket in their mangal sutra or on a chain around their neck.
• Whwen a Lingayat is finally summoned from this sublunary abode, his body is buried in a seated position with legs in the lotus position and the hands held in front of the body palms upward. Finally after the body is interred into the triangular catacomb, the saligramam or lingam that the Lingayat has been carrying throughout his life is placed inside the mouth and then the body is buried. This, in my opinion is another symbolic reference to the oneness of creator and created. Jeevathma Paramatma Ikyam.

The King's Speech

I am glad that I did not read any reviews or even know the gist of the story before watching this Oscar winning movie. Right from the first scene where the duke of York fails to deliver his maiden speech to his father, King George V’s loyal subjects as his father’s representative to the last scene when he delivers the moving speech to His people as H M king George VI, the movie is great.

Extremely well designed period settings and authentic casting of well known public figures such as Chamberlain and Churchill make the movie a treat to watch.

It is not merely the story of a Monarch who stammered and then delivered an awesome speech. It also portrasys the human side of the royal family. The deep longing that “Bertie” (King George VI) played by Colin Firth has for normal life and a friend to whom he can pour out his heart is moving. The movie is the story of a unique friendship between Lionel Logue the Aussie Speech therapist (Played by Geoffrey Rush) and King Geoge VI.

The last sub title on the screen says, “ Bertie and Lionel remained friends throughout their life.” This is the essence of the movie.

Colin Firth as the stammering King makes the suffering of a speech impairment immediate and palpable. He is a King; yet he is a normal man with a normal problem. He is supportedand sucoured by his wife ( Bonham Carter) who is “immensey likable” according to Outlook magazine film reviewer Namrata Joshi.

The death of King George V, the abdication of Edward and coronation of George VI are well known events. But the movie thoughtfully avoids cliché and pomp and sticks to an inside-out look at these events from the point of view of the players rather than the public. So we have thee King and his family watching the cortonation in black and white on screen! (A factoid I picked up from Maggie our city guide during my recent visit to London: The Kohinoor diamond was not worn on George VI on his crown during the coronation. It adorned the queen. This is because the stone is considered inauspicious on men though women may wear it with impunity!)

Each speech or event is put in the context of a human being, a family and a life. This lends an intimacy to the viewing experience anda consequent empathy with the protagonists. The arch bishop tells the king that he is worried about the head he is going toi crown. The King retorts, “but it is my head!’

This brings out another basic theme in the movie which is the continuous loss of privacy and freedom to live one’s life the way one wants to. The pressures of having to live up to the expectations of a whole nation drive a boy to become a stammerer.

“My game; my turf; my rules”— This is Lionel’s comment to Berties wife when asked to visit him at the Palace. This is his voice, Subdued, yet smooth and firm like silk. Not holding tight but never letting go. He rises above his own frustrations as a failed actor to help Bertie perform his most important role as a King. In this sense, Lionel is the epitome of the Eighth Habit which says, “Find your Own Voice and Inspire Others to Find theirs.”

Title to the Calf

I was lecturing on the Sale of Goods Act recently when I had this peculiar query from a participant:

A female elephant was sold by A to B. The elephant was pregnant and during transit from A to B, the elephant delivered a calf. To whom does the calf belong? The querist was not clear as to how neither seller nor buyer was aware that the elephant was pregnant. Apparently the elephant alone was aware that she was in the family way!

My reply:

As the sale had taken place as is where is without any specific provision as to disposal of accretions, B the seller would be entitled to the calf. I was support by a whole contingent of participants from Kerala in this view. I also learnt that the price of an elephant may range from rupees ten to fifteen lakhs. Wow!

Punctuality

If I give the time and you don’t come, you insult me. When you give the time and you don’t come you insult yourself.

Glimpses of the Life Eternal

Sometimes in moments of inspired intuition when the ego sublimates, the veil of ignorance is lifted slightly and I glimpse the dizzying splendour of life eternal.

Varkala—God Proposes; Wife Disposes

2011 seems to be the year for visiting Thiruvananthapuram. Here I am again in the sleepy-headed somnolent capital of God’s own country. I am here to attend a professional conference. The city is interspersed with quaint two-storey buildings with sloping red-tiled roofs. Some of these date back to the Travancore era when colonial structures were built side-by-side traditional kerala houses. The old secretariat building is a white colonial structure that is quite imposing and a relic of a Trivandrum that could absorb western intrusion without losing an iota of its essential Malayaleeness!

I personally feel Trivandrum would always be caught in a time warp. We can step back into the past to about a hundred years ago by simply taking an unplanned detour from a main thoroughfare into the side lanes and streets with their arrays of ancient houses amidst lush green coconut trees.

This time thanks to the enthusiasm of a couple of professional friends, I went to Pazhavankaadu Ganapathi Temple and Sree Kandeswaram Sivan Temple. The Shivan temple which is a short walk from the main Anantha Padmanabhaswamy Temple is small but sanctified. The idol was totally encased in sandal paste with the face of Shiva with Trinethra clearly delineated. We also witnessed the Seeveli or the ritual perambulation of the idol around the temple precincts. This is an important ritual in the Kerala temples and is the last one for the day. After this the main door is closed till the morning Nirmalya Darshan. The idol is taken three times around the sanctum affording everyone an opportunity to have a clear dharshan. Larger temples in Thrissur and Guruvayoor use elephants to carry the idol. Here the idol was carried by the main thanthri by hand. This temple has a pure white decorated bull that walks majestically in front of the seeveli possession. The bull is an alternate symbol of Shiva as it is the vehicle or Vahan of the God.

During my New Year visit to Trivandrum we did visit the beach at Varkala. The place is famous for its white sands and we found tourists from abroad flocking here too, though not in such large numbers as at Kovalam. The place is also an important religious shrine and is known as papanaasam. This is because of the Janardhana Swamy Temple which is situated on a hillock nearby. Last time I could not visit the Temple and have darshan of the Lord who is believed to accompany the departed soul on its last journey to the nether worlds. God beckons and Man proposes but Wife Disposes!

Not being accompanied by my wife, this time I made it. The main entrance is from the Agraharam on the Eastern side. There is a wide flight of stone steps leading up to an entrance mandap. The roof is made of wood and the walls have nice carvings on them.The more popular entrance is a narrow and steep staircase on the northern side as the buses stop here on the way to the beach.

I saw a bas relief of Lord Rama, an obedient Hanuman with arms folded in salute and a larger image of Garuda ready to fly on the pedestal bearing the entrance Mandap. The Nine Prajapathis were once cursed by Brahmaji to be born on earth. Sage Narada threw down the dress of Bark or Val-kala he was wearing as a symbol of renunciation and advised them to go down to the world to the spot where his Val-kala or dress of bark fell down. That place became Varkala. The connection with Rama is described thus. Rama could not attend Brahmaji's Yajna at Varkala on his way back to Ayodhya as he was in a hurry to reach Nandigram and relieve Lored Bharatha. But instead he did attended through his doppelganger, a brahmin called Janarthana. The idol of the Lord Janarthana in the Temple has one of the hands of the deity carrying the ritual water offered by Brahma to be drunk after the meal to its mouth. Tradition has it that this hand is slowly rising towards the mouth and that when it finally reaches the mouth of the idol, the Pralaya or Apocalypse will ensue!

The sunset at Varkala beach is a divine sight.

I made a third visit to Thiruananthapuram in February to attend a Masonic meet. This time it was pure business. Before leaving I dropped in on the Masonic temple a t Trivandrum.

Coonoor

Ootacamund is polluted and congested. Denuded of tree cover, it has become a highly commercialized concrete jungle. The Ooty lake (No! the Ooty pond!) with its amusement arcade and food stalls completely covering the lake front is a parody of the place I enjoyed visiting as recently as in the late eighties or even early nineties. The Botanical Garden retains and reflects a little bit of the former splendor possibly due to its protected position behind walls.

For the discerining traveler to the Nilgiris, Coonoor is a better option. Coonoor, which was formerly the commercial and trading centre is now emerging as a viable alternative to Oooty as a hill resort. The pleasant town built on the slopes of the surrounding hills is similar to Shimla or Kohima where scenic beauty and day-to-day commercial life go hand-in-hand.

For those of us who decide to eschew the beaten “tourist” track to Ooty, a good idea is to take the toy train from Coonoor to Ooty and back. This historical track was laid in 1897 by the British. It is, today, a museum piece. The stations are preserved almost in the same condition in which they were originally built more than a hundred years ago. The route cuts across valleys and runs thrugh tunnels which cut into the intervening hills. The stations between Coonoor and Ooty are Wellindon, Aruvankadu (there is a cordite factory here), Keti (the famous last scene in Moonram Pirai was shot here) and Lovedale.

Isha Dhyana Lingam

I have heard a lot about the Isha Yoga Centre and was keen on visiting the place. During my visit to Coimbatore and Coonoor in January this year, I had an opportunity to do so. The Centre is about 40 kms out of Coimbatore at the foot of the Sacred Velliyangiri hills. The base of the Velliyangiri hills from where the devotees ascend is about a kilometer from the Isha Centre.

Silence is a norm here. As we enter the complex we see a a huge black sculpture of a Nandi or seated bull in modern minimalist style. The sculpture depicts the rib cage and bone structure of the bull thus adding an element of verisimilitude to an otherwise iconic image. The Nandi is seated facing the Dhyana Lingam which is inside the covered dome within the complex. As photography is prohibited inside I could not take any.

All cell phones and cameras are to be deposited before entering the complex. The volunteers and serving devotees at the Centre are extremely courteous. Before commencing the perambulation of the shrine we are invited to view a five minute introductory video which explains the significance and symbolism of the various parts of the Centre. It also serves as a guide to behavior for visitors, There was no evangelistic or other content in the video seeking to “convert” the visitor to the views expressed by Jaggi Vasudev or Isha. It was just information on a take-it-orleave it basis! This is very professional.

The first point in the tour is the Linga Bhairavi Shrine. Female facial features are superimposed on an egg shaped Linga Roopam. The eyes, the red tilak and nose ring indicate the female energy flow. The Trishul is embedded in front of the idol at a slightly acute angle instead of the usual perpendicular. The shrine has no shikara or gopuram and like almost all other enclosures in the complex is shaped like a WWII nissen hut. The shrine, as such, is situated below the ground level and is approached by broad steps and wised platforms where devotees can sit. This ensures that all devotees get a good view of the altar.

The next pavilion is the Theerth Kund. A small pool akin to a swimming pool situated about 80-90 feet down. It reminded me of temple tanks in Kerala where covered steps lead down to the water. Inside this pool is a Mercury Shiv ling which almost spherical. For a fee one can enter the pool and hug the lingam. This is supposed to be good for your health. There very few visitors when we were there and we could have entered. But as we had no chage of clothes we refrained from entering.

Thereafter we made our way to the main attraction—The Dhyan Lingam. The publicity photos are apparently short at a wide angle and give the impression of a towering phallic symbol with a serpent twined around the base. In reality the dome is not as high as I expected and the Dhyana Lingam was not as awe inspiring as I had hoped it would be.

There are small recesses like catacombs around the lingam on the curving walls. Visitors who enter the shrine are made to sit in these recesses and meditate. The claim made by Centre is that a person can attain a state of bliss or ananda just by sitting there without trying to concentte or even attempting to meditate. Personally, I could not feel the connection. I spent the mandatory ten minutes alternatively closing my eyes or staring at the snake entwined phallus thinking and watching my thoughts. May be I am not ready for Isha or vice versa?

The passage that leads to the Dhyana Lingam shrine has bas relief images of famous devotees of Shiva like Meiporul Nayana, Poosalar Nayanar, Akka Maha Devi, Kannappa Nayanar and Sadhasiva Brahmendrar.

The food court and memento shop sell crafts and eatables. It was a bit surprising to find that an institution that advocates organic and natural food and a non-spicy diet is selling every type of junk food in its own official cafeteria. Why don’t they offer a taste of organic food in their own food court?

The entire place is commercialized and aimed at lightening the purse of the one-time tourist visitor. But it is all a good cause if we go by Jaggi Vasudev’s promise to convert the world into a eco-friendly green paradise.