Journey to Kerala-2006 [College Tour]

July 26th, 2006.

Kerala is popularly dubbed as my "sibling state" for many reasons. Kerala was the second state in India to which I travelled after my birth and I visited Trivandrum quite often during my early years of life in earth. Kerala is also home to one of the sweetest girl in my life... Nope. You guessed it wrong. It's not a girlfriend. It is not my mom! It is my school mate who is like a sibling to me. Citing all these reasons, I always had a special softcorner for this small state.

In 2006, I visited Kerala with my college mates as part of college tour. As of 2011, this was my last visit to Kerala (I plan to visit Kerala soon. God gift me a chance!). We took 6041 Alleppey Express from Chennai Central to Ernakulam town. WAP-4#22281 was the power for the train and the performance was incredible. That was one of the best high speed runs I have experienced in Indian Railways. The train was running on-time throughout the journey. Luckily, I got an emergency window-seat and without any second thoughts I opened the windows completely and started my usual hobby of watching trains.

At around midnight, my college mate Sudarshan came running and applied cake on my face. It was my 20th birthday !!! July 27th !! For the first time in life I celebrated my birthday in a train! At around 1AM, it started raining and I was forced to use the glass window. I still remember the glorious sight! There was a loud honk and a WAG-7 blasted past my window on the next track towards Chennai with a long goods rake. I dozed off at 2AM and got up at 6:30AM. My college mate Niranjan and myself had a serious discussion on whether we should brush our teeths or not. I still remember Niranjan's reply,"Kaka, kuruvi laam pallu theikudha?". Hilarious reply!

We got down at Ernakulam Town station and boarded a bus to reach our hotel named Shalimar near Ernakulam Junction. Kerala was green, scenic and it was a chilling experience. We travelled in a small ship from Cochin Harbour to a small island nearby (I forgot the name). We visited Synagogue, Jew Steet, an old museum and returned back to our room. The next day we visited an old wildlife sanctuary and few other places which weren't of much interest to me. But I enjoyed and liked the weather very much. It was drizzling always and the climate was neither too hot nor too cold.

On the early morning hours of 29th July, 2006 we started from Ernakulam and headed next to Munnar in bus! Munnar wasn't a delightful experience for me. The hotel food was pathetic and not at all spicy and interesting. I am not a fan of hill stations for some mysterious reasons.

After spending a day and night in Munnar on 30th July, we started in bus towards Thrissur. We didn't see anything in Thrissur as it wasn't part of our schedule. I spent a couple of hours railfanning at Thrissur watching trains. We boarded Trivandrum-Guwahati Express back to Chennai at Thrissur. Surprisingly, this train TVC-GHY Express which holds the record of running late always since its inception was on-time and it reached Chennai bang on time!

Today 12th March, 2011-it''s been 5 years almost ! This Kerala trip still remains etched in my memories. Plenty of reasons on why Kerala is very important to me. My beloved sibling state...

-Krishna Kumar.S
IRFCA-SBC, Bangalore.

Trip to Northern Karnataka: Hubli & Dharwad

                                  Dharwad Peda... delicious !!!!

Towards the last days of October-2010, I planned a visit to the twin cities of Hubli & Dharwad in Northern Karnataka along with a short visit to Goa. The trip went as per plan and it was yet another memorable solo trip.  I went on to cover Hubli, Dharwad in Karnataka, Madgaon, Panaji, Ponda and Vasco in Goa.  In the morning hours of October 31^st, 2010 I kept my foot in Goan soil, to mark my first visit to the state and Goa was the 9^th Indian state I would see in India. Travelling can be – some say it should be – a very personal experience, but that's no reason not to share the joy I experienced on seeing new places in India. 

People could be classified broadly into two categories. One who like to grow roots and stay in one place. Sometimes I belong to this category. I am happy and content with what I am and I like the comfort of familiarity sometimes. In free time I would rather enjoy some quiet moments at home rather than venture out. This is the story in most weekends of my life. The second kinds of people are the ones bitten by wanderlust. Their aim in life is to see places. Sometimes I belong to this category as well. Given a couple of free days time or a public holiday on Friday, I would pack my bags and head to explore a village 400km away from hustles of modern life. I have been finding out more and more each day that I belong to the second category and sometimes in first category.

October 30^th, 2010 was the day I visited Hubli & Dharwad and I travelled by the 2079 Jan Shatabdi. Catching the train was not an easy task as it was schedule to depart SBC at 6AM, but I lived nearly 20 km away from Majestic at Bommanahalli. I went to bed only at 1AM the previous day and I could grab only 2.5hrs of sleep before I got up for another day. Bangalore weather was cold but I found it tolerable and by 4:30AM I was ready and standing at Bommanhalli Junction. Luckily I got a cab to Majestic for Rs.20/- and within 40 minutes I was at Bangalore Railway station. I purchased a few biscuit packets for breakfast and walked to the platform where I was expecting the coaches of my train to be shunted. I was carrying clothes only for two days and I was to return by Monday afternoon directly from Madgaon to Bangalore by train (waitlisted ticket). Since Monday being Kannada Rajyotsava and a Government holiday, I planned to take rest before reporting back to work on Tuesday.

My journey began as per schedule and I sat by my window seat gazing out at the world outside. I love train journeys. Perhaps, it is one of the best ways to enjoy life. It is a real stress buster too. It could be even more enticing if you are travelling in ordinary second class as you get a chance to be a part of the surroundings and even get a better view of the outside world. I sat listening to MP3 in my mobile and enjoyed viewing the outside scenery-that’s something I do often during my train journeys.

                                  Sidharoodha Mutt-Entrance

The first halt was Yesvantpur. My train had all seats filled and luckily there weren’t anyone standing in the middle or sitting in the aisle or clinging to the doors. Overall, I felt the atmosphere to be friendly, spacious with lots of air and joy. The next stopping was Tumkur and it was a good 1 hour away from my present position. The landscape was a bit rusted and dry. As the journey progressed I was also feeling a bit sleepy due to lack of sleep. I held my bags tightly to avoid getting robbed and dozed off. I woke up when my train was nearing Arsikere at 8:30AM, but I went to sleep again. It was only after Chikjajur I was awake properly. Devangere, Harihar, Ranibennur, Haveri were some of the stopping’s in which my train halted and it reached Hubli bang on time at 1330hrs.

My first task was to find a lodge. I would be staying in Hubli only for 8 hours as I was to leave for Goa the same day night at 2300hrs. I found a lodge just for Rs.130/- per day near the railway station itself and refreshed myself. My first task was to visit Sidharoodha Mutt, 4km away from Hubli Railway station. I boarded a local city bus which took me to a place near the mutt and from there I walked for nearly 1km to reach the mutt. 

The entire complex was located amidst peaceful surroundings with a big tank nearby. This place was ideal for mental rejuvenation. The mutt had a museum too with old items, various images related to Hinduism. My favourite was the Linga temple in the mutt. The eyes of the linga looked real and I did feel as if Lord Shiva’s gaze was at me. Not many people were around and I walked to the pond nearby and sat for some time alone. And just for fun picked up a few stones and threw on the pond. I wish I could do trips like this often to remote places, but sometimes it never clicks due to many other commitments in life. After spending a good 2 hours at the complex, I started my way back to Hubli Railway station.

From there, I called up my friend Sridhar Joshi in Chennai who was actually a native of Hubli. The conversation turned out to be humorous as usual. Joshi guided me through phone to the nearest shop, nearby railway station which sells good “Dharwad Pedha”. I believe Joshi knew the shop owner quite well! I purchased a good ½ kilo of pedha and then boarded bus to Dharwad. The bus was empty and the speed was good and I reached Dharwad comfortably. I purchased some more pedha (sweet) and other sweets in the shops of Dharwad and had tiffin at Dharwad itself. By the time I returned to Hubli it was dark.

As I entered my room, I received a call from my friend, Sampath Kumar, a Loco-Pilot who works in Konkan Railways. He suggested that I should return by bus and not in unreserved compartments in my return journey. Taking his words, I cancelled my tickets which were waitlisted and rushed to Hubli old bus stand to find a good travels to book my return trip from Madgaon to Bangalore in bus. I managed to get a confirmed booking in Vijay Anand travels and the ticket cost me a good Rs.750/- for a distance of 700km. I appreciated my friend Sampath Kumar’s advice that travelling with a confirmed booking is always better and safe compared to unhygienic travels in unreserved journeys. His words and timely advice saved a lot of troubles which could have disturbed me if I had journeyed back 700km in unreserved compartments.

                                  Front view of Sidharoodha mutt

Hubli impressed me very much. Though it was small compared to Chennai, Kolkata and Bangalore- overall I liked the atmosphere, energy and vibrancy of the city. The Masala dosas sold in hotels in Hubli were delicious. They weren’t spicy compared to Tamilnadu and it was a bit sweet too, but I still liked it. After having a bath, I grabbed 2 hours of sleep and checked out at 10PM and walked to the railway station. I prepared myself for the second phase of the trip. DESTINATION GOA!!

                                 

Though I was in Hubli only for 8 or 9 hours, the city impressed me at first sight. I liked the energy, enthusiasm, activeness which I saw amongst the people of Northern Karnataka. My life has become similar to that of a nomad. Though Tamilnadu bears the title of being my home state, I want to consider West Bengal and Karnataka as my home state on par with my mother state of Tamilnadu as I spent some part of my life in other states too. I am a Bengali when I am Bengal, Marathi when I am in Maharashtra, a Malayalee when I am in Kerala, a Bihari when I am in Bihar & Jharkhand and a Kannadiga when I am in Karnataka. Nanna dhvanige ninna dhvaniya seridante namma dhvaniya.

-Krishna Kumar.S

Travel Writer, IRFCA-SBC, Bangalore

Karnataka, India. 

www.irfca.org

Great Ram of Madurantakam

30th January, 2011.

The weather was cold and I was too lazy to get up early on a Sunday. With great difficulty, I managed to get myself up and refreshed myself. As usual, I logged on to Yahoo! to check my mails. There were lots of spams, promotional mails, but amidst all this junk there was a mail which was of interest to me. It was a mail from a software engineer named Srinivasan with the title "Thanks to Lord Ram of Madurantakam". His words in the mail were as follows: "Thanks a lot for this post on Madurantakam. What you have written is 100% true. Ram exists in Madurantakam. I prayed for my career and guess what..... the most fascinating episode in my career is about to take place with His blessings. I am going to Germany. Kuddos man! Thank you. I am grateful to Lord Ram". These mails aren't ordinary ones, but testimonials to Lord Ram who exists and protects Madurantakam. His glory will never fade. Any kid born in Madurantakam is brought up telling his glories and virtues about how He blessed British Collector Lt.Col.Plaze.

I live a bit far from Madurantakam now, but my feelings and respect towards this deity has grown up manifold due to this separation. I feel peace every time I think of him. I feel calmness inside me when I write about His glories. I feel proud when India wins a cricket match. I feel equally proud of my Lord when someone says,"Great Ram of Madurantakam blessed me". Once upon a time, I was a skeptical person who always had doubts of stories related to miracle and expected proofs, but once I started believing him wholeheartedly, I changed a lot.

This post is again a humble dedication from my part to my beloved Lord Ram of Madurantakam.

Regards,
Krishna Kumar.S

Visit to Srirangapatna and Nimishamba Temple

"Dear Friends, this travelogue is a humble dedication to people of Karnataka. I consider it as an honor and privilege to write about this great state and its citizens. I am also thankful to God in giving me a new opportunity to interact with people of this state and learn many good things from them".

With best Regards,
Junior KK.




Nimishamba Temple, Srirangapatna.

16th October, 2010.
Time: 04:15hrs.

The clock strikes 4:15AM. The alarm in my mobile starts singing,” Nanna dhvanige ninna dhvaniya, seridante namma dhvaniya. Na swaramu nee swaramu sangamamayi manaswaranga avatarinchey.......”. I woke up and got ready in 30 minutes. The climate in Bangalore was cool in the morning hours. At 5:30AM, I came out of my house at Bommanahalli and walked past the mosque towards Begur Road. Local isthiri wala Sridhar was busy with his pressing work. We greeted each other and after 5 minutes chat with him I started with my journey to Bommanahalli bus stop. A couple of street dogs accompanied me till the signal. I boarded 356C bus bound towards Majestic circle.

The bus was crowded even at that unearthly hour. That surprised me a little. As my bus crossed Madiwala, I almost got a seat, but a guy pushed me aside and threw his bag thus reserving the seat. After he sat, he gave an accomplished look at me and I couldn’t resist laughing inside. The journey lasted 40 minutes and I reached Majestic comfortably even though I was standing all the way. I walked towards the Railway station and purchased a ticket to Mysore though I was visiting Shrirangapatna. To be on the safer side, I purchased an Express category ticket so that I had the advantage of travelling in both Express and Passenger just in case if I changed my plan to visit Mysore (had a different backup plan).


Sriranganathasamy Temple, Srirangapatna.

I walked to platform 6 and waited patiently. 214 Tirupati-Mysore Fast Passenger arrived 20 minutes late with a BZA WAG-5#23x91 locomotive and there was a mad rush. I occupied one of the doors and waited for the train to start. Those 15 minutes seem to be the longest in my life. At 7:45AM, I heard a typical WDM-2 type honk and my train slowly chugged out of SBC. I liked the driving style of the loco pilot. My train curved towards the right and then towards left and after crossing Nayandahalli the train picked up high-speed. The first halt was at Kengeri. There was a mad rush and my train became jam packed. With a couple of youngsters sitting in the doorstep, I stood behind them observing the scenery as the train travelled across rural Karnataka. It was diesel action all the way. Diesel locomotives have a charm of their own! It’s also nice and interesting to watch them, though I am more of an electric fan.



My passenger reached Maddur at 9:15AM. A good amount of crowd got down at Maddur. Couple of vendors holding “Maddur Vadas” boarded the train and they started making good business! I had an idea of tasting it, but later quit it as I was a bit concerned about hygiene. I knew it would be good and hygienic, but still I thought “maybe next time”. My train was running a bit late as it had started late, but I wasn’t bothered. I found some space near the door and I started rail fanning. There weren’t any crossings so there weren’t much rail action, but overall the entire atmosphere was awesome and it made me feel good.



At Mandya, some chain-pulling incident happened and as a result my train was made to wait for 5 minutes. Yeliyur, Byadrahalli, Pandavapura were scheduled stops and my train halted there. It was a pleasant sight to watch the villages from trains. I noticed that the train was fully packed only till Maddur and after Maddur the train was mildly crowded.



After getting down at Srirangapatna, I walked to the front to observe the locomotive. After a scheduled minute halt, my train started and it was a real beauty to watch KJM WDM-2 departing the station with its smoke all around. As the train disappeared, I sat under the tree to enjoy the rural beauty of Karnataka and then proceeded towards Srirangapatna Ranganathaswamy temple.



I was impressed by the temple at first sight. There was a delay in darshan as poojas were conducted for the deity. I purchased laddu prasad for my cousins and then went around taking photos of the temple, sculptures in my camera mobile. I was amazed at the beauty of the sculptures and the cleanliness of the temple. The temple was indeed well maintained. I spent a good 45 minutes at the temple premises before leaving to my next destination Nimishamba temple 5km away from here.



After visiting the temple, I proceeded towards the town and walked inside for a kilometre. By now the weather was too hot with scorching sun right above my head. There weren’t any good hotels, but I accidentally bumped into a nice chap. He was an auto-driver and he suggested that I should take a bus to Nimishamba temple instead of going in auto. I told him that I would rather go in his auto, but he wouldn’t accept and he suggested that a bus would be cheaper costing only Rs.5/- instead of Rs.40/- for his auto. I was amazed as I haven’t come across such an auto-driver so far in my life who advocates so much for bus. I told him that an auto would be more convenient and proceeded with him. He agreed to take me to Nimishamba temple and drop me back at Shrirangapatna bus stand for Rs.40/- without any waiting charges. It was a jackpot for me. I never heard such things in Chennai.



I enjoyed the journey very much. It is believed that anyone visiting Nimishamba temple should donate lemons to the deity. In return they are offered lemons by the priest which were kept in pooja earlier and those lemons should either be made into juice same day or kept in home for 21 days and then thrown out. I offered 3 lemons and got 3 lemons as prasad. The temple looked fairly small with Kaveri River nearby.



Nimishamba is a form of goddess Parvati. There is a belief that Parvati will clear off all problems and trouble of her devotees within a minute. That explains the reason for the name "Nimishamba". "Nimisha" means a minute.

I roamed around the temple for around 25-30 mins and returned back to my auto. I thought that auto-driver may demand a few rupees extra, but he didn’t ask me anything and he dropped me off at the bus stand. I walked towards the nearest hotel. I had two chapattis and one masala dosai. The hotel wasn’t very hygienic, though it looked big, spacious with a lot of tables. The bus stand was very near and in 15 minutes I managed to catch a bus to Bangalore. I boarded the bus at 13:00hrs and I reached Majestic at 16:30hrs. I had problems of finding a bus to Baiyappanahalli and it took 30 minutes to find one. After 1 hour ride, I reached BYPL Nilgiri’s stop. My cousin brother’s house was very near to the tracks. I spent the weekend at his house before returning to Bommanahalli.

-Krishna Kumar.S
a.k.a Junior KK
IRFCA-SBC

Save the girl child!

I had been waiting to publish this article for some time. Let me share with you about what I have observed in the society. I have observed two sets of people. A conservative, worried, always tensed generation belonging to the age group of above 30 (born before 1980 era) and another is a hopeless breed of so called “cool dudes” (born in 1985-86 along with me). I regard the present day younger generation of India in the age of 14-25 as hopeless souls, hooligans with wrong attitude and lack of character. Since I also belong to their age group, I am also useless. Let me make this confession and start with the article. Well, of course not entire present generation is bad, but majority of them have no intelligence or the basic manners to respect values. I blame the cinema industry for treating women as sex objects.

Now let me narrate a real life incident. I was travelling to NIIT Nungambakkam to get some of my documents verified. It was a hot day in September. I was travelling in 29C and I boarded the bus at Adyar signal. I took my seat near the window. My bus stopped at Stella Mary’s bus stop where lot of college girls got in. They were dressed in modern dresses. The present day generation is so infatuated by the money thrown by IT/BPO industries the younger generation has failed to realize the harm in following Western culture especially in a repressed culture like India where men are desperately hungry to taste the forbidden fruit. Being modern or dressing in western style is not wrong, but there should be some discretion practiced. Right from womb till grave a girl child is never safe. India is not former USSR or erstwhile Soviet Union where women are given equal rights. Girl children are killed in womb. Girl babies are killed in villages after birth by giving poison. If they manage to survive all this, they get molested or raped. That’s the way they get treated in this land where men worship Durga and Goddess Lakshmi.

Now let me narrate the bus journey. There were a bunch of useless college students in the back. These guys think that they become professionals if they join a B.E or B.Com course. No one is a professional. People become true professionals when they know how to treat another human being in a humane manner. I doubt whether these guys of present era come anyway near it. Let me describe their appearance. Piercing in ears and in the chin, handkerchief over the head, t-shirt without collar with the divine ‘F’ word written multiple times, shaded jeans. I can also type a few more, but my sisters would be reading this. I would rather stop here. It is for the better tomorrow of these people, Indian Army soldiers die in the border and the worst part is that God is watching all this. What’s even more pathetic is that a soldier dies in border fighting intruders; his wife becomes a widow and gets a pension of few hundreds while the people inside the country continue to enjoy life. The worst thing is that no one is bothered. Someone else is suffering. Someone else has become a widow. Is it my daughter? Is it my sister? That’s the way everyone thinks which is entirely wrong.

Coming back..

As the bus stopped at Stella Marys the college girls got in. One of them couldn’t control his excitement and desperation and exclaimed "Machi, Super figure da". (Machi in Tamil is a short form for brother-in-law) His friend was too elated and couldn’t help whistling. The girl noticed and you should have watched her reaction. Man! She was happy! I turned my face and looked out of the window and I was laughing inside. I was thinking of former President Abdul Kalam and his statement requesting youngsters to dream. The youngsters were indeed dreaming a lot!

After I got some of my documents verified I started my journey back. I was to board 29C again. I came to the bus stop and was waiting there. 29 C came and I boarded it. As the bus crossed Stella Mary’s a girl boarded the bus. Immediately, the entire gang (this is a different gang, but still no difference) started shouting raising double meaning slogans. The poor girl got a bit afraid and sat in the front itself and didn’t even come to purchase the tickets. Then these guys were planning to approach her. The girl got a bit fed up and she got down fearing embarrassment.

Maybe after a few years, if China invades India, all these boys should be conscripted and should be posted in the border to defend every inch of Indian soil. If they retreat from the border, they should be shot by Generals for retreating. It requires more courage to retreat than advance. At that time, they would realize how tough life could be if one is in the suffering end. The entire woman population is taken for granted and is being preyed by hungry men. I know I can’t do anything. I won't react to this, but I have the right to portray them here. I could only wish the Soviets were around and they wouldn’t have allowed this to happen.

The reason for all this nonsense is the aggressive expressions of love that one sees in the movies. However, according to some psychologists the root cause of eve teasing is the patriarchal mindset of the Indian male. They like to believe that they have power over the women society. They thrive on the fact that even today a large number of women still prefer to ignore rather than to confront. I blame all this on the cinema industry. All these bloody films have projected women as a sexual object and not as human beings with emotions and hence the cine industry has created a "Frankenstein" in the younger generation.

During my school life I have observed that girls who are dark in colour are bullied a lot and girls having fair skin are portrayed as Goddess. I seriously don’t see anything so great between dark complexion and fair complexion. Human society fails if crimes can't be prevented. Majority of the films portray heroes passing sarcastic comments on dark skinned women and even passing remarks on women who are fat. There is also a sarcastic portrayal of eunuchs. I wonder how the Government gives permission to publish such scenes. The government has failed in its purpose to protect its citizens.

I seriously wonder what the sensor board is doing. And immediately, critics might argue saying that there is a right to practice freedom of speech. Is that a freedom of speech or freedom to insult a human being? If such things are to be practiced let the Preamble of the Indian Constitution is changed. Why should India be declared as a socialist, secular, democratic republic? Let it be an ordinary democratic republic. There is no bloody socialism over here. I only see that there are ethnic jokes like Sardarji jokes, Anti-Brahmin jokes and ethnic violence. There is no secularism. I see more of communal violence and inter-caste violence. And I would like to reserve my comments about democracy in India.

-Krishna Kumar.S
a.k.a Junior KK
IRFCA-MAS

Reason for multiple religions

It was some time ago during one of my visits to temples I discovered something which could be an answer to queries regarding multiple Gods and multiple Religions. An answer that could even bring peace to the world. The answer is quite simple and basic. During the days of 2008 when I started working, I got my first salary. I bought some sweets for my parents. I wanted to gift some dress to beloved ones. Since I had no brothers or sisters, I had no ways to celebrate. I did have “foster” brothers and sisters but they were either far or busy with career preparations. I thought I should buy a saree as a gift and present it to a girl. But do you think that if I present a saree to any girl at college or at workplace, will she accept it? She would either think that I had wrong intentions or she would be afraid to accept fearing what the society would think of her? I need to celebrate at any cost!

Generally, I like doing things rather than keeping them pending. I browsed my mobile's directory to find out if any of my friend’s sisters would be able to help me. I tried calling them the line was either engaged or they were out of station or they were on the other line. I lack patience in life generally! I felt that I would dedicate to Goddess Parvati- female form of Goddess in Hinduism. Parvati is the consort Lord Shiva and theoretically she represents the power of shakthi meaning power, which is possessed by men proving Men and Women are inseparables. In short, it means that a woman represents a man’s power.

I went to Nalli, a big shop in Adyar near to my house. Purchased a Chinnalum pattu. Went straight to the temple and handed over the saree to the Gurukkal (priest). Now what am I trying to say here? Though, I have a socialist secular view, I do believe in God. God is one and the same. But He has come in different forms to convey joy to humanity. On that day at the temple, I was able to give the saree to the Goddess. She accepted it like a sister. I can’t offer a saree to Lord Shiva idol nor to Jesus. There arises a need for multiple figures to satisfy human thoughts. And also whenever a human being is happy he needs to share it with others as that’s the general tendency. I was happy at that time and I was able to share it with someone. This incident did teach a lesson in my life. I am also happy that on that particular day none of my friends picked up their phones or were out of reach from their towers. It’s a miracle! Otherwise, this article wouldn’t have been written now. I just can’t believe that even my friends Rajesh and John didn’t pick up the phone that day-these guys take up in the first ring usually!

Variety is the spice of life. Enjoy it! Jesus came to the world took all the pains and died on the cross for the sins committed by humans. Here it proves that God would never quit on humans and He is willing to take any amount of pains for the mankind. He would never give a challenge which cannot be faced and handled by His creations. Allah hasn’t got a physical figure-here God proves that he is omnipresent and everywhere! There might be some questions in your brain now.

What are the communists here in this world for? My view is that they are also good people trying to do goodness to society by bringing everything under Government control to offer food, security, education to every citizen. And how come there are many Religions? The answer is simple. Ages go there lived people who were fascinated by many things and they wanted to propagate their views, theories, and culture. Each one wrote their own version which was indeed just and true. The subsequent generations got fascinated by each theory and adopted the one which interests them. Like if I like reading about history and heritage definitely, I would suggest reading and writing as a hobby and not partying! The basic outline of every religion is not to hurt another human being but to walk in the righteous way.



You might ask why in every religious complex like temple or dargah it is written that people of other faith shouldn’t enter. Answers are simple. This is a typical human behaviour. Even in my life, I had a lot of views. My friends agreed and appreciate it. Not one or two. Everyone! The whole bunch. If people agree with you, you generally have the tendency to treat them well. I had some other views too which may be right or wrong. My friends disagreed. I would get angry and I would try to show my discontent in some way. It projects I am hurt or upset by the disagreement. Likewise, the same applies to Religions and that’s what is happening in the human society. Human psychology!

It’s high time and people stop hitting each other. Before that, I should change myself as I am also a short tempered imperfect person. Each and every event in life is interconnected and leads to another event and it’s an endless process ultimately ending in truth. Every story, every proverb has got a meaning and a moral! For example, there’s a story in which Lord Vinayakar quarrels with Muruga for a fruit and Lord Muruga (Subramanian or Karthik as known in North India) separates from God’s family due to dispute. Lord Vinayakar circled around parents and claimed that going around His parents was equivalent to that of circling the earth. This could be mean that respecting parents is bound to bring goodness to man. It also indicates that a quarrel or a dispute has always got a disastrous consequence. Seriously, even I need to think about this! At school, I was educated by Anglo Indian teachers, brought up by Hindu parents and some of my friends are Muslims. If either of these people hasn’t entered into my life, my life would have gone for a toss or a big six! I wouldn’t have even graduated.

Critics might argue inquiring from which Engineering college did Lord Ram graduate to build a bridge between Srilanka and Rameshwaram? Or else inquire about how a Virgin gave birth to Jesus? My only answer to them is that there are few things in life which cannot be unraveled and would still remain a mystery and it lies above human sense perception clearly indicating the presence of Supreme Power, the omnipotent reality. One needs to be humble and attain self realization or Enlightment; maybe he could unravel more mysteries of life..... More than what I have written over here.

One last thing anyone might like to ask. Can God be seen? I haven’t seen him either, but I can explain why God doesn’t show his physical form or responds to human queries regarding this presence? The answer is simple. Take me for an example. I love chat items, watching trains, sometimes writing articles, taking photographs. I have dreams of how my future wife would be and what I should do for her. I have got lots of expectations. Just imagine if God shows himself to me? Do you think that I would have any desire/wish in life after that? Do you think that I would marry any girl? If all men start thinking like that way, the world would come to a standstill and would cease to exist in 100 years. Skeptics might ask then why God created the world. Didn’t I say earlier that there are certain things which lie above human perception? The best way one can serve any deity is to rise as high as possible.

-Krishna Kumar.S
Chennai, Tamilnadu.

Divinity of Madurantakam

Madurantakam is a small town located 84km south of Chennai. It is famous for a Ram Temple located at the center of the town and the temple is 1500years old. I personally like Madurantakam very much for many reasons. Primary reason is that a British Collector himself had a darshan of Lord Ram in the year 1796. This is also the only Ram temple in the world in which there is no separate sannidhi for Anjaneyar or Hanumaan. This is because when Lord Ram returned from Lanka with Seetha, Hanumaan was assigned a different task by Lord Ram and as a result he was not present. That's why there is not separate shrine for Anjaneyar at Madurantakam. Instead there is a small temple for Anjaneyar in front of Ram temple which was built later.

I visit the Ram temple at Madurantakam almost every two months if I am in Tamilnadu. Being a devotee of Lord Vishnu, I am always interested in Vishnu Temples. I am personally impressed with the overall majestic appearance of Lord Vishnu as Lord Ram in the Yeri Katha Ramar Temple. His brother Lakshman’s majestic appearance adds more beauty. As far as I know this is the only temple in which Lord Ram is portrayed as holding Sita’s hand. I got this information through the temple priest with whom I converse often.




Madurantakam has an interesting legend associated with it. It is believed that Lord Ram gave darshan to Lt.Colonel Plaze, a British collector when he prayed to Lord Ram to assist him when he was in trouble. It is to be noted that Plaze was a sceptical person.
In the year 1796, the temple authorities decided to build a shrine for Janakavalli Thayar (Goddess Sita). It was a rainy season and Madurantakam Tank was getting full. There was a fear that the bunds would give away and water would come into the town. At that time, Lt.Plaze noticed a huge pile of stones piled up near the Temple. He inquired the purohits why there were so many bricks and stones inside the temple complex.



The purohits replied that those bricks were to be used for constructing a separate shrine for Goddess Sita. The collector was amused. He said that building a shrine wasn’t a priority. He believed that the bricks should be used for repairing the bunds of the tank or should be used to strengthen the bunds. The purohits replied that Lord Vishnu never betrayed any devotee and He always answers the prayers of his devotees. Purohits asked the Collector to pray to Lord Ram sincerely from his heart and they assured him that his prayers would be answered and he would be saved from trouble. Plaze wasn't in a mood to listen to all these stories.



The rains never stopped and the villagers were worried. The entire town of Madurantakam was filled with water everywhere and daily life was affected. Many feared that the tank would overflow and water will come into the town. As a District Collector, Lt.Col Plaze had a lot of work pressure and he was extremely worried. He went to the spot along with his team and inspected the bunds. He prayed at heart that the bunds shouldn’t break. He had no chance now. He has to rely on God now.

There was a flash of lightning. He saw two figures standing at a distance. One of them had a bow in the hand. Lt.Col. Plaze was amazed and spell bound. It was none other than Lord Ram (Vishnu) and his divine brother Lakshman. His prayers were answered! Lord Ram and Lakshman themselves have taken the task of protecting the tank. None of the other members in the team who were with him in the site saw Ram or Lakshman. It was believed that the Collector fainted after having darshan of Lord Ram.



When the rains stopped, the Collector approached the purohits and apologised to them for being sarcastic. He personally took charge of the construction expenses and a shrine for Janakavalli Thayar was built. As a sign of respect, the temple authorities engraved a small idol of Col.Plaze in the walls of the shrine of Janakavalli Thayar as a sign of respect. Even in the temple entrance Col.Plaze’s name is mentioned in return of grattitude.

I love Madurantakam and it's my favourite place in this world! Wherever, I travel to, I would always come and visit this place. This is where I find peace, love and tranquility.

-Krishna Kumar.S