5 Things I have seen in Kerala

'South India'-  it was only a general knowledge thing to me (like most of the northies) before I got a chance to stay in Mysore and subsequently in Kerala, thanks to Infosys.
When I completed the six months Infy training and ultimately got posting in Thiruvananthapuram in June 2012, I was pretty much excited. This reaction was in stark contrast to most of my friends who had also got Trivandrum. They had their own reasons for that. I may fill pages and pages of my experiences in Kerala, but here want to share certain things I have observed in Kerala, rightly called as God's own country.

• Number of working women is greater than that in any other part of India.

In Kerala you will find women working in almost all areas of life. There are lady conductors, ladies managing shops, working in corporates and many more.

•  Hardly anybody spits on the roads.

You will not find the roads stained with betel spits. Exceptions are everywhere, but this is the general case.

•   Bus conductors don't write your balance on back of the ticket. 

If you have some balance left with the conductor, he will not be writing it on the ticket. You may ask for it at the end of journey and he'll return you. Even if the bus is crowded, conductor seems to trust that the amount you are telling is correct.

• You will find your helmet kept intact.

Even if you park your bike at the roadside and leave your helmet unlocked , you will find it at the same place.

• Police collects fine not bribes at the roads.

If you are driving without a helmet and are caught by the police (which I have been), they will take the fine and give you a proper receipt.

These are my general observations and there are chances of exceptions existing. Will share more things in next post.

Cheers
Sanyam

Where life is a celebration!

This long weekend on account of Gandhiji's birthday and the ensuing weekend, I packed my bag and left for The Art of Living International Center in Bangalore. After an arduous 15 hours journey from Trivandrum to Bangalore, I reached the ashram on 2nd Oct afternoon. It was the last day of Navratri (a nine days festival worshiping the divine in form of a mother) and a homa (fire ceremony) was going on in the ashram. Sri Sri Ravishankar (founder of the Art of Living) was sitting in the Yajna Shala and Vedic mantras were chanted by brahmins. He was sitting in meditation and his eyes were closed (I could see that on the projector screen only as there was a crowd of more than 15000 people).
After the homa, when it was the time for him to leave, the scene I witnessed left me dumbfounded. People were getting crazy to touch him and nobody was allowing his car to move.

Throng of People around Sri Sri's car

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Let me tell you, these were not the uneducated people who can be fooled (as people generally say). But I saw all kinds of English speaking smart guys, fashionable ladies who were behaving no lesser than an uneducated devotee. May be, devotion makes all equal , who knows!

The same evening, there was a satsang (a gathering of people). Mellifluous voices could be heard singing the bhajans. Sri Sri Ravishankar (popularly called as Guruji) came and sat.  A large number of International devotees were present. Guruji asked them to sing their songs. Groups from South America, Taiwan, China, Japan and many others sang with bubbling energy. The atmosphere was electric.

It seemed to be a very informal joyous gathering to me. Guruji also danced on the beats of a bhajan. Amidst the happenings, a loud cry from a corner came, "Gurujiiiiiiiiiiii, I loveeeeeee uuuuuuuuuuuuu". Such scenes are common in his satsangs.

Then in his soft and serene voice, guruji spoke for about ten minutes on faith and importance of yajnas. They also presented one presentation on aura study which was done by a research center on the changes in aura of the yajna shala when homas were performed for nine days. Altogether it was a good experience. Hope to have many more such trips!

In front of Vishalakshi Mandap- the meditation hall

Magnificent Vishalakshi Mandap - glittering in night

Sabarimala- In love with Ayyappa!

Around 12-13 years back, I read an article on Sabarimala - a sacred temple in South India. At that time the seed to see this place was planted in my mind and recently it sprouted.
It is a temple dedicated to Lord Ayyappa and is situated on a hilltop (about 3000 feet above sea level) named Sabarimala in Pathanamthitta district of Kerala.
Legend goes that Ayyappa is the son of Lord Shankara and Mohini Incarnation of Lord Vishnu. Sounds interesting! I recently visited a Shankaracharya in Rishikesh and during the course of our conversation, told him of my Sabarimala visit. He was very happy (he himself visits Padmanabhaswamy temple of Trivandrum often). But when I asked him about Lord Ayyappa, he said in reality he is Kartikeya. Jokingly he said, "If you are dressed in a female attire and somebody comes after you and something happens, Can a son be born? I said No.
The point he intended to make was that Lord Vishnu was only dressed in a female's attire (Mohini incarnation) and even if Shankar got infatuated, nothing could come out of their union!

Swami Krishnacharya Ji of Rishikesh

The reality is known only to Shankar and Vishnu Ji. Anyways, whoever is Ayyappa, I don't know. But I know one thing. I have never seen an idol as beautiful as that of Ayyappa. At the very first glance, I fell in love with Ayyappa. A pure gold dazzling idol, chanting of mantras, serene atmosphere, in totality a treat for a devotee!

View of the temple from back side

Sacred Pampa River

Throng of devotees

View of Sabarimala mountain

Near to the Sacred Steps

Pathinettapadi- 18 holy steps

Lord Ayyappa