EESVARA ANUGRAHAM!

This is a true story .......told to me recently by a very dear and sincere friend of my husband.They were colleagues and we have known each other for over 40 years.

Our friend's father now long gone was a devout Christian from Kerala.He was greatly interested in learning the ancient science of Ayurveda.

The teacher of Ayurveda was from the royal family referred to as 'thampuran' was also an authority on Astrology.

Our friend's father became a student of the Ayurveda classes.He was not interested in the subject of  Astrology whereas there were others who took up the study of Astrology.

This Guru used to alternate from the Ayurveda class to the Astrology class.

One day as the Ayurveda class was going on a very old man clasping a Rudrakshamala in his gnarled hands chanting Narayanaa,Narayanaa,Narayanaa entered the class.

With folded hands he entreated the Thampuran to read his astrological chart and give him some consolatory answers because everything in his life was going awry and his whole family was suffering.

The Thampuran who was well-versed in Astrology took a good look at the astrological chart and in a minute knew what was in store for him.

However,he told him that things would work out and that he should come to him the next day for more details of his 'jatakam'.

The old man left the class chanting Narayanaa,Narayanaa,Narayanaa .......just the way he had entered.

After he had gone,the students asked the Thampuran as to why he had asked him to come the next day as he was so old ...........and he could have saved him the exertion of coming the next day.

The Thampuran started explaining.......

I am recounting exactly what our friend's father told his son.......

The old man's chart had clearly indicated that he would die within a few minutes due to the sting from a venomous snake.

Not wishing to cause distress to the old man he had asked him to return the next day.

The next day as usual the class was in progress.

The students and the Thampuran were astonished beyond measure to see the old man doddering into the classroom again clasping his Rudraksha mala chanting Narayanaa,Narayanaa,Narayanaa .......

The Thampuran was extremely curious and asked the old man as to what had happened after he left the day before.

This is what the old man related:-

He had started for home walking through the expansive rice fields for which Kerala is famous.

This incident occurred over 60-70 years ago in Thrissur ( Thrichur ) which was a small town.

Those days there were no tarred roads and today too it still remains a small town.

While walking homeward,the old man felt Nature's call and observed  a small coconut grove.

As he was easing himself near the coconut trees he heard a hissing sound followed by a big loud thud just behind him where he had propped himself.

On turning and looking behind,his eyes nearly popped out of their sockets and he could not believe what he saw.

A large serpent just behind him about to sting him had been hit on its head by a falling coconut killing it on the spot at that very moment!

Now as to the explanation of the astrological prediction .......the Thampuran explained that according to all the signs in his chart  imminent Death indeed had awaited the old man.

But his Narayanaa chanting had caused his future to change and prevented Yamaraja from touching him and he was saved!

Thus again proving that more things are wrought by prayer than this world dreams of!

Everything is EESVARA ANUGRAHAM and EESVARA KRIPA!

Home for the elderly!

Today in Bharat there are types and types of homes these days for the elderly.

This is a new phenomenon as the age-old joint - family system has systematically been breaking down. Elders in the family are left behind to fend for themselves which is very traumatic and complex.
Loneliness, depression accompanying aging and disease force such parents to shift voluntarily into retirement communities with other couples in similar situation.
Here they get to live and share with others their problems and worries.

There is another type of home where children admit their aging parents so as to feel content that they have fulfilled their filial duties.
In such old-age homes the elderly spend their twilight years waiting for the sun to set on their lives ..... very often just living on memories.
For this to happen in the land of Bharat is pitiful and shameful.
In our great Mahabharat epic even the unrighteous father, Dhritharashtra of the Kaurava princes was not abandoned. He was cared for and looked after by Yudhishthira the eldest Pandav brother.And yes the very same Pandav brothers who had been sinned against!
Living in the West, during the first few years I used to admire the 'external aesthetics and order' of everything. The roads, the paths bordering these auto - routes with manicured branches, uniform tall trees and expanses of different shaded green fields. Jokingly I used to express to my better-half-'even to be a cow in the West would be so good!' But slowly the 'beans spilled out' and eyes opened for now I would never ever say what I said.
Dogs and cats are fed factory food pellets that come in packets..... instead of freshly cooked stuff. All this is to make life easier for owners of our 4-legged friends be they canine or feline. We always gave our GODS (to be read left to right and right to left) everyday freshly cooked chapattis and dal and milk.
God only knows what they feed these poor cows for them to become such huge monsters that cannot even give birth to calves normally. Caesarean section has to be performed to deliver calves which is abnormal.
In the West, everything is 'superficial' external beauty......, orderly and controlled.
And yet we speak of freedom, liberty and equality!
In order to comprehend life in the West, a great deal of observations have to be made and conclusions to be drawn.
Yet sadly we too in Bharat are going the same way!
As we grow older, we become more perceptive and sensitive.Sadness and tragedies affect us more during this stage. As our contemporaries, relatives and friends  'alight' at their allotted stops on this voyage of life we start becoming more and more lonely.......
I recall a phrase my dear mother used to say frequently in the mornings which was  never understood by me - she would say - another day gone..... it was out of melancholy and sadness that we all humans suffer looking at life's realities..... and I was so naive to just murmur something inane and carry on..... with my activities whatever they were !
Today I fully comprehend what must have been going on in my mother's mind. What a pity to not understand the unstated emotions of elders and give support when most needed!
Old age homes are verily like prisons with only a one-way door to escape.
While growing up looking at beggars and underprivileged people who were really needy, my mother used to say - what future can they dream of when existing under such conditions......!  This is exactly the condition of these old age home inmates....... what can they think of? What future dreams can they visualise? In such homes,sunshine comes when children come visiting their elders.I recall a statement made by a young girl whom I first met by chance in Venice and later in Dublin. She said something which really reflected the Truth. One Mother and one father can bring up 10 children but 10 children find it difficult to look after one father and one mother!
Maybe not true for all children but the trend is so....... or at least the parents feel too heavy a responsibility on their already stressed out children.
This very cycle of life turns on and on...... today born is one say old tomorrow as we say in Bharat.
And time carries him on its wings through youth to middle age and then old age... Does the youth of today ever imagine what life would be in a few years from now?????
Would it not be better to realize that happiness, joy and togetherness is what matter. Clean, sanitised, orderly old age homes are just buildings made of brick and mortar without laughter, heart and soul!