Ravishing Rameshwaram

We reached outskirts of Madurai by 7 pm and after a brief coffee break, we took the Kochi Dhanushkodi highway to Rameshwaram. The road is not NH4 but very decent. There are absolutely no potholes or speed breakers anywhere. It's a double lane where opposing vehicles comfortably cross. It can be a bit difficult to drive in the night, with the opposing traffic usually sporting high beams. This is somewhat insensitive to especially the bikers who come in the opposite direction. If you are a bit sleep deprived and tired, it can be a bit more taxing! Of course, the prospect of witnessing the crystal lingam (sphatika lingam) and sun rise in Rameshwaram kept me going. 

We reached Ramnad around 9 pm and broke for dinner. This was a good idea as Rameshwaram is a small place that sleeps somewhat early. Rameshwaram is about 50 km away and one hour drive from Ramnad. After about half an hour of drive from Ramnad, we were stopped for toll collection on the Pamban bridge. This 3 km bridge is built on the sea and connects the island of Rameshwaram with main land India. I must admit to being a bit nervous driving on the sea! :-) There is no feeling as assuring as terra firma! By the stroke of midnight I rested having negotiated 600 km to reach the southern island that is part of the legend of the epic Ramayana. Lord Rama is said to have installed the cosmic Siva lingam after conquering Ravana in Lanka. The same lord Siva is worshiped now as  Lord Ramanatha Swamy. The two aspects of divinity Lord Siva and Rama have a lot of appeal to me personally and so I hit the sack in eager anticipation of the day to follow.

By 4 am, the wake up song of the Lord Ramanatha Swamy rendered by the inimitable MS rent the air. It was divine as the chants merged in the sounds produced by the gentle waves of the sea. The practice to be followed at Rameshwaram is to have the darshan of the sphatika lingam (crystal lingam) before taking bath. This idol is kept for darshan only in the wee hours starting 4 am. It is a sight for the Gods to behold the crystal deity shining in the middle of many lamps. He reflects the light unto our eye and gives us absolute delight. After this wonderful darshan, we waited for the Sun to emerge from the eastern seas. This illusion of Sun emerging from seas or mountains or from distant horizon is always a spectacle to behold as it starts a new day in our lives. The soft rays of the rising Sun fell on the gopuram of the Rameshwaram temple and prodded us further.

We took a brief bath in the subdued sea adjoining the temple. Eons ago, Lord Rama stood with his bow and arrow to dry the sea that didn't provide Him a path to Lanka. The presiding deity of the seas is said to have emerged in utter scare and pleaded with Him to not dry him up. It is the deity of the seas that gave the idea of building of the Ram Setu. 

Then starts the lovely experience of taking bath in 22 sacred wells (known as theerthams, meaning holy water) that were dug around the temple. These wells have normal water if not sweet at a distance of just a few meters from the sea! There was a longish queue and after paying Rs. 25/- per person we went through the queue to well after well where designated employees would draw water in a bucket and pour on all assembled there. Who doesn't like getting drenched! We all thoroughly enjoyed this experience. This was akin to the rain dance that is found in many modern day resorts! Then it was time to go for the darshan of Lord Ramanathaswamy. The lingam here is one of the twelve jyothirlingas that are found in India and Nepal. It was quite crowded and we spent a good one hour in the queue before having the darshan of the Lord in the form of the jyothirlingam. After that we hastened for the darshan of Mother Parvatavardhini (the consort of Lord Ramanathaswamy). 

Lunch followed darshan and after a brief rest, it was time to start from Rameshwaram. There are other points of interest to be covered here. However, due to paucity of time and to reach Thanjavur by night, we had to start. The bridge across the sea was crowded as lot of people pulled over to have a glimpse of the collapsible Pamban railway bridge and enjoy the beauty of sea. 

Since Rameswaram is a peninsula you can find sea on either sides for sometime as you drive. And so on this east coast of India we can find the Sun setting into the sea as well. The picture below shows the waters rendered golden by the setting Sun.

Daughter was unhappy that we didn't spend enough time at the beach! Not to leave a bad taste, I pulled over after the Pamban bridge and spent some good time at the beach in which the major work was shell collection. There is wide variety of conches and shells we picked up in the few minutes we were there. It just made me wonder what else the mighty sea has in it!

As the Sun was about to set, we resumed our journey to Thanjavur, the town that has the big temple. Driving on the East Coast Road was a pleasure. Occasional bridges across rivers and a light house on the way reminded me that we are driving along the coast. After a dinner break at Pattukottai, Thanjavur was reached at 11 pm. 

Magnificent Madurai

December is the best time to visit southern Tamil Nadu. With the onset of winter and the recession of the north eastern monsoon, weather in this region assumes a pleasant tone and welcomes you. The month of Margazhi celebrated with music and holy hymn adds to the fervor. So we set out from Bangalore to visit Madurai, Rameswaram, Thanjavur, Trichy in that order. I was at the wheel of my Swift Dzire.

We left home at 0645 am, mainly to avoid the busy Hosur road traffic. Still the Hosur stretch of the highway is a bit bad and so Hosur was hailed at 0745, Krishnagairi was kissed away at 0815, Dharmapuri dawned at 0900. After a short stretch break, Salem was seen off at 10am. After passing Salem, we had breakfast. The road got even better after Salem and Madurai beckoned by 1pm. After a lunch break, we drove straight to the majestic Meenakshi temple. Sighting the south gopuram  from a distance, I was dumbstruck by its sheer height! We hurried to the gopuram and couldn’t take our eyes off the detailed sculpting as we saw it with open mouthed wonder.

A closer view of the gopuram provides the amazing sculptures full of life and color. This gopuram houses more than 1000 episodes from mythology. The quantity and quality of effort that has gone in to it is worth many many awards and highest recognition by humanity.

Each gopuram has depiction of an important event apart from the numerous episodes. The south one has that of the celebrated Sri Dakshinamurthy, the south facing Lord Shiva Who is silent and imparting the knowledge of the Self to others.

Then there is this sculpture that caught the eye although we didn't know the story behind it. He has 24 heads in a pyramidal fashion and 48 hands to go with it.

Goddess Meenakshi and Lord Sundareswara on the bull is a constant feature on all the gopurams in accordance with the presiding deities of the temple.

I'm sure you'll not be bored with one more picture of the gopuram from this view.

And as we circumambulated in the clockwise fashion as is the right thing to do around a temple, we next encountered an equally majestic western gopuram.

This gopuram depicts the picture of Shiva giving a mango to Ganesha. This is the episode in which Ganesha wins the competition to circle the earth three times and wins the celestial mango as the prize.

Story here

As we proceed further, the north gopuram presents itself. As the temple website points out, this gopuram took longest to complete, almost five centuries! Hence this was known as motta gopuram (bald one!). This is also seen in the lack of a number of different sculpts on this gopuram. 

90 degrees to the right the eastern gopuram is revealed. This is the ideal entrance for the temple. 

There is a smaller gopuram next to the main one and that depicts the lovely spectacle of the divine marriage of Lord Sundareswara with Goddess Meenakshi which is attended by other gods.

It takes a minimum of one hour to go around the perimeter of the temple, admiring the art work of what appeared to be a golden period in south India. You can take any amount of time to admire the gopurams and will never cease to wonder. We then stood in the line to enter the darshan queue at 03:30pm. Camera needs to be left outside in a cloak room. You can sneak a few pics in the colorful corridors using your mobile camera. But don't try any of this near the sanctum! :-) 

The temple opens again the evening at 0400 pm. We went through the security check and spent the next couple of hours in the darshan of Goddess Meenakshi and Lord Sundareswara. The temple is spread on a huge area. All the ceilings are tastefully colored.

Some of the ceilings also depict episodes from mythology. The combination of colors is truly awesome, eye pleasing and eye catching. Then there is the customary pond in the temple. This temple can amaze you and entertain for a whole day. We were in Madurai for only 4 hours. By 6 pm, we came out of the temple and navigated through the busy lanes of this old city Madurai and in an hour we were zooming onward to Rameswaram to catch a glimpse of Lord Ramanathaswamy the next day. 

Independence Day

Some patriotic songs keep pinging the mind pushing me down the memory lane. Do spend sometime hearing these and looking forward to the independence day. Jai Hind.

आओ बच्चों तुम्हें दिखायें झाँकी हिन्दुस्तानकी ..

ऐ  मेरे वतन के लोगों 

देदी हमें आजादी बिना खडग बिना ढाल ..

हम लायें हैं तूफ़ान को ..

Please do find a place where you can attend flag hoisting and salute the nation.

In case you are wondering how to tie the knot on the flag for hoisting, it is here.

Read Ramayana - an international initiative

Ramayana, the hindu epic that is celebrated as 'adi kavyam', the first among poems, has been digitized! A very pious initiative by Mr. Krishna Sharma is sending out the 24000 verses of the Valmiki Ramayana in small installments of 100 verses every week to your inbox. The rendering contains the original verse in one of the Indian languages (nine major languages have been covered, Devnagari, Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam, Kannada, Oriya, Gurumukhi, Gujarati, Bengali), together with an English transliteration and translation. Sample below.

This is delivered right to your inbox. The content is un-intensive, easy on eye, simple, pleasing to the mind and soul. Ramayana has been cited since time immemorial as a treatise on man's conduct. In recent times there have been efforts to find lessons for management from Ramayana. The point in saying this is this is an epic for all to learn, to assimilate, to understand, to appreciate, to derive bliss. Read it just like you would any of the new releases, without any prejudice of this being a spiritual (only) book and hence of limited use in our daily life. At every juncture you'll see that this book is more relevant to mankind today than ever.

Resource page is here.  Do subscribe here for your weekly dose of bliss.

May the Lord SriRama fill the world and its inhabitants with right conduct and thus establish sustainable peace on the planet. Jai Sri Ram.

Whither Goes, my country......

...... yes, it is a question each one of us must ask, ask our selves, ask our police, ask our law makers, ask our establishment. The worst fears of conscientious people of the country came true this morning as the Delhi rape victim breathed her last in Singapore. I am ashamed to think that some among us have resorted to this most heinous and barbaric act. I am not able to collect my calm as I attempt to say a prayer for her should to rest in peace. My mind is not ready to believe that her soul can have peace. How can it have? Knowing us, we'll talk about it, blog, make her trend in twitter and facebook, express outrage for the next few days and then resume our lives like nothing is wrong at all. Oh, my country, why is your memory so poor? Do you know how many scars are there on your conscience?

All the sisters of my country must be told not to venture out alone and at unearthly hours.  They must anticipate that there are shameless men inebriated by desire, intoxicated with lust, bereft of values - so much so that the parents who gave them life will regret for having done so - are lurking everywhere. And our police cannot do anything about it. The most amusing thing about the police when I've visited them in the past in connection with various issues in our neighborhood is their unnecessary zeal to broker peace and deliver justice. I realize, that is where the out-of-court-settlements start. Does someone tell them what exactly their duty is when they join service? Shouldn't they duly register complaints, raise FIRs and follow up honestly? No, that's not what they do. On many occasions I've see that it takes a humongous amount of persistence or political pressure or connection with higher-ups for the FIR to be registered. Understandably once the FIR is raised the police will have to act on it and 'close' the case as soon as possible. If there is no FIR though, they can freely lecture us about how to be careful, how to secure our home and blah. In other words raising an FIR is extra work. I'm glad that FIRs work. Someone I know of recovered every gm of the fifty odd grams of gold jewelry that was burgled from their home, three months after they succeeded in lodging an FIR, thanks to the political connections they have. I just couldn't help marveling at the ability of the police. While I've seen this indifference sometimes I've also noted with admiration the work of Indian police in cracking down and catching the guilty. A case in point is the way Ajmal Kasab was nabbed in the aftermath of 26/11. The whole point of this digression on the way police behaves is that they should do justice to their abilities in the service of common man and not just in high profile cases.  My experience with traffic police also suggests that they behave either as onlookers or as fine collectors. They rarely regulate traffic. I've never seen a traffic cop come and guide me with parking. I've only seen them with tickets, ready to be pasted on your car or key that into the blackberry. In my opinion this is against the spirit for which the police force was constituted. We teach policeman as being a community helper to our young kids. Are we getting help? It is high time to sensitize the police ranks about the need to be of service to people. This has to be a strategic step. FIRs should be registered automatically, justice should be delivered expeditiously.

There indeed has to be a multi-pronged approach to reduce crime in the society. Making police more sensitive to the needs of common man and be of service to them is the most necessary first step. Making tougher laws and implementing those honestly and in a reasonable time frame is the next step. And the more enduring approach that will pay dividends over time is to bring in value based education that I wrote about in my previous post . While we need to be thinking ahead in shaping our younger generations to have better hearts and values, we have to urgently plug the holes of lack of credibility that we are developing as a country in providing the citizens with a safe and just environment.

We should also go ahead and observe a national day of shame every year or even every month if that helps us fight amnesia and be reminded of the goriness that our weaker sections are subjected to. The more enduring the shame is, more is the likelihood that we'll do something about it. Unless we do that something which will make life better for our women who are indeed the custodians of the home and the country, we will keep expressing outrage periodically and will be so shamed one day that we'll lose the zest for living in such a society. Unless we do that something the soul of the young medico will not rest in peace. Nor should our minds rest in peace.

Like Vivekananda famously said

उत्तिष्ठत जाग्रत प्राप्य वरान् निबोधत 

Arise, Awake and Stop not till the goal is reached.

Letter to Justice Verma

The recent incident of gangrape and brutalization in Delhi has shaken the consciousness of the nation and there has been a huge protest in Delhi. The establishment has been lackadaisical in its approach and there is confusion of whether to tackle this particular incident by fast tracking justice delivery (when the victim is fighting to be alive, I don't what can be called justice) or bring in better laws to punish the perpetrators or shut down protests. Justice Verma is seeking our opinions. Please do write to: justice dot verma at nic dot in. 

My thoughts to him below:

Respected Justice Verma,

It is very kind of you to have sought inputs into the recent very unfortunate episode of unprecedented brutality in Delhi. To say that the act was bestial would be an insult to beasts. Humanity touched a huge new low on that night. By not responding to that particular event and providing justice and not addressing the bigger issue of what ails us we’ll be shoving our society to a low that’ll be beyond redemption. Therefore, this expression of anger, this expression of rebellion, this expression of solidarity is most welcome. In my mind it represents a churning like what we have read in our mythology – that of the milk ocean which gave out various goodies while also subjecting the worlds to the poison of kalakuta. Again like the Lord saved us on that fateful day, I am hopeful He’ll do so again through learned people of the society who’ll bring wisdom and enact laws that’ll serve as deterrents.

What ideas can aam aadmi give to the learned benches about laws? Aam aadmi represents mostly emotion and doesn’t always see the big picture. Even the honourable law makers called in unison for capital punishment for the perpetrators in the recent episode. The recent perpetrators of the crime deserve this punishment for more than one reason, viz. Rape as well as attempt to murder and many other acts of utter cruelty that have dented and shaken our consciousness. However, on second thought I keep wondering would there be a deterrent at all for this trait which is probably few moments of utter madness? This led me to thinking what is better – deterrent or prevention? I’m conscious that the latter will be the preferred, although lot harder to implement.

In my humble opinion the moral fabric of the society is fast disintegrating and this is the reason for all the myriad manifestations of greed, cruelty, immorality and crimes. To be moral today is to be old fashioned. To talk right things is to sound absurd. Values have become archaic. We gyrate to Sheila ki jawani’ with family. The definition of family based entertainment is changing for worse. More and more of unparliamentary words are finding place in our regular vocabulary. What was taboo 20 years back has not only come to passé but embraced warmly. This is not an old fashioned rant about how bad the society has become. These are all small symptoms that are manifesting as bigger crimes with alarming frequency. Sir, in order to tackle these crimes, we must urgently re-introduce moral science in the primary schools. There is no shame in being moral. It is only the right state of man.

I read painfully about how hypocritical we are in celebrating women as adi shakthi, the primal power and worshipping her and at the same time heap abuse on them. Sir, our festivals have gained in color, lost in spirit; we spend more, enjoy less; we celebrate pompously, imbibed hardly. Therefore, while we worship the Goddesses for mythical reasons we hardly treat our fellow women as expressions of that divinity. Bereft of conviction and spirit our festivals have become demonstrations of opulence that are at best pompous pastimes.

I strongly believe that bringing back moral science into the curriculum and providing a value based education to the children and parents (parents read through children) will secure us a more peaceful and healthy future. Let mothers be worshipped, let fathers be worshipped. Let them also be worthy of it. Such worship worthy mothers will mould their children in a manner that they respect fellow human beings, be good citizens and not be burden on the society and judiciary.

Sri Sathya Sai Baba famously declared while opening a college for women at Anantapur, Andhra Pradesh several decades back that the aim of the college is to generate adorable mothers not desirable wives. We need more such colleges and more such orientation in our education.

Rahul Dravid

Hi, after some hiatus. It is spring time in India and generally in the northern hemisphere. In general, a pleasant time with nature greeting you in its various hues and birds chirping away. They have been my alarm clock for the past week or so and it is certainly a blessed feeling to be able to appreciate that. However, the spring time also brought in the ultimate decision of Rahul Dravid to hang his boots and call it a day from international cricket and as he mentioned during his presser, it was to allow the spring of young talent to express itself.

I'm not going to refer to him as Wall except in this note. I've not been particularly fond of that stupid (for want of a better word) nickname. Rahul Dravid has personified dignity, grace, skill and determination to me. A trip down the memory lane is essential to put things in perspective. When he came in, the Indian team pretty much looked like a Karnataka team save for a couple of faces from elsewhere. We used to joke about how it was Mumbai a couple of decades ago that used to account for most of India caps and now it was the turn of Karnataka. There was also the cynical talk of how the great GRV's stint as chief selector is enabling this. However, you could not argue much on that line looking at Rahul or Kumble or Srinath's performance. Others didn't stand the test of time in any case.

This man was born with a liking for shadow. And so while he played superbly for his 95 at Lords on his debut, Sourav Ganguly eclipsed that with a hundred. He batted out of his skin in 2001 for 180 against Aus at Eden Gardens in Kolkata, only to be shadowed by a very very special knock of 281 by Laxman. Instances galore, everytime he scored a hundred we rejoiced, not just because he played well, but also because statistically there was a chance of another Indian doing it even bigger! They called him unsung hero, it didn't matter to him. We were rescued time and again by his willow. In his times, test cricket had evolved in its pace, so much so that teams won games at rapid pace and by the same coin also lost games at rapid pace. They just didn't know how to save matches. To me, Dravid was among the few cricketers of his time who knew and could manufacture a third result - that of saving the game. People can argue that was boring. But that also saved the ignominy of defeat for the team. And that brought out the fighter in the man. He fought hostility of the bowlers and adversity of the conditions with elan.

Being Rahul Dravid must have been tough. He must have had extraordinary self belief to continue doing what he did best and at the same time adapt himself with time. I remember the early days when he used to get cramps by the time he touched the 70s/80s. He remarkably worked on his fitness to get past that. Then there were days when we recommended him to the Defence Research Development Organization as a man with technical know how of how to find a target with unerring accuracy - yes we are talking about the fielders. He worked on his game and became the lynchpin of Indian batting for close to a decade. For someone that the average fickle fan scorned as to no good for a one day game, he has more than 10000 runs to his credit. He stood the sternest of tests - that of time. In doing all of this, I have never seen a public expression of bitterness any time. I have only seen equanimity and poise. I have only seen grit and determination. Therefore I feel, in his retirement, we will miss a gem that adorned the Indian dressing room and more by his practice rather than precept he held out lessons for the youngsters. I hope the tributes of today will inspire a Kohli or a Raina to imbibe the character that made Dravid. To sign off, my best pic(k) of Rahul, one that gives me goosebumps even today. So, we'll miss this man who probably didn't have magic but had method in ample measure. In any case magic is fleeting. Well done, Rahul Sharad Dravid. You can look back at those tapes and achievements with pride. God bless.

VVS and Rahul walking back undefeated on the fourth evening at the Eden after McGrath, Gillespie, Fleming and Warne threw everything at them, but couldn't conquer. Stuff you can recount to your grandchildren



Lunar Eclipse

Lunar eclipse of 10^th  Dec 2011 was indeed a treat to watch. Usually, it is the moon, the earth and the sun that come in a straight line to cause the celestial spectacle of Lunar eclipse. But this time, a fourth thing, the clouds also threatened to come in the same line and potentially eclipsed the eclipse! It helped that this was one of the longest lunar eclipses and so the blushing red face of the moon as it got completely drowned in the shadow of earth could be captured (middle picture). Enjoy the frame with collection of pictures taken at various time points during the eclipse.

We drove to Puttaparthi on 13th August. This was the first time we were going there after the Mahasamadhi of Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba was constructed and unveiled on the holy day of Guru Poornima last month. I was high on anticipation to get there quickly and catch a glimpse of the divine place where HE rests waiting for us. Listening to the A Bridge Across Time, Vols. 17 and 18 as we drive to Prashanthi Nilayam is quite apt as it takes us down the memory lane and recollects the times in the physical presence of the Avatar. For the uninitiated, ABAT albums is a collection of songs rendered by the SAI Students. It has sublime feelings that reflect melancholy, ecstasy, poetry, excitement, bliss and above all celebrates the earthly sojourn of the Lord who touched millions of hearts with HIS preaching of Love and service. 

Enter Puttaparthi

Reaching the hallowed township of Prasanthi Nilayam, we discover that the spiritual routine of the Ashram has not changed a bit after Swami's Mahasamadhi. Prayers begin at 8AM with Veda chanting till 9AM followed by Bhajans for half an hour. Aarati is given after that. Devotees make orderly lines after that to go near the Mahasamadhi for a closer darshan and offer their prayers. Same is repeated in the evening from 04:30 PM. There is a weekly schedule charted out for which hymns to be chanted each day which was blessed by Swami last year. 

We enter the Sai Kulwanth Hall at 04:15PM and take up vantage points so that the Mahasamadhi is visible once the curtains are lifted. The hall is very elegant with many maroon pillars holding an impressive and eye pleasing ceiling on top. I bow to the blessed land. There is fairly good crowd given that it was a long weekend. As we sit and look at the podium, it is a strange feeling! The flapping of the pigeons that fly above is familiar. My gaze inevitably goes towards the Yajur mandir, Swami's residence. If my eyes have looked at anything with lot of intensity it is this place, when we waited in yesteryears for the Lord to emerge from there for darshan. The clock strikes 04:30 PM and Om karam rents the air followed by the invocation Gananamthwa... which soon gives way to the all powerful chants of Rudram - Om Namo Bhagawate Rudraya... The bright red curtains slide open and lo and behold, the wonderful, sparkling, spectacular, white marble clad Mahasamadhi is now visible! Hands come together to do namaskar. Below the Mahasamadhi, there is sarvadharma symbol and the mantra  that Swami taught humanity - Love All, Serve All. It looked very apt. Bhagawan's entire life was beautifully captured in this one line and the symbol. No matter how many volumes are written about HIM detailing the projects and compassion, the undercurrent was the coming together of all religions and the message that we should love all and serve all. Head bowed in reverence to this embodiment of divine Love who has made such a difference to the lives of millions. 

[photo from www.sssbpt.org]

As the chants are going on, I imagine the same body that lied in state in April in the Sai Kulwanth hall to be now encased in the sparkling Mahasamadhi. I imagine chanting into HIS ears. The image of Swami's physical body lying in state has been enduring. Thoughts wandered down the memory lane, recollecting the past visits. The first one was in December 1983 when we came as small kids for the first time to attend the Balavikas conference. That was also my closest physical encounter with Swami in HIS current form. HE compassionately gave pada namaskar to all the thousands of students who came from across the globe. All the subsequent visits after that have been rich in anticipation of being acknowledged by HIM and inevitably all those anticipations were annihilated and HE never even cast a glance at me. It used to cause lot of disappointment, the ego was being pricked and pounded upon. I am so important to myself and yet HE ignores me! Why? How? What is the reason? I usually used to go back more agitated than when I came in. However, by HIS infinite grace, I never stopped thinking of HIM. As I grew up, I kept visiting Prashanti Nilayam at irregular intervals. But HE never seemed to care to even put me in the first line for a close darshan! And yet I loved HIM!! It is strange at a physical plane. We don't even say hello to a colleague who didn't respond to our half smile. But here we are, in Prashanti Nilayam, being ignored by HIM trip after trip, only to go back again! This is not just my story, this is also the story of a huge majority of people who flock to Prashanti Nilayam. I always asked silently in my prayers, why this treatment? The answer I found was Love MY uncertainty. It appealed to me. Yes, in science too, what we don't understand, we don't give up. We continue our investigation with more intensity. Why should it be any different with HIM? The key here is Love and not uncertainty. This answer dissolved all my disappointments in a trice and imparted a very beautiful  way of looking at life. Ever since this lesson has stayed with me. Recently when Swami left at 85 instead of the 'promised' 96 years of earthly sojourn, I was again thinking why? It is equally difficult to 'lose' a Loving Lord at 96 as it is at 85. In fact there is never a good time to lose HIM! It is only about how prepared we are? Prepared not only to lead life in the absence of the physical form, prepared to make HIS life our message, prepared to spread HIS love, prepared to Love All and Serve All, prepared to Help Ever and Hurt Never. The manifestation has disappeared but the ideas and ideals have got strengthened. When a Father, a head of the family passes away, it is up to HIS children to keep up the good will that the father had created during his lifetime. The father doesn't lose anything if the children don't, but the children stand to lose a lot if they behave otherwise. If we have been Loving HIS uncertainty while HE was in HIS form, why not when HE shed HIS form?

There are all sorts of reports in the media about how the crowd has reduced and how the Central Trust will function etc. These are just knee-jerk reports. It is naive to think that there will be same number of people now as there were when Swami was in HIS physical form. HE also prepared us for this through the irregular darshans in the last few years. The devotees are still coming to terms with this. What is indeed striking is that the Trust and the other organizations such as hospitals and the academic institutions have gone on in a business like manner. That is ample proof that it is the spirit that is guiding and not the physical body of Swami. These are run by people who believe in Swami's vision. There will be hiccups, but no stoppages, there will be commas and colons but no full stops.

Two days of stay in the Ashram also gave an opportunity to sing a bhajan in the house of a very loving uncle. As I lead the bhajan, I also had goose bumps thinking that I am singing a bhajan in the same region where little Sathya before being come to be known as Sathya Sai Baba formed the Pandhari Bhajan Group and sang the glory of God on the streets of Puttaparthi. Eating a meal in the south Indian canteen where a meal costs just Rs.6/- (0.15 USD) is another thrilling experience of the love of Swami. I felt very grateful and happy for having spent the weekend in the divine land started driving back to Bangalore with mind firmly fixed on HIS teachings and HIS glory and of course eagerly waiting for the next chance to visit this holy land.

India's cup of Joy!

I was eight years old when Kapil's devils conquered the world in 1983 June. We had no access to television and so had not seen that triumph which changed Indian cricket for ever, for better. However, I heard tales of that conquest, that glory from my uncles and close relations who were privileged to be part of the moment through black and white television. Images of Kapil holding the Prudential Cup on the Lord's balcony were enduring. I had read and later seen on TV the catch that Kapil took of Richards, the gentle medium pace bowling of Jimmy, the brief destruction unleashed by Chikka. These all formed the joys of my childhood and school days. Obviously that set up the expectations. So World cup after World cup, it was disappointment. Kolkata-1996 and Jo'burg-2003 were like salt on the wound. Add to that, the mind boggling Sachin Tendulkar who is link back to our school days not being part of a World cup winning team was also rankling me and many of my friends - as much as it was rankling him.

In that backdrop, Wankhede 2011 was incredible. I loved everything about it and the run-up to it. I had lately started to follow the game passively and catch up with the youtube moments later. However WC2011 was different. I followed it actively, although I didn't bunk office to catch the matches, I made sure to catch live action on TV after work. I was caught-up with Cricinfo, I was tuned to twitter, I followed it on facebook when I was not watching. I had a sense of belief, as my cousins say, 'deep in my heart', that this team India has got what it takes to go all the way. I am glad, nay, overjoyed that all that time I spent refreshing the internet browser, watching action on TV and also those prayerful moments, of which there were many, came to fruition on 02nd April 2011 at Wankhede. The atmosphere all over for the knock-out phase was thrilling, exciting, goose-bump-raising. All the scientific training I received and rational thinking just disappeared as I started praying and was quite unambiguous in what I asked - the world cup for India. I kept pestering the Gods and summoned all of the known Gods for help at Wankhede while we were chasing. In the last ten overs of our chase, the prayers as also the superstitions reached a crescendo. I didn't want to change my seat, lest it may cost us a wicket. The superstition was also vindicated when I did move and we lost Gambhir raising some nervous moments. You may say I was like a planet whose configuration inevitably mattered to the team's fortune! But I am sure Iwas not alone. Wherever there was an Indian fan following the game on the planet, the condition must have been the same. The prayers were as much to win the world cup for the country as also for Sachin Tendulkar. It was a self-less prayer - the man who gave joy to the nation for 21 long years deserves this, a sentiment shared by Virat Kohli after the match. I guess this prayer was a clincher! Having 'pulled it off', I did thank all the Gods who had made this possible and then reflected on the performances and the preparation of the team that made the triumph possible.

First up, take a bow Mahendra Singh Dhoni, the able leader. He had made all of 150 runs coming into this all important match. Almost every fickle fan spoke of how he has been sorted out and not the destroyer he used to be. Growing is part of all life, except that of the fickle fan. In that context, it took lot of courage and extra-ordinary self belief from the India captain to complete a chase that was just put back on the rails by the youngsters after the early jolt. The cynic may still say he was lucky. To that I'll simply say, what the hell, don't they say fortune favours the brave? It showed his tremendous character in the face of what seemed to be an up hill task. MSD the destroyer had just come out of hibernation, in a much smarter avatar.

More importantly, it was MSD, the captain that impressed me through out the tournament. Playing Piyush Chawla in place of Ashwin in the group stage invited criticism. But if Piyush had a role at all in this campaign, that was the only time. So was Yusuf Pathan who is like a lottery ticket that has more chance of going the other way. In the middle of the campaign it was found that we were struggling to complete playing fifty overs and add those valuable 10-15 runs to the total and quickly Raina was brought in, again just in the right time. Ashwin was unleashed on home turf and was a run away hit. He played an excellent role in what I think was the most important match - the QF. So dropping him for the semi final clash against Pakistan was ridiculed and riled at. But to me, it showed there was a method to the whole campaign. The method could be right or wrong, but there needs to be a method and accordingly a preparation. It also showed the greater goal the team had - that of winning the cup. It also takes courage to admit that it was a misreading of the pitch that prompted the selection of Nehra over Ashwin. But again, doesn't fortune favour the brave?

When Ponting and Steve Waugh conquered the world, their teams consisted of extremely skilled men who could win the match on their own on any day, in both batting and bowling. But Dhoni didn't have that luxury, especially in the bowling department. That puts in perspective how Dhoni managed to marshall the resources he had with him. It is not an easy task at all to be captain of Indian cricket team. To Dhoni's immense credit he held his very own and carried the team in the face of all the criticism and free 'expert' advice that was on offer all the time. But it would be wrong to say all the ideas of the India captain were only his own. Execution and accountability was his own but the ideas were obviously influenced by the team and to a very great extent by a non-Indian.

Take a bow, Gary Kirsten. The extra ordinary, lime light avoiding coach of the team for the last three years who reminds me a lot of John Wright in his work ethic. The results during the reign of these two coaches have been very similar. During Gary's reign as coach, India not only reached the numero uno status in the Test cricket, it also retained the status when it had the danger of losing it while playing against Australia and South Africa. Team India had become a force to reckon with in Test cricket. And now the team has conquered the ultimate title in the ODIs. What shone through in Kirsten tenure was the vision he had for the side in Tests and ODIs and summoning of the wherewithal to achieve that vision. His captain and his team subscribed to that vision and responded beautifully. Kirsten didn't achieve these results by fluke. He achieved it, aided by an excellent support staff, by managing the bodies of the players, exciting their minds, lifting their spirits and inculcating in them a great sense of belonging to the team and achieving for each other. One particular re-iteration of Guru Gary comes to mind - Don't attribute to malice what can easily be attributed to stupidity! It is a profound teaching in the context of a team game. It is a highly heterogeneous team with players from different languages and cultures. Uniting them under a vision and for a purpose is something we don't often see in our great country. I hate to mention Greg Chappel in the same paragraph, but bright stands brighter under contrast. Gary brought back a struggling Gambhir to the team and made him a match winner and Greg Chappell ensured a shining Irfan Pathan totally got derailed early in his career. The team will miss Gary Kirsten. But I am sure he will go back with lots of satisfaction and come 2015, South Africa may look up to him to realize their dream of the World cup.

When India were tottering at 31/2 and the Lankans made a mini victory lap at the Wankhede, it would have been normal for many teams and especially the earlier Indian teams to wilt. Not this team. They had been 'plotting' the final for one and a half years, it seems. So I'm sure they had plans up their sleeve. It was quite be-fitting that two youngsters Gambhir and Kohli stood up to the occasion and laid the foundation for the chase. Kohli has now starred in both U-19 world cup and the seniors world cup wins and he can learn a lot from Sachin to keep a level head in this phase of his career. Gambhir has also been the architect of India's T-20 world cup win and again here, he reserved his best for the biggest occasion. He owes a lot to Gary and one of my friends saw Kirsten himself in the batting of Gambhir. I'm not surprised.

The unbelievable Yuvraj Singh!! He has been Dhoni's go-to man throughout the tournament when we needed breakthroughs. Whether it is with Australia or Pakistan or other teams Yuvi has got those vital breakthroughs in the right time. Along with that, he has batted superbly through out. He is our all-rounder who brought a great balance to the team composition. Lately Yuvi has been looking fragile and I reckoned that is why we haven't seen him devouring the ball at point while fielding. But yesterday between them, Yuvi, Kohli and Raina built an impregnable wall and the greatest proof of that was the score of 32/1 that SL managed after the first 10 overs. Yuvi gave us glimpses of Jonty Rhodes yesterday. The bird's eye view camera angle of his dive at the ball which also captured his shadow on the ground will remain etched in the minds of cricket lovers.

Raina has been a great finisher against both Australia and Pakistan. The fact that we came this far is in good measure due to him. Dhoni used the ICC rules and Raina's fielding to the fullest extent even in group stage. But Raina's contribution with bat in the QF and SF reminded me of what Laxman does for us in Tests. Of course the inimitable Viru Sehwag failed to last long in most games but the starts he and Sachin provided in most games had wrested the initiative from the opposition and laid a good foundation more often than not.

Zaheer lived up to his billing every bit although he was a bit off colour in last two games. He was our lynchpin. He knew it and he played the role to perfection. His craft and wile was an indispensable part of our campaign and triumph. Munaf ably played a second fiddle and was a kind of metronome, stifling the batsmen for width. He was impressive in most parts.

Then of course, there is the peer-less, age-less Sachin Tendulkar. He was carried on team mates' shoulders on a victory lap at Wankhede! Kohli said it ver well - He has carried the burden of the country for 20 years, it was time we carried him on our shoulders! Not only the master, most of us were deeply touched by this love and respect he commanded from his team. He is competing and often out-shining youngsters half his age in most games. Lately he has batted the way he has always wanted to, thanks to the team which doesn't depend entirely on him. He should go on as long as he enjoys it. India is supremely blessed to have this once-in-a-century cricketer. If anything, he can only become more relaxed and hence more dangerous after the adding the world cup glory to his already towering achievements. He is one cricketer whose various innings I have discussed with my high school mates, my college mates, my research colleagues, and continue to discuss with fellow professionals. Simply mind boggling. Go on, you phenomenon!

So the reason this blog got so lengthier is that every one in the 15-member team had a role to play at some stage or the other. You may not see that happening often. Indians were stretched in almost all games, but were never out played. They won those stretches because they had the elasticity.

The triumph underlies beautifully the planning and role assignment that happened going into the world cup. It is a wonderful case study of team effort. It is case study for able leadership and planning. The cynic may yet say they were lucky, but again lady luck loves the prepared souls. That this team was well prepared is quite apparent, at least to me. Go India, this is your moment in the Sun. Enjoy it to the fullest!