The Deer And Stag of IIT, Madras

I travel past the IIT, Madras on my way to office.

When the auto races past the IIT compound walls, I strain myself to see whether there are any deer peeping through the grilled iron fencing. Invariably I find two or three of them. At times I can see only a snout or two pairs of upright ears or a pair of those majestic horns as the lower half is a concrete wall and the upper half is a grilled iron fence.

It was sometime later I realized that there were people on this side of the road, feeding them with fruits and bread pieces. No wonder they come out of their safe habitat at the same time each day expecting food from regulars.

They are so trusting of humans. Sigh!

It is such a pleasure to see them.

Mahalakshmi.

Picture coutesy: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_Institute_of_Technology_Madras

To Marry or Not To... Part 3

I had to go back in search of a blog I had written long time back on marrying the person you love.

I had written about 'To Marry Or Not To.. 2' on the 24th October, 2010.

Its about the same girl who remains unmarried to-date, whereas the boy got married and lives happily with his wife just next door.

I have been home for a couple of days getting a break from office. These two days were stressful as I could hear such outbursts from this depressed girl. She was fighting with her mother, father, her brother and his wife. The words she used were downright crass for all her close ones - the reason - they have all stopped her from getting married to her choice of man because he din't belong to their caste. I thought someone might call in the police to avoid any untoward incident as a result of all this free-for-all with so much banging of doors.

If the girl had married her man, despite whatever the family would have gone through, she may have been settled in her life.
The family ensured she din't go out un-escorted and the girl also din't have enough courage to walk out of her home to be with her man.

She is not allowed to go out much less work at a job. She is not allowed to walk around our complex. All this has made her life so miserable. She watches TV all day long. eats, sleeps and fights when she is upset about her life. Wonder whose victory is this and over whom?

How will they ever solve this perpetual problem. For now, they have packed her off with a relative for a few days but how long can this highly distressed girl remain in others' houses? One day she will come back home to the same story.

Its upsetting and truly disturbing. We are, yet we are not, part of it all.

Mahalakshmi.

The Satsang

Last Sunday my husband and I were invited to attend a satsang which means a public gathering where people to share their knowledge through spiritual discourses, have young and upcoming artistes with a chance to perform, some mantra chanting, etc.

There was a keyboard player who played popular raga based film songs, besides two speakers that day. One talked about Karma and quoted the Bhagawat Gita extensively and the other spoke on the Siddhars of Thiruvannamalai - the famed hill where Ramana Maharshi spent most of his life.

This was largely attended by retired Tambrams short for tam(il)-brahm(ins). There were about 70 of them hearing it all out for a good 3 hours from 5pm to 8pm. Nice way to spend time, share one's knowledge with an interactive audience. But will I be able to sit through each month's last Sunday, I truly wonder. Once in a while this seems OK. And 30th Oct. 2011 was their 6th anniversary of holding such satsangs without a single break. That's no mean achievement.

Cheers for their sheer perseverance for sharing knowledge with others.

Mahalakshmi