A clarion call for altruistic love and unerring duty

2010-08-23T22:07:00.023-04:00

A meteor shooting across the sky occasionally is called a "shooting star". A super-massive star explodes once in its lifetime to become a supernova. More precious than that is the birth of a first child in any family (remember the function Seemantham?). In the entire history of brotherly love, there is but one Bharath. Similarly, our Alma Mater playfully creates an incidence in our life time that becomes an eye-opener to reality of life and the end point to selfish behaviour. Of course, talking of Bharath or Lakshman, some elder brothers are gifted even today with such younger brothers.

I had to recently fly to India to attend to a family emergency. As I was to find later, I was not the only person blessed to receive the experience of righteous responsibility. I was in the chosen company of cousins and friends, some of whom grieved their parent's (or grandparent's) demise and others who are still attending devotedly to the physical needs of their indisposed parents. It was an emotionally exacting three months, and the only prayer still left in my heart is "please never again Lord, not even to my worst detractors". But in its wake it brought to light shining warriors of dutifulness from my generation, of special mention my own brother. Agreed that some of us have to lead a lifestyle compelled by circumstances, but others have the option to walk the narrow and demanding path of Dharmic conduct, no excuses please. Even though all of this happened mostly in my circle of relatives and friends, it nevertheless unraveled the truth that we are all connected by the same umbilical cord of mutual love, empathy and care.

It wasn't easy asking for two and a half months of time away. Even some of my well informed relatives asked me "How come they permit this in US? Shouldn't you be getting back soon?" I remembered my supportive co-workers and a obliging, kind-hearted manager who said "Attend to your personal emergency first. We will manage it here". Not that there was a promise of continued employment, but the very gesture of permitting me to leave at a critical juncture in the project kindled my thankfulness for him. So I left with a peace of mind from US, but with gnawing concerns about my indisposed father.

Thanks to Almighty, and to the devoted care of my wonderful mother and selfless, doting brother, he is back to normal. Incidentally, this episode brought my brother so close to my father, that my father regards him as his caring father (Thagappan Saamy)! My paternal uncle and maternal aunt who suffered a multiple organ failure and colorectal cancer respectively, are also doing very well praise God, though my uncle is still undergoing daily dialysis. They have recovered enough to get back to attend to their daily routines as usual. As an unexpected bonus, many relatives and some trusted friends paid a visit to encourage my father. I gratefully acknowledge their love and in debt of their moral support during our hour of trial.

The past three months also proved someone else correct! In the Sri Krishna Sweets sponsored felicitations to mothers of Chennaite achievers, the gifted motivational speaker Sri. T. T. Rangarajan commented on why he returned from Dubai. Though there are other incompatible versions of his providential return to Chennai, this one went right through my heart. The jovial mention he makes of the conversation between him and his brother on who would take care of their parents, stuck a chord with me. His appeal to Indians settled abroad to return at least to be with their parents deserves adherence. Thank you Rajan for keeping me straight! Also, you are right, life is worth celebrating only by staying close to our near and dear, not away somewhere else. Let's reach out to everyone in need and wrap them in the comforter of our unconditional love.

Happy Birthday Chennai and an Announcement

2010-08-22T09:03:00.006-04:00

Today, the city I love, Chennai turns 371!

I was not born here but have lived here during my growing years. Except for a 12-year hiatus when I was in the US (during which time also, I never stopped my annual visits and sometimes stayed for many months at a stretch quite unlike the typical NRI on vacation), I could never be away from this city that I have so many fond memories of. Now, after relocating from the US and having lived for the last four years, I am looking forward to spending the rest of my life in this very city that epitomizes what we seek as the holy grail - the equanimity of mind in the face of the dualities of life - success and failure, prosperity and indigence, the call of tradition vs. the pull of modernity, the glorious past and the exciting/promising future.

It is a city like no other and no wonder, it is making rapid strides into the future, yet having its roots firmly in the past. Hats off to my dear Chennai and happy birthday!

NOW FOR THE ANNOUNCEMENT PART:

For those of you who still follow this blog, a big thank you for the support so far and it has been a great journey over the last five years, even though I have not been active for more than a year now. I realized that as with other changes in life, this blog too must have a change and so I am stopping my personal posts on this and converting this into a filter blog that will have short posts on news and current affairs, mainly by linking to good stuff on other blogs and websites. The archived posts of ChennaiCentral (and those of Blogswara also) are here. My brother also joins me on this blog as a co-contributor and we hope we can continue to enjoy the popularity that was once the hallmark of this blog. Thank you!

chennaicentral

A clarion call for altruistic love and unerring duty

Happy Birthday Chennai and an Announcement