Milana

I said to Suraj, "Finally ! ". We have said finally before, but that probably signified the end of the ever tormenting examinations. All the more, because it was prolonged because of some back logs. But, this time, we said finally, not because it signified end of pain, but it signified the beginning of hopeful pleasure. We were off to Coorg, finally.

We have been planning something of this sort from quite some time. It happened because, this time, we did not wait. For others. We just went ahead. Being too sensitive to somebodies presence can get depressing at times. We just got on with life. To summarize, we had a lovely drive, we sang along the way, trekked to the most beautiful, secluded (probably that's why it was so beautiful) waterfall I have ever been to, suffered from indigestion, played cards, got high, did some senti talk and most importantly laughed a lot, after a long time. I don't remember the last time when I was holding my tummy and laughing. It was probably when we were preparing for those dreaded (or not so dreaded) examinations. What a trip ! I well and truly realised that I missed these guys so much in my life. They are still around, but what's the point. It's not the same any more.

It is so sad that we have twined ourselves to routine that we are not able to make time for natural fun, which we relish so much. It was unfortunate, in a way that it was not like our last Ooty trip. This was different.  I guess we have tuned ourselves to having smaller number of people. 

Suraj, Adarsh, Rohan, Shetty and Bala - I miss you guys. Yes, you read it right. I miss Bala too. 

Hoping for the next trip, to happen soon. Before life changes us further.

The Karur Trip

I had been to Karur, over the last weekend of August, just to give company to my colleague. He had to take some stuff back home and was driving back alone. He asked me if I could accompany him and I said yes. I was looking for some sort of a change too. It was not only a jolly experience , but a huge learning experience.

First and the most important lesson from the trip, hospitality. I can probably say , quite comfortably, that I have never experienced hospitality of this magnitude. His parent's were so kind and generous , not only with words , but with thought and action as well. I have never felt so important. I don't want to talk about what I ate there , for I lack patience to do that , the list is long :-) But I would just like to mention that some words which are really pleasing can make a guest feel extremely comfortable. The only regret about the food part is that he had to remain vegetarian for the weekend , because of me.

We visited a couple of temples there. Very , old ones , I must say. A Shiva (Pashupatheeshwara - The Lord of the animals) temple, built by the Chola dynasty. Huge is an understatement and that is a common factor for most Chola architecture's. Intricate , another understatement. The main deity is characterized by a Shiva Linga ( A manifestation of the Lord ) being bathed by a cow , by milk , from it's udder. Another characterization is that there are two Eshwari's (Wives of the Lord , there is generally only one) , one who performed severe penance just to marry Shiva and was granted her wish. 

The temple was filthy outside. People having dinner ( in the name of prasadam ) inside the premises. Another food for thought , people's perception of God and approach towards spirituality.

I don't know if evolution and classification of people resulted in Vegetarians and Non-vegetarians. I have a feeling human beings were Omnivores and only later a few fine tuned to being pure vegetarians. I also believe we do follow quite a few practices , without knowing their significance, with the assumption that what our ancestors did were probably right. I am not saying this is wrong , I follow quite a few myself. But , what I want to drive is to approach pragmatically the customs of other people and respecting the possibility that there is probably a good reason for people to do this.
Now, why I am I discussing all this ? I visited my colleague's family deity , a secluded and an isolated temple. Things like meat offerings happen to the God's here. Sounds cruel , at first , ain't it ? But I was just talking to him and he was explaining the reason for why people could possibly be doing all this. Mind you he was not passing a judgment about right or wrong , but was speculating about the possible cause for the custom. He was telling me , we were all hunting for our food at some point in time. At some other point in time , we came across the notion of an almighty. And shortly, we came up with the notion of offering what we eat, to the lord. This is probably exactly what it is , and it seems cruel , since we are 'supposed' to be civilized and killing animals is cruel.Interesting , isn't it ?

I am back home , celebrating Ganesh Chaturthi , after a show of "Rock On" , the latest hindi movie. May God , if he exists , keep us all happy.

Tata.