A thousand moons

existence of the super power. Only when one believes in the
manifestation of the super power in all objects and all the objects we
observe with our intellect lent to us by the supreme being only then
will the individual creatures will attain unity with the supreme being.

Then question arises why would one need to have multiplicity of Gods
and Goddesses. Our seers were clear in their mind that every aspiring
soul may not have patience or capacity to comprehend the ultimate
truth .I t is easy to keep before us an object for worship and attain
salvation. Because we are human beings endowed with limited
intelligence or imagination we have been casting God in our image.
Because of our abundant love and a sense of gratitude to the All
powerful force we have tended to conceive Gods and Goddesses in a
variety of attire and ornaments and celebrate these Gods.

I t is pertinent to believe that any super hero like Sri Rama or Sri
Krishna must have been heroes in their own right in the historic past
and we have tended to equate them with Gods and worship them as
Gods. The epics are nothing but a narration of their life history.

Unlike as atheists would decry worship of pictures of Gods the real
truth is such fixing of the mind on these objects of worship is an
intermediate stage in our spiritual journey where the ultimate goal is
fixing our mind on no particular objects. This is the real goal of
meditation. This faith in God as object of worship develops in us a
increasing sense of self confidence and we overcome obstacles before
we achieve our goals. As long as we succeed in our goals due to
fortifying our efforts with confidence and perseverance what does it
matter if an external power has helped achieve the same or internal
force which helps us to develop self confidence or trust in ourselves.
On the other hand denying God only serves vacuum to permeate us and
with nothing to hold on to we achieve very little in our life.

We also are prone to hold a glorified image of ourselves and our
achievements as though these are result of only our efforts devoid
of Divine assistance. For example we in our arrogance equate
language an instrument of Divine dispensation with the very
Divine power which along with endless variety of creations and
their sense of comprehension like sight , sound ,feeling and taste. If

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a language has held the ground for several centuries it is evidence
of the fact that it is a vehicle of faith in and adulation at the super
power that is at the root of very thing. A language is not evident
from the sound that the different aspects of language contribute to
it but the thinking it clothes itself with. Because Ramayana and
Maha Bharatham are eternal epics embodying the spiritual context
of these epics the Sanskrit language is eternal .The hyms of Alwars
and acharyas are embodied version of our Upanishads they have
outlasted literature of purely secular and mundane nature,

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A thousand moons –Chapter -IX

My Sunset Years:

I have now settled down to a rhythm of limited activities. No
more long walking tours of the likes of R.L.Stevenson. With
the non co-operationof the right knee, movement has to be
limited to adventures by the kitchen fire!

Luckily for me till 2014 I was fairly active enough to hold the
tiny hand of my grandsons from my daughter , the first born
16thNovember,2007 and the second on 15th Aug.,2014 .As the
grand daughter from my son was born in the USA in 2013 I was
content with the child’s visit to India along with my son and
daughter in law.

I had the pleasure of taking my daughter and the first grandson
to Mysore and the adjoining places of tourist importance like
Kannambadi dam, Shiva samudram waterfalls, Mysore zoo,etc.I
found I couldn’t keep pace with the little boy and I wished I
was ten years younger! He was so much immersed in Pogo
spawned world of Chhota Bheem and Chutki that when we
were to catch train to Chennai at the end of our holiday my
grandson thought we should all go to the imaginary princely
state of Dholakpur where Chhota Bheem and others lived and
showed their heroics. I t took me some efforts to wean him from
Chota Bhim’s world and began our journey to Chennai without
any hitch.

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Once when I took him in my car to do some shopping I had to
stop the car just opposite the shop and leaving my 3 year old
kid in the car and after locking the door of the car left for the
shop opposite. But when I after purchasing some sundry stuff
turned back to the car on the other side of the road I was
shocked to see the little boy walking on the road towards me
unmindful of a two wheeler coming towards him. Fortunately
the scooterist applied the brakes in time and by that time I
reached the spot to catch the child’s hands. I t was a lesson of
my life time not to take on my old shoulders the responsibility
of taking the kid around.

My younger grandson’s main attraction towards me is his
assured jaunt by the three wheeler whenever he would visit me
with his parents and brother.

A thousand moons –Chapter-X

Epilogue

Not all of us are born with a mandate to change the universe.
If each one of us will discharge our debt to our family and
then society then automatically the world will change for the
better. In my life I find greatest binding force between me
and my grand children. It is this force which impels every
pious and charitable emotion in me and drives me to do what
little good turn for the society I can.

I feel like laying bare my final thoughts in this brief poem:

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I feel like laying bare my final thoughts in this brief poem:

May there be no epitaph
No obit in the daily, for
Mine was a brief bubble
In an ocean of transience
Undistinguished

By name, fame or pedigree.

Suffice it to say,
I owe debt of gratitude

To my parents
Who made my life possible,

To my wife
Who made my life comfortable

To my children

.Who made my life worthwhile

It’s time to say farewell !
And return to Bhagawan’s Lotus Feet;

But before that, one last wish
To be born again and play with Srinika, Aakash and Krish!

I derive great inspiration from the English poet Thomas Grey
who reconciles with the way all our lives find their culmination
in the graveyard. Whether rich or poor, haughty or lowly our
ego cries for recognition even from our ashes! There is a line
drawn somewhere up to which we are driven by our ambition
and desire. We would rather with our instinct know when we
crossed that line and find contentment in things achieved and
find time to look forward to that moment when we can say
without any regret, “Good bye” .

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