North tapers,south grows

This is not the slogan raised by any chauvinist programne. A visit to north chennai shows the development index. Traditionally, north chennai houses big industrial plants. Mainly, the plants represent old brick economy. The constant movement of heavy vehicles have made the roads not fit for any transportation.
Just wear a white shirt and visit the industrial belt. Definitely, your shirt will carry all dirt and grime.
The northern part of the city is desperately crying for improvement in infrastructure.
But, the inhabitants have learnt to live with the current situation. What else one can do?

On the contrary, south chennai is perched on a safe zone. The infrastructure is far superior. This part of the city houses all major software companies.

Desire, knowledge & action

To execute any project you need three things they are desire ( not just ordinary but, burning desire) just desire alone can't fulfil it.

After cultivating desire, one must strive hard to gain knowledge about the pursuing project.

Last part is getting into action. This is the execution part. This is how a new project is realised.

Now, coming to mythological part desire is called as itchchaa shakthi.

The knowledge part is described as gnana shakthi.

Action is otherwise known as kriya shakthi.

There are temples named after three shakthis. They are located on the northern and western corner of the chennai city. Namely,melur, thiruvotriyur and thirumulaivayal.

In melur, itchchaa shakthi ---presiding deities are thiruvudai amman and thirumangeeswarar.

In thiruvotriyur, gnana shakthi---- presiding deities are vadivudai amman and thyagaraja swamy.

In thirumullaivayal, kriya shakthi-------presiding deities are kodivudai amman and maasilamanieswarar.

A visit to these temples on a full moon day( that too, if that full moon day falls on a friday its a special one) brings a positive effects to one's life.

All these things are meant for the body of the religion. We have mind of the religion and the soul of the religion.. 

Kolam: A dying art.....

This marghazhi month is special for spiritual practices. When I say spiritual practices, concenration is the key factor. In some practices, they are explicit. 
Kolam(a sort of rangoli) is very special but our "bend it like aunties" cannot bend forward to draw big kolams because they have not seen their toes for years together.
Kolam drawing is a concenration technique. It takes hours together to complete a big kolam. It not only brings out the artistic qualities but also strengthen the mooladara (root centre) and swadhistana (gomad centre) of the human body. Particularly, kolam is drawn in the wee hours of the day.  It is otherwise known as " brahma muharatam".  This time of the day is an ideal period to start practising yogic activities. The presence of kolam enhances the ambience of the house.

To draw kolam rice powder is used because insects feed on them. ( Ecology part is taken careof) Nowadays, synthetic powder is widely used. After drawing the kolam, a pumpkin flower is placed in the middle of  kolam. Actually, cowdung is also placed in the middle of kolam it mainly acts as a "flower holder " to pumpkin flower.

The art of kolam drawing has diminished over the years thanks to the apartment -way- of-life. We've simply pasted kolam stickers in front of our house. All wheather stickers......

Lord Ganesha :Employment Provider

When the worldwide employersu are contemplating jobcuts. Our lord ganesha nicely perched on a pedestal giving employments to atleast 5 persons.

I am talking about roadside pillaiyar temples. These temples have become a hit among the masses. It is a normal practice to place a ganesha idol in front of your house,  if your house is located at the corner of the street.i.e. Your house is thoroughly visible the moment any road user enters the street. Different eyes have different powers. Some are malefic and some are benign in nature. So, in order to neutralise the bad effects ganesha idols at the entrance. Moreover, Lord ganesha is known for trouble shooting abilities.

Sensing this opportunities local "bigwigs" forayed into ganesha project. In many areas of the city lord ganesha is used as a camouflage. Many parts of the city are ilegally encroached by the city dwellers. In order to provide "cover" to their practice a small ganesha temple is erected to hush up the road encroachment.

The hundis of these ganesh temples are filled regularly. Lord ganesh does not see your background whether you are a student, mason, businessman, bootlegger or a lover. Yes!  he really promotes love marriages. (In mythology, lord ganesh helped his younger brother lord muruga's love marriage to valli. Though, he remained an eternal bachelor)

In every assignment lord ganesh is taken as an "indirect partner" that's why he takes his "cut" from the devotees.

Child-like mentality

Your age correlates with your  wisdom. But, not always that is the saddest reality.

On a recent visit to a shiva temple, I came across an elderly man (around 80 year old) with aavin milk sachet. He handed over the milk packet to the temple priest for abhisekham.

The purpose of performing abhisekham is to derive the medicinal properties associated with idols. In olden days, deity idols were consecrated with medicinal properties.In ayurveda and siddha system, milk is used as an anubhaanam. The moment when the milk comes into contact with those idols it brings out the curative powers. But, these days those principles are not followed. Moreover, fresh milk from  cow is usually preferred for abhisekham. Not the sachet milk. The sachet milk comes from "dilli erumai".(buffaloes).

Now coming back to that old man,  though his biological age suggests he is 80+. As far as spirituality is concerned he is still a "umaachi" worshipping toddler.
The religion has three parts namely body of the religion, mind of the religion and the soul of the religion.

As you start the life journey it is okay to associate with body of religion but once you stepped into the mddle age it will be prudent to follow the mind of the religion (cut short your external search for your eternal quest devote more time in "excavating" yourself). In other words, as you get older you should grow spiritually too. Even that has to be stopped after reaching a stage.i.e. One has to merge with the infinite. In that age
one should not obstinate to cling on to the practices associated with the body of the religion. Otherwise, it only reflects the childlike mentality. . . .

Kartheegai deepam

The early man was so afraid of darkness. Light became his first god. He had started worshipping the sun.  " we meditate on the efflugent glory of the divine light: may he inspire our understanding". This was the interpretation given by the former president and philospher S.Radhakrishnan on Gayatri Mantra. The true meaning of guru is " one who dispels the darkness(ignorance).
Don't confuse with present day school teachers and college lecturers.

Today is kartheegai deepam. Every household in this part of globe illuminate their houses with earthen lamps. Even spiralling inflation has affected the celebration mood. The families have cut down the number of lamps because of hike in sesame oil.

When you see the earthen lamps from a distance it resembles your ajna chakra ---located in the centre of your forehead just in the middle of your eyebrows.

The importance of this chakra is to ignite your intellect. It helps in maintaining your balance. Raising of kundalini shakthi to this chakra brings out a positive transformation in saadhak( one who practices yogic lifestyle) life.

In ordinary life people used to smear vermillion red or holy ash or sandal paste at ajna chakra point.

Bye Bye North East Monsoon

Chennai is saying bye-bye to the northeast monsoon. It has almost come to the fag-end of the monsoon period. Tamizh month of marghazhi is just a few days from now. There is already mist in the morning hours. As usual, " "dogs" in the city running after "bitches". Afterall, this is their mating season. The human beings have not demarcated any season as a mating season. For him, 24*7, 365days.

To enjoy the "coolness" one has to go out for a walk in the morning. Those things are meant for focussed minds and health conscious people. For an indulgent, its time to cover up from head to toe with air condition fully on..