When they persisted, I realized that there were learnings from the small and big things I have been able to do, which could provoke thought and possibly action in others. I'm an educator at heart, and I saw that it was my duty to spread knowledge that could be applied. This book is the result of the same yen that made me reach out to everyone on practical aspects of our Sanatana Dharma.
My life of seventy-plus years has been a roller-coaster ride alternating between despair and exhilaration many times, but I have always been driven by the will to live every moment fully. This book has tried to capture the highs, the lows, the bumps and the hurts, but above all the will that has made every one of my experiences enjoyable.
Social fervour and an abiding commitment to the community have been the paramount driving forces in everything I have done. In rendering service to the nation and to the society, three attributes have constantly anchored and guided me: a sense of purpose, unflinching values and the courage of conviction. I will consider it God's grace if I am able to pass on to the reader these three values of life through the book.
I know I can convey my views with conviction when I am talking, but writing is a different ball game altogether and I have no pretensions of being a writer. So I literally "told my story" to a band of enthusiasts who took great pains to write it up and get it into print. It would be impossible for me to thank these friends who have done all the hard work out of sheer love and affection for me.
In particular Sudha G Eswaran and VS Kumar need special mention. They have had numerous conversations with me and a wide cross-section of my associates, and have painstakingly strung these anecdotes into a lively, beautifully sequenced narrative.
So here you are, with the story of a common man who could do some uncommon things, offered in all humility and hope that it is interesting and useful.
"Charaiveti, charaiveti"
[Don't stop in your tracks, keep going towards your goal] Aitareya Brahmana, Tritiya Adhyaya, Tritiya Khanda
There are several ways to write one's memoirs. Some begin at the beginning of their lives and keep going chronologically. Some others focus on relationships, and yet others on the highs and lows of their years.
I will begin the story of my life with the Anugraha bhashanam (gracious speech) by our Kanchi Acharya, Sri Sri Bala Periyava on 30th August 2020, at the peak of the COVID-19 viral threat in India and elsewhere. He delivered the address online. The occasion for the bhashanam was the Bhiksha Vandanam my disciples and I were offering during His Chaturmasyam. We do this every year at Kanchipuram, and were doing it online that year because of the pandemic.
His words were aimed at answering a very important question, a question many of us keep asking ourselves: what is my role in this life as an Indian, as a Hindu, and as a Brahmin if I am one by birth? As you read and reread his speech, I believe you can get the answers.
Here is a translation of Bala Periyava's speech.
Bala Periyava's anugraha bhashanam
Today, at Chinna Kanchipuram in Tenambakkam, the day started with the Surya Namaskaram by the students of the Veda Patasala here. Today is Dwadasi too. There have been two programmes - Tulasi pooja conducted by the students of the Patasala and Prakriti Vandanam organised by the RSS in which vriksha poojanam has taken centre stage.
A lot more attention is being paid to the worship of nature in recent times and various programmes have been organised towards this end. I recall a book -Marangaley Pillaigal - published some time back. It explains what our Hindu Sanatana Dharma says about Mother Nature.
The Sastras have been formulated for the good of society. The society should be a healthy one. It should be governed with intelligence, prudence, responsibility and patience. It should engage in dharmic acts of charity and kindness. It should spread goodwill and happiness.
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Journal (181)
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Vedanta (377)
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