Journey to Shirdi

A mild pain at the tip of the nose, my lips tend to curve and the tear glands finally yield under pressure. This was how felt when I had the first glimpse of Sai Baba at Shirdi.

My parents had wished to visit Shirdi over the last two decades but couldn’t make it. They say its God’s will. This is something I don’t understand and would never argue with my parents.

P.Kakkan – Unsung Leader

After reading about Mr.P.Kakkan in an article in The Hindu (here) today, I thought of writing something which I had heard from my father. But a brief search gave me what I intended to write (here).

It is said, he didn’t have the money to pay for a special ward and was lying in the veranda of the Govt Hospital, Madurai. Dr.M.G.Ramachandran was on a visit as Chief Minister, he noticed Kakkan and helped him.

Some time back, I visited Thirumogur (an old temple near othakadai). It was late in the evening, a convoy of SUVs made a halt opposite to the temple. The lead car had two dobermans ( no pun intended!) enjoying the view of the road; for a second I thought it could be some minister. But the person was just a ward head of some ‘local’ party.

Mr.Kakkan was really a great man. The sad part is, in contemporary terms, people would call him “pozhaika theriyadha manushan”.

If I have to give a word of advice to the current politicians, I would quote from the Tamil movie Roja Kootam, Raghuvaran’s advice to Srikanth; But, who am I to advice them?