From & To Sathish #5 - Page 74

*'When you thought I wasn't looking'*

Mary Rita Schilke Korzan wrote a poem to her mother many years ago, thanking her for all she had done as a mother, friend, and role model.

She gave the poem to her mother and, a few months later, offered it as a tribute when Mary and her husband were married.

So many wedding guests asked for a copy that Mary included one in her thank-you notes.

Then began the strange and heartwarming journey of Mary's poem to her mom. Friends passed it on to those they knew. A minister in her hometown couldn't recall who gave it to him, but he included the by-then "anonymously written" poem in his book about loving others.

Another author picked it up from there for her compilation of heartfelt works, and Mary finally noticed her poem, now listed as "Author Unknown," in A Fourth Course of 'Chicken Soup for the Soul,' which her husband and children gave her as a Mother's Day gift.

This is the special poem reminds us that sometimes the little things we do *"just because"* mean more to someone than we can ever know.

Those little things teach _love, compassion, and understanding_ . In other words, they're priceless.

This poem should be read by every adult because *children are watching you and doing as you do, not as you say* .

"When you thought I wasn't looking,

I saw you hang my first painting on the refrigerator, and I immediately wanted to paint another one.

When you thought I wasn't looking,

I heard you say a prayer,

and I believed that there was a God to talk to.

When you thought I wasn't looking,

I felt you kiss me goodnight,

and I felt loved.

When you thought I wasn't looking,

I saw you feed the birds in winter, and I learned that it was good to be kind to animals.

When you thought I wasn't looking,

I saw you make my favourite cake for me, and I learned that the little things can be the special things in life.

When you thought I wasn't looking,

I saw you make a meal and take it to a friend who was sick, and I learned that we all have to help take care of each other.

When you thought I wasn't looking,

I saw you take care of our house and everyone in it, and I learned we have to take care of what we are given.

When you thought I wasn't looking,

I saw how you handled your responsibilities, even when you didn't feel good, and I learned that I would have to be responsible when I grow up.

When you thought I wasn't looking,

I saw you hold the door open for others and heard 'thank you' and 'you're welcome', and I learned respect for others.

When you thought I wasn't looking,

I saw tears come from your eyes, and I learned that sometimes things hurt, but it's all right to cry.

When you thought I wasn't looking,

I saw that you cared, and I wanted to be everything that I could be.

When you thought I wasn't looking,

I learned most of life's lessons that I need to know to be a good and productive person when I grow up.

When you thought I wasn't looking,

I looked at you and wanted to say, Thanks for all the things I saw, when you thought I wasn't looking."

Am sharing this with all the people I know who do so much for others, but think that no one ever sees.

Always remember that the Little eyes see a lot and never forget what they have seen.

Each of us, parent, grandparent, aunt, uncle, teacher, friend, influences the life of a child.

In any case, it is never between you and someone who is not looking or acknowledging, it is always between you and God and he is always looking.

*Carry on your good deeds even if you feel, no one is looking because someone is _always looking_ .*

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xUV7VvAUhkU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wlh9Rb041C8&t=6s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GOHaXo-xSFw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s1EHAO-i36o

Avan, Aval Adhu 246

“So, this is my life. And I want you to know that I am both happy and sad and I'm still trying to figure out how that could be.” Stephen Chbosky, The Perks of Being a Wallflower.

“But I was young and didn’t know better and someone should have told me to capture every second, every kiss & every night.

Because now I’m sitting here alone and it’s getting really hard to breathe because tears are growing in my throat and they want to break out, but there are people watching and I just want to be somewhere silent. somewhere still.

But still,l I don’t want to be alone because I’m scared and lonely and I don’t understand

Because I was alone my whole life.My whole life

I was so damn lonely and I was content with that because I liked myself and my own company and I didn’t need anyone

I thought. But then there was you .. ...

So, someone should have told me that love is for those few brave who can handle the unbearable emptiness, the unbearable guilt and lack of oneself. Because I lost myself to someone I love and I might get myself back one day. But it will take time, it will take time.

This is gonna take some time.

I wish someone would have told me this. Someone should have told me this.” Charlotte Eriksson

So, here we are in the middle of our story with our main characters Ravi, Gayatri, Partha and Daksha stuck in a cottage in Kodaikanal and with danger approaching them slowly but surely and it will soon be upon them. If that danger which is looming as darkness in the darkness of Kodai that finds itself submerged in a thick fog and a massive landslide down below was not enough, there is now a new complication that has woken up in the form of Madhurima a ghost from the past and a living spirit and mother in the present. Stepmother to be exact.

Madhu was a ghost, a memory that belonged in the past, but sadly for Gayatri, life had once again played a cruel trick on her by making her meet Ravi and making them fall in love with each other. Then, life had decided to play with her and toy with her already fragile soul by revealing to her that the ghost of Ravi's past was in fact her own stepmother with whom she had been estranged for nearly two decades and had become closer only in the recent past.

" Let go " is easily said than done. How can one let go when the other refuses to let go? How do you let go when the other is holding you with love and with only pure thoughts, in their soul? How can you make a decision on your own for both of you and that too when it concerns the other too?'

It is easy to let go if the other person is toxic and dangerous to you. But, what if the other person is kind, gentle, loyal and loves you truly, madly and deeply?

' But, he and my stepmother loved each other. Okay, they were kids, teenagers but still, it feels all wrong ' Gayatri thought as she sat in the darkness of Kodaikanal in cottage no.7.

She slowly raised her head and looked at Ravi and saw him looking back at her. ' Should I tell him what is troubling me or should I just wait for the right moment and take my leave citing work or something like that ? ' Gayatri wondered deep in her soul.

There has never been a specific time, a moment or a period for a soul to fall in love, feel comfortable or simply feel good about another soul and become friends. It could happen in the very first moment or take a little while longer and sometimes never. It all depends on each and every individual.

Ravi had known the moment he had laid eyes on Gayatri that she was a good, kind and honest soul and a person who you could trust in any situation. Yes, he saw that she too like the rest of humanity had layers to her heart that covered pain and loss which obviously stemmed from losing both her parents at a relatively young age and then falling in love and marrying the wrong man and eventually getting a divorce under acrimonious circumstances.

Ravi knew very well from experience and from his own life that pain, loss and sorrow took several paths in the course of a person's life.

It is like the different courses taken by the tiny rivulets that run down from the ooze of a glacier or a spring. Some stream away and eventually gathering force turn into a mighty river. Some stream away wanting to be left alone and soon run dry and meander to become vapour. Similar to the streams are the tears that fall from your eyes that oozed from the glacier of your soul. Tears that fall and cleanse, cool and heal some souls do the opposite in others for their tears stoke fires of anger and hatred and are doomed for the rest of their existence.

Sorrow, pain, and loss affect each one of us in different ways. Some never recover completely from it and withdraw from the world forming a cocoon around them and their minds. Some become angry, and hostile and lead their lives with one goal in their minds, ' Life f..ked me and so I will do the same to all those who exist around me.'

Then, you have those who go about their lives with quiet determination maintaining a stoic silence. Submerging their pain and loss to deep depths, they give themselves a chance at living a happy and peaceful life.

Burning bridges behind you is understandable. It's the bridges before us that we burn, not realizing we may need to cross, that brings regret.” Anthony Liccione

#சிலப்பதிகாரம் என்பது #கற்பனைக்கதையல்ல..என்பதனை அறிவீரா???

சிலப்பதிகாரம் என்பது கற்பனைக் கதையல்ல வரலாற்று நிகழ்வு என்பதனை உலகிற்கு உணர்த்தியவர், தஞ்சாவூர் கரந்தை தமிழ்ச் சங்கத்தின்,கரந்தை புலவர் கல்லூரியில் பேராசிரியராக பணியாற்றிய, மறைந்த மரியாதைக்குரிய ஆய்வறிஞர் பேராசிரியர் சி.கோவிந்தராசனார் அவர்கள்.

சிலப்பதிகாரத்தைத் திறம்பட கற்றவர், சிலப்பதிகாரத்தில் ஊறித் திளைத்தவர். அவரி்ன் மனதில் நீண்ட நாட்களாகவே ஒர் ஆசை,ஏக்கம்,கனவு.சிலப்பதிகாரத்தில் கண்ணகி பயணம் செய்த பாதை வழியாகவே ஒரு பயணம் செய்தால் என்ன என்ற தணியாத தாகம்.எண்ணி துணிந்து இறங்கினார்.

1945 ஆம் ஆண்டு கண்ணகி பயணித்த பாதை வழியாகவே இவரும் நடந்தே சென்றார்.தன் ஊதியத்தைச் செலவிட்டு நடந்தார்.பின் தன் உடமைகள் ஒவ்வொன்றையும் வி்ற்று விற்று காசாக்கிக் கொண்டே 17 ஆண்டுகள் நடந்து முடிவில் சிலப்பதிகாரம் கற்பனைக் கதையல்ல வரலாற்று நிகழ்வு என்பதை உலகிற்கு உணர்த்தினார்.

1945 ம் ஆண்டு மயிலாடுதுறை அருகில் கடற்கரையில் மீனவர்களின் ஒரு சில குடிசைகளுடன் மணற் பரப்பும்,மணல் மேடுகளும்,கள்ளியுடன் காரைச் செடிகளும் செறிந்த புதர்களும்,சவுக்கு தோப்புகளும்,புனங்காடுகளும் சூழ்ந்திருந்த பட்டணம் என்று,அன்று அழைக்கப்பட்ட பகுதியே,பண்டைய புகார் நகரம் இருந்த இடம் என்பதைக் கண்டு பிடித்தார்.கடலடி ஆய்வு செய்து கடற்கோளினால் அளிந்து கடலடியில் மறைந்து நிற்கும் நிலப்பரப்பே,காவேரிப் பூம்பட்டிணம் கண்ணகி பிறந்த இடம் என்பதை உறுதி செய்தார்.

1945 ஆம் ஆண்டு பூம்புகாரில் ஆய்வினைத் தொடங்கிய இவருக்கு,கால் நடையாக ஆராய்ந்து,ஆராய்ந்து, நடந்து,நடந்து,மதுரை வரை செல்வதற்கே பன்னிரண்டு ஆண்டுகள் தேவைப்பட்டன.

மதுரையில் கோவலனை இழந்த கண்ணகி,சேரநாடு நோக்கிச் சென்ற வழியில்,இளங்கோ அடிகள் தந்த குறிப்புகளின் உதவியுடன் நகரத் தொடங்கினார்.

1945 ஆம் ஆண்டு தொடங்கிய பயணம் 1963 ஆம் ஆண்டு நவம்பர் 17 ஆம் நாள் மலையினுள் மறைந்து கிடந்த கோயிலைக் காணும் அந்த இனிய நிகழ்வில் நெகிழ்ந்துள்ளார்.

கடந்த 2012 டிசம்பரில் குடியரசு தலைவர் பிரணாப் முகர்ஜி தொல்காப்பியர் விருது வழங்கி சிறப்பித்தார்.

கண்ணகி கோட்டத்தைக் கண்டுபிடித்தது எவ்வாறு? என்பது குறித்து தினமணி நாளிதழுக்கு சில வருடங்களுக்கு முன் திரு.கோவிந்தராசனார் அளித்த பேட்டி..

’’சிலப்பதிகாரத்தை முழுமையாகப் படித்தேன். அதில் எல்லாம் தெளிவாக கூறப்பட்டுள்ளது. சோழ நாட்டின் தலைநகரமான பூம்புகாரில் இருந்து கோவலனும் கண்ணகியும் நடந்து சென்ற பாதையாக அதில் கூறப்பட்டுள்ள இடங்களுக்கெல்லாம் நடந்தே சென்றேன். மதுரையில் கண்ணகி பாண்டிய மன்னனிடம் நீதி கேட்டு அது கிடைக்காததால் நகரை எரித்துவிட்டு தலைவிரி கோலமாய் மேற்கு நோக்கிச் செல்கிறாள். சேர நாட்டின் மலைப் பகுதியான முருகவேல் குன்றத்துக்கு (இன்றைய மங்களதேவி மலை) சென்று அங்கு வானுலகில் இருந்து ரதத்தில் வந்திறங்கிய கோவலனுடன் இணைந்து கண்ணகி விண்ணுலகம் சென்றதாக சிலப்பதிகாரம் கூறுகிறது.

கண்ணகி நடந்து சென்றதாக கூறப்பட்ட பாதை வழியாக நானும் இரவு, பகல் பாராமல் நடந்தேன். மதுரையில் இருந்து 90 மைல் தொலைவில் உள்ள மங்களதேவி மலையை அடைந்தேன். 40 மைல் சுற்றளவில் கண்ணகி கோட்டத்தை தேடி அலைந்தேன். இறுதியில் அந்த கோட்டத்தைக் கண்டுபிடித்தேன்.’’

கண்ணகி கோட்டத்திற்கு அப்படி என்ன சிறப்பு?

’’வானுலகில் இருந்து ரதத்தில் இறங்கி வந்த கோவலனுடன் கண்ணகியும் விண்ணுலகம் சென்றதை நேரில் கண்ட மலைவாழ் மக்கள் அந்த செய்தியை மன்னன் சேரன் செங்குட்டுவனிடம் கூறுகிறார்கள். மன்னனின் மனைவி அந்த இடத்தில் பத்தினித் தெய்வமான கண்ணகிக்கு ஒரு கோயில் கட்ட வேண்டும் என எண்ணுகிறாள். அதன் பின்பு வடபுலத்து அரசர்களை வெற்றி கண்டு இமயமலையில் கல்லெடுத்து அதை கங்கையில் நீராட்டி தலைச்சுமையாக இங்கு கொண்டு வந்து அந்தக் கல்லில் கண்ணகிக்கு சிலை வடித்து முருகவேல் குன்றத்தில் நிறுவி நாள்தோறும் வழிபாடும், விழாக்களும் நடத்தி வந்தான் மன்னன். அத்தகைய சிறப்பு மிக்க கண்ணகி கோட்டம் சுமார் இரண்டாயிரம் ஆண்டுகளுக்கு முன்பு கட்டப்பட்டதாக குறிப்புகள் உள்ளன.’’

அது கண்ணகி கோட்டம்தான் என்பதை எப்படி உறுதி செய்தீர்கள்?

’’மண்டிக்கிடந்த புதருக்குள் சிறிய கோட்டைச் சுவர் போன்ற கல் கட்டடத்திற்குள் கண்ணகி சிலை இருந்தது. அந்த கற்களில் தமிழ் வட்டெழுத்தும், முற்கால பாண்டியர் காலத்து தமிழ் எழுத்துகளும் காணப்பட்டன. அங்கு சிலப்பதிகாரத்தில் கூறப்பட்டுள்ள பழங்கால மலைவாழ் மக்கள் மட்டும் இல்லையே தவிர, எஞ்சிய வன விலங்குகள், இயற்கை காட்சிகள், வேங்கை மரங்கள் என அத்தனை அடையாளங்களும் ஒருங்கே காணப்பட்டன.

மேலும், அங்கிருந்த கண்ணகி சிலை, இமயமலை கல்லில் செதுக்கப்பட்டது என்பதால், அந்த கல்லை ஆய்வுக்கு உட்படுத்தினேன். அது மாதிரியான கல் அருகில் உள்ள மலைகளிலோ அல்லது தமிழ்நாட்டில் உள்ள மலைகளிலோ இல்லை. இறுதியில் இமயமலை கல்லுடன் ஒப்பிட்டுப் பார்த்து உறுதி செய்தேன். தலையில் சுமந்து வரும் எடையளவில் இருந்த கல்லில் செதுக்கப்பட்டுள்ளது கண்ணகி சிலை. அந்தச் சிலையைப் பாதுகாக்கும் வகையில் எனது வீட்டில் வைத்திருந்தேன். தகவலை அறிந்த அப்போதைய தமிழக முதல்வர் மு. கருணாநிதி என்னை அழைத்து கண்ணகி சிலையைக் கேட்டார். அவர் கேட்டபடி அரசிடம் ஒப்படைத்து விட்டேன்.

தமிழர்களின் வரலாற்றை செப்பம் செய்ய வேண்டும் என்ற நோக்கில் 50 ஆண்டுகளுக்கு முன்னர் கண்ணகி கோட்டம் கண்டேன். அதற்காக உழைத்தேன். பேர், புகழ், பதவி, பட்டம், விருது வரும் என நினைத்ததில்லை; ஆனால் அதெல்லாம்தான் இப்போது நடக்கிறது.’’

குறிப்பு;அய்யா அவர்கள் விண்ணுலகு அடைந்து விட்டார்கள்...படைப்பு முகநூல் குழு

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fbqTU7ZsqgE

*The Ant Story*

🐜

One Sunday morning, a wealthy man was sitting in his balcony enjoying the sunshine with his coffee when a little ant caught his attention. The ant was moving across the balcony carrying a big leaf several times its size.

The man watched it for more than an hour. He saw that the ant faced many obstacles during its journey, paused, took a diversion and then continued towards its destination.

At one point the tiny creature came across a crack in the floor. It paused for a little while, analysed and then laid the huge leaf over the crack, walked over the leaf, picked the leaf on the other side then continued on its journey.

The man was captivated by the cleverness of the ant. The incident left the man in awe and forced him to contemplate over the miracle of creation.

In front of his eyes there was this tiny creature, lacking in size yet equipped with a brain to analyse, contemplate, reason, explore, discover and overcome.

A while later the man saw that the creature had reached its destination – a tiny hole in the floor which was the entrance to its underground dwelling.

And it was at this point that the ant’s shortcoming was revealed.

How could the ant carry into the tiny hole the large leaf that it had managed to carefully bring to the destination? It simply couldn't! So the tiny creature, after all the painstaking and hard work and exercising great skills, overcoming all the difficulties along the way, just left behind the large leaf and went home empty-handed.

The ant had not thought about the end before it began its challenging journey and in the end the large leaf was nothing more than a burden to it.

The man learned a great lesson that day.This is the truth about our lives too.

*We worry about our family, we worry about our job, we worry about how to earn more money, we worry about where we should live, what kind of vehicle to buy, what dress to wear, what gadgets to upgrade, only to abandon all these things when we reach our final destination*.

*We don’t realize in our life’s journey that these are just burdens that we are carrying with utmost care and fear of losing them, only to find at the end, they are useless and we can’t take them with us*....

Continuing with the story…you’ll enjoy this…

That wealthy man was a bit impatient. Had he waited a while more, he would have observed something else...

The ant vanished inside the hole leaving the large leaf outside.

Only to return with 20 more ants who broke up the leaf into tiny pieces and took them all inside.

Moral

*1. Effort doesn’t go waste unless you give up!*

Moral

*2. Together as a team, Nothing is Impossible* 😇

Moral

*3. Share the spoils with your brethren* 😇

Moral

*4. (Most important!) If you carry more than what you can use, it will be enjoyed by others after you. So decide for whom are you putting in the efforts?*

😁😁

*Isn’t it amazing how much we can learn from even such a tiny creature like an ant? Any other perspective that you could derive..?*

Still waters run deep is a much flogged and often bandied about quote, saying from yore and it can be traced to Rome in the first century. In Quintus Rufus Curtius’ work Alexander the Great, he writes: “altissima quaeque flumina minimo sono labi”, which translates as “the deepest rivers flow with the least sound”.

“Still waters run deep” is an idiom that does not come, in that wording, from Shakespeare. Shakespeare uses a different phrase but with a similar meaning: “Smooth runs the water where the brook is deep.” Henry V1

It originally meant a deceitful person who is hiding something dangerous in their nature but it has evolved over centuries and now refers to people who are humble, intellectual, complex or possessing surprising qualities.

Quiet and calm do sound good together and would make a great couple. Well, calm would do for a good wife but then quiet too would suffice for a husband. For, in the end, both man and woman live out their life business contract called marriage with one partner quiet ( read as unknown quantity) and the other calm ( read as tired, depressed and has washed her hands off and thrown them in the air thinking, " Let's endure and get this over" ). Hold on while I finish by telling you that the roles can reverse with the guy calm and the woman quiet.

Ravi had learnt from the years and from many experiences in those years that it is good to be patient and wait for the situation to develop and wait for the person involved to speak and they always did. Eventually.

Writer Satish questions Ravi who happens to be his own creation

But Gayatri is different.

Why, Ravi? Why is she different?

Because I love her. I have invested my mind, my emotions, and my time in her along with my future happiness and peace. I cannot stand watching her torment herself and sit still while she is drowning searching for an understanding of some unanswered questions.

But Ravi, this means that you are going against your own flow. The flow of your heart, your mind and their needs. It means you are going to change and morph for another and maybe even subtly compromise your own character for another who happens to be the person who you have fallen in love with.

Exactly, writer sir. I can and want to change and I am willing to do that for the person I love. I repeat the person who I love.

But, Ravi, doesn't it feel wrong, to compromise on your long-standing ideals, and virtues for another person and that too in the name of love? What about what is right for you? What about doing what is comfortable for you and you know that invariably you always end up doing the right thing?

Writer Satish, Life is a game of chance in which the end called death is just around the corner and it can chance upon you in the next dangerous curve or swirl around like a boomerang and come upon you when you least expect it and from a direction that you call your blindspot. So, enough of me and let me see if I can make her happy and in the process make myself happy.

Ravi, are you sure that happiness is what you really want when you know that it pales in comparison to Peace?

Maybe. But sometimes, happiness, however temporary it may be, feels permanent in its impermanence.

So, here we are with Satish the writer and Ravi his main character in two forms. What do you even mean, you madcap?

I meant that life, in the end, is a war and love is a battlefield like Kurukshetra. We are both Partha and Krishna and switch places when the situation needs it. Just like we switch our allegiances between temporary happiness and permanent peace.

Oh lord! what a game, a drama you play on us and the best part is the joke is on us in the end. Is there an end to all these auditions? For it is tiring to switch between hero, villain, comedian and yes, between quiet and calm.

See, we can only lament, moan, groan, squeal and yes, yell out our pain and sorrow.

Sorry, nobody home but for that flickering candle in the wind called Hope, faith and devotion.