West Side Story!

The same balcony again, my relaxing place after my morning walks. The same chair facing west ready to inspire me to narrate another West Side Story! You may ask me why a west facing chair and not an east facing one. Tall buildings and leafy trees block my view of the eastern sky. I need to wait for more than an hour to sight the first rays of the sun. I sit facing west because I can see the sun lighting up the tall twenty storeyed buildings and for me that is good enough to start chanting Adithya Hridayam.



If you think that it is a clever idea, I must hasten to assure that this idea is as old as the Old Testament! Let me explain.

You may have all heard of the massive Temple that King Solomon built. It was an unparalleled construction of gold and precious diamonds. The Chief Architect of this epic making project was a guy called Hiram Abif. As the guy was halfway through the project he was murdered by some guys who were overzealous of reaching the top position. Immediately after the poor Chief was laid to rest, it became necessary to find a suitable successor for him.

But on account of the number of able and intelligent craftsmen, it was difficult to choose one without giving umbrage to the rest. It was at length determined to select twelve from among the most eligible and qualified ones who had already held office as deputies to the slain Chief. These were required to assemble on the following morning at a particular spot and it was decided that he who should first see the rays of the rising sun should be acknowledged as successor of Hiram. While all but one of the contenders were looking towards the East waiting for the first beam of the sun, one clever and resourceful guy by name Adoniram stood facing west mush to the amusement of all the people assembled there. When the first ray of the sun hit the tall mountain in the west, he fell on his feet and saluted the sun. The guys who were standing facing the east for the sun continued to remain in dark! Resourceful Adoniram was duly acknowledged as the successor of Hairam. This story will show that my west facing stance to chant my morning prayer is nothing new!

The mornings are getting warmer and brighter. The sweat drops are delighted to decorate my forehead. I am scared that the coming summer may be a lot fiercer. I remember my childhood days when my mother would say that winter would take leave of us on Sivarathri . But summer has already started knocking at the door as early as in February itself! Some diehard old guys are still wearing their monkey caps. The long haul Siberian birds will soon start packing up for their return journey as they may already be feeling homesick. Vedanthangal may be good for a short rejuvenating trip but it cannot stop them from feeling ‘Oh God, why are we here?’

Life, my buddies, is like that! I start humming my favourite song,

‘We are the world, we are the children
We are the ones who make a brighter day …’

 

@Viswamitra
My dear Sridhar

Here is a story for you from the Puranas:
According to a legend from the Markandeya Purana, a Brahmin named Kaushika used to visit a prostitute, despite being a Brahmin, and having a devoted wife, named Shandili, or Shilavati, in some versions. When he is unable to pay her for her services, the prostitute stopped seeing him, forcing him to return to his wife, who still cared for him. He still longed for the affection of the prostitute, so one day, he asked his wife to take him to her.

The sage Mandavya had been impaled in lieu of a crime and was lying on a spike in the forest, still alive due to his yogic powers. While being led by his wife through the deep forest at night, Kaushika, mistaking the sage for a thief, pushes him. Furious, Mandavya curses him to die before the next sunrise. To stop this curse from fruition, Shandili appeals to the solar deity, Surya, to not rise the next dawn. Surya acquiesces to the appeal of Shandili, as she is an extremely chaste and devoted woman. This leads to chaos in the universe, the deities not receiving their oblations, rainfall not occurring, grain not being cultivated, and people not performing their customary Vedic rituals. The deities go to Brahma, who suggests that they propitiate Anasuya, who was in the process of performing a great penance with her husband.

Accordingly, the divinities go to Anasuya, and the kind-hearted woman agrees to help them. Anasuya meets Shandili, and the two women engage in a conversation. The rishi's wife explains to Shandili that the entire universe was in peril because of her appeal to Surya, and discuss the necessity of a woman's devotion to her husband. Anasuya promises the woman that Kaushika would be free of his curse, as well as the leprosy he had contracted. Shandili directs the sun to rise again!

After reading your remark, I started wondering if Shandili actually stopped the earth from revolving on it's axis as the sun stays put in the same place all the time. It neither rises nor sets!

That is sadly true Sridhar. The colossal manner in which we are destroying the planet, we feel sorry for all other inhabitants that have the right to live peacefully!

 

@shyamala1234
My dear Syamala

Old guys should never make a promise knowing fully well that keeping it will never be in their hands! Laziness and sluggish mind are the trade mark of guys like me.
Do you need any further proof for it than the fact that I am responding now to what you wrote last month?
But I assure you that IL is my top priority whenever I wake up from my slumber

 

@gamma50g
Dear g50g

Your eye for details is truly amazing. Though I clicked the picture, I never noticed the school bus myself!

Don't despair. Even I hardly notice the top of a coconut tree thanks tho the severe geriatric neck stiffness!
The concluding para of your reply is poetic. I can visualise how far removed you are from the mad cacophony of a busy morning of an Indian city! No wonder your heart yearns for it. Even I look forward to it everyday because it sets the tone for a new day! What's the point in having two ears when you have nothing to hear? It brings to my mind the words of Berkeley that nothing exists if it has no observer

 

@Mistt
My dear Mistt
Those lines are from a great song that never fail to inspire me.

I am sure you will like it too!