Agathiyar through the Nadi asked me to come to his path and his worship, besides the worship of all the Gods and Goddesses in the Hindu pantheon. Slowly he brought me into performing rituals for his bronze statue and place offerings into the sacred fire, in my home. Numerous doors were opened along this path, doors I never knew existed. He brought others into my home. He brought the divine into my home and our hearts. He brought love and compassion into our hearts. He opened our eyes and hearts to the sufferings of others. He opened our eyes and hearts to the hungry, the homeless, the orphaned, the unfortunate, and the poor. He brought a balanced upliftment in us, in both the material and spiritual world, asking us not to neglect either. Building on our soul first through devotion and charity, he has brought changes in us. Building on the religious, yogic and spiritual practices, he strengthens the soul. Building on having us perform charity and upholding the noble values, he melted our hearts. Love and compassion oozed out from within the confines of the tough and selfish heart. Just as even the hardest rocks can dissolve in water to a small extent, the rock that was once our hearts, slowly melted away. All our effort went towards strengthening the forces of good over evil, we understood. A subtle battle takes place at each moment in our lives and all around us. Taking the hand of the divine, we walked through unscathed. As the brave at heart shall sail through the rapids, so shall we.
Although we are told not to expect results in our efforts and ventures, it brings joy to us to see positive changes take place in the lives of all those whom we touched. Sri Krishna brought us to the streets and showed us the state of the homeless. We picked up from him the act of feeding the homeless. Bala Chandran showed us the sad stories behind the residents and inmates of the old folks home and children homes, and homes for the mentally and physically challenged. Vinthamaray showed us the plight of those who were struggling to make ends meet even with an honest livelihood, battling the escalating costs of paying rent and utility bills besides struggling to provide food on their dinner table. All these divine souls opened our eyes to the real world out there. The curtain or veil of maya was drawn aside. We stepped in to do something for these people, to bring a change in their lives. If before, we stood before our altars at home and prayed and wished for all the good things in life, demanding and expecting Erai to fulfil or shower us with them, thinking that it was our birth right and we deserved the best, today we pray for the well-being of others. Agathiyar sets us doing rituals which he says subtly brings positive changes to nature and man. Agathiyar tells us to feed the poor, unfortunate and hungry, revealing to us that besides appeasing their hunger, the food we give will turn out to be medicine for them.
Indeed we are seeing these amazing changes take place as if by a miracle. A toddler who could not even stand a month ago, today has taken steps and cries her heart out, something she did not do earlier. The vitamin supplements and fortified milk formula given to the family worked a miracle. A teen who could not bring himself to socialize has opened up to us and broke the ice when we invited him to join us in bringing food to his fellow neighbours. He has volunteered to help us in future.
Just as Agathiyar and Tavayogi planted the seed in us, Mahin tells me that we have planted a seed in the heart of this kid to serve his community, "Now this 1 seed started to grow and in future many more. Now we need to water it to grow up well... Just we want to reduce the numbers we giving and they started to give and help each other." That should be the way, not making them dependent on our aid, but instead, share the piece of cake among others too.
A bedridden senior citizen who talked about ending his life looks forward to our visits each month now. A depressed lady who had a medical problem puts on a smile each time we stand at her door. Many householders have invited us into their homes, their kids jumping in excitement the moment they see us. We are elated and happy to see a smile, laughter and a note of gratitude in them. Above and beyond these, their lives have changed positively and for the better with a little bit of concern, aid and help from us. We have come to understand that small acts of charity go a long way towards shaping the future of others. We are glad that we are given a role to play in shaping their future. Erai has placed us here not to fend for ourselves but to care for others too. Erai has given us legs and arms and perfect health so that we would serve another. All our individual sorrows disappear when we tend to the needs of others.
Just as Agathiyar and Tavayogi planted the seed in us, Mahin tells me that we have planted a seed in the heart of this kid to serve his community, "Now this 1 seed started to grow and in future many more. Now we need to water it to grow up well... Just we want to reduce the numbers we giving and they started to give and help each other." That should be the way, not making them dependent on our aid, but instead, share the piece of cake among others too.
A bedridden senior citizen who talked about ending his life looks forward to our visits each month now. A depressed lady who had a medical problem puts on a smile each time we stand at her door. Many householders have invited us into their homes, their kids jumping in excitement the moment they see us. We are elated and happy to see a smile, laughter and a note of gratitude in them. Above and beyond these, their lives have changed positively and for the better with a little bit of concern, aid and help from us. We have come to understand that small acts of charity go a long way towards shaping the future of others. We are glad that we are given a role to play in shaping their future. Erai has placed us here not to fend for ourselves but to care for others too. Erai has given us legs and arms and perfect health so that we would serve another. All our individual sorrows disappear when we tend to the needs of others.
Agathiyar asked us to do collective prayers lighting the Aganda Deepam that he says will take care of the wellness of all of his creation. He got us to engage in all these tasks bringing us out of our selfish thoughts to serve the world and its inhabitants. Through rituals and charity, he brought us to act as his apostles, as his arms and legs, as an extension of him. Erai works through us in relieving the hardship and sufferings of others. We are glad that he has given us this opportunity.
Simon Lister in the series "Tales by Light - Children in Need" through his camera lens and breathtaking photography captures the face of poverty.
His "photographs were displayed on massive billboards in Times Square New York to promote UNICEF following the one-hour documentary film made about him and his work with the organisation."
Lister’s Tales by Light 3 gives its audience a new perspective on working children.
“If they don’t work, they don’t get any money, they don’t survive,” Lister explains. “They are literally making sure they can get something so that they can eat that day. A lot of us in the western culture are going, ‘Gosh, we have to get these kids out of the factories. They should be playing and getting educated.’ But when you’re there, you realise they have to get money, they have to find a way to survive.”
Education is important. If they can get it, it’s a luxury. UNICEF is helping to fit this, as well as health care and a safe place to sleep, into their lives as much as possible, Lister adds.
“You might have a mother with four children,” Lister continues. “The husband has died or left them. And she’s left at home with a two-year-old. Once the children are five to seven, the mother can send them off to work. These children work for three to five hours, depending on what their role or job is and then they can go to a UNICEF catch-up school. UNICEF sets up the schools with its partners. It looks after the curriculum and the teachers, and also seeks out children that need help and provides it. It also provides safe houses or shelters at night, so that street children have a safe place to go. And it makes sure that all the children are healthy. UNICEF is doing an amazing job. And it’s epic."
These great souls do a wonderful job of bringing the sufferings of others to the public and through the publicity garnered bring their plight to the attention of good samaritans and organizations that come forward to provide aid.