Yesterday the family sat together to watch RJ Balaji and NJ Saravanan's "Veetla Vishesham". The duo has managed to pass on several messages through their latest combined effort as in their earlier venture "Mookuthi Amman" too. Movies have made an impact bringing a varied array of emotions and entertainment since their advent. I was hooked on watching movies in the theatres since my school days. That was the only entertainment back then. Only in the sixties did television make its debut here but it was expensive to own one then.
"Malaysian television broadcasting was introduced on 28 December 1963. Color television was introduced on 28 December 1978. Full-time color transmissions were officially inaugurated on New Year's Day 1982." (https://en.wikipedia.org/)
We used to watch television programs aired in black-and-white at a neighbor's house. I would cycle to town to watch the color televisions on display at shops. Eventually, we could own a used Grundig tv.
When I started to earn I bought a National tv that came with its cabinet those days. Today I own a home theatre where I spend my time listening to songs and movies that sound so different.
I used to read everything about the Tamil film industry then. This is how I picked up reading the Tamil language. I am glad that my interest in movies mooted and sustained my reading habit. In the nineties, my interest switched to reading about astrology, numerology, and books on gems, customs, traditions, and religion. I would walk into bookstores and hunt for related books. After coming to the Siddha path I hunted for books on them that included Siddha Vaidyam too. I have an extensive collection although I have given away much of them so that others keen to learn might benefit from them.
With the advent of technology and the internet, information is available at the tap of a finger or rather a key or click of a mouse. All we need is a smartphone and data. I guess I have been born again to relish and enjoy these findings that were never envisioned nor available in my past births. I need these experiences too I guess. Maybe our ancestors are back too reveling in these technologies.
My past, present, and future were revealed by the Siddhas in a transcript from age-old predictions written on preserved old palm leaves called the Suvadi or Olai. We listen to a few lines of it read and acknowledge if it was relevant to us. Otherwise, we move on to read another. What would have been a normal process of picking up the relevant leaf from bundles of them, became intriguing when a reading from a leaf that seemed to relate to me, my parents, my career, and my family mentioned my wife's name as Manohari. When the wife was someone else the reader skipped reading the leaf and looked for another. So who was this person who carried my credentials but was married to one Manohari?
Similarly, when we finally located my leaf the horoscope given in the palm leaf differed from what several astrologers had drafted and drawn out. I guess Agathiyar had placed before me a prediction that would materialize provided I carried out what was told in the leaf. Remedies were given which I did. I was called to their path which I took up too. My fate changed with time guided closely by him in subsequent Nadi readings. Both Tavayogi and Agathiyar introduced practices and had us drop on time those that we had picked up on our own too when their benefits were reaped, not a second sooner or later. If in coming to my home in the form of a bronze statue he had us chant his name 100,000 these days with the book or online pdf file open before us we cannot bring ourselves to sing. I guess he is saying that he had heard enough. Similarly, the Yoga and pranayama practices given by Tavayogi and the breathing practices given by Agathiyar in the Nadi came to an end too. The former ended when my Muladhara chakra was activated and caused extreme pain in my lower back in 2010, and 2011. I was asked to continue it in 2019 again though. Today he has asked me to abstain from all forms of yogic practices. The Siddha puja initiated by the Nadi Guru after my first reading of the Nadi expanded with the ritual of Homam or lighting the sacrificial fire added on as directed by Tavayogi. This ritual that we carried out on temple grounds too and the libation of Agathiyar's statue after his arrival, has come to an end also, only to be taken up when necessary. Tavayogi introduced feeding the hungry at his Kallar ashram and that took flight once back in Malaysia with the coming together of the youngsters from Thondu Seivom that saw us do charity on the streets, in the homes of the poor, and in temples. But that too came to an end with Agathiyar telling us that others will take it up. True enough another group continued from where we left.
As mentioned in BBCs "The Story of China S1" that "As it is says in chinas famous novel the romance of the three kingdoms it is a truth universally acknowledged that everything long united will fall apart and everything long divided will come back together again" the Whatsapp group AVM and its arm AS too was disbanded and we moved on on a solo journey. But Agathiyar hinted that we shall all come back together in the future when everyone has settled their responsibilities.
We were not allowed to do the same thing forever. He had us move up the spiritual ladder leaving behind all earlier activities. Agathiyar was preparing us to let go of everything eventually. Today we can leave happily without any ties when the calling comes from above.