I am 63 this year. As I look back at my life I cannot but thank the dear Lord for all he has done for me and my family and all those I knew. Born to my parents, my father was from India and my mother was born here. My father's family were traditionally money lenders from a small village in Kilasevalpatti. My maternal grandpa was a contractor. I was the 8th child to them. Only seven survived. My parents taught us to pray. We had an altar in our home where we lit the oil lamp and visited the temples too. Later as a bachelor in a small fishing village that was to change with the coming of the Naval base there, I visited the temples in the vicinity and carried out home puja in my room. I had a good job that I liked. I also had all the time on my hands to engage in puja and reading. After 8 years I was transferred to the capital city of Malaysia where the wedding bells sounded for me. At the same time, the divine had asked me to take a break from my rigorous practice of worship both at dawn and dusk that I carried out back in the coastal town. After 13 years I was drawn back into the practice when I was mysteriously asked to be given the Vasudeva mantra and a painting of Lord Dhakshanamurthy to be worshipped. This laid the ground for me to meet my Moola guru Agathiyar in the Nadi. Later I was brought to my first guru in the physical form Supramania Swami of Tiruvannamalai and three years later Tavayogi Thangarasan Adigal of Kallar Ashram. I was officially introduced to Sariyai, Kriyai, and Yoga now. With the touch of these gurus, I could see myself progressing rapidly under their guidance as if we were chasing time. There seemed to be a rush in accomplishing their work. Then in the wake of Gnanam, Agathiyar brought everything to a complete halt. With it came the pandemic that was lurking in the shadows. We were forced to carry out individual puja and not collectively as we did earlier. I only realized later that this was the period of shedding the skin like jungle snakes. We had actually learned to drop our attachments to all that we did previously in the period of some 2 1/2 years.
With the laws and rules lifted Agathiyar has taken to visiting the homes of his devotees. But this time around it's the kids who sit around and carry out the puja with help and guidance from the adults. The next generation of devotees is being groomed. I guess our gurus wish to see the Siddha Margam flourish has seen the light of the day.
I love the way Agathiyar has laid the groundwork and "cleverly schemed it all". It is true that it is all play for him though it is a test of our strength, endurance, and patience. Those who withstand the pressure stay on to see the benefits while others shall see it later in life after working on their resilience further.
Everything about the journey was pretty well organized and executed by him. We merely were tools in his hands. He had an agenda that we helped fulfill. That is all we did. It was his show and we were only actors. But at the end of the day, we were rewarded well though we never sought these rewards.
It has been a wonderful journey and a transition. We have gained sufficient experience to lead others I suppose. We have started our work on the kids this time around.