While I was refueling my car at the petrol bunk some weeks ago, a Bangladeshi youth who was maning his post walked up to assist me fill the petrol. Out of the blues he told me that I should visit Kasi and went on to explain how I could get there and added that it was pretty easy to make the trip. Baffled though, I thanked him and left. I had no idea to travel but he surprised me that day.
Supramania Swami wanted to visit Kasi and shared his desire with me when I was with him. But his family and I knew that he could not possibly make the long journey from Tiruvannamalai to Kasi. As it was, he struggled to make it to a Vishnu temple some distance from his village. His son told me that he was bedridden for some time after returning from Palani. He never made it to Kasi.
Tavayogi surprised me by calling me from Kasi many years back. He had decided to take a short break from his chores at the ashram to visit Kasi taking hint and the directive from Agathiyar.
My brother and his family had been to Kasi many years ago. He returned to write about it for the paper he worked for. (Published on February 9, 2012 in the pull-out section LIFE & TIMES Travel of the New Straits Times daily.) SIDDHA HEARTBEAT: KASHI - IN MOTHER GANGA'S EMBRACE (PART 1) (agathiyarvanam.blogspot.com) and SIDDHA HEARTBEAT: KASHI - IN MOTHER GANGA'S EMBRACE (PART 2) (agathiyarvanam.blogspot.com)
The past few days, composer Shantanu Moitra brought me and my wife along on his grueling journey cycling along and following the River Ganga from its source to the Bay of Bengal through the camera lens of his crew and team and with his wonderful narration. It was simply superb. We got to see and feel Ganga in all her majesty. The songs he composed, and the background score were equally uplifting to the soul.