It has hardly been 12 hours since I bade adieu to writing, and I am back. I suppose, rather than admitting that I am hooked on writing, I should say that I am keeping myself occupied. Otherwise, I could go senile with nothing to do. I am a pensioner who goes for my walks in the mornings and evenings, in addition to sending my daughter to work twice a week and running errands for groceries, etc. I hardly meet up with people or attend events. A devotee who is on the working committee of the upcoming 1st International Agathiyar Conference, to be held in Malaysia in April, asked if I wanted to work with them, in addition to attending the event. Invitations have been sent to heads of Ashrams and Peedhams, I know, and they are considering attending. However, I told him that for now I would not be attending. I am happy and contented with my home Puja and writing. I remember when the Agathiyar Vizha was held at a prominent temple in Kuala Lumpur in the past, I only went when Tavayogi asked me to represent him, as he had received an invitation. When the 1st World Conference on Siddha Philosophy was held in 2007 for the very first time, and Tavayogi came to officiate the event, Agathiyar in the Nadi had told me that the Siddhas would gather at the event and asked me to attend too. I came across a post that brings back memories of that day, which I had salvaged from my earlier website http://indianheartbeat.20m.com/ and shared earlier using "Wayback Machine," which I came to know from my daughter, does the job of retrieving lost or deleted posts and those from deactivated sites.
Tavayogi arrived in Malaysia with his entourage of seventy-five Indian saints, learned pandits, professors, sidha doctors, and common folk on 24th May 2007. They were driven to the University of Malaya, where the First Conference of Sidha Principles was to be held that evening. The moment I spotted Tavayogi alighting from the four-wheel drive, I hurried to him. Another disciple of his approached him, too. He hugged both of us. I called my family over to greet him, too. Tavayogi moved aside to reveal Madam Sarojini or recently given the honorable title of Mataji. I held her hands, and we both embarrassed ourselves. I told Tavayogi that I had wanted to go over to the airport but decided I would be of use at the university, where preparations were being conducted for the seminar.
Earlier, Ooran Adigal was driven in by his disciple in Malaysia, GN Supramaniam. As the Adigal alighted from the vehicle, I greeted him. I became the porter for the day by circumstances. The group of volunteers in charge of receiving the participants was nowhere to be seen. I carried Adigal’s luggage to his room and later had the privilege to serve him tea in his lodge.
The rest of the entourage had arrived by now. I greeted them and assisted in carrying some of their luggage. I showed them their rooms and solved some tiny problems that they faced during check-in. Meanwhile, my wife and children were equally busy helping prepare the identity cards for the participants. I called them over to Adigal, who, on seeing them, took out a packet of Vibhuti and blessed them.
As we left for home around one in the afternoon, thinking we had assisted enough for the day, we met Tavayogi who was being chauffeured to the radio station for an interview, at the traffic lights. We greeted each other again while still in the car, and Tavayogi asked that we return in the evening to talk.
At 6 pm my family and I picked up my brother-in-law Arumugam who had just arrived from Ipoh to attend the conference.
Tavayogi had gone to the airport to fetch a Vice-Chancelor from a university in India, we were told. Arumugam and I went to meet Uran Adigal who was in his lodge. I took the opportunity to get Adigal to autograph my copy of the Tiru Arutpa, the sixth canto, that he had published in 1982.
Later as Ooran Adigal came down for a walk I approached him to ask if he would like a drive to ‘Little India’ - Brickfields. This is a small township where everything Indian is available. Adigal consented. He talked about himself, his writings, his previous trips to Malaysia, etc. We came back to the university in time for dinner.
Tavayogi was already back for dinner too. Tavayogi retired early that evening.
25th May 2007 was the official opening of the First Conference Of Sidha Principles. As I parked my car and walked up the hill where the Convention Center was located with my brother-in-law Arumugam, my brother Kathiresen, and the Nadi reader T.Ramesh, we spotted Tavayogi at the foyer of the Convention Center. We gave the traditional Indian salutations as we walked up the slope and he returned the salutations. We walked briskly to meet him. Upon reaching him, Kathi and Ramesh fell at his feet. I grasped his hands only to realize this was not Tavayogi. He was Swami Hindu from Ipoh. All four of us were pretty sure that we saw Tavayogi a moment ago. Tavayogi arrived at the Convention Center only later. We realized that Tavayogi had given us a vision that morning.
As I was having tea with Arumugam, Kathi, and Ramesh later at the open-air car park in front of the Convention Center, I spotted a squirrel on a tree nearby. A few minutes later that squirrel approached Kathi and started to sniff his feet. Then it did the same at my feet. I was surprised that it was friendly. Since it was friendly I bent down to pat it. Surprisingly it did not run away but instead allowed me to pat its back. Kathi then started patting it. It stood still. Then it moved on to another person.
As I came down after having my lunch that afternoon, I noticed Swami Omkaranandha standing alone in one corner. I took the opportunity to approach him and fell at his feet. He asked for my name, where I stayed, and if I had children. Shortly after that his disciples came and ushered him away.
On the final day of the convention, Kathi, my friend Muralidharan Saminathan, and I waited in the foyer to meet the swamis and bid them farewell. We meet Swami Omgaranandha, Mataji, and later Tavayogi in the Press Room. We invited Tavayogi to our homes.
I was pushed into answering the questions that a reporter from a Tamil daily who covered the event put before my journalist brother Kathirasen. I came in the news on 30th May 2007. This reminds me of how Tavayogi too pushed me to speak about the Siddhas when he was invited to officiate a local chapter of his Peedham in Banting.