My gurus never spoke about themselves; instead, they only spoke about their gurus. Supramania Swami spoke about his five gurus, the very first day I met him in his village home of Achananthal, some eight kilometers away from Tiruvannamalai town, in 2003. The only time he spoke about him was when I asked about him on my second visit in 2005. Tavayogi too never spoke about himself but only of Agathiyar and the other Siddhas. The only time I heard him speak about him was when I took him to the home of another devotee in Batu Caves. He candidly told us how he bashed up a local thug who had bothered him by dragging him along onto the auto he was waiting for and bringing him to a deserted place, where he gave him a bashing that he would remember, for it made the man bow to him in respect when they met again some time later at the same spot. Sometimes one needs to pick up the cane.
Agathiyar, too, in asking me to control my anger, giving me a sermon in my Nadi reading for an hour back then, immediately put me to the test by blocking me from boarding my car with my family and driving away. My family had a good laugh, looking up to the skies to see if there was a CCTV, while I was fuming. After pushing the car forward just sufficient for me to come out of my parking bay, we went to have lunch on another street. A popular radio DJ who walked past me stopped and pushed me to the wall of the five-foot way and lectured me about tradition, pointing out the small bindi on my daughter's forehead. Apparently, it was too small according to his standards. I told him to come in the tradition vesti then rather than in pants. He hurried off, seeing my anger. I failed the test. Again and again, he came to remind me, finally asking if he had to take up the cane, his Vaasi Kol, the stick that the Siddhas place under their arm to regulate their breath, again. Only later did I come to know from him that it was because he was concerned for me that he had to be stern. He tells me that he has put so much work and effort into me to reach their heights that he did not want me to sabotage it by bringing these energies to fall back into the lower regions. I remembered then how Ramalinga Adigal, too, says that anger causes our internals to boil, where the cells then die.
Though the Siddhas are full of love and compassion, they can be hard on us at times for our own good. In having us suffer, they have us go through it once and for all and never revisit it, so that the work on us can begin. There have been fourteen individuals who stepped into my home who were dealt with by Agathiyar harshly, some given physical blows, too. It was for a purpose that only the Siddhas know, for it was they who called them over and had them stand at my doorway. I had nothing to do with it, being only a witness and watcher. But they are all doing well, which brings me joy, too.
We know nothing, though we claim we know everything. What we know is only what we see and touch, hear and taste, feel and endure. There are many secrets beyond our basic understanding of the world around us. To know these, we have to approach the all-knowing Siddhas. But even then, they do not reveal the depths of the ocean. They only describe the waves. For otherwise we would come to know that it is all a divine play and their Lila and stop living, only existing. For how else shall the world spin and move us to do things? Who is going to drop the apple on the street that causes a major accident, as in the movie Police Academy?
So, what is a better way than to hear from the horse's mouth, those who have been on the path and seen many an adventure surrounding these Siddhas? It would not be an academic research paper but rather one that is hands-on. This is what they do on the onset, bringing us places to get us connected with the Siddhas, who, apparently, seem to be hiding away from mankind in the woods and caves. But these are openings to another world and another adventure far away from home. In making contact, they come looking us up, knocking on our doors. Some answer, while many don't. I know many who never took up the worship of Siddhas even after the Siddhas stood at their doors. For some others, the Siddhas were merely another photo frame hanging on the wall. It is sad that the Siddha has come this far, but we reject his open arms and his invitation. But when they begin to lose faith in themselves and their self-confidence erodes, having them ask how long they can hold on, they go knocking on doors now. I guess the best time to start is when they are young, when they accept anything told without refusal, arguing, or thinking about it.