The old astrologer looked out through his window at
the vast fields that stretched before his eyes. All the land that one could see
in the distance belonged to him and he had gained wealth and riches through his
hard work. As a young man belonging to the upper caste he had been appointed
long ago as the official court astrologer of a feudal Zamindar in the rice bowl
of Tamil Nadu. As Zamin astrologer, he had been responsible for fixing and
conducting all auspicious events and rituals in the Zamin family. He was
considered very lucky by three successive generations of Zamindars. All the
dates that he had fixed and the auspicious events conducted therein proved to
be highly successful and the benevolent Zamindars had lavished valuable gifts
of land and gold on the astrologer.
The Zamindari system of feudal lords belonging to
upper caste and nobles was created by the British to honour the local
chieftains who were loyal to them. The Zamindars also served as conduits in the
British system of collection of taxes and were in return provided a percentage
of the tax collected by them. When the British left the country after granting
independence to the Indians, it proved to be a blessing in disguise for the
learned astrologer. The abolishment of the Zamindari system meant that the
astrologer need no more cater only to the needs of the Zamin family but also to
other rich, powerful and influential men in the neighboring districts who had
heard of the astrologer’s powers and sought his advice. The astrologer
prospered and was always adorned in silk and gold.
The astrologer was a learned man and knew not only
astrology and the movement of planets but was also a master in all the dark
arts. One day with nothing better to do the astrologer turned to his own
horoscope and found that as per the stars and the planets his days were
numbered and that he would die at the end of the next six months. The
astrologer could hardly believe his eyes for he was only approaching seventy
years and still was fit enough to keep up with the demands of his two loving
wives. He rechecked his horoscope and found to his dismay that he had made no
mistake and was sure to die two days after the sixth full moon from that day.
The astrologer was totally befuddled. It could not
be happening to him. He who had fixed the life term of so many of his clients
was ultimately being shown the door himself. The only problem was that he was
not as yet prepared to leave. He still had a lot of worldly duties to fulfill.
He still had two daughters whom he had to get married and settled in life. His
only Son; the only begotten of his first wife had been trained as an astrologer
ever since his birth for it was unsaid but inherently understood that the Son
would one day take over his father’s profession. However, the Son had not shown
the slightest inclination towards excelling in the profession as had his
father, grandfather and other forefathers before him. He therefore wished to
settle his Son respectably before departing this world.
The learned astrologer had some how wanted to
ensure that his Son was moulded into a great astrologer under his tutelage. But
he needed time for all this. He needed to live and live for a minimum of five
years more before he could peacefully breathe his last. The astrologer
therefore pondered his options. He repeatedly cross checked his horoscope to
see if there had been scope for even the minutest of errors but as always his
calculations were perfect and it was obvious he was going to die. It was then
that the astrologer decided to resort to his black arts to find a solution to
his problem.
He therefore fasted for three days and nights. When
his body and his mind were completely purified by his fast, the astrologer took
out the golden box that he always kept in the Pooja (prayer) room. The golden
box contained one of the astrologer’s most precious aids. Inside the box was a
vial which contained a dark inky black substance much like the dark kohl which
is applied by young Indian girls under their eyes to enhance their beauty. The
black substance was made of exotic substances and collecting the ingredients
and preparing the substance had been a tough job but the astrologer was a
master at that too. The black substance was usually used by the astrologer to
find out missing valuables and stuff like that which his clients wanted to know
about; but today he was using it for himself. He was going to use it to find an
answer to his life’s own question?
The astrologer gently applied the black substance
on to a dark green betel leaf so that the leaf appeared to have a black circle
in its middle. He closed his eyes and concentrated on his question. “Where or
how can I change my fate?” he asked in prayer and opened his eyes to look at
the black circle on the betel leaf. It remained blank. The astrologer then
cleared his mind of the previous questions and now concentrated on “who can
help me?” the black circle now glowed and flickered. Suddenly there appeared a
human face in the black circle and a disembodied voice said, “This is the only
person on this planet who has gained knowledge of postponing death”.
It was soon an easy task for the astrologer to find
out more details with subsequent questions aimed at the black circle on the
betel leaf. Questions such as, “What is his name?”, “Where does he reside?”
were instantly answered by the black circle on the betel leaf. It was then that
the astrologer decided to seek out this man who was revealed to him by the
black dye on the betel leaf.
******* ******* ******
The attender was in a hurry to clean the toilets.
He used his broom on the phenyl disinfectant and cleaned as fast as he could.
It was his normal routine and he usually completed his routine as soon as his
shift began for only then would he have free time to pray. The attender was
more worried about his having delayed commencement of his prayers rather than
the delay in cleansing of the toilets. Once his daily cleaning and sweeping
chores were done the attender who appeared to be nearly sixty years old would
find himself a comfortable corner where he could sit and pray undisturbed until
the end of his shift, when he would once again clean and sweep and head for
home. This had been the routine of the attender for almost forty years now.
The attender served in a British textile mill in
one of the towns of Tamil Nadu and his efficiency had been noted by his British
bosses. His bosses had wanted him to take on more responsibility and grow
within the organization but the attender preferred to remain an attender with
minimal responsibilities for only then could he devote himself to his life’s
breath, his prayer. The British considered him weird and left him to himself to
pray or do as he pleased. As long as there were no complaints about the toilets
they simply let him be.
The attender was a simple man who led a contented
life with the meagre salary his job provided him. He was due to retire soon but
he was not bothered as he was a man of many talents. The attender was a simple
as well as a holy man. He had been a practitioner of the oldest form of Yoga
since he was fifteen years of age and had been initiated into the practice by a
wandering mendicant who frequented the temple where he used to play as a small
boy. Since then the attender had only one passion in life and that was Yoga and
Meditation.
The attender lived in a shack not far off from the
factory in one of the worst kinds of ghettoes in the world. Every other day
witnessed a murder or a fight and the entire slum was filled with squalor as
never seen before. The filth and squalor would repel even the strong hearted
and prevent them from entering the slum. This was exactly the reason why the
attender had chosen to live there; for indeed, he did not want any disturbance
from the world outside the slum.
The attender lived in his single room shack along
with his wife and six children, five of whom were girls. There was a perennial
stench around the slum but the attender and his family had grown immune to the
stench of dirt, grime and squalor. Everyday after his return from work the
attender would continue to indulge in his Yogic practice in a corner of the one
room shack and spend the entire night in Tapas and prayer. The next day the
attender would head back to the factory to clean the toilets and resume his
prayer there.
The attender had indeed become a formidable Yogi
and had mastered the art of Raja Yoga that provided him immense powers.
However, the Yogi had realised at a young age that money was an illusory thing
and that chasing money was only like chasing a mirage. The more you had it, the
more you wanted it. The Yogi or rather the attender had therefore decided to
stay clear of greed and desire for money and was content to satisfy his basic
needs with the limited money that he earned from the factory. Mastering Yoga
had enabled Thangam for that was indeed the attender’s name to gain knowledge
of other related fields and the knowledge of the human body was one such branch
that Thangam had gained immense knowledge off.
Thangam could set right broken bones, dislocated
and displaced joints, nerve related disorders and all other forms of chronic
physical ailments, the people of the slum would come to Thangam and get their
physical problems fixed. He would not expect any money for any of his services
and would be pleased to accept whatever was given if given at all. But this was
indeed the tip of the ice berg for indeed Thangam had reached the highest stage
of Yoga and had gained the Ashta Maha Siddhis that the ancient Yogic and Vedic
literature spoke about. Indeed, Thangam had given new meaning to the ‘Gayathri’
mantra by making his ‘Kaya’ or physical body a ‘Thiri’ or wick and using that
wick to light the ‘Jyoti’ or flame of life, Jeeva.
However, inspite of all the powers that Thangam
possessed, he remained content to be invisible from the attention of people and
pursue his way of life as he knew best. Thangam believed in camouflaging
himself and not revealing his true self to even his own children. His wife the
noble lady that she was only remained content to serve him.
It was in search of this gentleman that the rich
Zamin Astrologer came.
The astrologer arrived with his entourage to the
slum where the Yogi he had seen in the betel leaf image lived, exactly a month
after he had seen his image in the betel leaf. His wife, son and daughter had
been unable to take the stench that hit them on their arrival at the slum and
had retreated to a comfortable hotel in the town while the astrologer and two
of his faithful servants went into the slum in the afternoon, enquiring for a
gentleman named Thangam.
They reached the shack in which Thangam and his
family lived. The entire neighbourhood stared at them as the astrologer gently
knocked on the door. They seemed incongruous with their silken clothes and fine
jewellery. It was Thavamani the gentle wife of the Yogi cum attender who
answered the door. She stared blankly at them and wondered who they were. The
astrologer very politely asked the lady if the Yogi Thangam was available at
home. Thavamani replied negatively and stated that he would be back only at six
thirty in the evening.
Not knowing what to do and not having anything
better to do the astrologer and his two servants sat outside the door of the
Yogi’s shack on the narrow lane that was constantly flowing with people. As
they waited, the people passing by kept staring at them and wondered what they
could want with Thangam. While they waited the Yogi’s wife served them water
and offered them some watery tea, which they politely declined. It must be
noted at this point that the astrologer and his two servants belonged to the
upper caste and would not dare eat or drink any food served by a lower caste
person even it was the very Amruth, or nectar of life itself. The very fact
that these three gentlemen were waiting outside the shack of a lower caste
person in the midst of an entire colony of lower caste people, spoke volumes of
their patience and the importance of their mission.
The incident we were reading about did not happen
in Modern India where the caste lines are blurred and are only being propped up
constantly by greedy politicians. The incident being narrated here was
something which happened almost fifty years ago in a new and young, independent
India which had still not over come its caste hangover. The lower caste people
of the slum were as much scandalized as the upper caste gentlemen by their
presence in the slum.
Dusk had set in and the brief twilight of a South
Asian sunset had arrived. The astrologer mused about what was written in books
of philosophy about the importance of the twilight period. It was said that the
twilight was the crack between two worlds and it was possible to go from one
world to another during twilight. Twilight is normally a period of great power
and an enlightened soul could trap this power and use it to his advantage. As
the astrologer kept musing about the properties of twilight, he felt a shadow
go by him. He woke up with a start out of his reverie to see the Yogi cum attender
just about to enter his shack.
Thangam stopped as he reached the small doorstep of
his shack. He looked at the three strange men sitting near his door. A person
who looked like he was the leader of the other two got up and greeted him with
folded hands. The traditional 'Vanakkam" as it is called in Tamil Nadu and also called "Namaste" or "Salaam" in other parts of India His silk shawl know as angavastharam, which normally hung from
his shoulder, was hurriedly tied around his waist as he wished Thangam. Thangam
looked bemused at this upper caste gentleman who was acting subservient to him.
The quizzical expression on his face made the
astrologer realise that introductions were in order and therefore proceeded to
introduce him-self in grandiose terms while Thangam looked on. He knew at one
glance, what the astrologer wanted from him, but it was not possible for him to
grant boons to all and sundry for a longer life than what was destined for
them. Thangam then used the same grandiose terms the astrologer had used to
describe himself and asked him what such a grand astrologer like himself was
doing at the doorstep of a simple man; a toilet cleaner like himself. The
astrologer then explained about how he had come to know about the Yogi Thangam
and how he had come to him seeking an extension of life so that he may fulfill
his worldly duties.
Thangam appeared calm but told him that he had been
misled into believing that it was possible for Thangam to grant an extension of
life. Thangam explained to the astrologer that he was not God and was a very
simple man who only believed in fulfilling his worldly duties. The astrologer
would not accept Thangam’s explanation and told him that his black dye never
lied and that if it had pointed out Thangam to him it meant that Thangam had
the power to save him. Thangam repeatedly refused to accept the astrologers
argument and told the astrologer categorically that he did not possess the
power to save him.
After a while the astrologer informed Thangam that
he had no other option but to sit outside Thangam’s doorstep until Thangam
obliged him. Thus began a siege of Thangam by the astrologer that would have
put any military siege to shame. It was like a modern day case of stalking. The
astrologer remained a constant shadow and began following Thangam wherever he
went causing untold embarrassment to Thangam.
He would follow Thangam at a discreet distance all
the way to his factory and sit outside the factory gates until Thangam finished
for the day and returned to his shack, whereupon the astrologer would take
position outside Thangam’s doorstep. The astrologer had sent back his two servants
to his wife and children and asked them to go back to their hometown. He told
them that if by the grace of God and Thangam he were to live he would return
home or else not to search for him and consider him dead.
The Yogi went about his usual business and the
astrologer would follow his every movement. During Sundays when the Yogi had a
holiday he would spend his time with his children and also attend to the odd
cases that came to him for treatment of sprains, muscular pulls, ligament
tears, broken, splintered and fractured bones. Every kind of physical ailment
and pain conceivable would be treated by the Yogi while talking consolingly to
the injured.
The astrologer observed the Yogi’s every moment. He
realised that Thangam was indeed a skilled practitioner of Yoga for he seemed
to be aware of and could treat the invisible ‘Varma’ nerves of the patient. For
only a person who had mastered his breathing could view and treat by ‘Varma’.
The astrologer used to sit and observe life in the slum as it flowed past him.
He would witness the street games played by Thangam’s children. His attempts to
befriend then proved in vain for they seemed indeed more stubborn than their
father. They simply would not accept any sweet meats or other gifts from the
astrologer. Thangam’s wife too was as reserved as his children but she would
during the course of her daily work offer the astrologer food and other
assistance which he would politely refuse.
The astrologer lived on an assortment of fruits and
food available in the market outside the slum. He insisted on paying for his
food and he would sprinkle water on any food three times before eating it. The
astrologer also used the river that flowed nearby for his ablutions and daily
bath. The river bed was dry but enterprising folk had set up motor pumps and
sucked out water which they let into huge tubs and allowed people to bathe out
of it for a fee of ten paisa per head of course.
The astrologer was a simple man and his needs were
few but he was also a worried man as time was running out and he still hadn’t
been able to make the Yogi feel pity on him. At times, the Yogi would come out
of his shack in the middle of the night for some fresh air in the middle of his
deep prayer and would find the astrologer sitting wide awake. They would
converse briefly and after offering the astrologer water, which the gentleman
would politely refuse, Thangam would go back into his shack and back into his
Yogic position of prayer.
Time flew as it always does and the astrologer soon
found himself in the sixth month of his prediction. The month he was expected
to die. The only person he ever spoke to in the entire slum was the Yogi’s
wife, Thavamani who would be curious to know about his family and other
personal information. The astrologer would share his life with her and tell her
how lucky she was to have Thangam as a husband. Finally the sixth full moon
arrived. The astrologer shivered in his dhoti for he knew he had only two more
days to go.
That day as it was customary Thavamani looked out
of the shack at the old astrologer and asked him if he would like some rice
gruel for that was all that the family lived on day in and day out. As was
customary the astrologer politely refused her offer. The lady looked at him
deeply and mentioned that food is only to keep the body alive and it knows no
difference of caste or creed. “It is you who differentiate between food as you
have between humans”, she said. Food served by a low caste will also taste as
sweet as food served by a high caste would. Similarly, the soul of a low caste
would also be the same as the soul of the high caste. The astrologer remained
pensive and lost in his thoughts.
The day passed by uneventfully. The next day was a
hartal and all the shops remained closed. Thangam too enjoyed a holiday and
remained at home. The astrologer had been caught unawares and he had no food to
eat. As usual the Yogis wife asked the astrologer if he needed anything to eat,
as was the regular reply he declined her offer. By evenfall the astrologer was
crazy with hunger. It was twilight once again and Thavamani who happened to
return from the community tap with a pot of water paused to look at him and
asked him if he would like to eat some rice gruel. She concluded by saying that
it was the last time she would ever ask him again. Knowing fully well that he
would be dead by the next day morning, the astrologer relented and asked her to
bring him some rice gruel. Thavamani was happy to hear him ask for food and
willingly went and fetched him a small clay pot of rice gruel, which the
astrologer drank greedily. The gruel tasted sweet to his parched and hungry
throat. “The best rice gruel I have had in my entire life”, he told her.
That night around ten the entire slum had gradually
become silent. The poor astrologer sat miserable wondering if he would see the
break of dawn the next day. Meanwhile, Thangam sat lost in prayer as midnight
approached. At around 11:30 pm Thangam suddenly got up from his Yogic position
and came out to the doorstep. He looked at the astrologer shivering with cold
as well as the fear of death. You better come in tonight, he told the
astrologer. The astrologer was surprised to hear Thangam invite him into his
house but was also apprehensive of entering the abode of a low caste person
since he had never done so ever. Well there has to be a first time sometime,
the astrologer thought to himself as he entered the darkened shack.
Thangam pointed out a bit of available space to the
astrologer and asked him to stretch out there while he went back to his corner
and commenced praying. That night the astrologer heard a lot of noise outside
on the lane. A furious trampling of feet, the clinking sound of armour could
all be heard as he lay in fear while Thangam continued to pray unperturbed. The
next morning as usual Thangam was up by about four o’clock. The astrologer lay
lost to the world in a foetal position as if he were trying to go back into the
womb of his mother, long departed.
At about seven in the morning the astrologer woke
with a start. He looked about his unfamiliar location and saw Thangam standing
by his side, smiling at him. The astrologer pinched himself to see if he were
dreaming. It did not appear so and soon he realised that he was still alive.
May be, he would die by the end of the day he considered. But he was sure that
he should have been dead by daybreak today. Thangam continued to smile broadly
as the astrologer asked him about the noise he had heard outside in the lane at
midnight. Thangam slowly nodded his head; yes death was at our doorstep last
night to take you away but could not do so as you were sleeping inside. The
astrologer was puzzled and did not understand what Thangam was talking about.
Thangam admonished him to remain silent and complete his morning ablutions.
On doing so, the astrologer returned to Thangam’s
shack and Thangam called him in to share his gruel. While they both partook of
the gruel, the astrologer kept probing Thangam who remained calm until he had
finished his bowl of gruel. Yes it was destined that I should save you from
death, but I was hesitant to do so until I was sure that you could treat all
humans equally and last evening when you drank the gruel that my wife gave you,
I knew you were finally able to accept that all were equal. It was only then
that I decided to help you and when you walked into my shack last night I
realised that your upper caste arrogance had vanished and you were prepared to
live a new lease of life. On hearing this, the upper caste astrologer fell
prostrate at the feet of the lower caste Yogi and thanked him profusely.
Thangam told him that he was now free to go back to
his home town but the astrologer did not feel like doing so. He wanted to stay
on and discuss philosophy with Thangam, which Thangam was only too happy to,
since he hardly had any learned person with whom he could discuss and debate
truth. The astrologer stayed on for another week and at the end of the same he
was initiated into Yogic practice by Thangam whom the astrologer accepted as
his Guru. The astrologer before leaving was adamant that he should give Thangam
a huge sum of money for saving his life. However Thangam was equally adamant in
refusing the money. The astrologer then insisted that he should give him at
least some Guru dakshina or offering but Thangam would not have any talk of it.
Therefore, the astrologer on his return home
ensured that every year after harvest a huge sack of the choicest grain of rice
should be delivered at Thangam’s doorstep. On his return home the astrologer
was pleasantly surprised to find that his Son had finally donned the mantle of
the head of the family and was successfully continuing his fathers astrology
practice. The astrologer was a changed man on his return and was not interested
in making money anymore. He now knew that there was something more powerful
than astrology, which could negate or turn around even the best of astrological
predictions.
He found his heart being drawn more and more to the
Yoga that Thangam his Guru had taught him. He did not use derogatory remarks
about lower caste people anymore and in fact soon became friendly with all the
lower caste folk whom he had to interact with during the normal course of the
day. A couple of years later the astrologer solemnised the marriage of his
youngest daughter in great splendor and luxury. He personally went to meet
Thangam and invited him to the marriage. Thangam for his part gladly went to
the marriage where he was treated as a guest of honour much to the ire of the
upper caste brethren of the astrologer.
The astrologer lived for twenty more years from the
time he met the Yogi named Thangam. In fact the Yogi decided to leave this
planet a year before the astrologer finally departed. It was on the night of
25th December 1988 that the great Yogi breathed his last in the physical form
of Thangam. A telegram had also been sent to inform the astrologer about
Thangams departure but the astrologer was too feeble to make the journey to
participate in the last rites. The astrologer breathed his last exactly six
months and two days thereafter.
[This is based on a true incident that was
personally narrated to me by no one else but the great Yogi himself.]
