Family background plays a great role in the career and life of a teacher. My mother was born in a family that lived in the same street in Ettaiyapuram where the Great poet Bharathiar lived. After reading his books I used to ask my mother whether it was true that the poet used to feed the sparrows from the rice kept at home for cooking; her answer was, “Yes, I have seen him doing it several times.” My grandfather was a court employee who had to perform the duty of issuing court orders for confiscation of property. After doing this he would cry the whole night saying, “They are poor, they
do not have anything, and I issued the orders to them, God will never forgive me.”
My paternal grandmother used to give discourses in the Ramayana and the Mahabharatha. My paternal grandfather was a head constable with the British police. (Perhaps it was this affinity to the British that attracted my father to go with a British gentleman to learn photography in Sri Lanka, and to later introduce it in the state of Kerala).
My mother used to tell us our family stories in the late evenings. One of these was about a man of our family who went into the deep forest with one of his friends in search of a sheep which he had lost. (My forefathers were shepherds).
When this man and his friend went inside the forest they saw a saint in meditation. Seeing the saint in such a place they were very much afraid and they simply sat before him in prayer. The saint opened his eyes and asked them, “What you want?” They did not know what to ask or what to say. The saint took a bundle of palm leaves from the air and said, “Only you can read this. Use it for a good purpose!”
They returned home, and kept the bundle in the corner of a room in the house. (This house is still there at Nagercoil, as a memory for us, and whenever I entered the room where the palm leaves were kept once upon a time, I used to feel that there is something very different in the atmosphere there). Their daily chores made my ancestor and others forget all about this. One day our man all of a sudden remembered the palm leaves and started reading them. He understood that they are very powerful mantras.
This gentleman, who thus acquired magical powers, started using them. His start up was with the children who love magic a lot. He used to ask them to sit on a carpet (a magic carpet), and would ask them to close their eyes, and then take them to nearby villages where there were festivals. He made sure all the time that the children were safe. After the festival within no time he used to reach home safely with the children.
It was the practice at that time to sacrifice goats in a nearby temple, but the then king put a ban on it. The villagers were very tense because they thought that they cannot please their goddess without the sacrifice.
The village head accompanied by the villagers approached this gentleman and requested for help, as guards of the then king had surrounded the temple to stop the sacrifice at any cost. Our gentle man
went to the temple carrying a small stick, and started touching the guards. Within no time all the guards were standing still. He gave a sign to the villagers to go ahead with the sacrifice. Everything was completed but how to wake up the guards who were standing in deep sleep. They looked at the gentleman, and he once again touched all the guards, and all of them were back to life immediately. The guards requested the villagers not to talk about this to anybody else as the king would get annoyed if he came to know about this.
On another occasion while our gentleman was in his role as a shepherd, the king of Travancore came by that way. It was late evening. At that time the king had some enemies. The king was travelling in a palanquin carried by bearers, and one of the bearers sprained his foot forcing them to set the palanquin down on the ground. The king became worried and asked the soldiers accompanying him to look for help. The soldiers found our gentleman who was seriously engaged in looking after his flock.
The soldiers took the gentleman with them and presented him before his majesty. The king asked, “Do you know anyone else nearby who can help in treating the sprain of this bearer?” His reply was, “Which one is he?” The guards pointed at the bearer who had the sprain. It took only less than a minute for our gentleman to cure the bearer with just a touch of his stick.
The king was very happy, and asked, “What you want?” He pointed his stick at an area of the ground and said, “I need all this area.” The king happily agreed to this and asked him to visit the palace the next day to accept his reward. Later on our gentleman donated all these lands to a nearby temple. (A few months ago this year, I got a chance to meet the present Princess of Travancore and shared this story with her. Her response was, “It is our good fortune that the stick was a small one.”)
As for the palm leaves, the gentleman requested his kith and kin: “Do not use these as they are meant only for my use.”
After the demise of the gentleman the villagers did not know what to do with the palm leaves. They tried to burn them, but nothing happened. Again they threw them away in the nearby sea at KanyaKumari, but the bundle came back very safely. They then consulted some saints of the day and came to the conclusion that they should be kept in a secret place buried under the ground, and a Samadhi should be built over that area. (We the family members do not know where they are kept, and we are never worried about this also, as we know very well the consequences of going in search of them).
In my dreams when I was young, I used to fly out of my body and return to the body later. The dream as such was that when everybody was there with me I would show off before them that I can fly, and at that time even I felt that my body is slowly levitating and going up. I did not understand the meaning of this for a very long time. (Later when I used to fly frequently for official purposes, I found a connection between my dream and my flight experiences and came to the conclusion that this is why I had this type of dream).
In class I used to sit on the back benches as the teachers found that with my height I would be blocking the black board if I were to sit in the front. I was only an average student. Whenever I saw an aeroplane up in the sky I never dreamt that one day I would be flying too in one of them.
In college too, I used to go walking to attend my classes. Only when I joined for Post-Graduation did I get a cycle which my brother had been using. When I became a lecturer my brother gifted me a bike. I used only bikes until I became a Principal. Once I became a principal I used to go by a rented car. Later on I purchased a used car and then my own new car.
But I never felt any difference between going walk and going by car, because it never made any difference to me, as by walking, using a cycle, bike or car you cannot make time travel - you can only travel the distance.
Later on in my life I used to fly frequently for official or personal purposes. I never felt any difference because I know well that I am only travelling the distance. There is no difference in the happiness or the travelling experience.
Once when I met one of my relatives who was highly attached to spirituality, I asked him, “If at all God appears before me, what shall I ask?” His answer is recorded even today in my mind. He said, “You can ask for ashtama siddhi” meaning eight kinds of boons, namely:
Anima (shrinking) — Power of becoming the size of an atom and entering the smallest of beings. Mahima (illimitability) — Power of becoming mighty and co-extensive with the universe. The
power of increasing one’s size without limit.
Lagima (lightness) — Capacity to be quite light though big in size.
Garima (weight) — Capacity to weigh heavy, though seemingly small in size.
Prapthi (fulfilment of desires) — Capacity to enter all the worlds from Brahma Loka to the nether world. It is the power of attaining everything desired.
Prakasysm (irresistible will) — Power of disembodying and entering into other bodies (metempsychosis) and going to heaven and enjoying what everyone aspires for, simply from the spot where he stays.
Isithavam (supremacy) — Have the creative power of God and control over the Sun, the moon and the elements and
Vasithavam (dominion over the elements) — Power of control over King and Gods. The power of changing the course of nature and assuming any form.
He continued, “But never ask for all these, but ask only for a mind without any thoughts, because that is the most precious one.”
I hope that you might have understood - while I walked, I never wished to go on a cycle; when I got a cycle, I never wished for a bike; when I got a bike, I never wished for a car. This means that I was in a thought-less stage that I never wished for anything - but God gave me all that I deserved. (I can hear you saying that without desire how can one live in this world). Who says that you should not have desires? You can very well have a desire to help others who are in need. Think about helping others and the Supreme will think about helping you!
As my father was in the profession of photography I got interested in film making at the age of 20 while studying for the undergraduate course. We students as a team prepared a wonderful script for a short film with a theme which intended to spread awareness of the problems arising from the use of drugs by youth. (The Gap).
We decided that we must take leave from our classes to make this film, but we needed the permission of the principal of the college for this. I met the principal and he said, “I want to see the script”, to which we readily agreed and submitted the same. The next day the principal called me and said, “You must bring a consent letter from your father.” I never expected this, but I could not express anything to him because he was very strict.
That evening I informed my father about this, and to my surprise he appreciated my efforts in this new endeavour, and also advised me that it should not affect my studies. The next day I was standing before the principal with a feeling that I have achieved something very great in my life. (I never felt anything very special when I created my first Guinness World Record because I strongly believed that I was only a tool, and that God himself is the real achiever).The principal looked through the letter and said, “Ok, you can go ahead.”
He also allowed nearly thirty days leave with attendance for our entire team. We started the shoot and were about to complete it. I realised at this time that the funds with me were not sufficient. I was funding the project with the money I earned through my private coaching, and believing the promise given to me by the script writer who was one of my junior students that he would support me financially. All on a sudden he told me that his uncle who was to support the project was no longer interested in this, and so he was unable to help. I was upset but was determined to complete the project. I took out all my savings and spent the money for the completion of the project. (I am happy that all my team members of that time are now number one film directors who are doing films with super stars in Kerala).
The film was screened in our college auditorium, and the Media wrote about me addressing me as the first student film producer/director in Kerala. The college declared a day’s holiday for honouring me and my team members. The saddest part was that I could not keep the promise I have given to my dad, as I scored only poor marks for the degree. Later on this led to denial of admission for my post graduate studies, but I kept trying, and the very next year I got admission for post-graduation and achieved also the university rank. (While I was in my PG class one day the principal called me and said, “You are unanimously elected as the Film Club representative from the entire PG section.” What I was thinking was that I had never submitted any candidature for the post, then how it that I had got elected is. I knew the number of sections and the number of students in the whole college, but I did not know them personally. What had happened was that although there was a gap of one year in my studies, my juniors had not forgotten me; they planned it and they had done it to honour me for my successful project. I was not aware that they loved me so much).
These incidents gave me plenty of strength in my later life in all my endeavours in whatever role I have acted. The role of the teacher is of a guide, friend and role model. It is very important that the teacher should create an everlasting image in the minds of students.
