Prayer in the face of a Tsunami

December 26th, 2004 – when the Tsunami first unleashed it’s fury into our collective consciousness! My 35-member family comprising uncles, aunts, cousins, nephews and nieces had gathered in our village in Kollam town for our annual get-together. We have a family deity where the entire family gets together to pay obeisance. Our ancestral home which is kept locked through the year is usually only used for a few days in December every year.

This is a picturesque village bordered by the Arabian sea on one side and the backwaters on the other. I was held up by the construction of my home in distant Bangalore and therefore was unable to make it to the function. It was a very exciting morning. The children were busy playing in the courtyard, while some of the adults were at the shrine which was a few metres away. Some others were busy watching television at a friend’s place. The television reports showed that a Tsunami had struck parts of Indonesia, Andaman and Nicobar islands and Chennai. The vivid images of the giant waves striking land was powerful and little did my folks realise that very soon they would be in the midst of a Tsunami themselves.

Soon, my uncle – Parthan went towards the sea which lies directly behind our home at a few minutes walk. When he reached the sea he was stunned to see barren land. The sea had receded! He was shocked. Another thing he realised was that there was not a single soul in sight. The petty shops, the roads, the houses were all deserted…it was eerie. One old man who was also there with him warned him, “if the sea has receded then it will come back with twice it’s force. We’d better run”. What my folks hadn’t realized was that in the midst of the celebrations, and by the fact that our home was the last house in the village and therefore was isolated from the others, a Tsunami warning had already been sounded and the villagers had fled. Nobody had realised that about 35 people were unaware of the danger that they were in. Less than an hour before that a Tsunami had struck a village a few hours from here. Even as the old man was saying this, they could sense the sea coming back. “It’s coming back! Run!” and he ran away.

Parthan had to warn the others, he ran towards our home. “Run…the sea is coming…run” My grand uncle and a cousin – Suresh were at the shrine…when he came panting. ‘What nonsense, relaxe…what are you shouting’ they scoffed at him. “The sea…the sea…” was all that he could say when a very small wave, the height of their ankles swept through the land, right upto our home. “This is natural” my grand uncle re-assured. “Sometimes the sea does this…” although he couldn’t remember of the sea having done this.

Parthan was furious, “I don’t know about you, but I think this is very serious…we need to leave this village now.” My grand-uncle was adamant, “don’t create a panic now…we are in the midst of the pooja and nothing will happen. I have been here all my life and I have never experienced anything like what you are fearing. The sea will take care of us.” But his words were sounding very hollow. Then Parthan realized something very eerie…the silence! There were no birds around…all the animals had disappeared. “Don’t you see, he shouted…all the animals have left..this is something serious. If you want to stay here, you can stay but I am leaving with whoever is coming with me…” and he ran towards the house. My grand-uncle and Suresh followed him.

The people at home were still oblivious of the impending danger. When the first wave had rolled across the land, they had looked at it with curiousity and not fear. As city dwellers, they looked at the event like tourists and did not know that it was a warning sign.

Parthan’s son Darshit is a staunch believer of the Divine Mother. He had accompanied me on numerous times to the Mother’s Ashram at Tellicherry. Barely 17 at the time, Darshit was a tall lanky boy. On hearing his father’s shouting, Darshit immediately packed his bags and carried them out. The other relatives looked on at the scene with amusement. Some others were worried and felt they ought to leave immediately. Some of the members were quickly changing into their travel clothes…while the others simply stood around believing that this was just a false alarm.

Meanwhile the frequency of the waves rolling into the village kept increasing. These were very small waves barely reaching one’s ankles, but they were very quick and in a few minutes they reached our courtyard and then receded. In the midst of trying to get all the members to leave, everybody realised that quite a few members had all scattered in other parts of the village. Some were in the houses of relatives. It was very very tense for the few people who felt that things were not alright. Just when the debate to leave or not to was raging…everybody heard a ear splitting sound! It was not of this world…it was the sound of water…yet it can’t be explained in words…an eerie hollow hair raising sound and even as the enormity of the whole thing was dawning, the Tsunami had struck our village!!!

Parthan’s daughter Priya (20 years) was the one they all saw running…and a few feet behind her were the giant waves higher than the highest coconut tree. She barely escaped and the waves exploded all around them. The family scattered…some ran into the house while others ran onto the terrace of a neighbouring home. The water was brackish and it looked as if it had brought the muck of the ocean onto land. A canoe came crashing into a coconut tree, dragged by the waters.

Meanwhile the water gushed into the home through the open windows and the door was pushed shut by the force. Inside the home, the water kept swirling. My relatives were screaming in fear. The people who were on the neighbouring terrace could see the scary drama unfold itself around them. They were saved by the height of the terrace. Televisions, refrigerators and household utensils and equipment was flowing around freely. The water kept gushing in…their seemed no difference between the land and the sea now…

Darshit who was in the house which was now in darkness and the steadily climbing water, somehow maintained his sanity even as people around him were losing theirs. Caught in this grim situation, he didn’t lose hope. He began chanting the Divine mantra.
Charanam Sharanam Ramambike.
Charanam Sharanam Thrayambake.

What else can you do other than pray and hope…He managed to kick open the door thereby providing an outlet for the water. Within a few minutes, it seemed that the intensity of the water had reduced. By now the water had reached upto everybody’s chest. Soon the waters slowly started receding. They discovered they could now move about as the water receded upto their knees. All their belongings had been washed away. My family members couldn’t believe their luck. “Let’s leave,” they waded through the water, glad to be alive. The sky was dark. All around them was water, a dark water and all their belongings floating.

Every one of my family survived the ordeal. They only had scratches and minor bruises to contend with. 45 minutes after they left the village another Tsunami now struck the deserted village.

Prayer worked. Darshit firmly beliefs that the Divine Mother saved their lives. He tells me, “It was only after I started chanting the mantra that things changed, till then the water was steadily climbing. Our furniture was floating…I was scared that if the water didn’t kill us, the rapidly moving beds, tables and chairs would pose a serious danger for us. Even as I was chanting the mantra, I began to realize that the intensity of the water had begun to reduce and that strengthened the hope in me. We had a window of about 45 minutes to escape and we were able to attract the attention of a motor boat which had been pressed into service to evacuate survivors. I am happy that all of us are alive.”

Whatever our beliefs, our values, our faiths…prayer is the only lifeline in times like this.

P.P and Zee

Sunil P.P and Zeenath were my college friends. They were madly in love with each other and eloped as soon as we were through college (1995). Over the years their love only became stronger. Zeenath gave birth to a lovely girl Shonali a year after their marriage.

After intense struggles when their families didn’t accept them, the pair managed to build their lives gradually. Today Sunil holds a lucrative post at Microsoft, Bangalore and both their families are on talking terms with them.

Last October, Zeenath gave birth to her second child (Tanisha), and two days after her delivery, Sunil frantically called me saying that Zeenath was in a critical condition with a clot in her brain and was admitted at the Narayana Hrudayalaya Hospital in Bangalore. He was in tears. The baby was in a incubator as she was underweight while her mother was in a coma.

Sunil was heartbroken. Doctors gave her a very mild chance of survival. She was not responding to anything. At that moment I told him, “Sunil, will you do something if I ask you to do? Chant this mantra. This is the Divine Mother’s mantra. She has ordained that whenever anybody is in distress and this mantra is chanted with complete belief, the root cause for the distress will be removed.

Charanam Sharanam Ramambike
Charanam Sharanam Thrayambake.

Chant this continuously under your breath while you carry on with your activities. Believe in the Mother. She will take care of Zeenath. Nothing will happen to her.”

Sunil, although a non-religious person, took my advice very seriously and started praying. Meanwhile the situation at the ground level was looking very grim. The doctor in charge of Zeenath, told Sunil to pray because the situation was beyond him. Her condition was very pathetic. She was lying in bed with a dozen tubes that ran through her body doing her basic functions, a monitor with a few blips on it was the only indicator that she was alive.

There were two ways, the clot could be removed, the doctor told Sunil. One – by surgery, which was an extremely delicate procedure and there was no guarantee that she would survive the ordeal, and even if she did, she could be in a paralytic condition. Two – if the brain created a new network of neurons around the clot and then the clot could slowly die out. As days passed and Zeenath showed no signs of progress, the first option seemed to be the best option to look into.

Meanwhile, Sunil continued chanting. About two weeks into the ordeal, the miracle took place. Zeenath began fighting back. The neurons started creating a network around the clot. The doctors were amazed. Within ten days she was out of the Intensive Care Unit and admitted in a private room. She could speak. Sunil was elated. They called her the miracle girl. She was the cynosure of all attention. Her medical documents were carefully studied. There was no parallel to this case. This case they said was something they would encounter ‘once in a lifetime.’

With physiotherapy and medicines Zeenath is on her feet. She shows no signs of her near-fatal experience. She goes for monthly check-ups to monitor her condition. Sunil is a complete believer in the Divine Mother. Together we went to Tellicherry to the Ashram where he thanked the Mother.

The Ashram

Through the lanes of Thallassery, next to Mukunda Talkies, is a bylane. As you walk down the road, you come across a temple on your left. A little ahead is an old home – more than 150 years old. This is the ashram. You enter the imposing entrance and inside is the quietest place you can find. (Where did the traffic noises die down? It is amazing because only 50 metres away is the main road).

A large courtyard greets you. You wash your feet and hands in the tap nearby. The place is quiet, empty. A large board greets you – “This is a place where silent energy prevails. Kindly do not indulge in worldly talk here”.

And the magic begins.

The stillness is overpowering, there is an unexplainable peace here. You walk into the ashram. You are first greeted by the idol of the Divine Mother. Quiet, still, radiating with positive energy. You look around, there is a room to the left. You feel as if you have stepped into another world. Old furniture, photographs and silence. You walk up the wooden staircase that creaks a little. The red oxide flooring reflects your image just like a mirror. Upstairs are two rooms on your left. The first has a swing with pictures, flowers, incense sticks. The second is the meditation room.

This is the heaven for all of Mother’s devotees. A visit here once every few months fills us with incredible peace and energy. Gives us the strength to carry on.

Facing the new wars

Scientists predict that the largest mass extinction in 65 million years is currently underway! With Global warming emerging a more potent threat than international terrorism and conflict, the battle lines in this Karmic world has been drawn.

Spirituality, prayer and connecting to the universe is the sole answer to all the strife that we experience. Divine Mother made no distinction among religions, castes, creeds or sex. Her faithful comprised the poorest of the poor. A majority of her devotees in the early days comprised of women.

According to her, meditation was the path to peace. All answers were there for the seeker through meditation. Irrespective of our beliefs and faiths, we must seek this path to confront the new challenges in mankind’s path.

Divine Mother

This is the blog devoted to the Divine Mother Shri Ramadevi. The Divine Mother blessed mankind by taking on a human form and living in South India.Much after she has left this physical world, her devotees celebrate the imprint she has left on our collective consciousness.

Mother is not widely known. She liked it that way. Her prophecy was that a hundred years after her passing, mankind would learn of her.

Her eternal mantra -

Charanam Sharanam Ramambike
Charanam Sharanam Thrayambake

- is the most potent mantra. On uttering it continuously, what one prays for will be granted. This is a divine promise.

I have been guided by the Mother to create this space so that I may be able to write about Mother’s human life and personal experiences of mine as well as other devotees.

Jai Matha.