THE BEGINNING OF IYYAPPA DEVOTION AT COCHIN !

  LOOKING BACK Down Memory Lane  Vol (1) 

Swamy Saranam 🙏 Swamiye Saranam Iyyappa 🙏

Let me start my blogsite with a divine  experience which changed my life for ever on the eve of  Lord Iyyappa's Jayanthi (day of incarnation) Panguni  Uthiram this Sunday 28th March 2021. 

This is my personal experience  with the humble  beginning at Cochin when my company colleague  became my guru who  initiated me into the righteous path.

I am looking back at the year 1997 when I had joined Tata Honeywell Chennai as Manager Projects. Just then the company had bagged their biggest order in south a multi- million dollar turnkey instrumentation contract  with KCPL a joint venture of KSIDC with Nitta gelatin Japan (one of world’s leading gelatin manufacturer)for their new plant at Cochin. One of the conditions in the contract was that a Project Manager should be stationed permanently by Honeywell at site till the completion. I was asked to take over as PM at Cochin site. I had never been to Cochin before that and it was interesting to see the beautiful Cochin. Initially we were staying at Bharath Tourist Home(BTH) an amazing hotel. However I had to be away from my family in Chennai for more than six months during the Installation and Commissioning (I&C) phase of this new plant.

As the Cochin KCPL turnkey project got delayed my stay as Project Manager also got extended. As our entire project team were together staying in BTH,  the hotel expenses was up against the company original budget. This was taken care by enhancement in the scope of the project and more POs.  My boss at Chennai however  wanted to cut down the establishment cost further and our office assistant Babu was sent from Chennai to accommodate us in  a good furnished apartment at the Panampilly Nagar on rent. Babu  also arranged all the facilities for cooking at the flat which was welcome as we got tired of hotel food by then.

The long period of separation from my family made my depressed. But there is nothing can be done as this is the practical life of the project professional .He must be there starting from the building construction phase when life will be tough with unsafe working conditions. When the site becomes cool and nice and the plant is setup, he  has to start all over again at another site and life goes on.

 Babu  a soft spoken person could sense my frustration being lonely at Cochin and suggested would I be interested in doing 42 days Iyyappa Vritham to get peace of mind? I had no idea about the Vritham then but when he explained in detail the dos and don’ts said yes. He went out and came back with black dhotis, picture of lord Iyyappa and a Cassette along with the printout of Iyyapa Charanam.  Being  a devotee for years he wanted me to be sincere in following the daily ritual  . There was a Bhagavathi temple nearby and he asked me to go barefooted  every day in the morning for that six weeks  before going to work. I should take rice without onion and garlic only one time and the evening I should chant charanam,  listen to this cassette and should take only tiffin. That cassette he gave was Iyyappa bhajans "pallikattu sabarimalaikku " by Veeramani. Although there are many CDs and cassettes after this Veeramani cassette  is still the best selling devotional album till date and is considered the best of Iyyappa bhajans.

Babu swami left for Chennai the same day after initiating me by putting sacred mala as the guru. I followed what he said but then where to find the place for taking tiffin. As I was walking in MG Road found the roadside stall 'Pai Dosa 'exclusively for Dosa. They used to sell 36 Varieties of Dosa at that time. The owner started giving me  special Dosa without onion and garlic during that time. I might have taken almost all that 36 varieties of  Dosa in that 6 week period! I see even today Pai dosa  is still there at MG Road although it has become a bigger restaurant now.

The Vritham was going to end after the 6^th week. Where do I find Guruswami to take me to Sabarimala? Then I remembered my cousin used to go to Sabarimala each year with his group. My uncle has completed pilgrimage to Sabarimala for decades before that. When I contacted my cousin he said that their group is going as usual and I can join them at Cochin which is on their way to Sabarimala. I joined their group as Kanni Swami. We reached Sabarimala the next day and what an experience it had been to walk with Irumudi  in the Peria Pathai. Being a Kanni swami for that group that year I was privileged to be treated royally  and it was one of the finest moments in life to be with those Swamys. Most of them in that group had gone to Sabarimala 10 to 15 time. On the first day walking with Irumudi I used to lag behind and was lost from my group by evening. My cousin found me finally when he came with a torch. The next day the group made sure that there was at least one person behind me till we reached Sannidhanam. That was the most uplifting phase of my life and that 3 days divine experience is still fresh in the mind. 

What a darshan we had of Lord Iyyappa. It was all HIS Grace to be with his dear ones. Here was one the office assistant who came as  a guru  at the right time as if to initiate me into a righteous path. I was not perfect being ignorant but was  blessed to undertake the yatra to holy Sabarimala with these  devoted Swamys. This was only a beginning and there was  a big gap for next  few years when lot of ups and downs happened in our life .After a long gap  I found my Guruswami in US first in Michigan who taught me everything and  then in Virginia and California as we were moving across USA . I am blessed to wore sacred mala for about 10 years till now  and ending the Vritham at Shiva  Vishnu temple in Maryland which follows the  rituals of Sabarimala but for the yatra . My regret till date is that I could never again visit Sabarimala again after this  first trip . God willing and if health permits would like to be there during Mandalam within  this lifetime.

I consider Babu as my first  Guru  who came to Cochin  as if to initiate me . But for HIS blessing  I  would have stayed in the hotel itself in Cochin  After that  it is all AYYAPA'S infinite grace at every stage in life. We may not be perfect yet as a devotee and the lord forgives our mistakes and make us humble to get that inner peace. Swamiye Saranam Iyyappa!

 

(To be concluded)