Margazhi is an auspicious month in Tamil year. Tamil calendar consists of twelve months and this is a very special month. It usually comes in december and lasts till the first two weeks of January. This month  is meant to be dedicated entirely for devotion. Ah! I dont beleive the last sentence. Because our predecessors were neither empty headed to advocate an entire month for devotion  nor they had the luxury to sit and happily sing bajans for a whole month. I seriously doubt the purpose of it.What could it be? Voila!! As expected I found the reason behind it. It is a month with strict timelines and exercise shedules framed by our ancestors to make the young girls stay fit and slim.Do my reasoning sounds idiotic? Well. Read through the entire post and then judge.

Here comes a little background about the famous margazhi. Hinduism has two main  sub divisions namely,saivam and vainavam. In saivam the lord is Siva and in Vainavam it is  Vishnu. Noteworthy poets and sages of saivam are known as Nayanmars and they were 63 in number.In vainavam there are twelve such devotees,known as alwars. Tamil literature is highly indebted to both alwars and nayanmars for their splendid contribution.Margazhi is a special month for vainavam. Andal,a female alwar is  the protagonist of margazhi season.  Her work is the famous thirupaavai,collection of songs for margaazhi.The story goes like this. Andal, a mortal girl falls in love with the immortal Lord Vishnu. She loves the lord,pray for him,observe the fasting in margazhi and finally join with the Lord,her goal! (Its like the paramathma Jeevathma concept,I have explained in my earlier post. The Alchemist & HinduismAn ordinary girl acheives her impossible goal as she beleives in her dream. Yes. One of  the many “The Alchemist” stories of Hinduism.)  This fasting is mainly observed by young ladies to garland the man of their choice.

Firstly Bhakthi or devotion in Margazhi is different from that of other months. It is symbolised with colourful kolams and joyful young girls as against the concept of renouncing and old sages. Choosing margazhi as the month for devotion is noteworthy. Margazhi precedes the month “Thai ”,the harvest season. There is a popular saying in tamil.”Thai piranthal Vazhi pirakkum” - When the month Thai comes many opportunities will come. It is the season when crops are harvested and traded which results in money.So it is a spending season. In this month,lot of marriages and all good things will take place. Doesnt it sound sensible to make the girls fit when such an important season comes?

Margazhi fasting has this procedure.During margazhi, Andal wakes up early in the morning. She goes to each of her friend’s house and wake them up. Together they go to pond,fetch water. Then they return home and adorn their houses with kolam.Kolam is an excellent physical and mental exercise. Proficiency in kolam is viewed as an important parameter while considering the brides to be. It is similar to how singing and playing music was considered as a brides to be scoring section in western world. Andal will be singing songs in praise of Lord Vishnu,her interest while doing all these chores. Isnt it similar to a young girl waking up early in the morning,going to the gym or beach along with her friends and exercise listening to Metallica or any good music along with the frequent chats?

Then comes the diet part. People observe fasting during margazhi. Margazhi fasting is not just elimination of non veg items from food. It includes the exclusion of milk products from the diet. Andal specifies it in her song,”Nei Unnom Paal unnom” (We wont consume ghee and milk). Doesnt it sound like a dietician’s advice?

So the system is like this. For one full month girls will wake up very early, gather together,chat their way towards ponds,fetch water,sing and will draw the elaborate kolams  and have limited diet without milk products. Obviously it reduces the extra weight and makes them slim and fit. Apart from the fitness it also develops the quality which are advocated by many current marriage counsellors essential for a succesfull marriage. The quality of moving amiably with ones acquaintances such as neighbours,forming good relations and doing things together. Its like coming out of ones small circle of family and exploring the outer world with your peers.

Andal must be the earliest dietician cum marriage counsellor!!

“Listen to your heart. It knows all things,because it came from the Soul of the world and it will one day return there”

“Everything on earth is being continuously transformed,because the earth is alive… and it has a soul. We are part of that soul,so we rarely recognize that it is working for us”

Does these lines and their meanings sounds familiar to you? Well. These lines and the situations associated with it quickly reminded me about the Paramathma and Jeevathma concept.Paramathma refers to the almighty and Jeevathma refers to the mortals. Jeevathma is said as a part of Paramathma. It is even said that when you offer vanakam/namaskar to a person you are actually paying respect to the Paramathma or Almighty in him as each Jeevathma is a part of Paramathma. Ashtavakra, an early sage illustrates it like this. Consider the infinite space around you and an empty clay pot.The space inside the pot does not have an identity seperate from that on the outside. Similarly Every individual is like the clay pot and the infinite space is the supreme power. In short every individual is the extension of the supreme force.

Voila!! Doesnt the Paul Coelho’s term Soul of the world looks like a translation of Paramaathma? (Aathma -Soul Param- universal) I recognise it only while typing for the blog…

When I discussed about it to my friend she stared at me and screamed, “Are you mad? How can you compare a book like Alchemist full of inspirational quotes to acheive in life to the preachings of sanyasis who have renounced everything in this world?”

True. So,What has made the difference? What has made the same idea to appear as completely opposite ideas? Idea expressed by one inspires you to go and acheive whatever you want. The same idea expressed by the other tells that focus on the supreme and nothing else matters.

Voila! So that has made all the differnce. Our sages and scriptures tells about the same concept to acheive a much more revered fact called Salvation instead of finding one’s own passion. Just look into the following quote from The Alchemist

“To realize one’s destiny is a person’s only obligation.”

Ramana Maharishi illustrates it like it. The supreme power is a well and every human being is just a bucket of water fetched from that well.When this bucket is immersed in the well its very light.Similarly when you align yourself with the true self you will be feeling light and it is the only purpose of our existence.(This process is known as Self realisation,  an unique and worderful methodology preached by Ramana). So, Salvation is said to be the purpose of our existence is this world.

Paul tells to realize one’s destiny and reach there by drawing the required strength and determination from the superior power. Our sages doesnt tell us to realize the destiny instead stated salvation should be one’s destination and the individual should acheive it by synchronizing with the supreme power.

So the means are same but ends suggested are different. Obviously the ends portrayed have changed a supposedly renouncing concept to a winning concept.

My humble request to writers. There are loads of such beautiful,inspiring and practical concepts in our mythological stories. Modifying these concepts and publishing them as guide/novel to suit the aspirations and anxiousness of current world will do wonders. If done properly I assure that it will be better than any other widely acclaimed self help books available in the market. Because the examples used in them are highly irrelevant. The author will be telling how Jack was at the verge of breaking down as he was a poor soul living with a small car and cant travel to Switzerland for vacation. Oh.. What a poor soul should I be and millions of my fellow countrymen as we dont even own a car.  Many times we cant identify ourselves with the examples that the author states.

PS:

My knowledge in the religious theories and concepts are just next to null. What I have mentioned above is based on what I have heard in temples or read in any books. So few of my observations might be incorrect. But I am sure everything needed for a successful life is available in our old texts. Knowledgable Persons kindly think about it and fulfil my request. You might even dedicate the book to me

 Tchao!