Sabarimalai and Lessons of Life

The pilgrimage to Sabarimalai continues to fascinate me. For those of you who may not know what Sabarimalai is...it is a pilgrimage that thousands of people take every year. They reach a river front in the South Indian State of Kerala called Pampa and then start a trek up a mountain - around 5 to 6 kilometers.  At the top of the mountain is the temple of the Lord Aiyappa.  Typically, people fast for 45 days before the journey, walk around bare footed and wear only black clothing.  They do not shave during these 45 days and wake up early in the morning, take a cold water bath and start their day.  All these practices get them prepared for the difficult climb which, in earlier days, was through thick jungle.  Now, the government has cut through the mountain and created a path. The path is rocky in parts and has steps in some parts.  Overall, it is an amazing experience of bringing you back to basics of living.  Many do not go through the 45 days of fasting.

As I reflected on the Sabarimalai pilgrimage that I completed the previous weekend, many thoughts filled me and I thought the lessons that one learns in life are just amazing.  The climb can be equated to the journey of your life. I summarized the learnings as:

• The rigour that you put in by waking up early and taking a cold water bath (someone told me that when we take a cold water bath, the body releases a steroid that helps keep the skin moist and helps cure us from dry skin problems) can become a healthy life long habit. It teaches us that there is no substitute for discipline and hard work;
• The dip in the river Pampa is like washing away the sins of the past and starting off all over again;
• The climb is amazing - it strains you physically, you sweat and even a sour pineapple tastes very sweet as it is the source of sugar (energy) during your climb.  You carry only one pair of change clothes because the more you carry the more difficult it is to climb.  Likewise, in our lives, the more baggage you carry in your head, the more problems you face.  I also noticed many elderly people climbing, people without legs climbing....it showed me that, as in this climb, most battles in life are won or lost in the head.  Those who think and decide to win, will win;
• One of the best learnings was the idea of setting short term goals without sacrificing the long term objective.  There is a part called the Apachemedu.  This has an incline of 70-75 degrees and is very tiring.  As you look up, the slope is so steep that it can dishearten you.  Once you reach the top, you are happy...for few seconds only.  The path actually curves to the left and you suddenly see another slope but this time it is steeper than the one that you just climbed!!!
• The climb down was as strenuous as the climb up.  The incline is so steep that you need to take each step carefully and cannot run. Teaches you to take the ups and the downs in life with the same equanimity.  All of us will have our ups and downs in life. We need to manage these gracefully putting full trust in the superpower that we call "God" to balance out the different aspects of nature for us.

The faith that people put in this superpower is great to experience. As the climb happens, people keep chanting, "Swaamiye Sharanam Aiyappo" or "Swamy Sharanam, Aiyappa Sharanam"....this somehow gives energy and keeps the focus away from the tiring legs and hurting feet.

As we got in to the train to head back to Bangalore, another surprise was waiting for us.  Few with confirmed tickets were already occupying our seats.  We were surprised but decided to wait for the ticket checker to tell us what had happened. The ticket checker said that our tickets could have been cancelled but he would have to check.  All our minds raced off to figure out what to do next. We all thought of different options.  The problem suddenly got resolved when the ticket checker came and told us that we had been allotted different seats and the system did not reflect that.  One of us said, "Swaamiye Sharanam Aiyappo" and as we sat, he said, "We all thought of different ways of getting out of the situation that we had faced few minutes ago.  But, none of us put trust in Lord Aiyappa and thought that He would take care of us.  Is this the faith we have in God?" 

This was a great question to ponder on....But, personally, I was happy that each of us had not left it to God to resolve our issues but had taken the trouble to think through what to do next...those who win are those who think that they will win - someone taught me that God helps those who help themselves!!!