Friendship, ‘natpu’ – It is the invisible force that moves the earth. Friendship is the abundance of love. Love is the abundance of friendship. Love and friendship are like seeds and sprouts. A friendship may form between any two people on this wide earth. A friendship rooted in love transcends parsing and practices. Those who form a friendship are called friends. This is common for plants and animals as well. However, it is hard to provide apt meaning to the Tamil word ‘natpu’. Valluvar has written an entire chapter on ‘natpu’ in an attempt to define it. According to him, friendships are hard to form. In a world that has turned materialistic, the characteristics of ‘a friend’ have also changed. In this day and age no one is going to sit facing north and fast unto death like Pisiranthaiyar did for king Koperuncholan. The kings today know this as well. Therefore, no one reserves a seat next to them on their deathbed. As the humorous adage says, when the king’s dog died the entire country mourned. When the king himself died, no dog mourned it. Those who find good friends in life are blessed like the Devas of the heavens.
Zakir is a good writer with skills of being able to bring scenes alive with his descriptions. However, there are factual discrepancies in this series, which i do not think are worthy of confrontation, but there is one fact that i must set right.....because it is to do with a very private & deeply traumatic instance in my life, which i, till date, have never shared in public.
ReplyDeleteIn my immediate family, we follow the rules of Arya Samaj for all funeral rites. At my husband's cremation, Tamizlarasan, the Arya Samaj priest, who is also my student, was conducting the proceedings. Our Spiritual Guru, Mathaji Vithamma was also present. Tamilzlarasan gave the camphor to Vithamma. It was She Who lit the agni & gave it to my husband's cousin Suresh, who placed it on the pyre. As per Arya Samaj last rites, we all, students, friends , relatives, home help, drivers & support staff, irrespective of caste, creed, religion, age & gender, participated in what followed... to the chanting of mantras relegating each part of the body to the five respective elements, homa draviyam, which is a purifier, is showered by all present on the body, in what is the anthimayeshti ....the last homam or yaagam that we perform, surrendering this perishable body to the Cosmic Divine.
This very thought process & spiritual ideology has a deep significance to me.
To interpret any happenings in any other manner calls for intervention & clarification, for otherwise, it would be tantamount to misrepresentation.
I, by nature, only intervene, when I am convinced it is of utmost importance.
May God bless all my students....
Loka samastha sukhino bhavanthu....
Chitra Visweswaran