The schedule has ended.. 4 days ahead ! This is unique. Production had planned timings keeping my restrictive working hours, but I went beyond my doctor’s brief and started at 5 am every morning, instead of my regulated 11 am. Sometimes there is benefit in accommodating a producers problem - you finish early and go home !!

The jetty at the Rock was our location today and as you stand there feeding your eyes with the enormity of both spirit and structure, you cannot help but feel so pygmy’d in the presence of such greatness in thought and volume.

So.. you venture across as the unit changes location. A motor passenger boat, loaded with life jackets, takes you across in minutes and some benevolent managers of the facility receive and guide you through.

It is a neat and well kept premise. I have found this to be a recurring culture in most important temples and places of worship in the South. There is deep reverence of course, but also a keen sense of discipline ; another key feature in this part of the world.

Just before the main ‘mandapam’ sheltering the statue of Vivekanand, is a smaller area which houses with some great preservation skills, the foot print of Parvati, the consort of Lord Shiva. An inscription on a black granite stone at the entrance relating how she came as an ordinary ‘kanya’ avatar to woo Shiva, leads us to an enclosed area where the foot print on the rock, now garlanded and further protected by a glass case on the floor, is seen.

A guide explains the story in detail. How she came, the conditions on the acceptance, the cock crowing three times, a defector imitating the sound to deflect her efforts, the marriage not fructifying… of Hanuman and his efforts to reach and save Sita across the sea to Lanka, of the medication He carried by lifting an entire mountain full of herbs on the instructions of Rama when Lakshman was injured in battle with Ravan, of Davadhar a block of mountain right in line with the footprint on the mainland ; it being a piece of the mountain that dropped accidentally from the larger piece being carried by Hanuman, Dava meaning medicine, hence the name DavaDhar…

The main sanctum of the Swami is more recent. The front is designed in Tamilian Temple architecture and the rear in the style of Bengali culture. Inside stands Vivekanand a metal version done by Ranade a committed Maharashtrian who was deeply influenced by the teachings of the Swami. Granite pillars in black contain ornate and intricate designing. The rear portion also carries positions of the sun during various stages of its journey across and the meditation room - dark, quiet with an illuminated ‘OM’ at the far end. I sit here for some time. It is peaceful. A few long haired individuals are there before me, in yogic posture. The smell of the incense stick is just enough to create a mild ambiance and softly the chant of ‘om’ through a recorded device brings on the solemn meditative atmosphere that the space requires..

Beside, on another adjoining rock, the Saint Thiruvalluvar, built even more recently at a commanding height of 133′. Made to this height because it took 133 pieces of the stone used, to build the image. When the Tsunami came the water was splashing at the Saints hands. People on the Rock got stranded. They climbed higher up nearer to the main mandapam. The water never reached them. No damage was caused to either structure.

Nature’s fury, respectful to the divine !!

On the outskirts, two large man made cement reservoirs to contain the rain water, for general purpose usage ; the drinking water coming in by boats daily. The white that one observes on the rock from photographs is cement poured over. For what, I did not ask, nor was told why.

On leaving, just at the exit, large black granite slabs again, carrying names of institutions and individuals that made donations so these monuments could be constructed. Some other donors now give funds to a trust that runs various educational units throughout the country on the principles of Vivekanand. I take home some forms and shall be contributing to this noble cause. They generously told me they would carve my name on the slab to show their appreciation. I smile. Not so much in approval of the thought of seeing my name engraved for posterity, but more the thought of seeing the expressions of my grandchildren, Navya-Naveli and Agastya were they to visit here in the years to come -

“Hey ! Look ! Nana came here in 2009. That is so cool !” Or whatever their vocabulary would be then.

It has been overwhelming to read all your responses to the last post and to the words that came out late in the night from my beleaguered mind. Many of you give me far greater credit than I deserve. Sometimes words just flow out involuntarily without reason. Many give better versions of the same thought. Many give Hindi translations. And it is such a great feeling of oneness. I do get attached and emotional on these issues and reiterate their value to me repeatedly on this forum. Maybe with some degree of monotony. So be it. If something touches me I want expressions and mediums to set them apace. This is where I find them and this is where I shall express them.

Aishwarya returns from the Berlin Film Festival after introducing PP2 and as she sets foot at home her husband sets off to the Big Apple again for the screening and premier of ‘Delhi 6′. Another whirl wind tour, taking him to Dubai next and then New Delhi where we shall all join him, hopefully, for the Indian Premier.

A news paper review of the music of ‘Delhi 6′, spoke glowingly of it. Though I wish to correct the columnist on one matter. He talks of the track “Genda Phool” on the CD and mentions the track starting with Afro Sounds before the music kicks in. Wrong. They are not Afro Sounds or vocals. They are the vocal sounds made by the keepers of doves in residences in most parts of North India and in Uttar Pradesh, particularly. Doves in their hundreds are housed as pets virtually and kept in sweetly designed cottages on the flat roofed terraces’ of these homes. Every morning they are released from their cages, free to fly and move about. When they have had enough the owners come on the roof and make these sounds that you hear in the recorded CD, to bring them, the doves, back home. AR Rehman has most creatively used those authentic sounds and composed this extraordinary number, sung by the extraordinary Rekha Bharadwaj, wife of the extraordinary director Vishal Bharadwaj of Omkara fame, for the film. As you may have guessed by now after seeing some of the promos of ‘Delhi 6′, that the dove has a very significant and symbolic presence in the film. The number ‘Masakali’ on the disc which has become almost an anthem in the country due to its popularity, is in fact the name of the dove. It plays an important part in the romance between Sonam and Abhishek. So there !!

Vanakkam again … till the morrow !!

Amitabh Bachchan